Effects and mechanism of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy in type 2 diabetic rats

OBJECTIVES: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are potentially ideal for type 2 diabetes treatment, owing to their multidirectional differentiation ability and immunomodulatory properties. Here we investigated whether the stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) in combination with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) could treat type 2 diabetic rats, and explored the underlying mechanism. METHODS: SD rats were used to generate a type 2 diabetes model, which received stem cell therapy, HBO therapy, or both together. Before and after treatment, body weight, blood glucose, and serum insulin, blood lipid, pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6), and urinary proteins were measured and compared. After 6 weeks, rats were sacrificed and their organs were subjected to hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunofluorescence staining for insulin and glucagon; apoptosis and proliferation were analyzed in islet cells. Structural changes in islets were observed under an electron microscope. Expression levels of Pdx1, Ngn3, and Pax4 mRNAs in the pancreas were assessed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: In comparison with diabetic mice, those treated with the combination or SHE therapy showed decreased blood glucose, insulin resistance, serum lipids, and pro-inflammatory cytokines and increased body weight and serum insulin. The morphology and structure of pancreatic islets improved, as evident from an increase in insulin-positive cells and a decrease in glucagon-positive cells. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasemediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining of islet cells revealed the decreased apoptosis index, while Ki67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen staining showed increased proliferation index. Pancreatic expression of Pdx1, Ngn3, and Pax4 was upregulated. CONCLUSION: SHED combined with HBO therapy was effective for treating type 2 diabetic rats. The underlying mechanism may involve SHED-mediated increase in the proliferation and trans-differentiation of islet b-cells and decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines and apoptosis of islets

Potential effects of rainwater-borne H2O2 on competitive degradation of herbicides and in the presence of humic acid

In a previous piece of work, we reported some preliminary experimental results showing that hydrogen peroxide at a concentration range frequently encountered in rainwater could lead to degradation of three common herbicides (diuron, butachlor and glyphosate). However, the work was limited to the observation on the effects of Fenton process on the individual herbicides. In field conditions, different types of herbicides along with other organic molecules may occur concurrently. It is unclear how different herbicides and various organic molecules compete for the available hydroxyl radical. In this study, further microcosm experiments were conducted to observe the changes in the herbicides in the scenarios where multiple herbicides or humic acid are present. The results show that humic acid impeded hydroxyl radical-driven degradation of the diuron and butachlor. However, humic acid had no significant effects on reducing glyphosate removal rate. Glyphosate could compete strongly with the humic acid for the available hydroxyl radical in the reaction systems. The reactivity of glyphosate with hydroxyl radical was much higher than those of diuron and butachlor due possibly to its relatively simpler chemical structure, as compared to either diuron or butachlor. Butachlor degradation was much weaker in the combined diuron and butachlor system than in the combined glyphosate and butachlor system. In the glyphosate-butachlor system, the opposite was observed. The findings have moved another step forward to understanding the potential role of rainwater-borne H2O2 in degrading herbicides in open water environments

Fenton reagent reduces the level of arsenic in paddy rice grain

Hydroponic and pot experiments were conducted to examine the effects of Fenton reagent on paddy rice plant growing in arsenic-contaminated soils. Fenton reagent significantly reduced arsenic phytotoxicity, uptake by the plants and accumulation in rice grain. This is attributed to oxidation of As3+ to As5+ by hydroxyl radicals and immobilization of arsenate by reacting with precipitating Fe3+ to form practically insoluble compounds. Although this process enhanced the formation of Fe-enriched coatings on root surface, it appears that root plaque had limited effects on inhibiting As uptake since most of the young roots were not covered by iron plaque. It is more likely that As immobilization in the bulk soils play a major role in reducing As flux towards rhizosphere. The findings have implications for understanding As behavior in paddy field receiving rainwater-borne hydrogen peroxide and developing cost-effective techniques for reducing As level in rice grain produced from As-contaminated soil

Elevated Serum IL-21 Levels Are Associated With Stable Immune Status in Kidney Transplant Recipients and a Mouse Model of Kidney Transplantation

Allograft rejection after renal transplantation remains a challenge to overcome. Interleukin (IL)-21, a cytokine with pleiotropic effects, maintains immune homeostasis post-transplantation. Here, we report higher levels of IL-21 in kidney transplant recipients with non-rejection (NR) than in recipients with T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR, P \u3c 0.001) and antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR, P = 0.005). We observed a negative correlation between IL-21 and creatinine (Cr) levels (P = 0.016). The receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed a promising diagnostic value of IL-21 to identify acute rejection with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.822 (P \u3c 0.001). In contrast, exogenous administration of IL-21 accelerated acute rejection in a comparative translational kidney transplant (KT) mouse model. Reduced IL-21 levels in the peripheral blood were observed in KT mice after IL-21 injection. Further analysis revealed that increased IL-21 levels in the spleen induced proliferation of CD4+ T cells and CD19+ B cells after IL-21 treatment. Our findings suggest a critical function of IL-21 in kidney transplantation and the potential involvement of the IL-21/IL-21R pathway in acute rejection management

Particle size effects on bioaccessible amounts of ingestible soil-borne toxic elements

The unified BARGE method was used to examine the effects of soil particle size on the bioaccessible amounts of potentially toxic elements in multi-contaminated soils from a closed landfill site. The results show that bioaccessible As, Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn increased with decreasing soil particle size and the <0.002 mm soil fraction contained much greater amounts of the bioaccessible elements, as compared to other soil fractions (0.002-0.063 mm, 0.063-0.125 mm, and 0.125-0.250 mm). As, Al and Cr had much lower bioaccessibility, as compared to the six cationic heavy metals. In contrast with other elements, As bioaccessibility tended to be higher in the gastrointestinal phase than in the gastric phase. There was a significant soil particle size effect on bioaccessibility of As and Al in the gastrointestinal phase: As bioaccessibility decreased with decreasing particle size, and the finer soil fractions tended to have a higher Al bioaccessibility, as compared to the coarser soil fractions. The research findings prompt the need for further division of soil particle size fractions in order to more accurately assess the bioaccessible amounts of soil-borne potentially toxic elements in contaminated lands

Internet of Things for Sustainable Mining

The sustainable mining Internet of Things deals with the applications of IoT technology to the coupled needs of sustainable recovery of metals and a healthy environment for a thriving planet. In this chapter, the IoT architecture and technology is presented to support development of a digital mining platform emphasizing the exploration of rock–fluid–environment interactions to develop extraction methods with maximum economic benefit, while maintaining and preserving both water quantity and quality, soil, and, ultimately, human health. New perspectives are provided for IoT applications in developing new mineral resources, improved management of tailings, monitoring and mitigating contamination from mining. Moreover, tools to assess the environmental and social impacts of mining including the demands on dwindling freshwater resources. The cutting-edge technologies that could be leveraged to develop the state-of-the-art sustainable mining IoT paradigm are also discussed

The water lily genome and the early evolution of flowering plants

Water lilies belong to the angiosperm order Nymphaeales. Amborellales, Nymphaeales and Austrobaileyales together form the so-called ANA-grade of angiosperms, which are extant representatives of lineages that diverged the earliest from the lineage leading to the extant mesangiosperms1–3. Here we report the 409-megabase genome sequence of the blue-petal water lily (Nymphaea colorata). Our phylogenomic analyses support Amborellales and Nymphaeales as successive sister lineages to all other extant angiosperms. The N. colorata genome and 19 other water lily transcriptomes reveal a Nymphaealean whole-genome duplication event, which is shared by Nymphaeaceae and possibly Cabombaceae. Among the genes retained from this whole-genome duplication are homologues of genes that regulate flowering transition and flower development. The broad expression of homologues of floral ABCE genes in N. colorata might support a similarly broadly active ancestral ABCE model of floral organ determination in early angiosperms. Water lilies have evolved attractive floral scents and colours, which are features shared with mesangiosperms, and we identified their putative biosynthetic genes in N. colorata. The chemical compounds and biosynthetic genes behind floral scents suggest that they have evolved in parallel to those in mesangiosperms. Because of its unique phylogenetic position, the N. colorata genome sheds light on the early evolution of angiosperms.Supplementary Tables: This file contains Supplementary Tables 1-21.National Natural Science Foundation of China, the open funds of the State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement (ZW201909) and State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, the Fujian provincial government in China, the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under European Research Council Advanced Grant Agreement and the Special Research Fund of Ghent University.http://www.nature.com/naturecommunicationsam2021BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Molecularly imprinted polymer-based potentiometric sensors

Carrier-based polymeric membrane potentiometric sensors have been widely used for determination of inorganic ions in clinical and environmental applications. In view of the need for a wider application scope of these sensors, the list of targets needs to be increased. Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based potentiometric sensors are ideal candidates for sensing of organic and biological species. The development of such sensors may open attractive horizons for potentiometric sensing and further expand the field. The past few decades have witnessed remarkable achievements in these sensors. This review summarizes recent advances in the MIP synthesis, the detection modes of these sensors and their applications for organic and biological species in environmental and biological analyses, and attempts to illustrate the research directions. We hope that this review will shed new light on the understanding of MIP-based potentiometric sensors and pave the way for the widespread applications of polymeric membrane potentiometric sensors. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Thin polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes for trace-level potentiometric detection

In this work, we describe a novel method to improve the detection limits of the non-classical polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) which are conditioned with highly discriminated ions instead of primary ions. It is based on a thin-layer ISE membrane with a thickness of 5 mm, which is coated on ordered mesoporous carbon used as solid contact. The diffusion of the primary ion from the surface of the sensing membrane to the bulk of the membrane could be avoided by the proposed thin membrane configuration. Since the detection sensitivity of the non-classical ISEs depends on the accumulation of the primary ion in the interfacial layer of the sensing membrane, a lower detection limit can be obtained. By using the copper ion as a model, the present potentiometric sensor shows a significantly improved detection sensitivity compared to the conventional ISE with a membrane thickness of ca. 200 mm. Low detection limits of 0.29 and 0.53 nM can be obtained in 0.01 and 0.5 M NaCl, respectively. In addition, the proposed sensor exhibits an excellent reversibility by using a neutral proton-selective ionophore incorporated in the thin membrane. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved