bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The N‐terminal portion of mature aldehyde dehydrogenase affects protein folding and assembly
Authors: Zhou Jianzhong , Weiner Henry 
Published: July 2002

AbstractHuman liver cytosolic (ALDH1) and mitochondrial (ALDH2) aldehyde dehydrogenases are both encoded in the nucleus and synthesized in the cytosol. ALDH1 must fold in the cytosol, but ALDH2 is first synthesized as a precursor and must remain unfolded during import into mitochondria. The two mature forms share high identity (68%) at the protein sequence level except for the first 21 residues (14%); their tertiary structures were found to be essentially identical. ALDH1 folded faster in vitro than ALDH2 and could assemble to tetramers while ALDH2 remained as monomers. Import assay was used as a tool to study the folding status of ALDH1 and ALDH2. pALDH1 was made by fusing the presequence of precursor ALDH2 to the N‐terminal end of ALDH1. Its import was reduced about 10‐fold compared to the precursor ALDH2. The exchange of the N‐terminal 21 residues from the mature portion altered import, folding, and assembly of precursor ALDH1 and precursor ALDH2. More of chimeric ALDH1 precursor was imported into mitochondria compared to its parent precursor ALDH1. The import of chimeric ALDH2 precursor, the counterpart of chimeric ALDH1 precursor, was reduced compared to its parent precursor ALDH2. Mature ALDH1 proved to be more stable against urea denaturation than ALDH2. Urea unfolding improved the import of precursor ALDH1 and the chimeric precursors but not precursor ALDH2, consistent with ALDH1 and the chimeric ALDHs being more stable than ALDH2. The N‐terminal segment of the mature protein, and not the presequence, makes a major contribution to the folding, assembly, and stability of the precursor and may play a role in folding and hence the translocation of the precursor into mitochondria.
Reversible formation of on‐pathway macroscopic aggregates during the folding of maltose binding protein
Authors: Ganesh C. , Zaidi Faisal. N. , Udgaonkar Jayant. B. , Varadarajan Raghavan 
Published: July 2002

AbstractMaltose binding protein (MBP) is widely used as a model for protein folding and export studies. We show here that macroscopic aggregates form transiently during the refolding of MBP at micromolar protein concentrations. Disaggregation occurs spontaneously without any aid, and the refolded material has structure and activity identical to those of the native, nondenatured protein. A considerable fraction of protein undergoing folding partitions into the aggregate phase and can be manually separated from the soluble phase by centrifugation. The separated MBP precipitate can be resolubilized and yields active, refolded protein. This demonstrates that both the soluble and aggregate phases contribute to the final yield of refolded protein. SecB, the cognate Escherichia coli cytosolic chaperone in vivo for MBP, reduces but does not entirely prevent aggregation, whereas GroEL and a variety of other control proteins have no effect. Kinetic studies using a variety of spectroscopic probes show that aggregation occurs through a collapsed intermediate with some secondary structure. The aggregate formed during refolding can convert directly to a near native state without going through the unfolded state. Further, optical and electron microscopic studies indicate that the MBP precipitate is not an amyloid.
Pushing the Limits of Metasurface Cloak Using Global Inverse Design
Authors: Wu Nanxuan , Jia Yuetian , Qian Chao , Chen Hongsheng 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe breakthroughs of transformation optics and metamaterials have kick‐started the study of modern invisibility cloak since the beginning of this century. Many cloaking methodologies have been progressively proposed for specific application scenarios, among which metasurface cloak is largely welcomed owing to its salient features of negligible thickness, easy fabrication, and low loss. Similar to other cloaking methodologies, however, metasurface cloak suffers from inherent limits that impair it to a convex shape, narrow bandwidth, and small incident angle. Here, a global inverse design is reported to push the limits of metasurface cloak to free form, complementary to conventional physics‐informed approaches. A tandem neural network to build up a bidirectional channel between the metasurface cloak and its electromagnetic response is formulated, in which an ineluctable nonuniqueness issue is mitigated to improve the output accuracy >93%. Compared with conventional metasurface cloak, the foveated cloak underscores intricate coupling and nonlocal effect and widens the bandwidth to 8.5–10.5 GHz and the incident angle to ±45°. These results provide an important step forward to generalizing metasurface cloak and enable a high‐speed surrogate solver required in emerging intelligent meta‐devices.
