A model for propagation of RNA structural memory through biomolecular condensates.

We hypothesize that stress-induced RNA structural changes, stabilized by RNA-binding proteins in biomolecular condensates, propagate via conformational catalysis in a prion-like manner across generations. Our model suggests that RNA structure encodes heritable memory, and its roles should be explored in epigenetic inheritance, evolutionary adaptation and disease.

Photonic generation of frequency-doubled microwave waveforms based on time-domain processing.

A photonic approach for a frequency-doubled microwave waveforms generator based on time-domain processing is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. This approach achieves the generation of various frequency-doubled microwave waveforms by overlapping optical envelopes and performing mathematical operations on optical envelopes. Detailed theoretical analysis and simulations are provided.

Synthesis of churros-like VSe nanostructures for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of oxalic acid in urine with portable point-of-care diagnostic devices.

The binding of oxalic acid (OA) with metal ions, particularly calcium ions, is a key factor in kidney stone formation, as it produces insoluble calcium oxalate, which crystallizes and accumulates in the kidneys. Consequently, OA in urine is commonly considered a significant biomarker for clinical diagnosis and early screening of kidney stones. This study reports churros-like VSe nanostructures synthesized using a solvothermal method (high pressure and temperature) for sensitive and selective electrochemical detection of OA in urine.

Rapid screening of illicit drugs in wastewater based on-site automated solid phase extraction and portable mass spectrometry techniques.

Screening for illicit drugs in urban wastewater provides an important tool for monitoring and tracing the use of illicit drugs, increasingly leaning towards on-site detection of wastewater samples. This study established an on-site detection method for three illicit drugs-ketamine (KET), cocaine (COC), and codeine(COD)-in wastewater, based on an automatic solid-phase extraction device and a portable mass spectrometer. After enrichment and purification of samples using HLB solid-phase extraction cartridges, a portable mass spectrometer equipped with a sub-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization source was used for quantitative analysis of target drugs in selected ion monitoring mode.

Multi-pathway copper metabolisms regulation based on an engineered copper/ferrous nanoplatform for enhanced tumor cuproptosis therapy.

Cuproptosis is a currently discovered programmed cell death modality driven by copper (Cu) ions, which shows potential application prospects in overcoming apoptotic resistance in cancer therapy due to its unique mechanism. Nevertheless, the efficiency of cuproptosis is restricted by strict Cu metabolism regulation. Herein, elesclomol (ES) and glucose oxidase (GOx) co-loaded CuFeO (CF) nanoplatform (termed as CFEG) was elaborately engineered to boost cuproptosis through multi-pathway copper metabolisms regulation.

Portable solvent-assisted thermal desorption ionization mass spectrometry for highly sensitive detection of illicit drugs in hair.

Portable mass spectrometers have played an important role in the rapid field detection of drugs; however, interference from matrix components, such as salts, solvents, and other metabolites, often leads to high rates of false positives and false negatives, making it challenging to meet the requirements for rapid field detection. To mitigate these challenges, a solvent-assisted thermal desorption ionization source has been developed, which enables rapid screening, improved accuracy and quantitative MS analysis. This ionization source is designed to allow the introduction of sample solution into the thermal desorption chamber with coaxial solvent and gas flows.

Small RNA and Toll-like receptor interactions: origins and disease mechanisms.

Advances in small RNA sequencing have revealed diverse small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs) beyond microRNAs (miRNAs), derived from transfer RNAs (tRNAs), ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), and Y RNAs, carrying distinct RNA modifications. These emerging sncRNAs can function beyond RNA interference (RNAi), adopting aptamer-like roles by interacting with Toll-like receptors 7 and 8 (TLR7 and TLR8) via specific sequences, modifications, and structures. We propose a Sequential Activation Hypothesis where initial abnormal sncRNAs - triggered by infections or stresses - activate TLR7/8, leading to autoantibody production against autoantigens like RNA-binding proteins La and Ro.

An effective method for detecting nitrous oxide using alkaline washing and GC-MS.

