Bone marrow stromal cell-derived hepcidin has antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have immunomodulatory activities in numerous species and have been used in clinical trials. BMSCs also make antibacterial agents. Since hepcidin is known to have antimicrobial effects in fish, we wondered if it might also be used as an antimicrobial agent by mammalian BMSCs.

Association of variants m.T16172C and m.T16519C in whole mtDNA sequences with high altitude pulmonary edema in Han Chinese lowlanders.

Background: High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a hypoxia-induced non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema that typically occurred in un-acclimatized lowlanders, which inevitably leads to life-threatening consequences. Apart from multiple factors involved, the genetic factors also play an important role in the pathogenesis of HAPE. So far, researchers have put more energy into the nuclear genome and HAPE, and ignored the relationship between the mitochondrion DNA (mtDNA) variants and HAPE susceptibility.

Optimizing hepcidin measurement with a proficiency test framework and standardization improvement.

Objectives: Hepcidin measurement advances insights in pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of iron disorders, but requires analytically sound and standardized measurement procedures (MPs). Recent development of a two-level secondary reference material (sRM) for hepcidin assays allows worldwide standardization. However, no proficiency testing (PT) schemes to ensure external quality assurance (EQA) exist and the absence of a high calibrator in the sRM set precludes optimal standardization.

Clinical Immunoassay for Human Hepcidin Predicts Iron Deficiency in First-Time Blood Donors.

Background: Serum markers currently used as indicators of iron status have clinical limitations. Hepcidin, a key regulator of iron homeostasis, is reduced in iron deficiency (ID) and increased in iron overload. We describe the first CLIA-validated immunoassay with excellent accuracy and precision to quantify human serum hepcidin.

The effect of group-substitution on the sensitization properties of alkynylrhenium(I) tricarbonyl diimine complexes adsorbed to TiO(101) film surface: a theoretical study.

A series of dyes are designed by adding the different electron-donating (-CH, -NH, -OH) and electron-withdrawing groups (-Br, -Cl, -NO) to the different ancillary ligands in the alkynylrhenium(I) tricarbonyl diimine complexes [Re(CO)(N^N){C≡C-CH-CH=C(CN)(COOH)}], where N^N = 1,10-phenanthroline (phen)(1) and then investigated the sensitization properties of dyes linked to the TiO(101) surface. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) were used to study the electronic structure, frontier molecular orbitals, and absorption spectral properties. The effect of group-substitution on sensitization properties is obvious.

Unsaturated Ligands Seed an Order to Disorder Transition in Mixed Ligand Shells of CdSe/CdS Quantum Dots.

A phase transition within the ligand shell of core/shell quantum dots is studied in the prototypical system of colloidal CdSe/CdS quantum dots with a ligand shell composed of bound oleate (OA) and octadecylphosphonate (ODPA). The ligand shell composition is tuned using a ligand exchange procedure and quantified through proton NMR spectroscopy. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals a signature of a phase transition within the organic ligand shell.

IDD16 negatively regulates stomatal initiation via trans-repression of SPCH in Arabidopsis.

In Arabidopsis, the initiation and proliferation of stomatal lineage cells is controlled by SPEECHLESS (SPCH). Phosphorylation of SPCH at the post-translational level has been reported to regulate stomatal development. Here we report that IDD16 acts as a negative regulator for stomatal initiation by directly regulating SPCH transcription.

Fluoroethylene Carbonate Induces Ordered Electrolyte Interface on Silicon and Sapphire Surfaces as Revealed by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy and X-ray Reflectivity.

The cyclability of silicon anodes in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is affected by the reduction of the electrolyte on the anode surface to produce a coating layer termed the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). One of the key steps for a major improvement of LIBs is unraveling the SEI's structure-related diffusion properties as charge and discharge rates of LIBs are diffusion-limited. To this end, we have combined two surface sensitive techniques, sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, and X-ray reflectivity (XRR), to explore the first monolayer and to probe the first several layers of electrolyte, respectively, for solutions consisting of 1 M lithium perchlorate (LiClO) salt dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC) or fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and their mixtures (EC/FEC 7:3 and 1:1 wt %) on silicon and sapphire surfaces.

Arabidopsis AMINO ACID PERMEASE1 Contributes to Salt Stress-Induced Proline Uptake from Exogenous Sources.

Stress-induced proline accumulation in plants is thought to result primarily from enhanced proline biosynthesis and decreased proline degradation. To identify regulatory components involved in proline transport, we screened for T-DNA mutants with enhanced tolerance to toxic levels of exogenous proline (45 mM). We isolated the () mutant and map-based cloning identified as (, At1g58360), which encodes a plasma membrane-localized amino acid permease.

