Association of the EAT-Lancet diet, serial measures of serum proteome and gut microbiome, and cardiometabolic health: a prospective study of Chinese middle-aged and elderly adults.

Background: The EAT-Lancet diet was reported to be mutually beneficial for the human cardiometabolic system and planetary health. However, mechanistic evidence linking the EAT-Lancet diet and human cardiometabolic health is lacking.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the role of blood proteins in the association between the EAT-Lancet diet and cardiometabolic health and explore the underlying gut microbiota-blood protein interplay.

Establishment of embryogenic Pinus thunbergii Parl. suspension cultures: growth parameters, dynamic analysis, and plant regenerative capacities.

Background: Pinus thunbergii is an economically important conifer species that plays a fundamental role in forest ecosystems. However, the population has declined dramatically in recent years as a result of the pine wilt disease outbreak. Thus, developing pine wilt-resistant P.

Parl. Somatic Plants' Resistance to Depends on Pathogen-Induced Differential Transcriptomic Responses.

Parl. is an economically and medicinally important plant, as well as a world-renowned horticultural species of the genus. Pine wilt disease is a dangerous condition that affects .

Enabling safer, more potent oligonucleotide therapeutics with bottlebrush polymer conjugates.

Oligonucleotide therapeutics have the unique ability to address traditionally undruggable targets through various target engagement pathways. However, despite advances in chemically modified oligonucleotides and carrier-assisted delivery systems such as lipid nanoparticles and protein/peptide conjugates, the development of oligonucleotide drugs is still plagued with lackluster potency, narrow therapeutic window, poor delivery to non-liver target sites, and/or high potential for toxicity and unwanted immune system activation. In this perspective, we discuss an unconventional delivery solution based upon bottlebrush polymers, which overcomes many key challenges in oligonucleotide drug development.

Metal-Organic Framework-Mediated Synergistic Hypoxia-Activated Chemo-Immunotherapy Induced by High Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Enhanced Cancer Theranostics.

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has attracted considerable attention as a noninvasive, efficient, and economic therapeutic modality for solid tumors. However, HIFU surgery has its intrinsic limitation in completely ablating tumors, leading to residual tumor tissue. Furthermore, the severely hypoxic environment ensuring after surgery can exacerbate the unrestricted proliferation and metabolism of residual tumor cells, leading to tumor recurrence and metastasis.

Early-life exposure to the Great Chinese Famine and gut microbiome disruption across adulthood for type 2 diabetes: three population-based cohort studies.

Background: The early life stage is critical for the gut microbiota establishment and development. We aimed to investigate the lifelong impact of famine exposure during early life on the adult gut microbial ecosystem and examine the association of famine-induced disturbance in gut microbiota with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We profiled the gut microbial composition among 11,513 adults (18-97 years) from three independent cohorts and examined the association of famine exposure during early life with alterations of adult gut microbial diversity and composition.

Cohort Profile: Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS): A Population-based Multi-omics Study.

Background: The Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS) aims to assess the determinants of metabolic disease in nutritional aspects, as well as other environmental and genetic factors, and explore possible biomarkers and mechanisms with multi-omics integration.

Methods: The population-based sample of adults in Guangzhou, China (baseline: 40-83 years old; n = 5,118) was followed up about every 3 years. All are tracked via on-site follow-up and health information systems.

Resistant and Susceptible ParL. Show Highly Divergent Patterns of Differentially Expressed Genes during the Process of Infection by .

Pine wilt disease (PWD) is a devastating disease that threatens pine forests worldwide, and breeding resistant pines is an important management strategy used to reduce its impact. A batch of resistant seeds of was introduced from Japan. Based on the resistant materials, we obtained somatic plants through somatic embryogenesis.

The Association between Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Is Mediated by Gut Microbiota and Fecal and Serum Metabolites in Adults.

Scope: Vitamin D is vital to cardiovascular health. This study examines the association between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and the progression of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and identifies the potential mediating biomarkers of gut microbiota and metabolites in adults.

Methods And Results: This 9-year prospective study includes 2975 subjects with plasma 25(OH)D at baseline and determined cIMT every 3 years.

Promoting the application of Pinus thunbergii Parl. to enhance the growth and survival rates of post-germination somatic plantlets.

Objective: There is a growing need for nematode resistant Pinaceae species plantlets to cope with the global scale degradation of coniferous forests, due to the prevalence of pine wilt disease. One of the bottlenecks that limits the commercialization of Pinaceae species plantlets is regeneration following their transfer from controlled sterile environments to the field while maintaining high survival rates.

Methods: The growth factors of somatic plantlets (SPs), such as sucrose, media, culture substrate, brassinolide and spectrum were investigated to promote the application of somatic nematode-resistant P.

A mechanistic study on the cellular uptake, intracellular trafficking, and antisense gene regulation of bottlebrush polymer-conjugated oligonucleotides.

We have developed a non-cationic transfection vector in the form of bottlebrush polymer-antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) conjugates. Termed pacDNA (polymer-assisted compaction of DNA), these agents show improved biopharmaceutical characteristics and antisense potency while suppressing non-antisense side effects. Nonetheless, there still is a lack of the mechanistic understanding of the cellular uptake, subcellular trafficking, and gene knockdown with pacDNA.

