Actin-bundling protein fimbrin serves as a new auxin biosynthesis orchestrator in Arabidopsis root tips.

Plants delicately regulate endogenous auxin levels through the coordination of transport, biosynthesis, and inactivation, which is crucial for growth and development. While it is well-established that the actin cytoskeleton can regulate auxin levels by affecting polar transport, its potential role in auxin biosynthesis has remained largely unexplored. Using LC-MS/MS-based methods combined with fluorescent auxin marker detection, we observed a significant increase in root auxin levels upon deletion of the actin bundling proteins AtFIM4 and AtFIM5. Fluorescent observation, immunoblotting analysis, and biochemical approaches revealed that AtFIM4 and AtFIM5 affect the protein abundance of the key auxin synthesis enzyme YUC8 in roots. AtFIM4 and AtFIM5 regulate the auxin synthesis enzyme YUC8 at the protein level, with its degradation mediated by the 26S proteasome. This regulation modulates auxin synthesis and endogenous auxin levels in roots, consequently impacting root development. Based on these findings, we propose a molecular pathway centered on the 'actin cytoskeleton-26S proteasome-YUC8-auxin' axis that controls auxin levels. Our findings shed light on a new pathway through which plants regulate auxin synthesis. Moreover, this study illuminates a newfound role of the actin cytoskeleton in regulating plant growth and development, particularly through its involvement in maintaining protein homeostasis via the 26S proteasome.

Compounds derived from 5-fluoropyridine and benzo[b]thiophene: killing Mycobacterium tuberculosis and reducing its virulence.

The rise of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has extended the duration of tuberculosis (TB) treatment and reduced the likelihood of cure. One strategy to combat this issue is the development of inhibitors targeting the virulence factors of bacterial pathogens. Mtb' catalase (KatG) is crucial for its detoxification mechanisms and also serves as a significant virulence factor for the bacterium. In this study, twelve derivatives synthesized from 5-fluoropyridine and benzo[b]thiophene demonstrated antimycobacterial efficacy with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) varying between 0.5 and 32 µg/mL. Compound 2, 2-(benzo[b]thiophene-2-ylmethylene) hydrazine-1-carbothioamide, emerged as the most potent candidate. It effectively inhibited Mtb KatG. Molecular docking revealed that compound 2 binds  to the active site of Mtb-KatG with  docking score of 114. The rabbit skin tuberculosis model was employed to assess the virulence of Mtb. Animal study results indicated that the granulomas induced by Mtb after treatment with compound 2 were reduced in size, exhibited a lower bacterial load, and the bacteria were no longer aggregated, in contrast to those caused by untreated Mtb. Hence, compound 2 can be regarded as a molecule capable of neutralizing the virulence factors of Mtb. This research offers insights into the design of anti-Mtb molecules with novel mechanisms of action.

Relationship between plasma TNF-α levels and agitation symptoms in first episode patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggested that immune abnormalities involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, the relationship between immunity and clinical features has not been clarified. The aim of this study was to measure the plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and soluble TNF-α receptor 1 (sTNF-α R1) and to investigate their association with agitation in first episode patients with schizophrenia (FEPS). METHODS: The plasma TNF-α and sTNF-α R1 levels were measured using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the FEPS with (n = 36) and without agitation (n = 49) symptoms, and healthy controls (HCs, n = 54). The psychopathology was assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the agitation symptoms were evaluated by the PANSS excitatory component (PANSS-EC). RESULTS: The plasma TNF-α levels in patients with and without agitation symptoms were significantly higher than those in HCs. The patients with agitation had significantly higher plasma TNF-α levels compared to the patients without agitation. There were no significant differences in the sTNF-α R1 levels among the three groups. Furthermore, the plasma TNF-α levels were positively correlated with the PANSS total score, Positive and General psychopathological subscores, and PANSS-EC score in the FEPS, but the relationships were not found for the plasma sTNF-α R1 levels. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that TNF-α might play an important role in the onset and development of agitation symptoms of schizophrenia.

An Anti-Scaling Strategy for Electrochemical Wastewater Treatment: Leveraging Tip-Enhanced Electric Fields.

