Shexiang Baoxin Pill treats acute myocardial infarction by promoting angiogenesis via GDF15-TRPV4 signaling.

Angiogenesis has been considered a pivotal strategy for treating ischemic heart disease. One possible approach, the Shexiang Baoxin Pill (MUSKARDIA), has been noted to promote angiogenesis, but its underlying mechanism is still largely unknown. We aimed to determine the effects of MUSKARDIA on acute myocardial infarction (AMI), as well as the underlying mechanistic bases. AMI was induced in rats, using left anterior descending coronary arterial occlusion, and either 6 (low) or 12 (high-dose) mg/kg/day of MUSKARDIA was administered for 56 days. We found that MUSKARDIA improved cardiac function and counteracted against adverse remodeling among AMI rats, which most likely is due to it promoting angiogenesis. Transcriptome analysis by RNA-sequencing found that MUSKARDIA up-regulated cardiac pro-angiogenic genes, particularly growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), which was confirmed by RT-qPCR. This up-regulation was also correlated with elevated serum GDF15 levels. In vitro analyses with human umbilical vein endothelial cells found that increased GDF15, stimulated by MUSKARDIA, resulted in enhanced cell migration, proliferation, and tubular formation, all of which were reversed after GDF15 knockdown using a lentiviral vector. Gene Ontology, as well as Kyoto Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses identified calcium signaling pathway as a major contributor to these outcomes, which was verified by Western blot and Cal-590 AM loading showing that transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 4 protein (TRPV4) and intracellular Ca2+ levels increased in accordance with MUSKARDIA-induced GDF15 up-regulation, and decreased with GDF15 knock-down. Therefore, MUSKARDIA may exert its cardioprotective effects via stimulating the GDF15/TRPV4/calcium signaling/angiogenesis axis.

PDCD6 Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation and Metastasis through the AKT/GSK3ß/ß-catenin Pathway.

Objective: Programmed cell death 6 (PDCD6), a Ca 2+-binding protein, has been reported to be aberrantly expressed in all kinds of tumors. The aim of this study was to explore the role and mechanism of PDCD6 in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Methods: The expression levels of PDCD6 in liver cancer patients and HCC cell lines were analyzed using bioinformatics and Western blotting. Cell viability and metastasis were determined by methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) and transwell assays, respectively. And Western blotting was used to test related biomarkers and molecular pathway factors in HCC cell lines. LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor inhibiting AKT, was used to suppress the AKT/GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway to help evaluate the role of this pathway in the HCC carcinogenesis associated with PDCD6. Results: The analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas Database suggested that high PDCD6 expression levels were relevant to liver cancer progression. This was consistent with our finding of higher levels of PDCD6 expression in HCC cell lines than in normal hepatocyte cell lines. The results of MTT, transwell migration, and Western blotting assays revealed that overexpression of PDCD6 positively regulated HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Conversely, the upregulation of PDCD6 expression in the presence of an AKT inhibitor inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In addition, PDCD6 promoted HCC cell migration and invasion by epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The mechanistic investigation proved that PDCD6 acted as a tumor promoter in HCC through the AKT/GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway, increasing the expression of transcription factors and cellular proliferation and metastasis. Conclusion: PDCD6 has a tumor stimulative role in HCC mediated by AKT/GSK3ß/ß-catenin signaling and might be a potential target for HCC progression.

Phytochemicals, Biological Activities, Molecular Mechanisms, and Future Prospects of Plantago asiatica L.

Plantago asiatica L. has been used as a vegetable and nutritious food in Asia for thousands of years. According to recent phytochemical and pharmacological research, the active compositions of the plant contribute to various health benefits, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer. This article reviews the 87 components of the plant and their structures, as well as their biological activities and molecular research progress, in detail. This review provides valuable reference material for further study, production, and application of P. asiatica, as well as its components in functional foods and therapeutic agents.

Biocompatible Nanotomography of Tightly Focused Light.

Tightly focusing a spatially modulated laser beam lays the foundations for advanced optical techniques, such as a holographic optical tweezer and deterministic super-resolution imaging. Precisely mapping the subwavelength features of those highly confined fields is critical to improving the spatial resolution, especially in highly scattering biotissues. However, current techniques characterizing focal fields are mostly limited to conditions such as under a vacuum and on a glass surface. An optical probe with low cytotoxicity and resistance to autofluorescence is the key to achieving in vivo applications. Here, we use a newly emerging quantum reference beacon, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in the nanodiamond, to characterize the focal field of the near-infrared (NIR) laser focus in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). This biocompatible background-free focal field mapping technique has the potential to optimize in vivo optical imaging and manipulation.

Liquid-Crystal-Mediated Geometric Phase: From Transmissive to Broadband Reflective Planar Optics.

