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Objective: Receptor of advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a membrane protein that contributes to the initiation and progression of diabetic vascular complications, which is reported as a target of miR-185. Huayu Tongmai Granules is a Chinese herbal compound that is capable of treating diabetic angiopathy. The present study was designed to explore the molecular biological mechanism by which Huayu Tongmai Granules protects against diabetic angiopathy. Methods: The rat model of diabetes and hyperglucose cell model were established. The blood glucose was detected to verify whether the model was successfully established. Besides, serum nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations of the rats in each group were determined. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis was performed to examine the mRNA expression levels of miR-185 and other miRNAs in femoral artery of rats or human umbilical vein endothelial cell line. Additionally, the protein levels of RAGE or Bax were determined using Western blotting. Cell apoptosis was determined by terminal dUTP nick-end labeling assay or flow cytometry. Results: In the present study, we found that Huayu Tongmai Granules significantly decreased blood glucose and serum ROS and up-regulated serum NO concentration. MiR-185 was low-expressed in diabetic rats; however, Huayu Tongmai Granules intervention up-regulated miR-185. Stable overexpression of miR-185 directly suppressed the expression of RAGE and further suppressed endothelial cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Huayu Tongmai Granules appears to have a therapeutic effect on diabetic angiopathy that is most probably mediated by miR-185/RAGE axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum mechanical effects of single particles can affect the collective plasmon behaviors substantially. In this work, the quantum control of plasmon excitation and propagation in graphene is demonstrated by adopting the variable quantum transmission of carriers at Heaviside potential steps as a tuning knob. First, the plasmon reflection is revealed to be tunable within a broad range by varying the ratio γ between the carrier energy and potential height, which originates from the quantum mechanical effect of carrier propagation at potential steps. Moreover, the plasmon excitation by free-space photos can be regulated from fully suppressed to fully launched in graphene potential wells also through adjusting γ, which defines the degrees of the carrier confinement in the potential wells. These discovered quantum plasmon effects offer a unified quantum-mechanical solution toward ultimate control of both plasmon launching and propagating, which are indispensable processes in building plasmon circuitry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent growing interest for location-based services has created a demand on object localisation approaches with low cost and high accuracy. In this study, the problem of distributed multi-object localisation using fingerprints of received signal strength (RSS) is addressed by combining average consensus and compressed sensing. First, Bayesian compressed sensing is employed at each agent to recover the sparse index vector from RSS measurements, which are corrupted by noises. It relaxes the requirement on accurate prior position knowledge of beacon nodes and is applicable in non-line-of-sight conditions. Then, average consensus is adopted to compel all agents to reach an agreement on the index vector, and in turn, on the location of objects. By using only one-hop neighbours' information, the proposed distributed localisation method is applicable to large-scale networks. Moreover, the final location of each object is obtainable from each individual agent, which makes the proposed method flexible to the network administration. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pterin-4a-carbinolamine dehydratase (PCD) is a highly conserved enzyme that evolved a second, unrelated function in mammals, as a transcriptional coactivator. As a coactivator, PCD is known as DCoH or dimerization cofactor of the transcription factor HNF-1. These two activities are associated with a change in oligomeric state: from two dimers interacting as an enzyme in the cytoplasm to a dimer interacting with a dimer of HNF-1 in the nucleus. The same interface of DCoH forms both complexes. To determine how DCoH partitions between its two functions, we studied the folding and stability of the DCoH homotetramer. We show that the DCoH1 homotetramer is kinetically trapped, meaning once it forms it will not dissociate to interact with HNF-1. In contrast, DCoH2, a paralog of DCoH1, unfolds within hours. A simple mutation in the interface of DCoH2 from Ser-51 to Thr, as found in DCoH1, increases the kinetic