LncRNA GACAT2 binds with protein PKM1/2 to regulate cell mitochondrial function and cementogenesis in an inflammatory environment

Periodontal ligament stem cells(PDLSCs) are a key cell type for restoring/regenerating lost/damaged periodontal tissues, including alveolar bone, periodontal ligament and root cementum, the latter of which is important for regaining tooth function. However,PDLSCs residing in an inflammatory environment generally exhibit compromised functions, as demonstrated by an impaired ability to differentiate into cementoblasts, which are responsible for regrowing the cementum. This study investigated the role of mitochondrial function and downstream long noncoding RNAs(lnc RNAs) in regulating inflammation-induced changes in the cementogenesis of PDLSCs. We found that the inflammatory cytokine-induced impairment of the cementogenesis of PDLSCs was closely correlated with their mitochondrial function, and lnc RNA microarray analysis and gain/loss-of-function studies identified GACAT2 as a regulator of the cellular events involved in inflammation-mediated mitochondrial function and cementogenesis.Subsequently, a comprehensive identification of RNA-binding proteins by mass spectrometry(Ch IRP-MS) and parallel reaction monitoring(PRM) assays revealed that GACAT2 could directly bind to pyruvate kinase M1/2(PKM1/2), a protein correlated with mitochondrial function. Further functional studies demonstrated that GACAT2 overexpression increased the cellular protein expression of PKM1/2, the PKM2 tetramer and phosphorylated PKM2, which led to enhanced pyruvate kinase(PK) activity and increased translocation of PKM2 into mitochondria. We then found that GACAT2 overexpression could reverse the damage to mitochondrial function and cementoblastic differentiation of PDLSCs induced by inflammation and that this effect could be abolished by PKM1/2 knockdown. Our data indicated that by binding to PKM1/2 proteins, the lnc RNA GACAT2 plays a critical role in regulating mitochondrial function and cementogenesis in an inflammatory environment.

Description of moment of inertia and the interplay between anti-pairing and pairing correlations in ^(244)Pu and ^(248)Cm

A variable moment of inertia(VMI)inspired interacting boson model(IBM),which includes many-body interactions and a perturbation possessing(5)(or(5))symmetry,is used to investigate the rotational bands of the mass region.A novel modification is introduced,extending the Arima coefficient to the third order.This study is dedicated to the quantitative analysis of evolving trends in intrabandγ-transition energy as well as the kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia(MoIs)within the rotational bands of ^(244)Pu and ^(248)Cm.The computed outcomes exhibit an exceptional degree of agreement with experimental observations across various conditions.The significance of including a higher-order Arima coefficient is further examined by contrasting it with the previously proposed model.The calculated results demonstrate the significance of both the anti-pairing and pairing effects in the evolution of the dynamic MoI.Additionally,these insights reveal the importance of a newly introduced parameter in accurately depicting complex nuclear behaviors,such as back-bending,up-bending,and downturn in the MoI.

Possible existence of bound nuclei beyond neutron drip lines driven by deformation

Based on the relativistic calculations of the nuclear masses in the transfermium region from No(Z=102)to Ds(Z=110)using the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum(DRHBc),the possible existence of bound nuclei beyond the neutron drip lines is studied.The two-neutron and multi-neutron emission bound nuclei beyond the primary neutron drip line of N=258 are predicted in Z=106,108,and 110 isotopes.A detailed microscopic mechanism investigation reveals that nuclear deformation plays a vital role in the existence of bound nuclei beyond the drip line.Furthermore,not only the quadrupole deformation β_(2) but also the higher orders of deformation are indispensable in the reliable description of the phenomenon of reentrant binding.

High-K isomer and the rotational properties in the odd-Z neutron-rich nucleus 163Eu

The newly observed isomer and ground-state band in the odd-Z neutron-rich rare-earth nucleus 163 Eu are investigated by using the cranked shell model(CSM), with pairing treated by the particle-number conserving(PNC)method. This is the first time detailed theoretical investigations are performed of the observed 964(1) keV isomer and ground-state rotational band in 163 Eu. The experimental data are reproduced very well by the theoretical results. The configuration of the 964(1) keV isomer is assigned as the three-particle state 13^-/2(v7^+/2 [633]■v1^-/2[521]■π5^+/2[413]).More low-lying multi-particle states are predicted in 163 Eu. Due to its significant effect on the nuclear mean field, the high-order ε6 deformation plays an important role in the energy and configuration assignment of the multi-particle states. Compared to its neighboring even-even nuclei 162 Sm and 164 Gd,there is a 10%15% increase of J(1) of the oneparticle ground-state band in 163 Eu. This is explained by the pairing reduction due to the blocking of the nucleon on the proton π5+/2 [413] orbital in 163 Eu.

High-K multi-particle bands and pairing reduction in 254No

The multi-particle states and rotational properties of the two-particle bands in 254No are investigated by the cranked shell model with pairing correlations treated by the particle number conserving method. The rotational bands on top of the two-particle Kπ= 3+, 8- and 10+ states and the pairing reduction are studied theoretically in 254No for the first time. The experimental excitation energies and moments of inertia of the multi-particle states are reproduced well by the calculations. Better agreement with the data is achieved by including the high-order deformation ε6,J（1） in these two-particle bands compared with the ground state band is attributed to the pairing reduction due to the Pauli blocking effect.

Rotational properties of the odd-Z transfermium nucleus ^(255)Lr by a particle-number-conserving method in the cranked shell model

Experimentally observed ground state band based on the 1/2-[521] Nilsson state and the first exited band based on the 7/2-[514] Nilsson state of the odd-Z nucleus 255Lr are studied by the cranked shell model （CSM） with the paring correlations treated by the particle-number-conserving （PNC） method. This is the first time the detailed theoretical investigations are performed on these rotational bands. Both experimental kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia （f^（1） and ,f^（2） versus rotational frequency are reproduced quite well by the PNC-CSM calculations. By comparing the theoretical kinematic moment of inertia f（1） with the experimental ones extracted from different spin assignments, the spin 17/2- →13/2- is assigned to the lowest-lying 196.6（5） keV transition of the 1/2- [521 ] band, and 15/2→11/2- to the 189（1） keV transition of the 7/2- [514] band, respectively. The proton N = 7 major shell is included in the calculations. The intruder of the high-j low→lj15/2 （1/2-[770]） orbital at the high spin leads to band-crossings at hω = 0.20 （hω~=0.25） MeV for the 7/2-[514]ω= -1/2 （ω= ＋1/2） band, and at hω=0.175 MeV for the 1/2- [521 ] ω= - 1/2 band, respectively. Further investigations show that the band-crossing frequencies are quadrupole deformation dependent.