Autophagy-dependent ferroptosis may play a critical role in early stages of diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy(DR),as one of the most common and significant microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus(DM),continues to elude effective targeted treatment for vision loss despite ongoing enrichment of the understanding of its pathogenic mechanisms from perspectives such as inflammation and oxidative stress.Recent studies have indicated that characteristic neuroglial degeneration induced by DM occurs before the onset of apparent microvascular lesions.In order to comprehensively grasp the early-stage pathological changes of DR,the retinal neurovascular unit(NVU)will become a crucial focal point for future research into the occurrence and progression of DR.Based on existing evidence,ferroptosis,a form of cell death regulated by processes like ferritinophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy,mediates apoptosis in retinal NVU components,including pericytes and ganglion cells.Autophagy-dependent ferroptosis-related factors,including BECN1 and FABP4,may serve as both biomarkers for DR occurrence and development and potentially crucial targets for future effective DR treatments.The aforementioned findings present novel perspectives for comprehending the mechanisms underlying the early-stage pathological alterations in DR and open up innovative avenues for investigating supplementary therapeutic strategies.

Two New Alkaloids from Fusarium tricinctum SYPF 7082,an Endophyte from the Root of Panax notoginseng

Panax notoginseng(Araliaceae)is a famous traditional Chinese medicine mainly cultivated in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces of China.Two new alkaloids,rigidiusculamide E(1)and[-(a-oxyisohexanoyl-N-methyl-leucyl)2-](2),together with two known ones,(-)-oxysporidinone(3)and(-)-4,60-anhydrooxysporidinone(4)were isolated from the mycelia culture of Fusarium tricinctum SYPF 7082,an endophytic fungus obtained from the healthy root of P.notoginseng.Their structures were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses.Compounds 1-4 were tested for their inhibitory effects against NO production on Murine macrophage cell line,and the new compound 2 showed significant inhibitory activity on NO production with the IC_(50)value of 18.10±0.16μM.

Gadolinium Enhances Dual-energy Computed Tomography Scan of Pulmonary Artery

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of using gadopentetate dimeglumine(Gd-DTPA)for dual-energy computed tomography pulmonary angiography(CTPA).Methods Sixty-six patients were randomly divided into three groups and underwent CTPA.Group A had a turbo flash scan using an iohexol injection,Group B had a turbo flash scan using Gd-DTPA,and Group C had a dual-energy scan using Gd-DTPA.The original images of Group C were linearly blended with a blending factor of 0.5 or reconstructed at 40,50,60,70,80,90,100,and 110 keV,respectively.The groups were compared in terms of pulmonary artery CT value,image quality,and radiation dose.Results The pulmonary artery CT values were significantly higher in Group C40keV than in Groups B and C,but lower than in Group A.There was no significant difference in the image noise of Groups C40keV,B,and C.Moreover,Group A had the largest beam hardening artifacts of the superior vena cava(SVC),followed by Groups B and C.Group C40keV showed better vascular branching than the other three groups,among which Group B was superior to Group A.The subjective score of the image quality of Groups A,B,and C showed no significant difference,but the score was significantly higher in Group C40keV than in Groups A and B.The radiation dose was significantly lower in Group B than in Groups A and C.Conclusion Gd-CTPA is recommended to patients who are unsuitable for receiving an iodine-based CTPA.Furthermore,a turbo flash scan could surpass a dual-energy scan without consideration for virtual monoenergetic imaging.

Potential use of actigraphy to measure sleep in monkeys: comparison with behavioral analysis from videography

DEAR EDITOR,Since the epoch-making observations of circadian rhythm in Mimosaceae plants,sleep has been investigated for centuries(de Mairan,1729;Du Monceau,1758).As a natural and reversible state,sleep is marked by reduced responsiveness to external stimuli,relative inactivity,and loss of consciousness.Although reduced responsiveness could potentially introduce significant danger to survival,nearly all animals in nature sleep.

Malware homology identification based on a gene perspective

Malware homology identification is important in attacking event tracing, emergency response scheme generation, and event trend prediction. Current malware homology identification methods still rely on manual analysis, which is inefficient and cannot respond quickly to the outbreak of attack events. In response to these problems, we propose a new malware homology identification method from a gene perspective. A malware gene is represented by the subgraph, which can describe the homology of malware families. We extract the key subgraph from the function dependency graph as the malware gene by selecting the key application programming interface(API) and using the community partition algorithm. Then, we encode the gene and design a frequent subgraph mining algorithm to find the common genes between malware families. Finally, we use the family genes to guide the identification of malware based on homology. We evaluate our method with a public dataset, and the experiment results show that the accuracy of malware classification reaches 97% with high efficiency.

Health implications of engineered nanoparticles in infants and children

Background:The nanotechnology boom and the ability to manufacture novel nanomaterials have led to increased production and use of engineered nanoparticles(ENPs).However,the increased use of various ENPs inevitably results in their release in or the contamination of the environment,which poses significant threats to human health.In recent years,extraordinary economic and societal benefits of nanoproducts as well as their potential risks have been observed and widely debated.To estimate whether ENPs are safe from the onset of their manufacturing to their disposal,evaluation of the toxicological effects of ENPs on human exposure,especially on more sensitive and vulnerable sectors of the population(infants and children)is essential.Data sources:Papers were obtained from PubMed,Web of Science,and Google Scholar.Literature search words included:"nanoparticles","infants","children","exposure","toxicity",and all relevant cross-references.Results:A brief overview was conducted to 1)characterize potential exposure routes of ENPs for infants and children;2)describe the vulnerability and particular needs of infants and children about ENPs exposure;3)investigate the current knowledge about the potential health hazards of ENPs;and 4)provide suggestions for future research and regulations in ENP applications.Conclusions:As the manufacturing and use of ENPs become more widespread,directed and focused studies are necessary to measure actual exposure levels and to determine adverse health consequences in infants and children.

Role of smooth muscle progenitor cells in vascular mechanical injury and repair

Smooth muscle progenitor cells are precursor cells that express both smooth muscle cell and stem cell markers,and can differentiate into smooth muscle cells under specific condition.Smooth muscle progenitor cells exist in many tissues,including bone marrow,blood vessels,peripheral blood,skeletal muscle,and kidney.Smooth muscle progenitor cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases,like atherosclerosis,vascular mechanical injury and repair,and vascular restenosis.Cytokines and growth factors are released upon injury,which promote smooth muscle progenitor cells to proliferate and differentiate into smooth muscle cells at injured sites.Massive growth of smooth muscle cells stabilizes atherosclerotic plaques and accelerates neointima formation,which leads to vascular restenosis.Some drugs are now used to inhibit the differentiation and proliferation of smooth muscle cells to prevent neointima formation.In this review,we have summarized some recent progress on the smooth muscle progenitor cells’origins,tissue distributions,and their role in vascular mechanical injury and repair.