Sox10+ adult stem cells contribute to biomaterial encapsulation and microvascularization.

Implanted biomaterials and biomedical devices generally induce foreign body reaction and end up with encapsulation by a dense avascular fibrous layer enriched in extracellular matrix. Fibroblasts/myofibroblasts are thought to be the major cell type involved in encapsulation, but it is unclear whether and how stem cells contribute to this process. Here we show, for the first time, that Sox10+ adult stem cells contribute to both encapsulation and microvessel formation. Sox10+ adult stem cells were found sparsely in the stroma of subcutaneous loose connective tissues. Upon subcutaneous biomaterial implantation, Sox10+ stem cells were activated and recruited to the biomaterial scaffold, and differentiated into fibroblasts and then myofibroblasts. This differentiation process from Sox10+ stem cells to myofibroblasts could be recapitulated in vitro. On the other hand, Sox10+ stem cells could differentiate into perivascular cells to stabilize newly formed microvessels. Sox10+ stem cells and endothelial cells in three-dimensional co-culture self-assembled into microvessels, and platelet-derived growth factor had chemotactic effect on Sox10+ stem cells. Transplanted Sox10+ stem cells differentiated into smooth muscle cells to stabilize functional microvessels. These findings demonstrate the critical role of adult stem cells in tissue remodeling and unravel the complexity of stem cell fate determination

Overview: Recent advances in the understanding of the northern Eurasian environments and of the urban air quality in China – a Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) programme perspective

The Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX) Science Plan, released in 2015, addressed a need for a holistic system understanding and outlined the most urgent research needs for the rapidly changing Arctic-boreal region. Air quality in China, together with the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants, was also indicated as one of the most crucial topics of the research agenda. These two geographical regions, the northern Eurasian Arctic-boreal region and China, especially the megacities in China, were identified as a "PEEX region". It is also important to recognize that the PEEX geographical region is an area where science-based policy actions would have significant impacts on the global climate. This paper summarizes results obtained during the last 5 years in the northern Eurasian region, together with recent observations of the air quality in the urban environments in China, in the context of the PEEX programme. The main regions of interest are the Russian Arctic, northern Eurasian boreal forests (Siberia) and peatlands, and the megacities in China. We frame our analysis against research themes introduced in the PEEX Science Plan in 2015. We summarize recent progress towards an enhanced holistic understanding of the land-atmosphere-ocean systems feedbacks. We conclude that although the scientific knowledge in these regions has increased, the new results are in many cases insufficient, and there are still gaps in our understanding of large-scale climate-Earth surface interactions and feedbacks. This arises from limitations in research infrastructures, especially the lack of coordinated, continuous and comprehensive in situ observations of the study region as well as integrative data analyses, hindering a comprehensive system analysis. The fast-changing environment and ecosystem changes driven by climate change, socio-economic activities like the China Silk Road Initiative, and the global trends like urbanization further complicate such analyses. We recognize new topics with an increasing importance in the near future, especially "the enhancing biological sequestration capacity of greenhouse gases into forests and soils to mitigate climate change" and the "socio-economic development to tackle air quality issues".Peer reviewe

Natural Polysaccharide-Based Nanodrug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Diabetes

In recent years, natural polysaccharides have been considered as the ideal candidates for novel drug delivery systems because of their good biocompatibility, biodegradation, low immunogenicity, renewable source and easy modification. These natural polymers are widely used in the designing of nanocarriers, which possess wide applications in therapeutics, diagnostics, delivery and protection of bioactive compounds or drugs. A great deal of studies could be focused on developing polysaccharide nanoparticles and promoting their application in various fields, especially in biomedicine. In this review, a variety of polysaccharide-based nanocarriers were introduced, including nanoliposomes, nanoparticles, nanomicelles, nanoemulsions and nanohydrogels, focusing on the latest research progress of these nanocarriers in the treatment of diabetes and the possible strategies for further study of polysaccharide nanocarriers

Application of a functionalized ionic liquid extractant tributylmethylammonium dibutyldiglycolamate ([A336][BDGA]) in light rare earth extraction and separation.