Electrode scaling poses a critical barrier to the adoption of electrochemical processes in wastewater treatment, primarily due to electrode inactivation and increased internal reactor resistance. We introduce an antiscaling strategy using tip-enhanced electric fields to redirect scale-forming compounds (e.g., Mg(OH)2 and CaCO3) from the electrode-electrolyte interface to the bulk solution. Our study utilized Cu nanowires (Cu NW) with high-curvature nanostructures as the cathode, in contrast to Cu nanoparticles (Cu NP), Cu foil (CF), and Cu mesh (CM), to evaluate the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) performance in hard water conditions. The Cu NW/CF cathode demonstrated superior NO3RR efficiency, with an apparent rate constant (Kapp) of 1.04 h-1, significantly outperforming control electrodes under identical conditions (Kapp < 0.051 h-1). Through experimental and theoretical analysis, including COMSOL simulations, we show that the high-curvature design of Cu NW induced localized electric field enhancements, propelling OH- ions away from the electrode surface into the bulk solution, thus mitigating scale formation on the cathode. Testing with real nitrate-contaminated wastewater confirms that the Cu NW/CF cathode maintained excellent denitrification efficiency over a 60-day period. This study offers a promising perspective on preventing electrode scaling in electrochemical wastewater treatment, paving the way for more efficient and sustainable practices.

RNA-seq analysis reveals transcriptome reprogramming and alternative splicing during early response to salt stress in tomato root.

Salt stress is one of the dominant abiotic stress conditions that cause severe damage to plant growth and, in turn, limiting crop productivity. It is therefore crucial to understand the molecular mechanism underlying plant root responses to high salinity as such knowledge will aid in efforts to develop salt-tolerant crops. Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor RNA is one of the important RNA processing steps that regulate gene expression and proteome diversity, and, consequently, many physiological and biochemical processes in plants, including responses to abiotic stresses like salt stress. In the current study, we utilized high-throughput RNA-sequencing to analyze the changes in the transcriptome and characterize AS landscape during the early response of tomato root to salt stress. Under salt stress conditions, 10,588 genes were found to be differentially expressed, including those involved in hormone signaling transduction, amino acid metabolism, and cell cycle regulation. More than 700 transcription factors (TFs), including members of the MYB, bHLH, and WRKY families, potentially regulated tomato root response to salt stress. AS events were found to be greatly enhanced under salt stress, where exon skipping was the most prevalent event. There were 3709 genes identified as differentially alternatively spliced (DAS), the most prominent of which were serine/threonine protein kinase, pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR)-containing protein, E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase. More than 100 DEGs were implicated in splicing and spliceosome assembly, which may regulate salt-responsive AS events in tomato roots. This study uncovers the stimulation of AS during tomato root response to salt stress and provides a valuable resource of salt-responsive genes for future studies to improve tomato salt tolerance.

Molecular regulation of calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR)-mediated signaling.

Calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), a family C G-protein-coupled receptor, plays a crucial role in regulating calcium homeostasis by sensing small concentration changes of extracellular Ca2+, Mg2+, amino acids (e.g., L-Trp and L-Phe), small peptides, anions (e.g., HCO3 - and PO4 3-), and pH. CaSR-mediated intracellular Ca2+ signaling regulates a diverse set of cellular processes including gene transcription, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, muscle contraction, and neuronal transmission. Dysfunction of CaSR with mutations results in diseases such as autosomal dominant hypocalcemia, familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia, and neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism. CaSR also influences calciotropic disorders, such as osteoporosis, and noncalciotropic disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. This study first reviews recent advances in biochemical and structural determination of the framework of CaSR and its interaction sites with natural ligands, as well as exogenous positive allosteric modulators and negative allosteric modulators. The establishment of the first CaSR protein-protein interactome network revealed 94 novel players involved in protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, trafficking, cell surface expression, endocytosis, degradation, and signaling pathways. The roles of these proteins in Ca2+-dependent cellular physiological processes and in CaSR-dependent cellular signaling provide new insights into the molecular basis of diseases caused by CaSR mutations and dysregulated CaSR activity caused by its protein interactors and facilitate the design of therapeutic agents that target CaSR and other family C G-protein-coupled receptors.

Predicting distant metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma using gradient boosting tree model based on detailed magnetic resonance imaging reports.

