Exposure to the prenatal enriched environment alters maternal gut microbiota and promotes embryonic neurodevelopment via activating the AHR-Src pathway.

The signals from the maternal environment play pivotal roles in regulating fetal neurodevelopment. Postnatal enriched environment (EE) exposure promotes neurogenesis and neurodevelopment. However, the roles of prenatal EE on fetal neurodevelopment and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.

Zmynd11 is essential for neurogenesis by coordinating H3K36me3 modification of Epha2 and PI3K signaling pathway.

10p15.3 deletion syndrome is caused by the deficiency of MYND-type zinc finger domain-containing protein 11 (ZMYND11) and featured by global developmental delay, intellectual disability, behavioral abnormalities, etc. Although the roles of Zmynd11 is intensively studied in cancer, the function and associated mechanisms of Zmynd11 in neurodevelopment remain largely unknown.

Liquid Active Surface Growth: Explaining the Symmetry Breaking in Liquid Nanoparticles.

In our previous studies of metal nanoparticle growth, we have come to realize that the dynamic interplay between ligand passivation and metal deposition, as opposed to static facet control, is responsible for focused growth at a few active sites. In this work, we show that the same underlying principle could be applied to a very different system and explain the abnormal growth modes of liquid nanoparticles. In such a liquid active surface growth (LASG), the interplay between droplet expansion and simultaneous silica shell encapsulation gives rise to an active site of growth, which eventually becomes the long necks of nanobottles.

The Throttle Effect in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Distinguishing Water Isotopes.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely used for separation, but amplifying subtle differences between similar molecules to achieve effective separation remains a great challenge. In this study, we utilize the fluorescent molecule uranine (Ura) to modulate the pores of zeolitic-imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF8), creating an unusual throttle effect. By monitoring fluorescence intensity changes in Ura, the transport diffusion process could be quantified to reveal the diffusion constant of solvents.

Expression of CCL2 signaling pathway genes in patients with periodontitis and atherosclerosis.

Objective: Periodontitis and atherosclerosis are chronic inflammatory diseases characterized by leukocyte infiltration. We investigated the expression of CCL4, CCR5, c-Jun, c-Fos, NF-κB, and CCL2 as well as the possible mechanism involved in the regulation of CCL2 in human periodontitis tissues and atherosclerotic aorta based on previous research on the CCL4/CCR5/c-Jun and c-Fos/CCL2 pathway leading to CCL2 expression in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat.

Methods: Sixty-five volunteers were recruited and the condition of their gingiva and coronary arteries were assessed.

Fucosyltransferase 8 regulates adult neurogenesis and cognition of mice by modulating the Itga6-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Fucosyltransferase 8 (Fut8) and core fucosylation play critical roles in regulating various biological processes, including immune response, signal transduction, proteasomal degradation, and energy metabolism. However, the function and underlying mechanism of Fut8 and core fucosylation in regulating adult neurogenesis remains unknown. We have shown that Fut8 and core fucosylation display dynamic features during the differentiation of adult neural stem/progenitor cells (aNSPCs) and postnatal brain development.

Measuring Solvent Exchange in Silica Nanoparticles with Rotor-Based Fluorophore.

Measuring the diffusivity of molecules is the first step toward understanding their dependence and controlling diffusion, but the challenge increases with the decrease of molecular size, particularly for non-fluorescent and non-reactive molecules such as solvents. Here, the capability to monitor the solvent exchange process within the micropores of silica with millisecond time resolution is demonstrated, by simply embedding a rotor-based fluorophore (thioflavin T) in colloidal silica nanoparticles. Basically, the silica provides an extreme case of viscous microenvironment, which is affected by the polarity of the solvents.

Identifying cadmium and lead co-accumulation from living rice blade spectrum.

Neither cadmium (Cd) nor lead (Pb) is necessary for crop growth, but they both can accumulate in soil and crop tissues, resulting in land degradation and crop reduction. Few researchers have explored how to detect Cd-Pb co-accumulation in leaves using proximal sensing techniques, especially by low-cost, easy-to-use leaf clips that capture hyperspectral reflections at suitable foliar positions. In this study, a hyperspectral imager was employed to collect images of the rice canopy from a designed greenhouse experiment that included 16 pretreatments of Cd-Pb co-accumulation, followed by spectral extractions from 3 foliar positions: the blade root, the middle of the leaf, and the leaf apex.

Single/Multi-Source Black-Box Domain Adaption for Sensor Time Series Data.

Unsupervised domain adaption (UDA), which transfers knowledge from a labeled source domain to an unlabeled target domain, has attracted tremendous attention in many machine learning applications. Recently, there have been attempts to apply domain adaption for sensor time series data, such as human activity recognition and gesture recognition. However, existing methods suffer from some drawbacks that hinder further performance improvement.

Temporal-Frequency Attention Focusing for Time Series Extrinsic Regression via Auxiliary Task.

Time series extrinsic regression (TSER) aims at predicting numeric values based on the knowledge of the entire time series. The key to solving the TSER problem is to extract and use the most representative and contributed information from raw time series. To build a regression model that focuses on those information suitable for the extrinsic regression characteristic, there are two major issues to be addressed.

Ogt-mediated O-GlcNAcylation inhibits astrocytes activation through modulating NF-κB signaling pathway.

Previous studies have shown that Ogt-mediated O-GlcNAcylation is essential for neuronal development and function. However, the function of O-GlcNAc transferase (Ogt) and O-GlcNAcylation in astrocytes remains largely unknown. Here we show that Ogt deficiency induces inflammatory activation of astrocytes in vivo and in vitro, and impairs cognitive function of mice.

