Folate-chitosan Coated Quercetin Liposomes for Targeted Cancer Therapy.

Background: Although quercetin exhibits promising anti-tumor properties, its clinical application is limited due to inherent defects and a lack of tumor targeting.

Objectives: This study aimed to prepare and characterize active targeting folate-chitosan modified quercetin liposomes (FA-CS-QUE-Lip), and its antitumor activity and was also studied.

Materials And Methods: Box-Behnken Design (BBD) response surface method was used to select the optimal formulation of quercetin liposomes (QUE-LP).

Regulation of wakefulness by astrocytes in the lateral hypothalamus.

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is an important brain region mediating sleep-wake behavior. Recent evidence has shown that astrocytes in central nervous system modulate the activity of adjacent neurons and participate in several physiological functions. However, the role of LH astrocytes in sleep-wake regulation remains unclear.

Regulation of wakefulness by GABAergic dorsal raphe nucleus-ventral tegmental area pathway.

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) has previously been proved to be involved in the regulation of the sleep-wake behavior. DRN contains several neuron types, such as 5-HTergic and GABAergic neurons. GABAergic neurons, which are the second largest cell subtype in the DRN, participate in a variety of neurophysiological functions.

MORC3 restricts human cytomegalovirus infection by suppressing the major immediate-early promoter activity.

During the long coevolution of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and humans, the host has formed a defense system of multiple layers to eradicate the invader, and the virus has developed various strategies to evade host surveillance programs. The intrinsic immunity primarily orchestrated by promyelocytic leukemia (PML) nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) represents the first line of defense against HCMV infection. Here, we demonstrate that microrchidia family CW-type zinc finger 3 (MORC3), a PML-NBs component, is a restriction factor targeting HCMV infection.

Ex Vivo and In Vitro Studies Revealed Underlying Mechanisms of Immature Intestinal Inflammatory Responses Caused by Aflatoxin M1 Together with Ochratoxin A.

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and ochratoxin A (OTA), which are occasionally detected in milk and commercial baby foods, could easily enter and reach the gastrointestinal tract, posing impairment to the first line of defense and causing dysfunction of the tissue. The objective of this study was to investigate the immunostimulatory roles of individual and combined AFM1 and OTA on the immature intestine. Thus, we used ELISA assays to evaluate the generation of cytokines from ex vivo CD-1 fetal mouse jejunum induced by AFM1 and OTA and explored the related regulatory pathways and pivot genes using RNA-seq analysis.

A glutamatergic basal forebrain to midbrain circuit mediates wakefulness and defensive behavior.

Defensive behavior, a group of responses that evolved due to threatening stimuli, is crucial for animal survival in the natural environment. For defensive measures to be timely and successful, a high arousal state and immediate sleep-to-wakefulness transition are required. Recently, the glutamatergic basal forebrain (BF) has been implicated in sleep-wake regulation; however, the associated physiological functions and underlying neural circuits remain unknown.

A congenital CMV infection model for follow-up studies of neurodevelopmental disorders, neuroimaging abnormalities, and treatment.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the leading infectious cause of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the neuropathogenesis remains largely elusive due to a lack of informative animal models. In this study, we developed a congenital murine CMV (cMCMV) infection mouse model with high survival rate and long survival period that allowed long-term follow-up study of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Hearing Loss Caused by HCMV Infection through Regulating the Wnt and Notch Signaling Pathways.

Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent sensory disabilities worldwide with huge social and economic burdens. The leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in children is congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Though the implementation of universal screening and early intervention such as antiviral or anti-inflammatory ameliorate the severity of CMV-associated diseases, direct and targeted therapeutics is still seriously lacking.

Localization of the WD repeat-containing protein 5 to the Virion Assembly Compartment Facilitates Human Cytomegalovirus Assembly.

