LncRNA MALAT1: A potential therapeutic target in DSSinduced ulcerative colitis progression in vitro

Purpose: Ulcerative colitis is a severe disease affecting human health worldwide. Studies have shown that lncRNA MALAT1 has a significant correlation with breast, pancreatic, colon and liver cancers, but its effects on colitis is yet to be discovered. In this study, the potential role of lncRNA MALAT1 and the underlying molecular mechanism in DSS-induced colitis were investigated in vitro.Methods: Colorectal mucosal cell line FHC was induced with dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) to form an in vitro colitis model. Transfection procedure was employed to up- or down-regulate the expressions of lncRNA MALAT1 or miR-30c-5p in FHC cells. Cell viabilities were detected by CCK-8 assay. RT-qPCR was applied for evaluating gene expressions in normal FHC and DSS-induced FHC cell lines, while protein expression levels of target genes were examined by Western blot analysis. Starbase was used to predict the molecular interaction between MALAT1 and miR-30c-5p, while luciferase reporter assay was utilized to verify the binding sites between the two genes.Results: Expression of MALAT1 in the DSS-induced FHC cells was high with low cell viabilities, compared to the normal FHC cells. In the DSS-induced colitis-like FHC cells, overexpression of MALAT1 inhibited cell viabilities, while its downregulation promoted it. MiR-30c-5p directly targets MALAT1 and inhibited its expression in DSS-treated FHC cells. Upregulation of miR-30c-5p increased cell viabilities. Bcl-xL expression was inhibited by the up-regulation of MALAT1, while that of Bax was enhanced and the mimics of miR-30c-5p reversed these observations, suggesting that the enhancement of apoptosis promoted by oe-MALAT1 could be inhibited by miR-30c-5p. The interaction between MALAT1 and miR-30c-5p regulated NF-κB/TGF-β/Wnt-β-catenin signaling pathway.Conclusion: Overexpression of MALAT1 led to inhibition of cell viability, while apoptosis and inflammation were promoted by targeting miR-30c-5p via NF-κB/TGF-β/Wnt-β-catenin signaling pathway. These findings suggest MALAT1 as a therapeutic target for treating colitis. Keywords: Colitis, MALAT1, miR-30c-5p, NF-κB/TGF-β/Wnt-β-catenin&nbsp

Urinary screening of elementary school students in Taicang, China

AbstractBackground: Chronic kidney disease in children is a severe progressive disease that influences the growth, development, and life quality of patients. This study aimed to explore the detection rate of proteinuria and hematuria in elementary school students in Taicang, China.Materials and methods: From 2015 to 2019, urine specimens were selected from 11,753 pupils in Taicang. The samples were tested for proteinuria and hematuria by applying single urine tests and urine sediment microscopic examinations. The observation results were divided into three groups: hematuria, proteinuria, and co-existing hematuria and proteinuria. In addition, kidney biopsies were carried out.Results: The positive rate of urinary abnormalities was 0.842% (99 cases), of which there were 51 cases (0.433%) of proteinuria, 42 cases (0.357%) of hematuria, and six cases (0.051%) of co-existing proteinuria and hematuria. In terms of gender, of the 99 cases, 63 were female students (1.142%) and 36 were male students (0.577%). Additionally, the age distribution results indicated that the prevalence of urine abnormalities in each age group from age 7 to age 13 were 11.11%, 12.12%, 12.12%, 16.16%, 29.29%, 18.18% and 3.03%, respectively. Furthermore, one immunoglobin A nephropathy case was certified by renal biopsy assay in the follow-up at six months.Conclusions: The urine screening revealed that abnormal proteinuria was the main form of urinary abnormalities in elementary school students from Taicang. Urine screening is necessary for early detection and intervention of kidney disease. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(2):91-96] Key words: Urine screening, Taicang, elementary school student, proteinuria, hematuri

Simultaneous broadband generation of second and third harmonics from chirped nonlinear photonic crystals

