Holgersendotson5553

Acarbose is an effective anti-diabetic drug to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a chronic degenerative metabolic disease caused by insulin resistance. The beneficial effects of acarbose on blood sugar control in T2DM patients have been confirmed by many studies. However, the effect of acarbose on patient kidney has yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we report in detail the gene expression cascade shift, pathway and module enrichment, and interrelation network in acarbose-treated Rattus norvegicus kidneys based on the in-depth analysis of the GSE59913 microarray dataset. The significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the kidneys of acarbose-treated rats were initially screened out by comparative analysis. The enriched pathways for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were further identified. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis for DEGs was achieved through the STRING database mining. Pathway interrelation and hub genes for enriched pathways were further examined to uncover key biological effects of acarbose. Results revealed 44 significantly up-regulated genes and 86 significantly down-regulated genes (130 significant differential genes in total) in acarbose-treated rat kidneys. Lipid metabolism pathways were considerably improved by acarbose, and the physical conditions in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients were improved possibly through the increase of the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) by lecithin-cholesterol acyl-transferase (LCAT). These findings suggested that acarbose may serve as an ideal drug for CKD patients, since it not only protects the kidney, but also may relieve the complications caused by CKD.Hydrogels with ion exchange properties were synthesized from compounds derived from wood biopolymer hemicellulose and from commercial vinyl monomers to be tested as active materials for the removal of Cu(II), Cr(VI), and As(V) ions. The hemicellulose O-acetyl galactoglucomannan (GGM) was used as the precursor material, and through a transesterification reaction, GGM was converted into a macromonomer GGM-glycidyl methacrylate (GGM-GMA). Subsequently, the GGM-GMA macromonomer, containing more than one methacrylate group, was used as a crosslinking agent in the synthesis of hydrogels through free-radical polymerization reactions in combination with a 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid monomer to produce a cation exchange hydrogel. Also, (3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride monomer was applied together with the GGM-GMA to form hydrogels that can be used as anion exchange hydrogel. The hydrogels were characterized by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), 1H-NMR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), as well as derivative thermogravimetry (DTG). The microstructure of the hydrogels was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis with X-ray microanalysis energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results obtained regarding the absorption capacity of the Cu(II), Cr(VI), and As(V) ions were studied as a function of the pH value and the initial concentration of the metal ions in the solutions. Absorption was carried out in consecutive batches, and it was found that the poly(GGM-GMA/AMPSH) hydrogel reached an absorption capacity of 90 mg g-1 for Cu(II). The poly(GGM-GMA/APTACl) hydrogel reached values of 69 and 60 mg g-1 for Cr(VI) and As(V) oxyanions, respectively. Tests with polymer blends (mixtures of anionic and cationic hydrogels) were also carried out to remove Cu(II), Cr(VI), and As(V) ions from multi-ionic solutions, obtaining satisfactory results.Secondary metabolites of traditional Chinese herbs can prominently stimulate the production of laccase from white rot fungi during submerged fermentation. However, the molecular mechanism through which these natural products induce the production of laccase remains unknown. In this study, the Chinese herbal medicine Polygonum cuspidatum was used to induce laccase production in Trametes versicolor, and the best inducer was identified in emodin, even under conditions of 1000-L, large-scale fermentation. Proteomics analysis identified a selection of proteins that were differentially expressed in the presence of emodin, indicating that emodin may affect the expression of laccase genes through three mechanisms reducing bioenergy productivity, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)/xenobiotic response element (XRE) pathway, and the nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway. Combined with protoplast flow cytometry and fluorescence, it is revealed that emodin might reduce the synthesis of ATP by lowering the mitochondrial membrane potential, leading to the subsequent responses.Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells found in different tissues bone marrow, peripheral blood, adipose tissues, skeletal muscle, perinatal tissues, and dental pulp. MSCs are able to self-renew and to differentiate into multiple lineages, and they have been extensively used for cell therapy mostly owing to their anti-fibrotic and immunoregulatory properties that have been suggested to be at the basis for their regenerative capability. MSCs exert their effects by releasing a variety of biologically active molecules such as growth factors, chemokines, and cytokines, either as soluble proteins or enclosed in extracellular vesicles (EVs). Analyses of MSC-derived secretome and in particular studies on EVs are attracting great attention from a medical point of view due to their ability to mimic all the therapeutic effects produced by the MSCs (i.e., endogenous tissue repair and regulation of the immune system). MSC-EVs could be advantageous compared with the parental cells because of their specific cargo containing mRNAs, miRNAs, and proteins that can be biologically transferred to recipient cells. MSC-EV