Role of estrogen receptor β selective agonist in ameliorating portal hypertension in rats with CCl4-induced liver cirrhosis

AIM: To investigate the role of diarylpropionitrile(DPN), a selective agonist of estrogen receptor β(ERβ), in liver cirrhosis with portal hypertension(PHT) and isolated hepatic stellate cells(HSCs).METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized(OVX), and liver cirrhosis with PHT was induced by CCl4 injection. DPN and PHTPP, the selective ERβ agonist and antagonist, were used as drug interventions. Liver fibrosis was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin(HE) and Masson's trichrome staining and by analyzing smooth muscle actin expression. Hemodynamic parameters were determined in vivo using colored microspheres technique. Protein expression and phosphorylation were determined by immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis. Messenger RNA levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(q RT-PCR). Collagengel contraction assay was performed using gel lattices containing HSCs treated with DPN, PHTPP, or Y-27632 prior to ET-1 addition. RESULTS: Treatment with DPN in vivo greatly lowered portal pressure and improved hemodynamic parameters without affecting mean arterial pressure, which was associated with the attenuation of liver fibrosis and intrahepatic vascular resistance(IHVR). In CCl4-treated rat livers, DPN significantly decreased the expression of Rho A and ROCK Ⅱ, and even suppressed ROCK Ⅱ activity. Moreover, DPN remarkedly increased the levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase(e NOS) and phosphorylated e NOS, and promoted the activities of protein kinase G(PKG), which is an NO effector in the liver. Furthermore, DPN reduced the contractility of activated HSCs in the 3-dimensional stress-relaxed collagen lattices, and decreased the ROCK Ⅱ activity in activated HSCs. Finally, in vivo /in vitro experiments demonstrated that MLC activity was inhibited by DPN.CONCLUSION: For OVX rats with liver cirrhosis, DPN suppressed liver Rho A/ROCK signal, facilitated NO/PKG pathways, and decreased IHVR, giving rise to reduced portal pressure. Therefore, DPN represents a relevant treatment choice against PHT in cirrhotic patients, especially postmenopausal women.

A visual assay panel for the identification of monkeypox virus DNA belonging to the clades I and II

Dear Editor,Monkeypox virus(MPXV)is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the family Poxviridae,subfamily Chordopoxvirinae,and genus Orthopoxvirus(Hraib et al.,2022;Gong et al.,2022).MPXV forms Congo Basin clade(clade I)and West African clade(clade II)(Durski et al.,2018).Additionally,clade II consists of two subclades,clade IIa and clade IIb.

Preparation and visible photocatalytic dye degradation of Mn-TiO2/sepiolite photocatalysts

The performance of Mn-TiO2/sepiolite photocatalysts prepared by the solgel method and calcinated at different temperatures was studied in the photocatalytic degradation of direct fast emerald green dye under visible light irradiation,and a series of analytical techniques such as XRD,SEM,FTIR,TG-DSC,XPS,UV-vis-DRS and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the morphology,structure and optical properties of the photocatalysts.It is found that the anatase TiO2 was formed in all photocatalysts.Mn4+might incorporate into the lattice structure of TiO2 and partially replace Ti4+,thus causing the defects in the crystal structure and the broadening of the spectral response range of TiO2.At the same time,TiO2 particles were dispersed on the surface of the sepiolite,which immobilized TiO2 particles with sepiolite via the bond of Ti-O-Si.Mn-TiO2/sepiolite calcined at 400°C exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity and the degradation rate of direct fast emerald green is up to 98.13%.Meanwhile,it also shows good stability and universality.

Rabies virus co-localizes with early(Rab5) and late(Rab7) endosomal proteins in neuronal and SH-SY5Y cells

Rabies virus(RABV) is a highly neurotropic virus that follows clathrin-mediated endocytosis and p H-dependent pathway for trafficking and invasion into endothelial cells. Early(Rab5, EEA1) and late(Rab7, LAMP1) endosomal proteins play critical roles in endosomal sorting, maturity and targeting various molecular cargoes, but their precise functions in the early stage of RABV neuronal infection remain elusive. In this study, the relationship between enigmatic entry of RABV with these endosomal proteins into neuronal and SH-SY5 Y cells was investigated.Immunofluorescence, TCID_(50) titers, electron microscopy and western blotting were carried out to determine the molecular interaction of the nucleoprotein(N) of RABV with early or late endosomal proteins in these cell lines. The expression of N was also determined by down-regulating Rab5 and Rab7 in both cell lines through RNA interference. The results were indicative that N proficiently colocalized with Rab5/EEA1 and Rab7/LAMP1 in both cell lines at 24 and 48 h post-infection, while N titers significantly decreased in early infection of RABV. Down-regulation of Rab5 and Rab7 did not inhibit N expression, but it prevented productive infection via blocking the normal trafficking of RABV in a low pH environment. Ultrathin sections of cells studied by electron microscope also verified the close association of RABV with Rab5 and Rab7 in neurons. From the data it was concluded that primary entry of RABV strongly correlates with the kinetics of Rab-proteins present on early and late vesicles, which provides helpful clues to explain the early events of RABV in nerve cells.

Growth Mechanism of Different Morphologies of ZnO Crystals Prepared by Hydrothermal Method

Different morphologies of zinc oxide（ZnO）,including microrods,hexagonal pyramid-like rods and flower-like rod aggregates,had been synthesized,respectively,on glass substrates by controlling the reaction conditions（such as precursor concentration,reaction time and pH value） of hydrothermal method.The morphologies of the as-obtained ZnO were observed with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.Also,the crystalline natures of different ZnO crystals were analyzed with X-ray diffraction.The possible growth mechanism of ZnO crystals with different morphologies was discussed.

CO sensing properties of a cubic ZnSn(OH)_6 synthesized by hydrothermal method

In this work, ZnSn（OH）6with a cubic structure is successfully synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method without any catalyst. The response and recovery characteristics of gas sensing were investigated against various gases via quartz crystal microbalance（QCM） at room temperature. The sensor exhibited high sensitivity and good selectivity toward CO gas. Moreover, a linear dependence of log^（àDelta F）about CO concentration was obtained. It is demonstrated that the QCM sensor coated cubic ZnSn（OH）6could be a suitable candidate for detecting CO.