stability by 9 orders of magnitude, to τ1/2 ~2 million years. This suggests that the DCoH1⋅HNF-1 complex must co-fold to interact. We conclude that simple mutations can dramatically affect the dissociation kinetics of a complex. Residue 51 represents a "kinetic hot spot" instead of a "thermodynamic hot spot." Kinetic regulation allows PCD to adopt two distinct functions. Mutations in DCoH1 associated with diabetes affect both functions of DCoH1, perhaps by disrupting the balance between the two DCoH complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target tracking in bearings-only sensor networks (BOSNs) has obtained distinct interest in the last decade. In this situation, the scalability of the tracking algorithm and robustness against network topologies due to moving platform or node/communication fault are two important issues. This motivates the present work on distributed bearings-only tracking in switching BOSNs adopting consensus-based unscented Kalman filters (CoUKFs). First, information unscented Kalman filters (IUKFs) for bearings-only measurements are derived by statistical linearization approach. Then the IUKF is distributed by computing the average consensus on information contribution with only message exchange between one-hop neighbors. To accelerate the convergence in switching networks, adaptive updating of the weights in terms of gradient is proposed for the consensus strategy. Finally, an example of tracking by a network of mixed static and moving bearings-only sensors with switching topologies is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the periodic and subharmonic solutions are investigated for a class of second-order non-autonomous ordinary differential equations with a p-Laplacian. With the perturbation technique and the dual least action principle, some existence results are given of solutions to the convex p-Laplacian systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The aim was to explore dynamic changes of organic matter and nitrogen pollution in Dongchang Lake. [Method] Monitoring data, including BOD5, CODCr, NH3-N and TN, of Dongchang Lake were chosen for analysis during 2002-2011. [Result] Water quality of the six lake districts showed deteriorating in monitoring period, and TN was the dominant pollution factor; BOD5/CODCr ratio was low, suggesting biodegradability of organic pollutant in the lake was lower. NH3/TN ratio was higher, indicating NH3-N was a major factor causing nitrogen exceeding in 2010. In addition, correlations between BOD5 and CODCr and between NH3-N and TN in the lake districts maintained at a significant level. [Conclusion] The research provides references for improving water in Dongchang Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing the design of tracking system under energy and bandwidth constraints in wireless sensor networks (WSN) is of paramount importance. In this paper, the problem of collaborative target tracking in WSNs is considered in a framework of quantized measurement fusion. First, the measurement in each local sensor is quantized by probabilistic quantization scheme and transmitted to a fusion center (FC). Then, the quantized messages are fused and sequential importance resampling (SIR) particle filtering is employed to estimate the target state. In the FC, quantized measurement fusion via both augmented approach and weighted approach is investigated. For both approaches, the closed-form solution to the optimization problem of bandwidth scheduling is given, where the total energy consumption is minimized subject to a constraint on the fusion performance. Finally, posterior Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) on the tracking accuracy using quantized measurement fusion are derived. Simulation results reveal that both approaches perform very closely to the posterior CRLB while obtaining average communication energy saving up to 72.8% and 45.1%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of estimation fusion in a distributed wireless sensor network (WSN) under the following conditions: (i) sensor noises are contaminated by outliers or gross errors; (ii) process noise and sensor noises are correlated; (iii) cross-correlation among local estimates is unknown. First, to attack the correlation and outliers, a correlated robust Kalman filtering (coR2KF) scheme with weighted matrices on innovation sequences is introduced as local estimator. It is shown that the proposed coR2KF takes both conventional Kalman filter and robust Kalman filter as a special case. Then, a novel version of our internal ellipsoid approximation fusion (IEAF) is used in the fusion center to handle the unknown cross-correlation of local estimates. The explicit solution to both fusion estimate and corresponding covariance is given. Finally, to demonstrate robustness of the proposed coR2KF and the effectiveness