Transfer Mechanism, Uptake Kinetic Process, and Bioavailability of P, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn in Macrophyte Rhizosphere Using Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films

The transfer-uptake-bioavailability of phosphorus (P), Cu, Cd, Zn, and Pb in rhizosphere of <i>Zizania latifolia</i> (ZL) and <i>Myriophyllum verticiilaturn</i> (MV) cultivated in rhizoboxes in Lake Erhai (China) is evaluated by DGT (diffusive gradients in thin films) technique. DGT induced fluxes in sediments (DIFS) model reveals that resupply ability (r), liable pool size in sediment solid (<i>k</i>_d), kinetic parameter (<i>k</i>_–1), or response time (<i>T</i>_c) control the diffusion-resupply characters of P and Cu (standing for four metals) in rhizosphere interface. The linear fitting curves of element content in ZL or MV roots (<i>C</i>_root) against DGT (<i>C</i>_DGT), porewater (<i>C</i>₀), or sediment concentration demonstrate that <i>C</i>_root for five elements can be predicted by <i>C</i>_DGT more effectively than the other methods. (I) DOC (dissolved organic carbon) in porewater controlled by OM (organic matter) in solid plus pH for Cu and Cd or (II) DOP/DTP ratio in porewater (between dissolved organic P and dissolved total P) for P controlled by Fe-bound P and OM in solid, can affect phytoavailability in rhizosphere. They lead to (I) the larger slope (<i>s</i>) and the linear regression coefficient (<i>R</i>²) in the first part than those for the complete fitting curve (ZL or MV root against <i>C</i>_DGT(Cu) or <i>C</i>₀(Cu) and MV root against <i>C</i>_DGT(Cd)) or (II) the outliers above or below the fitting curve (ZL root (P) against <i>C</i>₀(P) or <i>C</i>_DGT(P)) and the larger <i>R</i>² without outliers. DGT–rhizobox–DIFS should be a reliable tool to research phytoremediation mechanism of macrophytes

Bioinspired Hybrid Protein Oxygen Nanocarrier Amplified Photodynamic Therapy for Eliciting Anti-tumor Immunity and Abscopal Effect

An ideal cancer therapeutic strategy is expected to possess potent ability to not only ablate primary tumors but also prevent distance metastasis and relapse. In this study, human serum albumin was hybridized with hemoglobin by intermolecular disulfide bonds to develop a hybrid protein oxygen nanocarrier with chlorine e6 encapsulated (C@HPOC) for oxygen self-sufficient photodynamic therapy (PDT). C@HPOC realized the tumor-targeted co-delivery of photosensitizer and oxygen, which remarkably relieved tumor hypoxia. C@HPOC was favorable for more efficient PDT and enhanced infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells in tumors. Moreover, oxygen-boosted PDT of C@HPOC induced immunogenic cell death, with the release of danger-associated molecular patterns to activate dendritic cells, T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells <i>in vivo</i>. Notably, C@HPOC-mediated immunogenic PDT could destroy primary tumors and effectively suppress distant tumors and lung metastasis in a metastatic triple-negative breast cancer model by evoking systemic anti-tumor immunity. This study provides a paradigm of oxygen-augmented immunogenic PDT for metastatic cancer treatment

Combined effects of the genetic variants in the <i>PTEN</i>, <i>AKT1</i>, <i>MDM2</i> and <i>p53</i> genes on the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

<p>Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.</p>a<p><i>χ²</i> test for the distribution of genotypes between patients and control subjects.</p>b<p><i>P</i> values were calculated by multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, smoking and drinking status, smoking level, and nationality.</p>c<p><i>χ</i>² test for the <i>P</i>_trend value of genotypes between patients and control subjects.</p>d<p>Low-risk group, individuals carrying 0–2 risk genotypes; high-risk group, individuals carrying 3-4 risk genotypes.</p><p>*<i>P</i> value remained significant after c°rrection for multiple comparisons (<i>P</i> = 0.048).</p

Primers and restriction enzymes used to investigate polymorphisms in the <i>PTEN</i>, <i>AKT1</i> and <i>p53</i> genes.

a<p>Italicized lowercase letters indicate base mismatches.</p>b<p>Designated rs2498799 in previous literature.</p

Haplotypes of <i>AKT1</i> polymorphisms and the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

<p>(<i>a</i>) Genomic structure of the <i>AKT1</i> locus and the polymorphic sites used. Exons (boxes) and introns are not drawn to scale; open boxes represent noncoding sequences, and filled boxes represent coding sequences. The physical distance between SNPs is shown in nucleotides. (<i>b</i>) Linkage disequilibrium (LD) map of SNPs based on <i>D</i> ´. (<i>c</i>) LD map of SNPs based on <i>r</i>². (<i>d</i>) Global <i>P</i> values from single-locus and multi-locus (two to five) based association analysis. (<i>e</i>) Haplotypes showing significant genetic associations with the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The two-SNP core haplotype is highlighted in gray.</p

Stratification analysis of the combined genotypes of the <i>PTEN</i>, <i>AKT1</i>, <i>MDM2</i> and <i>p53</i> polymorphisms and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

<p>Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.</p>a<p>ORs and <i>P</i> values were calculated by multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, smoking and drinking status, smoking level and nationality when appropriate within the strata.</p>b<p>For differences in ORs within each stratum.</p>c<p>Low-risk group, individuals carrying 0–2 risk genotypes; high-risk group, individuals carrying 3–4 risk genotypes.</p

Mutations detected in the <i>gyrA</i> and <i>parC</i> gene of H₂S-negative <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates.

