Reduction of Hox Gene Expression by Histone H1 Depletion

The evolutionarily conserved homeotic (Hox) genes are organized in clusters and expressed collinearly to specify body patterning during embryonic development. Chromatin reorganization and decompaction are intimately connected with Hox gene activation. Linker histone H1 plays a key role in facilitating folding of higher order chromatin structure. Previous studies have shown that deletion of three somatic H1 subtypes together leads to embryonic lethality and that H1c/H1d/H1e triple knockout (TKO) embryonic stem cells (ESCs) display bulk chromatin decompaction. To investigate the potential role of H1 and higher order chromatin folding in the regulation of Hox gene expression, we systematically analyzed the expression of all 39 Hox genes in triple H1 null mouse embryos and ESCs by quantitative RT-PCR. Surprisingly, we find that H1 depletion causes significant reduction in the expression of a broad range of Hox genes in embryos and ESCs. To examine if any of the three H1 subtypes (H1c, H1d and H1e) is responsible for decreased expression of Hox gene in triple-H1 null ESCs, we derived and characterized H1c−/−, H1d−/−, and H1e−/− single-H1 null ESCs. We show that deletion of individual H1 subtypes results in down-regulation of specific Hox genes in ESCs. Finally we demonstrate that, in triple-H1- and single-H1- null ESCs, the levels of H3K4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) and H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) were affected at specific Hox genes with decreased expression. Our data demonstrate that marked reduction in total H1 levels causes significant reduction in both expression and the level of active histone mark H3K4me3 at many Hox genes and that individual H1 subtypes may also contribute to the regulation of specific Hox gene expression. We suggest possible mechanisms for such an unexpected role of histone H1 in Hox gene regulation

Status and Prospects of the PandaX-III Experiment

The PandaX-III experiment searches the neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{136}$Xe with a high-pressure xenon gaseous time projection chamber~(TPC). Thermal-bonding Micromegas modules are used for charge collection. Benefitting from the excellent energy resolution and imaging capability, the background rate can be significantly suppressed through the topological information of events. The technology is successfully demonstrated by a prototype detector. The final detector has been constructed. In this paper, we will report the status of the PandaX-III experiment, including the construction and commissioning of the final detector, and the Micromegas-based TPC performance test in the prototype detector

Chemical sand production control: a review of materials, methods and characterization

Sand production is one of the challenges facing the oil industry. This paper reviews the latest research advances in chemical sand control and aims to provide a reference for related researchers. Firstly, the commonly used chemical sand control materials are introduced. Second, recent advances in chemical sand control are reviewed, including materials, methods, and processes. Third, laboratory methods for sand control research are presented. Finally, the gaps and challenges of chemical sand control materials are pointed out, and possible future directions for chemical sand control methods are envisioned

Metabolism of Functional Oligosaccharides and Antagonism of Foodborne Pathogens by Resting Cells of Limosilactobacillus reuteri

Based on the metabolic activity and biotransformation capacity of the resting cells of Limosilactobacillus reuteri, its ability to metabolize functional oligosaccharides and antagonize foodborne pathogens was explored. A phylogenetic tree for L. reuteri was constructed based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence. The environmental tolerance of the resting cells of L. reuteri was analyzed by acid and bile salt tolerance, and antibiotic sensitivity assays. The effects of functional oligosaccharides on the metabolism, surface hydrophobicity, adhesion capacity and reuterin (a broad-spectrum antibacterial) production ability of L. reuteri were evaluated by using modified media. Then, the inhibitory effect of the resting cells of L. reuteri on the adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus to Caco-2 cells and its growth in skim milk was explored. Results showed that both L. reuteri strains tested could tolerate extreme acidic conditions and bile salts for more than 3 h and were susceptible to common antibiotics. All functional oligosaccharides tested except xylo-oligosaccharides could be metabolized by the resting cells, and its growth, surface hydrophobicity and adhesion capacity were improved significantly by raffinose (P < 0.05). Raffinose could promote the production of reuterin from L. reuteri HLRE13 by utilizing glycerol, attaining a concentration of (1.34 ± 0.03) g/L. Glycerol promoted the inhibitory effect of L. reuteri HLRE13 on a variety of foodborne pathogens significantly (P < 0.001), and inhibited the adhesion of S. aureus to Caco-2 cells by 41.67% through exclusion. Furthermore, glycerol could promote L. reuteri HLRE13 to reduce the number of S. aureus to 103 CFU/mL during co-culture. This study will provide a scientific basis for the functional development of resting cells of L. reuteri and its synergistic efficacy with functional oligosaccharides

