Establishment and Application of a 42-plex Microhaplotype Assay in Forensic Genetics

OBJECTIVES

To establish and forensically verify a 42 microhaplotypes (mircohaps, MHs) multiplex assay system based on next-generation sequencing (NGS), and to explore the application value of this system in the practice of forensic genetics.

METHODS

A total of 42 highly polymorphic MHs were selected from previous studies, and sequenced by the MiSeq FGxTM platform to verify the repeata-bility, sensitivity, specificity, stability, and mixture analysis ability of the detection system. Through population genetic investigation of 102 unrelated Chinese Han individuals in Liyang City, Jiangsu Province, China, the application value of this system in forensic genetics was evaluated.

RESULTS

The sequencing repeatability of the 42-plex MHs assay was 100% and the sensitivity was as low as 0.062 5 ng. The system had the ability to withstand the interference of indigo (≤2 500 ng/μL), humic acid (≤9 ng/μL), hemoglobin(≤20 μmol), and urea (≤200 ng/μL) and to detect mixtures of 2 people (1∶19), 3 people (1∶1∶9) and 4 people (1∶1∶1∶9). Based on 102 individual data, the combined power of discrimination and the combined power of exclusion were 1-3.45×10-30 and 1-3.77×10-11, respectively, and the average effect value of alleles was 2.899.

CONCLUSIONS

The 42-plex MHs assay was successfully established in this study and this system has high repeatability and sensitivity, good anti-jamming ability and mixture analysis ability. The 42 MHs are highly polymorphism and have good application value in individual identification and paternity testing.

Parameters estimation-based calibration method for rotational axis of line-structured light 3D reconstruction

Rotation is a critical component in 3D reconstruction systems, where accurate calibration of rotation axis parameters is essential for 3D stitching. In this study, what we believe to be a novel parameters estimation-based method for calibrating rotation axis parameters using 2D planar targets is proposed. Compared to traditional circle fitting methods, this method takes both orientation and position information into account, resulting in better precision performance. By leveraging the transmission of spatial pose relationships, the parameters estimation-based calibration method also effectively mitigates the impact of noise for more accurate calibration of rotation axis parameters. Error validation and 3D reconstruction experiments proved the superior performance of the proposed method. The experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the approach in enhancing the calibration of rotation axis parameters for 3D reconstruction systems.

Circadian clock1a coordinates neutrophil recruitment via nfe212a/duox-reactive oxygen species pathway in zebrafish

Neutrophil recruitment to inflammatory sites appears to be an evolutionarily conserved strategy to fight against exogenous insults. However, the rhythmic characteristics and underlying mechanisms of neutrophil migration on a 24-h timescale are largely unknown. Using the advantage of in vivo imaging of zebrafish, this study explored how the circadian gene clock1a dynamically regulates the rhythmic recruitment of neutrophils to inflammatory challenges. We generated a clock1a mutant and found that neutrophil migration is significantly increased in caudal fin injury and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. Transcriptome sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and dual-luciferase reporting experiments suggest that the clock1a gene regulates neutrophil migration by coordinating the rhythmic expression of nfe212a and duox genes to control the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. This study ultimately provides a visual model to expand the understanding of the rhythmic mechanisms of neutrophil recruitment on a circadian timescale in a diurnal organism from the perspective of ROS.

All-in-One Online Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Preliminary Results of Treatment Time, Contouring Accuracy, Treatment Plan Quality and Patient Compliance

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

To explore the feasibility of Fan-beam CT (FBCT)-based all in one (AIO) online workflow for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in radical radiotherapy setting, and to preliminarily describe the timing of different steps in the process, contouring accuracy of regions of interest (ROIs), target coverage, organs at risk (OARs) dose and patient compliance.

MATERIALS/METHODS

From March 16, 2022 to January 04, 2023, 25 NPC patients (22/25 diagnosed as phase III/IV disease according to 8th edition of the AJCC/UICC staging system) consecutively treated with AIO radiotherapy were prospectively enrolled. All patients received mask fixation and MRI simulation scan in advance. Primary gross tumor volume (GTVp) of nasopharynx was automatically delineated by AI and edited manually on MRI images. AIO online workflow started with an integrated KV-level CT in a CT-integrated linear accelerator. After that GTVp was registrated to CT images and other ROIs was contoured automatically and then modified manually as needed. Subsequently automatic treatment plan was calculated and optimized until the dose of target and OARs was evaluated satisfactory by physicians and physicists. Finally, treatment was delivered using volumetric modulated arc treatment (VMAT), with prescribed dose of 6996 cGy/ 33 fractions to the GTVp.

RESULTS

Twenty-four patients (24/25, 96%) completed the AIO radiotherapy workflow successfully, with average treatment time of 28.3 min (range: 19.9-42.4 min). the AI-assisted ROIs automatically contouring took 1.55 min in average (range: 1.32-1.77 min), with an average DICE of 97.7% compared with modified contouring, and the average DICE was 95.7% for clinical tumor volume 1 (CTV1), 88.6% for CTV2, 73.6% for GTVn (cervical lymph node), 99.3% for 30 OARs. The automatic treatment plan averagely needed 3.5 min, and the pass rate of radiotherapy planning was 91.7% (22/24). The target coverage for PTVs for GTVp, CTV1, and CTV2 was 99.3%, 99.8%, 98.0% respectively. As for the dose of OARs, the average Dmax of brainstem was 5,583cGy; the Dmax of spinal cord was 3,467cGy; the Dmean of parotid was 3,285 cGy. The average monitor units of all patients was 643 MU and the delivery took 2.93 min. Patient compliance with respect to AIO workflow and total treatment time was excellent.

CONCLUSION

The AIO online radiotherapy was promising for NPC patients, with clinically acceptable AI assisted ROIs contouring and treatment planning, as well as favorable patient compliance to the AIO online workflow.

First Implementation of Full-Workflow Automation for Online Adaptive Radiotherapy of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

The aim of this work is to established the technical characteristics and implementation procedures of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered radiotherapy workflow that enables full-process automation for online adaptive radiotherapy (ART); and evaluate its feasibility and performance implemented for ART of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

MATERIALS/METHODS

This single center, prospective study has been approved by the ethical committee of the institution. The online ART workflow was developed based on a CT-integrated linear accelerator. During the course of radiotherapy, the patient underwent daily pre-treatment fan-beam CT (FBCT) scan. Then the FBCT was automatically registered to the original planning CT and used to assess the need for the patient to implement ART according to radiation oncologist's discretionary. The online ART workflow incorporates critical radiotherapy procedures from re-simulation, auto-segmentation by integrating image fusion and deep learning method, auto-replanning, beam delivery, and in vivo quality assurance (QA) into one scheme, while the patient is on the treatment couch during the whole process.

RESULTS

From 2th April 2022 to 5th January 2023, 20 patients with newly-diagnosed, non-metastatic NPC were enrolled in this study. Only one-time online ART was performed for each patient, because that the appropriate timing for triggering online ART was explored in parallel with this study. According to radiation oncologists' discretionary, the median fraction for performing online ART was at 21 fractions (interquartile range, 19-24 fractions). All patients were well tolerated and successfully completed the treatment. For tumor targets contouring, minor revisions were required for automated contours of the primary gross tumor volume (GTVp) and clinical target volumes (CTVs, including CTV1 and CTV2), with the mean DSC between before and after revision of 0.91±0.042, 0.94 ± 0.042 and 0.91 ± 0.061, respectively; and much more revisions for the automated contours of cervical lymph nodes GTV (GTVn), with the mean DSC of 0.74 ± 0.28. The automated contours of normal tissues were clinically acceptable with little modifications. Median time consuming for auto-segmentation and revision was 9.5 minutes (min). For treatment planning, 18 automated plans (90%) were passed at their first auto-optimization and two plans (10%) were passed after further optimization of the dose coverage of CTVs by physicist; and the median time consuming for auto-planning was 6.2 min. Time consuming for other procedures were as follows: re-simulation, 2.3 min; plan evaluation, 3.3 min; beam delivery, 4.6 min; and the duration of the entire process was 25.9 min, range from 19.4 min to 32.5 min.

CONCLUSION

We successfully established an AI-powered online ART workflow for adaptive radiotherapy of NPC, and confirmed that current auto-segmentation and auto-replanning methods are powered enough to support the clinical application of its online ART.

Front-face excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy combined with interpretable deep learning for the rapid identification of the storage year of Ningxia wolfberry

Ningxia wolfberry stored for many years may be disguised as fresh wolfberry by unscrupulous traders and sold for huge profits. In this work, the front-face excitation-emission matrix (FF-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with interpretable deep learning was proposed to identify the storage year of Ningxia wolfberry in a lossless, fast and accurate way. Alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) algorithm was used to decompose the three-way data array obtained by Ningxia wolfberry samples, extracting the chemically meaningful information. Meanwhile, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model for the identification of the storage year of Ningxia wolfberry, called EEMnet, was proposed. The model successfully classified wolfberry samples from different storage years by extracting the subtle feature differences of the spectra, and the correct classification rate of the training set, test set and prediction set was more than 98%. In addition, a series of interpretability analyses were implemented to break the "black box" of the deep learning model. These results indicated that the method based on FF-EEM fluorescence spectroscopy combined with EEMnet could quickly and accurately identify the year of Ningxia wolfberry in a green way, providing a new idea for the identification of the storage years of Chinese medicinal materials.

