O-linked-N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation) is a type of glycosylation that widely present in eukaryotic cytoplasmic proteins or mitochondria. It affects protein properties, cell functions, disease states and so on, hence it is import to identify the roles that O-GlcNAcylations play on target proteins in living cells. The new technologies for manipulating O-GlcNAcylations on target proteins will greatly accelerate the understanding of O-GlcNAc’s functions. This article briefly introduces some recent research progress of chemical biology techniques for targeted protein O-GlcNAcylation, and also analyzes the advantages and limitations of these strategies, and their future development prospects. These technologies build a powerful chemical biology toolbox, which may contribute to the diagnoses and treatments related to O-GlcNAcylation.

Antibiotic resistance is considered one of the most serious global threats to human health in the 21st century. The overuse of antibiotics has aggravated the development of bacterial resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to further study the mechanisms of bacterial resistance and explore new types of resistance and bacteriostatic strategies. This article provides an overview of the mechanisms of bacterial resistance and new antibacterial strategies for drug-resistant bacteria. It elaborates on the molecular mechanisms of three types of resistance: inherent resistance, acquired resistance and adaptive resistance. It also discusses new antibacterial strategies such as new antibacterial compound molecules, phage therapy, CRISPR-Cas system therapy and antisense therapy. This review aims to summarize the mechanisms of bacterial resistance and provide a reference for subsequent prevention and treatment of bacterial resistance.

The central dogma of molecular biology explains the direction of genetic information flow within organisms, and is one of the most important classical theories in molecular biology. There are two versions of the central dogma. In 1957, F. Crick first proposed the central dogma, which was published in 1958 and revised in 1970. Crick’s central dogma divides genetic information transfer modes into three groups: (l) three types of general transfer that occur normally in cells, including DNA→DNA, DNA→RNA, and RNA→protein; (2) three types of special transfer refer to RNA→RNA and RNA→DNA in certain viruses, as well as in vitro DNA→protein; (3) three types of undetected transfer are information transmissions that have not yet been discovered or may not exist, i.e. protein→protein, protein→DNA, and protein→RNA. In 1965, J. Watson proposed another version, using the protein biosynthesis pathway as the central dogma, which divided the process of genetic information transfer into two steps:transcription and translation, usually simplified as DNA→RNA→protein, and later supplemented with “RNA replication” and “reverse transcription”. The limitations of Watson’s version have been questioned.

Covalent attachment of glycans to the side chains of protein amino acids can form glycosylation. Glycosylation, in many cases, significantly increases the diversity of protein structure, properties, and functions. Specific glycosylation patterns can confer specific effects on proteins and enzymes, while aberrant glycosylation patterns may lead to diseases. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the role of protein glycosylation is of great significance, both for basic and applied research. However, progress in this area has been exceptionally slow due to the difficulty in obtaining suitable samples for study. In recent years, researchers have gradually begun to explore the use of a library-based strategy to change this situation. This strategy involves the synthetic preparation and characterization of a series of homogeneously glycosylated protein isoforms (glycoforms) with high purity and systematic variations in structures. Through the following comparative analysis, the effects and functioning mechanisms of protein glycosylation can be relatively quickly and accurately obtained. This, in turn, enhances the application of glycosylation in improving the performance of proteins and enzymes. This review aims to summarize, outline, and briefly discuss the progress in the O-glycosylation research direction. It presents research methods and achievements of a few existing examples in chronological order, with the aim of helping researchers gain a clearer understanding of the current development and shortcomings of this strategy. This review is expected to assist researchers in better utilizing this strategy for protein glycosylation research and applications, ultimately improving the depth and breadth of this research.

Cellular senescence refers to the stable state of cell cycle arrest in which cells lose the ability of division and proliferation. Various intracellular and extracellular stimuli can induce cell senescence. Senescent cells exhibit multiple hallmarks, such as the upregulation of cell cycle inhibitor proteins p16^INK4a and p21^Cipl, DNA damage responses, and structural and metabolic alterations. Another major hallmark of senescent cells is that they express and secret a variety of factors, including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, proteases, and other bioactive molecules, defined as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). SASP factors exert multiple biological functions through the cell autonomous autocrine manner or cell non-autonomous paracrine fashion. In this review, we summarize the composition of SASP, and point out its high heterogeneity and dynamics. We then summarize the regulatory mechanisms of SASP at various levels including transcription, post-transcription, translation, post-translational modifications, and epigenetics. Afterwards, we summarize the various biological functions of SASP, including its beneficial effects in tumor suppression, tissue repair, and embryonic development, as well as its detrimental effects in inducing cell senescence, promoting tumor occurrence and development, age-related diseases, and organismal aging. We further discuss the potential applications of the SASP, which overview the senolytic therapy for selectively clearing senescent cells and senomorphic therapy for inhibiting SASP to intervene age and age-related diseases. Finally, we outline several challenges in identifying and detecting senescent cells and SASP factors in vivo, and provide some practical recommendations and new techniques to address these challenges.