BACKGROUND: Development of distant metastasis (DM) is a major concern during treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, studies have demonstrated improved distant control and survival in patients with advanced NPC with the addition of chemotherapy to concomitant chemoradiotherapy. Therefore, precise prediction of metastasis in patients with NPC is crucial. AIM: To develop a predictive model for metastasis in NPC using detailed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports. METHODS: This retrospective study included 792 patients with non-distant metastatic NPC. A total of 469 imaging variables were obtained from detailed MRI reports. Data were stratified and randomly split into training (50%) and testing sets. Gradient boosting tree (GBT) models were built and used to select variables for predicting DM. A full model comprising all variables and a reduced model with the top-five variables were built. Model performance was assessed by area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Among the 792 patients, 94 developed DM during follow-up. The number of metastatic cervical nodes (30.9%), tumor invasion in the posterior half of the nasal cavity (9.7%), two sides of the pharyngeal recess (6.2%), tubal torus (3.3%), and single side of the parapharyngeal space (2.7%) were the top-five contributors for predicting DM, based on their relative importance in GBT models. The testing AUC of the full model was 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69-0.82). The testing AUC of the reduced model was 0.75 (95%CI: 0.68-0.82). For the whole dataset, the full (AUC = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.72-0.82) and reduced models (AUC = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.71-0.81) outperformed the tumor node-staging system (AUC = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.61-0.73). CONCLUSION: The GBT model outperformed the tumor node-staging system in predicting metastasis in NPC. The number of metastatic cervical nodes was identified as the principal contributing variable.

Learning from the Codon Table: Convergent Recoding Provides Novel Understanding on the Evolution of A-to-I RNA Editing.

Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing recodes the genetic information. Apart from diversifying the proteome, another tempting advantage of RNA recoding is to correct deleterious DNA mutation and restore ancestral allele. Solid evidences for beneficial restorative editing are very rare in animals. By searching for "convergent recoding" under a phylogenetic context, we proposed this term for judging the potential restorative functions of particular editing site. For the well-known mammalian Gln>Arg (Q>R) recoding site, its ancestral state in vertebrate genomes was the pre-editing Gln, and all 470 available mammalian genomes strictly avoid other three equivalent ways to achieve Arg in protein. The absence of convergent recoding from His>Arg, or synonymous mutations on Gln codons, could be attributed to the strong maintenance on editing motif and structure, but the absence of direct A-to-G mutation is extremely unexpected. With similar ideas, we found cases of convergent recoding in Drosophila genus, reducing the possibility of their restorative function. In summary, we defined an interesting scenario of convergent recoding, the occurrence of which could be used as preliminary judgements for whether a recoding site has a sole restorative role. Our work provides novel insights to the natural selection and evolution of RNA editing.

Machine learning based on metabolomics unveils neutrophil extracellular trap-related metabolic signatures in non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing chemoimmunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the primary form of lung cancer, and the combination of chemotherapy with immunotherapy offers promising treatment options for patients suffering from this disease. However, the emergence of drug resistance significantly limits the effectiveness of these therapeutic strategies. Consequently, it is imperative to devise methods for accurately detecting and evaluating the efficacy of these treatments. AIM: To identify the metabolic signatures associated with neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and chemoimmunotherapy efficacy in NSCLC patients. METHODS: In total, 159 NSCLC patients undergoing first-line chemoimmunotherapy were enrolled. We first investigated the characteristics influencing clinical efficacy. Circulating levels of NETs and cytokines were measured by commercial kits. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry quantified plasma metabolites, and differential metabolites were identified. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, support vector machine-recursive feature elimination, and random forest algorithms were employed. By using plasma metabolic profiles and machine learning algorithms, predictive metabolic signatures were established. RESULTS: First, the levels of circulating interleukin-8, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and NETs were closely related to poor efficacy of first-line chemoimmunotherapy. Patients were classed into a low NET group or a high NET group. A total of 54 differential plasma metabolites were identified. These metabolites were primarily involved in arachidonic acid and purine metabolism. Three key metabolites were identified as crucial variables, including 8,9-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid, L-malate, and bis(monoacylglycerol)phosphate (18:1/16:0). Using metabolomic sequencing data and machine learning methods, key metabolic signatures were screened to predict NET level as well as chemoimmunotherapy efficacy. CONCLUSION: The identified metabolic signatures may effectively distinguish NET levels and predict clinical benefit from chemoimmunotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Association Between Gut and Nasal Microbiota and Allergic Rhinitis: A Systematic Review.