[Application progress of home self-sampling for human papillomavirus and human immunodeficiency virus testing]

Self-sampling is a method by which the subject collects the own specimens for disease detection. It has the advantages of strong privacy, convenient and simple operation, free time and place, etc. It can improve the compliance of people in remote areas, affected by traditional concepts, limited by working hours and underdeveloped transportation and medical treatment to participate in disease detection and screening. With the development of "Internet+health care" and "Internet+nursing service", home-based self-sampling testing will become a developing situation for disease detection and screening. Human immunodeficiency virus and Human papillomavirus infection bring a heavy burden to individuals and society. In the absence of effective and widespread primary prevention, secondary prevention, namely "early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment" is an effective measure to control the adverse consequences. At present, there are many researches on HPV and HIV self-sampling test, whose test results are highly reliable and highly accepted in the population, and is of great significance for improving the coverage rate of cervical cancer screening and the diagnosis rate of HIV carriers.

The influences and regulatory mechanisms of magnetic fields on circadian rhythms

A variety of devices used in daily life and biomedical field will generate magnetic fields with different parameters, raising concern about their influences on people's physiological functions. Multiple experimental works have been devoted to the influences of magnetic fields on circadian rhythms, yet the findings were not always consistent due to the differences in magnetic field parameters and experimental organisms. Also, clear regulatory mechanisms have not been found. By systematizing the major achievements in research on magnetic and circadian rhythms based on magnetic flux density and analyzing the potential mechanisms of the magnetic fields affecting circadian rhythms, this review sheds light on the effects of magnetic fields on circadian rhythms and the potential applications in biomedicine.

Fluoxetine modifies circadian rhythm by reducing melatonin content in zebrafish

Fluoxetine (FLX), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), increases the serotonin levels in the brain to treat depression. Antidepressants have been demonstrated to modulate circadian rhythm, but the underlying mechanisms by which antidepressants regulate circadian rhythm require more research. This study aimed to investigate the role of FLX on circadian rhythm by analyzing the movement behavior and internal circadian oscillations in zebrafish. The results showed that the expression of clock genes clock1a and bmal1b was significantly down-regulated, and the amplitude reduction and phase shift were observed after FLX treatment. Furthermore, FLX exposure inhibited the expression of aanat2, which led to a decrease in nocturnal melatonin secretion. aanat2^-/- larvae showed disrupted circadian rhythm. These findings may help reveal the effect of FLX exposure on the circadian rhythm and locomotor activity. It may provide theoretical data for the clinical application of FLX.

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors regulate inflammatory responses through arginases 1/2 in zebrafish

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) are widely expressed in various effector cells and have been proved to play vital roles in smooth muscle contraction and digestive secretion. However, there are relatively few literatures revealing the roles of mAChRs in inflammatory processes, and its underlying regulatory mechanisms have not been elucidated. Taking the advantages of live imaging of zebrafish, we found that inhibition of mAChRs resulted in increased neutrophils recruitment and proinflammatory cytokines expression, whereas activation of mAChRs led to opposite outcome. Subsequently, we found that mAChRs regulated the expression of arginases (args), and pharmacological intervention of args level could reverse the effects of mAChRs on neutrophils migration and cytokines expression, suggesting that args are important downstream proteins of mAChRs that mediate the regulation of inflammatory response. In this study, we identified args as novel downstream proteins of mAChRs in inflammatory responses, providing additional evidence for system immune regulation of cholinergic receptors.

Hypoxia regulates cytokines expression and neutrophils migration by ERK signaling in zebrafish

Normal dissolved oxygen in water is essential for maintaining the physiological functions of fish, but environmental pollution, such as eutrophication can lead to a decrease in oxygen content in water. How this reduction of dissolved oxygen in water affects the immune functions of fish and the potential regulatory mechanisms have not been thoroughly elucidated. In this study, we made full use of the aquatic model animal zebrafish to explore this question. In a model of LPS-induced inflammation, we found that hypoxia induced by infusing nitrogen into water increased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as il-1β, il-6, and il-8. In vivo imaging also showed that hypoxia significantly increased neutrophil migration to the site of caudal fin injury in the transgenic line. Subsequently, we found that the phosphorylation level of ERK protein was significantly activated upon hypoxia and proved the roles of ERK signaling in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and neutrophil migration in zebrafish. This study indicated that reduced water oxygen significantly increases the inflammatory response of the zebrafish.