of IEAF strategy, a simulation example of tracking a target moving on noisy circular trajectories is included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of consensus-based distributed tracking in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with switching network topologies and outlier-corrupted sensor observations is considered. First, to attack the outlier-corrupted measurements, a robust Kalman filtering (RKF) scheme with weighted matrices on innovation sequences is introduced. The proposed RKF possesses high robustness against outliers while having similar computational burden as traditional Kalman filter. Then, each node estimates the network-wide agreement on target state using only communications between one-hop neighbors. In order to improve the convergent speed of the consensus filter in case of switching topologies, an adaptive weight update strategy is proposed. Note that the proposed algorithm relaxes the requirement of Gaussian noise statistics in contrast to the decentralized/distributed Kalman filters. Besides, unlike the existing consensus-based filters, we do not need to perform consensus filtering on the covariance matrices, which will reduce the computational and communicational burden abundantly. Finally, simulation examples are included to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed RKF and effectiveness of adaptive consensus approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin 1β (IL-1β) is a key orchestrator of inflammation and host defense that exerts its effects through IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1RI) and IL-1 receptor accessory protein (IL-1RAcP). How IL-1RAcP is recruited by IL-1β-IL-1RI to form the signaling-competent complex remains elusive. Here we present the crystal structure of IL-1β bound to IL-1 receptor type II (IL-1RII) and IL-1RAcP. IL-1β-IL-1RII generated a composite binding surface to recruit IL-1RAcP. Biochemical analysis demonstrated that IL-1β-IL-1RI and IL-1β-IL-1RII interacted similarly with IL-1RAcP. It also showed the importance of two loops of IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) in determining its antagonism. Our results provide a structural basis for assembly and activation of the IL-1 receptor and offer a general cytokine-receptor architecture that governs the IL-1 family of cytokines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two NewFlo-type flocculent transformants Saccharomyces cerevisiae YTS-S and YTS-L were obtained from a partial yeast genomic library. Even though both of the transformants displayed the same flocculation phenotype, they represented different physiological characteristics during detailed investigation. Analysis of the two transformants YTS-L and YTS-S confirmed the presence of FLONL and FLONS genes, respectively. The 3396-bp ORF of FLONS encoded a protein of 1132 amino acids. Meanwhile, the presence of a 1686-bp ORF encoding a 562-amino acid protein was revealed in FLONL. Both FLONL and FLONS showed high identity to FLO1 gene. Aligned with the intact FLO1 gene, FLONS lost two internal repeated regions, whereas one repeated sequence was inserted into the middle of the FLONL gene. All of the altered regions could be found in the middle repetitive sequence of the FLO1 gene. The results indicate that FLONL and FLONS are both derived forms of the FLO1 gene. Genetic variability triggered by tandem repeats in FLO1 gene is believed to be responsible for the differential phenotypic properties of the yeast strains YTS-S and YTS-L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The R-spondin (RSPO) family of secreted proteins (RSPO1"RSPO4) has pleiotropic functions in development and stem cell growth by strongly enhancing Wnt pathway activation. Recently, leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 4 (LGR4), LGR5, and LGR6 have been identified as receptors for RSPOs. Here we report the complex structure of the LGR4 extracellular domain (ECD) with the RSPO1 N-terminal fragment (RSPO1-2F) containing two adjacent furin-like cysteine-rich domains (FU-CRDs). The LGR4-ECD adopts the anticipated TLR horseshoe structure and uses its concave surface close to the N termini to bind RSPO1-2F. Both the FU-CRD1 and FU-CRD2 domains of RSPO1 contribute to LGR4 interaction, and binding and cellular assays identified critical RSPO1 residues for its biological activities. Our results define the molecular mechanism by which the LGR4/5/6 receptors recognize RSPOs and also provide structural insights into the signaling difference between the LGR4/5/6 receptors and other members in the LGR family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a new method for the analysis of 20 phenolic compounds in human urine. The urine samples were prepared by hydrochloric acid (HCl) hydrolysis, liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), and solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup. We found that HCl hydrolysis is of similar effectiveness to, and much cheaper than, the traditional enzymatic method. Vanillic acid was co-eluted with butyl paraben and interfered with the determination of butyl paraben in urine. K2CO3-treated-silica-gel SPE was designed to efficiently eliminate interference from the endogenous organic acids (especially vanillic acid) in urine. After derivatization, the samples were analyzed by large-volume-injection gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LVI-GC–MS–MS). Good linearity (R 2 ≥ 0.996) was established in the range 0.1–100 ng mL−1 for all analytes. Method detection limits (MDLs) were 0.7–9.8 pg mL−1. Intraday (n = 5) and interday (n = 5 days) validation was performed, with satisfactory accuracy (recovery: 70–126 % and 73–107 %, respectively) and precision (RSD ≤ 19 %) at two levels (low: 0.1 and 0.5 ng mL−1; high: 5 and 10 ng mL−1). The method was used in a population study and achieved more than 85 % detection for most analytes; mean analyte concentrations were in the range 0.01–185 ng mL−1. The method is suitable for the analysis of multiple phenolic metabolites in human urine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the expression of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) in osteosarcoma cells, and analyze the differences in expression between tumor and normal tissues, pre- and post-chemotherapy patients and metastatic and non-metastatic tumors. According to these results, the associations between the expression of GRP78 and tumor growth, metastasis and chemotherapeutics could be determined. Between 2007 and 2012, 60 patients who had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma were selected for the present study. Of these patients, 20 presented with non-metastatic tumors and 40 with metastatic tumors, and 20 had been treated without chemotherapy and 40 with chemotherapy. In addition, 60 specimens obtained from adjacent normal tissues were collected for the control groups. Immunofluorescence staining was used to examine the expression of GRP78 in the different tissues. The total RNA and protein were extracted from crushed tissues and used in the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. GRP78 was primarily located in the intracavity of the endoplasmic reticulum. The expression level of GRP78 in the tumor tissue was higher than that in the normal tissue surrounding the tumor (P<0.01). In addition, the level was higher in the metastatic tumors compared with the non-metastatic tumors (P<0.05), and in the non-chemotherapy-treated patients compared with the chemotherapy-treated patients (P<0.01). The expression level of GRP78 mRNA in the tumor tissue was higher than that in the normal tissue (P<0.01). Furthermore, the level was higher in the metastasis group than in the non-metastasis group (P<0.05), and in the non-chemotherapy group than in the chemotherapy group (P<0.01). The expression level of GRP78 protein was higher in the tumor tissue compared with the normal tissue (P<0.01), in the metastasis group compared with the non-metastasis group (P<0.05), and in the non-chemotherapy group compared with the chemotherapy group (P<0.01). In conclusion, the present study detected the expression of GRP78 in patients with osteosarcoma and revealed a higher expression level in the tumor tissues compared with the normal tissues around the tumor, in the metastasis group compared with the non-metastasis group and in the non-chemotherapy-treated group compared with the chemotherapy-treated group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene superlattices have been extensively investigated and exhibit various emergent single-particle properties in addition to those of pristine graphene, yet to date, the collective plasmonic behaviors of the Dirac electrons in such systems remain largely unexplored. Here we use a microscopic description to explore the quantum plasmonic properties of one-dimensional graphene superlattices under physically realistic conditions. The emerging additional Dirac points at nonzero electron energies caused by the chiral nature of graphene carriers lead to interband excitations between the induced minibands. Such segments of the electron-hole pair continuum are strongly coupled to the plasmon modes along the superlattice direction. As a result, there exist a spectrum of emergent quantum plasmonic effects, including enhanced damping, multiple plasmon modes at the same wave vector, and oscillatory plasmon energies with respect to the sweeping Fermi level. In contrast, the coupling along the perpendicular direction is much weaker, and the plasmonic dispersion and damping remain largely intact as those of pristine graphene. These findings of fundamental nature may also offer additional technological potentials in graphene