Aniosotropically Organized LDH on PVDF: A Geometrically Templated Electrospun Substrate for Advanced Anion Conducting Membranes

A bioinspired geometric templating of an electrospun PVDF substrate with hexagonal platelets of Mg–Al layered double hydroxide (LDH), an intrinsic anion conductor, is presented. The distinctive morphology restructures the internal pore geometry and modulates the dynamic wetting profile of PVDF, transforming it into a highly functional substrate for SAFC anion conducting membranes. The membrane fabricated with PVDF-LDH substrate exhibited exceptionally high durability (>140 °C), high anionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), restricted swelling, and improved tensile strength, overcoming critical challenges associated with PVDF electrospun substrates and validating its immense potential as a high-temperature-stable and durable substrate for advanced fuel cell membrane applications

α-<i>NRXN1</i> knockdown block astrocytes differentiation in time-dependent manner.

<p><b>A.</b> and <b>B.</b> shRNAmir knockdown of α-<i>NRXN1</i> in H9 (A) and iPS (B) have >50% knockdown efficiency in a time-dependent manner, and block the astrocytes differentiation in a time-dependent manner, without influencing neuronal differentiation. <i>sh2</i>: shRNAmir clone V2THS_68983; <i>sh3</i>: shRNAmir clone V2THS_246996.</p

The hiPSCs are fully pluripotent.

<p><b>A.</b> immunocytochemistry and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining for pluripotent markers. Nuclear markers: <i>Oct 4</i> and <i>Nanog</i>; Surface markers: <i>SSEA-4, Tra-1-60</i>. <b>B</b>. qPCR for various pluripotent genes indicates that hiPSCs are very similar to hESCs H9 in terms of gene expression levels. <b>C. </b><i>in vivo</i> differentiation of hiPSCs to three germ layers. Ectoderm marker: <i>TUJ-1</i>; Mesoderm marker: <i>SMA</i>; Endoderm marker: <i>AFP</i>. <b>D.</b> hiPSCs can form teratoma in mouse containing derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm), shown by histopathology staining.</p

Functional Impacts of <em>NRXN1</em> Knockdown on Neurodevelopment in Stem Cell Models

<div><p>Exonic deletions in <i>NRXN1</i> have been associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, schizophrenia and developmental delay. However, the molecular mechanism by which <i>NRXN1</i> deletions impact neurodevelopment remains unclear. Here we used human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) as models to investigate the functional impacts of <i>NRXN1</i> knockdown. We first generated hiPSCs from skin fibroblasts and differentiated them into neural stem cells (NSCs). We reduced <i>NRXN1</i> expression in NSCs via a controlled shRNAmir-based knockdown system during differentiation, and monitored the transcriptome alteration by RNA-Seq and quantitative PCR at several time points. Interestingly, half reduction of <i>NRXN1</i> expression resulted in changes of expression levels for the cell adhesion pathway (20 genes, P = 2.8×10⁻⁶) and neuron differentiation pathway (13 genes, P = 2.1×10⁻⁴), implicating that single-gene perturbation can impact biological networks important for neurodevelopment. Furthermore, astrocyte marker GFAP was significantly reduced in a time dependent manner that correlated with <i>NRXN1</i> reduction. This observation was reproduced in both hiPSCs and hESCs. In summary, based on <i>in vitro</i> models, <i>NRXN1</i> deletions impact several biological processes during neurodevelopment, including synaptic adhesion and neuron differentiation. Our study highlights the utility of stem cell models in understanding the functional roles of copy number variations (CNVs) in conferring susceptibility to neurodevelopmental diseases.</p> </div

A network of known protein-protein interactions that includes all first-degree neighbors (direct interaction partners) and second-degree neighbors (interaction partners with first-degree neighbors) of <i>NRXN1</i>.

<p>(A) First degree neighbors are plotted surrounding <i>NRXN1</i>, while second-degree neighbors are plotted in the outer circle. Genes with differential expression P-values less than 0.05 are colored by their fold change values (red: down-regulated, green: up-regulated), with higher color intensity indicating higher fold changes. B, a zoomed-in view of the portion of the network surrounding <i>NRXN1</i> (black square in panel A). Multiple genes that directly interact with <i>NRXN1</i> are down-regulated as a result of <i>NRXN1</i> knockdown.</p

Neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from human embryonic stem cells H9 and hiPS maintain differentiation potential.

<p><b>A.</b> NESTIN staining indicates that close to 100% positive NSCs are derived from H9 and hiPS. <b>B.</b> qPCR showed that hESCs (H9) and iPS highly express pluripotency markers <i>Oct4, Nanog</i> and <i>Sox2</i>, yet NSCs highly express NSCs markers <i>Pax6</i> and <i>Nestin</i>. <b>C.</b> H9 and hiPS derived NSCs can differentiate into both neural and glial lineage as stained by neuron marker <i>TUJ-1</i>, astrocyte marker <i>GFAP</i> and oligodendrocyte marker <i>Olig2</i>. <b>D.</b> H9 and <b>E.</b> iPS derived NSCs differentiated in time-dependent manner, with predicated gene expression pattern. <i>w</i>, abbr. of week.</p

CuCo₂O₄/NiCo-Metal–Organic Framework Nanoflake Arrays for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Developing hybrid metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with ordered structure is significant to obtain promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. Herein, the special electrodes of CuCo2O4/NiCo-MOF nanoflake vertical arrays are constructed on Ni foam by using the CuCo2O4 nanorods as a self-sacrifice template. Because of the multidirectional interconnected channels of spinel CuCo2O4, great electrochemical activity of NiCo-MOF, well-arranged morphology, and synergy effect at the interface, the resulting CuCo2O4/NiCo-MOF nanoflakes exhibit remarkable specific capacity (12.81 F/cm2 or 1423 F/g at 2 mA/cm2) and excellent rate performance (remaining 79.2% at 30 mA/cm2). The asymmetric supercapacitor assembled by CuCo2O4/NiCo-MOF and an activated carbon electrode shows excellent energy density of 0.48 mWh/cm2 at a power density of 1.50 mW/cm2. This work inspires insight into exploiting hybrid MOFs with highly aligned arrays for energy storage

Additional file 9: of Induced pluripotent stem cell models of Zellweger spectrum disorder show impaired peroxisome assembly and cell type-specific lipid abnormalities

Pathway analysis of DEGS between PBD-ZSD patient and healthy donor-derived iPSCs. Gene Ontology (GO), KEGG, and IPA Pathway analyses of patient and healthy donor control fibroblasts are provided. (XLSX 546 kb