Generation of Ultrafast Attosecond Magnetic Field from Ne Dimer in Circularly Polarized Laser Pulses

By numerically solving time-dependent Schr?dinger equations,we investigate the generation of electron currents,ultrafast magnetic fields and photoelectron momentum distributions(PMD) when circularly polarized laser pulses interact with a Ne dimer in the charge migration(CM) process.By adjusting the laser wavelength,we consider two cases:(i) coherent resonance excitation(λ=76 nm) and(ii) direct ionization(λ=38 nm).The results show that the current and magnetic field generated by the Ne dimer under resonance excitation are stronger than under direct ionization.This phenomenon is due to the quantum interference between the initial state 2pσ_(g) and the excited state 3sσ_(g) under resonance excitation,so the CM efficiency of the dimer can be improved and the strength of the PMD under different ionization conditions is opposite to the strength of the electron current and induced magnetic field.In addition,we also find that both 2pπ_(g) and 2pπ_(u) have coherent resonance excitation with 3sσ_(g) state and generate periodic oscillating currents for the Ne dimer.The study of the dynamics of the Ne dimer under different ionization conditions lays a foundation for research of ultrafast magnetism in complex molecular systems.

CTGF/CCN2 promotes the proliferation of human osteosarcoma cells via cross-talking with the stromal CXCL12/CXCR4-AKT-αvβ3 signaling axis in tumor microenvironment

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common histological form of primary bone cancer in childhood cancer and young adults. At present, OS is widely investigated because of the interaction between the tumor and bone microenvironment and the effect of such interaction on OS progression and metastasis.1 The connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), also known as cellular communication network factor 2 (CCN2), is a secreted extracellular matrix-associated protein. CTGF is as active as the regulators of signaling activities of several different pathways and an orchestrator of their cross-talk.2 Therefore, we conducted experiments to investigate the effects of CTGF on OS tumor progress and the cross-talk with stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment.

Corrigendum to “Establishment and functional characterization of the reversibly immortalized mouse glomerular podocytes (imPODs)” [Genes & Diseases 5 (2018) 137–149]

The authors regret having an image assembly error in Figure 3A,in which the image for "imPOD Synaptopodin DAPl stain"groupwas erroneouslyduplicatedwiththe imagefrom the"tsPOD-33C SynaptopodinDAPIstain"group.We confirm the error is restricted to the image assembly,and the underlying data and conclusions are correct and unchanged.The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Corrigendum to “The development of a sensitive fluorescent protein-based transcript reporter for high throughput screening of negative modulators of lncRNAs” [Genes & Diseases 5 (2018) 62–74]

The authors regret having an image assembly error in Figure 5Ca,in which the image for the "Oh dBiFP-AdRFp"group was erroneously duplicated with an overlapping image from the"36h BiFP dBIFP-AdR-simH19"group.We confirm the error is restricted to the image assembly,and the underlying data and conclusions are correct and unchanged.The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

A color-based FHGC approach facilities DNA-based clinical molecular diagnostics

The flow-through hybridization and gene chip(FHGC)was developed to used in clinical molecular diagnostics for thalassemia,human papillomavirus(HPV),and other dis-eases.FHGC could improve hybridization efficiency and reduce hands-on time,thus improving precision,repro-ducibility,and traceability.Multiple genotypes can be detected simultaneously without incurring high costs.^(1)During the experiment,the polymerase chain reaction(PCR)product or buffer forced through the membrane matrix,PCR products are apprehended by a probe attached to the membrane.

Corrigendum to “Characterization of the essential role of bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) in osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) through RNA interference” [Genes & Diseases 5(2018):172–184]

The authors regret having several image assembly errors.Specifically,in Figure 3A panel b,the image for "AdsimB9-4 only"group was erroneously duplicated with an overlapping image from the"AdRFp"group;and the image for"AdsimB9-1+BMP9"groupwas erroneouslyduplicatedwithan overlapping image from"AdsimB9-8+BMP9"group.In Figure 4Apanel a,the images for"BMP9"group and "BMP9+simB9-4"group were erroneously duplicated with an overlapping image from"simB9-4"group.In Figure 5A,the image for"BMP9+simB9-4/Day3"group was erroneously duplicated with an overlapping image from"BMP9+simB9-7/Day3"group;and the image for"BMP9+simB9-4/Day5"group was erroneously duplicated with an overlapping image from an unrelated experiment.In Figure 6B,the image for"BMP9+simB9-7/Day 11"group was erroneously duplicated with an overlapping image from the"BMP9+simB9-4/Day 11"group.

Adenovirus-mediated gene delivery:Potential applications for gene and cell-based therapies in the new era of personalized medicine

With rapid advances in understanding molecular pathogenesis of human diseases in the era of genome sciences and systems biology,it is anticipated that increasing numbers of therapeutic genes or targets will become available for targeted therapies.Despite numerous setbacks,efficacious gene and/or cell-based therapies still hold the great promise to revolutionize the clinical management of human diseases.It is wildly recognized that poor gene delivery is the limiting factor for most in vivo gene therapies.There has been a long-lasting interest in using viral vectors,especially adenoviral vectors,to deliver therapeutic genes for the past two decades.Among all currently available viral vectors,adenovirus is the most efficient gene delivery system in a broad range of cell and tissue types.The applications of adenoviral vectors in gene delivery have greatly increased in number and efficiency since their initial development.In fact,among over 2000 gene therapy clinical trials approved worldwide since 1989,a significant portion of the trials have utilized adenoviral vectors.This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview on the characteristics of adenoviral vectors,including adenoviral biology,approaches to engineering adenoviral vectors,and their applications in clinical and preclinical studies with an emphasis in the areas of cancer treatment,vaccination and regenerative medicine.Current challenges and future directions regarding the use of adenoviral vectors are also discussed.It is expected that the continued improvements in adenoviral vectors should provide great opportunities for cell and gene therapies to live up to its enormous potential in personalized medicine.

