Elaidic acid-induced intestinal barrier damage led to gut-liver axis derangement and triggered NLRP3 inflammasome in the liver of SD rats

Previous studies have shown that trans fatty acids(TFA) are associated with several chronic diseases,the gut microbiota is directly influenced by dietary components and linked to chronic diseases.Our research investigated the effects of elaidic acid(EA),a typical TFA,on the gut microbiota to understand the underlying mechanisms of TFA-related chronic diseases.16S rDNA gene sequencing on faecal samples from Sprague-Dawley rats were performed to explore the composition change of the gut microbiota by EA gavage for 4 weeks.The results showed that the intake of EA increased the abundance of well-documented harmful bacteria,such as Proteobacteria,Anaerotruncus,Oscillibacter and Desulfovibrionaceae.Plus,EA induced translocation of lipopolysaccharides(LPS) and the above pathogenic bacteria,disrupted the intestinal barrier,led to gut-liver axis derangement and TLR4 pathway activation in the liver.Overall,EA induced intestinal barrier damage and regulated TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB/MAPK pathways in the liver of SD rats,leading to the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and inflammatory liver damage.

Elaidic acid leads to mitochondrial dysfunction via mitochondria-associated membranes triggers disruption of mitochondrial calcium fluxes

Elaidic acid(EA)stimulation can lead to endoplasmic reticulum stress(ERS),accompanied by a large release of Ca^(2+),and ultimately the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in Kupffer cells(KCs).Mitochondrial instability or dysfunction may be the key stimulating factors to activate NLRP3 inflammasome,and sustained Ca^(2+)transfer can result in mitochondrial dysfunction.We focused on KCs to explore the damage to mitochondria by EA.After EA stimulation,cells produced an oxidative stress(OS)response with a significant increase in ROS release.Immunoprecipitation experiments and the addition of inhibitors revealed that the increase in the level of intracellular Ca^(2+)led to Ca^(2+)accumulation in the mitochondrial matrix via mitochondria-associated membranes(MAMs).This was accompanied by a significant release of m ROS,loss of MMP and ATP,and a significant increase in mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening,ultimately leading to mitochondrial instability.These findings confirmed the mechanism that EA induced mitochondrial Ca^(2+)imbalance in KCs via MAM,ultimately leading to mitochondrial dysfunction.Meanwhile,EA induced OS and the decrease of MMP and ATP in rat liver,and significant lesions were found in liver mitochondria.Swelling of the inner mitochondrial cristae and mitochondrial vacuolization occurred,with a marked increase in lipid droplets.

RF magnetron sputtering induced the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy modification in Pt/Co based multilayers

We demonstrate that radio frequency(RF)magnetron sputtering technique can modify the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA)of Pt/Co/normal metal(NM)thin films.Influence of ion irradiation during RF magnetron sputtering should not be neglected and it can weaken PMA of the deposited magnetic films.The magnitude of this influence can be controlled by tuning RF magnetron sputtering deposition conditions and the upper NM layer thickness.According to the stopping and range of ions in matter(SRIM)simulation results,defects such as displacement atoms and vacancies in the deposited film will increase after the RF magnetron sputtering,which can account for the weakness of PMA.The amplitude changes of the Hall resistance and the threshold current intensity of spin orbit torque(SOT)induced magnetization switching also can be modified.Our study could be useful for controlling magnetic properties of PMA films and designing new type of SOT-based spintronic devices.

Impact of the mass isotope on plasma confinement and transport properties in the HL-2A tokamak

The impact of the mass isotope on plasma conflnement and transport properties has been investigated in Ohmically-heated hydrogen and deuterium plasmas in the HL-2 A tokamak.Experimental results show that under similar discharge parameters the deuterium plasma has better conflnement and lower turbulent transport than the hydrogen one,and concomitantly,it is found that the magnitude of geodesic acoustic mode zonal flows,the tilting angle of the Reynolds stress tensor and the turbulence correlation lengths are all larger in the edge region of the deuterium plasma.The results provide direct experimental evidence on the importance of the nonlinear energy coupling between ambient turbulence and zonal flows for governing the isotope effects in fusion plasmas.

The Analysis of China’s Integrity Situation Based on Big Data

In order to study deeply the prominent problems faced by China’s clean government work,and put forward effective coping strategies,this article analyzes the network information of anti-corruption related news events,which is based on big data technology.In this study,we take the news report from the website of the Communist Party of China(CPC)Central Commission for Discipline Inspection(CCDI)as the source of data.Firstly,the obtained text data is converted to word segmentation and stop words under preprocessing,and then the pre-processed data is improved by vectorization and text clustering,finally,after text clustering,the key words of clean government work is derived from visualization analysis.According to the results of this study,it shows that China’s clean government work should focus on‘the four forms of decadence’issue,and related departments must strictly crack down five categories of phenomena,such as“illegal payment of subsidies or benefits,illegal delivery of gifts and cash gift,illegal use of official vehicles,banquets using public funds,extravagant wedding ceremonies and funeral”.The results of this study are consistent with the official data released by the CCDI’s website,which also suggests that the method is feasible and effective.

