Cells apoptosis induced by intense heat stress is the prominent feature of heat-related illness. However, little is known about the biological effects of heat stress on cells apoptosis. Herein, we presented evidence that intense heat stress could induce early apoptosis of HUVEC cells through activating mitochondrial pathway with changes in mitochondrial membrane potential(ΔΨm), release of cytochrome c, and activation of caspase-9 and -3. We further revealed that p53 played a crucial role in heat stress-induced early apoptosis, with p53 protein rapidly translocated into mitochondria. Using pifithrin-α(PFT), a p53's mitochondrial translocation inhibitor, we found that pretreated with PFT, heat stress induced mitochondrial p53 translocation was significantly suppressed, accompanied by a significant alleviation in the loss of ΔΨm, cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation. Furthermore, we also found that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was a critical mediator in heat stress-induced apoptosis. In addition, the antioxidant MnTMPyP significantly decreased the heat stress-induced p53's mitochondrial translocation, followed by the loss of ΔΨm, cytochrome c release, caspase-9 activation and heat stress-mediated apoptosis. Conclusively, these findings indicate the contribution of the transcription-independent mitochondrial p53 pathway to early apoptosis in HUVEC cells induced by oxidative stress in response to intense heat stress.

Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata is a vegetable pest that has spread worldwide. It belongs to the Coccinellidae family, whose members exhibit remarkable diversity, both in terms of their diets and the colored spots that appear on the elytra in the adult stage. Transcriptomic data from H. vigintioctopunctata at different life stages would be useful for further investigating the genetic basis of this dietary diversity and the formation of the colored spots in ladybird beetles, as well as revealing the population dynamics of H. vigintioctopunctata, which could be useful in pest control. Here, we generated a comprehensive RNA-seq data set (a total of ~24 Gb of clean data) for H. vigintioctopunctata by sequencing samples collected at different life stages. We characterized the transcriptomes of each of the four life stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult) and generated a high-coverage pool by combining all the RNA-seq reads. Furthermore, we identified a catalog of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. This represents the first study to collect transcriptome data from all life stages of a ladybird beetle.

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New strategies against antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens are urgently needed but are not within reach. Here, we present in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity of TSPphg, a novel phage lysin identified from extremophilic Thermus phage TSP4 by sequencing its whole genome. By breaking down the bacterial cells, TSPphg is able to cause bacteria destruction and has shown bactericidal activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, especially antibiotic-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, in which the complete elimination and highest reduction in bacterial counts by greater than 6 logs were observed upon 50 µg/mL TSPphg treatment at 37 • C for 1 h. A murine skin infection model further confirmed the in vivo efficacy of TSPphg in removing a highly dangerous and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from skin damage and in accelerating wound closure. Together, our findings may offer a therapeutic alternative to help fight bacterial infections in the current age of mounting antibiotic resistance, and to shed light on bacteriophage-based strategies to develop novel anti-infectives.