Ultrabroadband laser sources are highly desirable in a wide variety of modern science disciplines ranging from physics, chemistry and materials science to information communications and processing. Here we present the design and fabrication of a chirped periodically poled lithium niobate (CPPLN) nonlinear photonic crystal that supports multiple orders of quasiphase matching with finite bandwidth and allows for the simultaneous broadband generation of second and third harmonics with high conversion efficiency. Moreover, the chirp rate has a significant influence on the conversion efficiency and bandwidth. The CPPLN scheme offers a promising approach for the construction of short-wavelength laser sources and enables the generation of the three primary colors - red, green and blue - from a single crystal, which may have potential applications in large-screen laser displays

Human cytomegalovirus exploits interferon-induced transmembrane proteins to facilitate morphogenesis of the virion assembly compartment

Recently, interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) have been identified to be key effector molecules in the host type I interferon defense system. The invasion of host cells by a large range of RNA viruses is inhibited by IFITMs during the entry step. However, the roles of IFITMs in DNA virus infections have not been studied in detail. In this study, we report that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a large human DNA virus, exploits IFITMs to facilitate the formation of the virion assembly compartment (vAC) during infection of human fibroblasts. We found that IFITMs were expressed constitutively in human embryonic lung fibroblasts (MRC5 cells). HCMV infection inhibited IFITM protein accumulation in the later stages of infection. Overexpression of an IFITM protein in MRC5 cells slightly enhanced HCMV production and knockdown of IFITMs by RNA interference reduced the virus titer by about 100-fold on day 8 postinfection, according to the findings of a virus yield assay at a low multiplicity of infection. Virus gene expression and DNA synthesis were not affected, but the typical round structure of the vAC was not formed after the suppression of IFITMs, thereby resulting in defective virion assembly and the production of less infectious virion particles. Interestingly, the replication of herpes simplex virus, a human herpesvirus that is closely related to HCMV, was not affected by the suppression of IFITMs in MRC5 cells. These results indicate that IFITMs are involved in a specific pathway required for HCMV replication. IMPORTANCE HCMV is known to repurpose the interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) viperin and tetherin to facilitate its replication. Our results expand the range of ISGs that can be exploited by HCMV for its replication. This is also the first report of a proviral function of IFITMs in DNA virus replication. In addition, whereas previous studies showed that IFITMs modulate virus entry, which is a very early stage in the virus life cycle, we identified a new function of IFITMs during the very late stage of virus replication, i.e., virion assembly. Virus entry and assembly both involve vesicle transport and membrane fusion; thus, a common biochemical activity of IFITMs is likely to be involved. Therefore, our findings may provide a new platform for dissecting the molecular mechanism of action of IFITMs during the blocking or enhancement of virus infection, which are under intense investigation in this field

Disentangling the Drivers of Diversity and Distribution of Fungal Community Composition in Wastewater Treatment Plants Across Spatial Scales

Activated sludge microbial community composition is a key bio-indicator of the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the activated sludge microbial community dynamics is critical for environmental engineers to effectively manage the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, fungal communities associated with activated sludge have been poorly elucidated. Here, the activated sludge fungal community in 18 geographically distributed WWTPs was determined by using Illumina sequencing. The results showed that differences in activated sludge fungal community composition were observed among all WWTPs and also between oxidation ditch and anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A/A/O) systems. Ascomycota was the largest phyla, followed by Basidiomycota in all samples. Sporidiobolales and Pezizales were the most abundant order in oxidation ditch and A/A/O systems, respectively. The network analysis indicated cooperative and co-occurrence interactions between fungal taxa in order to accomplish the wastewater treatment process. Hygrocybe sp., Sporobolomyces sp., Rhodotorula sp., Stemphylium sp., Parascedosporium sp., and Cylindrocarpon sp., were found to have statistically significant interactions. Redundancy analysis revealed that temperature, total phosphorus, pH, and ammonia nitrogen were significantly affected the fungal community. This study sheds light on providing the ecological characteristics of activated sludge fungal communities and useful guidance for improving wastewater treatment performance efficiency

