Lipid metabolic reprogramming mediated by circulating Nrg4 alleviates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease during the early recovery phase after sleeve gastrectomy.

Background: The metabolic benefits of bariatric surgery that contribute to the alleviation of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) have been reported. However, the processes and mechanisms underlying the contribution of lipid metabolic reprogramming after bariatric surgery to attenuating MASLD remain elusive.

Methods: A case-control study was designed to evaluate the impact of three of the most common adipokines (Nrg4, leptin, and adiponectin) on hepatic steatosis in the early recovery phase following sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Swimming trapper decreases the proportion of chromosomally unbalanced spermatozoa in human Robertsonian translocation carriers.

Background: Carriers of reciprocal translocations often have more unbalanced spermatozoa and higher DNA fragmentation rates, elevating reproductive risk. The simple swim-up method (SSUM) can decrease the amount of spermatozoa with abnormal chromatin structure and fragmented DNA, however, it has limited efficacy in eliminating chromosomally unbalanced sperm.

Methods: The spermatozoa of eight Robertsonian translocation (Rob) carriers were split into three groups: original raw semen group (control group); SSUM and swimming trapper method group (STM) processed semen samples.

Should non-invasive prenatal testing be recommended for patients who achieve pregnancy with PGT?

Objective: To determine whether non-invasive prenatal testing is an alternative testing option to preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in pregnant patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent PGT and invasive or non-invasive pregnancy testing after euploid blastocyst transfer at our IVF centre between January 2017 and December 2022.

Results: In total, 321 patients were enrolled in this study, 138 (43.

Agriculture land use transformation: A threat to sustainable food production systems, rural food security, and farmer well-being?

The acquisition of agricultural land is a crucial aspect of survival for numerous rural communities, serving as a fundamental tool for combating poverty and food insecurity and promoting equitable sustainable economic progress. The expropriation of land offers a promising prospect for remedying past inequities and promoting both economic progress and food sufficiency. Limited research has examined the association between land expropriation and food security, livelihood shocks, and the well-being of rural households worldwide.

Intravenous Administration of an AAV9 Vector Ubiquitously Expressing C1orf194 Gene Improved CMT-Like Neuropathy in C1orf194 Mice.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, also known as hereditary motor sensory neuropathy, is a group of rare genetically heterogenous diseases characterized by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy, along with sensory deficits. Despite extensive pre-clinical and clinical research, no FDA-approved therapy is available for any CMT type. We previously identified C1ORF194, a novel causative gene for CMT, and found that both C1orf194 knock-in (I121N) and knockout mice developed clinical phenotypes similar to those in patients with CMT.

Cationic Proteins Rich in Lysine Residue Trigger Formation of Non-bilayer Lipid Phases in Model and Biological Membranes: Biophysical Methods of Study.

Cationic membrane-active toxins are the most abundant group of proteins in the venom of snakes and insects. Cationic proteins such as cobra venom cytotoxin and bee venom melittin are known for their pharmacological reactions including anticancer and antimicrobial effects which arise from the toxin-induced alteration in the dynamics and structure of plasma membranes and membranes of organelles. It has been established that these cationic toxins trigger the formation of non-bilayer lipid phase transitions in artificial and native mitochondrial membranes.

Spatial proteomics of immune microenvironment in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aims: NASH-HCC is inherently resistant to immune checkpoint blockade, but its tumor immune microenvironment is largely unknown.

Approach And Results: We applied the imaging mass cytometry to construct a spatially resolved single-cell atlas from the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections from patients with NASH-HCC, virus-HCC (HBV-HCC and HCV-HCC), and healthy donors. Based on 35 biomarkers, over 750,000 individual cells were categorized into 13 distinct cell types, together with the expression of key immune functional markers.

Single-cell RNA-sequencing reveals heterogeneity and intercellular crosstalk in human tuberculosis lung.

Lung inflammation indicated by 18F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in patients with tuberculosis is associated with disease severity and relapse risk upon treatment completion. We revealed the heterogeneity and intercellular crosstalk in lung tissues with 18F-FDG avidity and adjacent uninvolved tissues from 6 tuberculosis patients by single-cell RNA-sequencing. Tuberculous lungs had an influx of regulatory T cells (Treg), exhausted CD8 T cells, immunosuppressive myeloid cells, conventional DC, plasmacytoid DC, and neutrophils.

The Roles of Cultural Capital in Teacher-Student Interactions in China: A Qualitative Study of Students in Higher Vocational Colleges.

The theory of cultural capital has long been applied to explain academic achievement. This qualitative study investigated first-year students in higher vocational colleges and, taking this low cultural capital group as an example, explored how cultural capital has affected their past teacher-student interactions. Participants described their experience of interacting with their teachers.

Firing up neutrophil anti-tumor immunity with cocktails.

Neutrophils constitute a considerable proportion of all leukocytes found in tumors and are essential for promoting tumor growth. In this issue, Linde et al. demonstrate that an antibody cocktail therapy consisting of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody, and tumor-binding antibody can boost the anti-tumor activity of neutrophils.

Cell-type-specific synaptic modulation of mAChR on SST and PV interneurons.

The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) antagonist, scopolamine, has been shown to have a rapid antidepressant effect. And it is believed that GABAergic interneurons play a crucial role in this action. Therefore, characterizing the modulation effects of mAChR on GABAergic interneurons is crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying scopolamine's antidepressant effects.

A novel splicing mutation in 5'UTR of GJB1 causes X-linked Charcot-Marie-tooth disease.

