Long Noncoding RNA MEG3-205/Let-7a/MyD88 Axis Promotes Renal Inflammation and Fibrosis in Diabetic Nephropathy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the role and mechanism of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3)-205 in renal inflammation and fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Materials And Methods: lncRNA microarray profiling was used to examine differentially expressed lncRNAs of kidney tissues in db/db mice compared to db/m mice. Mouse mesangial cells (mMCs) were cultured in vitro with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) via transfection with lncRNA MEG3-205 siRNAs or plasmids.

The protective effects of systemic dexamethasone on sensory epithelial damage and hearing loss in targeted Cx26-null mice.

Mutations in the GJB2 gene (encoding Connexin26(Cx26)) are the most common cause of hereditary deafness, accounting for about a quarter of all cases. Sensory epithelial damage is considered to be one of the main causes of deafness caused by GJB2 gene mutation. Dexamethasone (DEX) is widely used in the treatment of a variety of inner ear diseases including sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and deafness caused by ototoxic drugs.

Nitrogen application alleviates salt stress by enhancing osmotic balance, ROS scavenging, and photosynthesis of rapeseed seedlings ().

Nitrogen application could alleviate salt stress on crops, but the specific physiological mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, in this study, a pot experiment was conducted to explore the effects of different application rates of nitrogen (0, 0.15, 0.

Association of a Novel DOCK2 Mutation-Related Gene Signature With Immune in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Many studies have shown that dedicator of cytokinesis 2 (DOCK2) has a crucial role as a prognostic factor in various cancers. However, the potentiality of DOCK2 in the diagnosis of HCC has not been fully elucidated.

Autophagy-related long non-coding RNA prognostic model predicts prognosis and survival of melanoma patients.

Background: Melanomas are malignant tumors that can occur in different body parts or tissues such as the skin, mucous membrane, uvea, and pia mater. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key factors in the occurrence and development of many malignant tumors, and are involved in the prognosis of some patients.

Aim: To identify autophagy-related lncRNAs in melanoma that are crucial for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of melanoma patients.

Association Between Blood Flow Pattern and Rupture Risk of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Objectives: This study aimed to derive a novel classification of blood flow pattern in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) based on computational fluid dynamics (CFDs), and to determine the predictive value of flow patterns in AAA rupture.

Methods: This was an age and sex matched case control study. Cases were identified as patients who underwent emergency endovascular or open repair due to ruptured or AAA at risk of impending rupture.

Metal ions-bridged J-aggregation mediated nanoassembly composition for breast cancer phototherapy.

Recently, the highly ordered J-aggregates of organic dyes with intriguing optical properties have received considerable attention in biomedical applications. Herein, binary metal ions Mn(II)/Fe(III) are used to induce the formation of indocyanine green (ICG) J-aggregates. Further, the sheet-like J-aggregates are able to act as "carriers" for loading hydrophobic chemotherapeutic gambogic acid (GA), realizing the effect of "killing two birds with one stone" for both treatment and delivery.

Thyroid nodule segmentation and classification in ultrasound images through intra- and inter-task consistent learning.

Thyroid nodule segmentation and classification in ultrasound images are two essential but challenging tasks for computer-aided diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Since these two tasks are inherently related to each other and sharing some common features, solving them jointly with multi-task leaning is a promising direction. However, both previous studies and our experimental results confirm the problem of inconsistent predictions among these related tasks.

Organic Matter and Total Nitrogen Lead to Different Microbial Community Structure in Sediments Between Lagoon and Surrounding Areas by Regulating Abundance.

Coastal lagoon is an important productive ecosystem on the Earth. In this study, we compared microbial community in the sediments between lagoon and surrounding areas, and explored mechanism for the variation of microbial community. As a result, the sediment of surrounding area showed significantly higher organic matter and total nitrogen than that of the lagoon.

Chemical-induced gene expression ranking and its application to pancreatic cancer drug repurposing.

Chemical-induced gene expression profiles provide critical information of chemicals in a biological system, thus offering new opportunities for drug discovery. Despite their success, large-scale analysis leveraging gene expressions is limited by time and cost. Although several methods for predicting gene expressions were proposed, they only focused on imputation and classification settings, which have limited applications to real-world scenarios of drug discovery.

Connexin Mutations and Hereditary Diseases.

Inherited diseases caused by connexin mutations are found in multiple organs and include hereditary deafness, congenital cataract, congenital heart diseases, hereditary skin diseases, and X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT1X). A large number of knockout and knock-in animal models have been used to study the pathology and pathogenesis of diseases of different organs. Because the structures of different connexins are highly homologous and the functions of gap junctions formed by these connexins are similar, connexin-related hereditary diseases may share the same pathogenic mechanism.

A neutrophil-mediated carrier regulates tumor stemness by inhibiting autophagy to prevent postoperative triple-negative breast cancer recurrence and metastasis.

Recurrence and metastasis after resection are still the main challenges in clinical treatment of breast cancer. Residual tumor and cancer stem-like cells are the primary culprits of recurrence and metastasis. Recent research studies indicate that autophagy is a cytoprotective mechanism of tumors, which maintains the stemness of cancer cells and promotes tumor proliferation and metastasis.

Species differences in the green-up date of typical vegetation in Inner Mongolia and climate-driven mechanism based on process-based phenology models.

Different species within the same community may exhibit distinct phenological responses to climate change, so it is necessary to study species differences in the green-up date among abundant species within a wide area, and a suitable phenology model should be introduced to explain the associated climate-driven mechanism. Although various models have been developed, very few studies have aimed to compare their efficiency and robustness, and the relative contributions of climate driving factors have not been sufficiently examined. We analyzed phenology data for 12 species across 17 stations in Inner Mongolia and found that essential spatiotemporal and interspecies differences existed in the green-up date.