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification is a widespread post-translational modification of intracellular proteins. Unlike common types of protein glycosylation, O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) adds a single GlcNAc unit to serine or threonine residue of proteins. Since its discovery, a large number of studies have shown that O-GlcNAcylation is widely involved in many fundamental physiological processes such as cell growth and development, gene transcription, immune response and stress response. In the immune system, O-GlcNAcylation regulates the activation, differentiation and function of immune cells through various ways. The differentiation and phenotypic maintenance of macrophages are dependent on O-GlcNAcylation, the fluctuation of glucose metabolism levels or the loss of OGT will lead to the transformation of macrophage polarization. In addition, O-GlcNAcylation regulates cytokines transcription by altering the activity of transcription factors such as NF-κB to maintain macrophage inflammation, and also affects MAVS (mitochondrial antiviral signaling) protein ubiquitination in response to pathogen infection. In other innate immune cells, the reduction of O-GlcNAcylation will affect cellular immune function to varying degrees. O-GlcNAc regulates transcription factors such as NF-κB, NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) and c-Myc in T cells and B cells, affects the expression of cytokines and metabolism-related genes, and meet cell activation and proliferation by a higher level of glucose intake. The abnormal changes of O-GlcNAcylation in the immune system are closely related to the occurrence and development of chronic inflammation, tumor and other related diseases, or become a means of tumor immune escape. An in-depth understanding of the role of O-GlcNAc modification in the immune system will help to reveal the molecular mechanism of immune regulation and provide a theoretical basis for the development of novel immunotherapy strategies.

Carbohydrates play a crucial role in various life processes such as cell recognition, bacterial infection, signal transduction, and immune response. Due to their associated biological effects, the naturally existing carbohydrates and their derivatives have been extensively studied. Carbohydrates are also important lead for drug development, carbohydrate-based drugs exhibit excellent therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of various diseases such as infection, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Ribose and deoxyribose are the primary scaffolds for nucleoside drugs, which can inhibit viral replication and serve as treatments for viral infections. Carbohydrates-containing macrolide and aminoglycoside antibiotics target the 50S subunit and 30S subunit of bacterial ribosomes respectively, to hinder protein synthesis and eliminate bacteria. Heparin, a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan, acts as an anticoagulant by binding to antithrombin III and inactivating thrombin. Pseudo-saccharide can bind to glycosidase to prevent oligosaccharide hydrolysis, thereby controlling blood sugar levels. Additionally, sugar vaccines are crucial in cancer treatment, highlighting the broad applications of sugar drugs across various diseases. Furthermore, the rapid development of glycochemistry has deepened scientists’ understanding of carbohydrates, and medicinal chemists increasingly apply this knowledge to the design of new drugs. This review provides a brief overview of the application of carbohydrate-containing drugs in various disease.

Colorectal cancer ranks among the malignancies with high incidence and mortality rates, posing significant challenges to its prevention and treatment. In recent years, accumulating evidence has highlighted the critical involvement of deubiquitinases in the development and progression of colorectal cancer. Deubiquitinases meticulously remove ubiquitin moieties from proteins, thereby regulating protein stability, cellular signaling cascades, and gene expression, which in turn impacts key processes in tumor cells such as proliferation, survival, and metastasis. Deubiquitinases can influence the stability of cell cycle proteins, promoting cell cycle progression and accelerating cellular proliferation. Within the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, deubiquitinases contribute to pathway hyperactivation by enhancing nuclear localization of β-catenin, a pivotal event in colorectal cancer initiation. Deubiquitinases also play a role in modulating the stability of immune checkpoint regulators, affecting the function of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment and facilitating immune evasion. Through regulation of transcription factor ubiquitination status, deubiquitinases impact target gene expression, promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition, thereby augmenting colorectal cancer's invasive and metastatic potential. Moreover, deubiquitinases mediate chemoresistance in tumor cells by controlling the stability of apoptosis inhibitors, DNA repair enzymes, or drug efflux pumps.Given the critical role of deubiquitinases in colorectal cancer progression, the development of small molecule inhibitors targeting specific deubiquitinases has emerged as an attractive yet challenging field of research. Several inhibitors have demonstrated the capability to inhibit colorectal cancer cell growth and induce apoptosis in vitro and animal models. This review delves into the advancements in understanding the roles of deubiquitinases in colorectal cancer and discusses the application of small molecule inhibitors in colorectal cancer, providing insights for therapeutic strategies against this disease.

