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Pulmonary fibrosis poses a significant health threat with very limited therapeutic options available. In this study, we reported the enhanced expression of mesenchymal homobox 1 (MEOX1) in pulmonary fibrosis patients, especially in their fibroblasts and endothelial cells, and confirmed MEOX1 as a central orchestrator in the activation of profibrotic genes. By high-throughput screening, we identified Ailanthone (AIL) from a natural compound library as the first small molecule capable of directly targeting and suppressing MEOX1. AIL demonstrated the ability to inhibit both the activation of fibroblasts and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of endothelial cells when challenged by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). In an animal model of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, AIL effectively mitigated the fibrotic process and restored respiratory functions. Mechanistically, AIL acted as a suppressor of MEOX1 by disrupting the interaction between the transcription factor JUN and the promoter of MEOX1, thereby inhibiting MEOX1 expression and activity. In summary, our findings pinpointed MEOX1 as a cell-specific and clinically translatable target in fibrosis. Moreover, we demonstrated the potent anti-fibrotic effect of AIL in pulmonary fibrosis, specifically through the suppression of JUN-dependent MEOX1 activation.

Abstract Intercropping systems have garnered attention as a sustainable agricultural approach for efficient land use, increased ecological diversity in farmland, and enhanced crop yields. This study examined the effect of intercropping on the kiwifruit rhizosphere to gain a deeper understanding of the relationships between cover plants and kiwifruit in this sustainable agricultural system. Soil physicochemical properties and bacterial communities were analyzed using the Kiwifruit-Agaricus blazei intercropping System. Moreover, a combined analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolomic sequencing was used to identify differential microbes and metabolites in the rhizosphere. Intercropping led to an increase in soil physicochemical and enzyme activity, as well as re-shaping the bacterial community and increasing microbial diversity. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Myxococcota, and Patescibacteria were the most abundant and diverse phyla in the intercropping system. Expression analysis further revealed that the bacterial genera BIrii41, Acidibacter, and Altererythrobacter were significantly upregulated in the intercropping system. Moreover, 358 differential metabolites (DMs) were identified between the monocropping and intercropping cultivation patterns, with fatty acyls, carboxylic acids and derivatives, and organooxygen compounds being significantly upregulated in the intercropping system. The KEGG metabolic pathways further revealed considerable enrichment of DMs in ABC transporters, histidine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism. This study identified a significant correlation between 95 bacterial genera and 79 soil metabolites, and an interactive network was constructed to explore the relationships between these differential microbes and metabolites in the rhizosphere. This study demonstrated that Kiwifruit-Agaricus blazei intercropping can be an effective, labor-saving, economic, and sustainable practice for reshaping bacterial communities and promoting the accumulation and metabolism of beneficial microorganisms in the rhizosphere.

Plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (ELNs) have demonstrated cross-kingdom capabilities in regulating intercellular communication, facilitating drug delivery, and providing therapeutic interventions in humans. However, the functional attributes of konjac-derived ELNs (K-ELNs) remain largely unexplored. This study investigates the isolation, characterization, and functional analysis of K-ELNs, along with the profiling and differential expression analysis of associated miRNAs in both K-ELNs and Konjac tissues. K-ELNs were successfully isolated and characterized from two konjac species using ultracentrifugation, followed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA). Small RNA sequencing identified a total of 3,259 miRNAs across all samples. Differential expression analysis revealed significant differences in miRNA profiles between K-ELNs and tissue samples. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional enrichment analysis of target genes provided insights into their roles in modulating pathways associated with diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Additionally, six miRNAs were selected for validation of sequencing results via RT-qPCR. The 5’RLM-RACE method was employed to validate the cleavage sites between differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and their predicted target genes, further substantiating the regulatory roles of miRNAs in konjac. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the biological functions and applications of K-ELNs, laying the groundwork for future research into their potential therapeutic roles in human health.

