N-acetyl-tryptophan in Acute Kidney Injury after Cardiac Surgery.

Background: Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury is a common serious complication after cardiac surgery. Currently, there are no specific pharmacological therapies. Our understanding of its pathophysiology remains preliminary.

Predicting transcriptional changes induced by molecules with MiTCP.

Studying the changes in cellular transcriptional profiles induced by small molecules can significantly advance our understanding of cellular state alterations and response mechanisms under chemical perturbations, which plays a crucial role in drug discovery and screening processes. Considering that experimental measurements need substantial time and cost, we developed a deep learning-based method called Molecule-induced Transcriptional Change Predictor (MiTCP) to predict changes in transcriptional profiles (CTPs) of 978 landmark genes induced by molecules. MiTCP utilizes graph neural network-based approaches to simultaneously model molecular structure representation and gene co-expression relationships, and integrates them for CTP prediction.

A whole-body imaging technique for tumor-specific diagnostics and screening of B7-H3-targeted therapies.

Background: B7-H3 or CD276 is notably overexpressed in various malignant tumor cells in humans, with extremely high expression rates. The development of a radiotracer that targets B7-H3 may provide a universal tumor-specific imaging agent and allow the noninvasive assessment of the whole-body distribution of B7-H3-expressing lesions.

Methods: We enhanced and optimized the structure of an affibody (ABY) that targets B7-H3 to create the radiolabeled radiotracer [68Ga]Ga-B7H3-BCH, and then, we conducted both foundational experiments and clinical translational studies.

Integrating RNA-seq and scRNA-seq to explore the prognostic features and immune landscape of exosome-related genes in breast cancer metastasis.

Objective: This study aims to explore the role of exosome-related genes in breast cancer (BRCA) metastasis by integrating RNA-seq and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data from BRCA samples and to develop a reliable prognostic model.

Methods: Initially, a comprehensive analysis was conducted on exosome-related genes from the BRCA cohort in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Three prognostic genes (JUP, CAPZA1 and ARVCF) were identified through univariate Cox regression and Lasso-Cox regression analyses, and a metastasis-related risk score model was established based on these genes.

Thianthrenium-Enabled Chromium-Catalyzed Deuterated Alkyl Addition to Aldehydes via a Photoactive Electron Donor-Acceptor Complex.

The Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi reaction offers effective and reliable strategies for the preparation of alcohols via carbon-carbon bond formation. Typical methods usually require stoichiometric amounts of chromium salts, co-transition metals, and auxiliary reagents, which limits their practical application in industrial chemistry. To mitigate these limitations, substantial efforts have been made to develop chromium-catalytic approaches.

Why SbSe/CdS Interface Produces Higher Power Conversion Efficiency.

Developing the Cd-free electron transport layer (ETL) is a crucial subject in the field of antimony selenide (SbSe) solar cells. At present, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the Cd-free SbSe solar cell is still substantially lower than that of CdS-based devices. It is significant to reveal the electron transfer features in SbSe/CdS heterojunction and SbSe/Cd-free ETL heterojunction for development of a Cd-free SbSe solar cell with high PCE.

Identification of genetic variants of the gene in association with COPD susceptibility.

Background: Although existing studies have identified some genetic loci associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) susceptibility, many variants remain to be discovered. The aim of this study was to further explore the potential relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and COPD risk.

Methods: Nine hundred and ninety-six subjects were recruited (498 COPD cases and 498 healthy controls).

Multifunctional Artificial Electric Synapse of MoSe-Based Memristor toward Neuromorphic Application.

Research on memristive devices to seamlessly integrate and replicate the dynamic behaviors of biological synapses will illuminate the mechanisms underlying parallel processing and information storage in the human brain, thereby affording novel insights for the advancement of artificial intelligence. Here, an artificial electric synapse is demonstrated on a one-step Mo-selenized MoSe memristor, having not only long-term stable resistive switching characteristics (reset 0.51 ± 0.

Global burden and trends of the infection-associated diseases from 1990 to 2021: an observational trend study.

Background: This study was aimed to explore the global burden and trends of Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) associated diseases.

Methods: Data for this study were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The burden of CDI was assessed using the age-standardized rates of disability-adjusted life years (ASR-DALYs) and deaths (ASDRs).

Innate immune cells in vascular lesions: mechanism and significance of diversified immune regulation.

Angiogenesis is a complex physiological process. In recent years, the immune regulation of angiogenesis has received increasing attention, and innate immune cells, which are centred on macrophages, are thought to play important roles in vascular neogenesis and development. Various innate immune cells can act on the vasculature through a variety of mechanisms, with commonalities as well as differences and synergistic effects, which are crucial for the progression of vascular lesions.

Research progress of femoral head necrosis in HIV-infected patients.

As life expectancy among patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases, a growing number of complications have been observed. This population displays an elevated risk of ischemic necrosis of the femoral head in comparison to the general population, which may be attributed to HIV infection, antiretroviral medication use, and hormone application. Patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who also have necrosis of the femoral head tend to present at an earlier age, with a rapid disease progression and a high incidence of bilateral onset.