Application Progress of Massively Parallel Sequencing Technology in STR Genetic Marker Detection

In recent years, more and more forensic genetics laboratories have begun to apply massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology, that is, next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, to detect common forensic genetic markers, including short tandem repeat (STR), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), the control region or whole genome of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), as well as messenger RNA (mRNA), etc., for forensic practice, such as individual identification, kinship analysis, ancestry inference and body fluid identification. As the most widely used genetic marker in forensic genetics, STR is currently mainly detected by capillary electrophoresis (CE) platform. Compared with CE platform, MPS technology has the advantages of simultaneous detection of a large number of genetic markers, massively parallel detection of samples, the polymorphism of sequence detected by NGS makes STR have the advantages of higher resolution and system efficiency. However, MPS technology is expensive, there is no uniform standard so far, and there are problems such as how to integrate MPS-STR data with the existing CE-STR database. This review summarizes the current status of the application of MPS technology in the detection of STR genetic markers in forensic genetics, puts forward the main problems that need to be solved urgently, and prospects the application prospect of this technology in forensic genetics.

N-acetylcholine receptors regulate cytokines expression and neutrophils recruitment via MAPK/ERK signaling in zebrafish

N-acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) are mainly distributed in the postsynaptic membrane and have been widely studied for their control of muscle contraction by regulating neural action potentials. However, the influences of AChRs on immune responses and potential mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we used the advantages of live imaging of zebrafish to explore the regulation process of AChRs on inflammatory responses. Pharmacologically activating of the receptor, we found that the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines il-1β, il-6, tnf-α and il-8 was significantly up-regulated and neutrophil migration to injury sites was also significantly increased. However, these phenomena were reversed under antagonism of the receptor activity. Results showed that interfering with nAChRs functions did not significantly affect zebrafish motion behavior. Results also showed that activation and antagonism of nAChRs function could regulate the phosphorylation of ERK protein respectively. We further demonstrated that ERK participated in the regulation of AChRs in cytokines expression and neutrophils migration in zebrafish. This study preliminarily revealed the roles of AChRs in inflammatory processes and their potential mechanism, providing additional evidence of peripheral immune regulation by cholinergic receptors.

Cordycepin inhibits inflammatory responses through suppression of ERK activation in zebrafish

As a natural extract, cordycepin has been shown to play important regulatory roles in many life activities. In the study, the effects of cordycepin on inflammatory responses and the underlying mechanisms was explored using a zebrafish model. In the model of LPS-induced inflammation, cordycepin was found to significantly inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tnf-α, il-1β, il-6, and il-8. Using in vivo imaging model, cordycepin significantly inhibited fluorescent-labeled neutrophils migrating towards injury sites. Furthermore, results showed that the phosphorylation level of ERK protein dramatically decreased after cordycepin treatment. Meanwhile, the ERK inhibitor, PD0325901, significantly inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in LPS-induced inflammatory model and neutrophils migration in the caudal fin injury model. This study indicated the important roles of cordycepin in inhibiting LPS and injury-induced inflammation and preliminarily explained the role of ERK protein in this process.

Mfsd2a overexpression alleviates vascular dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the common complications in diabetic patients. Nowadays, VEGF pathway is subject to extensive research. However, about 27% of the patients have a poor visual outcome, with 50% still having edema after two years' treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) with ranibizumab. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the primary ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA), reduces abnormal neovascularization and alleviates neovascular eye diseases. A study reported that fish oil reduced the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by about 27.5% in preterm infants. Although ω-3 LC-PUFAs protects against pathological retinal neovascularization, the treatment effectiveness is low. It is interesting to investigate why DHA therapy fails in some patients. In human vitreous humor samples, we found that the ratio of DHA and DHA-derived metabolites to total fatty acids was higher in vitreous humor from DR patients than that from macular hole patients; however, the ratio of DHA metabolites to DHA and DHA-derived metabolites was lower in the diabetic vitreous humor. The expression of Mfsd2a, the LPC-DHA transporter, was reduced in the oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model and streptozotocin (STZ) model. In vitro, Mfsd2a overexpression inhibited endothelial cell proliferation, migration and vesicular transcytosis. Moreover, Mfsd2a overexpression in combination with the DHA diet obviously reduced abnormal retinal neovascularization and vascular leakage, which is more effective than Mfsd2a overexpression alone. These results suggest that DHA therapy failure in some DR patients is linked to low expression of Mfsd2a, and the combination of Mfsd2a overexpression and DHA therapy may be an effective treatment.