Allergic rhinitis is a chronic non-infectious inflammation of the nasal mucosa mediated by specific IgE. Recently, the human microbiome has drawn broad interest as a potential new target for treating this condition. This paper succinctly summarizes the main findings of 17 eligible studies published by February 2024, involving 1044 allergic rhinitis patients and 954 healthy controls from 5 countries. These studies examine differences in the human microbiome across important mucosal interfaces, including the nasal and intestinal areas, between patients and controls. Overall, findings suggest variations in the gut microbiota between allergic rhinitis patients and healthy individuals, although the specific bacterial taxa that significantly changed were not always consistent across studies. Due to the limited scope of existing research and patient coverage, the relationship between the nasal microbiome and allergic rhinitis remains inconclusive. The article discusses the potential immune-regulating role of the gut microbiome in allergic rhinitis. Further well-designed clinical trials with large-scale recruitment of allergic rhinitis patients are encouraged.

PAI-1 uncouples integrin-ß1 from restrain by membrane-bound ß-catenin to promote collagen fibril remodeling in obesity-related neoplasms.

The paracrine actions of adipokine plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) are implicated in obesity-associated tumorigenesis. Here, we show that PAI-1 mediates extracellular matrix (ECM) signaling via epigenetic repression of DKK1 in endometrial epithelial cells (EECs). While the loss of DKK1 is known to increase ß-catenin accumulation for WNT signaling activation, this epigenetic repression causes ß-catenin release from transmembrane integrins. Furthermore, PAI-1 elicits the disengagement of TIMP2 and SPARC from integrin-ß1 on the cell surface, lifting an integrin-ß1-ECM signaling constraint. The heightened interaction of integrin-ß1 with type 1 collagen (COL1) remodels extracellular fibrillar structures in the ECM. Consequently, the enhanced nanomechanical stiffness of this microenvironment is conducive to EEC motility and neoplastic transformation. The formation of extensively branched COL1 fibrils is also observed in endometrial tumors of patients with obesity. The findings highlight PAI-1 as a contributor to enhanced integrin-COL1 engagement and extensive ECM remodeling during obesity-associated neoplastic development.

Ovarian function in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: Pathogenesis, drug application and prospective therapies.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease in which multiple organs are damaged that prevails in fertile women. Currently, glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants are widely used to treat SLE patients. However, ovarian dysfunction occurs following the use of these drugs in women with SLE. Here, we summarize recent progress in terms of understanding ovarian injury, the effects of drug application and strategies to improve ovarian function in women with SLE. This review could be helpful to precisely cure SLE in women desiring to have offspring.

The association between circulating leukocytes and inflammatory bowel disease: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a highly prevalent, recurrent, chronic intestinal inflammatory disease. Several observational studies have shown that circulating leukocytes are strongly associated with IBD. However, whether alterations in leukocytes are causally related to IBD remains uncertain. The present study explores this issue with the Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis method. Methods: The Genome wide association study (GWAS) statistical data related to circulating leukocytes and IBD were obtained from the Blood Cell Consortium and the IEU Qpen GWAS project, respectively. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was used as the main MR analytical method, coupled with a series of sensitivity analyses to ensure the reliability of the results. Results: The results of IVW showed that increased monocyte count (especially CD14- CD16+ monocyte absolute counts) was negatively correlated with the risk of IBD and its main subtypes. Increased neutrophil count was positively associated with the risk of IBD and ulcerative colitis. Meanwhile, there was no causal relationship between basophil, eosinophil, lymphocyte counts and IBD risk. Conclusion: These results indicate that a causal relationship exists between circulating leukocytes and the risk of IBD and its subtypes, which confirms the important role that the leukocyte immune system plays in IBD. Our findings provide additional research directions for the clinical prevention and treatment of IBD.

Does coevolution in refugia drive mimicry in bumble bees? Insights from a South Asian mimicry group.

Müllerian mimicry was proposed to be an example of a coevolved mutualism promoted by population isolation in glacial refugia. This, however, has not been well supported in butterfly models. Here, we use genomic data to test this theory while examining the population genetics behind mimetic diversification in a pair of co-mimetic bumble bees, Bombus breviceps Smith and Bombus trifasciatus Smith. In both lineages, populations were structured by geography but not as much by color pattern, suggesting sharing of color alleles across regions of restricted gene flow and formation of mimicry complexes in the absence of genetic differentiation. Demographic analyses showed mismatches between historical effective population size changes and glacial cycles, and niche modeling revealed only mild habitat retraction during glaciation. Moreover, mimetic subpopulations of the same color form in the two lineages only in some cases exhibit similar population history and genetic divergence. Therefore, the current study supports a more complex history in this comimicry than a simple refugium-coevolution model.