A type of functionalized ionic liquid extractant, tributylmethylammonium dibutyldiglycolamate ([A336][BDGA]), was synthesized, and its extraction ability of light rare earth elements, namely, La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III) and Nd(III), wascompared with that of other functionalized ionic liquid extractants, including tributylmethylammonium dioctyldiglycolamate and diglycolic amide extractants N,N,N,N-tetrabutyl-3-oxapentane-diamide (TBDGA) and N,N,N,N-tetraoctyl-3-oxapentane-diamide (TODGA). The study of extraction behavior indicated that the ionic liquids exhibited better extraction properties than the amides under lower acidity conditions. The effects of the pH and concentration of the extractant on the extraction behavior of [A336][BDGA] on light rare earths were determined. A separation strategy of mixed light rare earths was investigated by means of extraction chromatography using [A336][BDGA] as the stationary phase. As a result, nearly pure La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III) and Nd(III) were obtained, respectively. A new strategy of separating mixed light rare earths was established by means of extraction chromatography. The stationary phase of [A336][BDGA] was used in this strategy. The four rare earths elements, La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III) and Nd(III), achieved baseline separation

Single-Cell Sequencing Analysis Identified ASTN2 as a Migration Biomarker in Adult Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive primary central nervous system malignant tumors. With the development of targeted sequencing and proteomic profiling technology, some new tumor types have been established and a series of novel molecular markers have also been identified. The 2021 updated World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors first mentioned the classification of adult glioma and pediatric glioma based on the molecular diagnosis. Thus, we used single-cell RNA sequencing analysis to explore the diversity and similarities in the occurrence and development of adult and pediatric types. ASTN2, which primarily encodes astrotactin, has been reported to be dysregulated in various neurodevelopmental disorders. Although some studies have demonstrated that ASTN2 plays an important role in glial-guided neuronal migration, there are no studies about its impact on glioblastoma cell migration. Subsequent single-cell RNA sequencing revealed ASTN2 to be a hub gene of a cell cluster which had a poor effect on clinical prognosis. Eventually, a western blot assay and a wound-healing assay first confirmed that ASTN2 expression in glioblastoma cell lines is higher than that in normal human astrocytes and affects the migration ability of glioblastoma cells, making it a potential therapeutic target

Modeling Citrus Huanglongbing transmission within an orchard and its optimal control

Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most devastating citrus disease worldwide. In this paper, a deterministic dynamical model is proposed to explore the transmission dynamics of HLB between citrus tree and Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). Using the theory of dynamical system, the dynamics of the model are rigorously analyzed. The results show that the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number \mathscr{R}_0 < 1, and when \mathscr{R}_0 > 1 the system is uniformly persistent. Applying the global sensitivity analysis of $\mathscr{R}_0$, some parameters that have the greatest impact on HLB transmission dynamics are obtained. Furthermore, the optimal control theory is applied to the model to study the corresponding optimal control problem. Both analytical and numerical results show that: (1) the infected ACP plays a decisive role in the transmission of HLB in citrus trees, and eliminating the ACP will be helpful to curtail the spread of HLB; (2) optimal control strategy is superior to the constant control strategy in decreasing the prevalence of the diseased citrus trees, and the cost of implementing optimal control is much lower than that of the constant control strategy; and (3) spraying insecticides is more effective than other control strategies in reducing the number of ACP in the early phase of the transmission of HLB. These theoretical and numerical results may be helpful in making public policies to control HLB in orchards more effectively

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of npy Gene and Its Response to Starvation-Refeeding Strategy in Seriola aureovittata

Yellowtail kingfish (Seriola aureovittata), a pelagic marine finfish species with a worldwide distribution, is regarded as an emerging candidate for the aquaculture industry owing to its fast growth, superior flesh quality, and farming suitability in both sea cages and land-based facilities in China. The species has high economic value and is the second most produced Seriola species in the world following Japanese yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata. Researchers worldwide have studied the role of regulatory factors neuropeptide Y (NPY) in fish feeding regulation. In recent years, there has been great progress in research on food intake in fish, however, very little attention has been paid to the endocrine regulation mechanism of food intake. Methods on strengthening the production performance of fish through appetite regulation is still a hot research topic.The control of food intake and energy metabolism in vertebrates are complex processes involving several neural pathways. Some hypothalamic signals are released by peripheral tissues that are associated with energy homeostasis or nutrient availability. Among the signaling molecules involved, NPY plays a key role. NPY is recognized as one of the most effective appetite regulators, which primarily function as a signaling factor to regulate a variety of biological processes such as food intake and glucose homeostasis. The orexigenic actions of NPY have been well investigated thoroughly over the past decades. Much evidence supports that NPY´s functional role as a regulator of energy homeostasis and appetite control is conserved across vertebrates, including teleosts. In several species, including rainbow trout, Nile tilapia, and grass carp, NPY injections increase food intake, supporting an orexigenic role. In line with this, food deprivation increased npy mRNA expression in the brain, such as seen for goldfish and Johnny carp. Moreover, refeeding normalized npy mRNA abundance following food deprivation. As S. aureovittata feeds heavily and fiercely, the breeding industries need to understand its feeding control mechanism. To make real-time adjustment to feeding strategy, it is necessary to obtain high-quality and high-yield aquatic products with the least input to maximize economic benefits. As a potent appetite stimulating factor, npy has been proven to promote feeding, but this gene has not been identified in S. aureovittata. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the variable rules of the npy gene in feeding and starvation compensation mechanism, to provide the special compound feed for breeding.To gain insight into the existence of npy in S. aureovittata, we used homologous cloning, RNA extraction and reverse-transcription to obtain the ORF sequence of npy. npy belongs to the pancreatic polypeptide (PP) family, which plays an important role in appetite regulation and energy expenditure in mammals and fish. The ORF of S. aureovittata npy is 300 nucleotides in size and encodes a 99-amino-acid precusor, with a calculated molecular mass and isoelectric point of 11.24 kDa and 5.02, respectively. The precursor protein is composed of a predicted signal peptide of 28-aa in size, 36-aa putative mature peptide, a GKR protein proteolytic site, and a 32-aa C terminus of unknown function. Bioinformatics analysis on the amino acid sequence identities and evolutionary relationships of the npy was performed. Comparison of homology of the precursor peptide sequences of npy analysis revealed that S. aureovittata npy displayed a high degree of identity with the counterparts of Seriola dumerili (99.0%), Morone saxatilis (98.0%), Micropterus salmoides (96.0%), and Scophthalmus maximus (94.9%), followed by Cynoglossus semilaevis (93.9%) and Oryzias latipes (92.9%). Phylogenetic analysis highly supported that the npy of S. aureovittata was closely related to that of S. dumerili. Furthermore, using real-time quantitative PCR, we found that the npy mRNA is widely expressed in 12 tissues, with abundant expression in the brain, followed by the pituitary and stomach. In addition, except for the intestine and gonad, npy was found to have no significant difference in all other detected tissues of both sexes. To establish the functional link between npy and feeding, the expression profiles of npy mRNA during food deprivation and refeeding were examined in S. aureovittata. We detected the 7 d, 14 d, and 21 d starvation and 7 d refeeding effect on npy mRNA levels. Results showed that fasting induced an increase of npy mRNA levels in brain, pituitary, and stomach when compared to the control groups. Interestingly, the pituitary npy transcripts significantly increased after 21 d of starvation compared with the control group. In addition, refeeding normalized npy mRNA abundance following food deprivation in the brain, pituitary, and stomach. These results indicated that npy is involved in the regulation of feeding and energy homeostasis in S. aureovittata. Collectively, we provided initial evidence for the existence of npy in S. aureovittata and suggested its involvement in the regulation of feeding, which plays an important role in the starvation compensation mechanism.In summary, we obtained the ORF sequence of npy and clarified its role as a potent orexigenic peptide in feeding regulation of S. aureovittata, which would be beneficial for specific feed for this species

Extraction and Back-Extraction Behaviors of La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), and Nd(III) Single Rare Earth and Mixed Rare Earth by TODGA

N,N,N′,N′-Tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA), as a new extraction agent, is effective for its excellent performance and low environmental hazard, and it is very welcome for the rare earth separation process. In this paper, by controlling the extraction time, diluent type, acid type and its concentration, rare earth concentration, etc., the optimum extraction and back-extraction effects of TODGA on La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), and Nd(III) and mixed rare earths were obtained. The experiment showed that 0.10 mol·L−1 TODGA had the best extraction effect on single rare earth under the conditions of using petroleum ether as diluent, 5 mol·L−1 nitric acid, 20 min extraction time, and 0.01 mol·L−1 rare earth. In the mixed rare earth extraction, the percentage concentrations of La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), and Nd(III) could be achieved from 21.7%, 19.9%, 30.8%, and 22.2% at the initial stage to 90.5%, 37%, 51%, and 62% after extraction, respectively, by controlling the number of back-extraction cycles and the concentrations of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid in the back-extraction system. The TODGA–rare earth carrier system showed the best back-extraction effect when the hydrochloric acid concentration was 1 mol·L−1 and the back-extraction time was 20 min. At the same time, the mixed rare earth liquid system with low initial concentration was selected for extraction and separation of mixed rare earth. The separation effect was better, and the recovery rate was higher than that of mixed rare earth liquid system with a high initial concentration