Objective Magnetoreception, the remarkable ability of diverse animals to sense and utilize the geomagnetic field for orientation and navigation, remains a molecularly unresolved mystery in sensory biology. The putative magnetoreceptor (MagR, previously known as IscA1) is a highly conserved iron-sulfur protein implicated in both magnetoreception and iron metabolism; however, the functional diversity among its cross-species homologs remains poorly understood. Cellular morphology is a key genetically determined trait that can be altered through genetic or environmental modifications—a process known as cell morphology engineering. Constructing engineered cells with specific morphological features and magnetic sensitivity to achieve remote, non-invasive magnetic modulation represents a crucial goal in this field with significant application potential. Therefore, this study aims to systematically investigate the effects of MagR heterologous expression on bacterial morphology and magnetic sensing capabilities, screen for MagR-based magnetically sensitive morphology engineering pathways, and reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods We systematically screened 28 MagR homologous genes from diverse prokaryotic and animal taxa to evaluate their expression and corresponding phenotypic effects in Escherichia coli (E. coli). To compare the differential magnetic responses among bacteria expressing various recombinant MagR proteins, we utilized high-throughput automated bright-field microscopic imaging and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, comprehensive biochemical and biophysical characterizations of iron and iron-sulfur cluster binding were performed using Ferrozine colorimetric assays, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Additionally, 100 mT static magnetic field (SMF) exposure experiments were conducted to assess magnetically tunable phenotypes, while the intrinsic magnetic properties of purified MagR proteins were directly measured using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. Results Our results demonstrated that the heterologous expression of MagR homologs induced varying degrees of bacterial filamentation. From this comprehensive screen, two distinct morphological patterns were identified: hydra (Hydra vulgaris) MagR (hyMagR) promoted uniform cell elongation and filamentation, exhibiting robust magnetic sensitivity manifested as significantly enhanced filamentation under the 100 mT SMF. In contrast, pigeon (Columba livia) MagR (clMagR) induced only low-frequency, extreme filamentation (sporadically exceeding 80 μm) with a relatively weaker magnetic morphological response. Mechanistically, our data unambiguously proved that these phenotypic differences are primarily driven by distinct iron redox preferences rather than total cellular iron accumulation. Specifically, hyMagR preferentially binds ferrous iron (Fe²⁺), whereas clMagR favors ferric iron (Fe³⁺) and forms more stable iron-sulfur clusters. Intriguingly, although SQUID magnetometry showed that purified clMagR exhibited approximately five-fold higher mass magnetic susceptibility than hyMagR, its cellular magnetic response was weaker. We hypothesize that the Fe²⁺-preferred intracellular environment associated with hyMagR overexpression primes the cell for enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the Fenton reaction. Exposure to an SMF synergizes with this primed redox state, triggering the bacterial SOS response and upregulating cell division inhibitors to efficiently induce uniform filamentation. Conclusion Our findings identify the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ redox state as a critical determinant of MagR-mediated morphological remodeling and magnetic responsiveness. This discovery suggests a potential strategy for engineering magnetically responsive cellular systems for synthetic biology applications, and provides a plausible framework, which potentially combines intrinsic protein magnetism with redox-state modulation, for further investigating the evolutionary mechanisms of MagR-mediated magnetoreception.

