Halide Superionic Conductors with Non-Close-Packed Anion Frameworks.

Halide superionic conductors (SICs) are drawing significant research attention for their potential applications in all-solid-state batteries. A key challenge in developing such SICs is to explore and design halide structural frameworks that enable rapid ion movement. In this work, we show that the close-packed anion frameworks shared by traditional halide ionic conductors face intrinsic limitations in fast ion conduction, regardless of structural regulation. Beyond the close-packed anion frameworks, we identify that the non-close-packed anion frameworks have great potential to achieve superionic conductivity. Notably, we unravel that the non-close-packed UCl3-type framework exhibit superionic conductivity for a diverse range of carrier ions, including Li+, Na+, K+, and Ag+, which are validated through both ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and experimental measurements. We elucidate that the remarkable ionic conductivity observed in the UCl3-type framework structure stems from its significantly more distorted site and larger diffusion channel than its close-packed counterparts. By employing the non-close-packed anion framework as the key feature for high-throughput computational screening, we also identify LiGaCl3 as a promising candidate for halide SICs. These discoveries provide crucial insights for the exploration and design of novel halide SICs.

Segmenting tourists' motivations via online reviews: An exploration of the service strategies for enhancing tourist satisfaction.

Tourism motivation and satisfaction are classic themes in tourism research. This study combines latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and the Censydiam motivation model to analyze online reviews of tourism in Qinghai, China. The aim of this research is to explore tourist motivation through online reviews and provide innovative service suggestions to improve tourist satisfaction. The LDA model initially extracts six main topics from online comments. Then, using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), it maps the relationship between topics and tourism motivations to propose strategies for enhancing tourists' enjoyment, conviviality, and other motivating factors. Furthermore, we employ the Kano model to evaluate tourists' satisfaction levels regarding these strategies, demonstrating their positive evaluations. Hence, this study provides tourism industry professionals and service designers with an innovative method for understanding tourists' motivations through online reviews, enabling them to design specific services that enhance tourism experiences.

miR-26 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of multiple myeloma cells by targeting BNIP3.

This study was carried out to investigate the molecular mechanism of microRNA-26 (miR-26) targeting BNIP3 to mediate proliferation and apoptosis of multiple myeloma (MM) cells. The expression of miR-26 and BNIP3 in MM and normal tissues was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. According to the average expression of miR-26 and BNIP3, the patients were divided into 12 cases with high miR-26 expression group, 18 cases with low miR-26 expression group, 20 cases with BNIP3 high expression group, and 10 cases with BNIP3 low expression group. The correlation between the expression of miR-26 and BNIP3 and the clinicopathological characteristics of MM patients was compared and analyzed. The effect of up-regulation of miR-26 expression and BNIP3 overexpression on the proliferation of multiple myeloma cells RPMI8226 was examined by MTT assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect the effect of miR-26 expression and BNIP3 overexpression on the apoptosis of RPMI8226 cells. The dual luciferase reporter assay validated the targeted regulation of miR-26 on BNIP3. The expression level of miR-26 in MM tissues was lower than that in normal tissues (P<0.05), and the expression level of BNIP3 in MM tissues was higher than that in normal tissues (P<0.05). miR-26 was closely related to clinical stage, M protein type and light chain type (P<0.05), while BNIP3 was closely related to M protein type and light chain type (P<0.05). After up-regulating miR-26 expression, cell viability was significantly decreased (P<0.05), apoptosis rate was significantly increased (P<0.05) Dual luciferase reporter experiments confirmed that miR-26 could target BNIP3 and negatively regulate the expression of BNIP3 (P<0.05). Overexpression of BNIP3 reversed the effect of up-regulation of miR-26 expression on proliferation and apoptosis of RPMI8226 cells. Up-regulation of miR-26 expression inhibits MM cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis by targeting BNIP3.

Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in patients with hematological malignancies: A multicenter, prospective cohort study.