The comparison between effects of Taichi and conventional exercise on functional mobility and balance in healthy older adults: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

BackgroundTaichi is beneficial for functional mobility and balance in older adults. However, such benefits of Taichi when comparing to conventional exercise (CE) are not well understood due to large variance in study protocols and observations.MethodsWe reviewed publications in five databases. Eligible studies that examined the effects of Taichi on the outcomes of functional mobility and balance in healthy older adults as compared to CE were included. Subgroup analyses compared the effects of different types of CE (e.g., single and multiple-type exercise) and different intervention designs (e.g., Taichi types) on those outcomes (Registration number: CRD42022331956).ResultsTwelve studies consisting of 2,901 participants were included. Generally, compared to CE, Taichi induced greater improvements in the performance of Timed-Up-and-Go (SMD = −0.18, [−0.33 to −0.03], p = 0.040, I2 = 59.57%), 50-foot walking (MD = −1.84 s, [−2.62 to −1.07], p &lt; 0.001, I2 = 0%), one-leg stance with eyes open (MD = 6.00s, [2.97 to 9.02], p &lt; 0.001, I2 = 83.19%), one-leg stance with eyes closed (MD = 1.65 s, [1.35 to 1.96], p &lt; 0.001, I2 = 36.2%), and functional reach (SMD = 0.7, [0.32 to 1.08], p &lt; 0.001, I2 = 86.79%) tests. Subgroup analyses revealed that Taichi with relatively short duration (&lt;20 weeks), low total time (≤24 h), and/or using Yang-style, can induce significantly greater benefits for functional mobility and balance as compared to CE. Uniquely, Taichi only induced significantly greater improvements in Timed-Up-and-Go compared to single- (SMD = −0.40, [−0.55 to −0.24], p &lt; 0.001, I2 = 6.14%), but not multiple-type exercise. A significant difference between the effects of Taichi was observed on the performance of one-leg stance with eyes open when compared to CE without balance (MD = 3.63 s, [1.02 to 6.24], p = 0.006, I2 = 74.93%) and CE with balance (MD = 13.90s, [10.32 to 17.48], p &lt; 0.001, I2 = 6.1%). No other significant difference was shown between the influences of different CE types on the observations.ConclusionTaichi can induce greater improvement in functional mobility and balance in older adults compared to CE in a more efficient fashion, especially compared to single-type CE. Future studies with more rigorous design are needed to confirm the observations here

Frustrated magnetic interactions in a Wigner-Mott insulator

Two-dimensional semiconductor moir\'e materials have emerged as a highly controllable platform to simulate and explore quantum condensed matter. Compared to real solids, electrons in semiconductor moir\'e materials are less strongly attracted to the moir\'e lattice sites, making the nonlocal contributions to the magnetic interactions as important as the Anderson super-exchange. It provides a unique platform to study the effects of competing magnetic interactions. Here, we report the observation of strongly frustrated magnetic interactions in a Wigner-Mott insulating state at 2/3 filling of the moir\'e lattice in angle-aligned WSe2/WS2 heterobilayers. Magneto-optical measurements show that the net exchange interaction is antiferromagnetic for filling factors below 1 with a strong suppression at 2/3 filling. The suppression is lifted upon screening of the long-range Coulomb interactions and melting of the Wigner-Mott insulator by a nearby metallic gate. The results can be qualitatively captured by a honeycomb-lattice spin model with an antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor coupling and a ferromagnetic second-neighbor coupling. Our study establishes semiconductor moir\'e materials as a model system for the lattice-spin physics and frustrated magnetism