Objective Magnetoreception, the remarkable ability of diverse animals to sense and utilize the geomagnetic field for orientation and navigation, remains a molecularly unresolved mystery in sensory biology. The putative magnetoreceptor (MagR, previously known as IscA1) is a highly conserved iron-sulfur protein implicated in both magnetoreception and iron metabolism; however, the functional diversity among its cross-species homologs remains poorly understood. Cellular morphology is a key genetically determined trait that can be altered through genetic or environmental modifications—a process known as cell morphology engineering. Constructing engineered cells with specific morphological features and magnetic sensitivity to achieve remote, non-invasive magnetic modulation represents a crucial goal in this field with significant application potential. Therefore, this study aims to systematically investigate the effects of MagR heterologous expression on bacterial morphology and magnetic sensing capabilities, screen for MagR-based magnetically sensitive morphology engineering pathways, and reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods We systematically screened 28 MagR homologous genes from diverse prokaryotic and animal taxa to evaluate their expression and corresponding phenotypic effects in Escherichia coli (E. coli). To compare the differential magnetic responses among bacteria expressing various recombinant MagR proteins, we utilized high-throughput automated bright-field microscopic imaging and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, comprehensive biochemical and biophysical characterizations of iron and iron-sulfur cluster binding were performed using Ferrozine colorimetric assays, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Additionally, 100 mT static magnetic field (SMF) exposure experiments were conducted to assess magnetically tunable phenotypes, while the intrinsic magnetic properties of purified MagR proteins were directly measured using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. Results Our results demonstrated that the heterologous expression of MagR homologs induced varying degrees of bacterial filamentation. From this comprehensive screen, two distinct morphological patterns were identified: hydra (Hydra vulgaris) MagR (hyMagR) promoted uniform cell elongation and filamentation, exhibiting robust magnetic sensitivity manifested as significantly enhanced filamentation under the 100 mT SMF. In contrast, pigeon (Columba livia) MagR (clMagR) induced only low-frequency, extreme filamentation (sporadically exceeding 80 μm) with a relatively weaker magnetic morphological response. Mechanistically, our data unambiguously proved that these phenotypic differences are primarily driven by distinct iron redox preferences rather than total cellular iron accumulation. Specifically, hyMagR preferentially binds ferrous iron (Fe²⁺), whereas clMagR favors ferric iron (Fe³⁺) and forms more stable iron-sulfur clusters. Intriguingly, although SQUID magnetometry showed that purified clMagR exhibited approximately five-fold higher mass magnetic susceptibility than hyMagR, its cellular magnetic response was weaker. We hypothesize that the Fe²⁺-preferred intracellular environment associated with hyMagR overexpression primes the cell for enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the Fenton reaction. Exposure to an SMF synergizes with this primed redox state, triggering the bacterial SOS response and upregulating cell division inhibitors to efficiently induce uniform filamentation. Conclusion Our findings identify the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ redox state as a critical determinant of MagR-mediated morphological remodeling and magnetic responsiveness. This discovery suggests a potential strategy for engineering magnetically responsive cellular systems for synthetic biology applications, and provides a plausible framework, which potentially combines intrinsic protein magnetism with redox-state modulation, for further investigating the evolutionary mechanisms of MagR-mediated magnetoreception.

Objective:To investigate the role of SiHa cell-derived exosomal hsa-miR-29c-3p in the angiogenesis of cervical cancer(CC).Methods:Cancer tissue specimens from 45 patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma(CSCC)and normal cervical tissue specimens from 15 controls were collected from Department of Gynecology,Hengyang Central Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021.CSCC SiHa cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs)were routinely cultured.miRNA-NC,hsa-miR-29c-3p,si-miRNA-NC,and si-hsa-miR-29c-3p were transfected into SiHa cells with Lipofectamine 2000,grouped as miRNA-NC group,hsa-miR-29c-3p group,si-miRNA-NC group and si-hsa-miR-29c-3p group,respectively.HUVECs were transfected with mimic-NC,miR-29c-3p-mimic,pCMV-NC,and pCMV-ATAD2B(ATPase family protein 2B with AAA domain)using Lipofectamine 2000,grouped as the mimic-NC group,miR-29c-3p-mimic group,pCMV-NC group,pCMV-ATAD2B group,and pCMV-ATAD2B+miR-29c-3p-mimic group.The expression of hsa-miR-29c-3p in CSCC tissues was detected by in situ hybridization(ISH),and CD31-positive blood vessels in CSCC tissues and xenograft tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry(IHC).Exosomes from SiHa and C33a cells were isolated and characterized using transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and western blotting(WB).The uptake of exosomes by HUVECs was examined.The expression of hsa-miR-29c-3p and ATAD2B mRNA in SiHa and C33a cells,as well as in their derived exosomes,was detected using qPCR.Tube-forming assay,Transwell assay,and scratch healing assay were performed to detect the effect of exosomes on the ability of HUVEC migration and tube formation.Dual luciferase reporter gene assay verified the interaction between hsa-miR-29c-3p and ATAD2B.Xenograft experiments examined the effects of SiHa cell-derived exosomes on transplanted tumor growth and angiogenesis in each group.Results:hsa-miR-29c-3p was highly expressed in CSCC tissues and was positively correlated with microvessel density(MVD)(all P<0.05).Exosomes derived from SiHa and C33a cells exhibited typical exosomal morphology and protein expression patterns.Exosomal hsa-miR-29c-3p from SiHa and C33a cells were efficiently taken up by HUVECs in vitro.The SiHa cell-derived exosomal hsa-miR-29c-3p promoted not only the tube-forming and migration of HUVECs in vitro but also the xenograft growth and angiogenesis in vivo(all P<0.05).hsa-miR-29c-3p directly targeted ATAD2B and regulated its expression(P<0.05).Overexpression of ATAD2B reversed the promotive effect of hsa-miR-29c-3p on tube-formation,migration,and scratch-healing in HUVECs(all P<0.05).Conclusion:SiHa cell-derived exosomal hsa-miR-29c-3p regulates angiogenesis in CSCC tissues by targeting ATAD2B.Exosomal hsa-miR-29c-3p may be a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for CC diagnosis and treatment.

