Chitosan-based zinc oxide nanoparticle for enhanced anticancer effect in cervical cancer: A physicochemical and biological perspective

In this study, chitosan-assembled zinc oxide nanoparticle (CZNP) was successfully prepared for evaluated for its anticancer efficacy against cervical cancer cells. The CZNP particles were nanosized and spherical in shape. The zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZNP) and CZNP showed significant cytotoxicity in cervical cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Results showed that the enhanced cytotoxicity was mainly attributed to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the cancer cells. The apoptosis assay further revealed that apoptosis was the main reason behind the cell killing effect of the zinc oxide nanoparticles. The apoptosis was further confirmed by the nuclear chromatin assay. Live dead assay showed increased red fluorescent cell for CZNP treated cancer cells. Overall, metal oxide present in nanoparticulate dimensions will be advantageous in imparting the cytotoxicity to cervical cancer cell.     

Neuroprotective effect of gold nanoparticles composites in Parkinson's disease model

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Although drugs and surgery can relieve the symptoms of PD, these therapies are incapable of fundamentally treating the disease. For PD patients, over-expression of α-synuclein (SNCA) leads to the death of dopaminergic neurons. This process can be prevented by suppressing SNCA over-expression through RNA interference. Here, we successfully synthesized gold nanoparticles (GNP) composites (CTS@GNP-pDNA-NGF) via the combination of electrostatic adsorption and photochemical immobilization, which could load plasmid DNA (pDNA) and target specific cell types. GNP was transfected into cells via endocytosis to inhibiting the apoptosis of PC12 cells and dopaminergic neurons. Simultaneously, GNP composites are also used in PD models in vivo, and it can successfully cross the blood-brain barrier by contents of GNP in the mice brain. In general, all the works demonstrated that GNP composites have good therapeutic effects for PD models in vitro and in vivo.     

Regulation of erythrocyte function: Multiple evolutionary solutions for respiratory gas transport and its regulation in fish

Gas transport concepts in vertebrates have naturally been formulated based on human blood. However, the first vertebrates were aquatic, and fish and tetrapods diverged hundreds of millions years ago. Water‐breathing vertebrates live in an environment with low and variable O₂ levels, making environmental O₂ an important evolutionary selection pressure in fishes, and various features of their gas transport differ from humans. Erythrocyte function in fish is of current interest, because current environmental changes affect gas transport, and because especially zebrafish is used as a model in biomedical studies, making it important to understand the differences in gas transport between fish and mammals to be able to carry out meaningful studies. Of the close to thirty thousand fish species, teleosts are the most species‐numerous group. However, two additional radiations are discussed: agnathans and elasmobranchs. The gas transport by elasmobranchs may be closest to the ancestors of tetrapods. The major difference in their haemoglobin (Hb) function to humans is their high urea tolerance. Agnathans differ from other vertebrates by having Hbs, where cooperativity is achieved by monomer‐oligomer equilibria. Their erythrocytes also lack the anion exchange pathway with profound effects on CO₂ transport. Teleosts are characterized by highly pH sensitive Hbs, which can fail to become fully O₂‐saturated at low pH. An adrenergically stimulated Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger has evolved in their erythrocyte membrane, and plasma‐accessible carbonic anhydrase can be differentially distributed among their tissues. Together, and differing from other vertebrates, these features can maximize O₂ unloading in muscle while ensuring O₂ loading in gills.     

Killing Effects of IFN R−/− Mouse NK Cells Activated by HN Protein of NDV on Mouse Hepatoma Cells and Possible Mechanism with Syk and NF-κB

The objective of this article is to evaluate whether the tumoricidal activity of mouse IFN R^−/− nature killer (NK) cells is induced by Newcastle disease virus hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (NDV-HN) stimulation, and to investigate what is the mechanism of the HN-stimulated NK cells to kill mouse hepatoma cell line in vitro. The mouse IFN R^−/− NK cells were stimulated for 16 hr with 500 ng/mL NDV-HN in 1640 medium. Quantify the cytotoxic activities of NK cells against mouse hepatoma cells (Hepa1-6) by flow cytometry. Granzymes B (GrB) and Fas/FasL concentrations in the supernatants of IFN R^−/− NK cells medium were determined by specific ELISA assay. The expression of cell surface GrB and Fas was determined by Western blot. NDV-HN stimulation enhanced tumoricidal activity of IFN R^−/− NK cells toward Hepa1-6 in vitro. Treating with anti-HN neutralizing mAb induced significant decline in the cytotoxicity of IFN R^−/− NK cells toward Hepa1-6 cell line (P < 0.05). After treating with anti-HN protein (1 μL/mL), Syk-specific inhibitor Herbimycin A(250 ng/mL) and NF-κB inhibitor PDTC (500 ng/mL) downregulated the tumoricidal activity of HN-stimulated IFN R^−/− NK cells (P < 0.05). Moreover, significant suppressions in the production of GrB and Fas/FasL were observed in HN-stimulated IFN R^−/− NK cells (P < 0.05). Thus, we concluded that killer activation receptors pathway is involved in the IFN-γ-independent GrB and Fas/FasL expression of NDV-HN-stimulated IFN R^−/− NK cells, and these are activated by Syk and NF-κB. Anat Rec, 302:1718–1725, 2019. © 2019 The Authors. The Anatomical Record published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association for Anatomy     

二氧化氯水处理效果研究

目的比较研究ClO2、Cl2的水处理效果,探讨ClO2在水处理中替代Cl2的可行性。方法实验室分别测定ClO2、Cl2的灭菌、除藻、除味、助凝效果。结果ClO2与Cl2相比,具有更好的灭菌、除藻、除味、助凝效果。结论在水处理中,用ClO2取代或部分取代Cl2是可行的,且有明显的社会经济效益。     

P300 and positive slow waves reveal the plausibility in inductive reasoning

Category‐based induction is an advanced cognitive function that is based on our category‐level knowledge. Previous findings have recognized the distance effect in category‐based induction: Inductive strength is affected by the hierarchical distance between the premises and conclusions. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect require elucidation. In the present study, we investigated the neural mechanisms of the distance effect by using EEG technology and a new experimental paradigm—category‐based induction. In this paradigm, we used three hierarchical levels of categories—the subordinate category, the basic category, the superordinate category—and an irrelevant category. We further used these categories to create four types of trial that varied in the hierarchical distance between the premise and the conclusion: the subordinate‐basic, the basic‐superordinate, the subordinate‐superordinate, and the irrelevant‐superordinate trials. In each trial, participants judged the probability that the conclusion category had the same property as the premise category. Our behavioral results revealed that people responded more slowly in the irrelevant‐superordinate trials than in the basic‐superordinate and the subordinate‐basic trials. Our ERP results showed that the irrelevant‐superordinate trials elicited smaller P300 (250–500 ms) amplitudes than did the subordinate‐basic and the basic‐superordinate trials. In addition, the subordinate‐superordinate trials elicited smaller P300 and PSW (700–998 ms) amplitudes than did the subordinate‐basic and the basic‐superordinate combinations. These findings indicate that the amplitudes of P300 and PSW may reflect the distance effect in inductive reasoning: The further the premise‐conclusion hierarchical distance, the lower the inductive strength, and thus the smaller the P300 and PSW amplitudes.