A comparison study on the release kinetics and mechanism of bovine serum albumin and nanoencapsulated albumin from hydrogel networks.

An in situ-forming biodegradable hydrogel network has been developed to achieve extended release of protein drugs. Hyaluronic acids (HA) were selected as the scaffolding materials, and modified to afford thiolated HA (HASH) and methacrylated HA (HAME). Under near physiological conditions, a mixture of HASH and HAME achieved efficient sol-gel transition within 10 min at 37 °C.

Simultaneous determination of succinylcholine and its metabolite in animal-derived foods by solid-phase extraction combined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Rationale: Succinylcholine has been increasingly used in the theft of animals. Because of the presence of residual levels of succinylcholine in poisoned animals, it is harmful for people to eat foods derived from these animals. Therefore, a method should be immediately established to determine succinylcholine and its metabolite in animal-derived foods.

Comprehensive evaluation of Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT parameters for discriminating pathological characteristics in primary clear-cell renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate parameters derived from Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT images for discriminating pathological characteristics in primary clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

Methods: The study retrospectively examined data for 36 ccRCC patients with preoperative Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT scan and surgical specimens. Radiological parameters including maximal tumor diameter, mean CT value, and maximal standard uptake value (SUV) were derived from PET/CT images.

Release mechanisms and applications of drug delivery systems for extended-release.

Introduction: Drug delivery systems with extended-release profiles are ideal in improving patient compliance with enhanced efficacy. To develop devices capable of a prolonged delivery kinetics, it is crucial to understand the various underlying mechanisms contributing to extended drug release and the impact thereof on modulating the long-term performance of such systems in a practical application environment.

Areas Covered: This review article intends to provide a comprehensive summary of release mechanisms in extended-release drug delivery systems, particularly polymer-based systems; however, other material types will also be mentioned.

A Multi-responsive Fluorescent Probe Reveals Mitochondrial Nucleoprotein Dynamics with Reactive Oxygen Species Regulation through Super-resolution Imaging.

Understanding the biomolecular interactions in a specific organelle has been a long-standing challenge because it requires super-resolution imaging to resolve the spatial locations and dynamic interactions of multiple biomacromolecules. Two key difficulties are the scarcity of suitable probes for super-resolution nanoscopy and the complications that arise from the use of multiple probes. Herein, we report a quinolinium derivative probe that is selectively enriched in mitochondria and switches on in three different fluorescence modes in response to hydrogen peroxide (H O ), proteins, and nucleic acids, enabling the visualization of mitochondrial nucleoprotein dynamics.

Functional genetic variants in centrosome-related genes CEP72 and YWHAG confer susceptibility to gastric cancer.

Structural and numeric centrosome aberrations can induce chromosome segregation errors and promote tumor development and progression. We systematically evaluated associations of 19,603 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across 136 centrosome-related genes with gastric cancer (GC) risk using four GWAS datasets with a total of 3771 cases and 5426 controls. We identified two loci at 15p13.

Automated gleason grading on prostate biopsy slides by statistical representations of homology profile.

Background And Objective: Gleason grading system is currently the clinical gold standard for determining prostate cancer aggressiveness. Prostate cancer is typically classified into one of 5 different categories with 1 representing the most indolent disease and 5 reflecting the most aggressive disease. Grades 3 and 4 are the most common and difficult patterns to be discriminated in clinical practice.

Documenting the heritage along the Silk Road: An ethnobotanical study of medicinal teas used in Southern Xinjiang, China.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: People in Southern Xinjiang, China have been consuming medicinal teas for healthcare since before the ancient Silk Road markets began. Several pharmaceutical studies have illustrated the potential healthcare benefits of medicinal teas used in Southern Xinjiang, China. However, little information is available from the literature about the diversity of the species used and related traditional knowledge of these medicinal teas.

Dual-metal-driven Selective Pathway of Nitrogen Reduction in Orderly Atomic-hybridized ReMnS Ultrathin Nanosheets.

The future of sustainable fertilizers and carbon-free energy carrier demands innovative breakthroughs in the exploitation of efficient electrocatalysts for synthesizing ammonia (NH) from nitrogen (N) in mild conditions. Understanding and regulating the reaction intermediates that form on the catalyst surface through careful catalyst design could bypass certain limitations associated with ambiguous adsorbate evolution mechanism. Herein, we propose ternary intermetallic ReMnS ultrathin nanosheets that include orderly hybridized Mn-Re dual-metal sites through strong Hubbard e-e interaction, demonstrating a promising selectivity toward reaction process from N to NH.

Effects of rumen bypass melatonin feeding (RBMF) on milk quality and mastitis of Holstein cows.

Cow mastitis is a major problem frequently encountered by dairy farmers and it is manifested by the high number of somatic cells and the low quality of the milk. The conventional treatment for mastitis is use of antibiotics. In the current study, a new approach is applied to target this disorder: rumen bypass melatonin feeding (RBMF).

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing causes alternative splicing of the targeting mRNA.

