New insights into autophagy in inflammatory subtypes of asthma

Asthma is a heterogeneous airway disease characterized by airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. Autophagy is a self-degrading process that helps maintain cellular homeostasis. Dysregulation of autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases. In the context of asthma, autophagy has been shown to be associated with inflammation, airway remodeling, and responsiveness to drug therapy. In-depth characterization of the role of autophagy in asthma can enhance the understanding of the pathogenesis, and provide a theoretical basis for the development of new biomarkers and targeted therapy for asthma. In this article, we focus on the relationship of autophagy and asthma, and discuss its implications for asthma pathogenesis and treatment

Comprehensive single-cell analysis reveals novel anergic antigen-presenting cell subtypes in human sepsis

BackgroundSepsis is a life-threatening condition with high mortality. A few studies have emerged utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to analyze gene expression at the single-cell resolution in sepsis, but a comprehensive high-resolution analysis of blood antigen-presenting cells has not been conducted.MethodsAll published human scRNA-seq data were downloaded from the single cell portal database. After manually curating the dataset, we extracted all antigen-presenting cells, including dendritic cells (DCs) and monocytes, for identification of cell subpopulations and their gene profiling and intercellular interactions between septic patients and healthy controls. Finally, we further validated the findings by performing deconvolution analysis on bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data and flow cytometry.ResultsWithin the traditional DC populations, we discovered novel anergic DC subtypes characterized by low major histocompatibility complex class II expression. Notably, these anergic DC subtypes showed a significant increase in septic patients. Additionally, we found that a previously reported immunosuppressive monocyte subtype, Mono1, exhibited a similar gene expression profile to these anergic DCs. The consistency of our findings was confirmed through validation using bulk RNA-seq and flow cytometry, ensuring accurate identification of cell subtypes and gene expression patterns.ConclusionsThis study represents the first comprehensive single-cell analysis of antigen-presenting cells in human sepsis, revealing novel disease-associated anergic DC subtypes. These findings provide new insights into the cellular mechanisms of immune dysregulation in bacterial sepsis

Evidence for the Use of Acupuncture in Treating Parkinson's Disease: Update of Information From the Past 5 Years, a Mini Review of the Literature

Acupuncture is an alternative therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD), but its efficacy and safety are controversial. Our previous study, which reviewed the literature from 1974 to 2012, could not find enough evidence from rigorously designed randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) to make a conclusion about the efficacy of acupuncture. Recently, more RCTs and meta-analyses have been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture. The aim of our current study is to provide updated information in brief on this topic. In this study, we analyzed and summarized seven RCTs and four meta-analyses. Although all included studies were not of high quality, we found that there has been a tremendous progress in acupuncture research in treating Parkinson's disease (PD) during the past 5 years, based on our experience and insights into the behavioral assessments of PD. First, the numbers of RCTs and meta-analyses based on RCTs are increasing. Second, non-motor symptoms are increasingly emphasized. Third, objective behavioral assessment tools are being employed. Although recent studies can provide limited evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture, we make the following recommendations for the future investigation: First, large, multicenter, well-designed RCTs should be organized for evaluation of the efficacy of acupuncture. Second, objective assessments using novel computerized technologies should be considered. Third, target symptoms should be selected and evaluated instead of only performing global evaluations. Fourth, attention should be paid to the efficacy of scalp acupuncture. Fifth, the safety of acupuncture should be evaluated and reported

Structure of 136Sn and the Z = 50 magicity

The first 2+ excited state in the neutron-rich tin isotope 136Sn has been identified at 682(13) keV by measuring γ -rays in coincidence with the one proton removal channel from 137Sb. This value is higher than those known for heavier even-even N = 86 isotones, indicating the Z = 50 shell closure. It compares well to the first 2+ excited state of the lighter tin isotope 134Sn, which may suggest that the seniority scheme also holds for 136Sn. Our result confirms the trend of lower 2+ excitation energies of even-even tin isotopes beyond N = 82 compared to the known values in between the two doubly magic nuclei 100Sn and 132Sn. © The Author(s) 2014.published_or_final_versio

Looks like Tuberculous Meningitis, But Not: A Case of Rhinocerebral Mucormycosis with Garcin Syndrome

Rhinocerebral mucomycosis (RCM) as an emerging opportunistic, angioinvasive and devastating fungi infection with high mortality is difficult to be diagnosed early because of the lack of specific clinical features or manifestations. Garcin syndrome is more often caused by skull base and rhinopharyngeal tumors or metastases, and basal meningitis. We reported that an aged diabetic man, involved nearly all cranial nerves (Garcin syndrome), who was at first suspected to be suffered from tuberculous meningitis (TBM), ultimately developed typically progressing RCM. Diagnosis was made to find the presence of mucormycosis in the infected tissue by biopsy

Systemic transplantation of human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells-educated T regulatory cells improved the impaired cognition in AβPPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of most prevalent dementias, which is characterized by the deposition of extracellular amyloid-beta protein (Aβ) and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles within neurons. Although stereotaxic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the hippocampus of AD animal model as immunomodulatory cells has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach to prevent the progress of AD, it is invasive and difficult for clinical perform. Systemic and central nervous system inflammation play an important role in pathogenesis of AD. T regulatory cells (Tregs) play a crucial role in maintaining systemic immune homeostasis, indicating that transplantation of Tregs could prevent the progress of the inflammation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether systemic transplantation of purified autologous Tregs from spleens of AβPPswe/PS1dE9 double-transgenic mice after MSCs from human umbilical cords (UC-MSCs) education in vitro for 3 days could improve the neuropathology and cognition deficits in AβPPswe/PS1dE9 double-transgenic mice. We observed that systemic transplantation of autologous Tregs significantly ameliorate the impaired cognition and reduced the Aβ plaque deposition and the levels of soluble Aβ, accompanied with significantly decreased levels of activated microglia and systemic inflammatory factors. In conclusion, systemic transplantation of autologous Tregs may be an effective and safe intervention to prevent the progress of AD