Role of neuromedin B and its receptor in the innate immune responses against influenza A virus infection in vitro and in vivo

International audienceAbstractThe peptide neuromedin B (NMB) and its receptor (NMBR) represent a system (NMB/NMBR) of neuromodulation. Here, it was demonstrated that the expression of NMBR in cells or murine lung tissues was clearly upregulated in response to H1N1/PR8 influenza A virus infection. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo activities of NMB/NMBR during PR8 infection were investigated. It was observed that A549 cells lacking endogenous NMBR were more susceptible to virus infection than control cells, as evidenced by the increased virus production in the cells. Interestingly, a significant decrease in IFN-α and increased IL-6 expression were observed in these cells. The role of this system in innate immunity against PR8 infection was probed by treating mice with NMB. The NMB-treated mice were less susceptible to virus challenge, as evidenced by increased survival, increased body weight, and decreased viral NP expression compared with the control animals. Additionally, the results showed that exogenous NMB not only enhanced IFN-α expression but also appeared to inhibit the expression of NP and IL-6 in PR8-infected cells and animals. As expected, opposing effects were observed in the NMBR antagonist-treated cells and mice, which further confirmed the effects of NMB. Together, these data suggest that NMB/NMBR may be an important component of the host defence against influenza A virus infection. Thus, these proteins may serve as promising candidates for the development of novel antiviral drugs

2020 roadmap on two-dimensional materials for energy storage and conversion

Energy storage and conversion have attained significant interest owing to its important applications that reduce CO2 emission through employing green energy. Some promising technologies are included metal-air batteries, metal-sulfur batteries, metal-ion batteries, electrochemical capacitors, etc. Here, metal elements are involved with lithium, sodium, and magnesium. For these devices, electrode materials are of importance to obtain high performance. Two-dimensional (2D) materials are a large kind of layered structured materials with promising future as energy storage materials, which include graphene, black phosporus, MXenes, covalent organic frameworks (COFs), 2D oxides, 2D chalcogenides, and others. Great progress has been achieved to go ahead for 2D materials in energy storage and conversion. More researchers will join in this research field. Under the background, it has motivated us to contribute with a roadmap on ‘two-dimensional materials for energy storage and conversion

Development of an In Situ Analyzer Based on Sequential Injection Analysis and Liquid Waveguide Capillary Flow Cell for the Determination of Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus in Natural Waters

This study presents an innovative technique for the in situ analysis of aquatic biochemical elements detected through wet chemical processes. A new compact in situ phosphate analyzer based on sequential injection analysis, liquid waveguide capillary flow cell and spectrophotometry was developed, and a safe and modular electronics-chemical separation mechanical structure was designed. The sequential injection system of this analyzer was optimized, and the major functions of this analyzer were studied and estimated. With a 10 cm liquid waveguide capillary flow cell and a 6.3 min time cost of detection, the analyzer reaches a detection limit of 1.4 μg·L−1 (≈14.7 nM, [PO43−]) and a consumption of 23 μL at most for each reagent. This analyzer was operated in situ and online during two scientific research cruises in the Pearl River Estuary and northern South China Sea. The advantages of this analyzer include its simple versatile manifold, full automation, low chemical consumption and electronics-chemical separate safe structure. Long-term in situ performance of this analyzer will be validated in the future

Urban Morphological Feature Extraction and Multi-Dimensional Similarity Analysis Based on Deep Learning Approaches

The study of urban morphology contributes to the evolution of cities and sustainable development. Urban morphological feature extraction and similarity analysis represents a practical framework in many studies to interpret and introduce the current built environment to aid in proposing novel designs. In conventional methods, morphological features are represented based on qualitative descriptions, symbolical interpretation, or manually selected indicators. However, these methods could cause subjective bias and limit the generalizability. This study proposes a hybrid data-driven approach to support quantitative morphological descriptions and multi-dimensional similarity analysis for urban design decision-making and to further morphology-related studies using information abundance via a deep-learning approach. We constructed a dataset of 3817 residential plots with geometrical and related infrastructure information. A deep convolutional neural network, GoogLeNet, was implemented with the plots’ figure–ground images, by quantifying the morphological features into 2048-dimensional feature vectors. We conducted a similarity analysis of the plots by calculating the Euclidean distance between the high-dimensional feature vectors. Then, a comparison study was performed by retrieving cases based on the plot shape and plots with buildings separately. The proposed method considers the overall characteristics of the urban morphology and social infrastructure situations for similarity analysis. This method is flexible and effective. The proposed framework indicates the feasibility and potential of integrating task-oriented information to introduce custom and adequate references via deep learning methods, which could support decision making and association studies on morphology with urban consequences. This work could serve as a basis for further typo-morphology studies and other morphology-related ecological, social, and economic studies for sustainable built environments

miR-200c Accelerates Hepatic Stellate Cell-Induced Liver Fibrosis via Targeting the FOG2/PI3K Pathway