optoelectronics, such as plasmonic waveguides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors recognize avirulence effectors directly through their integrated domains (IDs) or indirectly via the effector-targeted proteins. Previous studies have succeeded in generating designer NLR receptors with new recognition profiles by engineering IDs or targeted proteins based on prior knowledge of their interactions with the effectors. However, it is yet a challenge to design a new plant receptor capable of recognizing effectors that function by unknown mechanisms. Several rice NLR immune receptors, including RGA5, possess an integrated heavy metal–associated (HMA) domain that recognizes corresponding Magnaporthe oryzae Avrs and ToxB-like (MAX) effectors in the rice blast fungus. Here, we report a designer rice NLR receptor RGA5HMA2 carrying an engineered, integrated HMA domain (RGA5-HMA2) that can recognize the noncorresponding MAX effector AvrPib and confers the RGA4-dependent resistance to the M. oryzae isolates expressing AvrPib, which originally triggers the Pib-mediated blast resistance via unknown mechanisms. The RGA5-HMA2 domain is contrived based on the high structural similarity of AvrPib with two MAX effectors, AVR-Pia and AVR1-CO39, recognized by cognate RGA5-HMA, the binding interface between AVR1-CO39 and RGA5-HMA, and the distinct surface charge of AvrPib and RAG5-HMA. This work demonstrates that rice NLR receptors with the HMA domain can be engineered to confer resistance to the M. oryzae isolates noncorresponding but structurally similar MAX effectors, which manifest cognate NLR receptor–mediated resistance with unknown mechanisms. Our study also provides a practical approach for developing rice multilines and broad race spectrum–resistant cultivars by introducing a series of engineered NLR receptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by the accumulation of lung fibroblasts and extracellular matrix deposition. Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), the major bioactive component that can extracted from roots of angelica, plays functional roles in immunomodulation, anti-tumor activity, and hematopoiesis. Emerging evidence has suggested that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in pathophysiological processes in various diseases. However, the roles of lncRNAs and ASP in IPF remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects of ASP in IPF, as well as their functional interactions with lncRNA DANCR (differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA). IPF models were established by treating Sprague-Dawley rats with BLM and treating alveolar type ? epithelial (RLE-6TN) cells with TGF-ß1. Our results showed that ASP treatment suppressed pulmonary fibrosis in rats and fibrogenesis in RLE-6TN cells. The lncRNA DANCR is downregulated after ASP treatment in both rat lung tissues and RLE-6TN cells, and DANCR overexpression dramatically reversed the suppressive effects of ASP in IPF. Mechanistically, DANCR directly binds with AUF1 (AU-binding factor 1), thereby upregulating FOXO3 mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, overexpression of AUF1 or FOXO3 reversed the functional effects induced by ASP treatment. In conclusion, our findings showed that DANCR mediates ASP-induced suppression of IPF via upregulation of FOXO3 protein levels in an AUF1-dependent manner. Therefore, DANCR could serve as a promising therapeutic target in IPF treatment with ASP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) synthase (Tps1) catalyzes the formation of T6P from UDPglucose (UDPG) (or GDPG, etc.) and glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), and structural basis of this process has not been well studied. MoTps1 (Magnaporthe oryzae Tps1) plays a critical role in carbon and nitrogen metabolism, but its structural information is unknown. Here we present the crystal structures of MoTps1 apo, binary (with UDPG) and ternary (with UDPG/G6P or UDP/T6P) complexes. MoTps1 consists of two modified Rossmannfold domains and a catalytic center in-between. Unlike Escherichia coli OtsA (EcOtsA, the Tps1 of E. coli), MoTps1 exists as a mixture of monomer, dimer, and oligomer in solution. Inter-chain salt bridges, which are not fully conserved in EcOtsA, play primary roles in MoTps1 oligomerization. Binding of UDPG by MoTps1 C-terminal domain modifies the substrate pocket of MoTps1. In the MoTps1 ternary complex structure, UDP and T6P, the products of UDPG and G6P, are detected, and substantial conformational rearrangements of N-terminal domain, including structural reshuffling (β3-β4 loop to α0 helix) and movement of a 'shift region' towards the catalytic centre, are observed. These conformational changes render MoTps1 to a 'closed' state compared with its 'open' state in apo or UDPG complex structures. By solving the EcOtsA apo structure, we