Compost mediates the recruitment of core bacterial communities in alfalfa roots to enhance their productivity potential in saline-sodic soils.

Introduction: Composting is one of the effective environmental protection and sustainable measures for improving soil quality and increasing crop yield. However, due to the special physical and chemical properties of saline-sodic soil and the complex rhizosphere microecological environment, the potential mechanism of regulating plant growth after applying compost in saline-sodic soil remains elusive.

Methods: Here, we investigated the effects of different compost addition rates (0, 5, 15, 25%) on plant growth traits, soil chemical properties, and rhizosphere bacterial community structure.

Manual acupuncture ameliorates inflammatory pain by upregulating adenosine A receptor in complete Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis rats.

Background: Adenosine A receptor (AR) exerts analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-nociceptive effects. In this study, we determined the analgesic mechanism of manual acupuncture (MA) in rats with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis and explored whether MA ameliorates inflammation in these rats by upregulating AR.

Methods: Sixty Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the following groups: Control, CFA, CFA + MA, CFA + sham MA, CFA + MA + DMSO, CFA + MA + IB-MECA, and CFA + MA + Reversine groups.

Aloperine alleviates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Rationale: Excessive activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is involved in the pathological progression of acute lung injury (ALI). Aloperine (Alo) has anti-inflammatory effects in many inflammatory disease models; however, its role in ALI remains elusive. In this study, we addressed the role of Alo in NLRP3 inflammasome activation in both ALI mice and LPS-treated RAW264.

Beneficial effects of aloperine on inflammation and oxidative stress by suppressing necroptosis in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury mouse model.

Rationale: Alveolar epithelial cell death, inflammation, and oxidative stress are typical features of acute lung injury (ALI). Aloperine (Alo), an alkaloid isolated from Sophora alopecuroides, has been reported to display various biological effects, such as anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, and anti-oxidant properties. In this study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms of Alo in treating a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in a murine model.

polymorphisms and association with idiopathic asthenozoospermia in China.

Idiopathic asthenozoospermia, a common factor in male infertility, is characterized by altered sperm motility function in fresh ejaculate. Although the β-defensin 126 (DEFB126) protein is associated with asthenozoospermia, DEFB126 gene polymorphisms have not been extensively studied. Therefore, the association between DEFB126 gene polymorphisms and asthenozoospermia requires further investigation.

Phage peptides mediate precision base editing with focused targeting window.

Base editors (BEs) are genome engineering tools that can generate nucleotide substitutions without introducing double-stranded breaks (DSBs). A variety of strategies have been developed to improve the targeting scope and window of BEs. In a previous study, we found that a bacteriophage-derived peptide, referred to as G8P, could improve the specificity of Cas9 nuclease.

KPT330 improves Cas9 precision genome- and base-editing by selectively regulating mRNA nuclear export.

CRISPR-based genome engineering tools are associated with off-target effects that constitutively active Cas9 protein may instigate. Previous studies have revealed the feasibility of modulating Cas9-based genome- and base-editing tools using protein or small-molecule CRISPR inhibitors. Here we screened a set of small molecule compounds with irreversible warhead, aiming to identifying small-molecule modulators of CRISPR-Cas9.

Allosteric inhibition of CRISPR-Cas9 by bacteriophage-derived peptides.

Background: CRISPR-Cas9 has been developed as a therapeutic agent for various infectious and genetic diseases. In many clinically relevant applications, constitutively active CRISPR-Cas9 is delivered into human cells without a temporal control system. Excessive and prolonged expression of CRISPR-Cas9 can lead to elevated off-target cleavage.

AXL promotes Zika virus infection in astrocytes by antagonizing type I interferon signalling.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated with neonatal microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. While progress has been made in understanding the causal link between ZIKV infection and microcephaly, the life cycle and pathogenesis of ZIKV are less well understood. In particular, there are conflicting reports on the role of AXL, a TAM family kinase receptor that was initially described as the entry receptor for ZIKV.

