Leveraging Fecal Bacterial Survey Data to Predict Colorectal Tumors

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks second in cancer-associated mortality and third in the incidence worldwide. Most of CRC follow adenoma-carcinoma sequence, and have more than 90% chance of survival if diagnosed at early stage. But the recommended screening by colonoscopy is invasive, expensive, and poorly adhered to. Recently, several studies reported that the fecal bacteria might provide non-invasive biomarkers for CRC and precancerous tumors. Therefore, we collected and uniformly re-analyzed these published fecal 16S rDNA sequencing datasets to verify the association and identify biomarkers to classify and predict colorectal tumors by random forest method. A total of 1674 samples (330 CRC, 357 advanced adenoma, 141 adenoma, and 846 control) from 7 studies were analyzed in this study. By random effects model and fixed effects model, we observed significant differences in alpha-diversity and beta-diversity between individuals with CRC and the normal colon, but not between adenoma and the normal. We identified various bacterial genera with significant odds ratios for colorectal tumors at different stages. Through building random forest model with 10-fold cross-validation as well as new test datasets, we classified individuals with CRC, advanced adenoma, adenoma and normal colon. All approaches obtained comparable performance at entire OTU level, entire genus level, and the common genus level as measured using AUC. When combined all samples, the AUC of random forest model based on 12 common genera reached 0.846 for CRC, although the predication performed poorly for advance adenoma and adenoma

Oxidized LDL Disrupts Metabolism and Inhibits Macrophage Survival by Activating a miR-9/Drp1/Mitochondrial Fission Signaling Pathway

Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with macrophage damage, but the role of mitochondrial fission in macrophage cholesterol metabolism is not fully understood. In this study, we explored the influences of miR-9 and mitochondrial fission on macrophage viability and cholesterol metabolism. Macrophages were incubated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) in vitro, after which mitochondrial fission, cell viability, and cholesterol metabolism were examined using qPCR, ELISAs, and immunofluorescence. ox-LDL treatment significantly increased Drp1-associated mitochondrial fission. Transfection of Drp1 siRNA significantly reduced cell death, attenuated oxidative stress, and inhibited inflammatory responses in ox-LDL-treated macrophages. Interestingly, inhibition of Drp1-related mitochondrial fission also improved cholesterol metabolism by balancing the transcription of cholesterol influx/efflux enzymes. We also found that miR-9 was downregulated in ox-LDL-treated macrophages, and administration of a miR-9 mimic decreased Drp1 transcription and mitochondrial fission, as well as its effects. These results indicate that signaling via the novel miR-9/Drp1/mitochondrial fission axis is a key determinant of macrophage viability and cholesterol metabolism

An iTRAQ-based proteomics approach to clarify the molecular physiology of somatic embryo development in Prince Rupprecht's larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr).

Prince Rupprecht's larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr) is a native high-value forest tree species in North China whose clonal propagation through somatic embryogenesis (SE) has the potential to rapidly capture the benefits of breeding or genetic engineering programs and to improve raw material uniformity and quality. To date, research has focused on clarifying the molecular mechanism of SE, but proteomic studies are still in the early stages. In this study, isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) analysis was performed on three developmental stages of SE in L. principis-rupprechtii in an attempt to identify a wide range of proteins that are regulated differentially during this process. Proteins were extracted and analyzed from the pro-embryogenic mass (PEM), globular embryo (GE), and cotyledon embryo (CE) stages of embryo development. We detected 503 proteins in total and identified 96 proteins expressed differentially during different developmental stages. The identified proteins were analyzed further to provide information about their expression patterns and functions during SE. Four clusters of proteins based on shared expression profiles were generated. Functional analysis showed that proteins involved in primary metabolism, phosphorylation, and oxidation reduction were upregulated during somatic embryo development. This work provides novel insights into the process of larch embryo development in vitro and a basis for further study of the biological process and opportunities for practical application of this knowledge

Intra-articular injection of ascorbic acid enhances microfracture-mediated cartilage repair

Abstract Previous studies have confirmed that ascorbic acid (AA) can promote cartilage repair and improve cartilage differentiation in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. However, the use of microfracture (MFX) combined with AA to repair cartilage damage has not been studied. This study established a rabbit animal model and treated cartilage injury with different concentrations of AA combined with MFX. Macroscopic observations, histological analysis, immunohistochemical analysis and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of TGF-β, AKT/Nrf2, and VEGF mRNA expression were performed. The results showed that intra-articular injection of AA had a positive effect on cartilage repair mediated by microfractures. Moreover, 10 mg/ml AA was the most effective at promoting cartilage repair mediated by microfractures. Intra-articular injection of AA promoted the synthesis of type II collagen and the formation of glycosaminoglycans by downregulating the mRNA expression of TGF-β and VEGF. In summary, this study confirmed that AA could promote cartilage repair after MFX surgery

