An accelerated mouse model of inflammatory dry eye disease

Meibomian glands (MGs) in eyelids (Fig. 1A) are enlarged sebaceous glands connected to hair follicles. The function of MGs is to secrete lipids which form the outer layer of the tear film of the eye (Fig. 1B). This layer maintains tear film stability by preventing tears from evaporating. Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a chronic abnormality of the Meibomian gland, commonly characterized by a change in the quantity or quality of the lipid secretion. MGD is among the most frequently diagnosed eye diseases and is a major cause of Dye Eye Disease (DED), but very little is known about the pathogenic processes leading to MGD and DED

Production of Glycopeptide Derivatives for Exploring Substrate Specificity of Human OGA Toward Sugar Moiety.

O-GlcNAcase (OGA) is the only enzyme responsible for removing N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc) attached to serine and threonine residues on proteins. This enzyme plays a key role in O-GlcNAc metabolism. However, the structural features of the sugar moiety recognized by human OGA (hOGA) remain unclear. In this study, a set of glycopeptides with modifications on the GlcNAc residue, were prepared in a recombinant full-length human OGT-catalyzed reaction, using chemoenzymatically synthesized UDP-GlcNAc derivatives. The resulting glycopeptides were used to evaluate the substrate specificity of hOGA toward the sugar moiety. This study will provide insights into the exploration of probes for O-GlcNAc modification, as well as a better understanding of the roles of O-GlcNAc in cellular physiology

Hydrological Variation Characteristics of Rivers in Humid Region: Oujiang River, China

AbstractOujiang River was selected as the case study, and a dataset of daily flow series at Xuren Station was used to explore the hydrologic characteristics of rivers in humid areas, by using the ‘Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration’ approach and ‘Range of Variability Approach’. Results showed that the overall alteration of the hydrological regime for Oujiang River belonged to the low alteration category, and some key eco-hydrological characteristics should be protected in certain key periods to maintain the integrality and health status of river ecosystems