Microglial DBP Signaling Mediates Behavioral Abnormality Induced by Chronic Periodontitis in Mice.

Several lines of evidence implicate that chronic periodontitis (CP) increases the risk of mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression, yet, the associated molecular mechanism for this remains poorly defined. Here, it is reported that mice subjected to CP exhibited depression-like behaviors and hippocampal memory deficits, accompanied by synapse loss and neurogenesis impairment in the hippocampus. RNA microarray analysis disclosed that albumin D-site-binding protein (DBP) is identified as the most prominently upregulated target gene following CP, and in vivo and in vitro immunofluorescence methods showed that DBP is preferentially expressed in microglia but not neurons or astrocytes in the hippocampus.

Regulation of anxiety-like behaviors by S-palmitoylation and S-nitrosylation in basolateral amygdala.

Protein posttranslational modification regulates synaptic protein stability, sorting and trafficking, and is involved in emotional disorders. Yet the molecular mechanisms regulating emotional disorders remain unelucidated. Here we report unknown roles of protein palmitoylation/nitrosylation crosstalk in regulating anxiety-like behaviors in rats.

Nootkatone, a Sesquiterpene Ketone From Fructus, Ameliorates Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver by Regulating AMPK and MAPK Signaling.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is becoming more common due to lifestyle changes. A long-term high-fat and high-glucose diet induces glycolipid metabolism disorders in the liver, which results in the development of MAFLD. To date, there is no specific clinically useful therapeutics for this disease.

Repeated vagus nerve stimulation produces anxiolytic effects via upregulation of AMPAR function in centrolateral amygdala of male rats.

Repeated vagus nerve stimulation (rVNS) exerts anxiolytic effect by activation of noradrenergic pathway. Centrolateral amygdala (CeL), a lateral subdivision of central amygdala, receives noradrenergic inputs, and its neuronal activity is positively correlated to anxiolytic effect of benzodiazepines. The activation of β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) could enhance glutamatergic transmission in CeL.

APT1-Mediated Depalmitoylation Regulates Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity.

Palmitoylation may be relevant to the processes of learning and memory, and even disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and aging-related cognitive decline. However, underlying mechanisms of palmitoylation in these processes remain unclear. Herein, we used acyl-biotin exchange, coimmunoprecipitation and biotinylation assays, and behavioral and electrophysiological methods, to explore whether palmitoylation is required for hippocampal synaptic transmission and fear memory formation, and involved in functional modification of synaptic proteins, such as postsynapse density-95 (PSD-95) and glutamate receptors, and detected if depalmitoylation by specific enzymes has influence on glutamatergic synaptic plasticity.

mTORC1 Signaling Pathway Mediates Chronic Stress-Induced Synapse Loss in the Hippocampus.

The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling has served as a promising target for therapeutic intervention of major depressive disorder (MDD), but the mTORC1 signaling underlying MDD has not been well elucidated. In the present study, we investigated whether mTORC1 signaling pathway mediates synapse loss induced by chronic stress in the hippocampus. Chronic restraint stress-induced depression-like behaviors were tested by behavior tests (sucrose preference test, forced swim test and tail suspension test).

Mangiferin Ameliorates HFD-Induced NAFLD through Regulation of the AMPK and NLRP3 Inflammasome Signal Pathways.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely related to glycolipid metabolism and liver inflammation. And there is no effective drug approved for its clinical therapy. In this study, we focused on mangiferin (Man) and explored its effects and mechanisms on NAFLD treatment based on the regulation of glycolipid metabolism and anti-inflammatory and .

Investigations of Cr(VI) removal by millet bran biochar modified with inorganic compounds: Momentous role of additional lactate.

In this study, millet bran biochars modified with inorganic compounds (HPO: P-BC, NaOH: Na-BC and KCO: K-BC) were prepared and applied for Cr(VI) removal to evaluate the effects of modification on biochars' physicochemical properties. The results showed that Cr(VI) reduction capacity complied with the order of Na-BC > BC > P-BC > K-BC, and reductive groups such as -OH and -NH played considerable roles in electrons donating. Based on this, lactate was added for further investigation of electrons transferring.

Elevated SLC6A6 expression drives tumorigenesis and affects clinical outcomes in gastric cancer.