AIM To study the chemical constituents from Pyrolae Herba and their activity against pathogenic bacteria associated with sports injuries.METHODS Silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 were used for isolation and purification,then the structures of obtained compounds were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data.The antibacterial activity was detected by filter paper method.RESULTS Twenty five compounds were isolated and identified as manuleoside H(1),5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxy-4,-methyl flavone(2),5-hydroxy-3,7,4'-methoxy-flavone(3),5-hydroxy-7,3',4'-trimethoxy-flavone(4),5,7-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-flavone(5),7.5,4'-trihydroxyflavone(6),ethyl vanillate(7),clovandiol(8),hydroxydihydrobovolide(9),zanthopyranone(10),eugenin(11),berchemol(12),3,7-dimethoxy-5,3',4'-trihydroxyflavone(13),2,5-dimethyl-7-hydroxychromone(14),rutalinium(15),formononetin(16),8-hydroxy-4',7-dimethoxy-isoflavones(17),isoline(18),dearabinosyl pneumonanthoside(19),3,5-dihydroxycinnamic acid(20),2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone(21),p-isopropyl benzoic acid(22),geraldone(23),ethylsyringin(24),4-hydroxyphenylethyl-2'-hydroxypropionate(25).Compounds 8,10,12,16 and 24 showed bacteriostatic zone on pathogenic bacteria susceptible to sports injuries.CONCLUSION All the compounds are isolated from Pyrolae Herba for the first time.Compounds 8,10,12,16 and 24 have inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacteria susceptible to sports injuries.

A centrifugation-free,single-reaction colorimetric method for detection of glucose,utilizing a dual nanozyme cascade system based on gold nanoparticles(AuNPs)and iron-doped carbon dots(FeCDs),was developed in this work.The AuNPs exhibited glucose oxidase-like activity to catalyze glucose oxidation for generation of H2O2,while the FeCDs demonstrated peroxidase-like activity to subsequently catalyze the H2O2-mediated oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine(TMB).To prevent interference from the blue signal generated by self-aggregation of AuNPs in subsequent quantitative detection,the reaction system was terminated with HCl,converting oxTMB into a stable yellow product.Based on changes in the absorbance at 450 nm of this yellow solution,a quantitative relationship was established between glucose concentration and absorbance at 450 nm(A450).Experimental results demonstrated that this sensor achieved a linear detection range of 44 μmol/L to 11.11 mmol/L(R2=0.993)with a detection limit of 30.68 μmol/L and spiked recoveries of 97.9%-104.7%.By integrating smartphone-based color recognition capabilities,a rapid visual detection platform was established for quantification of glucose through RGB analysis.The validation experimental results using commercial glucose injection samples further confirmed the practical application potential of this methodology.