Little is known about antibody responses to natural Omicron infection and the risk factors for poor responders in patients with hematological malignancies (HM). We conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study during the latest Omicron wave in Chongqing, China, aiming to compare the antibody responses, as assessed by IgG levels of anti-receptor binding domain of spike protein (anti-S-RBD), to Omicron infection in the HM cohort (HMC) with healthy control cohort (HCC), and solid cancer cohort (SCC). In addition, we intend to explore the risk factors for poor responders in the HMC. Among the 466 HM patients in this cohort, the seroconversion rate was 92.7%, no statistically difference compared with HCC (98.2%, p = 0.0513) or SCC (100%, p = 0.1363). The median anti-S-RBD IgG titer was 29.9 ng/mL, significantly lower than that of HCC (46.9 ng/mL, p < 0.0001) or SCC (46.2 ng/mL, p < 0.0001). Risk factors associated with nonseroconversion included no COVID-19 vaccination history (odds ratio [OR] = 4.58, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.75-12.00, p = 0.002), clinical course of COVID-19 ≤ 7 days (OR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.31-6.25, p = 0.008) and severe B-cell reduction (0-10/µL) (OR = 3.22, 95% CI: 1.32-7.88, p = 0.010). Risk factors associated with low anti-S-RBD IgG titer were clinical course of COVID-19 ≤ 7 days (OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.59-4.18, p < 0.001) and severe B-cell reduction (0-10/µL) (OR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.57-5.24, p < 0.001). This study reveals a poor antibody responses to Omicron (BA.5.2.48) infection in HM patients and identified risk factors for poor responders. Highlights that HM patients, especially those with these risk factors, may be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, and the postinfection vaccination strategies for these patients should be tailored. Clinical trial: ChiCTR2300071830.

Multi-omics profiling reveals rhythmic liver function shaped by meal timing.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) couple feed-fast cycles to diurnal rhythms. However, it remains largely uncharacterized whether and how meal timing organizes diurnal rhythms beyond the transcriptome. Here, we systematically profile the daily rhythms of the proteome, four PTMs (phosphorylation, ubiquitylation, succinylation and N-glycosylation) and the lipidome in the liver from young female mice subjected to either day/sleep time-restricted feeding (DRF) or night/wake time-restricted feeding (NRF). We detect robust daily rhythms among different layers of omics with phosphorylation the most nutrient-responsive and succinylation the least. Integrative analyses reveal that clock regulation of fatty acid metabolism represents a key diurnal feature that is reset by meal timing, as indicated by the rhythmic phosphorylation of the circadian repressor PERIOD2 at Ser971 (PER2-pSer971). We confirm that PER2-pSer971 is activated by nutrient availability in vivo. Together, this dataset represents a comprehensive resource detailing the proteomic and lipidomic responses by the liver to alterations in meal timing.

Reactive Oxygen Species-Triggered Curcumin Release from Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for PM2.5-Induced Acute Lung Injury Treatment.

Exposure to fine particulate matter with a diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) can result in serious inflammation and oxidative stress in lung tissue. However, there is presently very few effective treatments for PM2.5-induced many pulmonary diseases, such as acute lung injury (ALI). Herein, curcumin-loaded reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Cur@HMSN-BSA) are proposed for scavenging the intracellular ROS and suppressing inflammatory responses against PM2.5-induced ALI. The prepared nanoparticles were coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) via an ROS-sensitive thioketal (TK)-containing linker, in which the TK-containing linker would be cleaved by the excessive amounts of ROS in inflammatory sites to induce the detachment of BSA from the nanoparticles surface and thus triggering release of loaded curcumin. The Cur@HMSN-BSA nanoparticles could be used as ROS scavengers because of their excellent ROS-responsiveness, which were able to efficiently consume high concentrations of intracellular ROS. Furthermore, it was also found that Cur@HMSN-BSA downregulated the secretion of several important pro-inflammatory cytokines and promoted the polarization from M1 phenotypic macrophages to M2 phenotypic macrophages for eliminating PM2.5-induced inflammatory activation. Therefore, this work provided a promising strategy to synergistically scavenge intracellular ROS and suppress the inflammation responses, which may serve as an ideal therapeutic platform for pneumonia treatment.

Daytime-restricted feeding enhances running endurance without prior exercise in mice.

Physical endurance and energy conservation are essential for survival in the wild. However, it remains unknown whether and how meal timing regulates physical endurance and muscle diurnal rhythms. Here, we show that day/sleep time-restricted feeding (DRF) enhances running endurance by 100% throughout the circadian cycle in both male and female mice, compared to either ad libitum feeding or night/wake time-restricted feeding. Ablation of the circadian clock in the whole body or the muscle abolished the exercise regulatory effect of DRF. Multi-omics analysis revealed that DRF robustly entrains diurnal rhythms of a mitochondrial oxidative metabolism-centric network, compared to night/wake time-restricted feeding. Remarkably, muscle-specific knockdown of the myocyte lipid droplet protein perilipin-5 completely mimics DRF in enhancing endurance, enhancing oxidative bioenergetics and outputting rhythmicity to circulating energy substrates, including acylcarnitine. Together, our work identifies a potent dietary regimen to enhance running endurance without prior exercise, as well as providing a multi-omics atlas of muscle circadian biology regulated by meal timing.

linc01515 regulates PM2.5-induced oxidative stress via targeting NRF2 in airway epithelial cells.

Dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) is involved in the adverse effects caused by fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, the molecular mechanism is not fully clarified. In this study, we performed lncRNA sequencing on PM2.5-treated human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells to identify vital lncRNAs, and verified the differential expression of the lncRNAs by RT-qPCR in HBE and human normal lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells. A total of 657 and 652 lncRNAs were dysregulated after exposure to 125 and 250 µg/mL of PM2.5, respectively. Of these, lncRNA linc01515 was upregulated in HBE and BEAS-2B cells with PM2.5 treatment. Subcellular localization experiments showed that linc01515 was mostly localized in the nucleus. Functionally, we downregulated the expression of linc01515 in HBE and BEAS-2B cells before PM2.5 treatment, which can decrease malonydialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and improve superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Correspondingly, linc01515 overexpression enhanced PM2.5-induced oxidative injury in airway epithelial cells. Mechanistically, N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) assay showed that the enrichment level of m6A on linc01515 was increased after PM2.5 treatment, and the m6A modification level and expression of linc01515 was decreased in the HBE cells with 3-deazaadenosine (DAA) treatment or knockdown of METTL3 to inhibit the RNA methylation level. Western blot found that NRF2, a vital transcription factor, was enhanced remarkably in linc01515-silenced cells and decreased in linc01515-overexpressed cells. Furthermore, inhibition of NRF2 activity significantly rescued effect of downregulated linc01515 expression on PM2.5-induced cytotoxicity. In addition, we observed the similar effect when downregulating linc01515 and NRF2 expression in HBE and BEAS-2B cells before PM2.5 treatment. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that PM2.5 treatment may upregulate the expression of linc01515 by enhancing its m6A modification, and then regulate NRF2 to induce oxidative damage of airway epithelial cells.

Exosomal circCLIP1 regulates PM2.5-induced airway obstruction via targeting SEPT10 in vitro.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure correlates with airway obstruction, but the mechanism remains to be fully elucidated. We aim to investigate the role of exosomal circular RNAs (circRNAs)-mediated communication between airway epithelial cells and airway smooth muscle cells in PM2.5-induced airway obstruction. RNA sequencing revealed that acute PM2.5 exposure altered the expression profiles of 2904 exosomal circRNAs. Among them, exosomal hsa_circ_0029069 (spliced from CLIP1, thus termed circCLIP1 hereafter) with a loop structure was upregulated by PM2.5 exposure and mainly encapsulated in exosomes. Then, the biological functions and the underlying mechanisms were explored by Western blot, RNA immunoprecipitation and RNA pull-down, etc. Phenotypically, exosomal circCLIP1 entered recipient cells, inducing mucus secretion in recipient HBE cells and contractility of sensitive HBSMCs. Mechanistically, circCLIP1 was upregulated by METTL3-mediated N6-methyladenine (m6A) modification in PM2.5-treated producer HBE cells and exosomes, then enhancing the expression of SEPT10 in recipient HBE cells and sensitive HBSMCs. Our study revealed that exosomal circCLIP1 played a critical role in PM2.5-induced airway obstruction and provided a new potential biomarker for the assessment of PM2.5-related adverse effects.

Feruloylated oligosaccharides ameliorate MPTP-induced neurotoxicity in mice by activating ERK/CREB/BDNF/TrkB signalling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Feruloylated oligosaccharides (FOs) are natural esterification products of ferulic acid and oligosaccharides. STUDY DESIGN: In this study, we examined whether FOs contribute to the ensured survival of nigrostriatal dopamine neurons and inhibition of neuroinflammation in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 30 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally into mice to establish a Parkinson's disease (PD) mouse model. FOs (15 and 30 mg/kg) were orally administered daily to the MPTP-treated mice. The rotarod test, balance beam test, immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), quantitative PCR (qPCR), and western blot analyses were performed to examine the neuroprotective effects of FOs on MPTP-treated mice. RESULTS: Our study indicated that FOs increased the survival of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) of the MPTP-treated mice. The neuroprotective effects of FOs were accompanied by inhibited glial activation and reduced inflammatory cytokine production. The mechanistic experiments revealed that the neuroprotective effects of FOs might be mediated through the activation of the ERK/CREB/BDNF/TrkB signalling pathway. CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights into the mechanism underlying the anti-neuroinflammatory effect of phytochemicals and may facilitate the development of dietary supplements for PD patients. Our results indicate that FOs can be used as potential modulators for the prevention and treatment of PD.

