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MicroRNAs have been studied extensively in neurodegenerative diseases. In a previous study, miR-153 promoted neural differentiation and projection formation in mouse hippocampal HT-22 cells. However, the pathways and molecular mechanism underlying miR-153-induced neural differentiation remain unclear. To explore the molecular mechanism of miR-153 on neural differentiation, we performed RNA sequencing on miR-153-overexpressed HT-22 cells. Based on RNA sequencing, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pathways in miR-153-overexpressed cells were identified. The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis were used to perform functional annotation and enrichment analysis of DEGs. Targetscan predicted the targets of miR-153. The Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes and Cytoscape, were used to construct protein-protein interaction networks and identify hub genes. Q-PCR was used to detect mRNA expression of the identified genes. The expression profiles of the identified genes were compared between embryonic days 9.5 (E9.5) and E11.5 in the embryotic mouse brain of the GDS3442 dataset. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to determine cell proliferation and cellular susceptibility to amyloid β-protein (Aβ) toxicity in miR-153-overexpressed cells. The results indicated that miR-153 increased cell adhesion/Ca2+ (Cdh5, Nrcam, and P2rx4) and Bdnf/Ntrk2 neurotrophic signaling pathway, and decreased ion channel activity (Kcnc3, Kcna4, Clcn5, and Scn5a). The changes in the expression of the identified genes in miR-153-overexpressed cells were consistent with the expression profile of GDS3442 during neural differentiation. In addition, miR-153 overexpression decreased cellular susceptibility to Aβ toxicity in HT-22 cells. In conclusion, miR-153 overexpression may promote neural differentiation by inducing cell adhesion and the Bdnf/Ntrk2 pathway, and regulating electrophysiological maturity by targeting ion channels. MiR-153 may play an important role in neural differentiation; the findings provide a useful therapeutic direction for neurodegenerative diseases.

BACKGROUND Water quality security and human health are important to ensure rural revitalization of old liberated areas. The continuous development and utilization of ion-adsorption type REE deposits in northern Ganzhou aggravate trace elements from ores and tailings to the water cycle, thereby endangering the sanitation and safety of drinking water. OBJECTIVES To investigate and evaluate health risk and water quality on the watershed scale of rare earth ore concentration area in the Huangpi River Basin. METHODS The contents of manganese, cadmium and other elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry/mass spectrometry(ICP-OES/MS). By choosing "standards for drinking water quality" (GB 5749—2006) as the evaluation basis, the water quality index (WQI), hazard quotient (HQ), and cancer risk (CR)were adopted to evaluate water quality and human health risks through analyzing 9 indices including Pb and Mn. RESULTS NH3-N and Mn were anomaly indices whether in surface water or groundwater. The average values of NH3-N were 750μg/L and 4533μg/L in surface water and groundwater, respectively. Index values of Mn were 207μg/L and 4009μg/L in surface water and groundwater, respectively. Arsenic, class I carcinogen published by the World Health Organization, had no abnormality in surface water and groundwater. Moreover, 85.7% of surface water and groundwater was found to be suitable for drinking upon analyzing the WQI values. The HQ average value of NH3-N was less than 1 in surface water and groundwater so it had no harmful effects on human health. However, the HQ average value of Mn was more than 1, which may be harmful to human health. CR values of As varying from 10-6 to 10-4 were also calculated, and the risk of cancer was acceptable. CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that relevant departments should pay attention to the status of NH3-N and heavy metal elements in water during the reclamation evaluation of rare earth mines. The research detailed in this paper confirms that the groundwater monitoring system of manganese should be improved.

An operationally simple colorimetric method for measuring glutathione s-transferase (GST) activity was developed using cysteamine-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in this work. This method was based that GST can catalyze the reaction of 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and glutathione (GSH) to produce a conjugate (CDNB-SG). GSH could induce the aggregation of AuNPs, whereas the conjugate could not induce the aggregation of AuNPs. Thus, GST activity can be facilely assayed with the naked eye or a simple colorimetric reader. The convenient and simple colorimetric response of the assay makes them an attractive approach for drug-screening application. Keywords Glutathione S-transferase * Colorimetric method * Gold nanoparticles * Inhibition, Introduction Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) constitute a family of detoxification enzymes that catalyze the conjugation of glutathione (GSH) with a variety of hydrophobic compounds, including drugs and their metabolites, to yield [...]