Txnip promotes autophagic apoptosis in diabetic cardiomyopathy by upregulating FoxO1 and its acetylation.

Autophagy dysfunction and apoptosis exacerbate the risk of heart failure in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, the interactions between autophagy and apoptosis in DCM and their underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study induced type 1 DCM in C57BL/6 mice via streptozotocin injection and exposed H9C2 cells to high glucose to investigate these mechanisms.

Associations of iron metabolism and inflammation with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a large NHANES community sample: Moderating and mediating effects.

Background And Aims: This study aimed to assess the associations between serum iron concentration, C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration and the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality in the general population and to explore potential mediating and moderating effects.

Methods And Results: This study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning the years 1999-2010, encompassing 23,634 participants. Cox proportional hazards regression models were employed to investigate the independent associations of serum iron and CRP with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

The mechanisms and therapeutic potential of clopidogrel in mitigating diabetic cardiomyopathy in db/db mice.

Clopidogrel has been shown to play a protective role against diabetic nephropathy. However, whether clopidogrel exerts a protective effect against diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is unknown. Three-month-old male db/db mice were administered clopidogrel daily at doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg by gavage for 5 months.

The causal effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on coronary heart disease is mediated by the body mass index: a Mendelian randomization study.

The association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and coronary heart disease (CHD) remains controversial, with an unclear causal link. This study employed bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) method, using H.

A Coarse-Grained Interaction Model for Sodium Dominant Montmorillonite.

Montmorillonite is the main crystalline mineral present in bentonite. It is an absorbent, swelling material; the physical chemistry underlying its ability to absorb water and swell occurs at the nanoscale, governed by electrical double-layer interactions. In turn, absorption and swelling lead to important changes in the macroscopic transport properties of the clay.

Prognostic Impact of Serum CRP Level in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective: This study evaluated the association of pretreatment serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level with prognosis in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Methods: Within a single-center retrospective study, HNSCC patients receiving treatment between 2014 and 2016 were analyzed regarding the prognostic value of CRP serum levels. X-Tile software was used to determine the optimal cutoff value of serum CRP level.

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: NT5E Could Be a Prognostic Biomarker.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a type of tumour with a relatively poor prognosis. In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as CTLA-4 and PD-1/PDL-1 inhibitors, have improved the treatment status of advanced tumours. However, the emergence of drug resistance has brought difficulties to clinical treatment, and new immune checkpoint research is imminent.

The Ganglioside Monosialotetrahexosylganglioside Protects Auditory Hair Cells Against Neomycin-Induced Cytotoxicity Through Mitochondrial Antioxidation: An Study.

Neomycin is a common ototoxic aminoglycoside antibiotic that causes sensory hearing disorders worldwide, and monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1) is reported to have antioxidant effects that protect various cells. However, little is known about the effect of GM1 on neomycin-induced hair cell (HC) ototoxic damage and related mechanism. In this study, cochlear HC-like HEI-OC-1 cells along with whole-organ explant cultures were used to establish an neomycin-induced HC damage model, and then the apoptosis rate, the balance of oxidative and antioxidant gene expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were measured.

Expression Patterns of Three Important Hormone Genes and Respiratory Metabolism in during Pupal Diapause under a Long Photoperiod.

The Chinese oak silkworm is commonly used in pupal diapause research. In this study, a long photoperiod was used to trigger pupal diapause termination. Genes encoding three hormones, namely prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH), ecdysis triggering hormone (ETH), and eclosion hormone (EH), were studied.

Silver oxide model surface improves computational simulation of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy on silver nanoparticles.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled with density functional theory (DFT) computations can characterise the adsorption orientation of a molecule on a nanoparticle surface. When using DFT to simulate SERS on a silver surface, one typically employs an atom (Ag), ion (Ag+), or cluster (Agx or Agx+) as the model surface. Here, by examining the nucleobase 2,6-diaminopurine (2,6-DAP) and then generalising our strategy to three other molecules, we show that employing silver oxide (Ag2O) as the model surface can quantitatively improve the accuracy of simulated SERS.

Sestrin2 is an endogenous antioxidant that improves contractile function in the heart during exposure to ischemia and reperfusion stress.

Sestrin2 (Sesn2) is a stress-inducible protein that plays a critical role in the response to ischemic stress. We recently recognized that Sesn2 may protect the heart against ischemic insults by reducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). After 45 min of ischemia followed by 24 h of reperfusion, myocardial infarcts were significantly larger in Sesn2 KO hearts than in wild-type hearts.

The Multifaceted Role of Astrocyte Connexin 43 in Ischemic Stroke Through Forming Hemichannels and Gap Junctions.

Ischemic stroke is a multi-factorial cerebrovascular disease with high worldwide morbidity and mortality. In the past few years, multiple studies have revealed the underlying mechanism of ischemia/reperfusion injury, including calcium overload, amino acid toxicity, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Connexin 43 (Cx43), the predominant connexin protein in astrocytes, has been recently proven to display non-substitutable roles in the pathology of ischemic stroke development and progression through forming gap junctions and hemichannels.

Determination of Alternaria toxins in drinking water by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

A sensitive and reliable analytical method has been developed and validated for the determination of five Alternaria toxins, including tenuazonic acid (TeA), alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), altenuene (ALT), and tentoxin (TEN), in drinking water using a one-step enrichment and clean-up strategy followed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Drinking water samples were preprocessed using excess sodium sulfite to remove residual chlorine, and the pH was adjusted by formic acid. Analytes were concentrated and purified from the water samples using hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced (HLB) solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges.

β-catenin regulates IRF3-mediated innate immune signalling in colorectal cancer.

Objective: β-catenin is one of the most critical oncogenes associated with many kinds of human cancers, especially in the human CRC. Innate immunity recognizes tumour derived damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and primes the anti-tumour adaptive responses. While the function of β-catenin in CRC tumourigenesis is well established, its impact on innate immune evasion is largely unknown.

Hyper activation of β-catenin signalling induced by IKKε inhibition thwarts colorectal cancer cell proliferation.

Objective: Aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling contributes significantly to the development of human colorectal cancers and β-catenin is the key signalling molecule transducing canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling. Therefore, β-catenin is a promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment. This study demonstrates that the oncogenic IKKε kinase phosphorylates β-catenin to restrain its hyper activation, therefore promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) cell proliferation.

Biomarkers of cigarette smoking and DNA methylating agents: Raman, SERS and DFT study of 3-methyladenine and 7-methyladenine.

3-Methyladenine and 7-methyladenine are biomarkers of DNA damage from exposure to methylating agents. For example, the concentration of 3-methyladenine increases significantly in the urine of cigarette smokers. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has shown much potential for detection of biomolecules, including DNA.

High pressure chemistry of thioaldehydes: A first-principles molecular dynamics study.

First-principles molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the chemical behavior of bulk thioacetaldehyde (MeC(H)S) in response to changes in pressure, P. The simulations show that these molecules oligomerize in response to applied P. Oligomerization is initiated through C-S bond formation, with constrained dynamics simulations showing that the barrier to this reaction step is lowered significantly by applied P.

Electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (E-SERS) of novel biodegradable ionic liquids.

Electrochemical SERS (E-SERS) was used for the first time to study the interfacial behavior of a class of pyridinium-based biodegradable ionic liquids at a silver nanoparticle (AgNP) electrode surface. An isomeric series of ionic liquids (IL) based on 3-butoxycarbonyl-1-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide were prepared, which have demonstrable biodegradability. It was found that all four of the isomeric ionic liquids studied exhibited excellent electrochemical stability as binary mixtures combined with methanol, with the absence of any specific redox processes occurring over nearly 3.