MiR-7-5p Is Involved in Ferroptosis Signaling and Radioresistance Thru the Generation of ROS in Radioresistant HeLa and SAS Cell Lines

In cancer therapy, radioresistance or chemoresistance cells are major problems. We established clinically relevant radioresistant (CRR) cells that can survive over 30 days after 2 Gy/day X-ray exposures. These cells also show resistance to anticancer agents and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). We have previously demonstrated that all the CRR cells examined had up-regulated miR-7-5p and after miR-7-5p knockdown, they lost radioresistance. However, the mechanism of losing radioresistance remains to be elucidated. Therefore, we investigated the role of miR-7-5p in radioresistance by knockdown of miR-7-5p using CRR cells. As a result, knockdown of miR-7-5p increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential, and intracellular Fe²⁺ amount. Furthermore, miR-7-5p knockdown results in the down-regulation of the iron storage gene expression such as ferritin, up-regulation of the ferroptosis marker ALOX12 gene expression, and increases of Liperfluo amount. H₂O₂ treatment after ALOX12 overexpression led to the enhancement of intracellular H₂O₂ amount and lipid peroxidation. By contrast, miR-7-5p knockdown seemed not to be involved in COX-2 and glycolysis signaling but affected the morphology of CRR cells. These results indicate that miR-7-5p control radioresistance via ROS generation that leads to ferroptosis.     

Archaeal population on supporting material in methanogenic packed-bed reactor

The population of methanogenic archaea in a packed-bed reactor was determined. A difference between populations on the supporting material and in effluent was observed at operation under a high organic loading rate and a short hydraulic retention time. This difference was characterized by the predominance of Methanosarcina sp. on the supporting material.     

Purification and characterization of enzyme responsible for N-myristoylation of octapeptide in aqueous solution without ATP and coenzyme a from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The enzyme that catalyzes N-acyl linkage between myristic acid and the NH(2)-terminal glycine residue of the octapeptide Gly-Asn-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Arg-Arg-NH(2) in aqueous solution without ATP and coenzyme A was found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The enzyme was purified from cell-free crude extract using DEAE-Cellulose, Sephadex G-200, CM-Sephadex C-50, and hydroxyapatite column chromatographies, and then purified approximately 1900-fold with about 1.5% recovery of enzyme activity from the crude extract. Finally, the purified enzyme showed a main band on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue. The band corresponded to a molecular mass of approximately 60 kDa. The K(m)s of the purified enzyme for the substrate myristic acid and the octapeptide were 0.36 and 2.6 mM, respectively. When myristoyl-CoA instead of myristic acid was used as the substrate for the enzyme reaction, myristoyl octapeptide could be synthesized as observed in the case of myristic acid. The K(m) of myristoyl-CoA was 0.17 mM.     

Control of optical bandgap energy and optical absorption coefficient by geometric parameters in sub-10 nm silicon-nanodisc array structure

A sub-10 nm, high-density, periodic silicon-nanodisc (Si-ND) array has been fabricated using a new top-down process, which involves a 2D array bio-template etching mask made of Listeria-Dps with a 4.5 nm diameter iron oxide core and damage-free neutral-beam etching (Si-ND diameter: 6.4 nm). An Si-ND array with an SiO(2) matrix demonstrated more controllable optical bandgap energy due to the fine tunability of the Si-ND thickness and diameter. Unlike the case of shrinking Si-ND thickness, the case of shrinking Si-ND diameter simultaneously increased the optical absorption coefficient and the optical bandgap energy. The optical absorption coefficient became higher due to the decrease in the center-to-center distance of NDs to enhance wavefunction coupling. This means that our 6 nm diameter Si-ND structure can satisfy the strict requirements of optical bandgap energy control and high absorption coefficient for achieving realistic Si quantum dot solar cells.     

