Effect of polypeptide 2B1 on condition of dampness pattern in rats in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine

OBJECTIVE： This study investigated how polypeptide 2B1 is involved in regulating and governing dampness in rat models with dampness pattern defined in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine. METHODS： We randomly divided 48 SPF 10-week-old male Sprague-Dawley （SD） rats into a normal group, normal ＋ Aristolochic acid I （AA-I） for 5 min group, normal ＋ AA-I for 60 min group, dampness pattern group （DS-Group）, dampness pattern ＋ AA-I for 5 rain tern ＋ AA-I for 60 min group, and dampness pat- group. Groups were then treated accordingly. We took out the lung, stom- ach, liver, spleen, kidney, large intestine, and small intestine tissues to detect gene and protein expres- sion of organic anion transporter polypeptide 2B1 （OATP2B1）. RESULTS= Gene expression of OATP2B1 in spleen, kidney, and small intestine of rats with dampness pattern was lower than that in normal rats （P〈0.05）. The gene expressions of OATP2B1 in liver, stomach, large intestine, and small intestine were lower than that in control rats at different time points after being stimulated by AA-I （P〈0.05）. CONCLUSION There is coordination among multiple viscera in handling the condition of dampness, and the mechanism underlying the action may rely on regulating the expression of OATP2B1.

A new damping ratio identification method based on pattern search

In order to improve the effectiveness of traditional time domain identification methods in identifying damping ratios, a new damping ratio identification method based on pattern search is proposed by fluctuating the reliable natural frequency obtained through traditional time domain identification methods by about 10% to build the boundary conditions, using all the initial identification results to establish the free decay response of the system, and using the pattern search method to correct the initial identification results with the residual sum of squares between the free decay response and the actually measured free-decay signal as the objective function. The proposed method deals with the actually measured free-decay signal with curve fitting and avoids enlarging the identified error caused by intermediate conversion, so it can effectively improve the identified accuracy of damping ratios. Simulations for a room-sized vibration isolation foundation show that the relative errors of analyzed three damping ratios are down to 1.05%, 1.51% and 3.7% by the proposed method from 8.42%, 5.85% and 8.5% by STD method when the noise level is 10%.

Activation of autophagy by in situ Zn^(2+) chelation reaction for enhanced tumor chemoimmunotherapy

Chemotherapy can induce a robust T cell antitumor immune response by triggering immunogenic cell death(ICD),a process in which tumor cells convert from nonimmunogenic to immunogenic forms.However,the antitumor immune response of ICD remains limited due to the low immunogenicity of tumor cells and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.Although autophagy is involved in activating tumor immunity,the synergistic role of autophagy in ICD remains elusive and challenging.Herein,we report an autophagy amplification strategy using an ion-chelation reaction to augment chemoimmunotherapy in cancer treatments based on zinc ion(Zn^(2+))-doped,disulfiram(DSF)-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles(DSF@Zn-DMSNs).Upon pH-sensitive biodegradation of DSF@Zn-DMSNs,Zn2+and DSF are coreleased in the mildly acidic tumor microenvironment,leading to the formation of toxic Zn2+chelate through an in situ chelation reaction.Consequently,this chelate not only significantly stimulates cellular apoptosis and generates damage-associated molecular patterns(DAMPs)but also activates autophagy,which mediates the amplified release of DAMPs to enhance ICD.In vivo results demonstrated that DSF@Zn-DMSNs exhibit strong therapeutic efficacy via in situ ion chelation and possess the ability to activate autophagy,thus enhancing immunotherapy by promoting the infiltration of T cells.This study provides a smart in situ chelation strategy with tumor microenvironment-responsive autophagy amplification to achieve high tumor chemoimmunotherapy efficacy and biosafety.

Gasdermin D in pyroptosis

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.

Receptor-Like Kinases in Plant Innate Immunity

Plants employ a highly effective surveillance system to detect potential pathogens, which is critical for the success of land plants in an environment surrounded by numerous microbes. Recent efforts have led to the identification of a number of immune receptors and components of immune receptor complexes. It is now clear that receptor-like kinases （RLKs） and receptor-like proteins （RLPs） are key pattern-recognition receptors （PRRs） for microbe- and plant-derived molecular patterns that are associated with pathogen invasion. RLKs and RLPs involved in immune signaling belong to large gene families in plants and have undergone lineage specific expansion. Molecular evolution and population studies on phytopathogenic molecular signatures and their receptors have provided crucial insight into the co-evolution between plants and pathogens.

Phytocytokines function as immunological modulators of plant immunity

Plant plasma membrane-resident immune receptors regulate plant immunity by recognizing microbe-associated molecular patterns(MAMPs),damage-associated molecular patterns(DAMPs),and phytocytokines.Phytocytokines are plant endogenous peptides,which are usually produced in the cytosol and released into the apoplast when plant encounters pathogen infections.Phytocytokines regulate plant immunity through activating an overlapping signaling pathway with MAMPs/DAMPs with some unique features.Here,we highlight the current understanding of phytocytokine production,perception and functions in plant immunity,and discuss how plants and pathogens manipulate phytocytokine signaling for their own benefits during the plant-pathogen warfare.

Pre-treatment twice with liposomal clodronate protects against acetaminophen hepatotoxicity through a pre-conditioning effect

Background and aim:Acetaminophen(APAP)overdose is a major cause of acute liver injury,but the role of macrophages in the propagation of the hepatotoxicity is controversial.Early research revealed that macrophage inhibitors protect against APAP injury.However,later work demonstrated that macrophage ablation by acute pre-treatment with liposomal clodronate(LC)exacerbates the toxicity.To our surprise,during other studies,we observed that pre-treatment twice with LC seemed to protect against APAP hepatotoxicity,in contrast to acute pre-treatment.The aim of this study was to confirm that observation and to explore the mechanisms.Methods:We treated mice with empty liposomes(LE)or LC twice per week for 1 week before APAP overdose and collected blood and liver tissue at 0,2,and 6 h post-APAP.We then measured liver injury(serum alanine aminotransferase activity,histology),APAP bioactivation(total glutathione,APAP-protein adducts),oxidative stress(oxidized glutathione(GSSG)),glutamate-cysteine ligase subunit c(Gclc)mRNA,and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor(Nrf2)immunofluorescence.We also confirmed the ablation of macrophages by F4/80 immunohistochemistry.Results:Pre-treatment twice with LC dramatically reduced F4/80 staining,protected against liver injury,and reduced oxidative stress at 6 h post-APAP,without affecting APAP bioactivation.Importantly,Gclc mRNA was higher in the LC group at 0 h and total glutathione was higher at 2 h,indicating accelerated glutathione re-synthesis after APAP overdose due to greater basal glutamate-cysteine ligase.Oxidative stress was lower in the LC groups at both time points.Finally,total Nrf2 immunofluorescence was higher in the LC group.Conclusions:We conclude that multiple pre-treatments with LC protect against APAP by accelerating glutathione re-synthesis through glutamate-cysteine ligase.Investigators using twice or possibly more LC pre-treatments to deplete macrophages,including peritoneal macrophages,should be aware of this possible confounder.