Repurposing ibudilast to mitigate Alzheimer's disease by targeting inflammation.

Alzheimer's disease is a multifactorial disease that exhibits cognitive deficits, neuronal loss, amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and neuroinflammation in the brain. Hence, a multi-target drug would improve treatment efficacy. We applied a new multi-scale predictive modelling framework that integrates machine learning with biophysics and systems pharmacology to screen drugs for Alzheimer's disease using patients' tissue samples.

Biomechanical Evaluation of Intervertebral Fusion Process After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Finite Element Study.

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a widely accepted surgical procedure in the treatment of cervical radiculopathy and myelopathy. A solid interbody fusion is of critical significance in achieving satisfactory outcomes after ACDF. However, the current radiographic techniques to determine the degree of fusion are inaccurate and radiative.

Characterization of an intracellular humanized single-chain antibody to matrix protein (M1) of H5N1 virus.

We developed a human intracellular antibody based on the M1 protein from avian influenza virus H5N1 (A/meerkat/Shanghai/SH-1/2012) and then characterized the properties of this antibody. The M1 protein sequence was amplified by RT-PCR using the cDNA of the H5N1 virus as a template, expressed in bacterial expression system BL21 (DE3) and purified. A human strain, high affinity, and single chain antibody (HuScFv) against M1 protein was obtained by phage antibody library screening using M1 as an antigen.

F-Actin Dysplasia Involved in Organ of Corti Deformity in Knockdown Mouse Model.

Mutations in the gene encoding connexin26 (Cx26) protein are one of the most common causes of hereditary deafness. Previous studies have found that different Cx26-null mouse models have severe hearing loss and deformity of the organ of Corti (OC) as well as a reduction in microtubules in pillar cells (PCs). To explore the underlying mechanism of OC deformity caused by Cx26 downregulation further, we established Cx26 knockdown (KD) mouse models at postnatal days (P)0 and P8.

MRI Characteristics of Autoimmune Encephalitis With Autoantibodies to GABAA Receptor: A Case Series.

Background And Objectives: To characterize the clinical and neuroimaging phenotypes of patients with autoantibodies to γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABAR).

Methods: Ten patients with autoantibodies against GABAR from Huashan Hospital Autoimmune Encephalitis cohort were identified. We used MRI assessments and clinical examinations to summarize major clinical profile and visualize and quantify lesion distribution features.

Age-related differential gene expression in granulosa cells and its effects on fertility using high-throughput transcriptomics.

More couples worldwide, delay their childbearing years. The increase in age causes a gradual decrease in female ovarian function and fertility, leading to an exponential decrease in women over 35 years of age having children. Although promising for some, assisted reproductive technology (ART) is not promising for older women.

Variant Causes Hyperactivation of Wnt4/β-Catenin/FOXL2 Signaling Contributing to 46,XY Disorders/Differences of Sex Development.

46,XY disorders/differences of sex development (46,XY DSD) are congenital conditions that result from abnormal gonadal development (gonadal dysgenesis) or abnormalities in androgen synthesis or action. During early embryonic development, several genes are involved in regulating the initiation and maintenance of testicular or ovarian-specific pathways. Recent reports have shown that genes mediate the development of the 46,XY DSD, which present as complete or partial gonadal dysgenesis.

Floralozone improves cognitive impairment in vascular dementia rats via regulation of TRPM2 and NMDAR signaling pathway.

Vascular dementia (VD) is the second largest type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. At present, the pathogenesis is complex and there is no effective treatment. Floralozone has been shown to reduce atherosclerosis in rats caused by a high-fat diet.

Effects of Selenium Nanoparticles on Preventing Patulin-Induced Liver, Kidney and Gastrointestinal Damage.

Patulin (PAT) is a toxic fungal metabolite, and oxidative damage was proved to be its important toxicity mechanism. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) were prepared by reducing sodium selenite with chitosan as a stabilizer and used for preventing PAT-induced liver, kidney and gastrointestinal damage. SeNPs have good dispersibility, in vitro antioxidant activity, and are much less cytotoxic than sodium selenite.

Biomimetic Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticles for Synergistic Combining of SDT-Chemotherapy Induce Pyroptosis in Gastric Cancer.

In recent years, sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has been widely developed for cancer research as a promising non-invasive therapeutic strategy. Here, we synthesized zeolitic imidazole frameworks-8 (ZIF-8) and utilized its properties to encapsulate hydrophobic Chlorin e6 (Ce6) and hydrophilic tirapazamine (TPZ) for a synergistic sonodynamic chemotherapy, which was also accompanied by the modification of cytomembrane of gastric cancer (GC) cells. Thus, we enabled the biomimetic property to achieve targeted delivery.

Nanoplatform-mediated calcium overload for cancer therapy.

Mitochondria, as the "the power plants" of cells, have been extensively studied because of their biological functions of providing energy and participating in signaling pathways. In parallel, calcium (Ca) plays a vital role in the homeostasis balance and function coordination of mitochondria, especially in cancer cells which metabolize frequently to maintain their growth. On this basis, Ca overload has been an efficient, yet safe theranostic model for cancer therapy, by activating mitochondrial apoptosis pathways to achieve cancer suppression.

Cotton straw biochar and Bacillus compound biofertilizer decreased Cd migration in alkaline soil: Insights from relationship between soil key metabolites and key bacteria.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination greatly impacts soil health and ecological environment. In recent years, cotton straw biochar and Bacillus compound biofertilizer have been paid much attention in the remediation of Cd-contaminated soils. In this study, the effects of cotton straw biochar (3%, w/w) and Bacillus compound biofertilizer (1.