Crystal Structure of Human CD47 in Complex with Engineered SIRPα.D1(N80A)

Background: Targeting the CD47/SIRPα signaling pathway represents a novel approach to enhance anti-tumor immunity. However, the crystal structure of the CD47/SIRPα has not been fully studied. This study aims to analyze the structure interface of the complex of CD47 and IMM01, a novel recombinant SIRPα-Fc fusion protein. Methods: IMM01-Fab/CD47 complex was crystalized, and diffraction images were collected. The complex structure was determined by molecular replacement using the program PHASER with the CD47-SIRPαv2 structure (PDB code 2JJT) as a search model. The model was manually built using the COOT program and refined using TLS parameters in REFMAC from the CCP4 program suite. Results: Crystallization and structure determination analysis of the interface of IMM01/CD47 structure demonstrated CD47 surface buried by IMM01. Comparison with the literature structure (PDB ID 2JJT) showed that the interactions of IMM01/CD47 structure are the same. All the hydrogen bonds that appear in the literature structure are also present in the IMM01/CD47 structure. These common hydrogen bonds are stable under different crystal packing styles, suggesting that these hydrogen bonds are important for protein binding. In the structure of human CD47 in complex with human SIRPα, except SER66, the amino acids that form hydrogen bonds are all conserved. Furthermore, comparing with the structure of PDB ID 2JJT, the salt bridge interaction from IMM01/CD47 structure are very similar, except the salt bridge bond between LYS53 in IMM01 and GLU106 in CD47, which only occurs between the B and D chains. However, as the side chain conformation of LYS53 in chain A is slightly different, the salt bridge bond is absent between the A and C chains. At this site between chain A and chain C, there are a salt bridge bond between LYS53 (A) and GLU104 (C) and a salt bridge bond between HIS56 (A) and GLU106 (C) instead. According to the sequence alignment results of SIRPα, SIRPβ and SIRPγ in the literature of PDB ID 2JJT, except ASP100, the amino acids that form common salt bridge bonds are all conserved. Conclusion: Our data demonstrated crystal structure of the IMM01/CD47 complex and provides a structural basis for the structural binding interface and future clinical applications.     

Non-Destructive Detection of Moldy Walnuts Based on Hyperspectral Imaging Technology

Walnuts with their shells are a popular agricultural product in China. However, mildew from growth can sometimes be processed into foods. It is difficult to visually determine which walnuts have mildew without breaking the shells. A non-destructive method for detecting walnuts with mildew was studied by combining spectral data with image information. A total of 120 “Lüling” walnuts with shells were used for the mildew experiment. The characteristics of the spectral data from six surfaces of all samples were collected in the range of 370–1042 nm on days 0, 15, and 30. The spectrum was pretreated using SNV, and the feature bands were extracted using PCA and modeled using a support vector machine (SVM). The results show that the overall classification accuracy was 93%, with an of accuracy of 100% for INEN walnuts (normal internally and externally). The accuracy for IMEM walnuts (mildew internally and externally) reached 87.29%. There was an accuracy of 78.6% for IMEN walnuts (mildew internally and normal externally). The non-destructive detection of mildewed walnuts can be undertaken using hyperspectral imaging technology, which provides a new technique for exploring the mechanisms of walnuts with mildew.     

Structural and Functional Analysis of the Pyridoxal Phosphate Homeostasis Protein YggS from Fusobacterium nucleatum

Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) is the active form of vitamin B6, but it is highly reactive and poisonous in its free form. YggS is a PLP-binding protein found in bacteria and humans that mediates PLP homeostasis by delivering PLP to target enzymes or by performing a protective function. Several biochemical and structural studies of YggS have been reported, but the mechanism by which YggS recognizes PLP has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report a functional and structural analysis of YggS from Fusobacterium nucleatum (FnYggS). The PLP molecule could bind to native FnYggS, but no PLP binding was observed for selenomethionine (SeMet)-derivatized FnYggS. The crystal structure of FnYggS showed a type III TIM barrel fold, exhibiting structural homology with several other PLP-dependent enzymes. Although FnYggS exhibited low (<35%) amino acid sequence similarity with previously studied YggS proteins, its overall structure and PLP-binding site were highly conserved. In the PLP-binding site of FnYggS, the sulfate ion was coordinated by the conserved residues Ser201, Gly218, and Thr219, which were positioned to provide the binding moiety for the phosphate group of PLP. The mutagenesis study showed that the conserved Ser201 residue in FnYggS was the key residue for PLP binding. These results will expand the knowledge of the molecular properties and function of the YggS family.     

荧光纳米晶制备及其与聚合物的复合组装

纳米尺寸无机晶体(纳米晶)具有特殊的光、电和磁等性能, 但这类材料通常以胶体溶液或固体粉末的状态存在, 稳定性和分散性较差. 实现这类材料的应用, 需要将其与一些惰性介质复合, 从而提高稳定性和加工性. 聚合物材料作为一种有机惰性介质, 具有良好的材料兼容性和可加工性, 是稳定纳米晶材料的首选介质. 此外, 很多聚合物材料本身也具备特殊的性能, 可以对纳米晶性能进行有益的补充和调节. 因此, 功能纳米晶材料与聚合物复合, 将成为开启材料性能宝库的钥匙. 我们研究组结合自己的相关研究, 系统总结了荧光纳米晶材料与聚合物的复合组装方法, 着重阐述不同方法的优势及意义, 希望对从事这一前沿领域研究的人们有所启发.     