Banoxantrone Coordinated Metal-Organic Framework for Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy.

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging with high spatial resolution has great potential as desired monitoring means in the high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgery of tumor. However, its penetration depth in the tissue is insufficient for achieving accurate intraoperative navigation, leading to residual tumor tissue. Nanomedicine provides a new opportunity for PA imaging to guide HIFU surgery.

A Long-Circulating Vector for Aptamers Based upon Polyphosphodiester-Backboned Molecular Brushes.

Aptamers face challenges for use outside the ideal conditions in which they are developed. These difficulties are most palpable in vivo due to nuclease activities, rapid clearance, and off-target binding. Herein, we demonstrate that a polyphosphodiester-backboned molecular brush can suppress enzymatic digestion, reduce non-specific cell uptake, enable long blood circulation, and rescue the bioactivity of a conjugated aptamer in vivo.

Targeting oncogenic KRAS with molecular brush-conjugated antisense oligonucleotides.

The mutant form of the guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) KRAS is a key driver in human tumors but remains a challenging therapeutic target, making cancers a highly unmet clinical need. Here, we report a class of bottlebrush polyethylene glycol (PEG)-conjugated antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) for potent in vivo KRAS depletion. Owing to their highly branched architecture, these molecular nanoconstructs suppress nearly all side effects associated with DNA-protein interactions and substantially enhance the pharmacological properties of the ASO, such as plasma pharmacokinetics and tumor uptake.

Interaction of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with host CD36 genetic variant for gut microbiome and blood lipids in human cohorts.

Background & Aims: Previous studies suggest an interaction of CD36 genetic variant rs1527483 with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) to modulate blood lipids. However, successful replication is lacking and the role of gut microbiome remains unclear. Here, we aimed to replicate these gene-diet interactions on blood lipids and investigate their possible associations with gut microbiome.

Application of an ultrasound semi-quantitative assessment in the degradation of silk fibroin scaffolds in vivo.

Background: Research on the degradation of silk fibroin (SF) scaffolds in vivo lacks uniform and effective standards and experimental evaluation methods. This study aims to evaluate the application of ultrasound in assessing the degradation of SF scaffolds.

Methods: Two groups of three-dimensional regenerated SF scaffolds (3D RSFs) were implanted subcutaneously into the backs of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Isoflavone biomarkers are inversely associated with atherosclerosis progression in adults: a prospective study.

Background: Many studies have examined associations between dietary isoflavones and atherosclerosis, but few used objective biomarkers.

Objectives: We examined the associations of isoflavone biomarkers (primary analyses) and equol production (secondary analyses) with the progression of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), and whether inflammation, systolic blood pressure (SBP), blood lipids, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) mediated these associations, in Chinese adults.

Methods: This 8.

Phytolith-occluded carbon sequestration potential in three major steppe types along a precipitation gradient in Northern China.

Phytolith-occluded carbon (PhytOC) is an important long-term stable carbon fraction in grassland ecosystems and plays a promising role in global carbon sequestration. Determination of the PhytOC traits of different plants in major grassland types is crucial for precisely assessing their phytolith carbon sequestration potential. Precipitation is the predominant factor in controlling net primary productivity (NPP) and species composition of the semiarid steppe grasslands.

Interpretable Machine Learning Framework Reveals Robust Gut Microbiome Features Associated With Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective: To identify the core gut microbial features associated with type 2 diabetes risk and potential demographic, adiposity, and dietary factors associated with these features.

Research Design And Methods: We used an interpretable machine learning framework to identify the type 2 diabetes-related gut microbiome features in the cross-sectional analyses of three Chinese cohorts: one discovery cohort ( = 1,832, 270 cases of type 2 diabetes) and two validation cohorts (cohort 1: = 203, 48 cases; cohort 2: = 7,009, 608 cases). We constructed a microbiome risk score (MRS) with the identified features.

Dietary fruit and vegetable intake, gut microbiota, and type 2 diabetes: results from two large human cohort studies.

Background: Little is known about the inter-relationship among fruit and vegetable intake, gut microbiota and metabolites, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in human prospective cohort study. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prospective association of fruit and vegetable intake with human gut microbiota and to examine the relationship between fruit and vegetable-related gut microbiota and their related metabolites with type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk.

Methods: This study included 1879 middle-age elderly Chinese adults from Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS).

The interplay between host genetics and the gut microbiome reveals common and distinct microbiome features for complex human diseases.

Background: Interest in the interplay between host genetics and the gut microbiome in complex human diseases is increasing, with prior evidence mainly being derived from animal models. In addition, the shared and distinct microbiome features among complex human diseases remain largely unclear.

Results: This analysis was based on a Chinese population with 1475 participants.

Circulating Very-Long-Chain Saturated Fatty Acids Were Inversely Associated with Cardiovascular Health: A Prospective Cohort Study and Meta-Analysis.

Saturated fatty acids with different chain lengths have different biological activities, but little is known about very-long-chain saturated fatty acids (VLCSFAs). This study investigated the associations between the circulating VLCSFAs and cardiovascular health. This community-based cohort study included 2198 adults without carotid artery plaques (CAPs) at baseline.