As an aquatic fish,the spotted halibut Verasper variegatus is highly susceptible to bacterial and virus infections.Tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α)as a cytokine could control the inflammatory responses.The function...As an aquatic fish,the spotted halibut Verasper variegatus is highly susceptible to bacterial and virus infections.Tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α)as a cytokine could control the inflammatory responses.The functions of TNF-αin many species have been widely studied,particularly in mammals.However,little is known about the TNF-αfunctions in V.variegatus.We first cloned and sequenced the TNF-αgene in V.variegatus(VvTNF-α).The two conserved cysteine residues,transmembrane sequence,Thr-Leu motif,and TNF family signature,as well as the TA-rich motifs of its proteins related to inflammatory responses had high similarity to those of the other teleost and mammalian TNF-α.The phylogenetic analysis showed that VvTNF-αwas consistent with TNF-αgenes of other vertebrates.The VvTNF-αtranscripts were extensively distributed in the peripheral blood leukocytes(PBLs),spleen,and gill,indicating that the VvTNF-αhad a role in immune function.Furthermore,treatment with pathogen-associated molecular patterns(PAMPs)could induce a rapid and significant increase of VvTNF-αin the PBLs,which reveals that VvTNF-αdoes participate in the host immune responses against bacterial and viral pathogens.We found that VvTNF-αhad an interesting expression pattern during metamorphosis,showing that the flatfish TNF-αmay have some novel functions during specific developmental stages.In addition,the 3 D structure prediction of VvTNF-αprovided an indication of how it is likely to interact with other proteins.Therefore,VvTNF-αhas multiple functions,and provides valuable information to explore novel functions of TNF-α.展开更多
Hydrogel is considered as an important material in our world nowadays as it is used in many important and significant applications such as in tissue engineering and agriculture. There are hundreds of types of such mat...Hydrogel is considered as an important material in our world nowadays as it is used in many important and significant applications such as in tissue engineering and agriculture. There are hundreds of types of such materials, where most of them can be easily prepared. The main objective of this work is to prepare one of the hydrogel types which could be very useful in the agriculture of deserts where plants in dry places require water in order to grow up. There are many places around the world where raining occurs only once or twice a year. There are also places where it does not rain at all. Therefore, hydrogels are required in order to absorb water in large quantities either during raining or irrigation instead of escaping to underground and then eject them to the roots of plants over time as the plants require watering. In this research a hydrogel based on acryl amide, Poly 2-Acrylamide-2-Methyl-1-Propane Sulphonic Acid, (PAMPS) was prepared by using different percentages of a suitable cross-linking agent, Methylene-bis-Acrylamide. The cross-linker content is very important factor affects the rate and amount of absorbed water. The highest amount of absorbed water at 25°C was observed by using 0.6% cross-linking agent based on monomer mass. The temperature of absorbed water and its pH value are also essential factors that affect the rate and the amount of absorbed water and were investigated in this work. The highest amount of absorbed water was recorded at pH = 12 and at 60°C. The amount and the rate of water absorbed by Sodium Polyacrylate Hydrogel were also investigated at 25°C. The agriculture applications of hydrogel based on Sodium Polyacrylate were examined using Fenugreek seeds implanting.展开更多
Pyroptosis is the process of inflammatory cell death.The primary function of pyroptosis is to induce strong inflammatory responses that defend the host against microbe infection.Excessive pyroptosis,however,leads to s...Pyroptosis is the process of inflammatory cell death.The primary function of pyroptosis is to induce strong inflammatory responses that defend the host against microbe infection.Excessive pyroptosis,however,leads to several inflammatory diseases,including sepsis and autoimmune disorders.Pyroptosis can be canonical or noncanonical.Upon microbe infection,the canonical pathway responds to pathogen-associated molecular patterns(PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns(DAMPs),while the noncanonical pathway responds to intracellular lipopolysaccharides(LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria.The last step of pyroptosis requires the cleavage of gasdermin D(GsdmD) at D275(numbering after human GSDMD) into N-and C-termini by caspase 1 in the canonical pathway and caspase 4/5/11(caspase 4/5 in humans,caspase 11 in mice) in the noncanonical pathway.Upon cleavage,the N-terminus of GsdmD(GsdmD-N) forms a transmembrane pore that releases cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18 and disturbs the regulation of ions and water,eventually resulting in strong inflammation and cell death.Since GsdmD is the effector of pyroptosis,promising inhibitors of GsdmD have been developed for inflammatory diseases.This review will focus on the roles of GsdmD during pyroptosis and in diseases.展开更多
