13C-methacetin breath test parameter S for liver diseases diagnosis

The mechanism of ¹³C-methacetin breath test is set forth clearly with the analysis of pharmacokinetics mode, and the measuring method of ¹³C-methacetin breath test and its clinical applications in the diagnosis of liver diseases are reported in detail. On the basis of comprehensive analysis of the clinical test data, the advanced diagnostic parameter S is of important significance for the application and development of breath test.     

LATS1 K751 acetylation blocks activation of Hippo signalling and switches LATS1 from a tumor suppressor to an oncoprotein

Science China Life Sciences - Large tumor suppressor 1 (LATS1) is the key kinase controlling activation of Hippo signalling pathway. Post-translational modifications of LATS1 modulate its kinase...     

Separation of synthetic oligonucleotide dithioates from monothiophosphate impurities by anion-exchange chromatography on a mono-q column

A method using a strong anion-exchange liquid-chromatography column, Mono-Q, has been developed for high-resolution analysis and purification of oligonucleotide dithioates, which were synthesized by an automated, solid-phase, phosphorothioamidite chemistry. High-resolution separation of oligonucleotide phosphorodithioates from monothiophosphate impurities was obtained. High-resolution separation was also demonstrated at pH 8. The separation of oligonucleotide dithioates was found to be linearly dependent on the number of sulfurs for the same sequence length. Thiocyanate, SCN-, as eluting anion, can be used to purify oligonucleotides containing a high percentage of phosphorodithioate linkages in lower salt concentrations and provides better separation than chloride as eluting anion.     

Measuring spike timing distance in the Hindmarsh–Rose neurons

In the present paper, a simple spike timing distance is defined which can be used to measure the degree of synchronization with the information only encoded in the precise timing of the spike trains. Via calculating the spike timing distance defined in this paper, the spike train similarity of uncoupled Hindmarsh–Rose neurons in bursting or spiking states with different initial conditions is investigated and the results are compared with other spike train distance measures. Later, the spike timing distance measure is applied to study the synchronization of coupled or common noise-stimulated neurons. Counterintuitively, the addition of weak coupling or common noise doesn’t enhance the degree of synchronization although after critical values, both of them can induce complete synchronizations. More interestingly, the common noise plays opposite roles for weak and strong enough couplings. Finally, it should be noted that the measure defined in this paper can be extended to measure large neuronal ensembles and the lag synchronization.     

Structural basis of NF-κB signaling by the p75 neurotrophin receptor interaction with adaptor protein TRADD through their respective death domains

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75^NTR) is a critical mediator of neuronal death and tissue remodeling and has been implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. The death domain (DD) of p75^NTR is an intracellular signaling hub and has been shown to interact with diverse adaptor proteins. In breast cancer cells, binding of the adaptor protein TRADD to p75^NTR depends on nerve growth factor and promotes cell survival. However, the structural mechanism and functional significance of TRADD recruitment in neuronal p75^NTR signaling remain poorly understood. Here we report an NMR structure of the p75^NTR-DD and TRADD-DD complex and reveal the mechanism of specific recognition of the TRADD-DD by the p75^NTR-DD mainly through electrostatic interactions. Furthermore, we identified spatiotemporal overlap of p75^NTR and TRADD expression in developing cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) at early postnatal stages and discover the physiological relevance of the interaction between TRADD and p75^NTR in the regulation of canonical NF-κB signaling and cell survival in CGNs. Our results provide a new structural framework for understanding how the recruitment of TRADD to p75^NTR through DD interactions creates a membrane-proximal platform, which can be efficiently regulated by various neurotrophic factors through extracellular domains of p75^NTR, to propagate downstream signaling in developing neurons.     

我国新天敌资源——小蠹蒲螨形态与生物学研究

小蠹蒲螨Pyemotes scolyti(Oudemans,1936)为我国新纪录种。在河北,是核果类果树毁灭性害虫果树小蠹Scolytus japonicus Chapuis和多毛小蠹S.seulensis Mu-rayamy的有效天敌。该螨胎生,1年多代(25℃,8d完成1代),雌雄性比30:1～2,每雌产后代平均60余头,有较高的利用价值。     

Highly Stable Supercapacitors with Conducting Polymer Core‐Shell Electrodes for Energy Storage Applications

Conducting polymers such as polyaniline (PAni) show a great potential as pseudocapacitor materials for electrochemical energy storage applications. Yet, the cycling instability of PAni resulting from structural alteration is a major hurdle to its commercial application. Here, the development of nanostructured PAni–RuO₂ core–shell arrays as electrodes for highly stable pseudocapacitors with excellent energy storage performance is reported. A thin layer of RuO₂ grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on PAni nanofibers plays a crucial role in stabilizing the PAni pseudocapacitors and improving their energy density. The pseudocapacitors, which are based on optimized PAni–RuO₂ core–shell nanostructured electrodes, exhibit very high specific capacitance (710 F g^?1 at 5 mV s^?1) and power density (42.2 kW kg^?1) at an energy density of 10 Wh kg^?1. Furthermore, they exhibit remarkable capacitance retention of ≈88% after 10 000 cycles at very high current density of 20 A g^?1, superior to that of pristine PAni‐based pseudocapacitors. This prominently enhanced electrochemical stability successfully demonstrates the buffering effect of ALD coating on PAni, which provides a new approach for the preparation of metal‐oxide/conducting polymer hybrid electrodes with excellent electrochemical performance.