Emergent resistance to antibiotics among Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates is a severe problem worldwide. Antibiotic resistance profiles for S pneumoniae isolates identified from pediatric patients in mainland China remains to be established. The clinical features, antimicrobial resistance, and multidrug resistance patterns of S pneumoniae were retrospectively analyzed at 10 children's hospitals in mainland China in 2016. Among the collected 6132 S pneumoniae isolates, pneumococcal diseases mainly occurred in children younger than 5 years old (85.1%). The resistance rate of S pneumoniae to clindamycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was 95.8%, 95.2%, 93.6%, and 66.7%, respectively. The resistance rates of S pneumoniae to penicillin were 86.9% and 1.4% in non-meningitis and meningitis isolates, while the proportions of ceftriaxone resistance were 8.2% and 18.1%, respectively. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was administered to only 4.1% of patients. Penicillin and ceftriaxone resistance, underling diseases, antibiotic resistant risk factors, and poor prognosis appeared more frequently in invasive pneumococcal diseases. The incidence of multidrug resistance (MDR) was 46.1% in patients with invasive pneumococcal disease which was more than in patients with non-invasive pneumococcal disease (18.3%). Patients with invasive pneumococcal disease usually have several MDR coexistence. S pneumoniae isolates showed high resistance to common antibiotics in mainland China. Penicillin and ceftriaxone resistance rate of invasive streptococcal pneumonia patients were significantly higher than that of non-invasive S pneumoniae patients. Alarmingly, 46.1% of invasive clinical isolates were multidrug resistant, so it is important to continued monitor the resistance of S pneumoniae when protein conjugate vaccine (PCV13) is coming in mainland China.

Inflammation plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of renal fibrosis, which ultimately results in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). There is new focus on lymphangiogenesis in the field of inflammation. Recent studies have revealed the association between lymphangiogenesis and renal fibrosis, but the source of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) is not clear. It has also been reported that macrophages are involved in lymphangiogenesis through direct and indirect mechanisms in other tissues. We hypothesized that there was a close relationship between macrophages and lymphatic endothelial progenitor cells in renal fibrosis. In this study, we demonstrated that lymphangiogenesis occurred in a renal fibrosis model and was positively correlated with the degree of fibrosis and macrophage infiltration. Compared to resting (M0) macrophages and alternatively activated (M2) macrophages, classically activated (M1) macrophages predominantly transdifferentiated into LECs in vivo and in vitro. VEGF-C further increased M1 macrophage polarization and transdifferentiation into LECs by activating VEGFR3. It was suggested that VEGF-C/VEGFR3 pathway activation downregulated macrophage autophagy and subsequently regulated macrophage phenotype. The induction of autophagy in macrophages by rapamycin decreased M1 macrophage polarization and differentiation into LECs. These results suggested that M1 macrophages promoted lymphangiogenesis and contributed to newly formed lymphatic vessels in the renal fibrosis microenvironment, and VEGF-C/VEGFR3 signaling promoted macrophage M1 polarization by suppressing macrophage autophagy and then increased the transdifferentiation of M1 macrophages into LECs.

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Nanomedicines (NMs) have played an increasing role in cancer therapy as carriers to efficiently deliver therapeutics into tumor cells. For this application, the uptake of NMs by tumor cells is usually a prerequisite to deliver the cargo to intracellular locations, which mainly relies on endocytosis. NMs can enter cells through a variety of endocytosis pathways. Different endocytosis pathways exhibit different intracellular trafficking routes and diverse subcellular localizations. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of endocytosis mechanisms is necessary for increasing cellular entry efficiency and to trace the fate of NMs after internalization. This review focuses on endocytosis pathways of NMs in tumor cells, mainly including clathrin-and caveolae-mediated endocytosis pathways, involving effector molecules, expression difference of those molecules between normal and tumor cells, as well as the intracellular trafficking route of corresponding endocytosis vesicles. Then, the latest strategies for NMs to actively employ endocytosis are described, including improving tumor cellular uptake of NMs by receptor-mediated endocytosis, transporter-mediated endocytosis and enabling drug activity by changing intracellular routes. Finally, active targeting strategies towards intracellular organelles are also mentioned. This review will be helpful not only in explicating endocytosis and the trafficking process of NMs and elucidating anti-tumor mechanisms inside the cell but also in rendering new ideas for the design of highly efficacious and cancer-targeted NMs.

