Clonal Tracking of Rhesus Macaque Hematopoiesis Highlights a Distinct Lineage Origin for Natural Killer Cells

SummaryAnalysis of hematopoietic stem cell function in nonhuman primates provides insights that are relevant for human biology and therapeutic strategies. In this study, we applied quantitative genetic barcoding to track the clonal output of transplanted autologous rhesus macaque hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells over a time period of up to 9.5 months. We found that unilineage short-term progenitors reconstituted myeloid and lymphoid lineages at 1 month but were supplanted over time by multilineage clones, initially myeloid restricted, then myeloid-B clones, and then stable myeloid-B-T multilineage, long-term repopulating clones. Surprisingly, reconstitution of the natural killer (NK) cell lineage, and particularly the major CD16+/CD56− peripheral blood NK compartment, showed limited clonal overlap with T, B, or myeloid lineages, and therefore appears to be ontologically distinct. Thus, in addition to providing insights into clonal behavior over time, our analysis suggests an unexpected paradigm for the relationship between NK cells and other hematopoietic lineages in primates

Distribution of hepatitis C virus in eastern China from 2011 to 2020: a Bayesian spatiotemporal analysis

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the spatiotemporal distribution of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the factors influencing this distribution in Jiangsu Province, China, from 2011 to 2020.MethodsThe incidence of reported HCV in Jiangsu Province from 2011 to 2020 was obtained from the Chinese Information System for Disease Control and Prevention (CISDCP). R and GeoDa software were used to visualize the spatiotemporal distribution and the spatial autocorrelation of HCV. A Bayesian spatiotemporal model was constructed to explore the spatiotemporal distribution of HCV in Jiangsu Province and to further analyze the factors related to HCV.ResultsA total of 31,778 HCV patients were registered in Jiangsu Province. The registered incidence rate of HCV increased from 2.60/100,000 people in 2011 to 4.96/100,000 people in 2020, an increase of 190.77%. Moran's I ranged from 0.099 to 0.354 (P < 0.05) from 2011 to 2019, indicating a positive spatial correlation overall. The relative risk (RR) of the urbanization rate, the most important factor affecting the spread of HCV in Jiangsu Province, was 1.254 (95% confidence interval: 1.141–1.376), while other factors had no significance.ConclusionThe reported HCV incidence rate integrally increased in the whole Jiangsu Province, whereas the spatial aggregation of HCV incidence was gradually weakening. Our study highlighted the importance of health education for the floating population and reasonable allocation of medical resources in the future health work

Associations between Body Mass and the Outcome of Surgery for Scoliosis in Chinese Adults

BACKGROUND: In this study we intended to prove that being overweight has an unfavorable impact on the surgical treatment outcome of adult idiopathic scoliosis (AdIS). METHODS: This is a retrospective study on the surgical treatment of seventy-one more than 30 years old (58 females and 13 males; mean age 42.9±12.2) idiopathic scoliotic patients with a minimum follow up of at least 2 years. The patients were divided into an overweight group (BMI≥23) and a non-overweight group (BMI<23). Preoperative, postoperative first erect and final follow-up radiographic measures, perioperative data, the Oswestry disability index (ODI), and the visual analog scale (VAS) were reviewed and compared. FINDINGS: In the overweight group, no significant differences in radiographic measures, perioperative data, preoperative comorbidities, or postoperative complications, except for the more frequent concomitance of preoperative thoracic kyphosis 37.9±7.7 vs. 26.5±11.8 (P = 0.000) and thoracolumbar kyphosis 14.9±10.1 overweighted group vs. 6.5±9.9 non-overweighted group respectively (P = 0.002) were found. A higher morbidity of hypertension 36.8% vs. 9.6% (P = 0.004) was also observed in the overweight group. Postoperative ODI and VAS improved significantly in both groups compared to pre-operative values. The postoperative ODI of the overweight group (19.6±12.4) was significantly higher than that of the non-overweight group (12.4±7.9) (P = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Overweight adult idiopathic scoliotic patients had more frequent concomitance of preoperative thoracic kyphosis and thoracolumbar kyphosis and more serious postoperative pain. However, BMI did not affect the outcomes of surgical correction for coronal and sagittal scoliotic deformity and their postoperative complication rates were not significantly affected

The duck hepatitis virus 5'-UTR possesses HCV-like IRES activity that is independent of eIF4F complex and modulated by downstream coding sequences

Duck hepatitis virus (DHV-1) is a worldwide distributed picornavirus that causes acute and fatal disease in young ducklings. Recently, the complete genome of DHV-1 has been determined and comparative sequence analysis has shown that possesses the typical picornavirus organization but exhibits several unique features. For the first time, we provide evidence that the 626-nucleotide-long 5'-UTR of the DHV-1 genome contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) element that functions efficiently both in vitro and in mammalian cells. The prediction of the secondary structure of the DHV-1 IRES shows significant similarity to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) IRES. Moreover, similarly to HCV IRES, DHV-1 IRES can direct translation initiation in the absence of a functional eIF4F complex. We also demonstrate that the activity of the DHV-1 IRES is modulated by a viral coding sequence located downstream of the DHV-1 5'-UTR, which enhances DHV-1 IRES activity both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, mutational analysis of the predicted pseudo-knot structures at the 3'-end of the putative DHV-1 IRES supported the presence of conserved domains II and III and, as it has been previously described for other picornaviruses, these structures are essential for keeping the normal internal initiation of translation of DHV-1

