ObjectiveCellular temperature imaging can assist scientists in studying and comprehending the temperature distribution within cells, revealing critical information about cellular metabolism and biochemical processes. Currently, cell temperature imaging techniques based on fluorescent temperature probes suffer from limitations such as low temperature resolution and a limited measurement range. This paper aims to develop a single-cell temperature imaging and real-time monitoring technique by leveraging the temperature-dependent properties of single-molecule quantum coherence processes. MethodsUsing femtosecond pulse lasers, we prepare delayed and phase-adjustable pairs of femtosecond pulses. These modulated pulse pairs excite fluorescent single molecules labeled within cells through a microscopic system, followed by the collection and recording of the arrival time of each fluorescent photon. By defining the quantum coherence visibility (V) of single molecules in relation to the surrounding environmental temperature, a correspondence between V and environmental temperature is established. By modulating and demodulating the arrival times of fluorescent photons, we obtain the local temperature of single molecules. Combined with scanning imaging, we finally achieve temperature imaging and real-time detection of cells. ResultsThis method achieves high precision (temperature resolution<0.1°C) and a wide temperature range (10-50°C) for temperature imaging and measurement, and it enables the observation of temperature changes related to individual cell metabolism. ConclusionThis research contributes to a deeper understanding of cellular metabolism, protein function, and disease mechanisms, providing a valuable tool for biomedical research.

ObjectiveTemporal heterogeneity in lung cancer presents as fluctuations in the biological characteristics, genomic mutations, proliferation rates, and chemotherapeutic responses of tumor cells over time, posing a significant barrier to effective treatment. The complexity of this temporal variance, coupled with the spatial diversity of lung cancer, presents formidable challenges for research. This article will pave the way for new avenues in lung cancer research, aiding in a deeper understanding of the temporal heterogeneity of lung cancer, thereby enhancing the cure rate for lung cancer. MethodsRaman spectroscopy emerges as a powerful tool for real-time surveillance of biomolecular composition changes in lung cancer at the cellular scale, thus shedding light on the disease’s temporal heterogeneity. In our investigation, we harnessed Raman spectroscopic microscopy alongside multivariate statistical analysis to scrutinize the biomolecular alterations in human lung epithelial cells across various timeframes after benzo(a)pyrene exposure. ResultsOur findings indicated a temporal reduction in nucleic acids, lipids, proteins, and carotenoids, coinciding with a rise in glucose concentration. These patterns suggest that benzo(a)pyrene induces structural damage to the genetic material, accelerates lipid peroxidation, disrupts protein metabolism, curtails carotenoid production, and alters glucose metabolic pathways. Employing Raman spectroscopy enabled us to monitor the biomolecular dynamics within lung cancer cells in a real-time, non-invasive, and non-destructive manner, facilitating the elucidation of pivotal molecular features. ConclusionThis research enhances the comprehension of lung cancer progression and supports the development of personalized therapeutic approaches, which may improve the clinical outcomes for patients.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a kind of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) with covalent closed-loop structure. They have attracted more and more attention because of their high stability, evolutionary conservatism, and tissue expression specificity. It has shown that circRNAs are involved in the development of a variety of diseases including malignant tumors recently. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor that occurs in the nasopharynx and has a unique ethnic and geographical distribution in South China and Southeast Asia. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is closely related to the development of NPC. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the mainstays of treatment for NPC. But tumor recurrence or distant metastasis is the leading cause of death in patients with NPC. Several studies have shown that circRNAs, as gene expression regulators, play an important role in NPC and affect the progression of NPC. This review mainly summarized the research status of abnormally expressed circRNAs in NPC and EBV-encoded circRNAs. We also discussed the possibility of circRNAs as a therapeutic target, diagnostic and prognostic marker for NPC.

The Piezo protein is a non-selective mechanosensitive cation channel that exhibits sensitivity to mechanical stimuli such as pressure and shear stress. It converts mechanical signals into bioelectric activity within cells, thus triggering specific biological responses. In the digestive system, Piezo protein plays a crucial role in maintaining normal physiological activities, including digestion, absorption, metabolic regulation, and immune modulation. However, dysregulation in Piezo protein expression may lead to the occurrence of several pathological conditions, including visceral hypersensitivity, impairment of intestinal mucosal barrier function, and immune inflammation.Therefore, conducting a comprehensive review of the physiological functions and pathological roles of Piezo protein in the digestive system is of paramount importance. In this review, we systematically summarize the structural and dynamic characteristics of Piezo protein, its expression patterns, and physiological functions in the digestive system. We particularly focus on elucidating the mechanisms of action of Piezo protein in digestive system tumor diseases, inflammatory diseases, fibrotic diseases, and functional disorders. Through the integration of the latest research findings, we have observed that Piezo protein plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of various digestive system diseases. There exist intricate interactions between Piezo protein and multiple phenotypes of digestive system tumors such as proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. In inflammatory diseases, Piezo protein promotes intestinal immune responses and pancreatic trypsinogen activation, contributing to the development of ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and pancreatitis. Additionally, Piezo1, through pathways involving co-action with the TRPV4 ion channel, facilitates neutrophil recruitment and suppresses HIF-1α ubiquitination, thereby mediating organ fibrosis in organs like the liver and pancreas. Moreover, Piezo protein regulation by gut microbiota or factors like age and gender can result in increased or decreased visceral sensitivity, and alterations in intestinal mucosal barrier structure and permeability, which are closely associated with functional disorders like irritable bowel sydrome (IBS) and functional consitipaction (FC). A thorough exploration of Piezo protein as a potential therapeutic target in digestive system diseases can provide a scientific basis and theoretical support for future clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies.

