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Accumulated evidence has shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are closely related to the pathogenesis and progression of senile cataracts. Here we investigate the effect of miR-29a-3p in cataractogenesis and determined the potential molecular mechanism involved. In this study, we constructed a selenite cataract model in rats and obtained the miRNAs related to cataracts by whole transcriptome sequencing. To investigate the effect and mechanism of miR-29a-3p on cataracts, we performed several in vivo and in vitro experiments, including CCK8 assay, flow cytometry, luciferase reporter assay, Edu assay, and western blot analysis. Sequencing data showed downregulation of miR-29a-3p in rats with selenite cataracts. Down-regulation of miR-29a-3p could promote lens epithelial cells (SRA01/04) proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis, and miR-29a-3p silence could inhibit the development of cataracts. Additionally, CAND1 was a direct target gene for miR-29a-3p. These data demonstrate that miR-29a-3p inhibits apoptosis of lens epithelial cells by regulating CAND1, which may be a potential target for senile cataracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and development of cost-effective and highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are urgently desirable during the water-splitting process. Here, Ni x Fe 80-x B 20 (x = 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, hereafter referred to as NFB) amorphous alloys, with high mechanical strength, excellent corrosion resistance, and unique atomic structure, are fabricated as efficient water oxidation electrocatalysts in alkaline solutions. Ni 40 Fe 40 B 20 amorphous ribbons achieve only 319 mV of overpotential at 10 mA·cm−2 with a Tafel slope of 56 mV dec−1 and exhibit excellent long-term stability for 24 h at 10 mA·cm−2 and 100 mA·cm−2 in 1 M KOH solution, which outperform the commercial RuO 2 electrocatalyst. It is worth noting that the OER performance of Ni x Fe 80-x B 20 amorphous electrocatalysts after long-term chronopotentiometry test displays more effectively, which can be ascribed to the surface construction. Meanwhile, the analysis of the morphology and structure of the electrocatalysts reveal that continuous oxidation during the OER process induces the structural reorganization on the surface of the electrocatalysts, which can enhance the electron transfer process and adsorption of the reaction intermediates to optimize the OER performance. This study provides a shred of evidence for surface self-reconstruction of NiFeB amorphous alloys electrocatalysts during the OER process and promotes the application of amorphous alloys as functional materials in the water-splitting field. [Display omitted] • Amorphous Ni 40 Fe 40 B 20 alloys show a low overpotential of 319 mV at 10 mA·cm−2. • Long-term stability of amorphous NFB alloys in a concentrated alkaline solution. • Self-construction enhances the OER performance after the long-term test. • Promoting the application of amorphous NFB alloys as electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was produced from cane molasses by dilute acid catalysis. • A hyper-cross-linked resin (HCLR) was designed and synthesized. • HCLR was applied for separating and purifying HMF from cane molasses hydrolysate. • HCLR had excellent adsorption performance for HMF, and can be reused stably. Sugarcane molasses is a by-product in the process of sugar production, which has characteristics of large quantity, low price and easy to pollute the environment. High-valued utilization of sugarcane molasses has important research significance. In this work, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was obtained through hydrolyzing sugarcane molasses, and was separated from the hydrolysate by a designed hyper-cross-linked adsorption resin (HCLR). The optimal conditions for adsorption/desorption of HMF by HCLR were obtained. On this basis, the adsorption kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamic behavior of HMF onto HCLR were studied, and the adsorption mechanism of HMF onto HCLR was clarified. At last, HMF with a highest purity of 96.0% and an average purity of 93.2% were obtained through fixed bed dynamic adsorption/desorption study. Overall, this work provides a complete process route from sugarcane molasses to high-value product of HMF, and provides theoretical and technical references for the efficient and comprehensive utilization of sugarcane molasses resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe-based metallic glasses (MGs) not only are an industrially produced amorphous zero-valent iron (AZVI) with a promising reductive degradability to azo dyes but also can activate persulfate (PS) with sulfate radicals (SO 4 •-, E o = 2.5–3.1V) for wastewater remediation. In this study, acid orange II (AOII) was rapidly and efficiently decolored by Fe 78 Si 8 B 14 MG/PS system with a 99% degradation rate in 8 min. Based on monitoring the degradation rate and the concentration of Fe2+/Fe3+, a two-step degradation mechanism is proposed, that one is deductive degradation by AZVI with products of small organic molecules and Fe2+, and the other is oxidative degradation, where AZVI and Fe2+ activate PS with products of SO 4 •- and •OH confirmed by the electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis test. The orthogonal experimental design proves that the effects of the experiment operating parameters on the decolorization efficiency from high to low are Fe-based MGs dosage, PS dosage, and reaction temperature. Meanwhile, the high efficiency of the Fe-based MGs/PS system is also illustrated for the mineralization of AOII by an indication of the TOC removal rate as high as 57%. This work gives new insight into Fe-based MGs for activating PS and