糖作为生命体的重要组成成份,承载着很多生物学功能:保护细胞、细胞的结构成份、能量来源与代谢组分、细胞与细胞的识别以及细胞内的信号转导。最常见的人类ABO血型的分子基础就是由血细胞表面的糖链结构决定的,流感病毒侵入宿主细胞则是由宿主细胞表面的唾液酸糖作为受体。
虽然人们很早就认识到了糖的重要性,但其固有的复杂性造成了很多研究上的技术难题:其一,化学结构上,糖链的链接方式多种多样;其二,糖链的合成没有模板,而是如同“分子乐高”一样由糖基转移酶装配合成。这样的糖类异质性虽然可以承载更多的信息,但是也为研究它的生物学功能造成了不小的挑战。
所以糖生物学从诞生的那一刻起,就注定了是一门多学科多手段多角度的交叉学科。本专刊涵盖多学科(生命、化学以及药学)对于糖生物学功能的综述以及技术上的最新简报,力图报道糖科学研究的新技术新方法,阐释糖在不同生理和病理中的功能,并讨论糖类药物的开发。
本专刊一共收录了9篇糖生物学相关的综述以及1篇技术简报。
(1) “工欲善其事,必先利其器”,我们首先综述了研究糖生物学的技术手段:《基于分子库策略的蛋白质O-糖基化研究》通过化学合成的方法来研究不同Ser/Thr位点进行O-糖基化对蛋白质功能的影响和调控;《酶介导的邻近细胞标记方法探究细胞间相互作用》阐释了化学生物学的研究策略;《基因编辑技术及其在糖生物学研究中的应用》则将糖与基因编辑相结合,对未来进行了展望。
(2) 聚焦N-乙酰葡萄糖胺 (O-linked β- N -acetylglucosamine, O-GlcNAc)。O-GlcNAc为发生在细胞内参与信号转导的单糖修饰。综述《靶向编辑O-GlcNAc糖基化修饰的化学生物学技术》从化学的角度阐释了最新的化学生物学工具;技术简报《CpOGA^D298N与核心链霉亲和素(Stv13)融合表达用于检测蛋白O-GlcNAc修饰》则从去N-乙酰葡萄糖胺修饰的角度研究了新的检测方法;《O-连接-N-乙酰葡糖胺糖基化蛋白质的富集方法》介绍了近年来 O-GlcNAc 糖基化修饰与疾病之间的关系以及相关修饰位点的富集方法;《O-GlcNAcylation在免疫系统中的作用》则侧重其在生物学中的免疫功能。
(3) 阐释糖类分子在不同病理中的功能:《免疫分子的糖基化修饰与重要感染性疾病》集中于免疫系统;《溶酶体半乳糖苷酯酶作用机制及疾病》侧重糖在溶酶体这一独特的细胞器中的功能。以此为基础,《糖药物在疾病治疗中的应用》综述了针对糖类的药学研究。
我们相信通过多学科对于糖生物学的交叉探索与创新实践,糖生物学必将迎来崛起的新时代。

Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is a protective cellular response that occurs when cells face hypoxia or nutrient deprivation. It alleviates protein accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by the unfolded protein response. Unfolded or misfolded proteins that are not efficiently cleared by the unfolded protein response pathway are degraded by endoplasmic reticulum-phagy (ER-phagy), which is trigged by ERS to restore ER morphology. ER-phagy is mediated by ER-phagy receptors. In mammalian and yeast cells, various ER-phagy receptors exist that promote ER fragment formation, capture autophagic cargos and deliver them to autolysosomes for degradation. Each ER-phagy receptor has unique structural features that determine its mode of cargo capture. Additionally, ERS regulates ER-phagy by mediating the expression and phosphorylation of ER-phagy receptors. Research has shown that ERS-induced ER-phagy plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of various human diseases. Therefore, elucidating the specific mechanisms underlying ERS-induced ER-phagy provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of ER-phagy-related diseases. Herein, we review the molecular mechanisms of ERS-induced ER-phagy mediated by ER-phagy receptors in mammals (FAM134B, RTN3L, SEC62, CCPG1) and yeasts (Atg39, Atg40, Erp1), as well as the connection between ERS-induced ER-phagy and human diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer, aiming to provide new strategies for the prevention and treatment of ER-phagy-related diseases.