Chlorinated Organophosphate Flame Retardants Impair the Lung Function via the IL-6/JAK/STAT Signaling Pathway.

Toxicological studies have revealed the adverse impacts of organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) on the respiratory system, while there is a lack of epidemiological evidence, and information for risk assessment remains insufficient. Herein, we investigated the associations of urinary metabolites of OPFRs with the lung function in 987 adults participating in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2012. The elevation of three primary metabolites of chlorinated OPFRs [bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP), bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (BCEP), and bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BCIPP)] was related to pulmonary dysfunction in a sample-weighted regression model. Each one-unit increase in the log-transformed levels of BDCIPP and BCEP was related to 91.52 and 79.34 mL reductions in the forced vital capacity (FVC). Each one-unit elevation in BCIPP was correlated with 130.86, 153.56, 302.26, and 148.24 mL reductions in forced expiratory volume 1st second (FEV1), FVC, peak expiratory flow rate (PEF), and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of FVC (FEF25-75%), respectively. Then, an adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework was constructed using the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database, the Toxicity Forecaster, and the GeneCards database. Based on the weight of the evidence, BDCIPP, BCEP, BCIPP, and their parent compounds (TDCIPP, TCEP, and TCIPP) may affect the IL-6/Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway, induce airway remodeling, and impair the lung function. Additionally, tobacco smoke exposure may modify the effects of BDCIPP on the lung function (Pint < 0.05) and affect the IL-6-mediated AOP. These results suggested that chlorinated OPFRs were associated with pulmonary dysfunction via the IL-6/JAK/STAT pathway.

Circadian signatures of anterior hypothalamus in time-restricted feeding.

Background: Meal timing resets circadian clocks in peripheral tissues, such as the liver, in seven days without affecting the phase of the central clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Anterior hypothalamus plays an essential role in energy metabolism, circadian rhythm, and stress response. However, it remains to be elucidated whether and how anterior hypothalamus adapts its circadian rhythms to meal timing. Methods: Here, we applied transcriptomics to profile rhythmic transcripts in the anterior hypothalamus of nocturnal female mice subjected to day- (DRF) or night (NRF)-time restricted feeding for seven days. Results: This global profiling identified 128 and 3,518 rhythmic transcripts in DRF and NRF, respectively. NRF entrained diurnal rhythms among 990 biological processes, including 'Electron transport chain' and 'Hippo signaling' that reached peak time in the late sleep and late active phase, respectively. By contrast, DRF entrained only 20 rhythmic pathways, including 'Cellular amino acid catabolic process', all of which were restricted to the late active phase. The rhythmic transcripts found in both DRF and NRF tissues were largely resistant to phase entrainment by meal timing, which were matched to the action of the circadian clock. Remarkably, DRF for 36 days partially reversed the circadian clock compared to NRF. Conclusions: Collectively, our work generates a useful dataset to explore anterior hypothalamic circadian biology and sheds light on potential rhythmic processes influenced by meal timing in the brain (www.circametdb.org.cn).

[Feeding rhythm entrains circadian metabolism genes, but not the circadian clock, in brown adipose tissue].