基金Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(No.31101891)the Hitech Research and Development Program of China(No.2012AA10A408)
文摘As an aquatic fish,the spotted halibut Verasper variegatus is highly susceptible to bacterial and virus infections.Tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α)as a cytokine could control the inflammatory responses.The functions of TNF-αin many species have been widely studied,particularly in mammals.However,little is known about the TNF-αfunctions in V.variegatus.We first cloned and sequenced the TNF-αgene in V.variegatus(VvTNF-α).The two conserved cysteine residues,transmembrane sequence,Thr-Leu motif,and TNF family signature,as well as the TA-rich motifs of its proteins related to inflammatory responses had high similarity to those of the other teleost and mammalian TNF-α.The phylogenetic analysis showed that VvTNF-αwas consistent with TNF-αgenes of other vertebrates.The VvTNF-αtranscripts were extensively distributed in the peripheral blood leukocytes(PBLs),spleen,and gill,indicating that the VvTNF-αhad a role in immune function.Furthermore,treatment with pathogen-associated molecular patterns(PAMPs)could induce a rapid and significant increase of VvTNF-αin the PBLs,which reveals that VvTNF-αdoes participate in the host immune responses against bacterial and viral pathogens.We found that VvTNF-αhad an interesting expression pattern during metamorphosis,showing that the flatfish TNF-αmay have some novel functions during specific developmental stages.In addition,the 3 D structure prediction of VvTNF-αprovided an indication of how it is likely to interact with other proteins.Therefore,VvTNF-αhas multiple functions,and provides valuable information to explore novel functions of TNF-α.
文摘Hydrogel is considered as an important material in our world nowadays as it is used in many important and significant applications such as in tissue engineering and agriculture. There are hundreds of types of such materials, where most of them can be easily prepared. The main objective of this work is to prepare one of the hydrogel types which could be very useful in the agriculture of deserts where plants in dry places require water in order to grow up. There are many places around the world where raining occurs only once or twice a year. There are also places where it does not rain at all. Therefore, hydrogels are required in order to absorb water in large quantities either during raining or irrigation instead of escaping to underground and then eject them to the roots of plants over time as the plants require watering. In this research a hydrogel based on acryl amide, Poly 2-Acrylamide-2-Methyl-1-Propane Sulphonic Acid, (PAMPS) was prepared by using different percentages of a suitable cross-linking agent, Methylene-bis-Acrylamide. The cross-linker content is very important factor affects the rate and amount of absorbed water. The highest amount of absorbed water at 25°C was observed by using 0.6% cross-linking agent based on monomer mass. The temperature of absorbed water and its pH value are also essential factors that affect the rate and the amount of absorbed water and were investigated in this work. The highest amount of absorbed water was recorded at pH = 12 and at 60°C. The amount and the rate of water absorbed by Sodium Polyacrylate Hydrogel were also investigated at 25°C. The agriculture applications of hydrogel based on Sodium Polyacrylate were examined using Fenugreek seeds implanting.
基金supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences(P20 GM103429,USA)grants from National Heart,Lung and Blood Institute(HL153876,USA)National Eye Institute(EY030621,USA)
文摘Pyroptosis is the process of inflammatory cell death.The primary function of pyroptosis is to induce strong inflammatory responses that defend the host against microbe infection.Excessive pyroptosis,however,leads to several inflammatory diseases,including sepsis and autoimmune disorders.Pyroptosis can be canonical or noncanonical.Upon microbe infection,the canonical pathway responds to pathogen-associated molecular patterns(PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns(DAMPs),while the noncanonical pathway responds to intracellular lipopolysaccharides(LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria.The last step of pyroptosis requires the cleavage of gasdermin D(GsdmD) at D275(numbering after human GSDMD) into N-and C-termini by caspase 1 in the canonical pathway and caspase 4/5/11(caspase 4/5 in humans,caspase 11 in mice) in the noncanonical pathway.Upon cleavage,the N-terminus of GsdmD(GsdmD-N) forms a transmembrane pore that releases cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18 and disturbs the regulation of ions and water,eventually resulting in strong inflammation and cell death.Since GsdmD is the effector of pyroptosis,promising inhibitors of GsdmD have been developed for inflammatory diseases.This review will focus on the roles of GsdmD during pyroptosis and in diseases.