Fluoroethylene Carbonate as a Directing Agent in Amorphous Silicon Anodes: Electrolyte Interface Structure Probed by Sum Frequency Vibrational Spectroscopy and Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics.

Fluorinated compounds are added to carbonate-based electrolyte solutions in an effort to create a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The SEI mitigates detrimental electrolyte redox reactions taking place on the anode's surface upon applying a potential in order to charge (discharge) the lithium (Li) ion battery. The need for a stable SEI is dire when the anode material is silicon as silicon cracks due to its expansion and contraction upon lithiation and delithiation (charge-discharge) cycles, consequently limiting the cyclability of a silicon-based battery.

In Situ Potentiodynamic Analysis of the Electrolyte/Silicon Electrodes Interface Reactions--A Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy Study.

The key factor in long-term use of batteries is the formation of an electrically insulating solid layer that allows lithium ion transport but stops further electrolyte redox reactions on the electrode surface, hence solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). We have studied a common electrolyte, 1.0 M LiPF6/ethylene carbonate (EC)/diethyl carbonate (DEC), reduction products on crystalline silicon (Si) electrodes in a lithium (Li) half-cell system under reaction conditions.

Polymer Adsorption on Graphite and CVD Graphene Surfaces Studied by Surface-Specific Vibrational Spectroscopy.

Sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy was employed to probe polymer contaminants on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene and to study alkane and polyethylene (PE) adsorption on graphite. In comparing the spectra from the two surfaces, it was found that the contaminants on CVD graphene must be long-chain alkane or PE-like molecules. PE adsorption from solution on the honeycomb surface results in a self-assembled ordered monolayer with the C-C skeleton plane perpendicular to the surface and an adsorption free energy of ∼42 kJ/mol for PE(H(CH2CH2)nH) with n ≈ 60.

A tetratricopeptide repeat domain-containing protein SSR1 located in mitochondria is involved in root development and auxin polar transport in Arabidopsis.

Auxin polar transport mediated by a group of Pin-formed (PIN) transporters plays important roles in plant root development. However, the mechanism underlying the PIN expression and targeting in response to different developmental and environmental stimuli is still not fully understood. Here, we report a previously uncharacterized gene SSR1, which encodes a mitochondrial protein with tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domains, and show its function in root development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Functional validation of Phragmites communis glutathione reductase (PhaGR) as an essential enzyme in salt tolerance.

Reed plants (Phragmites communis (Linn.) Trin) are hydrophilic perennial grasses growing in fresh and brackish waters. These plants readily adapt to arid and high salinity conditions; however, their resistance mechanism against abiotic stresses, especially high salinity, is largely unknown.

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay specific for murine hepcidin-1: correlation with hepatic mRNA expression in established and novel models of dysregulated iron homeostasis.

Mice have been essential for distinguishing the role of hepcidin in iron homeostasis. Currently, investigators monitor levels of murine hepatic hepcidin-1 mRNA as a surrogate marker for the bioactive hepcidin protein itself. Here, we describe and validate a competitive, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that quantifies hepcidin-1 in mouse serum and urine.

Infrared absorption of methanethiol clusters (CH3SH)n, n = 2-5, recorded with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer using IR depletion and VUV ionization.

We investigated IR spectra in the CH- and SH-stretching regions of size-selected methanethiol clusters, (CH(3)SH)(n) with n = 2-5, in a pulsed supersonic jet using infrared (IR)-vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) ionization. VUV emission at 132.50 nm served as the source of ionization in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer.

Infrared absorption of methanol clusters (CH3OH)n with n = 2-6 recorded with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer using infrared depletion and vacuum-ultraviolet ionization.

We investigated IR spectra in the CH- and OH-stretching regions of size-selected methanol clusters, (CH(3)OH)(n) with n = 2-6, in a pulsed supersonic jet by using the IR-VUV (vacuum-ultraviolet) ionization technique. VUV emission at 118 nm served as the source of ionization in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The tunable IR laser emission served as a source of predissociation or excitation before ionization.

Infrared absorption of gaseous ClCS detected with time-resolved Fourier-transform spectroscopy.

A transient infrared absorption spectrum of gaseous ClCS was detected with a step-scan Fourier-transform spectrometer coupled with a multipass absorption cell. ClCS was produced upon irradiating a flowing mixture of Cl2CS and N2 or CO2 with a KrF excimer laser at 248 nm. A transient band in the region of 1160-1220 cm-1, which diminished on prolonged reaction, is assigned to the C-S stretching (nu1) mode of ClCS.