Analysis of thyroid function and structure and serum metabolomics in pregnant rats exposed to airborne contaminants: Combined perchlorate, thiocyanate, and nitrate exposure.

Objectives: Perchlorates, nitrates, and thiocyanates constitute environmental endocrine disruptors; however, health damage caused by absorption through the respiratory tract remains poorly studied. We investigated the effects of inhalation of these pollutants on thyroid function and structure and serum metabolomics in pregnant rats.

Methods: We established a Sprague-Dawley pregnant rat model exposed to perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate at different gestational stages and compared maternal serum thyroid function levels, foetal development, thyroid morphology, and pathological changes between exposed and non-exposed groups at different concentrations.

PTEN Overexpression Alters Autophagy Levels and Slows Sodium Arsenite-Induced Hepatic Stellate Cell Fibrosis.

Exposure to inorganic arsenic remains a global public health problem. The liver is the main target organ, leading to arsenic-induced liver fibrosis. Phosphatase and tensin homology deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) may participate in arsenic-induced liver fibrosis by regulating autophagy, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear.

A PTEN-Autophagy Risk Model for the Prediction of Prognosis and Immune Microenvironment in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: The clinical behavior and molecular mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are complex and highly variable, limiting the discovery of new targets and therapies in clinical research. Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is one of the tumor suppressor genes. It is of great interest to discover the role of unexplored correlation among PTEN, the tumor immune microenvironment, and autophagy-related signaling pathways and to construct a reliable risk model for prognosis during HCC progression.

Iodine Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women After 14 Years of Lipiodol Supplementation: a Cross-Sectional Study in Historically Iodine-Deficient Areas of China.

Southern Xinjiang has a history of serious iodine deficiency. Since 2007, pregnant women in this area have taken iodized salt and oral lipiodol preparations to prevent iodine deficiency disorders. However, the current status of iodine nutrition and thyroid function in this population is unknown.

Lanthanide Organic Framework as a Reversible Luminescent Sensor for Sulfamethazine Antibiotics.

A water-stable two-dimensional lanthanide organic framework, {Eu(BTB)DMF} (Eu-MOF; DMF = N, N-dimethylformamide), with two one-dimensional channels was obtained, and its structure was characterized. With changes in the amount of LiOH·HO, different sizes of {Eu(BTB)DMF} were synthesized. The prepared Eu-MOF powder is easy to disperse in water and exhibits typical Eu red emission.

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis reveals important metabolic pathways for arsenic-induced liver fibrosis in rats.

Long-term consumption of sodium arsenite contaminated water can cause endemic arsenic disease. The proteome profile changes of liver fibrosis after exposure to arsenite containing water remain unclear. In this study, Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were treated with sodium arsenite (iAs3+), using a daily dose of 1.

Bypass of an Abasic Site via the A-Rule by DNA Polymerase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Phage PaP1.

The abasic site is one the most common DNA lesions formed in cells; it induces a severe blockage of DNA replication and is highly mutagenic. We continue to use Gp90 exo, the sole DNA polymerase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage PaP1, to study DNA replication upon encountering an abasic site lesion. Gp90 exo can incorporate dNTPs opposite the abasic site, but extension past this site is extremely slow.

[Screening and cloning of hepatitis C virus non-structural protein 4B interacting protein gene in hepatocytes].

Objective: To investigate biological functions of non-structural protein 4B (NS4B) of hepatitis C virus (HCV), yeast-two hybrid technique was performed to seek proteins in hepatocytes interacting with HCV NS4B.

Methods: HCV NS4B bait plasmid was constructed by ligating the NS4B gene with carrier plasmid pGBKT7 and transformed into yeast cells AH109 (type alpha). The transformed yeast cells were amplified and mated with yeast cells Y187 (alpha type) containing liver cDNA library plasmid pACT2 in 2 x YPDA medium.

[Screening and cloning of hepatitis C virus non-structural protein 4A interacting protein gene in hepatocytes].

Objective: To investigate biological functions of hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural protein 4A (NS4A).

Methods: Yeast-two hybrid technique was performed to seek proteins in hepatocytes interacting with HCV NS4A. HCV NS4A bait plasmid was constructed by ligating the NS4A gene with carrier plasmid pGBKT7, then it was transformed into yeast AH109 (alpha type).

[Screening and cloning target genes transactivated by hepatitis C virus F protein using suppression subtractive hybridization technique].

Objectives: To identify and clone human genes transactivated by HCV F protein by constructing a cDNA subtractive library using the suppression subtractive hybridization technique.

Methods: Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and bioinformatics techniques were used for screening and cloning of the target genes transactivated by HCV F protein. The mRNA was isolated from HepG2 cells transfected with pcDNA3.