The technique of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing has been widely used to specifically delete the selected target genes through generating double strand breaks (DSBs) and inducing insertion and/or deletion (indel) of the genomic DNAs in the cells. We recently applied this technique to disrupt mineral dust-induced gene (mdig), a potential oncogene as previously reported, by single guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting the third exon of mdig gene in several cell types, including human bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B, lung cancer cell line A549, and human triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition to the successful knockout of mdig gene in these cells, we unexpectedly noted generation of several alternatively spliced mdig mRNAs.

An azacyclo-localizing fluorescent probe for the specific labeling of lysosome and autolysosome.

Understanding lysosome-related physiology needs specific lysosome probes to track the biological processes of lysosome in living cells. Here, we report an azacyclo-modified fluorescent probe that has a large Stokes shift, good photostability and negligible cytotoxicity for highly specific labeling of lysosome and autolysosome in living cells. The probes with different kinds of azacyclo groups on parent dye dansyl are screened to show that dansyl-cycleanine (DNS-C) with four nitrogen atoms possesses the best lysosome-localized ability.

Comparison of Ga-prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of tumor extension of primary prostate cancer.

Background: To compare the diagnostic performance of Ga-prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography/computed tomography (Ga-PSMA PET/CT) with multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) on extracapsular extension (ECE) and seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) in primary prostate cancer and its impact on therapeutic decisions.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 54 patients with both PET/CT and mpMRI before radical prostatectomy. Diagnostic performance of mpMRI, PET/CT and their combination (com-MRI/PET) on ECE and SVI on a patient basis were analyzed.

Mapping DNA interaction landscapes in psoriasis susceptibility loci highlights KLF4 as a target gene in 9q31.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered many genetic risk loci for psoriasis, yet many remain uncharacterised in terms of the causal gene and their biological mechanism in disease. This is largely a result of the findings that over 90% of GWAS variants map outside of protein-coding DNA and instead are enriched in cell type- and stimulation-specific gene regulatory regions.

Results: Here, we use a disease-focused Capture Hi-C (CHi-C) experiment to link psoriasis-associated variants with their target genes in psoriasis-relevant cell lines (HaCaT keratinocytes and My-La CD8+ T cells).

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography of Perilimbal Vasculature in Port-Wine Stain and Sturge-Weber Syndrome Patients.

Purpose: To evaluate episcleral vasculature in corneal limbus with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in normal controls, port-wine stain (PWS) patients, and Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) patients.

Methods: Unilateral eyes from 18 normal controls (25.41 ± 4.

Significant impact of coal combustion on VOCs emissions in winter in a North China rural site.

The measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was carried out using an online GC-FID/MS at a rural site in North China Plain from 1 Nov. 2017 to 21 Jan. 2018.

Targeted delivery of hyaluronic acid nanomicelles to hepatic stellate cells in hepatic fibrosis rats.

Hepatic fibrosis is one kind of liver diseases with a high mortality rate and incidence. The activation and proliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is the most fundamental reason of hepatic fibrosis. There are no specific and effective drug delivery carriers for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis at present.

Effect of fluid shear stress on the internalization of kidney-targeted delivery systems in renal tubular epithelial cells.

Renal tubular epithelial cells (RTECs) are important target cells for the development of kidney-targeted drug delivery systems. Under physiological conditions, RTECs are under constant fluid shear stress (FSS) from original urine in the renal tubule and respond to changes of FSS by altering their morphology and receptor expression patterns, which may affect reabsorption and cellular uptake. Using a microfluidic system, controlled shear stress was applied to proximal tubule epithelial cell line HK-2.

Targeting self-assembly peptide for inhibiting breast tumor progression and metastasis.

The ubiquitous interactions between tumor cells and the surrounding microenvironment contribute to tumor metastasis, interrupting these communications has, therefore, a great potential for antimetastasis therapy. Here, we describe an in situ self-assembly strategy that limits direct contact between tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). In this strategy, the Lys-Leu-Val-Phe-Phe (KLVFF) peptide motifs are targeted to the tumor by hyaluronic acid (HA) functionalized liposomes and spontaneously undergo self-assembly to form nanofibers with a net-like structure wrapping around tumor cells.

Cosmetic blepharoplasty and dry eye disease: a review of the incidence, clinical manifestations, mechanisms and prevention.

Dry eye disease is a multifactorial disease of the ocular surface and can be caused by a variety of iatrogenic interventions, especially ophthalmic surgical procedures. This article reviews the incidence, clinical manifestations, mechanisms and prevention of dry eye disease caused or worsened by cosmetic blepharoplasty, and focus on how to reduce and prevent the occurrence of postoperative dry eye disease and provide the basis for the selection of operation methods and the rational drug during the perioperative period.

Unique Two-Dimensional Indium Telluride Templated by a Rare Wheel-Shaped Heterobimetallic Mn/In Cluster.

A new indium telluride, [MnIn(ea)][InMnTe] (where Hea = ethanolamine), containing unprecedented nonsupertetrahedral [InMnTe] units is the first example of a two-dimensional indium telluride framework templated by a rare high-nuclearity wheel-shaped heterometallic [MnIn(ea)] cluster. The photocurrent response and magnetic properties were investigated.