Sisal is an important tropical cash crop in southern China. Unfortunately, it is threatened by various diseases. In 2022, a new disease tentatively named marginal leaf blight disease (MLBD) was first observed in sisal fields across Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, with an incidence rate ranging from 13% to 30%. In this work, to isolate and identify the pathogens causing MLBD, sisal leaves exhibiting the typical MLBD symptoms were collected, and nine strains were obtained. Pathogenicity tests, morphological observations, and phylogenetic analyses confirmed that two strains, namely 22GX1-3 and 22GD1-4, identified as Phaeosphaeriopsis obtusispora, were the causative pathogens of MLBD. Further investigations into the biological characteristics of P. obtusispora showed that its mycelia exhibited optimal growth on PDA medium, with the most favourable temperature and pH being 25 °C and 7.0, respectively. The mycelia could grow in temperatures ranging from 10 °C to 32 °C but ceased at 35 °C. Lactose and yeast extract powder were also identified as the optimal carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Additionally, the effectiveness of various control agents was assessed on a single strain, 22GX1-3. Among the twelve fungicides tested, difenoconazole was proven the most effective, with an EC50 value of 0.5045 µg/mL. To our knowledge, this is the first report for sisal MLBD caused by P. obtusispora. Our results provide crucial pieces of information for the development of effective management strategies to control sisal MLBD caused by P. obtusispora.

Sugarcane brown rust (SCBR), caused by Puccinia melanocephala, is a destructive fungal disease that has extensively spread in the sugarcane-cultivating regions across the world. Early monitoring plays an important role in predicting the P. melanocephala epidemic and managing SCBR. However, accurately identifying SCBR based on symptoms and urediniospore morphology at the initial stage is a challenge. Further, it is tedious, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and requires expensive equipment to detect P. melanocephala using PCR-based methods. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology is renowned for its speed, simplicity, and low equipment requirements for specifically and sensitively identifying many pathogens. Therefore, in this study, a novel and highly sensitive LAMP assay was developed for the specific detection of P. melanocephala in sugarcane. Here, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of P. melanocephala was selected as the target gene for LAMP primer design. Based on the color change of SYBR Green I and gel electrophoresis, specific LAMP primers were screened. Further, the optimal reaction conditions for the LAMP assay were determined at 63 °C for 60 min. The LAMP assay showed a high degree of specificity for the detection of P. melanocephala in sugarcane, with no cross-reactivity with other fungal pathogens. The established LAMP protocol was highly sensitive and can be used to detect as low as 1 pg/μL of P. melanocephala plasmid DNA, which is comparable to that of nested PCR and ~100 times more sensitive than conventional PCR. Finally, the detection rate of the LAMP method was higher than that of conventional and nested PCR in field samples.

In this paper, the issue of asynchronous resilient $H_{\infty }$ control for Markov jump cyber-physical systems (CPSs) is investigated. The unified representation for occurrences of the deception attack and the actuator failure is properly proposed, which are assumed to be governed by mutually independent random variables satisfying Bernoulli distribution. To decrease the transmission rate for sampled data released into the communication network, the event-based transmission policy is fundamentally addressed. And an asynchronous resilient $H_{\infty }$ controller is fairly provided. The standards of stochastically stable for the resulting time-delay Markov jump CPSs are obtained by a group of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, a numerical instance and a boost converter circuit are provided to show the applications of the developed conclusion.

More recently, short peptides in scorpion venom have received much attention because of their potential for drug discovery. Although various biological effects of these short peptides have been found, their studies have been hindered by the lack of structural information especially in modifications. In this study, small peptides from scorpion venom were investigated using high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry followed by de novo sequencing. A total of 156 sequences consisting of 2~12 amino acids were temporarily identified from Buthus martensii scorpion venom. The identified peptides exhibited various post-translational modifications including N-terminal and C-terminal modifications, in which the N-benzoyl modification was first found in scorpion venom. Moreover, a short peptide Bz-ARF-NH2 demonstrated both N-terminal and C-terminal modifications simultaneously, which is extremely rare in natural peptides. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive insight into the diversity, modifications, and potential bioactivities of short peptides in scorpion venom.

