Atg7 in development and disease： panacea or Pandora＇s Box？

Macroautophagy is an evolutionarily conserved intracellular degradation system used by life ranging from yeasts to mammals. The core autophagic machinery is composed of ATG （autophagy-related） protein constituents. One particular member of the ATG protein family, Atg7, has been the focus of recent research. Atg7 acts as an Ellike activating enzyme facilitating both microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 （LC3）- phosphatidylethanolamine and ATG12 conjugation. Thus, Atg7 stands at the hub of these two ubiquitin-like systems involving LC3 and Atg12 in autophagic vesicle expansion. In this review, I focus on the pleiotropic function of Atg7 in development, maintenance of health, and alternations of such control in disease.

Biofilm response and removal via the coupling of visible-light-driven photocatalysis and biodegradation in an environment of sulfamethoxazole and Cr(Ⅵ)

The widespread contamination of water systems with antibiotics and heavy metals has gained much attention.Intimately coupled visible-light-responsive photocatalysis and biodegradation(ICPB)provides a novel approach for removing such mixed pollutants.In ICPB,the photocatalysis products are biodegraded by a protected biofilm,leading to the mineralization of refractory organics.In the present study,the ICPB approach exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and biodegradation,providing up to~1.27 times the degradation rate of sulfamethoxazole(SMX)and 1.16 times the Cr(Ⅵ)reduction rate of visiblelight-induced photocatalysis.Three-dimensional fluorescence analysis demonstrated the synergistic ICPB effects of photocatalysis and biodegradation for removing SMX and reducing Cr(Ⅵ).In addition,the toxicity of the SMX intermediates and Cr(Ⅵ)in the ICPB process significantly decreased.The use of MoS_(2)/CoS_(2)photocatalyst accelerated the separation of electrons and holes,with·O_(2)^(–)and h+attacking SMX and ereducing Cr(Ⅵ),providing an effective means for enhancing the removal and mineralization of these mixed pollutants via the ICPB technique.The microbial community results demonstrate that bacteria that are conducive to pollutant removal are were enriched by the acclimation and ICPB operation processes,thus significantly improving the performance of the ICPB system.

Revealing Formaldehyde Fluxes in Alzheimer's Disease Brain by an Activity-Based Fluorescence Probe

Formaldehyde(FA)plays critical roles in Alzheimer's disease and the associations between FA and Alzheimer's disease(AD)are still obscure.To reveal FA fluxes in the Alzheimer's disease brain,an activity-based fluorescence probe NP-FA with superb blood-brain barrier permeable abilities was exquisitely designed.The probe responded to FA with significant fluorescence increases(F/F0=81),thus laying the foundation for the sensitive detection of FA in cuvette and in vivo.Moreover,the probe also possessed some fasci-nating performances,including endoplasmic reticulum(ER)-targeting abilities,good one-photon/two-photon absorption properties,and appropriate hydrophobicity property(log P=2.34±0.05).As a result,the probe can readily reflect the overproduction of FA con-tent in live cells under ER stress by high-fidelity two-photon imaging.More interestingly,ex vivo imaging of AD brains and two-photon imaging of AD slice tissues visually disclosed that the FA level of AD brain is much higher than that of the normal brain.This work afforded a specific activity-based probe for the imaging of FA in the AD mouse brains,which could be further extended to FA-related studies in Alzheimer's disease.

To be EndMT or not to be, that is the question in pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension （PH） is a progressive and devas- tating disease of various causes that is associated with structural and functional disorder and inappropriately increased pressure of pulmonary small- to medium-sized vasculature. Extensive pulmonary vascular remodeling with narrowing lumen is well characterized in all forms of PH, which is hemodynamically defined by a mean pulmonary artery pressure exceeding 25 mmHg at rest （Schermuly et al., 2011; Mehari et al., 2014）. The morbidity and mortality of PH continues to increase due to no cure （Mehari et al., 2014）; however, our understanding of the mechanism and therapeutics underlying PH remains far from complete. There are many competing hypotheses for how PH develops in a genetic or sporadic way （Schermuly et al., 2011 ）.

Preparation and application of novel chitosan-cellulose composite materials to adsorb Pb(Ⅱ)and Cr(Ⅵ)ions from water

This paper reported the preparation and application of novel chitosan-cellulose composite absorbents for the adsorption of Pb(II)and Cr(VI)ions in water.First,oxycellulose or dialdehyde cellulose(DAC)was prepared by sodium periodate oxidation of microcrystalline cellulose(MCC).Second,based on the mechanism of the Mannich reaction,a chitosan/cellulose-based adsorbent(TSFCD)was produced through a cross-linking reaction of thiosemicarbazide(TS)with DAC and chitosan(CS),which was designed specifically for the adsorption of Cr^(6+)ions from water.Similarly,another chitosan/cellulose-based adsorbent(DBFCM)was also prepared with 2,5-dithiobiurea(DB)as the cross-linking agent for the adsorption of Pb^(2+)ions in water.The adsorption performance of TSFCD and DBFCM for Cr^(6+)and Pb^(2+)ions,respectively,was investigated under various process conditions.Variables included adsorption temperature,time,initial metal ion concentration,pH,and adsorbent dosage.The adsorption kinetics of TSFCD and DBFCM were studied,and isothermal models were developed.Results showed that the adsorption amount increased with the increase of the reaction time,and reached a maximum at about 300 min for the TSFCD/Cr^(6+)system,and at about 240 min for DBFCM/Pb^(2+)system.The adsorption performance of TSFCD for Cr^(6+)and DBFCM for Pb^(2+)improved at higher temperature,and leveled off at 40℃ and 50℃,respectively.In addition,the removal rate of Cr^(6+)increased from 49.96%to 70.22%when the TSFCD dosage increased from 0.5 g/L to 3.5 g/L.Similarly,the removal rate of Pb^(2+)increased from 22.23%to 99.45%with the increase of DBFCM dosage from 0.5g/L to 5.0g/L.The adsorption processes of Pb^(2+)and Cr^(6+)were in line with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and the Langmuir isothermal model.

BMPR2 spruces up the endothelium n pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension （PH） is a potentially lethal disorder because of a dearth of effective therapeutic options （Schermuly et al., 2011; Mehari et al., 2014）. Pulmonary arterial hypertension （PAH） is a major type of PH that is defined by a mean pulmonary arterial pressure higher than 25 mm Hg at rest or 30 mm Hg during exercise （Kovacs et al., 2009）.