Physical forces activate apoptosis and gene expression, but the mechanism is unknown. For this purpose, adult myocytes were stretched in an equibiaxial stretch apparatus and the magnitude of cell death was examined 4 and 24 h later. The possibility of stretch-mediated activation of p53 and p53-dependent genes was evaluated at 30 min, 2, 4, 8, and 24 h. Myocyte apoptosis increased by 4.4- and 7.6-fold at 4 and 24 h after stretch. p53 binding to the promoter of angiotensinogen, AT1 receptor, and Bax also increased. Expression of angiotensinogen, AT1 receptor, p53, and Bax increased and Bcl-2 decreased in stretched myocytes. The changes in AT1 receptor, p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 became more apparent with the duration of stretch. Angiotensin II concentration in the medium increased at 10 min, reaching maximal levels at 1 and 20 h. The AT1 blocker, losartan, abolished apoptosis in stretched myocytes. Myocyte volume was not influenced by stretch. In conclusion, stretch-mediated release of angiotensin II is coupled with apoptosis and the activation of p53 which may be responsible for the prolonged upregulation of the local renin-angiotensin system and the increased susceptibility of myocytes to undergo apoptosis.

A high-performance epoxy vitrimer was facilely prepared from a renewable lignin derivative vanillin, and its carbon-fiber composites were nondestructively recycled.

BackgroundDNA methylation plays important biological roles in plants and animals. To examine the rice genomic methylation landscape and assess its functional significance, we generated single-base resolution DNA methylome maps for Asian cultivated rice Oryza sativa ssp. japonica, indica and their wild relatives, Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara.ResultsThe overall methylation level of rice genomes is four times higher than that of Arabidopsis. Consistent with the results reported for Arabidopsis, methylation in promoters represses gene expression while gene-body methylation generally appears to be positively associated with gene expression. Interestingly, we discovered that methylation in gene transcriptional termination regions (TTRs) can significantly repress gene expression, and the effect is even stronger than that of promoter methylation. Through integrated analysis of genomic, DNA methylomic and transcriptomic differences between cultivated and wild rice, we found that primary DNA sequence divergence is the major determinant of methylational differences at the whole genome level, but DNA methylational difference alone can only account for limited gene expression variation between the cultivated and wild rice. Furthermore, we identified a number of genes with significant difference in methylation level between the wild and cultivated rice.ConclusionsThe single-base resolution methylomes of rice obtained in this study have not only broadened our understanding of the mechanism and function of DNA methylation in plant genomes, but also provided valuable data for future studies of rice epigenetics and the epigenetic differentiation between wild and cultivated rice.

Conventional thermosets are built by nonrenewable fossil resources and are arduous to be reprocessed, recycled, and reshaped due to their permanent covalent cross-linking, and their flammability makes them unsafe during use. Here, for the first time, we synthesized a novel Schiff base precursor from abundant and renewable lignin derivative vanillin and produced malleable thermosets (Schiff base covalent adaptable networks (CANs)) combining high performance, super-rapid reprocessability, excellent monomer recovery, and arbitrary permanent shape changeability as well as outstanding fire resistance. The Schiff base CANs exhibited high glass transition temperatures of ∼178 °C, tensile strength of ∼69 MPa, tensile modulus of ∼1925 MPa, excellent flame retardancy with UL-94 V0 rating and V1 rating, and high LOI of ∼30%. Meanwhile, three Schiff base CANs showed high malleability with the activation energy of the bond exchange of 49–81 kJ mol–1 and could be reprocessed in 2–10 min at 180 °C. These Schiff base CANs provide a prime example to foster the development of advanced thermosetting materials from renewable bioresources.

We report new IRAM/PdBI, JCMT/SCUBA-2, and VLA observations of the ultraluminous quasar SDSSJ010013.02+280225.8 (hereafter, J0100+2802) at z=6.3, which hosts the most massive supermassive black hole (SMBH) of 1.24 × 10 10 M ⊙ known at z>6. We detect the [C II] 158µm fine structure line and molecular CO(6-5) line and continuum emission at 353 GHz, 260 GHz, and 3 GHz from this quasar. The CO(2-1) line and the underlying continuum at 32 GHz are also marginally detected. The [C II] and CO detections suggest active star formation and highly excited molecular gas in the quasar host galaxy. The redshift determined with the [C II] and CO lines shows a velocity offset of ∼ 1000 km s −1 from that measured with the quasar Mg II line. The CO (2-1) line luminosity provides direct constraint on the molecular gas mass which is about -2 -(1.0 ± 0.3) × 10 10 M ⊙ . We estimate the FIR luminosity to be (3.5 ± 0.7) × 10 12 L ⊙ , and the UV-to-FIR spectral energy distribution of J0100+2802 is consistent with the templates of the local optically luminous quasars. The derived [C II]-to-FIR luminosity ratio of J0100+2802 is 0.0010±0.0002, which is slightly higher than the values of the most FIR luminous quasars at z∼6. We investigate the constraint on the host galaxy dynamical mass of J0100+2802 based on the [C II] line spectrum. It is likely that this ultraluminous quasar lies above the local SMBHgalaxy mass relationship, unless we are viewing the system at a small inclination angle.

The study provided new insights into the role of miRNAs and their target genes in the pathogenesis of fetal alcohol syndrome.

No abstract

Treatment of full-thickness skin defects poses significant clinical challenges including risk of infection and severe scaring. Silver nanoparticle (NAg), an effective antimicrobial agent, has provided a promising therapeutic method for burn wounds. However, the detailed mechanism remains unknown. Hence, we constructed a metallic nanosilver particles-collagen/chitosan hybrid scaffold (NAg-CCS) and investigated its potential effects on wound healing. In vitro scratch assay, immunofluorescence staining and antibacterial activity of the scaffold were all studied. In vivo NAg-CCS was applied in full-thickness skin defects in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and the therapeutic effects of treatment were evaluated. The results showed that NAg at a concentration of 10 ppm accelerated the migration of fibroblasts with an increase in expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Furthermore, in vivo studies showed increased levels of pro-inflammatory and scar-related factors as well as α-SMA, while markers for macrophage activation were up-regulated. On day 60 post transplantation of ultra-thin skin graft, the regenerated skin by NAg-CCS had a similar structure to normal skin. In summary, we demonstrated that NAg-CCS was bactericidal, anti-inflammatory and promoted wound healing potentially by regulating fibroblast migration and macrophage activation, making it an ideal dermal substitute for wound regeneration.