一种基于改进超弹性Zener模型的高阻尼橡胶隔震支座速度相关性本构模型

目前高阻尼橡胶隔震支座已在土木工程中得到广泛应用,但由于高阻尼橡胶隔震支座的材料组成成分比较复杂,特别是大量阻尼材料的采用导致支座的应力应变关系与其加载速度相关,而目前的支座本构模型很难精确地模拟这种力学特性。因此该文从高阻尼支座的橡胶材料特性出发,提出了一个基于改进超弹性Zener模型的高阻尼支座本构模型,该模型由两个超弹性弹簧和一个非线性阻尼器单元组成,能够精确表达高阻尼支座的速度相关性。在模型中,对超弹性弹簧建立新的应变能函数,并通过附加刚度系数α来模拟高阻尼橡胶材料的初始刚度。通过高阻尼橡胶材料的多步松弛试验和在不同速度下的循环剪切试验来识别模型中的参数。通过支座试验验证了提出的模型,运用基于速度控制的实时子结构试验系统分析了某隔震桥梁在地震作用下的动力反应,并基于试验结果对该文提出的本构模型在隔震结构非线性分析中的准确性进行了验证。     

Surface wettability of silicon rubber after irradiation with a glow discharge plasma

Silicon rubber, PDMS, was irradiated by Ar, Ar/H₂ and Ar/O₂ plasmas to increase the surface wettability to water which was found to increase with the irradiation time for every application of plasma irradiation. The use of Ar/O₂ plasma was found to be particularly effective in enhancing the surface wettability. The aging behavior due to exposure to air, ethanol or water was also measured. In the case of continuous exposure to water after plasma treatment, the wettability could be maintained for more than several months with the water immersion.     

Prevalence, populations and pheno- and genotypic characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from ready-to-eat vegetables marketed in São Paulo, Brazil

Detection of food-borne viruses such as noroviruses, rotaviruses and hepatitis A virus in food products differs from detection of most food-borne bacteria, as most of these viruses cannot be cultivated in cell culture to date. Therefore, detection of food-borne viruses in food products requires multiple steps: first, virus extraction; second, purification of the viral genomic material (RNA for the majority of food-borne viruses); and last, molecular detection. This review is focused on the first step, the virus extraction. All of the numerous published protocols for virus extraction from food samples are based on 3 main approaches: 1) (acid adsorption-) elution-concentration; 2) direct RNA extraction; and 3) proteinase K treatment. This review summarizes these virus extraction approaches and the results obtained from published protocols. The use of process controls is also briefly described.     

A novel method for determining vitamin B1 in a wide variety of foodstuffs with or without polyphenols

Certain foodstuffs exhibit matrix interference effects on the vitamin B₁ analysis prescribed in the official methods of the European Union, AOAC International, and Japan. In this study, we demonstrated that one of the problematic polyphenols in green tea or cocoa was tannin. For these matrices, thiamine was found to interact with tannin in the extraction step and was thus removed by filtration as a residue. To resolve the matrix interference, we proposed lowering the pH of the extraction solution by adding hydrochloric acid after the enzyme reaction. High precision (2–3% RSDr) and good recovery (98.3–103%) were obtained with reference materials using the proposed method. We also confirmed the equivalence of the obtained data from the proposed method and the Japanese official method for nutritional labeling. From these results, the method was found to be effective for vitamin B₁ analysis regardless of the presence of interference matrices.     

Construction of hydrogen fermentation from garbage slurry using the membrane free bioelectrochemical system

The aim of this study was to show the effectiveness of the membrane free bioelectrochemical system (BES) using three electrodes on inhibition of methanogenesis and construction of hydrogen fermentation from the artificial garbage slurry. The electrical redox-potential on the working electrode was adjusted to -1.0V (vs. Ag/AgCl) that has positive effect on methanogenesis. The redox-potential on the counter electrode was measured to be 1.6V. The pH in the effluents was 5.5-6.4. Hydrogen production rate at the cathode side was similar to that at the anode side and much higher than that calculated from current, and reached a maximum of 2445±815 (average±standard deviation) mL?L(-1)?d(-1) at an organic loading rate of 58.7g dichromate chemical oxygen demand per L d(-1). Methane production was negligible throughout the experiment. Acetate and butyrate were the main products of the fermentation using a BES; these offered favorable conditions for hydrogen production. The bacterial community in the bioelectrochemical hydrogen fermentor differed from that in the methanogenic seed sludge and included hitherto unknown species. These results show that high redox-potential on the anodic electrode and acidic pH in the membrane free BES can be utilized for hydrogen fermentation from the artificial garbage slurry by avoiding methanogenesis.