Isocoumarindole A (1), a novel polyketide synthetase−nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS−NRPS) hybrid metabolite, was isolated from the endolichenic fungus Aspergillus sp. CPCC 400810. The structure of isocoumarindole A (1) was featured by an unprecedented skeleton containing chlorinated isocoumarin and indole diketopiperazine alkaloid moieties linked by a carbon−carbon bond, which was determined by a combination of spectroscopic analyses, Marfey's method, and calculations of NMR chemical shifts, ECD spectra, and optical rotation values. Isocoumarindole A showed significant cytotoxicity and mild antifungal activities.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a disease that causes severe blindness and is characterized by the formation of contractile fibrotic subretinal or epiretinal membranes. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells is a hallmark of PVR. This work aims to examine the role of a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) named EMT-related lncRNA in RPE (ERLR, LINC01705-201 (ENST00000438158.1)) in PVR and to explore the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we found that ERLR is upregulated in RPE cells stimulated with transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 as detected by lncRNA microarray and RT-PCR. Further studies characterized full-length ERLR and confirmed that it is mainly expressed in the cytoplasm. In vitro, silencing ERLR in RPE cells attenuated TGF-β1-induced EMT, whereas overexpressing ERLR directly triggered EMT in RPE cells. In vivo, inhibiting ERLR in RPE cells reduced the ability of cells to induce experimental PVR. Mechanistically, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that the transcription factor TCF4 directly binds to the promoter region of ERLR and promotes its transcription. ERLR mediates EMT by directly binding to MYH9 protein and increasing its stability. TCF4 and MYH9 also mediate TGF-β1-induced EMT in RPE cells. Furthermore, ERLR is also significantly increased in RPE cells incubated with vitreous PVR samples. In clinical samples of PVR membranes, ERLR was detected through fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and colocalized with the RPE marker pancytokeratin (pan-CK). These results indicated that lncRNA ERLR is involved in TGF-β1-induced EMT of human RPE cells and that it is involved in PVR. This finding provides new insights into the mechanism and treatment of PVR.

A solid‐state electrolyte (SSE), which is a solid ionic conductor and electron‐insulating material, is known to play a crucial role in adapting a lithium metal anode to a high‐capacity cathode in a solid‐state battery. Among the various SSEs, the single Li‐ion conductor has advantages in terms of enhancing the ion conductivity, eliminating interfacial side reactions, and broadening the electrochemical window. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are optimal platforms for achieving single Li‐ion conduction behavior because of well‐ordered one‐dimensional channels and precise chemical modification features. Herein, we study in depth three types of Li‐carboxylate COFs (denoted LiOOC‐COFn, n = 1, 2, and 3) as single Li‐ion conducting SSEs. Benefiting from well‐ordered directional ion channels, the single Li‐ion conductor LiOOC‐COF3 shows an exceptional ion conductivity of 1.36 × 10−5 S cm−1 at room temperature and a high transference number of 0.91. Moreover, it shows excellent electrochemical performance with long‐term cycling, high‐capacity output, and no dendrites in the quasi‐solid‐state organic battery, with the organic small molecule cyclohexanehexone (C6O6) as the cathode and the Li metal as the anode, and enables effectively avoiding dissolution of the organic electrode by the liquid electrolyte.

Background Secondary brain damage caused by the innate immune response and subsequent proinflammatory factor production is a major factor contributing to the high mortality of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 1 (NOD1)/receptor-interacting protein 2 (RIP2) signalling has been reported to participate in the innate immune response and inflammatory response. Therefore, we investigated the role of NOD1/RIP2 signalling in mice with collagenase-induced ICH and in cultured primary microglia challenged with hemin. Methods Adult male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to collagenase for induction of ICH model in vivo. Cultured primary microglia and BV2 microglial cells (microglial cell line) challenged with hemin aimed to simulate the ICH model in vitro. We first defined the expression of NOD1 and RIP2 in vivo and in vitro using an ICH model by western blotting. The effect of NOD1/RIP2 signalling on ICH-induced brain injury volume, neurological deficits, brain oedema, and microglial activation were assessed following intraventricular injection of either ML130 (a NOD1 inhibitor) or GSK583 (a RIP2 inhibitor). In addition, levels of JNK/P38 MAPK, IκBα, and inflammatory factors, including tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, were analysed in ICH-challenged brain and hemin-exposed cultured primary microglia by western blotting. Finally, we investigated whether the inflammatory factors could undergo crosstalk with NOD1 and RIP2. Results The levels of NOD1 and its adaptor RIP2 were significantly elevated in the brains of mice in response to ICH and in cultured primary microglia, BV2 cells challenged with hemin. Administration of either a NOD1 or RIP2 inhibitor in mice with ICH prevented microglial activation and neuroinflammation, followed by alleviation of ICH-induced brain damage. Interestingly, the inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-1β and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), which were enhanced by NOD1/RIP2 signalling, were found to contribute to the NOD1 and RIP2 upregulation in our study. Conclusion NOD1/RIP2 signalling played an important role in the regulation of the inflammatory response during ICH. In addition, a vicious feedback cycle was observed between NOD1/RIP2 and IL-1β/TNF-α, which could to some extent result in sustained brain damage during ICH. Hence, our study highlights NOD1/RIP2 signalling as a potential therapeutic target to protect the brain against secondary brain damage during ICH.