Planar optical elements that can manipulate the multidimensional physical parameters of light efficiently and compactly are highly sought after in modern optics and nanophotonics. In recent years, the geometric phase, induced by the photonic spin-orbit interaction, has attracted extensive attention for planar optics due to its powerful beam shaping capability. The geometric phase can usually be generated via inhomogeneous anisotropic materials, among which liquid crystals (LCs) have been a focus. Their pronounced optical properties and controllable and stimuli-responsive self-assembly behavior introduce new possibilities for LCs beyond traditional panel displays. Recent advances in LC-mediated geometric phase planar optics are briefly reviewed. First, several recently developed photopatterning techniques are presented, enabling the accurate fabrication of complicated LC microstructures. Subsequently, nematic LC-based transmissive planar optical elements and chiral LC-based broadband reflective elements are reviewed systematically. Versatile functionalities are revealed, from conventional beam steering and focusing, to advanced structuring. Combining the geometric phase with structured LC materials offers a satisfactory platform for planar optics with desired functionalities and drastically extends exceptional applications of ordered soft matter. Some prospects on this rapidly advancing field are also provided.

Helicity-dependent forked vortex lens based on photo-patterned liquid crystals.

A liquid crystal forked vortex lens integrated with Pancharatnam-Berry phase is proposed and demonstrated via a dynamic photo-patterning technique. The forked vortex lens can generate two optical vortices with opposite spin and orbital angular momentum, which are spatially separated to two focal points with one optical vortex focused and the other defocused. It exhibits distinctive helicity-dependency and ultra-high diffraction efficiency up to 95%. The topological charges of generated optical vortices are detected via astigmatic transformation. This work supplies an easy fabrication and low power consumption strategy for generating and separating (de-)focused optical vortices simultaneously.

Polarization-controllable Airy beams generated via a photoaligned director-variant liquid crystal mask.

Researches on Airy beams have grown explosively since the first demonstration in 2007 due to the distinguishing properties of nondiffraction, transverse acceleration and self-healing. To date, a simple and compact approach for generating Airy beams in high quality and efficiency has remained challenging. Here, we propose and demonstrate a liquid crystal (LC) polarization Airy mask (PAM) featured by spatially variant LC azimuthal director. The PAM is fabricated through photoaligning LC via a polarization-sensitive alignment agent suophonic azo dye SD1. Thanks to the special design, a novel feature of polarization-controllable switch between dual Airy beams of orthogonal circular polarization is presented. The molecular-level continuity of LC director significantly improves the quality and efficiency of resultant Airy beams. Besides, the PAM can handle intense light due to the absence of absorptive electrodes. Additional merits of compact size, low cost and broad wavelength tolerance are also exhibited. This work settles a fundamental requirement for Airy beam applications of optical manipulations, biology science and even some uncharted territories.

Simulation and optimization of liquid crystal gratings with alternate twisted nematic and planar aligned regions.

Electro-optical properties of liquid crystal (LC) gratings with alternate twisted nematic (TN) and planar aligned (PA) regions are simulated. Three typical steps are introduced: first, the LC director distributions of the two different regions are simulated. Then, the phase and amplitude of the emergent light in each region are calculated through Jones matrix. Based on this information, the voltage-dependent diffraction efficiency is achieved by Fourier transformation, finally. It gives an exact explanation for the mechanism of this kind of gratings. Experiments with optimized parameters are carried out through photopatterning. The trend of the measured voltage-dependent efficiency fits the simulation result very well. This method can be used to optimize the performance of LC gratings with alternate TN and PA regions, and exhibits great potential in the simulation of corresponding photonics and display applications.

Generating switchable and reconfigurable optical vortices via photopatterning of liquid crystals.

Liquid-crystal fork gratings are demonstrated through photopatterning realized on a DMD-based microlithography system. This supplies a new strategy for generating fast switchable, reconfigurable, wavelength-tolerant and polarization-insensitive optical vortices. The technique has great potential in broad fields such as OAM-based quantum computations, optical communications, and micromanipulation.

Complex liquid crystal alignments accomplished by Talbot self-imaging.

We introduce Talbot self-imaging into photoalignment technique to record Talbot carpet into an LC cell. Through the design of the setup, different images are presented on a single sample. By taking a simple 1D grating mask as an example, an LC cell with complex alignment structures applicable as Mach-Zehnder interferometer arrays is demonstrated. Further mask design permits feasibility of various structures which are practicable for many applications. This method may facilitate the fabrication of photonic applications such as optical communication, computing and sensing, etc.

A fast response variable optical attenuator based on blue phase liquid crystal.

Blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) are promising candidates for next generation display thanks to their fast response and quasi-isotropic optical properties. By taking these advantages, we propose to introduce the material into fiber-optic applications. As an example, a BPLC based variable optical attenuator (VOA) is demonstrated with a polarization independent design. The device shows normally-off feature when no field is applied. Response time down to submillisecond scale is achieved in switching between two arbitrary attenuation states. The attenuation range is also measured from 1480 to 1550 nm, which cover the whole telecomm S-band and part of the C-band. The overall performances reach the requirements for practical use; while still have room for further improvement. Through this example, the applicability of BPLC in fiber-optic devices is presented, which may impel the development of many other photonic applications from infrared to even microwave regions.