The central circadian clock and feeding rhythm coordinately reset peripheral circadian clocks. Emerging evidence suggests that feeding rhythm resets peripheral circadian clocks in a tissue-specific manner. This study aimed to determine whether and how feeding rhythm regulates circadian rhythms of the circadian clock and metabolic genes in brown adipose tissue (BAT). We applied different regimens of time-restricted feeding (TRF) in wildtype and Per1/2 deficient C57BL/6 mice, and quantified the effects of sex, treatment duration, constant light, and circadian clock on circadian rhythms of the BAT circadian clock and metabolic genes by RT-qPCR; Representative circadian clock genes are Bmal1, Nr1d1, Dbp, and Per2, and representative metabolic genes are uncoupling protein 1 (Ucp1), 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (Pfkfb3) that controls the flux through glycolysis, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4 (Pdk4) gating the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (Cpt1a) that controls mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. The results showed that, daytime-restricted feeding (DRF) moderately shifted the phase of the BAT circadian clock in female mice within 7 or 36 d, and resulted in the loss of circadian rhythm in Dbp and Per2 transcripts in males. DRF induced de novo oscillation of the Ucp1 transcript, and shifted the phase of representative metabolic genes, such as Pfkfb3, Pdk4, and Cpt1a, more than 7 h. Constant light is known to disrupt the synchrony of the central circadian clock. The results showed that constant light promoted phase entrainment of the circadian clock by DRF in BAT, but abolished the oscillation of the metabolic genes (except for Pdk4). Despite combined treatment with Per1/2 deficiency and constant darkness, DRF was sufficient to drive circadian rhythms of Bmal1 and Dbp, but not those of Nr1d1, Ucp1, Pfkfb3, and Cpt1a. Overall, the circadian clock of BAT has weak adaptation to altered feeding rhythms and sex differences. The central circadian clock antagonizes DRF in the entrainment of the BAT circadian clock, whereas DRF resets circadian rhythms of metabolic genes, such as Ucp1, Pfkfb3, and Cpt1a, in a circadian clock-dependent manner.

Knockdown of hepatocyte Perilipin-3 mitigates hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis caused by hepatocyte CGI-58 deletion in mice.

Comparative gene identification-58 (CGI-58), also known as α/ß hydrolase domain containing 5, is the co-activator of adipose triglyceride lipase that hydrolyzes triglycerides stored in the cytosolic lipid droplets. Mutations in CGI-58 gene cause Chanarin-Dorfman syndrome (CDS), an autosomal recessive neutral lipid storage disease with ichthyosis. The liver pathology of CDS manifests as steatosis and steatohepatitis, which currently has no effective treatments. Perilipin-3 (Plin3) is a member of the Perilipin-ADRP-TIP47 protein family that is essential for lipid droplet biogenesis. The objective of this study was to test a hypothesis that deletion of a major lipid droplet protein alleviates fatty liver pathogenesis caused by CGI-58 deficiency in hepatocytes. Adult CGI-58-floxed mice were injected with adeno-associated vectors simultaneously expressing the Cre recombinase and microRNA against Plin3 under the control of a hepatocyte-specific promoter, followed by high-fat diet feeding for 6 weeks. Liver and blood samples were then collected from these animals for histological and biochemical analysis. Plin3 knockdown in hepatocytes prevented steatosis, steatohepatitis, and necroptosis caused by hepatocyte CGI-58 deficiency. Our work is the first to show that inhibiting Plin3 in hepatocytes is sufficient to mitigate hepatocyte CGI-58 deficiency-induced hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis in mice.

Semaphorin 3F induces colorectal cancer cell chemosensitivity by promoting P27 nuclear export.

Colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Metastatic CRC has a poor prognosis because of chemotherapy resistance. Our previous study demonstrated that semaphorin 3F (SEMA3F) signaling may contribute to reversing chemotherapy resistance in CRC cells by reducing E-cadherin and integrin αvß3 expression levels. Another study showed that upregulation of p27 significantly increase the expression of E-cadherin and integrin. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of SEMA3F on P27 and whether it can reverse resistance in CRC cells. We compared the chemosensitivity of human colorectal cancer cell lines with different SEMA3F expression levels to 5-Fu through cell experiment and animal experiment. Then the interaction between SEMA3F and p27 and its possible mechanism were explored by Western Blot, immunofluorescence and immunocoprecipitation. We also compared the disease-free survival of 118 CRC patients with high or low expression of SEMA3F.The results showed that overexpresstion of SEMA3F enhanced the chemotherapy sensitivity and apoptosis of CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. Among 118 postoperative CRC specimens, the disease-free survival of patients with positive SEMA3F expression was significantly longer than that with negative SEMA3F expression after adjuvant treatment. Upregulation of SEMA3F in multicellular spheroid culture (MSC) could increase p27 phosphorylation at serine 10 (Ser10), subsequently promote the cytosolic translocation of P27. Overall, our results reveal a novel molecular mechanism: SEMA3F mediates the degradation of p27 and regulates its subcellular localization to enhance chemosensitivity to 5-Fu in CRC cells, rather than inhibits p27 expression.

Intra and inter: Alterations in functional brain resting-state networks in patients with functional constipation.