Protein glycosylation, one of the most common post translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins, is widely present in living organisms. In eukaryotic cells, glycosylation modifications have a significant impact on protein folding, conformation, distribution, stability and activity. The glycosylation of glycoproteins is crucial for maintaining the order of interactions between all differentiated cells in multicellular organisms. The dysfunction of protein glycosylation may lead to the occurrence of diseases and development of infectious diseases. So far, changes in protein N/O-glycan have been identified as biomarkers for the development of tumors and certain infectious diseases. Therefore, this article reviews the glycosylation of major immune molecules such as B-cell receptor (BCR), T-cell receptor (TCR), cytokines (CK), complement and immunoglobulin (Ig), as well as the relationship between these glycosylation and infectious diseases. The aim is to understand the association between glycosylation of immune molecules and infectious diseases, and to provide new ideas and strategies for the treatment of infectious diseases.

With the rapid development of cell therapy, large-scale lentiviral production has become a bottleneck in the process chain; thus, optimizing the production process of CAR lentiviral vectors with high titer and high purity of 293T becomes crucial. This study aimed to optimize the packaging of lentiviral 293T adherent cells to achieve time-saving, cost-saving, and improved lentiviral packaging. At the same time, the optimization of lentiviral vectors was carried out to explore the factors affecting the growth of suspension cell clusters. The 293T adherent cells were domesticated into suspension culture by fast and slow domestication. Their cell morphology, cell density, cell viability, lentiviral packaging ability, and stable consistency after cryopreservation and resuscitation were compared to screen out the optimal suspension domestication conditions. Comparative cell clumping growth was studied by adjusting Ca²⁺ concentration and EDTA addition. The findings showed that the serum-free medium OPM-293 CD05 Medium could be quickly domesticated into 293T suspension cells from 293T adherent cells, and that these suspension cells could be produced with lentiviral titers that were better than the adherent cells’ packaging titers (^*P<0.05). Ca²⁺ concentration affects the size of cell clusters. The addition of EDTA effectively separates and disperses unnecessary cell clusters. In summary, the experiment’s findings demonstrated that serum-free OPM-293 CD05 Medium could quickly domesticate conventional 293T adherent cells into suspension cells. Within a certain range, the higher the concentration of Ca²⁺, the larger the agglomerates and particle size, and the higher the addition of EDTA, the smaller the agglomerates and particle size.This provides a theoretical framework for the optimization of suspension culture conditions and the lentiviral vector packaging process. It also establishes a theoretical framework for the scale-up and manufacturing of in vitro cell culture, which has some practical applications.

Fostering virtue through education is the fundamental task of higher education, while the performance of ideological and political education is critical to achieving this task. “Biological Basis”, the core course of the bioengineering major which has a close relationship with other required courses, plays an important role in the professional training system. From the aspects of the necessity of ideological and political construction of “Biological Basis”, the exploration and design of ideological and political elements, the practice of ideological and political teaching, the optimization of ideological and political evaluation systems, and the effect of ideological and political teaching, this study elaborated on the constructing process of “Biological Basis”. The ideological and political elements were explored from celebrity anecdotes, daily life, research cases, and current events were further integrated into the teaching process of “Biological Basis” by the establishment of a teaching team and the online and offline mixed teaching methods, the development of case teaching, and the implementation of group discussion. Moreover, the ideological and political course teaching-effect evolution system was established. The results showed that students' interest in learning and the average score of the final paper significantly improved, from 66 points or less before the curriculum reform to 76 points after the reform. In addition, more than 92% of the students thought that the ideological and political teaching of “Biology Basis” was good, with a course satisfaction of 98%. The course's ideological and political teaching improves the quality of “Biology Basis”, achieving the goal of cultivating students' professional knowledge and comprehensive quality together. The construction experience of this course will provide some references for the ideological and political teaching and reform of other biology courses.

