Fluorescent gold nanoclusters possess multiple actions against atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis caused major morbidity and mortality worldwide. Molecules possessing lipid-lowering and/or anti-inflammatory properties are potential druggable targets against atherosclerosis. We examined the anti-atherosclerotic effects of fluorescent gold nanoclusters (FANC), which were dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA)-capped 2-nm gold nanoparticles.

Senescence induces miR-409 to down-regulate CCL5 and impairs angiogenesis in endothelial progenitor cells.

This study explores the impact of senescence on autocrine C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) in human endothelial progenitor cell (EPCs), addressing the poorly understood decline in number and function of EPCs during ageing. We examined the effects of replication-induced senescence on CCL5/CCL5 receptor (CCR5) signalling and angiogenic activity of EPCs in vitro and in vivo. We also explored microRNAs controlling CCL5 secretion in senescent EPCs, its impact on EPC angiogenic activity, and validated our findings in humans.

Hsa-miR-409-3p regulates endothelial progenitor senescence via PP2A-P38 and is a potential ageing marker in humans.

We explored the roles of hsa-microRNA (miR)-409-3p in senescence and signalling mechanism of human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Hsa-miR-409-3p was found upregulated in senescent EPCs. Overexpression of miRNA mimics in young EPCs inhibited angiogenesis.

Deferoxamine accelerates endothelial progenitor cell senescence and compromises angiogenesis.

Senescence reduces the circulating number and angiogenic activity of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), and is associated with aging-related vascular diseases. However, it is very time-consuming to obtain aged cells (~1 month of repeated replication) or animals (~2 years) for senescence studies. Here, we established an accelerated senescence model by treating EPCs with deferoxamine (DFO), an FDA-approved iron chelator.

Ultrasonic microbubble VEGF gene delivery improves angiogenesis of senescent endothelial progenitor cells.

The therapeutic effects of ultrasonic microbubble transfection (UMT)-based vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) gene delivery on young and senescent endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were investigated. By UMT, plasmid DNA (pDNA) can be delivered into both young EPCs and senescent EPCs. In the UMT groups, higher pDNA-derived protein expression was found in senescent EPCs than in young EPCs.

Dihydrolipoic acid-coated gold nanocluster bioactivity against senescence and inflammation through the mitochondria-mediated JNK/AP-1 pathway.

Cellular senescence is the progressive impairment of function and proliferation in response to various regulators. Dihydrolipoic acid-coated gold nanoclusters (DHLA-Au NCs), which are molecular clusters with covalently linked dihydroxyl lipoic acid, preserve cellular activities for long-term incubation. DHLA-Au NC delivery was characterized, and we determined the role of growth supplements on internalization, allowing the optimization of DHLA-Au NC bioactivity.

Inter-relating factors influencing the quality of stay of Chinese-speaking students in a French University.

This paper explores factors that influenced the quality of stay of Chinese-speaking mobile students in France, as the living experience abroad is one of the most-cited difficulties for international students. For practicality, we sieve through previous researches to identify 20 factors (grouped into 4 Dimensions: Personal Dimension Teacher's Effectiveness Dimension, Campus Environment Dimension, and Daily Environment Dimension), which most likely correlated with the quality of the stay of mobile Chinese-speaking students in France. We adopt the DANP (DEMATEL-based ANP) model, i.

Enhanced Proliferation of Endothelial Progenitor Cells Post-Ultrasonic Microbubble Transfection Is Plasmid DNA Size Dependent and Contributed by Interleukin-6 Generation.

We investigated whether ultrasonic microbubble transfection (UMT) would enhance the transfection of large-sized luciferase plasmids (5.6, 9.2 and 33 kb) and biological impacts.

A new simple method for improving QTL mapping under selective genotyping.

The selective genotyping approach, where only individuals from the high and low extremes of the trait distribution are selected for genotyping and the remaining individuals are not genotyped, has been known as a cost-saving strategy to reduce genotyping work and can still maintain nearly equivalent efficiency to complete genotyping in QTL mapping. We propose a novel and simple statistical method based on the normal mixture model for selective genotyping when both genotyped and ungenotyped individuals are fitted in the model for QTL analysis. Compared to the existing methods, the main feature of our model is that we first provide a simple way for obtaining the distribution of QTL genotypes for the ungenotyped individuals and then use it, rather than the population distribution of QTL genotypes as in the existing methods, to fit the ungenotyped individuals in model construction.

Anti-angiogenic therapy renders large tumors vulnerable to immunotherapy via reducing immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment.

We have recently demonstrated that a 4-in-1 gene therapy strategy that contains two anti-angiogenic genes [endostatin and pigment epithelium-derived factor] and two cytokine genes [granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin 12] has a considerable antitumor effect on large tumors in a woodchuck hepatoma model. The current study further investigates the underlying mechanisms for the antitumor effect observed by using small rodent models. We found that immunotherapy alone increased immunosuppressive cells in large tumors over time, whereas the anti-angiogenic therapy contained in the 4-in-1 strategy alleviated immunosuppression and made tumors vulnerable to immunotherapy, thus resulting in a synergistic antitumor effect.

Calreticulin promotes tumor lymphocyte infiltration and enhances the antitumor effects of immunotherapy by up-regulating the endothelial expression of adhesion molecules.

Tumor-induced angiogenesis has been shown to suppress immune responses. One mechanism is to suppress leukocyte-endothelial cell interaction by down-regulating the expression of adhesion molecules, such as intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 and E-selectin on the tumor endothelium, which enables tumor cells to escape immune surveillance. Calreticulin (CRT), a chaperone protein mainly located in the endoplasmic reticulum, has been shown to exert anti-angiogenic activity and inhibit tumor growth.

Combining antiangiogenic therapy with immunotherapy exerts better therapeutical effects on large tumors in a woodchuck hepatoma model.

Cytokine and antiangiogenic gene therapies have proved effective in implanted hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models in which small tumor burdens were established in small rodents. These models, however, may not reflect human HCCs, which are frequently detected at a stage when tumors are large and multifocal. In addition, HCC in patients is often associated with viral hepatitis.

Distributions of angular anisotropy and kinetic energy of products from the photodissociation of methanol at 157 nm.

We investigated distributions of angular-anisotropy parameter beta and kinetic energy of fragments after photodissociation of methanol using time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. Fragments, in particular CH(3)O and CO, were successfully detected using tunable radiation from a synchrotron for photoionization. Following O-H bond fission, a CH(3)O fragment with internal energy greater than 104 kJ mol(-1) dissociates to CH(2)O+H.