Nitrous oxide (NO) is generally detected by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) which has become a popular method in current research and applications. However, NO and CO have the same molecular mass and comparable physical characteristics, posing significant challenges to complete separation and accurate detection of NO. For this purpose, a simple and effective method for detecting nitrous oxide using alkaline washing and GC-MS was proposed.

Graphene electrochemical biosensors combining effervescent solid-phase extraction (ESPE) for rapid, ultrasensitive, and simultaneous determination of DA, AA, and UA.

Simultaneous monitoring of key metabolites like dopamine, ascorbic acid, and uric acid is essential for early disease diagnosis and evaluating treatment. Electrochemical techniques are increasingly used for precise, point-of-care testing (POCT) of these metabolites. Herein, a sample pretreatment method called effervescent solid-phase extraction (ESPE) was proposed for efficient enrichment of trace analytes for electrochemical detection.

An improved cancer diagnosis algorithm for protein mass spectrometry based on PCA and a one-dimensional neural network combining ResNet and SENet.

Cancer is one of the most serious health problems worldwide. Because cancer has no specific symptoms in its early stages, it is often not diagnosed until it is in advanced stages, reducing the likelihood of successful treatment. Therefore, early diagnosis of cancer is a formidable challenge.

A robust polymetallic-coated sheathless interface with high acid and alkali resistance for coupling capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometry.

A robust interface for coupling capillary electrophoresis (CE) to mass spectrometry (MS) was critical to maintain high separation efficiency of CE while achieving high sensitivity of MS. Current interfaces often suffer from problems such as reproducibility and ruggedness. For this purpose, a new polymetallic-coated sheathless interface was developed for the coupling of CE with MS.

Regioselective Glycosylation of Mannoside and Galactoside Acceptors Containing 2,4-OH Achieved by Altering Protecting Groups at the 1,3,6-Positions.

In this study, we systematically investigated the regioselective glycosylation of 2,4-OH mannoside and galactoside acceptors since regioselective protection of their 3- and 6-OHs is readily achieved. By altering the protecting groups at 1-, 3-, and 6-positions of such acceptors, we finally screened -methoxyphenyl 3-OBn, 6-OTBDPS, α-mannoside, and β-galactoside acceptors whose 2-OHs exhibited excellent selectivity for glycosylation with various glycosyl donors, leading to 1,2-linked products in 70-82% yields. By utilizing such acceptors, a series of 2,4-linked trisaccharide products (53-65% yields over two steps) have been highly efficiently synthesized without the need for complex protection/deprotection operations at the 2- and 4-positions of these acceptors.

Simulation study of a new racetrack FAIMS analyzer to achieve both high-resolution and high-sensitivity.

A new racetrack field-asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (r-FAIMS) analyzer was developed in this study by combining the existing planar FAIMS (p-FAIMS) and cylindrical FAIMS (c-FAIMS). The ion inlet and outlet regions of r-FAIMS were consisted of a half of c-FAIMS, respectively, and these c-FAIMS were further connected by two p-FAIMS to form a racetrack shaped FAIMS. With such FAIMS working electrode configuration, the ions entering the r-FAIMS can be focused and separated in the first c-FAIMS section, be further separated in the p-FAIMS section with high-resolution, be focused and separated again in the final c-FAIMS section and eventually enter the mass spectrometer or other analyzers for analysis.

Electron ionization mass spectrometry feature peak relationships combined with deep classification model to assist similarity algorithm for fast and accurate identification of compounds.

Rationale: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combines chromatography and MS, providing full play to the advantages of high separation efficiency of GC, strong qualitative ability of MS, and high sensitivity of detector. In GC-MS data processing, determining the experimental compounds is one of the most important analytical steps, which is usually realized by one-to-one similarity calculations between the experimental mass spectrum and the standard mass spectrum library. Although the accuracy of the algorithm has been improved in recent years, it is still difficult to distinguish structurally similar mass spectra, especially isomers.

Boosting Energy Deprivation by Synchronous Interventions of Glycolysis and Oxidative Phosphorylation for Bioenergetic Therapy Synergetic with Chemodynamic/Photothermal Therapy.

