Anti-steatotic and anti-fibrotic effects of the KCa3.1 channel inhibitor, Senicapoc, in non-alcoholic liver disease

To evaluate a calcium activated potassium channel (KCa3.1) inhibitor attenuates liver disease in models of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).METHODSWe have performed a series of in vitro and in vivo studies using the KCa3.1 channel inhibitor, Senicapoc. Efficacy studies of Senicapoc were conducted in toxin-, thioacetamide (TAA) and high fat diet (HFD)-induced models of liver fibrosis in rats. Efficacy and pharmacodynamic effects of Senicapoc was determined through biomarkers of apoptosis, inflammation, steatosis and fibrosis.RESULTSUpregulation of KCa3.1 expression was recorded in TAA-induced and high fat diet-induced liver disease. Treatment with Senicapoc decreased palmitic acid-driven HepG2 cell death. (P < 0.05 vs control) supporting the finding that Senicapoc reduces lipid-driven apoptosis in HepG2 cell cultures. In animals fed a HFD for 6 wk, co-treatment with Senicapoc, (1) reduced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity score (NAS) (0-8 scale), (2) decreased steatosis and (3) decreased hepatic lipid content (Oil Red O, P < 0.05 vs vehicle). Randomization of TAA animals and HFD fed animals to Senicapoc was associated with a decrease in liver fibrosis as evidenced by hydroxyproline and Masson’s trichrome staining (P < 0.05 vs vehicle). These results demonstrated that Senicapoc mitigates both steatosis and fibrosis in liver fibrosis models.CONCLUSIONThese data suggest that Senicapoc interrupts more than one node in progressive fatty liver disease by its anti-steatotic and anti-fibrotic activities, serving as a double-edged therapeutic sword.

连续流生物反应器技术在微生物培养中的应用

自然环境中99%微生物在实验室条件下仍是不能被培养的,称之为“未培养”微生物或微生物“暗物质”。对其进行研究不仅有助于认识环境中微生物代谢多样性,丰富生命之树,同时未培养微生物还蕴含着巨大的新基因和新天然产物资源。但传统培养技术的局限性阻碍了“未培养”微生物资源的开发和利用。虽然随着分子生物学技术的发展,可以直接从环境中获得未培养微生物的遗传信息,分析微生物的广泛代谢多样性,但微生物的生理特征和代谢产物等分析仍然需要建立在研究纯菌株的基础上。目前,已经有很多新颖的培养技术被研发,如原位培养技术、共培养技术和连续流生物反应器培养技术等用于挖掘未培养微生物资源。本文主要介绍了连续流生物反应器培养新技术的发展与改进,探讨了“未培养”微生物培养技术及设备的发展方向,以进一步促进“未培养”微生物资源的开发与利用。

A novel combined multi-battery dataset based approach for enhanced prediction accuracy of data driven prognostic models in capacity estimation of lithium ion batteries

To ensure smooth and reliable operations of battery systems,reliable prognosis with accurate prediction of State of Health of lithium ion batteries is of utmost importance.However,battery degradation is a complex challenge involving many electrochemical reactions at anode,separator,cathode and electrolyte/electrode interfaces.Also,there is significant effect of the operating conditions on the battery degradation.Various machine learning tech-niques have been applied to estimate the capacity and State of Health of lithium ion batteries to ensure reliable operation and timely maintenance.In this paper,we study the Gaussian Process Regression(GPR)and Support Vector Machine(SVM)model-based approaches in estimating the capacity and State of Health of batteries.Bat-tery capacity and State of Health estimations are carried out using GPR and SVM models and the predictions comparatively studied for accuracy based on RMSE values.The prediction accuracy is further compared with re-spect to single sensor and multi sensor data.Further,a combined multi battery data set model is used to improve the prediction accuracy.Combining the data of multiple batteries with similar operating conditions for training a model resulted in higher prediction accuracy.

Application of in situ cultivation in marine microbial resource mining

Microbial communities in marine habitats are regarded as underexplored reservoirs for discovering new natural products with potential application.However,only a few microbes in nature can be cultivated in the laboratory.This has led to the development of a variety of isolation and cultivation methods,and in situ cultivation is one of the most popular.Diverse in situ cultivation methods,with the same basic principle,have been applied to a variety of environmental samples.Compared with conventional approaches,these new methods are able to cultivate previously uncultured and phylogenetically novel microbes,many with biotechnological potential.This review introduces the various in situ cultivation methods for the isolation of previously uncultured microbial species and their potential for marine microbial resource mining.Furthermore,studies that investigated the key and previously unidentified mechanisms of growing uncultivated microorganisms by in situ cultivation,which will shed light on the understanding of microbial uncultivability,were also reviewed.