Mitochondrial Membrane Remodeling

Mitochondria are key regulators of many important cellular processes and their dysfunction has been implicated in a large number of human disorders. Importantly, mitochondrial function is tightly linked to their ultrastructure, which possesses an intricate membrane architecture defining specific submitochondrial compartments. In particular, the mitochondrial inner membrane is highly folded into membrane invaginations that are essential for oxidative phosphorylation. Furthermore, mitochondrial membranes are highly dynamic and undergo constant membrane remodeling during mitochondrial fusion and fission. It has remained enigmatic how these membrane curvatures are generated and maintained, and specific factors involved in these processes are largely unknown. This review focuses on the current understanding of the molecular mechanism of mitochondrial membrane architectural organization and factors critical for mitochondrial morphogenesis, as well as their functional link to human diseases.Peer reviewe

Mitochondrial protein dysfunction in pathogenesis of neurological diseases

Mitochondria are essential organelles for neuronal function and cell survival. Besides the well-known bioenergetics, additional mitochondrial roles in calcium signaling, lipid biogenesis, regulation of reactive oxygen species, and apoptosis are pivotal in diverse cellular processes. The mitochondrial proteome encompasses about 1,500 proteins encoded by both the nuclear DNA and the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA. Mutations in the nuclear or mitochondrial genome, or combinations of both, can result in mitochondrial protein deficiencies and mitochondrial malfunction. Therefore, mitochondrial quality control by proteins involved in various surveillance mechanisms is critical for neuronal integrity and viability. Abnormal proteins involved in mitochondrial bioenergetics, dynamics, mitophagy, import machinery, ion channels, and mitochondrial DNA maintenance have been linked to the pathogenesis of a number of neurological diseases. The goal of this review is to give an overview of these pathways and to summarize the interconnections between mitochondrial protein dysfunction and neurological diseases.Peer reviewe

Aurora-A Induces Chemoresistance Through Activation of the AKT/mTOR Pathway in Endometrial Cancer

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological tumor all over the world, and advanced/metastatic EC remains a malignancy with poor survival outcome due to highly resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic treatment. Here, we report that Aurora-A, a serine-threonine kinase, plays a vital role in chemoresistance of EC. Aurora-A is overexpressed in EC tissues, compared with normal endometrium and Aurora-A expression is associated with decreased overall survival. Overexpression of Aurora-A in EC cell lines (Ishikawa and HEC-1B cells) promotes cell proliferation and induced paclitaxel- and cisplatin-resistance. Furthermore, Aurora-A activating AKT-mTOR pathway further induces chemoresistance in vitro, consistent with a positive correlation between Aurora-A and phosphorylated AKT/4E-BP1 expression in EC tissues. In summary, our study provides the strong evidence that Aurora-A controls the sensitivity of EC cell lines to chemotherapy via AKT/mTOR pathway, indicating that pharmacologic intervention of Aurora-A and AKT/mTOR in combination with chemotherapy may be considered for the targeted therapy against EC with overexpression of Aurora-A

Publisher Correction: Copper adparticle enabled selective electrosynthesis of n-propanol.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Smart lipid-based nanosystems for therapeutic immune induction against cancers: Perspectives and outlooks

Cancer immunotherapy, a promising and widely applied mode of oncotherapy, makes use of immune stimulants and modulators to overcome the immune dysregulation present in cancer, and leverage the host’s immune capacity to eliminate tumors. Although some success has been seen in this field, toxicity and weak immune induction remain challenges. Liposomal nanosystems, previously used as targeting agents, are increasingly functioning as immunotherapeutic vehicles, with potential for delivery of contents, immune induction, and synergistic drug packaging. These systems are tailorable, multifunctional, and smart. Liposomes may deliver various immune reagents including cytokines, specific T-cell receptors, antibody fragments, and immune checkpoint inhibitors, and also present a promising platform upon which personalized medicine approaches can be built, especially with preclinical and clinical potentials of liposomes often being frustrated by inter-and intrapatient variation. In this review, we show the potential of liposomes in cancer immunotherapy, as well as the methods for synthesis and in vivo progression thereof. Both preclinical and clinical studies are included to comprehensively illuminate prospects and challenges for future research and application

Wind Speed Prediction Model Based on Improved VMD and Sudden Change of Wind Speed

An accurate wind speed prediction system is of great importance prerequisite for realizing wind power grid integration and ensuring the safety of the power system. Quantifying wind speed fluctuations can better provide valuable information for power dispatching. Therefore, this paper proposes a deterministic wind speed prediction system and an interval prediction method based on the Lorentzian disturbance sequence. For deterministic forecasting, a variational modal decomposition algorithm is first used to reduce noise. The preprocessed data are then predicted by a long and short-term neural network, but there is a significant one-step lag in the results. In response to such limitation, a wind speed slope is introduced to revise the preliminary prediction results, and the final deterministic wind speed prediction model is obtained. For interval prediction, on the basis of deterministic prediction, the Lorenz disturbance theory is introduced to describe the dynamic atmospheric system. B-spline interpolation is used to fit the distribution of Lorenz disturbance theory series to obtain interval prediction results. The experimental results show that the model proposed in this paper can achieve higher forecasting accuracy than the benchmark model, and the interval prediction based on the Lorentzian disturbance sequence can achieve a higher ground truth coverage rate when the average diameter is small through B-spline interpolation fitting

A highly sensitive fluorescent probe based on BODIPY for Hg²⁺ in aqueous solution

A highly sensitive fluorescent probe based on BODIPY and hydrazine for Hg2+ was designed and synthesized.This probe could detect mercury ions in aqueous solutions within 5 min.With the increase of Hg2+ mole concentration,an obvious red shift of UV-Vis absorption wavelength was observed and the fluorescence intensity significantly enhanced.It was found that the fluorescence intensity of an aqueous solution containing 0.1 μmol/L Hg2+ is much stronger than that of blank solution,which indicats that the fluorescent probe has high sensitivity.In addition,other metal ions could not cause the change of fluorescent spectra,which means this probe has good selectivity,as well

Crack Propagation and Failure Mechanism of Modeled Recycled Concrete under Shear Stress

In this study, the failure processes of modeled concrete specimens under shear force were studied. To investigate the cracks propagation and failure modes, modeled natural aggregate, modeled recycled aggregate, and modeled brick aggregate were used as coarse aggregate in the modeled concrete. Through digital image correlation (DIC) technology, the displacement field and strain field could be obtained by analyzing the change of the speckle position on the surface of the specimens. It was found that the shear strength of the modeled natural concrete (MNC) was the highest, the modeled recycled concrete (MRC) was the second, and the modeled brick aggregate concrete (MBC) was the lowest and only half of that of MNC. The shear crack of the MNC first appeared at the interface transition zone (ITZ) and propagated, resulting in the shear failure. The shear crack of MRC first appeared in the new ITZ and then expanded to the old ITZ. The shear crack of MBC extended through the brick aggregate. The study also found that, along with the compressive stress trace range, the MNC and the MRC have four vertical compressive strain concentration zones, while the MBC has only two strain concentration zones, which should result from the fact that the elastic modulus of the brick aggregate is lower than the surrounding hardened mortar. Therefore, there are no compressive strain concentration zones near the brick aggregate