Role of connexin 43 in odontoblastic differentiation and structural maintenance in pulp damage repair

Dental pulp can initiate its damage repair after an injury of the pulp–dentin complex by rearrangement of odontoblasts and formation of newly differentiated odontoblast-like cells.Connexin 43(Cx43)is one of the gap junction proteins that participates in multiple tissue repair processes.However,the role of Cx43 in the repair of the dental pulp remains unclear.This study aimed to determine the function of Cx43 in the odontoblast arrangement patterns and odontoblastic differentiation.Human teeth for in vitro experiments were acquired,and a pulp injury model in Sprague-Dawley rats was used for in vivo analysis.The odontoblast arrangement pattern and the expression of Cx43 and dentin sialophosphoprotein(DSPP)were assessed.To investigate the function of Cx43 in odontoblastic differentiation,we overexpressed or inhibited Cx43.The results indicated that polarized odontoblasts were arranged along the pulp–dentin interface and had high levels of Cx43 expression in the healthy teeth;however,the odontoblast arrangement pattern was slightly changed concomitant to an increase in the Cx43 expression in the carious teeth.Regularly arranged odontoblast-like cells had high levels of the Cx43 expression during the formation of mature dentin,but the odontoblastlike cells were not regularly arranged beneath immature osteodentin in the pulp injury models.Subsequent in vitro experiments demonstrated that Cx43 is upregulated during odontoblastic differentiation of the dental pulp cells,and inhibition or overexpression of Cx43 influence the odontoblastic differentiation.Thus,Cx43 may be involved in the maintenance of odontoblast arrangement patterns,and influence the pulp repair outcomes by the regulation of odontoblastic differentiation.

Complement C1q induces the M2-polarization of tumor-associated macrophages in lung adenocarcinoma

Complement C1q was proved to be able to regulate the polarization of macrophages to the anti-inflammatory phenotype(M2 polarized),acting as an anti-inflammation molecule independent of the classical complement pathway.A high level of C1q expression has been detected in the tumor microenvironment(TME)of diverse tumors,including non-small cell lung cancer,in which C1q could be considered a predictor of poor prognosis.

O-GlcNAcylation of YTHDF2 promotes HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma progression in an N^(6)-methyladenosine-dependent manner

Hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection is a major risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),but its pathogenic mechanism remains to be explored.The RNA N^(6)-methyladenosine(m^(6)A)reader,YTH(YT521-B homology)domain 2(YTHDF2),plays a critical role in the HCC progression.However,the function and regulatory mechanisms of YTHDF2 in HBV-related HCC remain largely elusive.Here,we discovered that YTHDF2 O-GlcNAcylation was markedly increased upon HBV infection.O-GlcNAc transferase(OGT)-mediated O-GlcNAcylation of YTHDF2 on serine 263 enhanced its protein stability and oncogenic activity by inhibiting its ubiquitination.Mechanistically,YTHDF2 stabilized minichromosome maintenance protein 2(MCM2)and MCM5 transcripts in an m^(6)A-dependent manner,thus promoting cell cycle progression and HBV-related HCC tumorigenesis.Moreover,targeting YTHDF2 O-GlcNAcylation by the OGT inhibitor OSMI-1 significantly suppressed HCC progression.Taken together,our findings reveal a new regulatory mechanism for YTHDF2 and highlight an essential role of YTHDF2 O-GlcNAcylation in RNA m^(6)A methylation and HCC progression.Further description of the molecular pathway has the potential to yield therapeutic targets for suppression of HCC progression due to HBV infection.

Intelligent electronic passworded locker with unique and personalized security barriers for home security

As a widely used security device,the electronic passworded locker is designed to protect personal property and space.However,once the password is leaked to an unauthorized person,its security is lost.Here,with the assistance of triboelectric nanogenerators(TENGs),we present an intelligent electronic passworded locker(IEPL)based on unique and personalized security barriers,which can accurately extract users’habits of entering passwords through integrated deep learning.The key of the IEPL adopts the single electrode mode of TENG that accurately recognizes the input behavior of a person based on machine learning,which serves as a reliable,unique,unreproducible gate,with advantages of thin thickness,diversified structure,and simple preparation method.Finally,the proposed IEPL offers a reliable solution for improving the overall security of passworded lockers and extending the application of TENG-based sensors in the smart home.

Methods to improve the quality of low-salt meat products:a meta-analysis

Low-salt meat(salt content<2%)is gaining popularity for its lower health risks,while the food industry faces technical challenges in improving its quality.Twenty-one studies involving meat quality improvement measures in low-salt meat products were included in this meta-analysis.The outcomes of these studies were assessed to derive conclusions about their effects on meat hardness and cooking losses.The results demon-strated that higher power ultrasound treatments(300-1500 W)significantly increased the hardness of low-salt meat,while a similar outcome was also achieved by low-strength(50-200 MPa)high-pressure processing(HPP)treatment,which was beneficial for alleviating the undesirable too-soft texture of the low-salt meat products.Furthermore,when salt reduction was greater than 50%,the application of ultrasonic treatment.and HPP of 50-200 MPa significantly reduced the cooking losses,and the addition of hydrocolloids also increased the cooking yield of the salt-reduced meat products.Among all the interventions,HPP exhibited the most significant effects in low-salt meat quality improvement,which warrants future studies on the combination of this method with salt reduction strategies in the reduction of salt content in processed meat products.