Cell-cell interactions (CCIs) can occur through the formation of intercellular synapses mediated by cell surface proteins, glycans, lipids, to maintain body homeostasis and regulate physiological functions.These CCIs are complex, involving the participation of many different cell surface and intracellular molecules. Therefore it is key to accurately identify, characterize and quantify cell-cell interactions. In recent years, the technical means of researching CCIs have been continuously introduced, among which proximity labeling is a promising chemical biology method for studying cell-cell interactions.Currently, there are mainly two types of labeling strategies. One is to rely on the direct binding between enzymes expressed on the surface of “bait” cells by genetic engineering and receptor substrates on adjacent cells to achieve intercellular proximity labeling. The other is to use enzymes or organocatalysts (such as photocatalysts) that are recombinantly expressed by genetic engineering or coupled to the surface of “bait” cells by chemical (chemoenzymatic) methods, and following appropriate stimulation or activation, targeted delivery of labeling molecules are carried out. Between them, the enzyme-mediated proximity cell labeling methods have promising application value in the detection and characterization of CCIs.This review defines methods involving enzymes during the labeling process as enzyme-mediatedproximity cell labeling methods. A remarkable advantage of this approach is the small labeling radius that can be achieved due to direct physical contacts between the enzymes and receptor substrates or enzyme-catalyzed generation of highly reactive labeling molecules.We summarize the principles, advantages and disadvantages,and existing applications of the enzyme-mediated proximity cell labeling methods developed in recent years.

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (iMSC) have been proposed as an alternative source to primary mesenchymal stem cells(MSC), showing multiple advantages in disease treatment research. However, it remains unclear which disease type iMSCs are more suitable and whether they carry potential risks. This study utilized high-throughput sequencing data from public databases to compare iMSC with bone marrow-derived MSC (BM-MSC), adipose-derived MSC (AD-MSC), and umbilical cord-derived MSC (UC-MSC). Through various bioinformatics methods, including differential gene expression analysis, functional enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction network analysis, and CMap database screening. The results indicated that iMSC possesses unique gene transcription characteristics, showing significant differences in gene expression compared to the three commonly used MSC types, particularly in genes related to neural and muscle development and immune regulation. Functional enrichment analysis of the differential genes further confirmed iMSC's potential advantages in treating neuro-related diseases, along with its lower immunogenicity but higher tumorigenic risk. Analysis using the CMap database identified potential gene targets and small molecule inhibitors to mitigate the tumorigenic risk of iMSC, providing possible strategies to reduce the risks associated with iMSC application. In summary, as a potential source for cell therapy, iMSC shows promising advantages in treating neurological diseases, but its safety needs to be validated through further experiments and clinical studies.

The elucidation of gene functions is a fundamental task in modern biological research, the precisive, efficient, and targeted editing of genes is an indispensable tool for their functional dissection. Over the past 30 years, gene editing has experienced the transformation from homologous recombination repair-based technology to programable nuclease-based method, such as zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and CRISPR-associated nucleases. The development of these technologies has greatly advanced the investigation of gene functions and led to the emergence of disruptive technologies for disease treatment. In this manuscript, we first introduced the classification, composition, and working principle of CRISPR-Cas for the immune defense in bacteria. We subsequently focus on the state-of-the-art gene editing tools based on the CRISPR-Cas system including the CRISPRi/CRISPRa, base editors, precursor editors, and the RNA-targeted RCas editing system. We then review the strategies for the delivery of gene editors to the desired target cells/organs, we mainly discuss the pros and cons of adeno-associated viruses, lipid nanoparticles, and extracellular vesicles. Finally, we review the applications of gene editing technologies in glycobiology research, including the function, biosynthesis, and underlying mechanism for the carbohydrates, glycoproteomic analysis, the construction and application of cellular glycan array, and the protein glycoengineering. In conclusion, the development of the precise gene editing technology has significantly promoted the research on the biosynthesis, structure, and function of carbohydrates, which has also advanced the translational aspect of glycoscience research.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common, severe, and complicated congenital malformations that are the result of the interaction and interplay of genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors. Maternal periconceptional folic acid (FA) supplementation is a significantly effective strategy for primary prevention of a proportion of NTDs. However, there still exists a portion of NTD cases that are intrinsically resistant to FA therapies, which are widely referred to as “FA-non-responsive NTDs” or “FA-resistant NTDs” . These diseases have a complex etiology, involving genetic, nutritional, environmental and maternal factors. This review integrates the genetic, nutritional, environmental and maternal risk factors associated with FA non-responsive NTDs and reveals the progress of research on their pathogenic mechanisms. Among them, the genetic factors cover three aspects: mouse mutants and strains, FA one-carbon metabolism genes, and key apoptosis genes, which provide possible genetic testing loci for prenatal diagnosis of these children. Nutritional factors concentrate on the roles of inositol and methionine, delineating their possible mechanisms of action and suggesting new directions for early nutritional interventions in NTDs management. In addition, this paper explores the possible mechanisms by which vitamin B12, a cofactor in the FA one-carbon metabolism, in FA-non-responsive NTDs development. We posit that a combination of FA and other vitamins may enhance treatment strategies for these malformations. At last, this paper also reviews the influence of environmental and maternal factors on FA non-responsive NTDs, aiming to provide health recommendations for early pregnancy for at-risk populations. In summary, this article reviews and evaluates research advancement concerning FA non-responsive NTD risk factors and pathogenesis, providing novel insights into the current prevention and treatment of this disease and related birth defects.