Neuronal C‐Reactive Protein/FcγRI Positive Feedback Proinflammatory Signaling Contributes to Nerve Injury Induced Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Liu Fan , Zhang Li , Su Si , Fang Yehong , Yin Xiang‐sha , Cui Huan , Sun Jianru , Xie Yikuan , Ma Chao 
Published: February 2023

AbstractNeuropathic pain is difficult to treat in clinical practice, and the underlying mechanisms are insufficiently elucidated. Previous studies have demonstrated that the neuronal Fc‐gamma‐receptor type I (FcγRI) of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) mediates antigen‐specific pain. However, the mechanisms of neuronal FcγRI in neuropathic pain remain to be explored. Here, it is found that the activation of FcγRI‐related signals in primary neurons induces neuropathic pain in a rat model. This work first reveals that sciatic nerve injury persistently activates neuronal FcγRI‐related signaling in the DRG, and conditional knockout (CKO) of the FcγRI‐encoding gene Fcgr1 in rat DRG neurons significantly alleviates neuropathic pain after nerve injury. C‐reactive protein (CRP) is increased in the DRG after nerve injury, and CRP protein of the DRG evokes pain by activating neuronal FcγRI‐related signals. Furthermore, microinjection of naive IgG into the DRG alleviates neuropathic pain by suppressing the activation of neuronal FcγRI. These results indicate that the activation of neuronal CRP/FcγRI‐related signaling plays an important role in the development of neuropathic pain in chronic constriction injury (CCI) rats. The findings may provide novel insights into the neuroimmune responses after peripheral nerve injury and suggest potential therapeutic targets for neuropathic pain.
Engineered Extracellular Vesicle‐Delivered CRISPR/CasRx as a Novel RNA Editing Tool
Authors: Li Tianwen , Zhang Liansheng , Lu Tao , Zhu Tongming , Feng Canbin , Gao Ni , Liu Fei , Yu Jingyu , Chen Kezhu , Zhong Junjie , Tang Qisheng , Zhang Quan , Deng Xiangyang , Ren Junwei , Zeng Jun , Zhou Haibo , Zhu Jianhong 
Published: February 2023

AbstractEngineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered excellent delivery vehicles for a variety of therapeutic agents, including nucleic acids, proteins, drugs, and nanomaterials. Recently, several studies have indicated that clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated 9 (Cas9) delivered by EVs enable efficient DNA editing. However, an RNA editing tool delivered by EVs is still unavailable. Here, a signal peptide‐optimized and EVs‐delivered guide RNA (gRNA) and CRISPR/CasRx (Cas13d) system capable of rapidly inhibiting the expression of targeted genes with quick catabolism after performing their functions is developed. EVs with CRISPR/CasRx and tandem gRNAs targeting pivotal cytokines are further packed whose levels increase substantially over the course of acute inflammatory diseases and find that these engineered EVs inhibit macrophage activation in vitro. More importantly, this system attenuates lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐triggered acute lung injury and sepsis in the acute phase, mitigating organ damage and improving the prognosis in vivo. In summary, a potent tool is provided for short‐acting RNA editing, which could be a powerful therapeutic platform for the treatment of acute diseases.