A chemometric comparison of different models in fluorescence analysis of dabigatran etexilate and dabigatran

In this paper, a simple, rapid, low-cost and potential method was established for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of dabigatran etexilate (DABE) and dabigatran (DAB) in spiked biological fluids. It combined excitation-emission matrix fluorescence (EEMF) with different second-order calibration methods, including the self-weighted alternating normalized residue fitting (SWANRF) algorithm based on trilinear decomposition model, the multivariate curve resolution - alternating least-squares (MCR-ALS) based on bilinear decomposition model and the unfolded partial least-square coupled with residual bilinearization (U-PLS/RBL) based on latent variables model. The proposed method showed "second-order advantage", that is, satisfactory quantitative results were successfully obtained even in the presence of unknown interferences and serious spectral overlap. The recoveries of DABE and DAB in spiked biological fluids were 91.7%-101.7% for SWANRF, 95.9%-117.8% for MCR-ALS, 83.0%-109.6% for U-PLS/RBL, respectively. Figures of merit and other statistical parameters were also calculated to assess the performance of the proposed method. Moreover, the modeling procedures and characteristics of three different models in EEMF analysis were discussed and compared.

Excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with multi-way chemometric techniques for characterization and classification of Chinese lager beers

This paper proposed excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with multi-way chemometric techniques for characterization and classification of Chinese pale lager beers produced by different manufacturers. The undiluted and diluted beer samples presented different fluorescence fingerprints. Three-way and four-way parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) were used to decompose the skillfully constructed three-way and four-way data arrays, respectively, to further achieve beer characterization and feature extraction. Based on the features extracted in different ways, four strategies for beer classification were proposed. In each strategy, three supervised classification methods including linear discriminant analysis (LDA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and k-nearest neighbor (kNN) were used to build discriminant models. By comparison, PARAFAC-data fusion-kNN method in strategy 3 and four-way PARAFAC-kNN method in strategy 4 obtained the best classification results. The classification strategy based on four-way sample-excitation-emission-dilution level data array was proposed to solve the problem of beer classification for the first time.

Inhibition of Sema4D/PlexinB1 signaling alleviates vascular dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common complication of diabetes and leads to blindness. Anti‐VEGF is a primary treatment for DR. Its therapeutic effect is limited in non‐ or poor responders despite frequent injections. By performing a comprehensive analysis of the semaphorins family, we identified the increased expression of Sema4D during oxygen‐induced retinopathy (OIR) and streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced retinopathy. The levels of soluble Sema4D (sSema4D) were significantly increased in the aqueous fluid of DR patients and correlated negatively with the success of anti‐VEGF therapy during clinical follow‐up. We found that Sema4D/PlexinB1 induced endothelial cell dysfunction via mDIA1, which was mediated through Src‐dependent VE‐cadherin dysfunction. Furthermore, genetic disruption of Sema4D/PlexinB1 or intravitreal injection of anti‐Sema4D antibody reduced pericyte loss and vascular leakage in STZ model as well as alleviated neovascularization in OIR model. Moreover, anti‐Sema4D had a therapeutic advantage over anti‐VEGF on pericyte dysfunction. Anti‐Sema4D and anti‐VEGF also conferred a synergistic therapeutic effect in two DR models. Thus, this study indicates an alternative therapeutic strategy with anti‐Sema4D to complement or improve the current treatment of DR.

Orexins alleviate motor deficits via increasing firing activity of pallidal neurons in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease

Orexin is a peptide neurotransmitter released in the globus pallidus. Morphological evidence reveals that both orexin 1 receptor (OX₁R) and orexin 2 receptor (OX₂R) exist in the globus pallidus. Here we showed that bilateral microinjection of both orexin-A and orexin-B into the globus pallidus alleviated motor deficits in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced parkinsonian mice. Further in vivo extracellular single-unit recording revealed that the basal spontaneous firing rate of the globus pallidus neurons in MPTP parkinsonian mice was slower than that of normal mice. Application of orexin-A or orexin-B significantly increased the spontaneous firing rate of pallidal neurons. The influx of Ca²⁺ through the L-type Ca²⁺ channel is the major mechanism involved in orexin-induced excitation in the globus pallidus. Orexin-A-induced increase in firing rate of pallidal neurons in MPTP parkinsonian mice was stronger than that of normal mice. Orexin-A exerted both electrophysiological and behavioral effects mainly via OX₁R, and orexin-B exerted the effects via OX₂R. Endogenous orexins modulated the excitability of globus pallidus neurons mainly through OX₁R. The present behavioral and electrophysiological results suggest that orexins ameliorate parkinsonian motor deficits through increasing the spontaneous firing of globus pallidus neurons.

Endogenous HCN Channels Modulate the Firing Activity of Globus Pallidus Neurons in Parkinsonian Animals

The globus pallidus occupies a critical position in the indirect pathway of the basal ganglia motor control system. Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic-nucleotide gated (HCN) channels play an important role in the modulation of neuronal excitability. In vivo extracellular single unit recording, behavioral test and immunohistochemistry were performed to explore the possible modulation of endogenous HCN channels in the globus pallidus under parkinsonian states. In MPTP parkinsonian mice, micro-pressure application of the selective HCN channel antagonist, ZD7288, decreased the firing rate in 10 out of the 28 pallidal neurons, while increased the firing rate in another 15 out of the 28 neurons. In 6-OHDA parkinsonian rats, ZD7288 also bidirectionally regulated the spontaneous firing activity of the globus pallidus neurons. The proportion of pallidal neurons with ZD7288-induced slowing of firing rate tended to reduce in both parkinsonian animals. Morphological studies revealed a weaker staining of HCN channels in the globus pallidus under parkinsonian state. Finally, behavioral study demonstrated that intrapallidal microinjection of ZD7288 alleviated locomotor deficits in MPTP parkinsonian mice. These results suggest that endogenous HCN channels modulate the activities of pallidal neurons under parkinsonian states.

Sema3E/PlexinD1 signaling inhibits postischemic angiogenesis by regulating endothelial DLL4 and filopodia formation in a rat model of ischemic stroke

Angiogenesis is a crucial defense response to hypoxia that regulates the process of raising the promise of long-term neurologic recovery during the management of stroke. A high expression of antiangiogenic factors leads to the loss of neovascularization capacity in pathologic conditions. We have previously documented an impairment of the cerebral vessel perfusion and neovascularization in the cortex neighboring the stroke-induced lesion, which was accompanied by an activation of semaphorin 3E (Sema3E)/PlexinD1 after ischemic stroke. In this study, we employed micro-optical sectioning tomography to fully investigate the details of the vascular pattern, including the capillaries. We found that after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion, inhibiting PlexinD1 signaling led to an organized recovery of the vascular network in the ischemic area. We then further explored the possible mechanisms. In vivo, Sema3E substantially decreased dynamic delta-like 4 (DLL4) expression. In cultured brain microvascular endothelial cells, Sema3E down-regulated DLL4 expression via inhibiting Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1-induced JNK phosphorylation. At the microcosmic level, Sema3E/PlexinD1 signaling promoted F-actin disassembly and focal adhesion reduction by activating the small guanosine triphosphatase Ras homolog family member J by releasing RhoGEF Tuba from direct binding to PlexinD1, thus mediating endothelial cell motility and filopodia retraction. Our study reveals that Sema3E/PlexinD1 signaling, which suppressed endothelial DLL4 expression, cell motility, and filopodia formation, is expected to be a novel druggable target for angiogenesis during poststroke progression.-Zhou, Y.-F., Chen, A.-Q., Wu, J.-H., Mao, L., Xia, Y.-P., Jin, H.-J., He, Q.-W., Miao, Q. R., Yue, Z.-Y., Liu, X.-L., Huang, M., Li, Y.-N., Hu, B. Sema3E/PlexinD1 signaling inhibits postischemic angiogenesis by regulating endothelial DLL4 and filopodia formation in a rat model of ischemic stroke.

Semaphorin-3A protects against neointimal hyperplasia after vascular injury

BACKGROUND

Neointimal hyperplasia is a prominent pathological event during in-stent restenosis. Phenotype switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) from a differentiated/contractile to a dedifferentiated/synthetic phenotype, accompanied by migration and proliferation of VSMCs play an important role in neointimal hyperplasia. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotype switching of VSMCs have yet to be fully understood.

METHODS

The mouse carotid artery ligation model was established to evaluate Sema3A expression and its role during neointimal hyperplasia in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays and promoter-luciferase reporter assays were used to examine regulatory mechanism of Sema3A expression. SiRNA transfection and lentivirus infection were performed to regulate Sema3A expression. EdU assays, Wound-healing scratch experiments and Transwell migration assays were used to assess VSMC proliferation and migration.