Lysosomal storage diseases (LSD) are a category of genetic metabolic disorders, originating from genetic mutations in lysosomal acid hydrolases, leading to enzymatic deficiencies. Consequently, this triggers an abnormal accumulation of biological macromolecules within lysosomes, subsequently causes significant damage to cellular, tissue, and organ functions. Mutations or deficiencies in β-galactocerebrosidase (GALC) result in the accumulation of psychosine, causing progressive demyelination and triggering Krabbe Disease, a form of neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease. The specific mechanisms involved in disease regulation are not yet fully elucidated. Increasing reports of pathogenic mutations in the GALC gene, coupled with analyses of GALC protein structure, have gradually enhanced the understanding of how GALC mutations contribute to Krabbe Disease. This knowledge offers robust evidence for the development of potential therapeutic drugs. Furthermore, GALC plays a dual role in various tumor processes, acting as a tumor suppressor in some cancers while acting as a carcinogen in others. However, a comprehensive analysis of GALC’s impact on cancer requires further in-depth research, offering insight into GALC as a potential target for tumor promotion or suppression. GALC is also associated with various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Due to the complexity of GALC’s mechanisms, current treatments for Krabbe Disease caused by GALC deficiency primarily involve single-modality and multi-modality therapies. Nevertheless, developing truly effective treatments necessitates deeper research into the pathogenic mechanisms arising from GALC gene defects. This review summarizes the structural and functional characteristics of GALC, and discusses its roles in the development of the nervous system and tumorigenesis, as well as the latest advances in related research. The aim is to lay the theoretical foundation and provide references for exploring GALC’s regulatory mechanisms and developing innovative drugs for treating associated diseases in the future.

Cell cycle analysis is essential for determining the cell proliferation state, studying cell functions, and evaluating drug effects. Flow cytometry is a commonly used method for cell cycle detection, with propidium iodide (PI) being the most widely used fluorescein. Nevertheless, various factors may affect the test results. Additionally, comparing distributions of immune cell subpopulations across different cell cycle stages can provide valuable insights into immunological responses and disease conditions. In this research, the B16-F10 cell line was used to study the impact of three factors on PI staining-based cell cycle detection: fixation settings, sample preparation conditions, and software analysis. To fix cells, it is suggested to suspend 3 × 10⁶ cells in 300 μL of pre-cooled PBS, add 700 μL of 100% ethanol dropwise, fix overnight at 4℃ or -20℃, and collect at a low flow rate (400-600 events/s) to ensure collection of at least 3 000 singlets. Furthermore, dual-labeling with 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) and PI can accurately distinguish cell cycle phases. And various immune cell subpopulations can be analyzed without cell sorting by combining surface marker staining with PI and Ki-67 staining. Here we review factors affecting cell cycle identification using the PI staining method and provide a standard operating protocol for the experiment. We established the method to combine EdU with PI for cell cycle detection and analysis of immune cell subpopulations, thus expanding the approaches for cell cycle detection.

With the acceleration of population aging, all kinds of cardiovascular diseases caused bycardiac aging have become a health problem that cannot be ignored. In the heart, about 95% of ATP come from the cardiomyocytes to maintain the pumping function. Mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to myocardial energy deficiency, cardiomyocytes damage and death, or myocardial senescence. Therefore, the intact function of mitochondria plays an important role in maintaining the normal function of the heart and is considered as a key feature of cardiac aging. This paper reviews cardiac aging and mitochondrial dysfunction, and mainly summarizes the characteristics of aging heart and the changes in mitochondrial structure and function of senescent cardiomyocytes. We focus on the five major factors leading to cardiac aging caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, including changes in the mitochondrial numbers and morphology, mitochondrial DNA mutations, mitochondrial quality control failures, mitochondrial enzyme changes, and mitochondria-related metabolites and stress signals changes. We also summarize the treatment methods and mechanism of cardiac aging by targeting mitochondria, anddiscuss the current status and future direction of mitochondrial therapy for cardiac aging.

