Insights into the interplay between gut microbiota and lipid metabolism in the obesity management of canines and felines

Obesity is a prevalent chronic disease that has significant negative impacts on humans and our companion animals,including dogs and cats.Obesity occurs with multiple comorbidities,such as diabetes,hypertension,heart disease and osteoarthritis in dogs and cats.A direct link between lipid metabolism dysregulation and obesity-associated diseases has been implicated.However,the understanding of such pathophysiology in companion animals is lim-ited.This review aims to address the role of lipid metabolism in various metabolic disorders associated with obesity,emphasizing the involvement of the gut microbiota.Furthermore,we also discuss the management of obesity,including approaches like nutritional interventions,thus providing novel insights into obesity prevention and treatment for canines and felines.

Mixing Dynamics and Synthesis Performance of Staggered Herringbone Micromixer for Limit Size Lipid Nanoparticles

Staggered herringbone micromixer has shown good efficiency of mixing and performance of synthesizing nanoparticles.To bring a detailed understanding of the mixing dynamics and syn-thesis performance of this kind of micromixer,this paper carries out a high-fidelity numerical simu-lation and a parametrial experimental study on a well-established design.A passive tracer is induced in the numerical simulation to analyze mixing dynamics induced by the staggered herring-bone structures.Three effects are identified to reveal the underlying mechanisms,including folding,stretching,and splitting.To the authors’knowledge,the splitting effect is identified for the first time by the isosurface of the passive tracer,to show the high efficiency of the staggered herring-bone design.The micromixer is then used to synthesize lipid nanoparticles by mixing a mixture of lipid and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)(PLGA)solutions with deionized water.Under a wide mass ratio of lipid and PLGA solutions,nanoparticles with good monodispersity are synthesized to reflect the good compatibility of the micromixer and the mixture.In addition,an optimized mass ratio is identified from the parametrical experiment.

以iGEM竞赛为牵引的大学生创新能力培养

如何提高大学生的实践创新能力已成为当前高等教育改革的重大时代课题,而学科竞赛在创新能力的培养中发挥着越来越积极的作用。国际遗传工程机器竞赛(iGEM)是目前合成生物学领域的最高赛事,参加此竞赛可充分发挥学生的主观能动性,有助于培养学生创新思维和综合素质以及良好的团队协作精神,提升学生动手能力及分析解决问题能力等。北京理工大学生命学院从新工科建设的要求出发,以能力建设为内涵,以iGEM竞赛为抓手,探索了当代大学生创新能力培养的新模式。

适用于空间环境的蛋白质分析芯片检测装置研究

为实现空间环境下蛋白质检测,设计开发了一套小型化、集成化、高灵敏度的微流控芯片蛋白质检测装置,包括小型化光学检测单元、自动进样单元、自动控制单元等。该装置基于Elisa和Western blotting相结合的蛋白检测技术完成小型化光信号检测装置的研制。装置完成后对EGFR、FGFR4、HER2、IL6等四种蛋白质进行验证检测,结果显示各个样品回归分析R2值均能够达到0.98以上;对多个蛋白进行联合检测证实本装置专一性很好,不会引起非特异性反应,证实了检测装置的有效性。

Novel Combination Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer based on an Intelligent Hollow Carbon Sphere

Triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC)is a subtype of breast cancer with high mortality,and the efficacy of monotherapy for TNBC is still disappointing.Here,we developed a novel combination therapy for TNBC based on a multifunctional nanohollow carbon sphere.This intelligent material contains a superadsorbed silicon dioxide sphere,sufficient loading space,a nanoscale hole on its surface,a robust shell,and an outer bilayer,and it could load both programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1(PD-1/PD-L1)small-molecule immune checkpoints and small-molecule photosensitizers with excellent loading contents,protect these small molecules during the systemic circulation,and achieve accumulation of them in tumor sites after systemic administration followed by the application of laser irradiation,thereby realizing dual attack of photodynamic therapy and immunotherapy on tumors.Importantly,we integrated the fasting-mimicking diet condition that can further enhance the cellular uptake efficiency of nanoparticles in tumor cells and amplify the immune responses,further enhancing the therapeutic effect.Thus,a novel combination therapy“PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade+photodynamic therapy+fasting-mimicking diet”was developed with the aid of our materials,which eventually achieved a marked therapeutic effect in 4T1-tumor-bearing mice.The concept can also be applied to the clinical treatment of human TNBC with guiding significance in the future.

Microfluidic Actuated and Controlled Systems and Application for Lab-on-Chip in Space Life Science

The use of space environment to carry out life science research is of great significance.However,there are limitations in complex manipulation,research models based on mammalian and 2-dimensional cell culture experiments,etc.Microfluidic chips possess the characteristics of integrating the relevant functions of traditional laboratories into micron-scale chips,with low energy consumption,high throughput,and automation.The application of microfluidic chips can overcome the challenges of space environments,the scarce experimental resources,and the unmanned operation problems to some extent.Moreover,microfluidic chips can realize long-term experimental operation and remote data recording and transmission.To carry out related research with microfluidic chips,the actuation and control of microfluidics are very important.In this paper,the microfluidic actuated and controlled technologies in microfluidic chips are reviewed,and then the application of microfluidic chips and microfluidic actuated and controlled systems in space life science is also briefly described.