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Background Asthma has been regarded as an inflammatory disease, and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are implicated in asthma pathogenesis. However, no strategy is available to block ILC2s function. Efficiency is also limited due to the use of systemic or subcutaneous routes of administration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nanoparticles targeting suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2), which is the ILC2 receptor, to alleviate lung inflammation in the murine model of asthma. Methods The ultra-small SPIO nanoparticles were firstly synthesized, OVA-induced mice were administered by anti-ST2-conjugated nanoparticles. The inflammatory degree of the lung was investigated by H&E. The percentages of ILC2s and CD4+T cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue were determined by FACS. Th2-cytokine and OVA-IgE levels were detected by real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. Results Treatment with anti-ST2-conjugated nanoparticles significantly alleviated airway inflammation, IL-33 and IL-13 levels and the percentage of CD4+T cells. The percentage of ILC2s was increased, whereas the levels of IL-13 and IL-5 expressed by ILC2s were reduced. Conclusion In the present study, we demonstrated that anti-ST2-conjugated nanoparticles can efficiently control lung inflammation in OVA-induced mice by reducing the ability of ILC2s to produce IL-5 and IL-13, thereby reducing CD4+T cells. Our study also demonstrated that the nanoparticle delivery system could improve the performance of anti-ST2, which may be used as a strategic tool to expand the current drug market.

Introduction Breast cancer (BRCA) has the highest incidence among female malignancies, and the prognosis for these patients remains poor. Materials and methods In this study, core modules and central genes related to BRCA were identified through a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Gene expression profiles and clinical data of GSE25066 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The result was validated with RNA-seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Oncomine database. The top 30 key module genes with the highest intramodule connectivity were selected as the core genes (R2 = 0.40). Results According to TCGA and Oncomine datasets, seven genes were selected as candidate hub genes. Following further experimental verification, four hub genes (FAM171A1, NDFIP1, SKP1, and REEP5) were retained. Conclusion We identified four hub genes as candidate biomarkers for BRCA. These hub genes may provide a theoretical basis for targeted therapy against BRCA.

The efficacy of parecoxib for pain control after hysterectomy remains controversial. We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the influence of parecoxib versus placebo on pain intensity after hysterectomy.We search PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library databases through March 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of parecoxib versus placebo on pain intensity after hysterectomy. This meta-analysis is performed using the random-effect model.Six RCTs are included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with control group after hysterectomy, parecoxib treatment is associated with substantially reduced pain scores in 4-6 h at rest (MD = -0.98; 95%CI = -1.14 to -0.81;Parecoxib treatment provides additional benefits for pain control after hysterectomy.

In this study, a common-path compensation method is proposed for the laser beam drift resulting from the air parameters to enhance the stability of small-angle measurement in laser autocollimation....

Extractive distillation is a common method to separate the mixture, which has the low relative volatility. Many solvents were screened to separate the mixture based on the experiment. Because the n...

Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) prepolymer was synthesised by the reaction of poly(butylene itaconate) ester (PBI, Mn = 1109 g/mol), 1,6-hexanediol, dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA), 2,4-tolu...

In this work, a novel DOPO-based spiroorthocarbonate (DSOC), 6,6ʹ-((3,9-diethyl-1,5,7,11-tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane-3,9-diyl)bis(hydroxymethylene))bis(6H-dibenzo[c,e][1,2]oxaphosphinine 6-oxide) was synthesized and confirmed with 1H, 31P, 13C NMR, and FT-IR spectra. It was used as anti-shrinkage additive and flame retardant in the cationic polymerization of epoxy resin. The shrinkage of the cured epoxy resin containing DSOC was investigated by measuring the density of the system before and after curing. It was found that the shrinkage of epoxy resin changed from −1.49 to 1.43% with the content of DSOC increased to 20 wt%, not only the shrinkage of epoxy resin was eliminated, but also a slight expansion was achieved. The flame retardancy and thermal stability of the cured epoxy resins were tested by limiting oxygen index (LOI), vertical burning test (UL-94), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). LOI values increased from 19.9% for pure E-51 to 30.9% for modified epoxy resins, UL-94 V-0 rating can be obtain...

Graft copolymerization of styrene and n-butyl acrylate onto enzymatically degraded starch was carried out via surfactant-free emulsion polymerization. The cassava starch was degraded by α-amylase before copolymerization, which greatly enhanced the starch content in copolymer. A series of latexes with small particle size, narrow size distribution, and high stability were prepared. The effect of starch degradation on graft copolymerization was investigated. High grafting efficiency was obtained. The application test of the latex showed that the surface strength of coated paper was improved, and all the other properties are very close to those of paper coated with conventional styrene-acrylate latex.

A novel copolymer containing a double spiro orthocarbonate structure, poly 3-methylene-9-methyleneoxy-3,9-Bis(hydroxymethyl)-1,5,7,11-tetraoxaspiro[5.5] undecane (SOC), was synthesized. The structure of SOC was confirmed by 1H, 13C NMR and FTIR spectra. Prepolymer (SOCP) reacting from SOC and 2,4-toluene diisocynate (TDI) was prepared and used as anti-shrinkage additives in the cationic polymerization of epoxy resin (EP-51). The volume changes of the cured epoxy resin containing SOCP were investigated by density measurements with an electronic hydrometer. The mechanical properties of the modified epoxy resin were investigated by adhesive strength, impact strength and flexural strength, while thermal properties were investigated by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

The bio-based and biodegradable polyester poly(butylenes 2-methylsuccinate) (PBM) was successfully used as a polymeric plasticizer to modify poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in this work. The tensile properties, plasticization efficiency estimated by the lowered glass transition temperature and the enhanced elongation at break of the PVC/PBM blends and the migration stability of the PBM were investigated. It was indicated that the migration-resistant property of PVC plasticized with PBM was greatly superior to that with dioctyl phthalate (DOP). Furthermore, the tensile properties were comparable to that of PVC/DOP, indicating that the environmentally friendly PBM can be used as an alternative plasticizer to remove the potential health risks from migrating phthalates during applications.