Role of ADAM and ADAMTS proteases in pathological tissue remodeling

Abstract Pathological tissue remodeling is closely associated with the occurrence and aggravation of various diseases. A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinases (ADAM), as well as A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase with ThromboSpondin motifs (ADAMTS), belong to zinc-dependent metalloproteinase superfamily, are involved in a range of pathological states, including cancer metastasis, inflammatory disorders, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Mounting studies suggest that ADAM and ADAMTS proteases contribute to the development of tissue remodeling in various diseases, mainly through the regulation of cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and extracellular matrix remodeling. This review focuses on the roles of ADAM and ADAMTS proteinases in diseases with pathological tissue remodeling, with particular emphasis on the molecular mechanisms through which ADAM and ADAMTS proteins mediate tissue remodeling. Some of these reported proteinases have defined protective or contributing roles in indicated diseases, while their underlying regulation is obscure. Future studies are warranted to better understand the catalytic and non-catalytic functions of ADAM and ADAMTS proteins, as well as to evaluate the efficacy of targeting these proteases in pathological tissue remodeling

3D-Fingerprint Augment based on Super-Resolution for Indoor 3D WiFi Localization

Recently, 3D indoor positioning technology has attracted wide attention in smart medical treatment, intelligent robot and other application fields. Traditional 3D positioning technology requires to utilize the special-dedicated infrastructure for large-scale deployment but with high labor-cost. With advent of the high-density wireless networks deployment, WiFi fingerprint-based localization system reduces the high cost of large-scale device deployment and infrastructure, but is limited by heavy site survey in the offline phase. Meanwhile, most existing WiFi fingerprint-based localization systems are only aimed at 2D indoor scenes. Designing and implementing a high-precision and low-cost 3D indoor positioning system is still a challenging task. Inspired by our previous work in fingerprint augment method based on super-resolution (FASR), we design the super-resolution (3D-FASR) framework and develop a novel 3D fingerprint augment method in this paper. The 3D-fingerprint augment technology in the 3D indoor environment has achieved an attractive trade-off between positioning accuracy, equipment deployment costs and site survey labor costs, We first obtain 2D fingerprint data from the 3D fingerprint data by slicing operations and then adopt FASR twice to complete the conversion from sparse fingerprint to dense fingerprint, where we interspersed a subsampling operation between two super-resolution methods. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed solution in 3D indoor localization

Design, Synthesis and Bioactive Evaluation of Oxime Derivatives of Dehydrocholic Acid as Anti-Hepatitis B Virus Agents

Oxime derivatives of dehydrocholic acid and its esters were designed for anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) drugs according to principles of assembling active chemical fragments. Twelve compounds were synthesized from dehydrocholic acid by esterification and oxime formation, and their anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activities were evaluated with HepG 2.2.15 cells. Results showed that 5 compounds exhibited more effective inhibition of HBeAg than positive control, among them 2b-3 and 2b-1 showed significant anti-HBV activities on inhibiting secretion of HBeAg (IC50 (2b-3) = 49.39 ± 12.78 μM, SI (2b-3) = 11.03; IC50 (2b-1) = 96.64 ± 28.99 μM, SI (2b-1) = 10.35) compared to the Entecavir (IC50 = 161.24 μM, SI = 3.72). Molecular docking studies showed that most of these compounds interacted with protein residues of heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) in host hepatocyte and bile acid receptor

Catalytic gasification of phenol in supercritical water over bimetallic Co–Ni/AC catalyst

<p>Solid-solution bimetallic alloy catalysts containing no noble metals were developed via both simultaneous and sequential deposition in supercritical water (SCW). These bimetallic nano-catalysts were analyzed by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Obvious downward shifts are observed in diffraction peaks, situated between the peak (1 1 1) for Co and the peak (1 1 1) for Ni. The shifts indicate the formation of NiCo solid-solution bimetallic alloy(s). The bimetallic nanoparticles show high activity for supercritical water gasification of phenol to produce gaseous fuels. The carbon gasification efficiency (CGE) of phenol in SCW can reach 95% on the Co–Ni/AC catalyst at conditions of 500°C and 30 min, showing nearly the same CGE as the commercial noble-metal-based catalyst, such as Ru/C (5 wt% Ru) from Sigma-Aldrich. The Co–Ni/AC catalyst also shows high stability. Therefore, deposition in SCW provides an effective way to create noble-metal-free solid-solution bimetallic alloy catalysts.</p

Aberrant localization of FOXJ1 correlates with the disease severity and comorbidities in patients with nasal polyps

Abstract Background Upper airway inflammatory diseases are associated with abnormal expression of nasal epithelial forkhead-box J1 (FOXJ1) which regulates motile cilia formation. We sought to investigate whether aberrant FOXJ1 localizations correlate with the disease severity and the co-existence of allergic rhinitis (AR) or asthma in patients with nasal polyps (NPs). Methods We elucidated localization patterns of FOXJ1 by performing immunofluorescence assays in nasal specimens and cytospin samples from controls and patients with NPs. We also assayed mRNA expression levels of FOXJ1 by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Four localization patterns [normal (N), intermediate (I), mislocalization (M), and absence (A)] were defined. A semi-quantitative scoring system was applied for demonstrating FOXJ1 localization in five areas per paraffin section, with individual sections being scored between 0 and 2. Results FOXJ1 localization score was significantly higher in samples from NPs than in controls (P < 0.001). Elevated FOXJ1 localization scores and down-regulation of FOXJ1 mRNA levels were observed in NPs with co-existing AR or asthma (all P < 0.05). Moreover, FOXJ1 localization scores positively correlated with Lund–Mackay score (r = 0.362, P = 0.007). Of primary cytospin samples, the mean percentage of patients with FOXJ1 localization patterns N, I, M and A was 15.0%, 3.3%, 53.3% and 28.3% in NPs, and 82.5%, 5.0%, 5.0% and 7.5% in controls, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusions Aberrant localization of FOXJ1 correlates with the severity and co-existence of AR or asthma in patients with NPs, and might be a novel target for assessment and intervention in NPs