T cell immune abnormalities in immune thrombocytopenia

Immune thrombocytopenia is an autoimmune disease with abnormal T cell immunity. Cytotoxic T cells, abnormal T regulatory cells, helper T cell imbalance, megakaryocyte maturation abnormalities and abnormal T cell anergy are involved in the pathogenesis of this condition. The loss of T cell-mediated immune tolerance to platelet auto-antigens plays a crucial role in immune thrombocytopenia. The induction of T cell tolerance is an important mechanism by which the pathogenesis and treatment of immune thrombocytopenia can be studied. Studies regarding the roles of the new inducible costimulator signal transduction pathway, the ubiquitin proteasome pathway, and the nuclear factor kappa B signal transduction pathway in the induction of T cell tolerance can help improve our understanding of immune theory and may provide a new theoretical basis for studying the pathogenesis and treatment of immune thrombocytopenia

Development of a Portable Single Photon Ionization-Photoelectron Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

A vacuum ultraviolet lamp based single photon ionization- (SPI-) photoelectron ionization (PEI) portable reflecting time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) was designed for online monitoring gas samples. It has a dual mode ionization source: SPI for analyte with ionization energy (IE) below 10.6 eV and PEI for IE higher than 10.6 eV. Two kinds of sampling inlets, a capillary inlet and a membrane inlet, are utilized for high concentration and trace volatile organic compounds, respectively. A mass resolution of 1100 at m/z 64 has been obtained with a total size of 40 × 31 × 29 cm, the weight is 27 kg, and the power consumption is only 70 W. A mixture of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX), SO2, and discharging products of SF6 were used to test its performance, and the result showed that the limit of quantitation for BTX is as low as 5 ppbv (S/N = 10 : 1) with linear dynamic ranges greater than four orders of magnitude. The portable TOFMS was also evaluated by analyzing volatile organic compounds from wine and decomposition products of SF6 inside of a gas-insulated switchgear

PDCD1 genes may protect against extraocular manifestations in Chinese Han patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome

Purpose: To analyze the potential association of programmed cell death 1 (PDCD1) with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome in a Chinese Han population. Methods: Three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs), PD-1.3G/A, PD-1.5C/T, and PD-1.6G/A, were genotyped in 247 VKH patients and 289 age-, sex-, and ethnically-matched healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. The associations of genotypes and alleles with VKH syndrome were analyzed. Results: All genotype distributions in healthy controls were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The genotype and allele frequencies of PD-1.3, PD-1.5, and PD-1.6 were not different between patients with VKH syndrome and healthy controls. No significant difference was observed according to the status of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 and HLA-DRw53. Compared to the controls, lower frequencies of the PD-1.5C genotype and allele frequencies were observed in VKH patients with extraocular findings. Conclusions: PD-1.3 and PD-1.6 polymorphisms are not associated with the susceptibility to VKH syndrome in the Chinese Han population. However, PD-1.5 may be negatively associated with the occurrence of extraocular manifestations of VKH syndrome

Strength and size of phosphorus-rich patches determine the foraging strategy of Neyraudia reynaudiana

BackgroundUnder natural conditions, soil nutrients are heterogeneously distributed, and plants have developed adaptation strategies to efficiently forage patchily distributed nutrient. Most previous studies examined either patch strength or patch size separately and focused mainly on root morphological plasticity (increased root proliferation in nutrient-rich patch), thus the effects of both patch strength and size on morphological and physiological plasticity are not well understood. In this study, we examined the foraging strategy of Neyraudia reynaudiana (Kunth) Keng ex Hithc, a pioneer grass colonizing degraded sites, with respect to patch strength and size in heterogeneously distributed phosphorus (P), and how foraging patchily distributed P affects total plant biomass production. Plants were grown in sand-culture pots divided into 1/2, 1/4, 1/6 compartments and full size and supplied with 0+0/30, 0+7.5/30 and 7.5+0/30mg P/kg dry soil as KH2PO4 or 0+15/15, 0+18.5/ 18.5, 7.5+15/15mgkg-1 in the homogenous treatment. The first amount was the P concentration in the central region, and that the second amount was the P concentration in the outer parts of the pot.ResultsAfter 3months of growth under experimental conditions, significantly (p<0.05) high root elongation, root surface area, root volume and average root diameter was observed in large patches with high patch strength. Roots absorbed significantly more P in P-replete than P-deficient patches. Whole plant biomass production was significantly higher in larger patches with high patch strength than small patches and homogeneous P distribution.ConclusionThe result demonstrates that root morphological and physiological plasticity are important adaptive strategies for foraging patchily distributed P and the former is largely determined by patch strength and size. The results also establish that foraging patchily distributed P resulted in increased total plant biomass production compared to homogeneous P distribution

