Gut microbiota and metabolites related intra-patient variability of tacrolimus pharmacokinetics predicted adverse one-year outcomes following kidney transplantation.

Kidney transplantation (KT) is an effective treatment for end-stage renal disease, with over 90 % of recipients requiring lifelong tacrolimus (Tac). However, The Tac pharmacokinetics exhibit high intra-patient variability (IPV), posing significant challenges. This study included 102 KT recipients at our center from October 2022 to December 2023.

Urinary trypsin inhibitor exerts multifaceted regulation of angiopoietin 2 in septic cardiomyopathy.

Septic cardiomyopathy (SCM) represents one of the life-threatening manifestations of sepsis, for which specific therapies are currently lacking. The mechanism of action of urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), widely employed in treating acute inflammatory disorders, on SCM has remained elusive. Here, we observed that UTI alleviated cardiac function, reduced myocardial injury, and improved cardiac permeability in a cecum ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis mouse model.

Prediction of postoperative infection through early-stage salivary microbiota following kidney transplantation using machine learning techniques.

Kidney transplantation (KT) is an effective treatment for end-stage renal disease; however, the lifelong immunosuppressive regimen increases the risk of infection, presenting significant clinical, and economic challenges. Identifying predictive biomarkers for infection onset is critical. In this study, 122 postoperative saliva samples from 39 KT recipients were analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing, with 16 developing infections within one year.

MIP-3α-antigen fusion DNA vaccine enhances sex differences in tuberculosis model and alters dendritic cell activity early post vaccination.

Tuberculosis disease (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacteria remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. Efforts to control TB are hampered by the lengthy and cumbersome treatment required to eradicate the Mtb infection. Bacterial persistence during exposure to bactericidal antibiotics is at least partially mediated by the bacterial stringent response enzyme, Rel.

Cryptanalysis of efficient controlled semi-quantum secret sharing protocol with entangled state.

Quantum secret sharing is a basic quantum cryptographic primitive, which plays an important role in robust key management and secure multiparty computation etc. In this work, we give a cryptanalysis of efficient controlled semi-quantum secret sharing protocol with entangled states proposed recently, which shows that the controller can recover the secret if he cooperates with any one participant. Furthermore, an external opponent can make participants recover a false secret without being detected by a special denial-of-service attack.

Novel Vaccines Targeting the Highly Conserved SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a Ectodomain Elicit Immunogenicity in Mouse Models.

Background: The majority of antigen-based SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2) vaccines utilized in the clinic have had the Spike protein or domains thereof as the immunogen. While the Spike protein is highly immunogenic, it is also subject to genetic drift over time, which has led to a series of variants of concern that continue to evolve, requiring yearly updates to the vaccine formulations. In this study, we investigate the potential of the N-terminal ectodomain of the ORF3a protein encoded by the gene of SCV2 to be an evolution-resistant vaccine antigen.

Secure multiparty computation for maximum and minimum values based on quantum homomorphic encryption.

Secure multiparty computation is a basic cryptographic primitive that has many important applications in privacy preservation. In this work, we propose a new secure multiparty computation protocol for the maximum and minimum values based on quantum homomorphic encryption. Owing to the speciality of quantum homomorphic encryption, participants can delegate a server to compute the maximum and minimum values of their private data.

Unraveling salivary microbiota diversity following kidney transplantation: insights from baseline peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets.

Background: Effective biomarkers are urgently needed to monitor immune suppression in kidney transplantation (KT) recipients. Our study identified a close association between the salivary microbiota and immunosuppressant concentrations. It is therefore hypothesized that the salivary microbiota may be linked to immune function.

Targeting CCRL2 enhances therapeutic outcomes in a tuberculosis mouse model.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains among the leading infectious causes of death. Due to the limited number of antimicrobials in the TB drug discovery pipeline, interest has developed in host-directed approaches to improve TB treatment outcomes. C-C motif chemokine-like receptor 2 (CCRL2) is a unique seven-transmembrane domain receptor that is upregulated by inflammatory signals and mediates leucocyte migration.

The Multifaceted Roles of Thrombomodulin: Anti-coagulation, Anti-inflammation, and Anti-tumor Potential.

Thrombomodulin (TM) is a single-chain transmembrane glycoprotein with anticoagulant effects. TM has two forms: membrane type existing on the cell surface and blood type free in plasma and urine. TM functions as an anticoagulant cofactor for thrombin activation of protein C on the surface of vascular endothelial cells.

MIP-3α-antigen fusion DNA vaccine enhances sex differences in tuberculosis model and alters dendritic cell activity early post vaccination.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. Efforts to control TB are hampered by the lengthy and cumbersome treatment required to eradicate the infection. Bacterial persistence during exposure to bactericidal antibiotics is at least partially mediated by the bacterial stringent response enzyme, Rel.

Targeting CCRL2 enhances therapeutic outcomes in a tuberculosis mouse model.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains among the leading infectious causes of death. Due to the limited number of antimicrobials in the TB drug discovery pipeline, interest has developed in host-directed approaches to improve TB treatment outcomes. C-C motif chemokine-like receptor 2 (CCRL2) is a unique seven-transmembrane domain receptor that is upregulated by inflammatory signals and mediates leucocyte migration.

