Pneumoconiosis refers to a spectrum of pulmonary diseases caused by inhalation of mineral dust, usually as the result of certain occupations. The main pathological features include chronic pulmonary inflammation and progressive pulmonary fibrosis, which can eventually lead to death caused by respiratory and/or heart failure. Pneumoconiosis is widespread globally, seriously threatening global public health. Its high incidence and mortality lie in improper occupational protection, and in the lack of early diagnostic methods and effective treatments. This article reviews the epidemiology, safeguard procedures, diagnosis, and treatment of pneumoconiosis, and summarizes recent research advances and future research prospects.

Background: Immunoglobulin E (IgE) belongs to a class of immunoglobulins involved in immune response to specific allergens. However, the roles of IgE and IgE receptor (FcεR1) in pathological cardiac remodeling and heart failure (HF) are unknown. Methods: Serum IgE levels and cardiac IgE receptor (FcεR1) expression were assessed in diseased hearts from human and mouse. The role of FcεR1 signaling in pathological cardiac remodeling was explored in vivo by FcεR1 genetic depletion, anti-IgE antibodies, and bone-marrow (BM) transplantation. The roles of IgE-FcεR1 pathway were further evaluated in vitro in primary cultured rat cardiomyocytes (CMs) and cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). RNA-seq and bioinformatic analyses were used to identify biochemical changes and signaling pathways that are regulated by IgE/FcεR1. Results: Serum IgE levels were significantly elevated in patients with HF as well as in two mouse cardiac disease models induced by chronic pressure overload via transverse aortic contraction (TAC) and chronic angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion. Interestingly, FcεR1 expression levels were also significantly up-regulated in failing hearts from human and mouse. Blockade of the IgE-FcεR1 pathway by FcεR1 knockout alleviated TAC- or Ang II-induced pathological cardiac remodeling and/or dysfunction. Anti-IgE antibodies (including the clinical drug, omalizumab) also significantly alleviated Ang II-induced cardiac remodeling. BM transplantation experiments indicated that IgE-induced cardiac remodeling was mediated through non-BM-derived cells. FcεR1 was found to be expressed in both CMs and CFs. In cultured rat CMs, IgE-induced CM hypertrophy and hypertrophic marker expression were abolished by depleting FcεR1. In cultured rat CFs, IgE-induced CF activation and matrix protein production were also blocked by FcεR1 deficiency. RNA-seq and signaling pathway analyses revealed that transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) may be a critical mediator and blocking TGF-β indeed alleviated IgE-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and cardiac fibroblast activation in vitro . Conclusions: Our findings suggest that IgE induction plays a causative role in pathological cardiac remodeling, at least partially via the activation of IgE-FcεR1 signaling in CMs and CFs. Therapeutic strategies targeting the IgE-FcεR1 axis may be effective for managing IgE-mediated cardiac remodeling.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as important regulators in plant stress response. Here, we report a genome-wide lncRNA transcriptional analysis in response to drought stress using an expanded series of maize samples collected from three distinct tissues spanning four developmental stages. In total, 3488 high-confidence lncRNAs were identified, among which 1535 were characterized as drought responsive. By characterizing the genomic structure and expression pattern, we found that lncRNA structures were less complex than protein-coding genes, showing shorter transcripts and fewer exons. Moreover, drought-responsive lncRNAs exhibited higher tissue- and development-specificity than protein-coding genes. By exploring the temporal expression patterns of drought-responsive lncRNAs at different developmental stages, we discovered that the reproductive stage R1 was the most sensitive growth stage with more lncRNAs showing altered expression upon drought stress. Furthermore, lncRNA target prediction revealed 653 potential lncRNA-messenger RNA (mRNA) pairs, among which 124 pairs function in cis-acting mode and 529 in trans. Functional enrichment analysis showed that the targets were significantly enriched in molecular functions related to oxidoreductase activity, water binding, and electron carrier activity. Multiple promising targets of drought-responsive lncRNAs were discovered, including the V-ATPase encoding gene, vpp4. These findings extend our knowledge of lncRNAs as important regulators in maize drought response.

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SummaryIn maize, kernel traits strongly impact overall grain yields, and it is known that sophisticated spatiotemporal programs of gene expression coordinate kernel development, so advancing our knowledge of kernel development can help efforts to improve grain yields. Here, using phenotype, genotype and transcriptomics data of maize kernels at 5 and 15 days after pollination (DAP) for a large association mapping panel, we employed multiple quantitative genetics approaches—genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) as well as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and quantitative trait transcript (QTT) analyses—to gain insights about molecular genetic basis of kernel development in maize. This resulted in the identification of 137 putative kernel length‐related genes at 5 DAP, of which 43 are located in previously reported QTL regions. Strikingly, we identified an eQTL that overlaps the locus encoding a maize homolog of the recently described m6A methylation reader protein ECT2 from Arabidopsis; this putative epieQTL is associated with 53 genes and may represent a master epi‐transcriptomic regulator of kernel development. Notably, among the genes associated with this epieQTL, 10 are for the main storage proteins in the maize endosperm (zeins) and two are known regulators of zein expression or endosperm development (Opaque2 and ZmICE1). Collectively, beyond cataloging and characterizing genomic attributes of a large number of eQTL associated with kernel development in maize, our study highlights how an eQTL approach can bolster the impact of both GWAS and QTT studies and can drive insights about the basic biology of plants.

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Rationale: Cardiac fibrosis is an important feature of cardiac remodeling and is a hallmark of heart failure. Recent studies indicate that elevated IgE plays a causal role in pathological cardiac remodeling. However, the underlying mechanism of how IgE promotes cardiac fibrosis has not been fully elucidated. Methods and Results: To explore the function of IgE in cardiac fibrosis, we stimulated mouse primary cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) with IgE and found that both IgE receptor (FcεR1) and fibrosis related proteins were increased after IgE stimulation. Specific deletion of FcεR1 in CFs alleviated angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiac fibrosis in mice. To investigate the mechanisms underlying the IgE-mediated cardiac fibrosis, deep miRNA-seq was performed. Bioinformatics and signaling pathway analysis revealed that IgE upregulated Col1a1 and Col3a1 expression in CFs by repressing miR-486a-5p, with Smad1 participating downstream of miR-486a-5p in this process. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of miR-486a-5p was found to alleviate Ang II-induced myocardial interstitial fibrosis in mice. Moreover, miR-486-5p serum levels were lower in patients with heart failure than in healthy controls, and were negatively correlated with NT-proBNP levels. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that elevated IgE promotes pathological cardiac fibrosis by modulating miR-486a-5p and downstream factors, such as Smad1 . These findings suggest new targets for pathological cardiac fibrosis intervention.