Mafb and c-Maf Have Prenatal Compensatory and Postnatal Antagonistic Roles in Cortical Interneuron Fate and Function

1. Download high-res image (175KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

Changes of plant community composition instead of soil nutrient status drive the legacy effects of historical nitrogen deposition on plant community N:P stoichiometry

Plant and Soil - Uncovering the importance of soil and plant characteristics in driving the legacy effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on plant community nutrient stoichiometry would improve our...     

视觉功能训练联合托吡卡胺滴眼液治疗假性近视的临床疗效观察

摘要 目的：探讨视觉功能训练联合托吡卡胺滴眼液在治疗假性近视中的临床疗效。方法：选取中国人民解放军陆军特色医学中心眼科和重庆佑佑宝贝妇儿医院眼科2019年2月至2019年8月收治的400例假性近视患儿作为研究对象,将其随机分为对照组和观察组(n=200)。对照组给予滴眼液缓解眼疲劳治疗,观察组则采用视觉功能训练联合托吡卡胺滴眼液治疗。比较两组患儿治疗前及治疗2个月、6个月后裸眼视力、眼轴长度、屈光度、正相对调节量和视疲劳评分的变化。结果：治疗2个月和6个月后,观察组患儿裸眼视力分别为(0.75±0.05)和(0.81±0.04),较对照组显著上升(P<0.05);屈光度分别为(+0.05±0.50)和(+0.06±0.48),明显高于对照组(P<0.05);正相对调节量检测结果依次是(-1.98±0.07)和(-2.51±0.24),较对照组明显增加(P<0.05)。两组患儿视觉感知双眼视功能均有明显改善,其中观察组视觉功能恢复显著高于对照组(P<0.05)。视疲劳调查显示观察组患儿视疲劳评分分别为(6.90±0.89)分和(3.91±0.89)分,显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。结论：视觉功能训练联合托吡卡胺滴眼液治疗能有效提高患儿裸眼视力、改善屈光度、正相对调节量和视觉感知功能,从而减少视疲劳,预防近视。     

Epidermal restriction confers robustness to organ shapes

The shape of comparable tissues and organs is consistent among individuals of a given species, but how this consistency or robustness is achieved remains an open question. The interaction between morphogenetic factors determines organ formation and subsequent shaping, which is ultimately a mechanical process. Using a computational approach, we show that the epidermal layer is essential for the robustness of organ geometry control. Specifically, proper epidermal restriction allows organ asymmetry maintenance, and the tensile epidermal layer is sufficient to suppress local variability in growth, leading to shape robustness. The model explains the enhanced organ shape variations in epidermal mutant plants. In addition, differences in the patterns of epidermal restriction may underlie the initial establishment of organ asymmetry. Our results show that epidermal restriction can answer the longstanding question of how cellular growth noise is averaged to produce precise organ shapes, and the findings also shed light on organ asymmetry establishment.     

Knockdown of lncRNA AK139328 alleviates myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury in diabetic mice via modulating miR‐204‐3p and inhibiting autophagy

This study was aimed at investigating the effects of lncRNA AK139328 on myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI) in diabetic mice. Ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) model was constructed in normal mice (NM) and diabetic mice (DM). Microarray analysis was utilized to identify lncRNA AK139328 overexpressed in DM after myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (MI/R). RT‐qPCR assay was utilized to investigate the expressions of lncRNA AK139328 and miR‐204‐3p in cardiomyocyte and tissues. Left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end systolic diameter (LVESD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and fractioning shortening (FS) were obtained by transthoracic echocardiography. Haematoxylin‐eosin (HE) staining and Masson staining were utilized to detect the damage of myocardial tissues degradation of myocardial fibres and integrity of myocardial collagen fibres. Evans Blue/TTC staining was used to determine the myocardial infarct size. TUNEL staining was utilized to investigate cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The targeted relationship between lncRNA AK139328 and miR‐204‐3p was confirmed by dual‐luciferase reporter gene assay. MTT assay was used for analysis of cardiomyocyte proliferation. Western blot was utilized to investigate the expression of alpha smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), Atg7, Atg5, LC3‐II/LC3‐I and p62 marking autophagy. Knockdown of lncRNA AK139328 relieved myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury in DM and inhibited cardiomyocyte autophagy as well as apoptosis of DM. LncRNA AK139328 modulated miR‐204‐3p directly. MiR‐204‐3p and knockdown of lncRNA AK139328 relieved hypoxia/reoxygenation injury via inhibiting cardiomyocyte autophagy. Silencing lncRNA AK139328 significantly increased miR‐204‐3p expression and inhibited cardiomyocyte autophagy, thereby attenuating MIRI in DM.     

Approximating subject-specific brain injury models via scaling based on head–brain morphological relationships

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Most human head/brain models represent a generic adult male head/brain. They may suffer in accuracy when investigating traumatic brain injury (TBI) on...     