Complex molecular mechanisms underlying seedling salt tolerance in rice revealed by comparative transcriptome and metabolomic profiling.

To understand the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying seedling salt tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.), the phenotypic, metabolic, and transcriptome responses of two related rice genotypes, IR64 and PL177, with contrasting salt tolerance were characterized under salt stress and salt+abscisic acid (ABA) conditions. PL177 showed significantly less salt damage, lower Na(+)/K(+) ratios in shoots, and Na(+) translocation from roots to shoots, attributed largely to better salt exclusion from its roots and salt compartmentation of its shoots.

SS1 (NAL1)- and SS2-Mediated Genetic Networks Underlying Source-Sink and Yield Traits in Rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Source leaf/sink capacity (SS) traits are important determinants of grain yield (GY) of rice. To understand the genetic basis of the SS relationship in rice, five SS and GY traits of rice were genetically dissected using two reciprocal introgression populations. Seventy-three QTL affecting the SS and GY traits were identified, most of which were detected in one of the parental genetic backgrounds (GBs).

Role of CREB in vasoactive intestinal peptide-mediated wound healing in human bronchial epithelial cells.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is one of the most important sensory neuropeptides in respiratory system. We previously reported that VIP enhances wound healing and proliferation of human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs), and these effects are mediated by intracellular signaling molecules such as protein kinase A (PKA), protein kinase C (PKC), Calmodulin (CaM), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). In the present study, we further investigated the role of cAMP Response Element Binding Protein (CREB) in VIP-promoted protective effects in mechanical-damaged HBECs.

Ozone stress down-regulates the expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator in human bronchial epithelial cells.

To investigate abnormalities of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) expression in chronic inflammatory airway diseases and its regulation mechanisms, the present study was designed to observe the expression of CFTR, CFTR chloride current and the possible relevant signal pathways in in vitro and in vivo bronchial epithelium by using real-time PCR, immunofluorescence, Western blot and whole cell patch-clamp. The results demonstrated that CFTR staining was decreased in rat airway epithelium under ozone stress. Ozone stress also down-regulated CFTR protein and mRNA expression and CFTR chloride current in cultured human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC).

[Effect of calcitonin-gene-related peptide on MMP-9 production in human bronchial epithelial cells].

Objective: To examine the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in human bronchial epithelial cells treated with calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP).

Methods: RT-PCR and gelatin zymography were performed to examine the dynamic expression and activity of MMP-9 in human bronchial epithelial cells at different doses (10(-10), 10(-9), 10(-8), 10(-7), and 10(-6)mol/L) and different time points (6,12,18,24,36, and 48h) after the stimulation of CGRP.

Results: The unstimulated human bronchial epithelial cells only secreted a small amount of MMP-9.

Intracellular signaling molecules involved in vasoactive intestinal peptide-mediated wound healing in human bronchial epithelial cells.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic neuromediator, plays an important role in maintaining the bronchial tone of the airway and has anti-inflammatory properties. Recently, we reported that VIP enhances wound repair in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC). In the present study, we have identified the intracellular signaling molecules that are involved in VIP-mediated wound healing in HBEC.

[Effects of CGRP on LPS-induced MMP-9 secretion by alveolar macrophages].

Aim: To explore the effects of calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP) on LPS-induced MMP-9 secretion by alveolar macrophages (AM) in vitro.

Methods: The supernatant of LPS-induced Wistar rat AM from different intervention groups were collected to measure the activity by gelatin zymography.

Results: (Only secreting a small amount of MMP-9 with unstimulated AM, LPS stimulated MMP-9 production in a concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide enhances wound healing and proliferation of human bronchial epithelial cells.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on wound healing of bronchial epithelium. Wound healing of the mechanical damaged human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) was observed in the absence or presence of VIP. Effects of VIP on chemotactic migration, cell proliferation of HBEC were also tested.