storage, transfer, and production are easier; and their administration is also safer than MSC therapy. The skeletal muscle is a very adaptive tissue, but its regenerative potential is altered during acute and chronic conditions. Recent works demonstrate that both MSCs and their secretome are able to help myofiber regeneration enhancing myogenesis and, interestingly, can be manipulated as a novel strategy for therapeutic interventions in muscular diseases like muscular dystrophies or atrophy. In particular, MSC-EVs represent promising candidates for cell free-based muscle regeneration. In this review, we aim to give a complete picture of the therapeutic properties and advantages of MSCs and their products (MSC-derived EVs and secreted factors) relevant for skeletal muscle regeneration in main muscular diseases.Patients with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), a congenital heart defect which includes a ventricular septal defect and severe right ventricular outflow obstruction, account for the majority of cases with late-onset right ventricle (RV) failure. Current surgery procedures, including pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) with right ventricle remodeling, yield mixed results. PVR with active band insertion was hypothesized to be of clinical usage on improving RV function measured by ejection fraction (EF). In lieu of risky open-heart surgeries and experiments on animal and human, computational biomechanical models were adapted to study the impact of PVR with five band insertion options. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images were acquired from seven TOF patients before PVR surgery for model construction. For each patient, five different surgery plans combined with passive and active contraction band with contraction ratio of 20, 15, and 10% were studied. Those five plans include three single-band plans with diffo. Our findings with computational models need to be further validated by animal experiments before clinical trial could become possible.Microalgal heterotrophic cultivation is an emerging technology that can enable producing high cell-density algal cell cultures, which can be coupled with photoautotrophic cultivation for valuable chemicals such as lipids manufacturing. However, how the heterotrophically grown algal cells respond to the lipid-inducing conditions has not been fully elucidated so far. In this study, when the heterotrophically grown Scenedesmus acuminatus cells were subjected to the high light (HL) and nitrogen-limited (NL) conditions, both the biomass and lipid productivity were enhanced as compared to that of the photoautotrophically grown counterparts. The chlorophyll a fluorometry analysis showed that the Fv/Fm and Y(II) of the heterotrophically grown cells subjected to the HL and NL conditions was recovered to the maximum value of 0.75 and 0.43, respectively, much higher than those of the photoautotrophically grown cells under the same stress conditions. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that heterotrophically grown cells fulroalgal biomass and lipid production.There is a need to satisfy the high color purity requirement of display technology with a simply fabricated process. Herein, solution-processed blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a narrow spectrum with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 32 nm and y color coordinate below 0.2 are demonstrated by employing a molecule containing boron and nitrogen atoms (TBN-TPA) as the guest emitter in the emissive layer. The opposite resonance positions of B-N atoms of TBN-TPA endows a multi-resonance effect, leading to high color purity.Biomolecules readily and irreversibly bind to plasma deposited Polyoxazoline thin films in physiological conditions. The unique reactivity of these thin films toward antibodies is driving the development of immunosensing platforms for applications in cancer diagnostics. However, in order for these coatings to be used as advanced immunosensors, they need to be incorporated into microfluidic devices that are sealed via plasma bonding. In this work, the thickness, chemistry and reactivity of the polyoxazoline films were assessed following plasma activation. Films deposited from methyl and isopropenyl oxazoline precursors were integrated into spiral microfluidic devices and biofunctionalized with prostate cancer specific antibodies. see more Using microbeads as model particles, the design of the spiral microfluidic was optimised to enable the size-based isolation of cancer cells. The device was tested with a mixed cell suspension of healthy and malignant prostate cells. The results showed that, following size-specific separation in the spiral, selective capture was achieved on the immunofunctionalised PPOx surface. This proof of concept study demonstrates that plasma deposited polyoxazoline can be used for immunosensing in plasma bonded microfluidic devices.Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a typical perfluorinated carboxylic acid, is an emerging type of permanent organic pollutants that are regulated by the Stockholm Convention. The degradation of PFOA, however, is quite challenging largely due to the ultra-high stability of C-F bonds. Compared with other techniques, photocatalytic degradation offers the potential advantages of simple operation under mild conditions as well as exceptional decomposition and defluorination efficiency. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most frequently used photocatalysts, but so far, the pristine nanosized TiO2 (e.g., the commercial P25) has been considered inefficient for PFOA degradation, since the photo-generated hydroxyl radicals from TiO2 are not able to directly attack C-F bonds. Mesoporous Sb2O3/TiO2 heterojunctions were therefore rationally designed in this work, of which the confined Sb2O3 nanoparticles in mesoporous TiO2 framework could not only tune the band structure and also increase the number of active sites for PFOA degradation.