Serum CXCL16 as a novel marker of renal injury in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Soluble C-X-C chemokine ligand 16 (CXCL16), a scavenger receptor for oxidized low density lipoprotein, has been shown to promote atherogenic effects in vivo and to predict long-term mortality in acute coronary syndrome. The aim of this study was to explore the association of circulating CXCL16 levels with diabetic subjects with and without renal disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: One hundred twenty Chinese subjects, which included patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), diabetic nephropathy (DN), and CKD, as well as healthy controls, were enrolled in this study. Serum CXCL16 levels were examined by immunoassay and other clinical biochemical parameters were tested based on standard methods. Our results indicated that, HDL and LDL cholesterol levels are significantly different in DN but not in T2D patients in comparison with healthy subjects. On the other hand, Serum CXCL16 levels were significantly increased in DN subjects compared with age and gender matched healthy and T2DM subjects (p<0.05 respectively). However, no significant changes in serum CXCL16 levels were found between T2DM and healthy subjects. Furthermore, serum CXCL16 concentration negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtrate rate, creatinine clearance rate and blood albumin, and positively with 24 h proteinuria, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and uric acid after adjusting for age, gender and BMI in subjects with DN. Multiple stepwise regression analyses indicated that serum CXCL16 levels were independently associated with serum 24 h proteinuria, and BUN (p<0.05 respectively). CONCLUSION: Serum CXCL16 may be an indicator of renal injury in subjects with T2DM. Understanding the exact mechanism of elevated CXCL16 in subjects with DN requires further study

Maternal rodent exposure to di‐(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate decreases muscle mass in the offspring by increasing myostatin

Abstract Background Di‐(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and its metabolites can cross the placenta and may cause birth defects and developmental disorders. However, whether maternal DEHP exposure affects skeletal muscle development in the offspring and the pathways involved are unknown. This study investigated the effects of maternal DEHP exposure and the contribution of myostatin (MSTN) to skeletal muscle development in the offspring. Methods Pregnant wild‐type and muscle‐specific myostatin knockout (MSTN KO) C57BL/6 mice were randomized to receive vehicle (corn oil) or 250 mg/kg DEHP by gavage every other day until their pups were weaned (postnatal day 21 [PND21]). Body weights of the offspring mice were measured longitudinally, and their hindleg muscles were harvested at PD21. Also, C2C12 cells were treated with mono‐2‐ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), the primary metabolite of DEHP, and proteolysis, protein synthesis, and myogenesis markers were measured. The contribution of myostatin to maternal DEHP exposure‐induced muscle wasting in the offspring was determined. Results Maternal DEHP exposure reduced body weight growth, myofibre size, and muscle mass in the offspring compared to controls (Quad: 2.70 ± 0.1 vs. 3.38 ± 0.23, Gastroc: 2.29 ± 0.09 vs. 2.81 ± 0.14, Tibialis: 1.01 ± 0.07 vs. 1.25 ± 0.11, mg/tibial length in mm, all P  0.05, n = 5). In vitro, C/EBPδ silencing abrogated the MEHP‐induced increases in Myostatin, MuRF‐1, and Atrogin‐1 and decreases in MyoD and Myogenin expression. Conclusions Maternal DEHP exposure impairs skeletal muscle development in the offspring by enhancing the C/EBPδ‐myostatin pathway in mice

Green Carbon Dots Illuminate Biogenic Nanohybrids toward Soft, Piezo/Photoactive, and Physically Transient Nanogenerators

Green electronics comprising degradable materials are ideal solutions for electronic wastes. Here, we report the construction of a soft, piezo/photoactive, and physically transient biogenic nanogenerator. A green luminescent, biogenic hybrid, carbon quantum dot (CQD)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)/polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) nanofiber is manufactured with electrospinning technology. The synergy of CQD and CNC enables the enhancement of degradability of PHB. Simultaneously, the piezoelectric CNC makes a contribution to the piezoelectric response of the hybrid nanofiber. The appropriate inclusion of the CQD allows the creation of luminous, local stress concentration points that further enhance the piezoelectric response of the hybrid nanofiber. The output voltage and output current of the nanofibrous CQD/CNQ/PHB-based piezoelectric nanogenerator are 6.7 and 4.4 times higher than those of the state-of-the-art pristine PHB-based equivalent, respectively. This type of nanogenerator is also self-adaptive to changes in external mechanical stimuli. Moreover, the soft nanogenerator as a tactile sensor exhibits high reliability in the real-time dynamic sensing of athletic motions. Importantly, with a remarkable combination of piezoelectricity and photoluminescence, the biogenic nanogenerator array demonstrates the first application as a bimodal piezo/photo encryption alarm system. It shows great potential in the smart home and security field. We suppose that the multiple-responsive biogenic nanohybrids are very promising in green transient optoelectronics

Synthesis of Yolk–Shell Structured Fe₃O₄@void@CdS Nanoparticles: A General and Effective Structure Design for Photo-Fenton Reaction

Yolk–shell (Y–S) structured Fe₃O₄@void@CdS nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized through a one-pot coating-etching process with Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ as the core, where the coating of an outer CdS shell from a chemical bath deposition (CBD) process is simultaneously accompanied by the gradual etching of an inner SiO₂ shell. The as-prepared Fe₃O₄@void@CdS NPs (ca. 200 nm) possess good monodispersity and a uniform CdS shell of ca.15 nm. This composite exhibits excellent photo-Fenton (ph-F) activity toward the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in a wide pH working range of 4.5–11 under the visible light irradiation. A series of control experiments demonstrate the unique Y–S structure contributes to the enhanced activity, where the separation of hole–electron pair from CdS and the reduction of Fe²⁺ from Fe³⁺ are mutually promoted. The similar efficiency can also be achieved when the shell component changes to TiO₂ or CeO₂, demonstrating a general strategy for the design of robust ph-F agent