Parecoxib inhibits tumorigenesis and angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma through ERK-VEGF/MMPs signaling pathway.

Parecoxib, a well-recognized nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, has been reported to possess anticancer properties in various tumor types. In this work, we aimed to investigate the potential anticancer effects of parecoxib on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. To assess the impact of parecoxib on HCC cell proliferation, we employed Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assays. Hoechst/propidium iodide (PI) double staining and flow cytometry were performed to evaluate apoptosis and cell cycle analysis. Wound healing and transwell assays were utilized to assess cell migration and invasion. Tube formation assay was employed to analyze angiogenesis. Protein levels were determined using western blotting, and mRNA expression levels were assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A xenograft mouse model was used to confirm the antitumor effects of parecoxib on HCC tumors in vivo. Our data demonstrated that parecoxib effectively inhibited the proliferation of HCC cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, parecoxib induced cell cycle arrest in the G2 phase and promoted apoptosis. Moreover, parecoxib hindered tumor migration and invasion by impeding the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process. Further investigation showed that parecoxib could significantly suppress angiogenesis through the inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) axis. Notably, treatment with the ERK activator phorbol myristate acetate upregulated the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, and VEGF and reversed the function of parecoxib in HCC cells. Besides, parecoxib displayed its antitumor efficacy in vivo. Collectively, our results suggest that parecoxib ameliorates HCC progression by regulating proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis through the ERK-VEGF/MMPs signaling pathway.

Coping methods of college students with different personality traits when facing COVID-19 from the anxiety psychology perspective.

Objective: Based on a survey of anxiety among college students during the epidemic, this study takes anxiety as an example to study the coping methods of college students with different personality traits. Thus predicting the behavioral tendencies of college students and proposing some appropriate suggestions for the current psychological education work of college students. Method: The study was carried out during the large-scale outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, and the investigation lasted one month. Using the Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Simplified Chinese Version (EPQ-RSC), and Trait Coping Style Scale (TCSQ), an online questionnaire survey was conducted on 932 college students to analyze the mutual effects of different grades, genders, personality traits, coping methods, and other factors. Results: The research found that there was a significant gender difference in negative coping methods and anxiety among college students. Grade differences: In the comparative study of personality traits, there are gender differences in introversion and concealment dimensions and grade differences in neuroticism and concealment dimensions. There is a pairwise correlation between personality traits, coping methods, and anxiety. There is a significant positive correlation between the dimensions of psychoticism, neuroticism and anxiety; There is a significant negative correlation between introversion, concealment, and anxiety. Positive coping methods are significantly negatively correlated with anxiety, while negative coping methods are significantly positively correlated with anxiety. The positive coping style is significantly negatively correlated with the dimensions of psychoticism and neuroticism and positively correlated with the dimensions of introversion, introversion, and concealment; Negative coping methods are significantly positively correlated with the dimensions of psychoticism and neuroticism and negatively correlated with the dimensions of introversion, introversion, and concealment. Conclusion: The research results indicate that the mental health issues of college students need to be taken seriously to prevent the spread of anxiety.

SIRT5-Mediated Desuccinylation of RAB7A Protects Against Cadmium-Induced Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology by Restoring Autophagic Flux.

Cadmium (Cd) is a neurotoxic contaminant that induces cognitive decline similar to that observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Autophagic flux dysfunction is attributed to the pathogenesis of AD, and this study aimed to investigate the effect of autophagy on environmental Cd-induced AD progression and the underlying mechanism. Here, Cd exposure inhibited autophagosome-lysosome fusion and impaired lysosomal function, leading to defects in autophagic clearance and then to APP accumulation and nerve cell death. Proteomic analysis coupled with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) identified SIRT5 as an essential molecular target in Cd-impaired autophagic flux. Mechanistically, Cd exposure hampered the expression of SIRT5, thus increasing the succinylation of RAB7A at lysine 31 and inhibiting RAB7A activity, which contributed to autophagic flux blockade. Importantly, SIRT5 overexpression led to the restoration of autophagic flux blockade, the alleviation of Aß deposition and memory deficits, and the desuccinylation of RAB7A in Cd-exposed FAD4T mice. Additionally, SIRT5 levels decrease mainly in neurons but not in other cell clusters in the brains of AD patients according to single-nucleus RNA sequencing data from the public dataset GSE188545. This study reveals that SIRT5-catalysed RAB7A desuccinylation is an essential adaptive mechanism for the amelioration of Cd-induced autophagic flux blockade and AD-like pathogenesis.

