Epiphyllous Hepaticae of Kowloon Peninsula (Hong Kong)

Twenty-eight species of epiphyllous liverworts were identified from twenty-five sites in Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Twenty-four of these species are new records to Hong Kong, while four of them are new epiphyllous records to the Chinese mainland. The majority of the sites are located between 30-200 m above sea level, representing the lowest altitude of epiphyllous liverworts found in the Chinese mainland. Characteristics of the host plants bearing epiphyllous liverworts are briefly discussed. The following new combination is proposed: Cololejeunea pseudolatilobula (Chen & Wu) But & Gao comb. nov. (Pedinolejeunea pseudolatilobula Chen & Wu)

2-Meth­oxy-6-[(Z)-[(5-methyl-2-pyrid­yl)imino­meth­yl]phenol

The title compound, C14H14N2O2, was obtained by a condensation reaction between o-vanillin and 5-methyl­pyridin-2-amine. In the mol­ecule, the dihedral angle between the pyridine and benzene rings is 9.08 (13)°. An intra­molecular hydrogen bond involving the imine N atom and the hydroxyl group may influence the conformation of the mol­ecule. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

GsAPK, an ABA-Activated and Calcium-Independent SnRK2-Type Kinase from G. soja, Mediates the Regulation of Plant Tolerance to Salinity and ABA Stress

Plant Snf1 (sucrose non-fermenting-1) related protein kinase (SnRK), a subfamily of serine/threonine kinases, has been implicated as a crucial upstream regulator of ABA and osmotic signaling as in many other signaling cascades. In this paper, we have isolated a novel plant specific ABA activated calcium independent protein kinase (GsAPK) from a highly salt tolerant plant, Glycine soja (50109), which is a member of the SnRK2 family. Subcellular localization studies using GFP fusion protein indicated that GsAPK is localized in the plasma membrane. We found that autophosphorylation and Myelin Basis Protein phosphorylation activity of GsAPK is only activated by ABA and the kinase activity also was observed when calcium was replaced by EGTA, suggesting its independence of calcium in enzyme activity. We also found that cold, salinity, drought, and ABA stress alter GsAPK gene transcripts and heterogonous overexpression of GsAPK in Arabidopsis alters plant tolerance to high salinity and ABA stress. In summary, we demonstrated that GsAPK is a Glycine soja ABA activated calcium independent SnRK-type kinase presumably involved in ABA mediated stress signal transduction

Optimization of production parameters of particle gluing on internal bonding strength of particleboards using machine learning technology

This article presents a study using grey relation analysis (GRA) and support vector regression (SVR) algorithm to develop a prediction model to accurately predict internal bond strength (IB) of particleboard production (PB) through particle gluing processing parameters in a PB production line

Overexpression of the Tomato Pollen Receptor Kinase LePRK1 Rewires Pollen Tube Growth to a Blebbing Mode

The tubular growth of a pollen tube cell is crucial for the sexual reproduction of flowering plants. LePRK1 is a pollen-specific and plasma membrane–localized receptor-like kinase from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). LePRK1 interacts with another receptor, LePRK2, and with KINASE PARTNER PROTEIN (KPP), a Rop guanine nucleotide exchange factor. Here, we show that pollen tubes overexpressing LePRK1 or a truncated LePRK1 lacking its extracellular domain (LePRK1ΔECD) have enlarged tips but also extend their leading edges by producing “blebs.” Coexpression of LePRK1 and tomato PLIM2a, an actin bundling protein that interacts with KPP in a Ca2+-responsive manner, suppressed these LePRK1 overexpression phenotypes, whereas pollen tubes coexpressing KPP, LePRK1, and PLIM2a resumed the blebbing growth mode. We conclude that overexpression of LePRK1 or LePRK1ΔECD rewires pollen tube growth to a blebbing mode, through KPP- and PLIM2a-mediated bundling of actin filaments from tip plasma membranes. Arabidopsis thaliana pollen tubes expressing LePRK1ΔECD also grew by blebbing. Our results exposed a hidden capability of the pollen tube cell: upon overexpression of a single membrane-localized molecule, LePRK1 or LePRK1ΔECD, it can switch to an alternative mechanism for extension of the leading edge that is analogous to the blebbing growth mode reported for Dictyostelium and for Drosophila melanogaster stem cells.Fil: Gui, Cai Ping. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Dong, Xin. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Liu, Hai Kuan. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Huang, Wei Jie. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Zhang, Dong. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Wang, Shu Jie. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Barberini, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Gao, Xiao Yan. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Muschietti, Jorge Prometeo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; ArgentinaFil: McCormick, Sheila. University of California at Berkeley; Estados UnidosFil: Tang, Wei Hua. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de China. University of California at Berkeley; Estados Unido

Decrease in CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells after pulmonary resection in the treatment of cavity multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