The adulteration and counterfeiting of herbal ingredients in medicinal and food homology (MFH) have a serious impact on the quality of herbal materials, thereby endangering human health. Compared to pharmaceutical drugs, health products derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are more easily accessible and closely integrated into consumers' daily life. However, the authentication of the authenticity of TCM ingredients in MFH has not received sufficient attention. The lack of clear standards emphasizes the necessity of conducting systematic research in this area. This study utilized DNA barcoding technology, combining ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK as universal barcode sequences, and DX, HH, JYH as specific barcode sequences, to identify the authenticity of commercial medicinal and food homology scented herbal teas. The aim was to investigate the authenticity of scented herbal tea products circulating in the market. The research results revealed that among 180 scented herbal tea samples, DNA barcodes were successfully obtained from 164 samples, while the remaining samples either lacked the target components or suffered severe DNA degradation, resulting in failed amplification. Combined with morphological identification studies, it was found that out of the 180 samples, 141 were authentic, accounting for 78.33% of the total samples, while 31 samples showed adulteration and 8 samples lacked the target components, accounting for 21.67% of the total samples. Additionally, water testing revealed that 5 samples of Carthamus tinctorius herbal tea exhibited the phenomenon of weight adulteration. This study exposed the presence of adulteration and weight adulteration in scented herbal tea products, highlighting the need for regulatory authorities to expedite the establishment of quality standards in scented herbal tea industry. These findings provide valuable insights for the rapid development of the scented herbal tea industry.

AIM:To observe the effect of acupuncture on adenosine A1 receptor(A1R)in the caudate puta-men(CPu)of complete Freund's adjuvant(CFA)rats,and to explore the potential mechanism of acupuncture in treat-ment of inflammatory pain.METHODS:Sixty-four 6～8-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into saline group,model group(CFA group),CFA+manual acupuncture(MA)group,CFA+solvent dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO)group,CFA+A1R agonist 2-chloro-N6-cyclopentyladenosine(CCPA)group,CFA+A1R antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-di-propylxanthine(DPCPX)group,CFA+MA+DMSO group and CFA+MA+DPCPX group.In MA groups,on the 2nd day af-ter modeling,the rats were needled at Zusanli points on both sides,30 min at a time,once per day,for 7 d.Pain threshold of plantar thermal radiation was used to observe the pain response of the rats.The content of cyclic adenosine monophos-phate(cAMP)in the CPu was detected by ELISA.The protein expression and phosphorylation levels of protein kinase A(PKA)and cAMP response element-binding protein(CREB)were detected by Western blot.The expression of A1R in the CPu was detected by immunofluorescence staining.RESULTS:Compared with saline group,CFA modeling signifi-cantly lowered the thermal pain threshold of the rats(P<0.01).Compared with CFA group,the thermal pain threshold of the rats in CFA+MA group and CFA+CCPA group was significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with CFA+ MA+DMSO group,the thermal pain threshold of the rats in CFA+MA+DPCPX group was decreased(P<0.05).Compared with CFA group,A1R protein relative expression level and positive cells in the CPu of the rats in CFA+MA group were in-creased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with saline group,cAMP content and p-CREB protein level in the CPu of the rats in CFA+MA group were decreased(P<0.05).Compared with CFA+DMSO group,cAMP content and p-CREB pro-tein level in CFA+MA+DMSO and CFA+CCPA groups were significantly decreased(P<0.01).Compared with CFA+MA+ DMSO group,the levels of cAMP,p-PKA and p-CREB in CFA+MA+DPCPX group were significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Acupuncture on bilateral Zusanli can relieve inflammatory pain in CFA rats,and its mech-anism may be related to A1R/cAMP/p-CREB signaling pathway.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α), a core transcription factor responding to changes in cellular oxygen levels, is closely associated with a wide range of physiological and pathological conditions. However, its differential impacts on vascular cell types and molecular programs modulating human vascular homeostasis and regeneration remain largely elusive. Here, we applied CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing of human embryonic stem cells and directed differentiation to generate HIF-1α-deficient human vascular cells including vascular endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), as a platform for discovering cell type-specific hypoxia-induced response mechanisms. Through comparative molecular profiling across cell types under normoxic and hypoxic conditions, we provide insight into the indispensable role of HIF-1α in the promotion of ischemic vascular regeneration. We found human MSCs to be the vascular cell type most susceptible to HIF-1α deficiency, and that transcriptional inactivation of ANKZF1, an effector of HIF-1α, impaired pro-angiogenic processes. Altogether, our findings deepen the understanding of HIF-1α in human angiogenesis and support further explorations of novel therapeutic strategies of vascular regeneration against ischemic damage.
Humans ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism* ; Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Hypoxia/metabolism* ; Cell Hypoxia/physiology*