Characterization of the essential role of bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) in osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) through RNA interference

Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)are multipotent stem cells and capable of differentiating into multiple cell types including osteoblastic,chondrogenic and adipogenic lineages.We previously identified BMP9 as one of the most potent BMPs that induce osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs although exact molecular mechanism through which BMP9 regulates osteogenic differentiation remains to be fully understood.Here,we seek to develop a recombinant adenovirus system to optimally silence mouse BMP9 and then characterize the important role of BMP9 in osteogenic differentiation of MSCs.Using two different siRNA bioinformatic prediction programs,we design five siRNAs targeting mouse BMP9(or simB9),which are expressed under the control of the converging H1 and U6 promoters in recombinant adenovirus vectors.We demonstrate that two of the five siRNAs,simB9-4 and simB9-7,exhibit the highest efficiency on silencing exogenous mouse BMP9 in MSCs.Furthermore,simB9-4 and simB9-7 act synergistically in inhibiting BMP9-induced expression of osteogenic markers,matrix mineralization and ectopic bone formation from MSCs.Thus,our findings demonstrate the important role of BMP9 in osteogenic differentiation of MSCs.The characterized simB9 siRNAs may be used as an important tool to investigate the molecular mechanism behind BMP9 osteogenic signaling.Our results also indicate that recombinant adenovirus-mediated expression of siRNAs is efficient and sustained,and thus may be used as an effective delivery vehicle of siRNA therapeutics.

Establishment and functional characterization of the reversibly immortalized mouse glomerular podocytes(imPODs)

Glomerular podocytes are highly specialized epithelial cells and play an essential role in establishing the selective permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier of kidney.Maintaining the viability and structural integrity of podocytes is critical to the clinical management of glomerular diseases,which requires a thorough understanding of podocyte cell biology.As mature podocytes lose proliferative capacity,a conditionally SV40 mutant tsA58-immortalized mouse podocyte line(designated as tsPC)was established from the Immortomouse over 20 years ago.However,the utility of the tsPC cells is hampered by the practical inconvenience of culturing these cells.In this study,we establish a user-friendly and reversibly-immortalized mouse podocyte line(designated as imPOD),on the basis of the tsPC cells by stably expressing the wildtype SV40 T-antigen,which is flanked with FRT sites.We show the imPOD cells exhibit long-term high proliferative activity,which can be effectively reversed by FLP recombinase.The imPOD cells express most podocyte-related markers,including WT-1,Nephrin,Tubulin and Vinculin,but not differentiation marker Synaptopodin.The imPOD cells do not form tumor-like masses in vivo.We further demonstrate that TGFb1 induces a podocyte injury-like response in the FLP-reverted imPOD cells by suppressing the expression of slit diaphragm-associated proteins P-Cadherin and ZO-1 and upregulating the expression of mesenchymal markers,a-SMA,Vimentin and Nestin,as well as fibrogenic factors CTGF and Col1a1.Collectively,our results strongly demonstrate that the newly engineered im-POD cells should be a valuable tool to study podocyte biology both under normal and under pathological conditions.

The development of a sensitive fluorescent protein-based transcript reporter for high throughput screening of negative modulators of lncRNAs

While the human genome is pervasively transcribed,<2%of the human genome is transcribed into protein-coding mRNAs,leaving most of the transcripts as noncoding RNAs,such as microRNAs and long-noncoding RNAs(lncRNAs),which are critical components of epigenetic regulation.lncRNAs are emerging as critical regulators of gene expression and genomic stability.However,it remains largely unknown about how lncRNAs are regulated.Here,we develop a highly sensitive and dynamic reporter that allows us to identify and/or monitor negative modulators of lncRNA transcript levels in a high throughput fashion.Specifically,we engineer a fluorescent fusion protein by fusing three copies of the PEST destruction domain of mouse ornithine decarboxylase(MODC)to the C-terminal end of the codon-optimized bilirubin-inducible fluorescent protein,designated as dBiFP,and show that the dBiFP protein is highly destabilized,compared with the commonly-used eGFP protein.We further demonstrate that the dBiFP signal is effectively down-regulated when the dBiFP and mouse lncRNA H19 chimeric transcript is silenced by mouse H19-specific siRNAs.Therefore,our results strongly suggest that the dBiFP fusion protein may serve as a sensitive and dynamic transcript reporter to monitor the inhibition of lncRNAs by microRNAs,synthetic regulatory RNA molecules,RNA binding proteins,and/or small molecule inhibitors so that novel and efficacious inhibitors targeting the epigenetic circuit can be discovered to treat human diseases such as cancer and other chronic disorders.