Background: Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most frequent hereditary motor sensory neurological disease. GJB1 gene is the second most frequent cause of CMT, accounting for approximately 10% of CMT cases worldwide. We identified a large Han family with X-linked CMT disease.

Dynamic network biomarker analysis and system pharmacology methods to explore the therapeutic effects and targets of Xiaoyaosan against liver cirrhosis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Xiaoyaosan is a traditional Chinese herbal formula that has long been used to treat liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocarcinoma (HCC). However, little is known about its mechanism of action and targets in treating chronic liver disease.

Aim Of The Study: This study aimed to detect the critical transition of HCC progression and to explore the regulatory mechanism and targets of Xiaoyaosan treating liver cirrhosis (cirrhosis) using integrative medicinal research involving system biology and pharmacology.

Concept for Efficient Light Harvesting in Perovskite Materials via Solar Harvester with Multi-Functional Folded Electrode.

Conventional electrodes in typical photodetectors only conduct electrical signals and introduce high optical reflection, impacting the optical-to-electrical conversion efficiency. The created surface solar harvester with a multi-functional folded electrode (MFFE) realizes both a three-dimensional Schottky junction with a larger light detecting area as well as low optical reflection from 300 nm (ultra-violet light) to 1100 nm (near-infrared light) broadly without an additional anti-reflection layer. The MFFE needs silicon etching following the lithography process.

VPS4B deficiency causes early embryonic lethality and induces signal transduction disorders of cell endocytosis.

VPS4B (vacuolar protein sorting 4B), a member of the ATPase associated with diverse cellular activities (AAA) protein family, is a component of the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport machinery which regulates the internalization and lysosomal degradation of membrane proteins. We previously reported that VPS4B is one of the pathogenic genes related to dentin dysplasia type I, although its function was largely unknown. To investigate the role of VPS4B in tooth development, we deleted the Vps4b gene in mice.

The gain-of-function FAM83H mutation caused hypocalcification amelogenesis imperfecta in a Chinese family.

Objectives: Autosomal-dominant hypocalcification amelogenesis imperfecta (ADHCAI) is a hereditary disease characterized by enamel defects. ADHCAI is mainly caused by nonsense mutations in a gene called family with sequence similarity 83 member H (FAM83H). To study the pathogenesis of ADHCAI, a Chinese ADHCAI family was investigated.

The effect of mGlu2/3 receptors on synaptic activities to different types of GABAergic interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Antagonists of the group II metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) 2/3 receptors have been shown to have a rapid antidepressant effect. GABAergic interneurons play a crucial role in major depressive disorder (MDD) and possibly mediate the rapid antidepressant effect. However, how mGlu2/3 receptors regulate synaptic activities to GABAergic interneurons is not fully understood.

Erratum: Author Correction: "Dysfunctions" induced by Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery are concomitant with metabolic improvement independent of weight loss.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/s41421-019-0138-2.].

"Dysfunctions" induced by Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery are concomitant with metabolic improvement independent of weight loss.

Metabolic surgery has been increasingly recommended for obese diabetic patients, but questions remain as to its molecular mechanism that leads to improved metabolic parameters independently of weight loss from a network viewpoint. We evaluated the role of the Roux limb (RL) in Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery in nonobese diabetic rat models. Improvements in metabolic parameters were greater in the long-RL RYGB group.

Chronic hepatitis B: dynamic change in Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome by dynamic network biomarkers.

Background: In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical practice, TCM syndromes help to understand human homeostasis and guide individualized treatment. However, the TCM syndrome changes with disease progression, of which the scientific basis and mechanism remain unclear.

Methods: To demonstrate the underlying mechanism of dynamic changes in the TCM syndrome, we applied a dynamic network biomarker (DNB) algorithm to obtain the DNBs of changes in the TCM syndrome, based on the transcriptomic data of patients with chronic hepatitis B and typical TCM syndromes, including healthy controls and patients with liver-gallbladder dampness-heat syndrome (LGDHS), liver-depression spleen-deficiency syndrome (LDSDS), and liver-kidney yin-deficiency syndrome (LKYDS).

[Structural characteristics of the deciduous teeth of Tibetan miniature pigs].

Objective: To explore the histological structure of the deciduous teeth and the tooth germs of Tibetan miniature pigs for studies of dental tissue diseases and tooth regeneration.

Methods: The structure of the deciduous teeth of Tibetan miniature pigs was observed by X-ray. The ultrastructure of the enamel and dentin of deciduous teeth was characterized by scanning electron microscopy.

Loss of Foxg1 Impairs the Development of Cortical SST-Interneurons Leading to Abnormal Emotional and Social Behaviors.

FOXG1 syndrome is a severe encephalopathy that exhibit intellectual disability, emotional disorder, and limited social communication. To elucidate the contribution of somatostatin-expressing interneurons (SST-INs) to the cellular basis underlying FOXG1 syndrome, here, by crossing SST-cre with a Foxg1fl/fl line, we selectively ablated Foxg1. Loss of Foxg1 resulted in an obvious reduction in the number of SST-INs, accompanied by an altered ratio of subtypes.

Vacuolar protein sorting 4B regulates the proliferation and odontoblastic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells through the Wnt-β-catenin signalling pathway.

Our previous studies have revealed that a dominant mutation in vacuolar protein sorting 4B (VPS4B), a member of the AAA ATPase family, causes dentin dysplasia type I. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the roles of VPS4B in human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, we found that VPS4B was highly expressed in the dental pulp cells of the mouse molar tooth germ, and the expression of VPS4B increased significantly during the odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs.