Lysine demethylase 1A exacerbates LPS-induced inflammation of vascular smooth muscle cells through modulation of NF-κB activation

Purpose: To study the effect of lysine demethylase 1A (LSD1) on inflammatory responses of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and investigate the mechanism. Methods: VSMCs were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Overexpression and knockdown of LSD1 in VSMCs were performed by transfecting with LSD1 overexpression plasmid and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), respectively. Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRTPCR) were used to measure protein and mRNA levels. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay was used to determine the levels of inflammatory cytokines. Results: Phosphorylation of LSD1 (p-LSD1) was significantly increased in LPS-induced VSMCs. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and IL-6 levels were also increased by LPS, but attenuated by LSD1 knockdown in VSMCs. Activation of NF-κB was increased by LPS, but was also decreased by LSD1 knockdown. Level of methylated p65 (p65-me) in VSMCs was increased by treatment with SET7/9 (p65 methyltransferase), but this effect was attenuated by overexpression of LSD1. Besides, the increased levels of MCP-1 and IL-6 induced by overexpression of LSD1 were reversed by NF-κB signaling inhibitor, PDTC. Conclusion: LSD1 exacerbates LPS-induced inflammation of VSMCs through NF-κB activation via p65 demethylation, which indicates that LSD1 might be a potential target for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Keywords: Vascular smooth muscle cells, Lysine demethylase 1A, Phosphorylation, NF-κB, p65, Demethylatio

A Discussion on the Detachment Structural Deformation and Its Influence on Pore Structure Evolution in Shale on the Western of the Xuefeng Mountain, South China

Detachment structures occur widely in the crust, and it is the commonest and most important deformation type developed in the region between orogenic belts and basins. Organic-rich shale, as the weak layers, usually acts as slippery layers in detachment structural deformation systems. The “comb-like” and “tough-like” fold belts on the western side of the Xuefeng Mountain result from the multilayer detachment, and their formation is different from the typical Jura type structures. The reason is that there are several detachment layers and detachment systems in the stratigraphic column from the Neoproterozoic upwards to the Mesozoic in the study area. As the stress decoupling role, the shale slippery layers tend to undergo strong deformation in the detachment systems and impacted on pore structure evolution in the shale. In order to obtain the detachment structural deformation and its influence on pore structure evolution in shale on the Middle and Upper Yangtze, the structural and textural, geochemical and mineralogical properties analysis, porosity and pore structure feature investigations are performed using shale samples collected from the same shale bed of the Longmaxi Formations (Lower Silurian) of Western of the Xuefeng Mountain, South China

Changes in respiratory structure and function after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury: observations from spinal cord and brain

Respiratory difficulties and mortality following severe cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) result primarily from malfunctions of respiratory pathways and the paralyzed diaphragm. Nonetheless, individuals with CSCI can experience partial recovery of respiratory function through respiratory neuroplasticity. For decades, researchers have revealed the potential mechanism of respiratory nerve plasticity after CSCI, and have made progress in tissue healing and functional recovery. While most existing studies on respiratory plasticity after spinal cord injuries have focused on the cervical spinal cord, there is a paucity of research on respiratory-related brain structures following such injuries. Given the interconnectedness of the spinal cord and the brain, traumatic changes to the former can also impact the latter. Consequently, are there other potential therapeutic targets to consider? This review introduces the anatomy and physiology of typical respiratory centers, explores alterations in respiratory function following spinal cord injuries, and delves into the structural foundations of modified respiratory function in patients with CSCI. Additionally, we propose that magnetic resonance neuroimaging holds promise in the study of respiratory function post-CSCI. By studying respiratory plasticity in the brain and spinal cord after CSCI, we hope to guide future clinical work

Effect of zinc acetate concentration on optimization of photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures

In this work, p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures were fabricated on Ni substrate by hydrothermal-decomposition method using cobaltous nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) and zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)(2)center dot 2H(2)O) as precursors with zinc acetate concentration varying from 5.0 to 55.0 mM. Structure and morphology of the developed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effect of zinc acetate concentration on the photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures was investigated by degradation of methyl orange (MO) under the UV light irradiation. The fabricated p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than pure Co3O4 particles. In order to obtain the maximum photocatalytic activity, zinc acetate concentration was optimized. Specifically, at 35 mM of zinc acetate, the p-Co3O4/n-ZnO showed the highest photocatalytic activity with the degradation efficiency of MO reaching 89.38% after 72 h irradiation. The improvement of photocatalytic performance of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures is due to the increased concentration of photo-generated holes on Co3O4 surface and the higher surface-to-volume ratio in the hierarchical structure formed by nano-lamellas

Visual saliency guided textured model simplification

Mesh geometry can be used to model both object shape and details. If texture maps are involved, it is common to let mesh geometry mainly model object shapes and let the texture maps model the most object details, optimising data size and complexity of an object. To support efficient object rendering and transmission, model simplification can be applied to reduce the modelling data. However, existing methods do not well consider how object features are jointly represented by mesh geometry and texture maps, having problems in identifying and preserving important features for simplified objects. To address this, we propose a visual saliency detection method for simplifying textured 3D models. We produce good simplification results by jointly processing mesh geometry and texture map to produce a unified saliency map for identifying visually important object features. Results show that our method offers a better object rendering quality than existing methods

Electrical Probing of Field-Driven Cascading Quantized Transitions of Skyrmion Cluster States in MnSi Nanowires

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable whirlpool-like spin textures that offer great promise as information carriers for future ultra-dense memory and logic devices1-4. To enable such applications, particular attention has been focused on the skyrmions properties in highly confined geometry such as one dimensional nanowires5-8. Hitherto it is still experimentally unclear what happens when the width of the nanowire is comparable to that of a single skyrmion. Here we report the experimental demonstration of such scheme, where magnetic field-driven skyrmion cluster (SC) states with small numbers of skyrmions were demonstrated to exist on the cross-sections of ultra-narrow single-crystal MnSi nanowires (NWs) with diameters, comparable to the skyrmion lattice constant (18 nm). In contrast to the skyrmion lattice in bulk MnSi samples, the skyrmion clusters lead to anomalous magnetoresistance (MR) behavior measured under magnetic field parallel to the NW long axis, where quantized jumps in MR are observed and directly associated with the change of the skyrmion number in the cluster, which is supported by Monte Carlo simulations. These jumps show the key difference between the clustering and crystalline states of skyrmions, and lay a solid foundation to realize skyrmion-based memory devices that the number of skyrmions can be counted via conventional electrical measurements

Silk-Derived Graphene-Like Carbon with High Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

A facile method to prepare the nanoporous and graphene-like carbon material from a natural silk fiber was developed by a potassium intercalation and carbonization procedure. The as-synthesized graphene-like fiber was employed for oxygen reduction reaction and exhibited impressive electrocatalytic activity

<i>Neisseria</i> species as pathobionts in bronchiectasis

Neisseria species are frequently identified in the bronchiectasis microbiome, but they are regarded as respiratory commensals. Using a combination of human cohorts, next-generation sequencing, systems biology, and animal models, we show that bronchiectasis bacteriomes defined by the presence of Neisseria spp. associate with poor clinical outcomes, including exacerbations. Neisseria subflava cultivated from bronchiectasis patients promotes the loss of epithelial integrity and inflammation in primary epithelial cells. In vivo animal models of Neisseria subflava infection and metabolipidome analysis highlight immunoinflammatory functional gene clusters and provide evidence for pulmonary inflammation. The murine metabolipidomic data were validated with human Neisseria-dominant bronchiectasis samples and compared with disease in which Pseudomonas-, an established bronchiectasis pathogen, is dominant. Metagenomic surveillance of Neisseria across various respiratory disorders reveals broader importance, and the assessment of the home environment in bronchiectasis implies potential environmental sources of exposure. Thus, we identify Neisseria species as pathobionts in bronchiectasis, allowing for improved risk stratification in this high-risk group.Published versio