Abstract Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the cause of wheat stripe rust, is a biotrophic and heteroecious rust fungus with five spore types. Cool and humid climatic conditions are conducive for the development of wheat stripe rust, and in turn, temperatures above 22 °C limit or even cease the disease. The survival of Pst during summer after wheat harvest is responsible for the infection on autumn-sown wheat to maintain disease cycle all the year round. Teliospores formed at late stage of wheat growth are essential for initiating sexual reproduction in spring. Although Chinese native grasses have been experimentally testified as susceptible hosts for Pst and teliospores produced on wheat have been shown to be potential inoculum sources causing infection on alternate hosts (mainly Berberis) in spring, the roles of grass hosts in harboring the survival of urediospores and teliospores of Pst and promoting the emergence of diverse races under field conditions in China have not been known. Herein, Gansu, as a hotspot and an important oversummering region for Pst, was exemplified to demonstrate these roles of grass hosts. As a result, 63 Pst isolates, derived from 2184 uredial samples collected from grass hosts during harvesting period (from mid-June to mid-to-late July) and seeding period (mid to late September) in 2012 and 2013, were identified as 52 diverse phenotypes (82.5%) on the Chinese differential hosts. Subsequently, after inoculation of barberry, 52 Pst isolates with high infection type, 20 known races and 32 new races, were recovered from 1,712 single aecium, which are derived from 35 telial samples of grass hosts. Our experiments showed that Pst urediospores can oversummer on grass species in Gansu or other oversummering regions with similar ecological and climatic conditions. Pst teliospores, which are produced on these grass hosts, are important inoculum source for barberry infection in spring. Therefore, treatment of grasses hosts should be taken into consideration in management of wheat stripe rust.

Agave amaniensis Trel. & W. Nowell (1933) has long been used for phytosteroid production, which is also one of the parents of the famous Agave hybrid cultivar 11648 for sisal fiber production. However, its systematic position and phylogenetic relationship remains unknown at the chloroplast (cp) genome level. Therefore, we have sequenced and assembled the cp genome of A. amaniensis via Illumina sequencing. The cp genome is 157,282 bp in length with a GC content of 37.84%. A large single-copy region of 85,899 bp, a small single-copy region of 18,233 bp, and inverted repeat regions of 26,575 bp were found in the cp genome. Based on the annotation, 86 protein-coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 38 tRNAs were identified in the cp genome with total lengths of 78,981 bp, 9050 bp, and 2867 bp, respectively. The phylogenetic tree indicates that A. amaniensis is closely related with A. H11648, A. angustifolia, and A. americana.

The quality of myrrh decoction pieces can be influenced by factors such as origin, source, and processing methods. The quality of myrrh in the market varies greatly, and adulteration is a serious issue, highlighting the urgent need for improved quality control measures. This study explores the integration of GC–MS analysis and sensor selection in electronic nose technology for the improved classification of myrrh decoction pieces. GC–MS analysis revealed the presence of 130 volatile compounds in the six myrrh samples, primarily composed of alkene compounds, and each sample exhibited variations in composition. An electronic nose system was designed using a sensor array consisting of six sensors selected from twelve sensors capable of detecting volatile compounds consistent with myrrh composition, including WO3 quantum dots, Fe2O3 hollow nanorods, ZnFe2O4 nanorods, SnO2 nanowires, and two commercially available sensors. The sensors exhibited distinct response patterns to the myrrh samples, indicating their suitability for myrrh analysis. Various sensor parameters, including response, response and recovery time, integral area, and slope, were computed to characterize the sensors’ performance. These parameters provided valuable insight into the sensor–gas interactions and the unique chemical profiles of the myrrh samples. The LDA model demonstrated high accuracy in differentiating between the myrrh types, utilizing the discriminative features captured by the sensor array, with a classification accuracy of 90% on the testing set. This research provides a comprehensive evaluation method for the quality control of myrrh pieces and a scientific basis for the development and utilization of myrrh.