Fusion of a rice endogenous N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase to a plant adenine base transition editor ABE8e enables A-toK base editing in rice plants

Engineering of a new type of plant base editor for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion within the editing window will greatly expand the scope and potential of base editing in directed evolution and crop improvement.Here,we isolated a rice endogenous hypoxanthine excision protein,N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase(OsMPG),and engineered two plant A-to-K(K=G or T)base editors,rAKBE01 and rAKBE02,for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion base editing in rice by fusing OsMPG or its mutant mOsMPG to a plant adenine transition base editor,ABE8e.We further coupled either OsMPG or mOsMPG with a transactivation factor VP64 to generate rAKBE03 and rAKBE04,respectively.Testing these four rAKBEs,at five endogenous loci in rice protoplasts,indicated that rAKBE03 and rAKBE04 enabled higher levels of A-to-G base transitions when compared to ABE8e and ABE8e-VP64.Furthermore,whereas rAKBE01 only enabled A-to-C/T editing at one endogenous locus,in comparison with rAKBE02 and rAKBE03,rAKBE04 could significantly improve the A-to-C/T base transversion efficiencies by up to 6.57-and 1.75-fold in the rice protoplasts,respectively.Moreover,although no stable lines with A-to-C transversion were induced by rAKBE01 and rAKBE04,rAKBE04 could enable simultaneous A-to-G and A-to-T transition and transversion base editing,at all the five target loci,with the efficiencies of A-to-G transition and A-to-T transversion editing ranging from 70.97 to 92.31%and 1.67 to 4.84%in rice stable lines,respectively.Together,these rAKBEs enable different portfolios of editing products and,thus,now expands the potential of base editing in diverse application scenario for crop improvement.

Programmed sequential cutting endows Cas9 versatile base substitution capability in plants

Dear Editors,CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing techniques have triggered a revolution in biology research(Jinek et al.,2012).Cas9 coupled with guide RNAs cuts DNA at precise positions,and the resulting double stranded breaks(DSB)were effectively repaired by non-homologous end joining(NHEJ)pathway in higher eukaryotic cells,including animals and plants.

Plant base editing and prime editing:The current status and future perspectives

Precise replacement of an allele with an elite allele controlling an important agronomic trait in a predefined manner by gene editing technologies is highly desirable in crop improvement.Base editing and prime editing are two newly developed precision gene editing systems which can introduce the substitution of a single base and install the desired short indels to the target loci in the absence of double-strand breaks and donor repair templates,respectively.Since their discoveries,various strategies have been attempted to optimize both base editor(BE)and prime editor(PE)in order to improve the precise editing efficacy,specificity,and expand the targeting scopes.Here,we summarize the latest development of various BEs and PEs,as well as their applications in plants.Based on these progresses,we recommend the appropriate BEs and PEs for both basic plant research and crop improvement.Moreover,we propose the perspectives for further optimization of these two editors.We envision that both BEs and PEs will become the routine and customized precise gene editing tools for both plant biological research and crop improvement in the near future.

Engineering a plant A-to-K base editor with improved performance by fusion with a transactivation module

Dear Editor,Base editors(BEs)are promising tools that enable single-nucleotide substitutions in specific target genes,generating loss-offunction or gain-of-function mutations,which can greatly accelerate plant functional genomics and crop improvement(Ren et al.,2018;Zeng et al.,2020;Xu et al.,2021;Yan et al.,2021;Li et al.,2023).To date,three major classes of BEs have been engineered:cytosine BEs(CBEs)for C-to-T transitions(Komor et al.,2016),adenine BEs(ABEs)for A-to-G transitions(Gaudelli et al.,2017).

Changes in Extractable and Non-extractable Polyphenols and Their Antioxidant Properties during Fruit On-tree Ripening in Five Peach Cultivars

To evaluate the changes of total phenolic content and antioxidant capacities of five peach cultivars, this work measured them separately in extractable polyphenols and non-extractable polyphenols during the last month of ripening. Total phenolic content was detected using the Folin-Ciocalteau reagent, while total antioxidant activity was detected by DPPH and FRAP assay. In addition, the contribution of extractable polyphenols and non-extractable polyphenols to the total antioxidant activity of peaches was investigated. It is noted that ripening caused a decrease of total phenolic content associated to extractable polyphenols and non-extractable polyphenols by 45.1%–74.6%, 20.7%–41.7%, respectively. Additionally, total antioxidant activity decreased over the ripening period with a high correlation with total phenolic content. Extractable polyphenols contributed more than 50% to the total antioxidant activity, while the non-extractable antioxidants contributed around 31.3%–45.7%(DPPH) or 12.6%–25.4%(FRAP), which suggests that the antioxidant properties of peaches may be undervalued in previous researches.

From two-to multi-state vertical spin valves without spacer layer based on Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals homo-junctions

Different than covalently bonded magnetic multilayer systems,high-quality interfaces without dangling bonds in van der Waals(vd W)junctions of two-dimensional(2D)layered magnetic materials offer opportunities to realize novel functionalities.Here,we report the fabrication of multi-state vertical spin valves without spacer layers by using vd W homo-junctions in which exfoliated Fe3GeTe2 nanoflakes act as ferromagnetic electrodes and/or interlayers.We demonstrate the typical behavior of two-state and threestate magnetoresistance for devices with two and three Fe3GeTe2 nanoflakes,respectively.Distinct from traditional spin valves with sandwich structures,our novel homo-junction-based spin-valve structure allows the straightforward realization of multi-state magnetic devices.Our work demonstrates the possibility of extend multi-state,non-volatile spin information to 2 D magnetic homo-junctions,and it emphasizes the utility of vd W interface as a fundamental building block for spintronic devices.