We previously reported that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) utilizes the cellular protein WD repeat-containing protein 5 (WDR5) to facilitate capsid nuclear egress. Here, we further show that HCMV infection results in WDR5 localization in a juxtanuclear region, and that its localization to this cellular site is associated with viral replication and late viral gene expression. Furthermore, WDR5 accumulated in the virion assembly compartment (vAC) and co-localized with vAC markers of gamma-tubulin (γ-tubulin), early endosomes, and viral vAC marker proteins pp65, pp28, and glycoprotein B (gB).

Basal forebrain GABAergic neurons promote arousal and predatory hunting.

Predatory hunting is an important approach for animals to obtain valuable nutrition and energy, which critically depends on heightened arousal. Yet the neural substrates underlying predatory hunting remain largely undefined. Here, we report that basal forebrain (BF) GABAergic neurons play an important role in regulating predatory hunting.

Glutamatergic lateral hypothalamus promotes defensive behaviors.

The glutamatergic lateral hypothalamus (LH) has been implicated in a variety of behaviors, such as evasion and feeding, while its role in defensive behaviors and relevant neurocircuits remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that the glutamatergic LH is a critical structure regulating defensive behaviors. Trimethylthiazole (TMT), the odor of mice predator, significantly increased c-Fos expression in the LH.

Bulleyaconitine A Inhibits Visceral Nociception and Spinal Synaptic Plasticity through Stimulation of Microglial Release of Dynorphin A.

Background: Visceral pain is one of the most common types of pain and particularly in the abdomen is associated with gastrointestinal diseases. Bulleyaconitine A (BAA), isolated from , is prescribed in China to treat chronic pain. The present study is aimed at evaluating the mechanisms underlying BAA visceral antinociception.

Ventral tegmental area GABAergic neurons induce anxiety-like behaviors and promote palatable food intake.

The obesity epidemic is a global problem and a great challenge for public health. Overconsumption of food, especially palatable food, is the leading cause of obesity. The precise neural circuits underlying food overconsumption remain unclear and require further characterization.

Bulleyaconitine A Exerts Antianxiety and Antivisceral Hypersensitivity Effects.

Visceral pain is one of the leading causes for abdominal pain in gastroenterological diseases and is still hard to treat effectively. Bulleyaconitine A (BAA) is an aconitine analog and has been used for the treatment of pain. Our previous work suggested that BAA exerted analgesic effects on neuropathic pain through stimulating the expression of dynorphin A in spinal microglia.

Bioactive heterocycles containing a 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl fragment exerting potent antiproliferative activity through microtubule destabilization.

Novel bioactive heterocycles containing a 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl fragment as antiproliferative agents by targeting tubulin were synthesized and their preliminary structure activity relationships (SARs) were explored. Among all these chemical agents, 2-(Benzo[d]oxazol-2-ylthio)-N-(4-methoxybenzyl)-N-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)acetamide (4d) exhibited the potent antiproliferative activity against MGC-803 cells with an IC value of 0.45 μM by induction of G2/M pahse arrest and cell apoptosis.

Functional Characterization of Waterlogging and Heat Stresses Tolerance Gene Pyruvate decarboxylase 2 from Actinidia deliciosa.

A previous report showed that both () genes were significantly upregulated in kiwifruit after waterlogging treatment using Illumina sequencing technology, and that the kiwifruit gene was required during waterlogging, but might not be required during other environmental stresses. Here, the function of another gene, named , was analyzed. The expression of the gene was determined using qRT-PCR, and the results showed that the expression levels of in the reproductive organs were much higher than those in the nutritive organs.

Overexpression of Actinidia deliciosa pyruvate decarboxylase 1 gene enhances waterlogging stress in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana.

Ethanolic fermentation is classically associated with waterlogging tolerance when plant cells switch from respiration to anaerobic fermentation. Pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), which catalyzes the first step in this pathway, is thought to be the main regulatory enzyme. Here, we cloned a full-length PDC cDNA sequence from kiwifruit, named AdPDC1.