An Aquaporin 3-Notch1 Axis in Keratinocyte Differentiation and Inflammation

Aquaporin 3 (AQP3) is an aquaglyceroporin which transports water, glycerol and small solutes across the plasma membrane. Its functions are not limited to fluid transport but also involve the regulation of cell proliferation, migration, skin hydration, wound healing and tumorigenesis. While AQP3 has been reported to play an important role in keratinocyte proliferation, its role in differentiation remains controversial. Our study demonstrated that the expression of AQP3 was regulated during differentiation and that it participated in keratinocyte differentiation control. We further revealed that AQP3 was a transcriptional target of Notch signaling, a critical pathway regulating keratinocyte differentiation and tumor suppression, and it regulated differentiation through a reciprocal negative feedback loop with Notch1. When the expression level of AQP3 was elevated, impaired barrier integrity and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production ensued, mimicking the pathological conditions in Notch deficient mice and in atopic dermatitis. Dysregulation of AQP3 and Notch receptors has been reported in several skin diseases, including skin cancer. Our discovery of the novel AQP3-Notch1 axis may provide insight into epidermal homeostasis control and possible translational applications, including its potential use as a biomarker for molecular diagnosis in environmental studies

Curcumin suppresses leukemia cell proliferation by downregulation of P13K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway

Purpose: To investigate the effect of curcumin ester on the proliferation of leukemia cell lines in vitro. Methods: Changes in WEHI-3 and THP 1 cell viabilities were measured using Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK 8). Analysis of cell cycle and determination of apoptosis were carried out using propidium iodide and Annexin V fluorescein isothiocyanate staining. Transmission electron microscopy was used for observing the presence of apoptotic features in cells. Results: Treatment with curcumin ester for 72 h caused significant reduction in the proliferation of WEHI-3 and THP 1 cells. Curcumin ester, at a dose of 50 µM, decreased the proliferations of WEHI-3 and THP 1 cells to 28 and 32 %, respectively. On exposure to curcumin ester for 72 h, cell cycle in WEHI-3 cells was arrested in G1/G0 phase. Curcumin ester at doses of 25, 30 and 50 µM enhanced apoptosis in WEHI-3 cells to 46, 58 and 64 %, respectively. Curcumin ester suppressed the levels of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT) and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein and mRNA in WEHI-3 cells. In curcumin ester-treated WEHI-3 cells, the presence of apop¬totic bodies increased significantly and concentration-dependently. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that curcumin ester inhibits leukemia cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis and arresting cell cycle in G1/G0 phase, probably via suppression of PI3K, AKT and mTOR, and promotion of PTEN. Thus, curcumin ester has potentials for use in the development of an effective treatment strategy for leukemia

Integrated photonics modular arithmetic processor

Integrated photonics computing has emerged as a promising approach to overcome the limitations of electronic processors in the post-Moore era, capitalizing on the superiority of photonic systems. However, present integrated photonics computing systems face challenges in achieving high-precision calculations, consequently limiting their potential applications, and their heavy reliance on analog-to-digital (AD) and digital-to-analog (DA) conversion interfaces undermines their performance. Here we propose an innovative photonic computing architecture featuring scalable calculation precision and a novel photonic conversion interface. By leveraging Residue Number System (RNS) theory, the high-precision calculation is decomposed into multiple low-precision modular arithmetic operations executed through optical phase manipulation. Those operations directly interact with the digital system via our proposed optical digital-to-phase converter (ODPC) and phase-to-digital converter (OPDC). Through experimental demonstrations, we showcase a calculation precision of 9 bits and verify the feasibility of the ODPC/OPDC photonic interface. This approach paves the path towards liberating photonic computing from the constraints imposed by limited precision and AD/DA converters.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure

Impurity screening and stability of Fermi arcs against Coulomband magnetic scattering in a Weyl monopnictide

We present a quasiparticle interference study of clean and Mn surface-doped TaAs, a prototypical Weyl semimetal, to test the screening properties as well as the stability of Fermi arcs against Coulomb and magnetic scattering. Contrary to topological insulators, the impurities are effectively screened in Weyl semimetals. The adatoms significantly enhance the strength of the signal such that theoretical predictions on the potential impact of Fermi arcs can be unambiguously scrutinized. Our analysis reveals the existence of three extremely short, previously unknown scattering vectors. Comparison with theory traces them back to scattering events between large parallel segments of spin-split trivial states, strongly limiting their coherence. In sharp contrast to previous work [R. Batabyal et al., Sci. Adv. 2, e1600709 (2016)], where similar but weaker subtle modulations were interpreted as evidence of quasiparticle interference originating from Femi arcs, we can safely exclude this being the case. Overall, our results indicate that intra- as well as inter-Fermi arc scattering are strongly suppressed and may explain why-in spite of their complex multiband structure-transport measurements show signatures of topological states in Weyl monopnictides

Identification of Changes in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Seeds Proteome in Response to Anti–trx s Gene

BACKGROUND: Thioredoxin h (trx h) is closely related to germination of cereal seeds. The cDNA sequences of the thioredoxin s (trx s) gene from Phalaris coerulescens and the thioredoxin h (trx h) gene from wheat are highly homologous, and their expression products have similar biological functions. Transgenic wheat had been formed after the antisense trx s was transferred into wheat, and it had been certified that the expression of trx h decreased in transgenic wheat, and transgenic wheat has high resistance to pre-harvest sprouting. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Through analyzing the differential proteome of wheat seeds between transgenic wheat and wild type wheat, the mechanism of transgenic wheat seeds having high resistance to pre-harvest sprouting was studied in the present work. There were 36 differential proteins which had been identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). All these differential proteins are involved in regulation of carbohydrates, esters, nucleic acid, proteins and energy metabolism, and biological stress. The quantitative real time PCR results of some differential proteins, such as trx h, heat shock protein 70, α-amylase, β-amylase, glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, 14-3-3 protein, S3-RNase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and WRKY transcription factor 6, represented good correlation between transcripts and proteins. The biological functions of many differential proteins are consistent with the proposed role of trx h in wheat seeds. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A possible model for the role of trx h in wheat seeds germination was proposed in this paper. These results will not only play an important role in clarifying the mechanism that transgenic wheat has high resistance to pre-harvest sprouting, but also provide further evidence for the role of trx h in germination of wheat seeds

Identification of Topping Responsive Proteins in Tobacco Roots

Tobacco plant has many responses to topping, such as the increase in ability of nicotine synthesis and secondary growth of roots. Some topping responsive miRNAs and genes had been identified in our previous work, but it is not enough to elaborate mechanism of tobacco response to topping. Here, topping responsive proteins were screened from tobacco roots with two-dimensional electrophoresis. Of these proteins, calretulin (CRT) and Auxin-responsive protein IAA9 were related to the secondary growth of roots, LRR disease resistance, heat shock protein 70 and farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase 1（FPPS）were involved in wounding stress response, and F-box protein played an important role in promoting the ability of nicotine synthesis after topping. In addition, there were five tobacco bHLH proteins (NtbHLH, NtMYC1a, NtMYC1b, NtMYC2a and NtMYC2b) related to nicotine synthesis. It was suggested that NtMYC2 might be the main positive transcription factor and NtbHLH protein is a negative regulator in the JA-mediating activation of nicotine synthesis after topping. Tobacco topping activates some comprehensive biology processes involving IAA and JA signaling pathway, and the identification of these proteins will be helpful to understand the process of topping response