CD3ε of a pan T cell marker involved in mouse keratitis.

Aim: To explore whether CD3ε is involved in the adaptive immunity of () keratitis in mice and the role of innate and adaptive immunity in it.

Methods: Mice models of keratitis were established by intra-stromal injection and corneal epithelial scratching. Subconjunctival injections of natamycin, wedelolactone, LOX-1 inhibitor (poly I) or Dectin-1 inhibitor (laminarin) were used to treat mice with keratitis.

Triple signal amplification strategy for ultrasensitive in situ imaging of intracellular telomerase RNA.

Abnormal upregulation of telomerase RNA (TR) is a hallmark event at various stages of tumor progression, providing a universal marker for early diagnosis of cancer. Here, we have developed a triple signal amplification strategy for in situ visualization of TR in living cells, which sequentially incorporated the target-initiated strand displacement circuit, multidirectional rolling circle amplification (RCA), and Mg DNAzyme-mediated amplification. All oligonucleotide probes and cofactors were transfected into cells in one go, and then escaped from lysosomes successfully.

Could the EQ-5D-3L predict all-cause mortality in older Chinese? Evidence from a 5-year longitudinal study in eastern China.

Purpose: To assess the ability of the 3-level EQ-5D (i.e., EQ-5D-3L) in predicting all-cause mortality in older Chinese adults.

Living-Cell MicroRNA Imaging with Self-Assembling Fragments of Fluorescent Protein-Mimic RNA Aptamer.

As the cellular roles of RNA abundance continue to increase, there is an urgent need for the corresponding tools to elucidate native RNA functions and dynamics, especially those of short, low-abundance RNAs in live cells. Fluorescent RNA aptamers provide a useful strategy to create the RNA tag and biosensor devices. Corn, which binds with 3,5-difluoro-4-hydroxybenzylidene-imidazolinone-2-oxime (DFHO), is a good candidate for the RNA tag because of its enhanced photostability and red-shifted spectrum.

Tea consumption and serum uric acid levels among older adults in three large-scale population-based studies in China.

Background And Aims: The association between serum uric acid (SUA) and tea consumption has been studied in previous work, and there were arguments among various population group employed as well as different statistical approaches. The aim of this work is to investigate the tea effect on SUA levels among older adults by comparing three large-scale populations with both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Method: We examined the relationship between intake and SUA levels among older adults using linear regression.

Leukocyte related parameters in older adults with metabolically healthy and unhealthy overweight or obesity.

It remains unclear whether leukocyte-related parameters could be used as biomarkers to differentiate metabolically unhealthy overweight/obesity (MUO) from metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHO). We aimed to examine the differences in the distribution of leukocyte-related parameters between older adults with MHO and MUO and the correlations of leukocyte-related parameters with individual components of metabolic abnormality. In the Weitang Geriatric Diseases Study on older Chinese adults aged 60 years or above, 404 individuals with MHO and 480 with MUO contributed to the analysis.

Platelet parameters in Chinese older adults with metabolic syndrome.

Purpose: We aimed to examine the associations of platelet parameters with the presence of metabolic syndrome in community-dwelling older Chinese adults.

Methods: Study sample was from the Weitang Geriatric Diseases Study, which included 4338 individuals aged 60 years or above. The mean age of the participants was 68 years.

Drug-Related Hypertension Associated with the Efficacy of Apatinib on Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Purpose: We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of apatinib as a first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explored whether drug-related hypertension (HTN) could predict its efficacy.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective analysis included patients with advanced HCC who received oral treatment with apatinib. We evaluated the effectiveness by overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression (TTP), and disease control rate (DCR), and assessed the safety of the drug based on the occurrence of adverse events.

Leukocyte-related parameters in older adults with metabolic syndrome.

Purpose: We aimed to examine the association between leukocyte-related parameters and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in community-dwelling older Chinese adults, with a special focus on assessing the diagnostic ability of leukocyte-related parameters in detecting MetS and the potential interaction effect of sex in the leukocyte-MetS relationship.

Methods: Study sample was from the Weitang Geriatric Diseases Study, which included 4579 individuals aged 60 years or above. MetS was diagnosed based on the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria.

A self-powered 3D DNA walker with programmability and signal-amplification for illuminating microRNA in living cells.

Based on the structural programmability and spatial addressability of DNA nanodevices, a target-triggered, enzyme-free 3D DNA walker, comprising of hairpin DNA assembled gold nanoparticles with a local catalytic hairpin assembly reaction, was developed for the highly sensitive detection of intracellular tumor-associated microRNAs.

In situ imaging and interfering Dicer-mediated cleavage process via a versatile molecular beacon probe.

A novel versatile locked nucleic acid modified molecular beacon probe (LNA-MB) was developed for imaging intracellular precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs) and disturbing Dicer-mediated cleavage process. The target recognition reaction between the smart probe and pre-miRNA can not only induce the conformational changes of probe and block the Dicer cleavage site, but also inhibit the cleavage process, and then achieve down-regulation of miRNA expression. Simultaneously, the target recognition reaction broke the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between fluorophore donor FAM and acceptor TAMRA, which were labelled on the LNA-MB probe, further induced the relevant change of fluorescence signal, and then achieved imaging analysis of pre-miRNA and inhibition events in situ.

NIR-Activated Spatiotemporally Controllable Nanoagent for Achieving Synergistic Gene-Chemo-Photothermal Therapy in Tumor Ablation.

A rational combination of different therapeutic modalities within one single nanostructure is promising to enhance the therapeutic response, especially to achieve a synergistic therapeutic efficacy for tumor treatment. Herein, a near-infrared (NIR) photothermally activated nanoagent, which could achieve a spatially controllable codelivery of different curative molecules and a temporally controlled responsive release, was designed to perform effective gene-chemo-photothermal therapy of malignant tumors. The nanoagent consisted of a gold nanorod (AuNR) functionalized with mPEG, DNA, and small interfering RNA (siRNA).