will accelerate the application of Fe-based MGs as catalysts in the field of wastewater treatment. • Fe-based MGs plays the most important role in the decolorization of AOII based on the orthogonal experiments design. • A two-step synergetic decolorization mechanism for the AOII decolorization is proposed. • The Ea of Fe-based MG/PS system is11.556kJ/mol, much lower than other systems for the decolorization of azo dyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroptosis is a recently discovered special type of regulated cell death that is strongly associated with both homeostasis maintenance and cancer development. Previous studies have indicated that a number of small-molecular agents inducing ferroptosis have great potential in the treatment of different types of cancer, including breast, pancreatic, prostate and head and neck cancer. However, the role of ferroptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has remained to be fully determined. To the best of our knowledge, no review of the currently available studies on this subject has been published to date. The metabolism and expression of specific genes that regulate ferroptosis may represent a promising radiosensitization target in cancer treatment. The aim of the present review was to describe the cross-link between ferroptosis and NPC and to discuss the potential value of regulators and the possible mechanism underlying the role of ferroptosis in the radiosensitization of NPC, in the hope that linking the mechanism of ferroptosis with the development of NPC will accelerate the development of novel ferroptosis-based targets and radiotherapy strategies in NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world, and there is a lack of effective treatment drugs. CircRNA plays an important part in a variety of diseases, however, the role of circRNA in cataracts remains largely unknown. In this study, we constructed a cataract model of rats and obtained the circRNAs related to cataracts by whole transcriptome sequencing and circRNA-mRNA co-expression network. To investigate the effect and mechanism of circRNA 06209 on cataracts, we performed several in vivo and in vitro experiments, including CCK8 assay, flow cytometry, dual luciferase reporter assay, RIP assay, actinomycin D assay, and Western blot analysis. We identify that a necroptosis-related circRNA, circRNA 06209, is down-regulated in cataracts. Vitro experiments showed that up-regulation of circRNA 06209 could promote cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis. Vivo experiments revealed that circRNA 06209 overexpression could inhibit the development of cataracts. Mechanistically, circRNA 06209 acts as a miRNA sponge and competitively binds to miR-6848-5p to curb the inhibitory effect of miR-6848-5p on ALOX15, thereby affecting cell viability and apoptosis. This study found that circRNA 06209 plays a critical part in inhibiting cataracts through the miR-6848-5p/ALOX15 pathway, suggesting that circRNA 06209 may be a promising therapeutic target for cataracts. • In this manuscript, we constructed a cataract rat model and obtained the circRNAs related to cataracts by whole transcriptome sequencing and circRNA-mRNA co-expression network. We found that circRNA 06209 plays a critical part in inhibiting cataracts through the miR-6848-5p/ALOX15 pathway, suggesting that circRNA 06209 may be a promising therapeutic target for cataracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Immobilizing catalyst system faces the challenge of balancing catalysts stability and exposure of active site in water treatment. In this study, a novel in-situ synthesis of monoclinic phase of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 (B)) in cellulose-derived carbon aerogel (TCA) is proposed for processing multi-task in water treatment. The homogeneous gelation reaction supported the high dispersion of TiO 2 (B) in carbon skeleton. Meanwhile, TiO 2 acts as crosslinker to reinforce cellulose network, then the grain refinement of amorphous TiO 2 is limited to obtain TiO 2 (B) during carbonization. Benefiting from the reinforced structure, TCA remains the porous structure after carbonization and exposes more adsorption site than carbon aerogel blended with anatase particles (ACA). The adsorption performance of TCA are 837.3 mg/g, 1156.2 mg/g and 512.6 mg/g on methylene blue, malachite green and crystal violet, respectively. Compared with ACA, the superior interaction between TiO 2 and graphite-like carbon improves the degradation rate of tetracycline from 1.3 × 10–3 min−1 to 8.6 × 10–3 min−1, and maintains the degradation efficiency in 3 rounds cyclic test. Besides, TCA also exhibits nearly twice to ACA on absorption capacity of different oil. This facile in-situ synthesis method offers a new insight in fabricating carbon aerogel immobilized photocatalysts system for multi-task in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Immobilizing catalyst system faces the challenge of balancing catalysts stability and exposure of active site in water treatment. In this study, a novel in-situ synthesis of monoclinic phase of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 (B)) in cellulose-derived carbon aerogel (TCA) is proposed for processing multi-task in water treatment. The homogeneous gelation reaction supported the high dispersion of TiO 2 (B) in carbon skeleton. Meanwhile, TiO 2 acts as crosslinker to reinforce cellulose network, then the grain refinement of amorphous TiO 2 is limited to obtain TiO 2 (B) during carbonization. Benefiting from the reinforced structure, TCA remains the porous structure after carbonization and exposes more adsorption site than carbon aerogel blended with anatase particles (ACA). The adsorption performance of TCA are 837.3 mg/g, 1156.2 mg/g and 512.6 mg/g on methylene blue, malachite green and crystal