Background. Although expression of miR-200s is aberrant in liver fibrosis, its role in liver fibrogenesis still remains unknown. Here, we investigated the role of miR-200c in the activation of human hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and induction of liver fibrosis. Methods. We engineered human HSCs (LX2 cell line) to stably express miR-200c (LX2-200c) or empty vector control (LX2-nc). Results. miR-200c expression upregulated α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) and vimentin, enhanced HSCs growth and migration, increased expression of collagen type I (a main component of ECM) gene and secretion of epidermal growth factor (EGF), and upregulated the phosphorylation of Akt, a downstream effector of the PI3K pathway. As a target of miR-200s and inhibitor of PI3K pathway, FOG2 protein expression was significantly suppressed in LX2-200c cells. Moreover, LY294002, a highly selective inhibitor of PI3K, blocked phosphorylation of Akt and the effects of miR-200c. Conclusions. These data suggest that miR-200c activates HSCs in liver fibrosis possibly by downregulating FOG2 protein expression and upregulating PI3K/Akt signaling. Autocrine activation of EGF signaling may also be a mechanism of miR-200c-mediated HSCs activation. So miR-200c can be a potential marker for HSCs activation and liver fibrosis progression, as well as a potential target to attenuate liver fibrosis

Total ginsenoside wild ginseng root improves spleen qi deficiency by regulating intestinal microbes and flora metabolites

Spleen qi deficiency (SQD) is an important immune change in traditional Chinese medicine. Ginseng tonic for deficiency treatment focuses on qi tonicity, which is consistent with the modern medical view of immune enhancement. In this study, the therapy of wild ginseng (WG) extract was examined using weight measurement, histopathology, flow cytometry, and ELISA. Then, 16S rDNA gene sequencing of the gut microbiota and fecal RRLC-Q-TOF tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolomic analysis were carried out. Finally, the relationship among immunity indicators, permeability indicators, gut microbiota and metabolites was analyzed. Results showed that WG administration significantly increased the body weight and organ index in SQD rats; significantly reversed the levels of immune markers, such as IgA and TNF-a; decreased serum levels, such as LPS; and increased the expression of tight-junction proteins, such as ZO-1, in colonic tissues. The abundance of intestinal microorganisms, such as Lactobacillus and Akkermansia, was restored in SQD rats. Elevated amino acid content and decreased bile acid content were observed in fecal metabolites. Overall, this study demonstrated the central role of WG in immunomodulation and intestinal microecology in SQD rats, providing a reference for a more in-depth study of the scientific connotation of the traditional efficacy of WG and the interpretation of its clinical pharmacodynamic mechanism

Stable CoSe2/carbon nanodice@reduced graphene oxide composites for high-performance rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries

Rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries (RAIBs) are regarded as the next generation of low-cost and high-capacity electrical energy storage systems. Compared to graphene-based cathodes, metal dichalcogenide cathodes can potentially provide RAIBs with higher capacities. However, metal dichalcogenides suffer from poor cycling performance, hindering the further development of high-capacity RAIBs. Thus, to further improve the performance of RAIBs, it is imperative to gain a deep understanding of the mechanisms behind the energy-storage and capacity-deterioration characteristics of these materials. In this work, we conducted detailed characterization to acquire a deep understanding of the energy storage mechanism of a CoSe-based cathode. The characterization results revealed that energy storage involved incorporation of Al into CoSe to generate AlCoSe (i.e., partial substitution of Co by Al) and elemental Co, while capacity deterioration resulted from the dissolution of active cobalt species into the electrolyte and the pulverization of the CoSe phase. The understanding of the capacity-deterioration mechanism allowed us to design a two-step concept for a new type of RAIB composite cathode material. Thus, we employed a conductive wrapping layer of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to protect CoSe/carbon nanodice composites from cobalt dissolution and CoSe pulverization while also improving the conductivity of the materials. This novel design resulted in a CoSe/carbon nanodice@rGO composite material with an outstanding cycling performance (after 500 cycles) of 143 mA h g at 1000 mA g, which is one of the best performances for a metal-based RAIB cathode material reported to date. These findings are of great significance for the further development of high-capacity RAIBs

Embedding oxophilic rare-earth single atom in platinum nanoclusters for efficient hydrogen electro-oxidation

Abstract Designing Pt-based electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and CO tolerance is challenging but extremely desirable for alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction. Herein we report the design of a series of single-atom lanthanide (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Lu)-embedded ultrasmall Pt nanoclusters for efficient alkaline hydrogen electro-oxidation catalysis based on vapor filling and spatially confined reduction/growth of metal species. Mechanism studies reveal that oxophilic single-atom lanthanide species in Pt nanoclusters can serve as the Lewis acid site for selective OH- adsorption and regulate the binding strength of intermediates on Pt sites, which promotes the kinetics of hydrogen oxidation and CO oxidation by accelerating the combination of OH− and *H/*CO in kinetics and thermodynamics, endowing the electrocatalyst with up to 14.3-times higher mass activity than commercial Pt/C and enhanced CO tolerance. This work may shed light on the design of metal nanocluster-based electrocatalysts for energy conversion