结合表面引发的原子转移自由基聚合和气/固反应制备CdS纳米微粒/聚苯乙烯核壳微球

结合表面引发的原子转移自由基聚合和气/固反应制备CdS纳米微粒/聚苯乙烯核壳微球. 以表面富含环氧基团的聚苯乙烯微球为基底, 利用开环反应在水相中一步接枝表面引发剂, 然后在聚苯乙烯微球表面引发甲基丙烯酸镉的原子转移自由基聚合, 最后通入H2S气体原位生成CdS纳米微粒. 生成的CdS纳米微粒复合的核壳微球呈草莓状形貌, 且具有良好的光学性能.     

Effect of Different Processing Methods on the Chemical Constituents of Scrophulariae Radix as Revealed by 2D NMR-Based Metabolomics

Scrophulariae Radix (SR) is one of the oldest and most frequently used Chinese herbs for oriental medicine in China. Before clinical use, the SR should be processed using different methods after harvest, such as steaming, “sweating”, and traditional fire-drying. In order to investigate the difference in chemical constituents using different processing methods, the two-dimensional (2D) ¹H-¹³C heteronuclear single quantum correlation (¹H-¹³C HSQC)-based metabolomics approach was applied to extensively characterize the difference in the chemical components in the extracts of SR processed using different processing methods. In total, 20 compounds were identified as potential chemical markers that changed significantly with different steaming durations. Seven compounds can be used as potential chemical markers to differentiate processing by sweating, hot-air drying, and steaming for 4 h. These findings could elucidate the change of chemical constituents of the processed SR and provide a guide for the processing. In addition, our protocol may represent a general approach to characterizing chemical compounds of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and therefore might be considered as a promising approach to exploring the scientific basis of traditional processing of TCM.     

导电性磁流变弹性体的研究进展

磁流变弹性体(magnetorheological elastomer,MRE)因其独特的场相关性能在工程应用领域引起了广泛关注.论文介绍了MRE的最新发展,重点介绍导电性MRE在材料设计、力学行为和实际应用等方面的研究现状.论文从高性能导电性MRE的研制开始,讨论了材料与结构设计中涉及的关键问题;介绍了导电性MRE材料在磁场作用下的磁、力、电学行为的耦合作用机理和相关物理模型;之后对导电性MRE器件的研究现状进行了总结;最后展望了导电性MRE的发展潜力和面临的挑战.     

基于生活实践的工程流体力学启发性教学初探

工程流体力学教学中需要强调理论与实践的有机结合.本文提出基于生活实践案例以问题链形式进行启发性工程流体力学教学.以总流能量方程及水头损失计算教学为例,设计了"自来水水龙头堵住一部分出口后水流喷射的距离和流量如何变化"这一简单生活实践问题,将重要知识点贯穿其中.教学应用效果表明,启发性、开放性的生活实践问题,能够很好地引导学生综合运用理论知识,解决实际问题,同时能够培养学生的生活观察和独立思考能力.     

熔石英表面杂质元素在酸蚀过程中的变化

为了探寻熔石英表面痕量杂质元素种类以及随HF酸蚀刻过程中的变化情况,用质量分数为1%HF酸溶液对熔石英进行长达24,48,72,96 h的静态蚀刻实验。结合飞行时间二次离子质谱（TOF-SIMS）和X射线光电子能谱（XPS）测试分析结果发现,熔石英试片表面的痕量杂质元素主要含有B,F,K,Ca,Na,Al,Zn和Cr元素,其中绝大部分都存在于贝氏层中,在亚表面缺陷层检测到有K,Ca元素。所含有的K,Na杂质元素会与氟硅酸反应生成氟硅酸盐化合物。分析表明,在HF酸蚀刻的过程中一部分杂质元素将被消除,一部分杂质元素和生成氟硅酸盐化合物会随着蚀刻液逐渐从熔石英表面向表面纵深方向扩散并被试片吸附沉积,且随着深度的加深各元素的相对含量逐渐减少。     

基于数字地图的二维电波传播问题仿真

为快速预测二维地理环境下的电磁环境特性,应用二维抛物方程模型对电磁环境进行仿真。为了得到真实有效的地形数据,研究了从GeoTiff中抽取网格点上地理信息的方法,并利用双线性插值法计算了任意位置处的高程值。同时研究了地球表面两点之间计算距离的方法,将该方法的计算结果与GIS软件结果进行对比,验证了该方法的可靠性。在标准大气环境下,利用二维抛物方程模型仿真分析了不同距离处不同高度的电波传播传播因子的变化情况,为预测真实地理环境中的电波传播特性提供了一种有效的方法。