Dual‐Cascade Activatable Nanopotentiators Reshaping Adenosine Metabolism for Sono‐Chemodynamic‐Immunotherapy of Deep Tumors
Authors: Zhan Meixiao , Wang Fengshuo , Liu Yao , Zhou Jianhui , Zhao Wei , Lu Ligong , Li Jingchao , He Xu 
Published: February 2023

AbstractImmunotherapy is an attractive treatment strategy for cancer, while its efficiency and safety need to be improved. A dual‐cascade activatable nanopotentiator for sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT)‐cooperated immunotherapy of deep tumors via reshaping adenosine metabolism is herein reported. This nanopotentiator (NPMCA) is constructed through crosslinking adenosine deaminase (ADA) with chlorin e6 (Ce6)‐conjugated manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoparticles via a reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐cleavable linker. In the tumor microenvironment with ultrasound (US) irradiation, NPMCA mediates CDT and SDT concurrently in deep tumors covered with 2‐cm tissues to produce abundant ROS, which results in dual‐cascade scissoring of ROS‐cleavable linkers to activate ADA within NCMCA to block adenosine metabolism. Moreover, immunogenic cell death (ICD) of dying tumor cells and upregulation of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is triggered by the generated ROS and Mn2+ from NPMCA, respectively, leading to activation of antitumor immune response. The potency of immune response is further reinforced by reducing the accumulation of adenosine in tumor microenvironment by the activated ADA. As a result, NPMCA enables CDT and SDT‐cooperated immunotherapy, showing an obviously improved therapeutic efficacy to inhibit the growths of bilateral tumors, in which the primary tumors are covered with 2‐cm tissues.
Ultrafast Control of Interfacial Exchange Coupling in Ferromagnetic Bilayer
Authors: Liu Xiao , Yuan Haochen , Liu Peiwen , Shi Jingyu , Wang Hailong , Nie Shuaihua , Jin Feng , Zheng Zhe , Yu Xuezhe , Zhao Jianhua , Zhao Haibin , Lüpke Gunter 
Published: February 2023

AbstractFast spin manipulation in magnetic heterostructures, where magnetic interactions between different materials often define the functionality of devices, is a key issue in the development of ultrafast spintronics. Although recently developed optical approaches such as ultrafast spin‐transfer and spin–orbit torques open new pathways to fast spin manipulation, these processes do not fully utilize the unique possibilities offered by interfacial magnetic coupling effects in ferromagnetic multilayer systems. Here, ultrafast optically controlled interfacial exchange interactions in the ferromagnetic Co2FeAl/(Ga,Mn)As system at low laser fluence levels are experimentally demonstrated. The excitation efficiency of Co2FeAl with the (Ga,Mn)As layer is 30–40 times higher than the case with the GaAs layer at 5 K due to the modification of exchange coupling interaction via photoexcited charge transfer between the two ferromagnetic layers. In addition, the coherent spin precessions persist to room temperature, excluding the drive of pump‐modulated magnetization in the (Ga,Mn)As layer and indicating a proximity‐effect‐related optical excitation mechanism. The results highlight the importance of interfacial exchange interactions in ferromagnetic heterostructures and how these magnetic coupling effects can be utilized for ultrafast, low‐power spin manipulation.
Structural Stability and Electronic Transport Properties of Nb2C‐MXenes under High Pressure
Authors: Jin Haolin , Wang Kai , Mao Zhongquan , Tang Lingyun , Zhang Jiang 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe extraordinary electronic properties of MXenes are closely associated with their surface terminations and external strain. Herein, by applying pressure, the structural and electronic properties of Nb2C‐MXenes with two different terminations F (Nb2CFx) and Cl (Nb2CClx) are reported. Through high‐pressure X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, it is observed that Nb2CFx loses its layered structure and becomes disordered above 20 GPa, while Nb2CClx remains as layered structures up to 42.5 GPa. Surprisingly, the stable Nb2CClx shows the axial compression coefficients with 1174.5 ± 39.2 GPa along the c axis and 1234.8 ± 25.8 GPa along the a axis, even larger than that of its precursor Nb2AlC MAX phase. It is also found that the resistance of Nb2CFx exhibits a drop of two orders of magnitude from the ambient pressure. Accompanied by a slight increment of the superconducting transition temperature, the superconductivity of Nb2CClx survives up to 50.5 GPa. The results uncover the effects of surface terminations on structural stability and electronic properties of Nb2C‐MXenes under high pressure.
C8‐BTBT‐C8Thin‐Film Transistors Based on Micro‐Contact Printed PEDOT:PSS/MWCNT Electrodes
Authors: Gubanov Kirill , Johnson Manuel , Akay Melda , Wolz Benedikt C. , Shen Dan , Cheng Xing , Christiansen Silke , Fink Rainer H. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractAdvances in organic materials manufacturing have enabled the creation of electronic devices using solution‐processing techniques by employing soluble materials with high conductivity grade. In this exploratory study, the use of micro‐contact for poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) polymer ink deposition as high‐quality structured electrodes for organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) in top‐contact geometry is demonstrated. The optimized OFET's solution‐processed fabrication is a promising strategy to be realized in the simple, cost‐effective roll‐to‐roll manufacturing processes. The electrical performance of the fabricated devices is comparable to transistors with gold electrodes prepared via vacuum deposition, and even exceeding the values of the charge carriers’ mobilities and featuring lower contact resistance (Rc), due to lower charge‐carrier injection barrier for carbon‐based organic electrodes. An addition of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes to the PEDOT:PSS decreasesRceven further, changing the work function for better energy alignment with semiconductor materials.
Addressing the feasibility of people of African descent finding living African relatives using direct‐to‐consumer genetic testing
Authors: David LaKisha T. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractPeople of African descent use direct‐to‐consumer genomics services such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA for various family histories and health reasons, including identifying and interacting with the previously unknown living African genetic relatives. In this commentary, I argue that it is reasonable to consider that cousin pairs consisting of an African person and a descendant of an African person enslaved in the Americans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade (i.e., a person of African descent) have genealogical ancestors recent enough to be detected using autosomal DNA testing where the pair has shared ancestors in the range of 20–6 generations ago from the present.
Effect of silane coupling agent‐TiO2 on the sustained release performance of quaternary ammonium salt of chitosan shell fragrance microcapsules
Authors: Fei Xuening , Yang Tingyu , Liu Sijia , Zhang Baolian , Zhao Hongbin , Liu Dan , Wu Xinyi , Xu Danyang 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe preparation technology of sustained release is a significant value of fragrance microcapsules. This article used quaternary ammonium chitosan (HACC) with antibacterial properties as the shell material. To research the factors affecting the density, encapsulation ratio and sustained‐release of the shell material of the coated fragrance microcapsules. According to the in‐situ polymerization method, fragrance microcapsules were prepared with aldehyde fragrance 7328 as the core material, TiO2 modified HACC as the shell material and glutaraldehyde as the crosslinking agent. During preparation, the effects of emulsification speed, pH and core‐shell ratio on the encapsulation ratio were explored. The results showed that under the conditions of the core‐shell ratio of 3:1 and emulsification speed of 1000 rad/min, when the shell material is modified with TiO2 and kh550, the encapsulation ratio can be reached 71.74%, which was increased by 41.5% compared with the unmodified microcapsules. And the sustained‐release time can last as long as 29 days, which was 18 days higher than that of unmodified microcapsules.
A pesticide sustained‐release microcapsule from cellulose nanocrystal stabilized Pickering emulsion template
Authors: Yang Cai‐xia , Li Jun , Zhang Yu‐qing , Wu Chao , Li De‐qiang 
Published: February 2023

AbstractEfficient utilization of pesticides has presented various advantages in the ecological environment, food safety, and agricultural sustainability. Pesticide microcapsule could significantly improve the pesticide utilization ratio, and thus, we prepared a sustained‐release microcapsule from cellulose nanocrystal (CNCs) stabilized Pickering emulsion template. The NaCl was added to overcome the strong electrostatic repulsion among CNCs for forming a stable oil‐in‐water (O/W) CNCs‐based Pickering emulsion template, followed by crosslinking with hexamethylene diisocyanate on the interface. UV–vis and zeta‐potential were used to characterize the as‐prepared Pickering emulsion, and the stability and emulsion fraction were calculated. Results indicated that NaCl contributed to the stability of Pickering emulsion, even at a low concentration. The obtained CNCs‐based microcapsule was characterized by FT‐IR, XRD, SEM, TG‐DTG, and three‐phase contact angles. The microcapsule presented an encapsulation efficiency of 96.76% and sustained release of the imidacloprid for more than 82 h. Results indicated the potential for loading and sustained release of imidacloprid, which is beneficial to the environment, food, and agriculture.