violet, respectively. Compared with ACA, the superior interaction between TiO 2 and graphite-like carbon improves the degradation rate of tetracycline from 1.3 × 10–3 min−1 to 8.6 × 10–3 min−1, and maintains the degradation efficiency in 3 rounds cyclic test. Besides, TCA also exhibits nearly twice to ACA on absorption capacity of different oil. This facile in-situ synthesis method offers a new insight in fabricating carbon aerogel immobilized photocatalysts system for multi-task in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim and Objective. Hyperlipidemia is a public health matter of global scale, contributing to a wide range of diseases that can result in severe complications and significant annual mortality. Dendrobium officinale (DO) is an edible plant with a long medicinal history in China. Our previous studies revealed that DO may have therapeutic benefits in lipid disorders. However, the mechanism of its active compounds is still unclear. This research aimed at uncovering the hidden anti-hyperlipidemia mechanisms of DO through network pharmacology and experimental validation. Materials and Methods. The active compounds in DO, their targets, and targets associated with hyperlipidemia were screened across various databases, and the hidden targets of DO in treating hyperlipidemia were forecast. The compound-target (C-T), protein-protein interaction (PPI), and compound-target-pathway (C-T-P) networks of DO were set up with Cytoscape software. The hub genes and core clusters of DO predicted to be active against hyperlipidemia were calculated by Cytoscape. The DAVID database was adopted for Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Next, we used the high-sucrose-fat diet and alcohol (HFDA)-induced hyperlipidemia rats to evaluate the hypolipidemic effect of DO. Results. In this study, we obtained 264 compounds from DO, revealed 11 bioactive compounds, and predicted 89 potential targets of DO. The network analysis uncovered that naringenin, isorhamnetin, and taxifolin might be the compounds in DO that are mainly in charge of its roles in hyperlipidemia and might play a role by modulating the targets (including PPARG, ADIPOQ, AKT1, TNF, and APOB). The pathway analysis showed that DO might affect diverse signaling pathways related to the pathogenesis of hyperlipidemia, including PPAR signaling pathway, insulin resistance, AMPK signaling pathway, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease simultaneously. Meanwhile, in the HFDA-induced hyperlipidemia rat model, DO could significantly decrease the level of TC, TG, LDL-c, and ALT in serum, and increase HDL-c as well. The liver pathological section indicated that DO could ease liver damage and lipid cumulation. Conclusion. In summary, the biological targets of the main bioactive compounds in DO were found to distribute across multiple metabolic pathways. These findings suggest that a mutual regulatory system consisting of multiple components, targets, and pathways is a likely mechanism through which DO may improve hyperlipidemia. Validation experiments indicated that DO may treat hyperlipidemia by affecting NAFLD-related signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim and Objective. Hyperlipidemia is a public health matter of global scale, contributing to a wide range of diseases that can result in severe complications and significant annual mortality. Dendrobium officinale (DO) is an edible plant with a long medicinal history in China. Our previous studies revealed that DO may have therapeutic benefits in lipid disorders. However, the mechanism of its active compounds is still unclear. This research aimed at uncovering the hidden anti-hyperlipidemia mechanisms of DO through network pharmacology and experimental validation. Materials and Methods. The active compounds in DO, their targets, and targets associated with hyperlipidemia were screened across various databases, and the hidden targets of DO in treating hyperlipidemia were forecast. The compound-target (C-T), protein-protein interaction (PPI), and compound-target-pathway (C-T-P) networks of DO were set up with Cytoscape software. The hub genes and core clusters of DO predicted to be active against hyperlipidemia were calculated by Cytoscape. The DAVID database was adopted for Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Next, we used the high-sucrose-fat diet and alcohol (HFDA)-induced hyperlipidemia rats to evaluate the hypolipidemic effect of DO. Results. In this study, we obtained 264 compounds from DO, revealed 11 bioactive compounds, and predicted 89 potential targets of DO. The network analysis uncovered that naringenin, isorhamnetin, and taxifolin might be the compounds in DO that are mainly in charge of its roles in hyperlipidemia and might play a role by modulating the targets (including PPARG, ADIPOQ, AKT1, TNF, and APOB). The pathway analysis showed that DO might affect diverse signaling pathways related to the pathogenesis of hyperlipidemia, including PPAR signaling pathway, insulin resistance, AMPK signaling pathway, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease simultaneously. Meanwhile, in the HFDA-induced hyperlipidemia rat model, DO could significantly decrease the level of TC, TG, LDL-c, and ALT in serum, and increase HDL-c as well. The liver pathological section indicated that DO could ease liver damage and lipid cumulation. Conclusion. In summary, the biological targets of the main bioactive compounds in DO were found to distribute across multiple metabolic pathways. These findings suggest that a mutual regulatory system consisting of multiple components, targets, and pathways is a likely mechanism through which DO may improve hyperlipidemia. Validation experiments indicated that DO may treat hyperlipidemia by affecting NAFLD-related signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]