No abstract

Toxicological effects of 1 and 5 μm microplastics (MPs) (10 7-10-10 particles/m 2) were studied on Caenorhabditis elegans. • Intake of 1 and 5 μm MPs increased as exposure concentrations and duration increased. • The lifespan of nematodes at lower concentration decreased faster than those at higher concentration after exposure to MPs. • Down-regulated expression of skn-1 at the lowest exposure concentration may be responsible for the shortened lifespan.

Via a molecular caliper p19 protein, we have developed an amplified fluorescence polarization method for rapid microRNA detection. This proposed assay has several intrinsic features including rapidity, simplicity, and accuracy.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is regarded as a serious ischemic heart disease on a global level. The current study set out to explore the mechanism of the Notch signaling pathway in the regulation of fibrosis remodeling after the occurrence of MI. First, experimental mice were infected with recombination signal binding protein J (RBP-J) shRNA and empty adenovirus vector, followed by the establishment of MI mouse models and detection of cardiac function. After 4 weeks of MI, mice in the sh-RBP-J group were found to exhibit significantly improved cardiac function relative to the sh-NC group. Moreover, knockdown of RBP-J brought about decreased infarct area, promoted cardiac macrophages M2 polarization, reduced cardiac fibrosis, and further decreased transcription and protein expressions of inflammatory factors and fibrosis-related factors. Furthermore, downregulation of cylindromatosis (CYLD) using si-CYLD reversed the results that knockdown of RBP-J inhibited fibrogenesis and the release of inflammatory factors. Altogether, our findings indicated that the blockade of Notch signaling promotes M2 polarization of cardiac macrophages and improves cardiac function by inhibiting the imbalance of fibrotic remodeling after MI.