Background: Functional constipation (FCon), is a symptom-based functional gastrointestinal disorder without an organic etiology and altering brain structure and function. However, previous studies mainly focused on isolated brain regions involved in brain plasticity. Therefore, little is known about the altered large-scale interaction of brain networks in FCon. Methods: For this study, we recruited 20 patients with FCon and 20 healthy controls. We used group independent component analysis to identify resting-state networks (RSNs) and documented intra- and inter-network alterations in the RSNs of the patients with FCon. Results: We found 14 independent RSNs. Differences in the intra-networks included decreased activities in the bilateral caudate of RSN 3 (strongly related to emotional and autonomic processes) and decreased activities in the left precuneus of RSN 10 (default mode network). Notably, the patients with FCon exhibited significantly decreased interactive connectivity between RSNs, mostly involving the connections to the visual perception network (RSN 7-9). Conclusion: Compared with healthy controls, patients with FCon had extensive brain plastic changes within and across related RSNs. Furthermore, the macroscopic brain alterations in FCon were associated with interoceptive abilities, emotion processing, and sensorimotor control. These insights could therefore lead to the development of new treatment strategies for FCon.

Protocol for setup and circadian analysis of inverted feeding in mice.

Inverted feeding is a paradigm to study synchronization of circadian clocks by feeding rhythm in tissues more directly. Here, we provide a protocol for performing inverted feeding in mice and analyzing circadian rhythmicity in mouse tissues. We describe setting up inverted feeding and performing tissue dissection, followed by RNA extraction and gene expression analysis, and lastly R software-based analysis of circadian rhythmicity. This protocol can be combined with the use of CircaMetDB database for mechanistic studies of inverted feeding. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Xin et al. (2021).

Changes in synchronization of the motor unit in muscle fatigue condition during the dynamic and isometric contraction in the Biceps Brachii muscle.

The fatigue-induced neuromuscular mechanism remains to be fully elucidated. So far, the macroscopic mechanism using global surface electromyogram (sEMG) has been widely investigated. However, the microscopic mechanism using high-level neural information based on motor unit (MU) spike train from the spinal cord lacks attention, especially for the conditions under dynamic contraction task. The synchronization of the MU spike train is generally assumed to be an excellent indicator to represent the activities of spinal nerves. Accordingly, this study employed synchronization of MU spike train decomposed from high-density sEMG (HD-sEMG) to investigate the fatigue condition in muscular contractions within the Biceps Brachii muscle under both isometric and dynamic contraction tasks, giving a complete picture of the microscopic fatigue mechanism. We compared the synchronization of MU in Delta (1-4 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), Beta (15-30 Hz), and Gamma (30-60 Hz) frequency bands during the fatigue condition induced by different contractions. Our results showed that MU synchronization increased significantly (p<0.05) in all frequency bands across the two contraction tasks. The results indicate that the microscopic fatigue mechanism of Biceps Brachii muscle does not vary due to different contraction tasks.

A multi-tissue multi-omics analysis reveals distinct kineztics in entrainment of diurnal transcriptomes by inverted feeding.

Time of eating synchronizes circadian rhythms of metabolism and physiology. Inverted feeding can uncouple peripheral circadian clocks from the central clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. However, system-wide changes of circadian metabolism and physiology entrained to inverted feeding in peripheral tissues remain largely unexplored. Here, we performed a 24-h global profiling of transcripts and metabolites in mouse peripheral tissues to study the transition kinetics during inverted feeding, and revealed distinct kinetics in phase entrainment of diurnal transcriptomes by inverted feeding, which graded from fat tissue (near-completely entrained), liver, kidney, to heart. Phase kinetics of tissue clocks tracked with those of transcriptomes and were gated by light-related cues. Integrated analysis of transcripts and metabolites demonstrated that fatty acid oxidation entrained completely to inverted feeding in heart despite the slow kinetics/resistance of the heart clock to entrainment by feeding. This multi-omics resource defines circadian signatures of inverted feeding in peripheral tissues (www.CircaMetDB.org.cn).

Generalized Finger Motion Classification Model Based on Motor Unit Voting.

Surface electromyogram-based finger motion classification has shown its potential for prosthetic control. However, most current finger motion classification models are subject-specific, requiring calibration when applied to new subjects. Generalized subject-nonspecific models are essential for real-world applications. In this study, the authors developed a subject-nonspecific model based on motor unit (MU) voting. A high-density surface electromyogram was first decomposed into individual MUs. The features extracted from each MU were then fed into a random forest classifier to obtain the finger label (primary prediction). The final prediction was selected by voting for all primary predictions provided by the decomposed MUs. Experiments conducted on 14 subjects demonstrated that our method significantly outperformed traditional methods in the context of subject-nonspecific finger motion classification models.