MicroRNA-650 Regulates the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease Through Targeting Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis feature progressive neurodegeneration, amyloid-β plaque formation, and neurofibrillary tangles. Ample evidence has indicated the involvement of epigenetic pathways in AD pathogenesis. Here, we show that the expression of microRNA 650 (miR-650) is altered in brains from AD patients.

Inorganic-organic coprecipitation: spontaneous formation of enclosed and porous silica compartments with enriched biopolymers.

We show that it is possible to spontaneously form all-enclosed compartments with microporous shells and enriched biopolymers simple coprecipitation of silica and biopolymers. The reaction involves mild conditions and tolerates the random mixing of multiple reagents. Such a synthetic advance points to a new direction for resolving the chicken-egg dilemma of how the early life forms were hosted: without a physical barrier it would be difficult to maintain organized reactions, but without organized reactions, it would be difficult to create a cell membrane.

TREM2 resident macrophages protect the septic heart by maintaining cardiomyocyte homeostasis.

Sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SICM) is common in septic patients with a high mortality and is characterized by an abnormal immune response. Owing to cellular heterogeneity, understanding the roles of immune cell subsets in SICM has been challenging. Here we identify a unique subpopulation of cardiac-resident macrophages termed CD163RETNLA (Mac1), which undergoes self-renewal during sepsis and can be targeted to prevent SICM.

FTO mediates LINE1 mA demethylation and chromatin regulation in mESCs and mouse development.

-methyladenosine (mA) is the most abundant internal modification on mammalian messenger RNA. It is installed by a writer complex and can be reversed by erasers such as the fat mass and obesity-associated protein FTO. Despite extensive research, the primary physiological substrates of FTO in mammalian tissues and development remain elusive.

NAD+ Modulates the Proliferation and Differentiation of Adult Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells via Akt Signaling Pathway.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrate (NAD+) acts as the essential component of the tricarboxylic citric acid (TCA) cycle and has important functions in diverse biological processes. However, the roles of NAD+ in regulating adult neural stem/progenitor cells (aNSPCs) remain largely unknown. Here, we show that NAD+ exposure leads to the reduced proliferation and neuronal differentiation of aNSPCs and induces the apoptosis of aNSPCs.

RYBP modulates embryonic neurogenesis involving the Notch signaling pathway in a PRC1-independent pattern.

RYBP (Ring1 and YY1 binding protein), an essential component of the Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1), plays pivotal roles in development and diseases. However, the roles of Rybp in neuronal development remains completely unknown. In the present study, we have shown that the depletion of Rybp inhibits proliferation and promotes neuronal differentiation of embryonic neural progenitor cells (eNPCs).

Pressure ulcers in patients with diabetes: a bibliometrics analysis.

Background: Pressure ulcers (PU) refer to local tissue ulceration and necrosis caused by long-term compression and friction brought on by tissue ischemia and hypoxia. Diabetic wounds do not easily heal, and once a pressure ulceration occurs, it is difficult to deal with. The purpose of this study was to analyze the current research status of PUs in diabetic patients.

Emerging Roles of N6-Methyladenosine Modification in Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration.

N6-methyladenosine (mA), the most abundant modification in messenger RNAs (mRNAs), is deposited by methyltransferases ("writers") Mettl3 and Mettl14 and erased by demethylases ("erasers") Fto and Alkbh5. mA can be recognized by mA-binding proteins ("readers"), such as Yth domain family proteins (Ythdfs) and Yth domain-containing protein 1 (Ythdc1). Previous studies have indicated that mA plays an essential function in various fundamental biological processes, including neurogenesis and neuronal development.

Loss of ten-eleven translocation 2 induces cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis through modulating ERK signaling pathway.

The ten-eleven translocation (Tet) family of dioxygenases convert 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). Previous studies have shown that 5hmC-mediated epigenetic modifications play essential roles in diverse biological processes and diseases. Here, we show that Tet proteins and 5hmC display dynamic features during postnatal cardiac development and that Tet2 is the predominant dioxygenase present in heart.

Ogt controls neural stem/progenitor cell pool and adult neurogenesis through modulating Notch signaling.

Ogt catalyzed O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation, O-GlcNAc) plays an important function in diverse biological processes and diseases. However, the roles of Ogt in regulating neurogenesis remain largely unknown. Here, we show that Ogt deficiency or depletion in adult neural stem/progenitor cells (aNSPCs) leads to the diminishment of the aNSPC pool and aberrant neurogenesis and consequently impairs cognitive function in adult mice.

AlCl exposure regulates neuronal development by modulating DNA modification.

Background: As the third most abundant element, aluminum is widespread in the environment. Previous studies have shown that aluminum has a neurotoxic effect and its exposure can impair neuronal development and cognitive function.

Aim: To study the effects of aluminum on epigenetic modification in neural stem cells and neurons.

Fto-modulated lipid niche regulates adult neurogenesis through modulating adenosine metabolism.

Adult neurogenesis is regulated by diverse factors including the local environment, i.e. the neurogenic niche.

Multiplexed SERS Barcodes for Anti-Counterfeiting.

Forged signature threatens the authenticity of personal identity. Here, an effective SERS anti-counterfeiting system is designed for personal signatures. Mixed ligands improve the complexity of Raman spectra and expand the coding capacity.

Braiding Ultrathin Au Nanowires into Ropes.

Braiding is a common skill in daily life but rare at the nanoscale. Most of the current nanohelices are directly grown or assembled without involving mechanical interactions, and they are thus distinctively different from ropes in terms of functions and mechanisms. Here, by coaxially twisting multiple ultrathin Au nanowires, nanoropes are synthesized with elegant helical patterns that are consistent with the macroscopic equivalents.