SummaryObjectivesImmune regulatory mechanisms may limit the immunopathologic condition of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and suppress cellular immune responses in the host. We investigated the CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ circulating regulatory T cells (Treg) in patients with cavity multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) before and after surgery.MethodsWe compared the proportion of Treg cells in 13 patients with cavity MDR-TB pre- and postoperatively and in 10 healthy control subjects by flow cytometry using three specific markers in peripheral blood lymphocytes: cell-surface CD4 and CD25 expression and intracellular FoxP3 expression.ResultsThe proportion of CD4+CD25high and CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg was significantly higher in patients with cavity MDR-TB and at 1-month postoperatively than in healthy controls (p<0.001). The proportion of CD4+ and CD4+CD25− cells was significantly lower in patients with cavity MDR-TB than in controls (p<0.001). Pre- and postoperative proportions of CD4+CD25high and CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells showed a positive correlation (r=0.878, p<0.001).ConclusionCirculating Treg cells are increased in proportion in patients with cavity MDR-TB and decreased after surgery. Infection with M. tuberculosis may induce Treg cell-surface molecular changes with increased numbers of cells

Studies of Langmuir-Blodgett Films of an Ion Pair Metal Complex Containing Eu(III)-Ru(II) Dual Chromophores

A surfactant ion-pair complex, [Ru(bpy) 2 L][Eu(NTA) 4 ] 2 (in which L ) 1-docosyl-2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazole, bpy ) 2,2′-bipyridine, and NTA ) 4,4,4-trifluoro-1-(2-naphthyl)-1,3-butanedionato) has been synthesized. The surface pressure-area isotherm measurements show that the complex forms a stable Langmuir film at the air-water interface without adding any electrolytes into the subphase. The monolayers formed at the surface pressures of 5 mN m -1 and 20 mN m -1 , have been successfully transferred onto glass and quartz substrates with the transfer ratios close to unity. The Langmuir-Blodgett films were studied by UV-visible, infrared, and emission spectroscopies, atomic force microscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. The optical, redox, and morphology properties of the LB films were found to be significantly affected by the target surface pressures used for the film depositions

A systemic administration of liposomal curcumin inhibits radiation pneumonitis and sensitizes lung carcinoma to radiation

Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is an important dose-limiting toxicity during thoracic radiotherapy. Previous investigations have shown that curcumin is used for the treatment of inflammatory conditions and cancer, suggesting that curcumin may prevent RP and sensitize cancer cells to irradiation. However, the clinical advancement of curcumin is limited by its poor water solubility and low bioavailability after oral administration. Here, a water-soluble liposomal curcumin system was developed to investigate its prevention and sensitizing effects by an intravenous administration manner in mice models. The results showed that liposomal curcumin inhibited nuclear factor-κB pathway and downregulated inflammatory factors including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and transforming growth factor-β induced by thoracic irradiation. Furthermore, the combined treatment with liposomal curcumin and radiotherapy increased intratumoral apoptosis and microvessel responses to irradiation in vivo. The significantly enhanced inhibition of tumor growth also was observed in a murine lung carcinoma (LL/2) model. There were no obvious toxicities observed in mice. The current results indicate that liposomal curcumin can effectively mitigate RP, reduce the fibrosis of lung, and sensitize LL/2 cells to irradiation. This study also suggests that the systemic administration of liposomal curcumin is safe and deserves to be investigated for further clinical application

EMT-related gene classifications predict the prognosis, immune infiltration, and therapeutic response of osteosarcoma

BackgroundOsteosarcoma (OS), a bone tumor with high ability of invasion and metastasis, has seriously affected the health of children and adolescents. Many studies have suggested a connection between OS and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We aimed to integrate EMT-Related genes (EMT-RGs) to predict the prognosis, immune infiltration, and therapeutic response of patients with OS.MethodsWe used consensus clustering to identify potential EMT-Related OS molecular subtypes. Somatic mutation, tumor immune microenvironment, and functional enrichment analyses were performed for each subtype. We next constructed an EMT-Related risk signature and evaluated it by Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis survival and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Moreover, we constructed a nomogram to more accurately predict OS patients’ clinical outcomes. Response effects of immunotherapy in OS patients was analyzed by Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) analysis, while sensitivity for chemotherapeutic agents was analyzed using oncoPredict. Finally, the expression patterns of hub genes were investigated by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data analysis.ResultsA total of 53 EMT-RDGs related to prognosis were identified, separating OS samples into two separate subgroups. The EMT-high subgroup showed favourable overall survival and more active immune response. Significant correlations were found between EMT-Related DEGs and functions as well as pathways linked to the development of OS. Additionally, a risk signature was established and OS patients were divided into two categories based on the risk scores. The signature presented a good predictive performance and could be recognized as an independent predictive factor for OS. Furthermore, patients with higher risk scores exhibited better sensitivity for five drugs, while no significant difference existed in immunotherapy response between the two risk subgroups. scRNA-seq data analysis displayed different expression patterns of the hub genes.ConclusionWe developed a novel EMT-Related risk signature that can be considered as an independent predictor for OS, which may help improve clinical outcome prediction and guide personalized treatments for patients with OS