Iron-based electrode materials for solid oxide fuel cells and electrolysers

A critical new research direction in solid oxide cells (SOCs) is related to balancing power-grid load or integrating heat-electricity-gas interconnection simply by switching operations between the fuel-cell and electrolyser mode. The rational design of robust and high-performance materials for SOCs is urgent for high conversion/energy efficiencies. Iron is highly abundant and offers suitable and flexible redox chemistry for the two operation modes. Iron-based oxide materials are widely investigated for SOCs because of their low cost and, more importantly, the appropriate valence stability of the Fe–O bond for excellent redox activity across a wide range of electrode functions. This review describes the progress in iron-based materials for SOCs, especially the recent applications in electrode materials or catalysts. The stable structure of the ferrite oxides provides an important platform for improved performance via the substitution of Fe in the fuel electrodes of an SOC with H2/H2O or carbonaceous fuel/feedstock. Furthermore, we discuss nano-sized Fe0 metal or alloys on an oxide electrode via infiltration and in situ exsolution aiming to fabricate highly active electrocatalysts. The advances of ferrite oxide-based oxygen electrodes are also discussed in terms of thermal expansion, stability and electrocatalysis before the developments of symmetrical and reversible SOCs based on ferrite oxides are classified and summarized. Therefore, the challenges and future prospects are discussed.</p

Iron-based electrode materials for solid oxide fuel cells and electrolysers

We would like to acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 51702264, 41371275, 51877173, 51737011), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (XDJK2020B066; SWURC2020002) and EPSRC (EP/R023522/1, EP/P024807/1). We also thank the funding from Chongqing Committee of S&T (grant No. cstc2021ycjhbgzxm0162). C. N. also acknowledges the support from Bayu Scholar for Young Teachers.A critical new research direction in solid oxide cells (SOCs) is related to balancing power-grid load or integrating heat-electricity-gas interconnection simply by switching operations between the fuel-cell and electrolyser mode. The rational design of robust and high-performance materials for SOCs is urgent for high conversion/energy efficiencies. Iron is highly abundant and offers suitable and flexible redox chemistry for the two operation modes. Iron-based oxide materials are widely investigated for SOCs because of their low cost and, more importantly, the appropriate valence stability of the Fe–O bond for excellent redox activity across a wide range of electrode functions. This review describes the progress in iron-based materials for SOCs, especially the recent applications in electrode materials or catalysts. The stable structure of the ferrite oxides provides an important platform for improved performance via the substitution of Fe in the fuel electrodes of an SOC with H2/H2O or carbonaceous fuel/feedstock. Furthermore, we discuss nano-sized Fe0 metal or alloys on an oxide electrode via infiltration and in situ exsolution aiming to fabricate highly active electrocatalysts. The advances of ferrite oxide-based oxygen electrodes are also discussed in terms of thermal expansion, stability and electrocatalysis before the developments of symmetrical and reversible SOCs based on ferrite oxides are classified and summarized. Therefore, the challenges and future prospects are discussed.PostprintPeer reviewe

Comparison and validation of SOD and CAT by iTRAQ profiling and enzyme activity assays.

<p>iTRAQ analysis showed quantitative changes of SOD and CAT during three developmental stages (A). Activity assays for SOD and CAT were conducted to validate the iTRAQ results (B and C, respectively). Bars represent standard errors (n = 3). Significantly different groups are indicated by different lowercase letters (<i>P</i> < 0.05).</p

Functional classification on differential proteins with iTRAQ ratios > or < 1.2-fold.

<p>^<i>a</i> Protein accession numbers in Swiss-prot</p><p>^<i>b</i> The iTRAQ ratios for PEM, GE and CE using PEM as control</p><p>^<i>c</i> The clusters (expression pattern) that proteins are ascribed</p><p>^<i>d</i> Proteins that have no GO annotations</p><p>Functional classification on differential proteins with iTRAQ ratios > or < 1.2-fold.</p

The development of cultured somatic embryos in <i>L</i>. <i>principis-rupprechtii</i>.

<p>Samples were imaged at three developmental stages: PEM (A, bar = 500μm; B, bar = 100μm), GE (C, bar = 200μm) and CE (D, bar = 500μm).</p

Cluster analysis of proteins differentially expressed during SE.

<p>Four clusters were generated to classify proteins during three time points: PEM stage, GE stage and CE stage. The membership values are used to assess how well a given entry fits the consensus profile and allows color coding cluster graph items according to their goodness of fit to the cluster consensus profile.</p