Nano/microplastics(NMPs),due to their environmental persistence and resistance to degradation,have emerged as a major contributor to global pollution.NMPs are capable of adsorbing various hazardous chemicals and heavy metals,thereby posing threats to aquatic ecosystem health,which may ultimately cause potential risks to human health.Conventional analytical methods suffered from limited resolution,insufficient chemical information,or destruction of sample,invalidating these assays for on-site detection of NMPs.Surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)offers distinct advantages such as high sensitivity,superior specificity,rich fingerprint information,and non-destructive analysis,thus facilitating the on-site analysis of NMPs in complex matrices.This review summarized recent advances in SERS substrates for detection of NMPs,discussed the construction and applications of SERS-based multimodal detection strategies,and introduced the research progress of SERS detection of NMPs in food safety,environmental pollution,and bioanalysis.Moreover,the main challenges and future directions of SERS-based NMP detection were outlined.

Aim To explore the mechanism of Yangxin decoction in the treatment of chronic heart failure(CHF)based on network pharmacology and animal ex-periments.Methods The database was used to screen Yangxin decoction,a network of"drug-compo-nent-disease-target"was established,and the obtained targets were enriched and analyzed.The CHF model of rats was replicated by abdominal aortic ligation.After the administration,the general condition,body weight and heart weight of the rats were observed,and the he-modynamic changes,echocardiography indicators and left ventricular mass index were measured.HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of myo-cardial tissue.Serum IL-1 β,IL-18,TNF-α and BNP were detected by ELISA.The expressions of NLRP3,caspase-1,ASC and NF-κB p65 proteinswere detected by Western blot.Results Enrichment analysis showed that the potential regulatory pathways of Yangx-in decoction in the treatment of CHF involved NOD-like signaling pathway,NF-κB signaling pathway,etc.The results of animal experiments showed that the body weight,left ventricular diastolic diameter and left ven-tricular systolic diameter of the rats in the administra-tion group decreased(P＜0.05),the left ventricular mass index,ejection fraction and short axis narrowing rate increased(P＜0.05),the pathological morphology of myocardial tissue was reduced,and the levels of IL-1 β,IL-18,TNF-α,BNP,NLRP3,caspase-1,ASC and NF-κB p65 decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusions The mechanism of Yangxin decoction in the treatment of CHF rats may be related to inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathway and reduc-ing the inflammatory response.

OBJECTIVE: Humans are exposed to complex mixtures of environmental chemicals and other factors that can affect their health. Analysis of these mixture exposures presents several key challenges for environmental epidemiology and risk assessment, including high dimensionality, correlated exposure, and subtle individual effects. METHODS: We proposed a novel statistical approach, the generalized functional linear model (GFLM), to analyze the health effects of exposure mixtures. GFLM treats the effect of mixture exposures as a smooth function by reordering exposures based on specific mechanisms and capturing internal correlations to provide a meaningful estimation and interpretation. The robustness and efficiency was evaluated under various scenarios through extensive simulation studies. RESULTS: We applied the GFLM to two datasets from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In the first application, we examined the effects of 37 nutrients on BMI (2011-2016 cycles). The GFLM identified a significant mixture effect, with fiber and fat emerging as the nutrients with the greatest negative and positive effects on BMI, respectively. For the second application, we investigated the association between four pre- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and gout risk (2007-2018 cycles). Unlike traditional methods, the GFLM indicated no significant association, demonstrating its robustness to multicollinearity. CONCLUSION GFLM framework is a powerful tool for mixture exposure analysis, offering improved handling of correlated exposures and interpretable results. It demonstrates robust performance across various scenarios and real-world applications, advancing our understanding of complex environmental exposures and their health impacts on environmental epidemiology and toxicology.
Humans ; Environmental Exposure/analysis* ; Linear Models ; Nutrition Surveys ; Environmental Pollutants ; Body Mass Index