Comparative genome analysis of plant ascomycete fungal pathogens with different lifestyles reveals distinctive virulence strategies

Background: Pathogens have evolved diverse lifestyles and adopted pivotal new roles in both natural ecosystems and human environments. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying their adaptation to new lifestyles are obscure. Comparative genomics was adopted to determine distinct strategies of plant ascomycete fungal pathogens with different lifestyles and to elucidate their distinctive virulence strategies. Results: We found that plant ascomycete biotrophs exhibited lower gene gain and loss events and loss of CAZyme-encoding genes involved in plant cell wall degradation and biosynthesis gene clusters for the production of secondary metabolites in the genome. Comparison with the candidate effectome detected distinctive variations between plant biotrophic pathogens and other groups (including human, necrotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens). The results revealed the biotroph-specific and lifestyle-conserved candidate effector families. These data have been configured in web-based genome browser applications for public display (http://lab.malab.cn/soft/PFPG). This resource allows researchers to profile the genome, proteome, secretome and effectome of plant fungal pathogens. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated different genome evolution strategies of plant fungal pathogens with different lifestyles and explored their lifestyle-conserved and specific candidate effectors. It will provide a new basis for discovering the novel effectors and their pathogenic mechanisms

Possible Generation Mechanism for Compressional Alfv\'enic Spikes as Observed by Parker Solar Probe

The solar wind is found by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to be abundant with Alfv\'enic velocity spikes and magnetic field kinks. Temperature enhancement is another remarkable feature associated with the Alfv\'enic spikes. How the prototype of these coincident phenomena is generated intermittently in the source region becomes a hot topic of wide concerns. Here we propose a new model introducing guide-field discontinuity into the interchange magnetic reconnection between open funnels and closed loops with different magnetic helicities. The modified interchange reconnection model not only can accelerate jet flows from the newly opening closed loop but also excite and launch Alfv\'enic wave pulses along the newly-reconnected and post-reconnected open flux tubes. We find that the modeling results can reproduce the following observational features: (1) Alfv\'en disturbance is pulsive in time and asymmetric in space; (2) Alfv\'enic pulse is compressible with temperature enhancement and density variation inside the pulse. We point out that three physical processes co-happening with Alfv\'en wave propagation can be responsible for the temperature enhancement: (a) convection of heated jet flow plasmas (decrease in density), (b) propagation of compressed slow-mode waves (increase in density), and (c) conduction of heat flux (weak change in density). We also suggest that the radial nonlinear evolution of the Alfv\'enic pulses should be taken into account to explain the formation of magnetic switchback geometry

Mice lacking substance P have normal bone modeling but diminished bone formation, increased resorption, and accelerated osteopenia with aging

Substance P (SP) is a sensory neuropeptide that is expressed by the neurons innervating bone. There is considerable evidence that SP can regulate bone cell function in vitro, but it is unclear whether SP modulates bone modeling or remodeling in vivo. To answer this question we characterized the bone phenotype of mice with deletion of the Tac1 gene expressing SP. The phenotypes of 2-month-old and 5-month-old SP deficient mice and their wildtype controls were characterized by using μCT imaging, static and dynamic bone histomorphometry, and urinary deoxypyridinoline cross-links (DPD) measurement. No differences in bone phenotypes were observed between the 2 strains at 2 months of age. By 5 months both the wildtype and SP deficient mice had developed cancellous osteopenia, but relative to the wild-type mice the SP deficient mice had significantly greater cancellous bone loss. The SP deficient mice also exhibited decreased bone formation, increased osteoclast number, and increased urinary DPD levels. Cortical defect early repair was delayed in 5-month-old mice lacking SP. Collectively, these findings indicate that SP signaling is not required for bone modeling, but SP signaling reduces age-related osteopenia and accelerates cortical defect reparation, data supporting the hypothesis that SP is an anabolic physiologic regulator of bone metabolism