Protein methylation is a common post-translational modification in organisms. For a long time, research on protein methylation mainly focused on arginine and lysine, and there were few reports on histidine methylation. However, recent studies have emphasized that histidine methylation is also a widespread and highly conserved modification, occurring at the Nπ and Nτ sites of the histidine imidazole ring, catalyzed by specific protein histidine methyltransferases (PHMTs). Here, we review the history and significant advances in histidine methylation in recent years, particularly highlighting several known histidine methyltransferases. These methyltransferases, through specific molecular mechanisms, are responsible for precise methylation modifications on histidine residues, playing crucial roles in processes such as cell movement, tumor cell proliferation, and protein translation. Additionally, this article discusses the research methods for histidine methylation, especially the application of mass spectrometry, which plays a vital role in advancing histidine methylation research. Although the veil of histidine methylation is gradually being lifted, a complete understanding of this modification and its functional mechanisms still poses challenges. Therefore, this article also presents new insights into the current dilemmas in histidine methylation research and future research priorities, hoping to uncover more secrets of histidine methylation in the future. This could expand the protein methylation modification network and provide new perspectives and strategies for elucidating disease mechanisms and developing new therapeutic approaches.

Depression, a category of mental disorder characterized by core symptoms of anhedonia and depressed mood, seriously influences the physical and psychological health of people worldwide. Clinical and animal studies have been gradually revealing the complicated pathogenic mechanisms involved, and have proposed related hypothesis. The monoamine neurotransmitter deficiency theory has significantly contributed to the development and clinical application of the first-line antidepressants, however, the monoamine targeted drugs generally require more than two weeks of continuous drug treatment, and moreover, are ineffective for approximately one-third of depressed patients. Esketamine is a kind of rapid-acting antidepressant mainly targeting the central glutamatergic system, which is only approved by Food and Drug Administration for treating treatment-resistant depression and major depressive patients with severe suicidal tendency, owing to its potential addictive and psychotomimetic side effects. The search for antidepressants that can rapidly produce effects with minimal side effects remains a key direction for disease treatment, and this endeavor necessitates a deeper understanding of the complex pathogenesis underlying the disease. Recent studies have revealed oxidative stress as a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of depression, and natural antioxidant methods such as exercise and composite dietary can effectively alleviate depressive symptoms, which could serve as promising therapeutic antidepressant approaches. Therefore, we review the close relationship between central glutamatergic system and depression onset, the influence of oxidative stress on glutamate neurotransmission, and the underlying molecular mechanisms involved, to provide novel ideas and drug targets for the prevention and treatment of the disease.

Hypospadias, characterized by abnormal position of the urethral opening, is the second most common congenital anomaly in men. Its incidence is increasing year by year, and it has become the fourth largest birth defect disease in China. Not only does it bring both physical and psychological distress to the patients, but its surgical repair and long-term postoperative management also occupy a large amount of social economic and medical resources. Hypospadias can be isolated or present as a manifestation of some syndrome. At present, there are a variety of methods used to define and evaluate hypospadias, and it is imperative to develop a uniform classification standard to standardize care and surgical methods. In humans, the normal development of the penis structure has experienced an early androgen-independent stage and a late androgen-dependent sexual differentiation stage. In addition to genetic changes, endocrine or external environmental influences can cause damage or loss of the basic elements of penile development, which can induce hypospadias. Therefore, the disease is the result of genetic, endocrine and environmental factors and their interaction, with genetic factors generally considered to be more important than others. Based on different population cohorts, this paper elucidates the causes of hypospadias from the perspective of classical genetic variation, involving gene polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphism and copy number variation of genes in normal biological processes such as growth differentiation of reproductive nodules, gonadal development and testis differentiation, androgen and estrogen production, etc. Moreover, the candidate genes related to human hypospadias are summarized. This paper will provide theoretical basis for the screening, intervention and clinical treatment of hypospadias, and contribute to improve the quality of birth population.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) refers to congenital structural abnormalities of the heart, including defects in the myocardial wall, valves, and major blood vessels. While genetic factors such as mutations and aberrant gene expression during embryogenesis contribute to CHD, they only account for part of cases. There are more and more studies on epigenetic histone modifications in CHD, suggesting that they are increasingly important in the pathogenesis of CHD. With the development of mass spectrometry-based proteomics technology, a spectrum of novel histone post-translational modifications, such as succinylation, glycosylation, lactylation, and β-hydroxybutyrylation, have been uncovered to contribute to various diseases. However, it remains unclear how these novel modifications regulate gene expression and pathological processes during the development and progression of CHD. This article will delve into the mechanisms of various histone modifications that regulate genes associated with cardiac development. It will approach the topic from both the perspective of classic histone modifications and novel histone modifications, aiming to unveil the significance of histone-driven epigenetic mechanisms in the etiology of CHD. Furthermore, it seeks to offer insights into the etiology of CHD, providing a theoretical basis for clinical treatment and timely prevention of this condition.