Grape seed extract prevents oestrogen deficiency-induced bone loss by modulating the gut microbiota and metabolites.

Proanthocyanidin-rich grape seed extract (GSE) has been shown to have the potential to protect bones, although the underlying mechanism remains unknown. The current study aims to explore GSE's preventive and therapeutic impact on bone loss induced by oestrogen deficiency and the underlying mechanism through the gut microbiota (GM) and metabolomic responses. In oestrogen-deficient ovariectomized (OVX) mice, GSE ameliorated bone loss by inhibiting the expansion of bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT), restoring BMAT lipolysis and promoting bone formation. GSE regulated OVX-induced GM dysbiosis by reducing the abundance of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, such as Alistipes, Turicibacter and Romboutsia, while elevating the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium. The modified GM primarily impacted lipid and amino acid metabolism. Furthermore, the serum metabolites of GSE exhibited a significant enrichment in lipid metabolism. In summary, GSE shows potential as a functional food for preventing oestrogen deficiency-induced bone loss by modulating GM and metabolite-mediated lipid metabolism.

Metagenomic approach revealed the mobility and co-occurrence of antibiotic resistomes between non-intensive aquaculture environment and human.

BACKGROUND: Aquaculture is an important food source worldwide. The extensive use of antibiotics in intensive large-scale farms has resulted in resistance development. Non-intensive aquaculture is another aquatic feeding model that is conducive to ecological protection and closely related to the natural environment. However, the transmission of resistomes in non-intensive aquaculture has not been well characterized. Moreover, the influence of aquaculture resistomes on human health needs to be further understood. Here, metagenomic approach was employed to identify the mobility of aquaculture resistomes and estimate the potential risks to human health. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were widely present in non-intensive aquaculture systems and the multidrug type was most abundant accounting for 34%. ARGs of non-intensive aquaculture environments were mainly shaped by microbial communities accounting for 51%. Seventy-seven genera and 36 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were significantly associated with 23 ARG types (p < 0.05) according to network analysis. Six ARGs were defined as core ARGs (top 3% most abundant with occurrence frequency > 80%) which occupied 40% of ARG abundance in fish gut samples. Seventy-one ARG-carrying contigs were identified and 75% of them carried MGEs simultaneously. The qacEdelta1 and sul1 formed a stable combination and were detected simultaneously in aquaculture environments and humans. Additionally, 475 high-quality metagenomic-assembled genomes (MAGs) were recovered and 81 MAGs carried ARGs. The multidrug and bacitracin resistance genes were the most abundant ARG types carried by MAGs. Strikingly, Fusobacterium_A (opportunistic human pathogen) carrying ARGs and MGEs were identified in both the aquaculture system and human guts, which indicated the potential risks of ARG transfer. CONCLUSIONS: The mobility and pathogenicity of aquaculture resistomes were explored by a metagenomic approach. Given the observed co-occurrence of resistomes between the aquaculture environment and human, more stringent regulation of resistomes in non-intensive aquaculture systems may be required. Video Abstract.

Biomimetic Leaf-Vein Aerogel for Electromagnetic Wave Absorption and Thermal Superinsulation.

Electromagnetic protection in extreme environments requires materials with excellent thermal insulation capability and mechanical property to withstand severe temperature fluctuations and complex external stresses. Achieving strong electromagnetic wave absorption (EMA) while sustaining these exceptional properties remains a significant challenge. Herein, a facile approach is demonstrated to fabricate a biomimetic leaf-vein MXene/CNTs/PI (MCP) aerogel with parallel venations through bidirectional freeze-casting method. Due to its multi-arch lamellar structure and parallel venations within the aerogel layers, the ultralight MCP aerogel (16.9 mg·cm-3) achieves a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -75.8 dB and a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EABmax) of 7.14 GHz with an absorber content of only 2.4 wt%, which also exhibits superelasticity and structural stability over a wide temperature range from -196 to 400 °C. Moreover, this unique structure facilitates rapid heat dissipation within the layers, while significantly impeding heat transfer between adjacent layers, achieving an ultralow thermal conductivity of 15.3 mW·m-1·K-1 for thermal superinsulation. The combination of excellent EMA performance, robust structural stability, and thermal superinsulation provides a potential design scheme under extreme conditions, especially in aerospace applications.