Aim: To assess SLC6A6 expression in gastric cancer, its correlation with patients' clinicopathological features and survival, and the possible epigenetic regulation mechanism.

Methods: Expression profiles and methylation data were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and the Cancer Genome Atlas. The SLC6A6's protein level were obtained from the Human Protein Atlas.

Gephyrin Palmitoylation in Basolateral Amygdala Mediates the Anxiolytic Action of Benzodiazepine.

Background: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) have been used to treat anxiety disorders for more than five decades as the allosteric modulator of the gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor (GABAR). Little is known about other mechanisms of BZDs. Here, we describe how the rapid stabilization of postsynaptic GABAR is essential and sufficient for the anxiolytic effect of BZDs via a palmitoylation-dependent mechanism.

Highly-uniform resonator-based visible spectrometer on a SiN platform with robust and accurate post-fabrication trimming.

A resonator array-based spectrometer for visible/near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths is fabricated on a low-loss silicon nitride (SiN) material platform. Ideally, a spectrometer should uniformly sample the input spectrum. However, resonator-based spectrometers, in which each spectral sample corresponds to resonance wavelength of one of the resonators in the array, suffer from wavelength sampling non-uniformity caused by the high sensitivity of the resonant wavelengths of different resonators to the dimensional variations caused by fabrication imperfections.

De-palmitoylation by N-(tert-Butyl) hydroxylamine inhibits AMPAR-mediated synaptic transmission via affecting receptor distribution in postsynaptic densities.

Aims: Palmitoylation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) subunits or their "scaffold" proteins produce opposite effects on AMPAR surface delivery. Considering AMPARs have long been identified as suitable drug targets for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, targeting palmitoylation signaling to regulate AMPAR function emerges as a novel therapeutic strategy. However, until now, much less is known about the effect of palmitoylation-deficient state on AMPAR function.

Dorsal raphe projection inhibits the excitatory inputs on lateral habenula and alleviates depressive behaviors in rats.

Hypofunction of the serotonergic (5-HT) system has close relationship with the symptoms in major depressive disorders (MDD), however, the underlying neural circuitry mechanisms are not fully understood. Lateral habenula (LHb) plays a crucial role in aversive behaviors and is activated in conditions of depression. It has been reported that 5-HT inhibits the excitability of LHb neurons, leading to the hypothesis that decreased transmission of 5-HT would elevate the activity of LHb and therefore mediates depressive symptoms.

Hybrid integrated plasmonic-photonic waveguides for on-chip localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing and spectroscopy.

We experimentally demonstrate efficient extinction spectroscopy of single plasmonic gold nanorods with exquisite fidelity (SNR > 20dB) and high efficiency light coupling (e. g., 9.

Vertical integration of high-Q silicon nitride microresonators into silicon-on-insulator platform.

We demonstrate a vertical integration of high-Q silicon nitride microresonators into the silicon-on-insulator platform for applications at the telecommunication wavelengths. Low-loss silicon nitride films with a thickness of 400 nm are successfully grown, enabling compact silicon nitride microresonators with ultra-high intrinsic Qs (~ 6 × 10(6) for 60 μm radius and ~ 2 × 10(7) for 240 μm radius). The coupling between the silicon nitride microresonator and the underneath silicon waveguide is based on evanescent coupling with silicon dioxide as buffer.

Azimuthal-order variations of surface-roughness-induced mode splitting and scattering loss in high-Q microdisk resonators.

We report an experimental observation of strong variations of quality factor and mode splitting among whispering-gallery modes with the same radial order and different azimuthal orders in a scattering-limited microdisk resonator. A theoretical analysis based on the statistical properties of the surface roughness reveals that mode splittings for different azimuthal orders are uncorrelated, and variations of mode splitting and quality factor among the same radial mode family are possible. Simulation results agree well with the experimental observations.

High resolution on-chip spectroscopy based on miniaturized microdonut resonators.

We experimentally demonstrate a high resolution integrated spectrometer on silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate using a large-scale array of microdonut resonators. Through top-view imaging and processing, the measured spectral response of the spectrometer shows a linewidth of ~0.6 nm with an operating bandwidth of ~50 nm.