<p>Ser, serine. Gly, glycine. Ala, alanine. Tyr, tyrosine. Cys, cysteine. Arg, arginine. Pro, proline.</p><p>Mutations detected in the <i>gyrA</i> and <i>parC</i> gene of H₂S-negative <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates.</p

CRISPR spacer content of the 21 <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates.

<p>^#Novel spacer identified in this study.</p><p>CRISPR spacer content of the 21 <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates.</p

MicroRNA Expression Profile of Mouse Lung Infected with 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus

<div><p>MicroRNAs have been implicated in the regulation of gene expression of various biological processes in a post-transcriptional manner under physiological and pathological conditions including host responses to viral infections. The 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus is an emerging reassortant strain of swine, human and bird influenza virus that can cause mild to severe illness and even death. To further understand the molecular pathogenesis of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, we profiled cellular microRNAs of lungs from BALB/c mice infected with wild-type 2009 pandemic influenza virus A/Beijing/501/2009 (H1N1) (hereafter referred to as BJ501) and mouse-adapted influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (H1N1) (hereafter referred to as PR8) for comparison. Microarray analysis showed both the influenza virus BJ501 and PR8 infection induced strain- and temporal-specific microRNA expression patterns and that their infection caused a group of common and distinct differentially expressed microRNAs. Characteristically, more differentially expressed microRNAs were aroused on day 5 post infection than on day 2 and more up-regulated differentially expressed microRNAs were provoked than the down-regulated for both strains of influenza virus. Finally, 47 differentially expressed microRNAs were obtained for the infection of both strains of H1N1 influenza virus with 29 for influenza virus BJ501 and 43 for PR8. Among them, 15 microRNAs had no reported function, while 32 including miR-155 and miR-233 are known to play important roles in cancer, immunity and antiviral activity. Pathway enrichment analyses of the predicted targets revealed that the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway was the key cellular pathway associated with the differentially expressed miRNAs during influenza virus PR8 or BJ501 infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report of microRNA expression profiles of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in a mouse model, and our findings might offer novel therapy targets for influenza virus infection. </p> </div

Antimicrobial Resistance and Molecular Investigation of H₂S-Negative <i>Salmonella enterica</i> subsp. <i>enterica</i> serovar Choleraesuis Isolates in China

<div><p><i>Salmonella enterica</i> subsp. <i>enterica</i> serovar Choleraesuis is a highly invasive pathogen of swine that frequently causes serious outbreaks, in particular in Asia, and can also cause severe invasive disease in humans. In this study, 21 <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates, detected from 21 patients with diarrhea in China between 2010 and 2011, were found to include 19 H₂S-negative <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates and two H₂S-positive isolates. This is the first report of H₂S-negative <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolated from humans. The majority of H₂S-negative isolates exhibited high resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, tetracycline, ticarcillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but only six isolates were resistant to norfloxacin. In contrast, all of the isolates were sensitive to cephalosporins. Fifteen isolates were found to be multidrug resistant. In norfloxacin-resistant isolates, we detected mutations in the <i>gyrA</i> and <i>parC</i> genes and identified two new mutations in the <i>parC</i> gene. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) analysis were employed to investigate the genetic relatedness of H₂S-negative and H₂S-positive <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates. PFGE revealed two groups, with all 19 H₂S-negative <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis isolates belonging to Group I and H₂S-positive isolates belonging to Group II. By MLST analysis, the H₂S-negative isolates were all found to belong to ST68 and H₂S-positive isolates belong to ST145. By CRISPR analysis, no significant differences in CRISPR 1 were detected; however, one H₂S-negative isolate was found to contain three new spacers in CRISPR 2. All 19 H₂S-negative isolates also possessed a frame-shift mutation at position 760 of <i>phsA</i> gene compared with H₂S-positive isolates, which may be responsible for the H₂S-negative phenotype. Moreover, the 19 H₂S-negative isolates have similar PFGE patterns and same mutation site in the <i>phs</i>A gene, these results indicated that these H₂S-negative isolates may have been prevalent in China. These findings suggested that surveillance should be increased of H₂S-negative <i>S</i>. Choleraesuis in China.</p></div