Splenectomy improves liver fibrosis via tumor necrosis factor superfamily 14 (LIGHT) through the JNK/TGF-β1 signaling pathway

Splenectomy has been reported to improve liver fibrosis in patients with cirrhosis and hypersplenism. However, the mechanisms remain unclear. Tumor necrosis factor superfamily 14 (TNFSF14; also known as LIGHT) is highly expressed in the context of fibrosis and promotes disease progression in patients with fibrotic diseases such as pulmonary and skin fibrosis. Here, we determined whether splenectomy controls the production of LIGHT to improve liver fibrosis. Splenectomy reduced serum LIGHT levels in cirrhotic patients with hypersplenism and a ConA-induced liver fibrosis mouse model. Blocking LIGHT resulted in the downregulation of TGF-β1 in RAW264.7 cells. LIGHT treatment of RAW264.7 and JS1 cells in coculture regulated transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) expression through the activation of JNK signaling. Small interfering RNA-mediated silencing of lymphotoxin β receptor (LTβR) in macrophages resulted in pronounced decreases in the levels of fibrosis and αSMA in JS1 cells. These results indicated that LIGHT bound to LTβR and drove liver fibrosis in vitro. Blocking TGF-β1 abolished the effect of LIGHT in vitro. Furthermore, the administration of recombinant murine LIGHT protein-induced liver fibrosis with splenectomy, while blocking LIGHT without splenectomy improved liver fibrosis in vivo, revealing that the decrease in fibrosis following splenectomy was directly related to reduced levels of LIGHT. Thus, high levels of LIGHT derived from the spleen and hepatic macrophages activate JNK signaling and lead to increased TGF-β1 production in hepatic macrophages. Splenectomy attenuates liver fibrosis by decreasing the expression of LIGHT.Subject terms: Tumour-necrosis factors, Liver fibrosis, Hepatic stellate cells, Liver cirrhosis, Experimental models of disease     

Fluorescence assay for monitoring Zn-deficient superoxide dismutase in vitro

A method has been developed for selective detection of the zinc-deficient form of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) in vitro. Zinc-deficient SOD1 mutants have been implicated in the death of motor neurons leading in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gerhig's disease). Thus, this method may have applicability for detecting zinc-deficient SOD1 mutants in human ALS patients samples as well as in a transgenic mouse model of ALS and in cultured motor neurons. We determined previously that structural analogs of 1,10 phenanthroline, which react specifically with Cu(I), react with the active Cu(I) of SOD1 when zinc is absent, but not when zinc is also bound, as evidenced by the fact that the reaction is inhibited by pretreatment of the enzyme with zinc. We report herein that bathocuproine, or its water-soluble derivative bathocuproine disulfonate, react with zinc-deficient SOD1 to form a complex which fluoresces at 734 nm when excited at 482 nm. Fluorescent intensity is concentration dependent, thus we propose to use fluorescent confocal microscopy to measure intracellular levels of zinc-deficient SOD1 in situ.     

In Situ Observation of Dynamic Galvanic Replacement Reactions in Twinned Metallic Nanowires by Liquid Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy

Galvanic replacement is a versatile approach to prepare hollow nanostructures with controllable morphology and elemental composition. The primary issue is to identify its fundamental mechanism. In this study, in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy was employed to monitor the dynamic reaction process and to explore the mechanism of galvanic replacement. The detailed reaction process was revealed based on in situ experiments in which small Au particles first appeared around Ag nanowires; they coalesced, grew, and adhered to Ag nanowires. After that, small pits grew from the edge of Ag nanowires to form tubular structures, and then extended along the Ag nanowires to obtain hollowed structures. All of our experimental observations from the viewpoint of electron microscopy, combined with DFT calculations, contribute towards an in‐depth understanding of the galvanic replacement reaction process and the design of new materials with hollow structures.     

DNA修饰碱基5-甲基胞嘧啶和8-羟基鸟嘌呤的毛细管气相色谱分析及质谱鉴定

 探索了GC/FID定量分析DNA修饰碱基 5 甲基胞嘧啶和 8 羟基鸟嘌呤的实验条件 ,用GC/MS鉴定各有关成分。结果表明 ,DNA水解物中不同成分可被成功地衍生和分离 ;5 甲基胞嘧啶和 8 羟基鸟嘌呤的相对摩尔反应因子分别为 3 0和 1 3;灵敏度分别为 5 50× 1 0 9mV·s/ g和 7 59× 1 0 1 0 mV·s/ g ;检测限可分别达 36 4pg/s和 1 5 8pg/s ;整个分析流程的相对标准偏差小于 2 0 %。     

Hydrophobically modified polyelectrolytes III. Reactivity ratio determination of FX14/AA,LA/AA and SA/AA

The reactivity ratios of three hydrophobic monomers, FX14, LA and SA, to hydrophilic monomer, acrylic acid (AA), were determined. For the fluorocarbon containing hydrophobic monomer FX14, elemental analysis was adopted to obtain the relative content of FX14 to AA. For two hydrocarbon monomers, ¹³C NMR was used. FR, KT linear method and EVM nonlinear method were applied in calculating reactivity ratios. It is found that the reactivity of LA and SA is lower than that of AA, for solution polymerization in cyclohexane. Whereas FX14 is more reactive than AA in benzene. Finally, the distribution of small amounts of these hydrophobic monomers along the polymeric chain is discussed and a random sequence is confirmed     

Stochastic Liouville equation simulation of multidimensional vibrational line shapes of trialanine

The line shapes detected in coherent femtosecond vibrational spectroscopies contain direct signatures of peptide conformational fluctuations through their effect on vibrational frequencies and intermode couplings. These effects are simulated in trialanine using a Green's function solution of a stochastic Liouville equation constructed for four collective bath coordinates (two Ramachandran angles affecting the mode couplings and two diagonal energies). We find that fluctuations of the Ramachandran angles which hardly affect the linear absorption can be effectively probed by two-dimensional spectra. The signal generated at k(1)+k(2)-k(3) is particularly sensitive to such fluctuations.     

The Reaction and Applied Study of the Amide and P_2S_5

It is usually reported that reaction between carbonyl and P2S5 produce thiono group compound. The Products from carbonyl after ammonolysis and hydrazinolysis have the very import applied value in the synthesize of heterocyclic compound. Sulfuration reation if a nucleophilic attack, SPS2 anionsid obtained from P2S5 in the organic sovent, rather easier than thereationsof scheeren’s reagent. The reation mechanism is as follows: The reation speed has something todo with the electronegative of…     

异丙醇-水体系中分子间相互作用对萘迁移热力学性质的影响

研究了萘从水到H2O-异丙醇(IPA)混合溶剂中的迁移变化,表明萘的迁移随异丙醇摩尔分数x(IPA)的增加呈复杂的下降趋势．标准迁移熵和标准迁移焓的研究表明,随异丙醇摩尔分数x(IPA)的增加,二者呈现双峰变化．迁移熵和迁移焓的双峰变化,表明系列H2O-IPA混合溶剂的微观结构经历了从相对的有序到元序到再有序、再元序、再有序的变化过程,H2O-IPA混合溶剂中除了在富水区存在着笼合物的特殊结构外,在x(IPA)约为0．08处还存在着一相对有序的结构．研究表明,H2O-异丙醇(IPA)混合溶剂组成、结构变化均对萘的迁移产生着明显的影响．