Describing the evolution and perturbations to biodiversity using a simple dynamical model
Authors: Barão L. G. , de Sá L. M. , Bernardo A. , Horvath J. E. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractIn this work, we outline a mathematical description of biodiversity evolution throughout the Phanerozoic based on a simple coupled system of two differential equations and on the division of genera in two classes—Short‐lived and Long‐lived types, as used by Rohde and Muller. We show that while the division in only two classes cannot capture the complexity of biodiversity evolution in short scales, broad trends can be described well. We also compute the systems' Green functions as a way to qualitatively describe the possible effects of intense perturbations of astrophysical origin on the subsequent biodiversity evolution.
Emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorder across age groups: A cross‐sectional investigation of various visual and auditory communicative domains
Authors: Leung Florence Y. N. , Stojanovik Vesna , Micai Martina , Jiang Cunmei , Liu Fang 
Published: February 2023

AbstractPrevious research on emotion processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has predominantly focused on human faces and speech prosody, with little attention paid to other domains such as nonhuman faces and music. In addition, emotion processing in different domains was often examined in separate studies, making it challenging to evaluate whether emotion recognition difficulties in ASD generalize across domains and age cohorts. The present study investigated: (i) the recognition of basic emotions (angry, scared, happy, and sad) across four domains (human faces, face‐like objects, speech prosody, and song) in 38 autistic and 38 neurotypical (NT) children, adolescents, and adults in a forced‐choice labeling task, and (ii) the impact of pitch and visual processing profiles on this ability. Results showed similar recognition accuracy between the ASD and NT groups across age groups for all domains and emotion types, although processing speed was slower in the ASD compared to the NT group. Age‐related differences were seen in both groups, which varied by emotion, domain, and performance index. Visual processing style was associated with facial emotion recognition speed and pitch perception ability with auditory emotion recognition in the NT group but not in the ASD group. These findings suggest that autistic individuals may employ different emotion processing strategies compared to NT individuals, and that emotion recognition difficulties as manifested by slower response times may result from a generalized, rather than a domain‐specific underlying mechanism that governs emotion recognition processes across domains in ASD.
Socioeconomic determinants are associated with the utilization and outcomes of active surveillance or watchful waiting in favorable‐risk prostate cancer
Authors: Huang Da , Ruan Xiaohao , Huang Jingyi , Zhang Ning , Jiang Guangliang , Gao Yi , Xu Danfeng , Na Rong 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBackgroundActive surveillance/watchful waiting (AS/WW) is feasible and effective for favorable‐risk prostate cancer (PCa). Understanding socioeconomic determinants of AS/WW may help determine the target population for social support and improve cancer‐related survival.MethodsThe Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Prostate with Watchful Waiting Database 18 Registries identified 229,428 adult men diagnosed with primary localized PCa (clinical T1‐T2c, N0M0) during a median follow‐up of 45 months between 2010 and 2016. Socioeconomic determinants included socioeconomic status (SES) tertiles, marital status (unmarried vs married), and residency (urban vs rural). Multivariable logistic regression and Cox models determined the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for AS/WW utilization, and adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for cancer‐specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). The extent of missing data was evaluated by multiple imputation. Sensitivity analyses were performed in multiple imputation datasets.ResultsUnmarried patients were more likely to receive AS/WW in low‐risk group (aOR, 1.20 [95%CI, 1.12–1.28]; p < 0.001) and favorable intermediate‐risk group (aOR, 1.41 [95%CI, 1.26–1.59]; p < 0.001) than married patients. Urban patients had 0.77‐fold lower likelihood of AS/WW than rural patients in low‐risk group (95% CI, 0.68–0.87; p < 0.001), but not in favorable intermediate‐risk groups. Among patients undertaking AS/WW, a significantly worse OS was observed among unmarried patients comparing to married group (aHR, 1.98 [95% CI, 1.50–2.60]; p < 0.001), and patients with high SES had better CSS than low group (aHR, 0.08 [95%CI, 0.01–0.69]; p = 0.02). No significant survival difference was found between urban and rural patients.Conclusions and RelevanceUnmarried or urban patients had significantly higher rates of AS/WW. The utilization and efficacy of conservative management were affected by socioeconomic factors, which might serve as a barrier of treatment decision‐making and targeted a population in need of social support.