Hepatitis C virus (HCV) establishes persistent infection in most infected patients, and eventually causes chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma in some patients. Monocytes and macrophages provide the first line of defense against pathogens, but their roles in HCV infection remains unclear. We have reported that HCV core protein (HCVc) manipulates human blood-derived dendritic cell development. In the present study, we tested whether HCVc affects human blood-derived monocyte differentiating into macrophages. Results showed that HCVc inhibits monocyte differentiation to either M1 or M2 macrophages through TLR2, associated with impaired STATs signaling pathway. Moreover, HCVc inhibits phagocytosis activity of M1 and M2 macrophages, M1 macrophage-induced autologous and allogeneic CD4+ T cell activation, but promotes M2 macrophage-induced autologous and allogeneic CD4+ T cell activation. In conclusion, HCVc inhibits monocyte-derived macrophage polarization via TLR2 signaling, leading to dysfunctions of both M1 and M2 macrophages in chronic HCV infected patients. This may contribute to the mechanism of HCV persistent infection, and suggest that blockade of HCVc might be a novel therapeutic approach to treating HCV infection.

No abstract

No abstract

With prevalence of 10–20% in adults in developed countries, gallstone disease (GSD) is one of the most prevalent and costly gastrointestinal tract disorders in the world. In addition to gallstone disease, chronic liver disease (CLD) is also an important global public health problem. The reported frequency of gallstone in chronic liver disease tends to be higher. The prevalence of gallstone disease might be related to age, gender, etiology, and severity of liver disease in patients with chronic liver disease. In this review, the aim was to identify the epidemiology, mechanisms, and treatment strategies of gallstone disease in chronic liver disease patients.

Integrated circuits (ICs) and optoelectronic chips are the foundation stones of the modern information society. The IC industry has been driven by the so-called "Moore's law" in the past 60 years, and now has entered the post Moore's law era. In this paper, we review the recent progress of ICs and optoelectronic chips. The research status, technical challenges and development trend of devices, chips and integrated technologies of typical IC and optoelectronic chips are focused on. The main contents include the development law of IC and optoelectronic chip technology, the IC design and processing technology, emerging memory and chip architecture, brain-like chip structure and its mechanism, heterogeneous integration, quantum chip technology, silicon photonics chip technology, integrated microwave photonic chip, and optoelectronic hybrid integrated chip.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract