The mechanism of atopic march may be the ‘social’ event of cells and molecules (Review)

The skin, the conjunctivae, the airways and the digestive tract compose a huge vulnerable biological surface, which is exposed to the external environment. An allergen can often trigger an allergic reaction at a number of sites or result in an atopic march. However, the mechanism of atopic march remains unclear. Less attention has been paid to the connection between the primary site and the atopic site, because current knowledge is established directly against harmful factors. Allergic hypersensitivity manifests in parts of the human body far away from the allergen. Growing evidence suggests that the epithelial cells serve as the 'engine' which initiates an allergic reaction through the production of large quantities of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. Because the epithelial cells cover the entire surface of the skin, the conjunctivae, the airways, and the digestive tract, and are positioned at the terminals of neurons and the blood supply, the connection between the primary site and the atopic site can not be easily understood by the current knowledge of anatomy and of the neuroendocrine immune network. What is the linkage between these huge vulnerable biologic surfaces? This article highlights selected frontiers in allergy research of atopic march, and focuses on recently attained insights into the cellular and molecular events of primary and atopic lesions in the allergy progress. Special attention is paid to the homogeneity of the cellular and molecular events on the huge vulnerable surface. Based on currently available data we conclude that the skin, conjunctivae, airways and digestive tract may join together to form the frontier 'commonwealth union' in order to fight the allergen. The epithelial cells are the 'engine' as well as the main target which initiates both primary and atopic inflammatory reactions. The atopic lesion may 'duplicate' the primary contacted site of cellular and molecular events. The atopic march may be due to the intrinsic 'social' involvements of the positioned epithelial cells, but may not be totally controlled by the anatomic connection or the circulating systemic factors involved in allergy pathogenesis

Continuous fabrication of microcapsules with controllable metal covered nanoparticle arrays using droplet microfluidics for localized surface plasmon resonance

Particle-laden plasmonic microcapsules were fabricated continuously using microfluidic technology, showing high LSPR with high-density “hot-spot” scattering sites.</p

Baicalin Depresses the Sympathoexcitatory Reflex Induced by Myocardial Ischemia via the Dorsal Root Ganglia

Myocardial ischemia (MI) is one of the major causes of death in cardiac diseases. Purinergic signaling is involved in bidirectional neuronal-glial communication in the primary sensory ganglia. The sensory neuritis of cardiac afferent neurons in cervical dorsal root ganglion (cDRG) interacts with cardiac sympathetic efferent postganglionic neurons, forming feedback loops. The P2Y12 receptor is expressed in satellite glial cells (SGCs) of DRG. Baicalin is a major active ingredient extracted from natural herbal medicines, which has anti-inflammatory and strong anti-oxidation properties. In this study we investigated the effect of baicalin on P2Y12 receptor in the cervical DRG SGC-mediated sympathoexcitatory reflex, which is increased during MI. The results showed that the expression of P2Y12 receptor mRNA and protein in DRG, and the co-localization values of P2Y12 receptor and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in cDRG SGCs were increased after MI. The activated SGCs increased IL-1β protein expression and elevated Akt phosphorylation in cDRG. Baicalin treatment inhibited the upregulation of the P2Y12 receptor, GFAP protein and Akt phosphorylation in cDRG neurons/SGCs. The stellate ganglia (SG) affect cardiac sympathetic activity. Baicalin treatment also decreased the upregulation of the P2Y12 receptor, GFAP protein in the SG. The P2Y12 agonist, 2Me-SADP, increased [Ca2+]i in HEK293 cells transfected with the P2Y12 receptor plasmid and SGCs in cDRG. These results indicate that application of baicalin alleviates pathologic sympathetic activity induced by MI via inhibition of afferents in the cDRG

New insight into Ki67 expression at the invasive front in breast cancer.