SiO2‐Enhanced Structural Stability and Strong Adhesion with a New Binder of Konjac Glucomannan Enables Stable Cycling of Silicon Anodes for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Silicon‐based anodes with high theoretical capacity have intriguing potential applications for next‐generation high‐energy lithium‐ion batteries, but suffer from huge volumetric change that causes pulverization of electrodes. Rational design and construction of effective electrode structures combined with versatile binders remain a significant challenge. Here, a unique natural binder of konjac glucomannan (KGM) is developed and an amorphous protective layer of SiO₂ is fabricated on the surface of Si nanoparticles (Si@SiO₂) to enhance the adhesion. Benefiting from a plethora of hydroxyl groups, the KGM binder with inherently high adhesion and superior mechanical properties provides abundant contact sites to active materials. Molecular mechanics simulations and experimental results demonstrate that the enhanced adhesion between KGM and Si@SiO₂ can bond the particles tightly to form a robust electrode. In addition to bridging KGM molecules, the SiO₂‐functionalized surface may serve as a buffer layer to alleviate the stresses of Si nanoparticles resulting from the volume change. The as‐fabricated KGM/Si@SiO₂ electrode exhibits outstanding structural stability upon long‐term cycles. A highly reversible capacity of 1278 mAh g^?1 can be achieved over 1000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g^?1, and the capacity decay is as small as 0.056% per cycle.     

漆树乳汁道分泌细胞的超微结构及其与生漆产生和分泌关系的研究

漆树(Rhus verniciflua)乳汁道分泌细胞含有丰富的质体、内质网和嗜锇物质。电子显微镜的现察结果表明,嗜锇的生漆成分合成的可能场所是质体和内质网,并且通过内质网分子和小泡群与质膜相互接触并融合以及质膜内褶包被等三种形式释放到质膜和细胞壁之间的间隙中;再经过细胞壁中乳汁道腔形成时断裂了的胞间连丝通道和扩散渗透两条途径,越过细胞壁分泌到乳汁道腔中。细胞核、线粒体、高尔基体以及细胞质基质或多或少也参与了上述过程。     

Disruption of EARLY LESION LEAF 1, encoding a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase,induces ROS accumulation and cell death in rice

Lesion-mimic mutants (LMMs) provide a valuable tool to reveal the molecular mechanisms determining programmed cell death (PCD) in plants. Despite intensive research, the mechanisms behind PCD and the formation of lesions in various LMMs still remain to be elucidated. Here, we identified a rice (Oryza sativa) LMM, early lesion leaf 1 (ell1), cloned the causal gene by map-based cloning, and verified this by complementation. ELL1 encodes a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, and the ELL1 protein was located in the endoplasmic reticulum. The ell1 mutant exhibited decreased chlorophyll contents, serious chloroplast degradation, upregulated expression of chloroplast degradation-related genes, and attenuated photosynthetic protein activity, indicating that ELL1 is involved in chloroplast development. RNA sequencing analysis showed that genes related to oxygen binding were differentially expressed in ell1 and wild-type plants; histochemistry and paraffin sectioning results indicated that hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and callose accumulated in the ell1 leaves, and the cell structure around the lesions was severely damaged, which indicated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulated and cell death occurred in the mutant. TUNEL staining and comet experiments revealed that severe DNA degradation and abnormal PCD occurred in the ell1 mutants, which implied that excessive ROS accumulation may induce DNA damage and ROS-mediated cell death in the mutant. Additionally, lesion initiation in the ell1 mutant was light dependent and temperature sensitive. Our findings revealed that ELL1 affects chloroplast development or function, and that loss of ELL1 function induces ROS accumulation and lesion formation in rice.     

GoNe encoding a class VIIIb AP2/ERF is required for both extrafloral and floral nectary development in Gossypium

The floral nectary, first recognized and described by Carl Linnaeus, is a remarkable organ that serves to provide carbohydrate-rich nectar to visiting pollinators in return for gamete transfer between flowers. Therefore, the nectary has indispensable biological significance in plant reproduction and even in evolution. Only two genes, CRC and STY, have been reported to regulate floral nectary development. However, it is still unknown what genes contribute to extrafloral nectary development. Here, we report that a nectary development gene in Gossypium (GoNe), annotated as an APETALA 2/ethylene-responsive factor (AP2/ERF), is responsible for the formation of both floral and extrafloral nectaries. GoNe plants that are silenced via virus-induced gene silencing technology and/or knocked out by Cas9 produce a nectariless phenotype. Point mutation and gene truncation simultaneously in duplicated genes Ne₁Ne₂ lead to impaired nectary development in tetraploid cotton. There is no difference in the expression of the CRC and STY genes between the nectary TM-1 and the nectariless MD90ne in cotton. Therefore, the GoNe gene responsible for the formation of floral and extrafloral nectaries may be independent of CRC and STY. A complex mechanism might exist that restricts the nectary to a specific position with different genetic factors. Characterization of these target genes regulating nectary production has provided insights into the development, evolution, and function of nectaries and insect-resistant breeding.