New Insights into the Cytotoxic Mechanism of Hexabromocyclododecane from a Metabolomic Approach

The toxic effects of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) are complex, and the underlying toxicological mechanisms are still not completely understood. In this study, a pseudotargeted metabolomic approach based on the UHPLC/Q-Trap MS system was developed to assess the HBCD-intervention-related metabolic alteration in HepG2 cells. In addition, some physiologic indicators and relevant enzyme activities were measured. HBCD exposure obviously impaired metabolic homeostasis and induced oxidative stress, even at an environmentally relevant dose (0.05 mg/L). Metabolic profiling and multivariate analysis indicated that the main metabolic pathways perturbed by HBCD included amino acid metabolism, protein biosynthesis, fatty acid metabolism, and phospholipid metabolism. HBCD suppressed the cell uptake of amino adds) mainly through inhibition of the activity of membrane transport protein Na+/K+-ATPase. HBCD down-regulated glycolysis and beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids, causing a large decrease of ATP production. As a result, the across-membrane transport of amino acids Was further inhibited. Meanwhile, HBCD induced a significant increase of total phospholipids, mainly through the remodeling of phospholipids from the increased free fatty acids. The obtained metabolomic results also provided some new evidence and clues regarding the toxicological mechanisms of HBCD that contribute to obesity, diabetes, nervous system damage, and developmental disorders

Gastrodin improves preeclampsia-induced cell apoptosis by regulation of TLR4/NF-κB in rats

To explain gastrodin improved cell apoptosis induced by preeclampsia in vivo and in vitro study. The PE and normal rats were injected with normal saline (Model), low-dose gastrodin (Gas-L), medium-dose gastrodin (Gas-M), and high-dose gastrodin (Gas-H) groups at 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg per day. The rat blood pressure and 24-hr urine protein level were measured at pregnant days 10, 16, and 20. Evaluating pathology by H&E staining, the cell apoptosis by TUNEL, and MyD88 and NF-κB (p65) proteins by IHC assay using H/R to simulate PE cell model. Measuring cell proliferation, apoptosis, and MyD88 and NF-κB (p65) protein expression by MTT, flow cytometry, and WB assay. The SBP, DBP, and 24-hr urine protein levels were significantly different in PE rats (p < .05). The SBP, DBP, and 24-hr urine protein levels were significantly improved (p < .05) in vivo and in vitro. The positive apoptosis cells and apoptosis rate were significantly increased with MyD88 and NF-κB (p65) proteins upregulation (p < .05). The positive apoptosis cells and apoptosis rate were significantly decreased with MyD88 and NF-κB (p65) proteins depressing in gastrodin-treated groups with dose-dependent (p < .05). Gastrodin improves PE-induced cell apoptosis and pathology changed via MyD88/NF-κB pathway in vitro and in vivo study

Effects of 25(OH)VD₃ on Growth Performance, Pork Quality and Calcium Deposit in Growing-Finishing Pigs

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of 25(OH)VD3 with different inclusion levels of 0, 25, 50 and 75 μg/kg in the diet on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, bone properties and pork quality in growing-finishing pigs. The results showed that the average daily gain (p p 3 increased. Dietary supplementation of 50 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 increased calcium digestibility compared with the 0 μg/kg group (p 3 increased (p 3 increased concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and decreased contents of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the longissimus dorsi of pigs (p 3 to the diet increased breaking strength and bone stiffness in the tibia compared with the 0 μg/kg group (p 3 improved the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and increased the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of Cu/Zn SOD in the longissimus dorsi compared with the 0 μg/kg group (p 3 improved the mRNA expression of calcium-binding protein D9k (CaBP-D9k) and D28k (CaBP-D28K) in the liver compared with the 0 μg/kg 25(OH)D3 group (p 3 showed a greatest growth performance of growing-finishing pigs, and 25(OH)VD3 enhanced calcium deposition and antioxidant capacity in the longissimus dorsi, which may be associated with improved expression of calcium ion channel proteins