Bioenergetic therapy is emerging as a promising therapeutic approach. However, its therapeutic effectiveness is restricted by metabolic plasticity, as tumor cells switch metabolic phenotypes between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to compensate for energy. Herein, Metformin (MET) and BAY-876 (BAY) co-loaded CuFeO (CF) nanoplatform (CFMB) is developed to boost energy deprivation by synchronous interventions of glycolysis and OXPHOS for bioenergetic therapy synergetic with chemodynamic/photothermal therapy (CDT/PTT).

Radial basis function neural network optimization algorithm based on dynamic inertial weight particle swarm optimization for separating overlapping peaks in ion mobility spectrometry.

Rationale: Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), as a promising analytical tool, has been widely employed in the structural characterization of biomolecules. Nevertheless, the inherent limitation in the structural resolution of IMS frequently results in peak overlap during the analysis of isomers exhibiting comparable structures.

Methods: The radial basis function (RBF) neural network optimization algorithm based on dynamic inertial weight particle swarm optimization (DIWPSO) was proposed for separating overlapping peaks in IMS.

An efficient strategy with a synergistic effect of hydrophilic and electrostatic interactions for simultaneous enrichment of - and -glycopeptides.

- and -glycosylation modifications of proteins are closely linked to the onset and development of many diseases and have gained widespread attention as potential targets for therapy and diagnosis. However, the low abundance and low ionization efficiency of glycopeptides as well as the high heterogeneity make glycosylation analysis challenging. Here, an enrichment strategy, using Knoevenagel copolymers modified with polydopamine-adenosine (denoted as PDA-ADE@KCP), was firstly proposed for simultaneous enrichment of - and -glycopeptides through the synergistic effects of hydrophilic and electrostatic interactions.

A high-performance standalone planar FAIMS system for effective detection of chemical warfare agents via TSPSO algorithm.

A high-performance standalone planar field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (p-FAIMS) system with a deconvolution algorithm (two-step particle swarm optimization algorithm, TSPSO) for overlapping peaks was developed to effectively detect chemical warfare agents (CWAs). Four CWA simulants were applied in this study to systemically evaluate the performance of the standalone p-FAIMS system. The experimental results showed that each CWA simulant in the mixture can be positively identified by carefully comparing the compensation voltage (CV) value of each peak in the FAIMS spectra for the mixture to the ones in the spectra acquired by using the same FAIMS system for the pure CWA simulant standards.

An improved algorithm for resolving overlapping peaks in ion mobility spectrometry and its application to the separation of glycan isomers.

Despite the popularity of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) for glycan analysis, its limited structural resolution hinders the effective separation of many glycan isomers. This leads to the overlap of IMS peaks, consequently impacting the accurate identification of glycan compositions. To this end, an improved algorithm, namely second-order differentiation combined with a simulated annealing particle swarm optimization algorithm based on sine adaptive weights (DWSA-PSO), was proposed for the separation of overlapping IMS peaks formed by glycan isomers.

Overlapping peak separation algorithm for ion mobility spectra based on multistrategy JAYA.

Rationale: In the field of separation science, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) plays an important role as an analytical tool. However, the lack of sufficient structural resolution is a common problem in qualitative and quantitative analysis using IMS. A method is needed to solve the problem of overlapping peaks caused by insufficient resolution.

Microbiota-assisted iron uptake promotes immune tolerance in the intestine.

Iron deficiencies are the most common nonenteric syndromes observed in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, but little is known about their impacts on immune tolerance. Here we show that homeostasis of regulatory T cells in the intestine was dependent on high cellular iron levels, which were fostered by pentanoate, a short-chain fatty acid produced by intestinal microbiota. Iron deficiencies in Treg caused by the depletion of Transferrin receptor 1, a major iron transporter, result in the abrogation of Treg in the intestine and lethal autoimmune disease.

Ion storage biases in the ion funnel trap of a Hybrid ion mobility spectrometer/time of flight mass spectrometer.

A detailed experimental characterization on the ion storage biases in an ion funnel trap, related to ion structure, charge state and RF voltage applied to the ion funnel trap, is reported by using both cytochrome C and ubiquitin samples. It was first observed experimentally that an unavoidable ion overflow would occur when the incoming ions exceeded the capacity of ion funnel trap. The conformers with extended structures would lose preferentially in the ion overflow process.