FINDINGS

In this study, we found that semaphorin-3A (Sema3A) was significantly downregulated in VSMCs during neointimal hyperplasia after vascular injury in mice and in human atherosclerotic plaques. Meanwhile, Sema3A was transcriptionally downregulated by PDGF-BB via p53 in VSMCs. Furthermore, we found that overexpression of Sema3A inhibited VSMC proliferation and migration, as well as increasing differentiated gene expression. Mechanistically, Sema3A increased the NRP1-plexin-A1 complex and decreased the NRP1-PDGFRβ complex, thus inhibiting phosphorylation of PDGFRβ. Moreover, we found that overexpression of Sema3A suppressed neointimal hyperplasia after vascular injury in vivo.

INTERPRETATION

These results suggest that local delivery of Sema3A may act as a novel therapeutic option to prevent in-stent restenosis.

Electrically driven lasers from van der Waals heterostructures

Van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) have opened new avenues for fundamental scientific studies and design of novel devices. Although numerous reports have demonstrated vdWH optoelectronic devices, no report on vdWH lasers can be found to date. In this paper we demonstrated electrically driven vdWH lasers for the first time, and the lasers were realized from ZnO microwire/MgO/p-GaN structures. By coating Ag films on the top surfaces of the ZnO microwires, the current injection and lasing directionality of the vdWH lasers have been improved significantly, and this improvement can be attributed to the high conductivity and reflectivity of the Ag film. The output power of the device can reach 2.41 μW under 14 mA drive current, which is among the highest values ever reported for ZnO based lasers. Our results may provide a promising way to electrically pumped lasers based on micro/nano-structures.

The Subthalamic Neurons are Activated by Both Orexin-A and Orexin-B

The subthalamic nucleus is an important nucleus in the indirect pathway of the basal ganglia circuit and therefore is involved in motor control under both normal and pathological conditions. Morphological studies reveal that the subthalamic nucleus receives relatively dense orexinergic projections originating from the hypothalamus. Both orexin-1 (OX₁) and orexin-2 (OX₂) receptors are expressed in the subthalamic nucleus. To explore the functions of orexinergic system in the subthalamic nucleus, extracellular electrophysiological recordings and behavioral tests were performed in the present study. Exogenous application of orexin-A significantly increased the spontaneous firing rate from 5.70 ± 0.66 Hz to 9.87 ± 1.18 Hz in 64.00% subthalamic neurons recorded. OX₁ receptors are involved in orexin-A-induced excitation. Application of orexin-B increased the firing rate from 7.47 ± 0.92 Hz to 11.85 ± 1.39 Hz in 80.95% subthalamic neurons recorded, entirely through OX₂ receptors. Both OX₁ and OX₂ receptor antagonists decreased the firing rate in 43.75% and 62.50% subthalamic neurons recorded respectively, suggesting the involvement of endogenous orexinergic system in the control of spontaneous firing activity. Further elevated body swing test revealed that microinjection of orexins and the receptor antagonists into the subthalamic nucleus induced contralateral-biased swing and ipsilateral-biased swing, respectively. Taken together, the present study suggests that orexins play important roles in the subthalamic nucleus which may provide further evidence for the involvement of subthalamic orexinergic tone in Parkinson's disease.

SIGNIFICANCE

Previous morphological studies indicate that the subthalamic nucleus receives orexinergic innervation and expresses both OX₁ and OX₂ receptors. Using in vivo multibarrel electrophysiological recordings, the present study revealed that exogenous application of orexin-A and orexin-B increased the spontaneous firing rate of the subthalamic neurons through OX₁ and OX₂ receptors. Endogenous orexinergic system was involved in the control of spontaneous firing of the subthalamic neurons. Further behavioral test revealed that intrasubthalamic application of orexins and the receptor antagonists induced biased swing behavior. The present study may provide further evidence for the involvement of subthalamic orexinergic tone in Parkinson's disease.

[Clinical manifestations of 10 cases of imported human Zika virus disease in Jiangmen city of China]

Objective: To study the clinical manifestations and detection method for imported patients of Zika virus disease. Method: The records of symptoms, signs and laboratory results were collected and analyzed. The specimen of blood, saliva and urine from patients were collected. Results: Two of ten patients had mild fever. The visible cutaneous maculopapular rash of the trunk and extremities was observed in all patients. Seven patients were observed congestive conjunctivitis and only one patient gave an account of itching. No patient had symptoms of myalgia or arthralgia. The laboratory results of patients were normal except two patients had mild leucopenia and another one had thrombocytosis. The Zika virus RNA was detected in urine samples for a longest period. The detection rates of Zika virus RNA from the samples of blood, saliva and urine that collected in seventh day after disease onset were 0, 5, 8 cases, respectively. Conclosion: Epidemiology history, maculopapular rash, congestive conjunctivitis and Zika virus RNA being detected in urine can be considered as the important clinical criterion for making a definite diagnosis as Zika virus disease.