The eastern slope of the Tibetan Plateau is a crucial corridor of water-vapor transport from the Tibetan Plateau to Eastern China. This is also a region with active cloud initiation, and the locally hatched cloud systems have a profound impact on the radiation budget and hydrological cycle over the downstream Sichuan Basin and the middle reach of the Yangtze River. It is noteworthy that there is a strong diversification in the characteristics and evolution of the ESTP cloud systems due to the complex terrain. Therefore, in this study, ground-based Ka-band millimeter-wave cloud radar measurements collected at the Ganzi (GZ), Litang (LT), Daocheng (DC), and Jiulong (JL) sites of the ESTP in 2019 were analyzed to compare the vertical structures of summer nonprecipitating clouds, including cloud occurrence frequency, radar reflectivity factor, cloud base height, cloud top height, and cloud thickness. The occurrence frequency exhibits two peaks on the ESTP with maximum values of ~20% (2–4 km) and 15% (7–9 km), respectively. The greatest (smallest) occurrence frequency occurs in the JL (GZ). The cloud occurrence frequency of all sites increases rapidly in the afternoon, and the occurrence frequency of the DC presents larger values at 2–4 km. In contrast, the occurrence frequency in the JL shows another increase from 2000 LT to midnight at 7–11 km. Stronger radar echoes occur most frequently in the LT at 5–7 km, and hydrometeor sizes and phase states vary dramatically in mixed-phase clouds. A small number of radar echoes occur at midnight in the JL. A characteristic bimodality of the cloud base height and top height for single-layer, double-layer, and triple-layer clouds was observed. Clouds show a higher base height in the GZ and higher top height in the JL. The ESTP is dominated by thin clouds with thicknesses of 200–400 m. The cloud base height, top height, and thickness exhibit an increase in the afternoon, and higher top height occurs more frequently from midnight to the next early morning in the JL because of its mountain-valley terrain.

Yizhi Granule (YZG) is a health food containing six traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). It improves memory barriers in rat experiments. Here, we describe the first fast and sensitive ultraperformance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-Q-TOF MS) method for analyzing YZG in plasma. We used this technique for studies in cynomolgus monkey plasma. By comparing retention time, MS, and MS/MS data of reference compounds, 70 compounds were detected in YZG. Of these, 63 were identified including 60 saponins, 2 flavones, and 1 methyl ester. There were 33 saponins, 1 flavone, and 1 methyl ester in the plasma. Next, to study the therapeutic properties of YZG, the neuroprotective effect of some of the absorbed components was evaluated using PC12 cell damage caused by the Aβ25–35 model. The results showed that 9 compounds protect PC12 cells from Aβ25–35 with cell viability (%) of 111.00 ± 8.12 (G-Rb1), 102.20 ± 4.22 (G-Rb2), 100.34 ± 6.47 (G-Rd), 102.83 ± 2.10 (G-Re), 101.68 ± 7.64 (NG-Fa), 101.19 ± 7.83 (NG-R1), 102.53 ± 0.55 (NG-R2), 106.88 ± 4.95 (gypenoside A), and 103.95 ± 4.11 (gypenoside XLIX), respectively, versus the control group (87.51 ± 6.59). These results can reveal the real pharmacodynamic basis of YZG and provide a theoretical basis for subsequent studies. It can also provide some references for the research of Alzheimer’s disease.

Background: In this paper, we present and validate a way to measure automatically the extent of cell migration based on automated examination of a series of digital photographs. It was designed specifically to identify the impact of Second Hand Smoke (SHS) on endothelial cell migration but has broader applications. The analysis has two stages: (1) preprocessing of image texture, and (2) migration analysis. Results: The output is a graphic overlay that indicates the front lines of cell migration superimposed on each original image, with automated reporting of the distance traversed vs. time. Expert preference compares to manual placement of leading edge shows complete equivalence of automated vs. manual leading edge definition for cell migration measurement. Conclusion: Our method is indistinguishable from careful manual determinations of cell front lines, with the advantages of full automation, objectivity, and speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]