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With-no-lysine kinase (WNK) is a unique serine/threonine kinase family member. WNK differs from other protein kinases by not having a standard lysine in subdomain II of the universally preserved kinase catalytic region. Conversely, the amino acid lysine located in subdomain I plays a crucial role in its phosphorylation. The WNK family has been reported to regulate Arabidopsis flowering, circadian rhythm, and abiotic stress. Eighteen members of the WNK gene family were discovered in apples in this research, and they were primarily grouped into five categories on the phylogenetic tree. Conserved domains and motifs also confirmed their identity as members of the WNK family. Promoter cis-acting element analysis indicated their potential role in responses to both abiotic stress and phytohormones. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of MdWNK family genes was stimulated to different extents by Colletotrichum siamense, NaCl, mannitol, ABA, JA, and SA, with Colletotrichum siamense being the most prominent stimulant. MdWNK family genes were expressed across all apple tissues, with young fruits showing the greatest expression and roots showing the least expression. The research offered detailed insights into the MdWNK gene family, serving as a crucial basis for investigating the biological roles of MdWNK genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Glioblastomas (GBMs) are considered the most lethal cancer in the central nervous system (CNS), whose malignant phenotypes are majorly attributed to glioma stem cells (GSCs). Despite combined surgical radiotherapy with temozolomide chemotherapy and tumor-treating fields (TTFs), the tumor almost always recurs near the resection site. Besides the contribution of GSCs, the tumor microenvironment (TME) also plays an important role in glioma recurrence. Our work has demonstrated that GSC-derived exosomes carry lncRNA NEAT1 to promote the M2 polarization of glioma-associated macrophages (GAMs). Further mechanism exploration indicated that NEAT1 represses the expression of miR-125a in GAMs significantly. The decrease in miR-125a induces the elevation of target gene STAT3, which is required for macrophage M2 polarization. The development of M2-like GAMs contributes to the immunosuppressive microenvironment and glioma progression. Our findings elucidate the functions and mechanisms of the crosstalk between GSCs and GAMs via exosomes, providing new therapeutic targets and strategies for glioma. Glioblastoma (GBM), as the most common primary brain tumor, usually results in an extremely poor prognosis, in which glioma stem cells (GSCs) and their immunosuppressive microenvironment prominently intervene in the resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy that directly leads to tumor recurrence and shortened survival time. The specific mechanism through which exosomes generated from GSCs support the creation of an immunosuppressive microenvironment remains unknown, while it is acknowledged to be engaged in intercellular communication and the regulation of the glioma immunosuppressive microenvironment. The elevated expression of LncRNA-NEAT1 was found in glioma cells after radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and DNA damage stimulation, and NEAT1 could promote the malignant biological activities of GSCs. Emerging evidence suggests that lncRNAs may reply to external stimuli or DNA damage by playing a role in modulating different aspects of tumor biology. Our study demonstrated a promotive role of the carried NEAT1 by GSC-derived exosomes in the polarization of M2-like macrophages. Further experiments demonstrated the mediative role of miR-125a and its target gene STAT3 in NEAT1-induced polarization of M2-like macrophages that promote glioma progression. Our findings elucidate the mechanism by which GSCs influence the polarization of M2-like macrophages through exosomes, which may contribute to the formation of immunosuppressive microenvironments. Taken together, our study reveals the miR-125a-STAT3 pathway through which exosomal NEAT1 from treatment-resistant GSCs contributes to M2-like macrophage polarization, indicating the potential of exosomal NEAT1 for treating glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel damping device, NiTiNOL–steel wire rope, which is a vibration absorber with linear hysteresis damping, nonlinear damping, and nonlinear stiffness. This study is the first to couple the NiTi–ST damping device with the functionally graded material beam model. The Runge–Kutta method and harmonic balance method are adopted to study the resonant response of the system from the numerical and analytical aspects, respectively. It proves that NiTi–ST provides effective vibration reduction for FGM beam structures. In addition, special attention is paid to the appearance of the closed detached response, which significantly affects the resonant peak value of the system. And the CDR phenomenon is eliminated by adjusting the parameters, and a good damping effect is achieved under large external excitation. Results confirm that NiTi–ST is a promising nonlinear damper that serves as a new method for the vibration suppression of continuum structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]