High Abundance of Thaumarchaeota Found in Deep Metamorphic Subsurface in Eastern China.

Members of the Thaumarchaeota phylum play a key role in nitrogen cycling and are prevalent in a variety of environments including soil, sediment, and seawater. However, few studies have shown the presence of Thaumarchaeota in the terrestrial deep subsurface. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, this study presents evidence for the high relative abundance of Thaumarchaeota in a biofilm sample collected from the well of Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling at a depth of 2000 m.

Construction of a reconfigurable DNA nanocage for encapsulating a TMV disk.

A new reconfigurable DNA nanocage based on a DNA origami method has been constructed to capture a tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) disk. We used a hairpin to control the transformation of the nanocage and a strand of TMV RNA to attract the TMV disk. Our design could inspire new DNA-protein complex designs.

Engineer chimeric Cas9 to expand PAM recognition based on evolutionary information.

Although Cas9 nucleases are remarkably diverse in microorganisms, the range of genomic sequences targetable by a CRISPR/Cas9 system is restricted by the requirement of a short protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) at the target site. Here, we generate a group of chimeric Cas9 (cCas9) variants by replacing the key region in the PAM interaction (PI) domain of Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9) with the corresponding region in a panel of SaCas9 orthologs. By using a functional assay at target sites with different nucleotide recombinations at PAM position 3-6, we identify several cCas9 variants with expanded recognition capability at NNVRRN, NNVACT, NNVATG, NNVATT, NNVGCT, NNVGTG, and NNVGTT PAM sequences.

Neuroprotective effects of Coptis chinensis Franch polysaccharide on amyloid-beta (Aβ)-induced toxicity in a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

This study aims to investigate the neuroprotective effects of Coptis chinensis Franch polysaccharide (CCP) on Aβ transgenic CL4176 Caenorhabditis elegans, as well as its mechanism of action. The results in life span experiment showed that CCP could significantly increase the lifespan of C. elegans and the effect is in the descending order of 100mg/L>500mg/L>200mg/L.

[The construction and application of a novel apparatus for detecting oxygen consumption of mice under normobaric hypoxia].

Objective: To establish a method for real-time recording the oxygen consumption of mice under normobaric hypoxia.

Methods: The experimental apparatus was made up of animal container, filling water control system, electronic balance, hose, a computer with weight recording software, etc. The working principle was that the oxygen consumed by animal was replaced by water filling which was controlled by the pneumatic and hydraulic actuator.

[Choline promotes angiogenesis in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane].

Objective: To investigate choline promoting angiogenesis on chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM).

Methods: CAM model was prepared, the choline chloride, human vascular endothelial growth factor (hVEGF) and normal saline were added respectively onto the carrier on the CAM, the state of angiogenesis was observed and the number of new blood vessels was counted.

Results: Choline chloride was tested at the concentrations of 0.