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Cardiomyocyte pyroptosis and apoptosis play a vital role in the pathophysiology of several cardiovascular diseases. Our recent study revealed that Gasdermin D (GSDMD) can promote myocardial I/R injury via caspase-11/GSDMD pathway. Furthermore, we also found that GSDMD deletion attenuated myocardial I/R and MI injury by reducing cardiomyocyte apoptosis and pyroptosis. However, how GSDMD mediates cardiomyocyte apoptosis and protects myocardial function remains unclear. We here evaluated that doxorubicin (DOX) treatment resulted in significantly increased apoptosis instead of pyroptosis in cardiomyocytes. Interestingly, GSDMD overexpression promoted cardiomyocyte apoptosis, and GSDMD knockdown attenuated cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Notably, GSDMD overexpression exacerbated DOX-induced cardiotoxicity (DIC) injury, impaired cardiac function in vitro and in vivo, and enhanced DOX-induced cardiomyocyte autophagy. Mechanistically, GSDMD regulated the activity of FAM134B, an endoplasmic reticulum autophagy receptor, by pore formation on the endoplasmic reticulum membrane via its N-terminus, thus activating endoplasmic reticulum stress. In turn, FAM134B interacted with autophagic protein LC3, thus inducing cardiac autophagy, promoting cardiomyocyte apoptosis and aggravating DIC. These results suggest that GSDMD promotes autophagy and induces cardiomyocyte apoptosis by modulating the reaction of FAM134B and LC3, thereby promoting DIC injury. Targeted regulation of GSDMD may be a new target for the prevention and treatment of DIC.

For nanofibrous aerogels, a three-dimensional porous structure with interwoven nanofibers as a pore wall has become an urgent demand, and it remains to be a challenge to ensure the mechanical stability and thermal insulation. Other than the reported nanofiber as raw materials to generate three-dimensional cellular nanofibrous aerogels, an alternative low-cost and facile procedure has been proposed here via tactfully utilizing polymer sponge as a template attached with reactive particles, followed by a carbothermal reduction process to realize nanowire growth and their replacement of the original framework. The resulting spongy aerogels with numerous interlaced SiC/Si3N4 nanowires as a skeleton exhibit an ultrahigh porosity of 99.79%. Meanwhile, compressive elasticity after a compression at strain of 35% for 400 cycles, a low thermal conductivity of 23.19 mW/(m K), an excellent absorption capacity of 33.9-95.3 times for varied organic solvents removal, along with flexibility in shape design favored by the initial organic sponge make this nanofibrous aerogel an ideal material for heat shielding, absorption, or catalyst support.

For nanofibrous aerogels, a three-dimensional porous structure with interwoven nanofibers as a pore wall has become an urgent demand, and it remains to be a challenge to ensure the mechanical stability and thermal insulation. Other than the reported nanofiber as raw materials to generate three-dimensional cellular nanofibrous aerogels, an alternative low-cost and facile procedure has been proposed here via tactfully utilizing polymer sponge as a template attached with reactive particles, followed by a carbothermal reduction process to realize nanowire growth and their replacement of the original framework. The resulting spongy aerogels with numerous interlaced SiC/Si

D-glucaric acid is a promising platform compound used to synthesize many other value-added or commodity chemicals. The engineering of Escherichia coli for efficiently converting D -glucose to D-glucaric acid has been attempted for several years, with mixed sugar fermentation recently gaining growing interests due to the increased D-glucaric acid yield. Here, we co-expressed cscB, cscA, cscK, ino1, miox, udh, and suhB in E. coli BL21 (DE3), functionally constructing an unreported route from sucrose to D-glucaric acid. Further deletion of chromosomal zwf, pgi, ptsG, uxaC, gudD, over-expression of glk, and use of a D -fructose-dependent translation control system for pgi enabled the strain to use sucrose as the sole carbon source while achieving a high product titer and yield. The titer of D-glucaric acid in M9 medium containing 10 g/L sucrose reached ~1.42 g/L, with a yield of ~0.142 g/g on sucrose.

Magnetic targeted-drug delivery system (MTDs) works as a promising cancer treatment approach, and is entering the mainstream. It applies an external magnetic field to attract and guide the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) carrying treatment agent and targeted antibodies to the lesion region. Its key factor is the high gradient magnet. Here three types of magnets are proposed, i.e., open circuit magnet, close circuit magnet with planar poles, and close circuit magnet with concave-convex poles. And then their magnet field distributions are calculated through the finite element method (FEM). The simulation results are compared with each other and the measurement of Gauss Meter for the manufactured magnet, and the primary experimental result is also reported. It is found the closed magnet circuit with concave-convex poles shows about 2.0 and 1.2 times higher magnetic field intensity (H) than the open magnet circuit and the close magnet circuit with planar poles, respectively. Most important is it owns largest Grad (H) (1.0 e6 A/m2) among three magnets. The simulation agrees well with the measurement, and the primary experimental results also show the magnet can attract MNPs efficiently. Hence the calculation enables provide with credible input for the further trajectory simulation for MNPs.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been considered as potential therapeutic agent carrier for the magnetic targeted-drug delivery in the fight against cancer. Trajectories of MNPs in the blood vessel determine the capture and retention ratio, and the final effectiveness of the treatment. In the present study, a theoretical model of MNPs trajectory is deduced at first. Then two kinds of magnets are proposed, and their magnetic field distributions are calculated through the finite element method software of ANSYS. Using the model and magnetic field inputs, the MNPs trajectories are determined, and the influences of the MNP diameter (Rp), the blood flow velocity (vf) and magnetic field intensity (H) on the trajectories are clarified finally. It is found that the proposed method combining the theoretical model and numerical simulation is feasible. The closed magnetic circuit with concave-convex poles has better MNPs retention ratio than that of the open magnetic circuit because it has higher H and Grad (H). LargeRp, lowvf, and high H are good to capture the MNPs. Especiallyvfand H are critical parameters for the retention ratio of MNPs, and highvfand low H may let MNPs escape the magnetic field region.

Many studies have evaluated the association between serum levels of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and sepsis; however, the findings are inconclusive and conflicting. For a better understanding of MBL in sepsis, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis. Potential relevant studies were identified covering Science Citation Index, the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Current Contents Index databases. Two reviewers extracted data and assessed studies independently. Statistical analyses were conducted with the version 12.0 STATA statistical software. Ten papers were collected for meta-analysis. Results identified that sepsis patients had considerably lower MBL level than those in the controls (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 1.59, 95 % confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.86∼2.31, P