Orexin-A increases the activity of globus pallidus neurons in both normal and parkinsonian rats

Orexin is a member of neuropeptides which was first identified in the hypothalamus. The globus pallidus is a key structure in the basal ganglia, which is involved in both normal motor function and movement disorders. Morphological studies have shown the expression of both OX1 and OX2 receptors in the globus pallidus. Employing single unit extracellular recordings and behavioural tests, the direct in vivo electrophysiological and behavioural effects of orexin-A in the globus pallidus were studied. Micro-pressure administration of orexin-A significantly increased the spontaneous firing rate of pallidal neurons. Correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between orexin-A induced excitation and the basal firing rate. Furthermore, application of the specific OX1 receptor antagonist, SB-334867, decreased the firing rate of pallidal neurons, suggesting that endogenous orexinergic systems modulate the firing activity of pallidal neurons. Orexin-A increased the excitability of pallidal neurons through both OX1 and OX2 receptors. In 6-hydroxydopamine parkinsonian rats, orexin-A-induced increase in firing rate of pallidal neurons was stronger than that in normal rats. Immunostaining revealed positive OX1 receptor expression in the globus pallidus of both normal and parkinsonian rats. Finally, postural test showed that unilateral microinjection of orexin-A led to contralateral deflection in the presence of systemic haloperidol administration. Further elevated body swing test revealed that pallidal orexin-A and SB-334867 induced contralateral-biased swing and ipsilateral-biased swing respectively. Based on the electrophysiological and behavioural findings of orexin-A in the globus pallidus, the present findings may provide a rationale for the pathogenesis and treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Concordant expression of proto-oncogene promyelocytic leukemia and major histocompatibility antigen HLA class I in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Many malignant cancer cells downregulate human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I antigen expression to evade T cell recognition. However, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is exceptional to the general findings in cancer cells, and the mechanisms for its upregulation remain unclear. It has been reported that promyelocytic leukemia (PML) proto-oncogene controls the transcription of multiple class I antigen presentation genes in murine cancer cells. To find out the functional role of PML gene on the increased HLA class I antigen expression in HCC cells, we analyzed the expression of proto-oncogene PML and multiple class I antigen presentation genes in HCC specimens obtained in China. The results showed concordant changes of proto-oncogene PML and cell surface HLA-A expression in 44 paraffin-embedded HCC tissues. Furthermore, co-upregulated expression of PML genes and class I antigen presentation genes could be detected in 9 of 15 fresh HCC tissues by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In addition, studies using HCC cell lines showed that increased expression of HLA class I molecules paralleled with PML upregulation were detected in QGY-7701 HCC cell line with RT-PCR, western blot, and flow cytometry, and that the overexpression of exogenous PML in a low-expression class I cell line BEL-7405 could induce the expression of multiple class I antigen-presenting molecule genes and slightly but significantly increase the expression of cell surface HLA class I molecules. In conclusion, the expression of proto-oncogene PML and HLA class I molecules were concordantly upregulated and the expression of PML gene might be one of the mechanisms that leads to the increased expression of class I antigen in HCC.

An immunoelectron microscopic study of peptide substances in the rat neurohypophysis

The ultrastructural localization of peptide substances, such as vasopressin (VP), substance P (SP), enkephalin (ENK) and somatostatin (SRIF), and the distribution of peptidergic nerves in rat neurohypophysis were studied by immunoelectron microscopy. The results show that VP, SP, ENK and SRIF immunoreactive products are located in large granular vesicles (110-150 nm in diameter), at the periphery of microvesicles and on the outer membrane of mitochondria. The VP-, SP-, ENK- and SRIF- containing nerve fibers are distributed at the periphery of capillaries and in the vicinity of pituicytes. VP- and ENK-positive nerve terminals form axo-axonic synapses with negative terminals. VP- and ENK-terminals are pre- or postsynaptic elements. Axo-axonic synapses formed by two SRIF- positive terminals were also found. In addition, ENK- and SP-positive terminals with pituicytes form synaptoid structures respectively. The authors have discovered VP-positive pituicytes for the first time.