Compound heterozygous mutations in gene leads to severe primary congenital glaucoma phenotype.

Aim: To identify the novel mutation alleles in the gene of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) patients at Shandong Province of China, and investigate their correlation with glaucomatous features.

Methods: The DNA from the peripheral blood of 13 congenital glaucoma patients and 50 ethnically matched healthy controls from the affiliated hospital of Qingdao University were extracted. The coding region of the gene was amplified by PCR and direct DNA sequencing was performed.

Effects of chronic elevated intraocular pressure on parameters of optical coherence tomography in rhesus monkeys.

Aim: To determine the progression of parameters from optical coherence tomography (OCT) in chronic elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) monkeys.

Methods: A chronic elevated IOP model of rhesus monkeys was induced by laser photocoagulation. Representative OCT parameters, including the average and four-quadrant retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and parameters from optic nerve head (ONH) analysis were collected before and after laser treatments biweekly for up to 28wk.

RNA chaperone assisted intramolecular annealing reaction towards oligouridylated RNA detection in cancer cells.

Proximity induced intramolecular nucleotide strand displacement, which can be simply performed in a single tube or in a complex cellular environment, is one of the key mechanisms for the detection of biological targets, especially for significant genetic molecules. The host factor for RNA phage Qb replication (Hfq), with two distinct single stranded RNA binding sites, has excellent properties as an affinity ligand in a proximity induced reaction. In this research, a versatile RNA chaperone-Hfq assisted RNA annealing strategy for the sensitive detection of the intermediate product, oligouridylated RNA, in a genetic regulation process was developed.

Early expression of PTX3 in infected rat cornea.

Aim: To investigate the expression of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in rat corneal epithelium at the early stage of () infection.

Methods: A total of 50 Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group, Sham group and experimental group (fungal keratitis group, FK group). The right eye was chosen as the experiment one and infected by .

In Situ Visualization of hERG Potassium Channel via Dual Signal Amplification.

Dysfunction of the human ether-a-go-go related gene (hERG)-encoded potassium channel is identified as a major cause of the long QT syndrome, a marker for lethal cardiac arrhythmia. Furthermore, recent studies revealed that hERG K channel is a regulator of tumor cell apoptosis and proliferation. Herein, an ultrasensitive fluorescence assay combining DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles and rolling circle amplification (RCA) was attempted for the first time to visualize hERG channels in living cells.

Regulation and imaging of gene expression an RNA interference antagonistic biomimetic probe.

Regulation of gene expression is highly important in the area of cell biology. In this work a novel convenient and versatile strategy is reported which permits both gene regulation and imaging in living cells. An oligonucleotide-based biomimetic probe was designed to target an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) and served as an agent for the modulation of c-Myc protein expression in living cells through regulating the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway.

Reliable Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Probe Based on Structure-Switching DNA for Ratiometric Sensing of Telomerase in Living Cells.

In situ detection and monitoring of telomerase is of great importance as it is a relatively specific cancer target. However, the complexity of the biological system makes it difficult for the nanoprobe to keep absolutely stable and have a low background in living cells. This study designs a probe termed Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) nanoflare to achieve ratiometric fluorescent detection of intracellular telomerase with higher specificity, which can effectively resist the disturbance from DNase I and GSH, etc.

[Delivery of megawatts high energy laser pulse with large core diameter silica fiber and its application in dual-wavelength laser-ablation laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy].

To resolve the contradiction between spatial resolution and analysis sensitivity in single pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a study on dual-wavelength laser-ablation laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LA-LIBS) was carried out by using one Nd : YAG laser which was capable of two laser beam outputs with different wavelengths, where, the second harmonic output, 532 nm laser beam, was used as laser-ablation source, and the fundamental output, 1064 nm laser beam, was delivered with a large core diameter silica fiber to realize nanoseconds time-delay and then used to breakdown the ablated samples. Two laser beams were orthogonally arranged to realize element analysis with high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. Some key techniques on the coupling of 1064 nm laser beam into fiber, the collimation of laser at the fiber end and re-focusing of the laser beam were studied.

[Spatial distribution patterns of soil organic carbon under Elacagnus angustifolia--Achnatherum splendens community in an arid area of Northwest China].

An investigation was conducted to study the relationships of soil organic carbon (SOC) content with root biomass and soil moisture content as well as the accumulation mechanisms of SOC under the Elacagnus angustifolia-Achnatherum splenden community in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of Northwest China. The results showed that the SOC content decreased gradually with increasing soil depth, and changed gently in both horizontal and vertical directions. The correlations of the SOC content and its affecting factors varied with soil depth.

Role of mitochondria in the pathogenesis and treatment of glaucoma.

Objective: To gain insight into the potential mechanism of mitochondria dysfunction in pathogenesis, progression and therapeutic management of glaucoma.

Data Sources: The data used in this review were mainly published in English from 2000 to present obtained from PubMed. The search terms were "mitochondria", "glaucoma" and "trabecular meshwork" or "retinal ganglion cells".

Optimization of heme precursors for the expression of human cytochrome P450 2A13 and its co-expression with oxidoreductase in baculovirus/sf9 system.

Human cytochrome P450 2A13 (CYP2A13), mainly expressed in respiratory tract, is active towards numerous toxicants. To establish the metabolism in vitro, we expressed CYP2A13 and NADPH-CYP450 oxidoreductase (POR) in a baculovirus/sf9 system. Due to the deficiency of sf9 cells in heme incorporation, we investigated the effects of different heme precursors on the expression of CYP2A13, POR and their co-expression.