Can molecular hydrogen supplementation reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress in healthy adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveExercise-induced oxidative stress affects multiple neurophysiological processes, diminishing the exercise performance. Hydrogen (H2) can selectively reduce excessive free radicals, but studies observed its “dual effects” on exercise-induced oxidative stress, that is, increasing or decreasing the oxidative stress. Therefore, we here conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively assess the influence of H2 on exercise-induced oxidative stress in healthy adults.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of publications across five databases. The following keywords were used for search strategy: [“hydrogen”[Mesh] or “molecular hydrogen” or “hydrogen rich water” or “hydrogen-rich water” or “hydrogen rich saline”] and [“Oxidative Stress”[Mesh] or “Antioxidative Stress” or “Oxidative Damage” or “Oxidative Injury” or “Oxidative Cleavage”] and [“randomized controlled trial”[Mesh] or “randomized” or “RCT”]. We included trials reporting the effects of H2 on exercise-induced oxidative stress and potential antioxidant capacity post-exercise in healthy adults. Additionally, subgroup analyses were conducted to explore how various elements of the intervention design affected those outcomes.ResultsSix studies, encompassing seven experiments with a total of 76 participants, were included in our analysis. Among these studies, hydrogen-rich water, hydrogen bathing, and hydrogen-rich gas were three forms used in H2 administration. The H2 was applied in different timing, including before, during, or after exercise only, both before and after exercise, and repeatedly over days. Single-dose, multi-dose within 1 day and/or multiple-dose over days were implemented. It was observed that compared to placebo, the effects of H2 on oxidative stress (diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites, d-ROMs) was not significant (SMD = −0.01, 95%CI-0.42 to 0.39, p = 0.94). However, H2 induced greater improvement in antioxidant potential capacity (Biological Antioxidant Potential, BAP) (SMD = 0.29, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.54, p = 0.03) as compared to placebo. Subgroup analyses revealed that H2 supplementation showed greater improvement (SMD = 0.52, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.87, p = 0.02) in the antioxidant potential capacity of intermittent exercises than continuous exercise.ConclusionH2 supplementation can help enhance antioxidant potential capacity in healthy adults, especially in intermittent exercise, but not directly diminish the levels of exercise-induced oxidative stress. Future studies with more rigorous design are needed to examine and confirm these findings.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=364123, Identifier CRD42022364123

Knowledge Domains and Emerging Trends of Osteoblasts-Osteoclasts in Bone Disease From 2002 to 2021: A Bibliometrics Analysis and Visualization Study

BackgroundOsteoblasts-Osteoclasts has been a major area in bone disease research for a long time. However, there are few systematic studies in this field using bibliometric analysis. We aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis and visualization study to determine hotspots and trends of osteoblasts-osteoclasts in bone diseases, identify collaboration and influence among authors, countries, institutions, and journals, and assess the knowledge base to develop basic and clinical research in the future.MethodsWe collected articles and reviews for osteoblasts-osteoclasts in bone diseases from the Web of Science Core Collection. In addition, we utilized scientometrics software (CiteSpace5.8 and VOSviewer1.6.18) for visual analysis of countries/regions, institutions, authors, references, and keywords in the field.ResultsIn total, 16,832 authors from 579 institutions in 73 countries/regions have published 3,490 papers in 928 academic journals. The literature in this field is rapidly increasing, with Bone publishing the most articles, whereas Journal of Bone and Mineral Research had the most co-cited journals. These two journals mainly focused on molecular biology and the clinical medicine domain. The countries with the highest number of publications were the US and China, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences was the most active institution. Regarding authors, Stavros C. Manolagas published the most articles, and Hiroshi Takayanagi had the most co-cited papers. Research in this field mainly includes molecular expression and regulatory mechanisms, differentiation, osteoprotection, inflammation, and tumors. The latest research hotspots are oxidative stress, mutation, osteocyte formation and absorption, bone metabolism, tumor therapy, and in-depth mechanisms.ConclusionWe identified the research hotspots and development process of osteoblasts-osteoclasts in bone disease using bibliometric and visual methods. Osteoblasts-osteoclasts have attracted increasing attention in bone disease. This study will provide a valuable reference for researchers concerned with osteoblasts-osteoclasts in bone diseases