Therapeutic DNA Vaccine Targeting Persisters Shortens Curative Tuberculosis Treatment.

Unlabelled: Mtb) is one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide. There is no available licensed therapeutic vaccine that shortens active tuberculosis (TB) disease drug treatment and prevents relapse, despite the World Health Organization's calls. Here, we show that an intranasal DNA vaccine containing a fusion of the stringent response gene with the gene encoding the immature dendritic cell-targeting chemokine, MIP-3α/CCL20, shortens the duration of curative TB treatment in immunocompetent mice.

Human Urinary Kallidinogenase improves vascular endothelial injury by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Vascular endothelial injury is closely related to the progression of various cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. Whether Human Urinary Kallidinogenase (HUK) has a protective effect on endothelial injury remains unclear. This study established an in vivo model of rat common carotid artery intima injury and an in vitro model of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVECs) injury induced by hydrogen peroxide (HO).

Improving security of efficient multiparty quantum secret sharing based on a novel structure and single qubits.

Quantum secret sharing is a basic quantum cryptographic primitive, which has a lot of applications in information security and privacy preservation. An efficient multiparty quantum secret sharing protocol (Kuo et al. in EPJ Quantum Technol 10(1):29, 2023) based on a novel structure and single qubits was reported recently.

Prediction of delayed graft function by early salivary microbiota following kidney transplantation.

Delayed graft function (DGF) is a frequently observed complication following kidney transplantation (KT). Our prior research revealed dynamic shifts in salivary microbiota post-KT with immediate graft function (IGF), yet its behavior during DGF remains unexplored. Five recipients with DGF and 35 recipients with IGF were enrolled.

Capsiate ameliorates secondary hyperparathyroidism by improving insulin sensitivity and inhibiting angiogenesis.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism has a significant impact on the overall well-being of the body. Capsiates, known for their antioxidant and metabolic properties, have emerged as a promising alternative treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism. This study aims to evaluate the effects and mechanisms of capsiates in the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism.

A SARS-CoV-2 RBD vaccine fused to the chemokine MIP-3α elicits sustained murine antibody responses over 12 months and enhanced lung T-cell responses.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated enhanced efficacy of vaccine formulations that incorporate the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein 3α (MIP-3α) to direct vaccine antigens to immature dendritic cells. To address the reduction in vaccine efficacy associated with a mutation in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mutants, we have examined the ability of receptor-binding domain vaccines incorporating MIP-3α to sustain higher concentrations of antibody when administered intramuscularly (IM) and to more effectively elicit lung T-cell responses when administered intranasally (IN).

Methods: BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were immunized intramuscularly or intranasally with DNA vaccine constructs consisting of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain alone or fused to the chemokine MIP-3α.

Association between salivary microbiota and renal function in renal transplant patients during the perioperative period.

Introduction: Renal transplantation is an effective treatment for the end stage renal disease (ESRD). However, how salivary microbiota changes during perioperative period of renal transplant recipients (RTRs) has not been elucidated.

Methods: Five healthy controls and 11 RTRs who had good recovery were enrolled.

IFNα and 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine combined with a dendritic-cell targeting DNA vaccine alter tumor immune cell infiltration in the B16F10 melanoma model.

Introduction: DNA vaccines containing a fusion of the gene encoding chemokine MIP-3α (CCL20), the ligand for CCR6 on immature dendritic cells (DCs), to melanoma-associated antigen genes have enhanced anti-tumor immunity and efficacy compared to those lacking the chemokine gene. Previous work has shown that type-I interferon (IFNα or IFN) and 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5Aza) significantly enhance the therapeutic benefit of DNA vaccines as measured by reduced tumor burden and improved mouse survival.

Methods: Here, we explored mouse intratumoral immune correlates underlying the therapeutic benefit of this combination regimen (vaccine, IFN, and 5Aza) as compared to vaccine alone and IFN and 5Aza without vaccine, focusing on chemokine mRNA expression by qRT-PCR and inflammatory cellular infiltration into the tumor microenvironment (TME) by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Loss-tolerant quantum multi-party key agreement without quantum storage.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum key agreement (QKA) are two main branches of key establishment in quantum cryptography. However, the research of QKA falls far behind that of QKD, especially in practicability. The main reason is that QKA needs to resist not only the outside eavesdropping but also the participant cheating.

Biofilms in wound healing: A bibliometric and visualised study.

Bibliometric analyses are often used as a means of visualising the knowledge base and associated trends and patterns in a target scientific field based on a quantitative review of the corresponding literature. In this study, we explore the current status of research pertaining to biofilms in wound healing and elucidate trends in this research space. Through this process, we gain insight into findings from papers indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection.

NEDD4 Induces K48-Linked Degradative Ubiquitination of Hepatitis B Virus X Protein and Inhibits HBV-Associated HCC Progression.

Neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated gene 4 (NEDD4) plays two opposite roles in carcinogenesis. It has been reported that NEDD4 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression; however, little is known about its potential function and molecular mechanism in HCC in the context of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this study, we analyzed NEDD4 expression in 199 HCC specimens with or without HBV infection and observed that NEDD4 expression was unrelated to HBV exposure in HCC tumor tissue but that high NEDD4 expression conferred better overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) than low NEDD4 expression in patients with HBV-associated HCC.