Fully Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Ice Nucleation Near an Antifreeze Protein.

Heterogeneous ice nucleation is a widespread phenomenon in nature. Despite extensive research on ice nucleation near biological antifreeze proteins, a probe for ice nucleation and growth processes at the atomic level is still lacking. Herein, we present simulation evidence of the heterogeneous ice nucleation process on the ice-binding surface (IBS) of the antifreeze protein (TmAFP).

Clinical Characteristics and In Vivo Confocal Microscopic Study in Candida Keratitis.

Purpose: To clarify the clinical and imaging characteristics of Candida keratitis using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) for improved early diagnosis and management.

Methods: A retrospective study of 40 patients with Candida keratitis at Beijing Tongren Hospital from January 2015 to December 2023 was conducted. Data included demographics, risk factors, clinical assessments, lab tests, and IVCM images.

Femtosecond Laser Arcuate Keratotomy vs Toric Intraocular Lens Implantation in Cataract Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: After cataract surgery, postoperative residual astigmatism can influence a patient's visual quality and satisfaction. Finding ways to minimize this astigmatism is important.

Objective: To compare the clinical outcomes of femtosecond laser arcuate keratotomy (FSAK) and toric intraocular lens (TIOL) implantation for astigmatism correction in patients undergoing femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.

Transanal vs Laparoscopic Total Mesorectal Excision and 3-Year Disease-Free Survival in Rectal Cancer: The TaLaR Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Previous studies have demonstrated the advantages of short-term histopathological outcomes and complications associated with transanal total mesorectal excision (TME) compared with laparoscopic TME. However, the long-term oncological outcomes of transanal TME remain ambiguous. This study aims to compare 3-year disease-free survival of transanal TME with laparoscopic TME.

Structural insights into glucose-6-phosphate recognition and hydrolysis by human G6PC1.

The glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) is an integral membrane protein that catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen and plays a vital role in glucose homeostasis. Dysregulation or genetic mutations of G6Pase are associated with diabetes and glycogen storage disease 1a (GSD-1a). Studies have characterized the biophysical and biochemical properties of G6Pase; however, the structure and substrate recognition mechanism of G6Pase remain unclear.

Calcineurin governs baseline and homeostatic regulations of non-rapid eye movement sleep in mice.

Sleep need accumulates during waking and dissipates during sleep to maintain sleep homeostasis (process S). Besides the regulation of daily (baseline) sleep amount, homeostatic sleep regulation commonly refers to the universal phenomenon that sleep deprivation (SD) causes an increase of sleep need, hence, the amount and intensity of subsequent recovery sleep. The central regulators and signaling pathways that govern the baseline and homeostatic sleep regulations in mammals remain unclear.

ANKRD11 binding to cohesin suggests a connection between KBG syndrome and Cornelia de Lange syndrome.

Ankyrin Repeat Domain-containing Protein 11 () is a causative gene for KBG syndrome, a significant risk factor for Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS), and a highly confident autism spectrum disorder gene. Mutations of lead to developmental abnormalities in multiple organs/tissues including the brain, craniofacial and skeletal bones, and tooth structures with unknown mechanism(s). Here, we find that ANKRD11, via a short peptide fragment in its N-terminal region, binds to the cohesin complex with a high affinity, implicating why mutation can cause CdLS.

Molecular glue for phycobilisome attachment to photosystem II in sp. PCC 7002.

Phycobilisomes (PBS) are the major photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes in cyanobacteria and red algae. While the structures of PBS have been determined in atomic resolutions, how PBS are attached to the reaction centers of photosystems remains less clear. Here, we report that a linker protein (LcpA) is required for the attachment of PBS to photosystem II (PSII) in the cyanobacterium sp.

Light signal regulates endoreduplication and tomato fruit expansion through the SlPIF1a-SlTLFP8-SlCDKB2 module.

Light serves as an energy source for cell division and expansion during fruit development. Cell expansion significantly influences fruit size and is closely linked to endoreduplication, a unique cell cycle variation characterized by DNA replication without cytokinesis. Paradoxically, under conditions of ample photosynthates, light signaling suppresses cell expansion.

Enhancing drug solubility through competitive adsorption on silica nanosurfaces with ultrahigh silanol densities.

We develop a technology based on competitive adsorption between drug molecules and water, specifically designed to address the critical issue of poor drug solubility. By specially engineering silica nanosurfaces with ultrahigh densities of silanol, we significantly enhance their affinity for both drug molecules and water, with a notably greater increase in water affinity. Such surfaces can effectively adsorb a variety of drug molecules under dry conditions.

Molecular mechanism of ligand recognition and activation of lysophosphatidic acid receptor LPAR6.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) exerts its physiological roles through the endothelialdifferentiation gene (EDG) family LPA receptors (LPAR1-3) or the non-EDG family LPA receptors (LPAR4-6). LPAR6 plays crucial roles in hair loss and cancer progression, yet its structural information is very limited. Here, we report the cryoelectron microscopy structure of LPA-bound human LPAR6 in complex with a mini G or G protein.