Hypertension and osteoporosis(OP)are common diseases in middle-aged and elderly people,and the number of patients with both diseases has gradually increased in recent years.Because the onset of the disease is hidden,it is easy to cause fractures and serious complications of heart,brain and kidney in the later stage,which not only seriously damages the quality of life of patients,but also increases the difficulty of clinical treatment.Therefore,it is particularly necessary to strengthen the research on this disease.More and more studies have found that the disorder of intestinal flora will lead to the occurrence of OP,while the intestinal flora of patients with hypertension is obviously out of balance.Therefore,this paper thinks that intestinal flora may be the key influencing factor of hypertension complicated with OP,and the imbalance of intestinal flora will lead to the imbalance of short-chain fatty acid metabolism,immune inflammatory reaction and increased sympathetic nerve activity,thus causing the imbalance of bone homeostasis and promoting the occurrence of OP.Therefore,it is suggested that regulating intestinal flora may be a new way to intervene hypertension complicated with OP.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of the interaction between Wnt/β-catenin signaling and the epithelial mesenchymal transition(EMT)pathway in mediating sunitinib-resistance in renal cancer cells.Methods The sunitinib-resistant kidney cancer cell lines were constructed by stepwise increase in drug concentrations method with sunitinib,and were divided into resistance group,lv-NC group and lv-Twist group,and human kidney cancer cell lines were selected as normal group.The normal and drug-resistant groups were treated with conventional culture;the lv-NC group was treated with 40 μL of lv-NC lentivirus supernatant containing 2.25 × 108 TU·mL-1 for 72 h,and the lv-Twist group was treated with 50 μL of Twist lentivirus supernatant containing 1.64 × 108 TU·mL-1 for 72 h.The apoptosis ability was detected by flow cytometry;the cell migration ability was detected by cell scratch assay;the cell invasion ability was detected by Transwell assay;and the protein expression levels of Wnt1,β-catenin and Twist were detected by Western blotting assay.Results The apoptosis rates of control,resistant,lv-NC and lv-Twist groups were(17.60±0.59)％,(8.61±0.34)％,(8.60±0.40)％and(3.10±0.34)％;the migration rates were(14.10±0.12)％,(27.64±0.41)％,(14.24±0.45)％and(32.74±2.53)％;the number of invading cells was 27.33±1.15,53.33±1.53,46.00±2.65 and 99.33±2.52;the relative expression levels of Wnt1 protein were 0.10±0.01,0.96±0.06,0.39±0.03 and 3.09±0.31;the relative expression levels of β-catenin protein were 0.39±0.01,1.48±0.16,0.81±0.05 and 1.24±0.14;the relative expression levels of Twist protein were 0.10±0.02,0.91±0.04,0.39±0.03 and 3.09±0.31,respectively.The differences of above indexes were statistically significant between the resistant group and the normal group,and between the lv-Twist group and the lv-NC group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Twist(EMT related protein)mediates sunitinib resistance in renal cell carcinoma by interacting with Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Background::The conversion of adenosine (A) to inosine (I) through deamination is the prevailing form of RNA editing, impacting numerous nuclear and cytoplasmic transcripts across various eukaryotic species. Millions of high-confidence RNA editing sites have been identified and integrated into various RNA databases, providing a convenient platform for the rapid identification of key drivers of cancer and potential therapeutic targets. However, the available database for integration of RNA editing in hematopoietic cells and hematopoietic malignancies is still lacking.Methods::We downloaded RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data of 29 leukemia patients and 19 healthy donors from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and RNA-seq data of 12 mouse hematopoietic cell populations obtained from our previous research were also used. We performed sequence alignment, identified RNA editing sites, and obtained characteristic editing sites related to normal hematopoietic development and abnormal editing sites associated with hematologic diseases.Results::We established a new database, "REDH", represents RNA editome in hematopoietic differentiation and malignancy. REDH is a curated database of associations between RNA editome and hematopoiesis. REDH integrates 30,796 editing sites from 12 murine adult hematopoietic cell populations and systematically characterizes more than 400,000 edited events in malignant hematopoietic samples from 48 cohorts (human). Through the Differentiation, Disease, Enrichment, and knowledge modules, each A-to-I editing site is systematically integrated, including its distribution throughout the genome, its clinical information (human sample), and functional editing sites under physiological and pathological conditions. Furthermore, REDH compares the similarities and differences of editing sites between different hematologic malignancies and healthy control.Conclusions::REDH is accessible at http://www.redhdatabase.com/. This user-friendly database would aid in understanding the mechanisms of RNA editing in hematopoietic differentiation and malignancies. It provides a set of data related to the maintenance of hematopoietic homeostasis and identifying potential therapeutic targets in malignancies.