PURPOSE:To investigate the distribution of Ki67+ cells in breast cancer in relation to clinical-pathological parameters and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Ki67 expression status was detected in 1,086 breast cancer specimens using immunohistochemistry staining and examining the relationship between the Ki67+ cells' location. Subsequently, clinical-pathological parameters and prognosis were determined. RESULTS:In total, Ki67 protein expression was found in 781 (71.92%) of the 1,086 breast cancer specimens. Among the 781 Ki67+ cases, 461 were defined as diffuse type and 320 were defined as borderline type. After universal correlation analysis, significant differences were observed in age, histological grade, metastatic nodes, postoperative distant metastasis, and molecular subtype between Ki67+ and Ki67- cases (P = 0.01, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, and 0.001, respectively). After subgroup analysis, the borderline cases were found to be characterized by a high distant metastasis rate compared to the diffuse cases as well as the Ki67- cases (P = 0.001). No differences were observed between diffuse type or Ki67- cases (P = 0.105). Multivariate analysis showed that age, tumor size, histological grade, lymph node metastasis, molecular subtype, and the Ki67 distribution pattern were observed to be related to postoperative distant metastasis (all P<0.05). Furthermore, borderline type was shown to attain a significantly more distant bone and liver metastasis and worse disease-specific survival than the other types (P = 0.001). In the Cox regression test, the Ki67 distribution pattern was detected as an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION:The distribution pattern of Ki67 may be a new independent prognostic factor for breast cancer

Transformation of sexually transmitted infection-causing serovars of chlamydia trachomatis using Blasticidin for selection.

Plasmid-free Chlamydia trachomatis serovar L2 organisms have been transformed with chlamydial plasmid-based shuttle vectors pGFP::SW2 and pBRCT using β-lactamase as a selectable marker. However, the recommendation of amoxicillin, a β-lactam antibiotics, as one of the choices for treating pregnant women with cervicitis due to C. trachomatis infection has made the existing shuttle vectors unsuitable for transforming sexually transmitted infection (STI)-causing serovars of C. trachomatis. Thus, in the current study, we modified the pGFP::SW2 plasmid by fusing a blasticidin S deaminase gene to the GFP gene to establish blasticidin resistance as a selectable marker and replacing the β-lactamase gene with the Sh ble gene to eliminate the penicillin resistance. The new vector termed pGFPBSD/Z::SW2 was used for transforming plasmid-free C. trachomatis serovar D organisms. Using blasticidin for selection, stable transformants were obtained. The GFP-BSD fusion protein was detected in cultures infected with the pGFPBSD/Z::SW2-trasnformed serovar D organisms. The transformation restored the plasmid property to the plasmid-free serovar D organisms. Thus, we have successfully modified the pGFP::SW2 transformation system for studying the biology and pathogenesis of other STI-causing serovars of C. trachomatis

Improving Electrophoretic Particle Motion Control in Electrophoretic Displays by Eliminating the Fringing Effect via Driving Waveform Design

Electrophoretic display is realized by controlling colored nanoparticles moving in micrometer spaces via electrophoresis. The quality of information display is therefore affected by the unsynchronized particle moving speed and the mismatched electric signal according to the crosstalk of the electric field and inhomogeneous material distribution. In this work, we analyzed the mechanism of a fringe phenomenon that affected the information display quality of electrophoretic displays (EPDs). Electrical driving waveforms (voltage signals) are designed to reduce the fringe phenomenon. By using the optimizing driving waveform, we proposed that the fringe phenomenon is quantified as gray value that can be diminished by 25.5, while keeping a response time of 200 ms

Artificial photosynthesis bringing new vigor into plastic wastes

Abstract The accumulation of plastic wastes in landfills and the environment threatens our environment and public health, while leading to the loss of potential carbon resources. The urgent necessary lies in developing an energy‐saving and environmentally benign approach to upgrade plastic into value‐added chemicals. Artificial photosynthesis holds the ability to realize plastic upcycling by using endless solar energy under mild conditions, but remains in the initial stage for plastic upgrading. In this review, we aim to look critically at the photocatalytic conversion of plastic wastes from the perspective of resource reutilization. To begin with, we present the emerging conversion routes for plastic wastes and highlight the advantages of artificial photosynthesis for processing plastic wastes. By parsing photocatalytic plastic conversion process, we demonstrate the currently available routes for processing plastic, including plastic photodegradation, tandem decomposition of plastic and CO2 reduction, selective plastic oxidation, as well as photoreforming of plastic. This review concludes with a personal perspective for potential advances and emerging challenges in photocatalytic plastic conversion

Multivariate analysis of the factors related to post-operative distant metastasis.

<p>OR, odd ratio.</p

Correlations between Ki67 distribution pattern and distant metastasis (n(%)).

<p>Correlations between Ki67 distribution pattern and distant metastasis (n(%)).</p

Correlations between distribution pattern of Ki67 expression and clinic-pathological features (n = 1086).

<p><i>P₁</i>_, Ki67⁺ group compared to Ki67⁻ group; <i>P₂</i>_, Diffuse type compared to Ki67− group; <i>P₃</i>_, borderline type compared to diffuse type.</p