confirmed that similar ligand binding induced conformational changes also exist in EcOtsA, although no structural reshuffling involved. Based on our research and previous studies, we present a model for the catalytic process of Tps1. Our research provides novel information on MoTps1, Tps1 family, and structure-based antifungal drug design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Abnormal expression of miR-223 in cancerous tissue has confirmed it as an important player in tumorigenesis of cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, osteosarcoma, gastric cancer, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The present meta-analysis aimed to explore the association between circulating miR-223 and prognosis of cancers. Methods: The studies were accessed by an electronic search of multiple databases. RevMan5.3 and STATA14.0 were used to estimate the heterogeneity among studies, pooled effects, and publication bias. Results: Ten studies with data of 1,002 patients with cancer were included in this meta-analysis. The risk of metastasis from stages 3 to 4 of TNM did not decrease when high versus low circulating expression of miR-223 were compared (pooled odds ratio =0.50, 95% CI: 0.24-1.03). In case of prognosis, the overall survival time was not significantly longer with high circulating miR-223 expression (pooled hazard ratio [HR] =0.64, 95% CI: 0.38-1.11) in all cancer types. However, the overall survival time of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (pooled HR =0.19, 95% CI: 0.07-0.54) increased in subgroup analysis. Moreover, the treatment-free survival of chronic lymphocytic leukemia was significantly increased with high circulating miR-223 expression (pooled HR =0.38, 95% CI: 0.23-0.64). Conclusion: Circulating miR-223 was not an effective biomarker in prognosis surveillance in all cancers but in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonferrous metals smelting industry is a major anthropogenic Hg emission source in China. A new method using transition metal-Tu (thiourea) solution was proposed to selectively remove Hg0 from high SO2 concentration flue gas. It is found that this solution displays significantly high Hg0 removal efficiency, up to above 88.7%, under optimal conditions, whereas the loss of SO2 is only 6.8%. High Tu concentration, low solution pH, and low temperature are helpful for Hg0 removal. The promoting effect of Fe3+ is better than that of Cu2+. The mechanism of selective Hg0 removal was studied by various methods. First, the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves show that part of Tu could be oxidized to FDS (formamidine disulfide), which could combine with Hg0 to form Hg-Tu complex. Additionally, the UV-vis spectra indicate H2SO3 could improve the stability of FDS and facilitate Hg0 removal. In summary, the use of transition metal-Tu solution to selectively remove Hg0 from smelting flue gas displays excellent efficiency, and the proposed mechanism of Hg0 selective removal is persuasive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogens have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to evade detection and destruction by the host immune system. Large DNA viruses encode homologues of chemokines and their receptors, as well as chemokine-binding proteins (CKBPs) to modulate the chemokine network in host response. The SECRET domain (smallpox virus-encoded chemokine receptor) represents a new family of viral CKBPs that binds a subset of chemokines from different classes to inhibit their activities, either independently or fused with viral tumor necrosis factor receptors (vTNFRs). Here we present the crystal structures of the SECRET domain of vTNFR CrmD encoded by ectromelia virus and its complex with chemokine CX3CL1. The SECRET domain adopts a β-sandwich fold and utilizes its β-sheet I surface to interact with CX3CL1, representing a new chemokine- binding manner of viral CKBPs. Structure-based mutagenesis and biochemical analysis identified important basic residues in the 40s loop of CX3CL1 for the interaction. Mutation of corresponding acidic residues in the SECRET domain also affected the binding for other chemokines, indicating that the SECRET domain binds different chemokines in a similar manner. We further showed that heparin inhibited the binding of CX3CL1 by the SECRET domain and the SECRET domain inhibited RAW264.7 cell migration induced by CX3CL1. These results together shed light on the structural basis for the SECRET domain to inhibit chemokine activities by interfering with both chemokine-GAG and chemokine-receptor interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel crystalline binary phase is reported in the Na–Ge system, with an entirely new, zeolite-like crystal structure solved and refined by the combination of synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]