Cognitive dysfunction is one of the serious complications of type 2 diabetes. Exercise intervention has a certain effect on improving diabetes cognition, but the exact process remains ambiguous.This research aims to explore the impact and molecular processes of treadmill exercises in enhancing cognitive impairments in type 2 diabetic mice. Ten m/m 8-week-old male mice were used as the control group. Forty db/db mice, each 8 weeks old and male, were categorized into four distinct groups with each group containing 10 mice, including the db/db group (model group), db+Exe group (exercise group), db+Exe+SB203580 group (exercise combined with the p38 MAPK inhibitor group), db+SB203580 group (p38 MAPK inhibitor group). db+Exe group and db+Exe+SB203580 group were subjected to treadmill running intervention (40min/time, 5 times / week, a total of 8 weeks). db+Exe+SB203580 and db+SB203580 group were intraperitoneally injected with SB203580 (5 mg/kg, 5 times/week, 8 weeks) 2 hours before treadmill exercise. The results of body weights and fasting blood glucose measurement showed that 8-week treadmill exercise could significantly reduce the body mass and fasting blood glucose levels (P<0.01); the results of water maze showed that treadmill exercise improved cognitive dysfunction in diabetic mice (P<0.05). Immunofluorescence staining revealed that treadmill exercise diminished the fluorescence intensity of NLRP3 in hippocampus, and there was a significant difference in CA1 and CA3 regions (P<0.05). Treadmill exercise reduced the fluorescence intensity of PI in the hippocampus, and there was a significant difference in the DG region (P<0.01). The results of qRT-PCR revealed that treadmill exercise decreased IL-1β and IL-18 mRNA levels in hippocampus, with a notable difference in IL-1β mRNA levels(P<0.05). Western blotting analysis revealed that treadmill exercise reduced the concentrations of Caspase3, Caspase9 and Bax in hippocampus (P<0.01), reduced the concentrations of TXNIP, NLRP3, GSDMD-N, IL-1β, IL-18, Cleaved Caspase1 and Caspase1 (P<0.05), decreased the levels of p-RIPK1, RIPK1, p-RIPK3 and RIPK3 (P<0.05). After adding p38 inhibitors, treadmill exercise combined with p38 inhibitor intervention further inhibited the expression of Caspase3, TXNIP, GSDMD-N and IL-18 (P<0.05), and the expression levels of Caspase9, Bax, NLRP3, IL-1β, Cleaved Caspase 1 and Caspase 1 also showed a downward trend. The expression of RIPK1 and p-RIPK3 increased significantly (P<0.05), and the protein expression levels of p-p38, p-RIPK1 and RIPK3 showed an upward trend. In conclusion, treadmill running intervention can effectively improve the cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetic mice, and its mechanism is partly through the p38 MAPK signaling pathway to regulate PANoptosis.

DNA damage triggers cells to initiate a series of DNA damage response (DDR), including DNA damage repair, cell cycle checkpoint activation, cell cycle arrest, activation of various intracellular signal transduction pathways, and cell apoptosis, etc. DNA Damage Repair, an important mechanism by which cells maintain genomic stability, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015. DNA damage repair pathways mainly include: base-excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), mismatch repair (MMR), homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). They play an important role in the repair of DNA damage such as single-strand break (SSB) or double-strand break (DSB). DNA damage repair defects are closely related to tumorigenesis and development and is also an important target for tumor therapy. Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1/2 and others in the DNA damage repair pathways have synthetic lethality effects. It makes PARP inhibitor (PARPi) be the first and currently the only commercially available synthetic lethal target drug for tumor therapy. PARPi has good efficacy in the treatment of ovarian cancer and a variety of solid tumors, which make the research and development of synthetic lethal target drugs related to DNA damage repair and DDR pathway become a hot spot. Other targets under research mainly include: ataxia telangiectasia-mutated protein (ATM), ataxia telangiectasia and RAD3 related protein (ATR), DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), checkpoint kinase1 (CHK1), Checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2), mitogen-preventing protein kinase WEE1,etc. The combination of PARPi with other DDR target drugs, anti-angiogenesis drugs or immune checkpoint inhibitors may become effective means and development prospect to overcome PARPi resistance and improve the therapeutic effect. Here we review the key molecules and potential tumor therapeutic targets in DNA damage repair and related DDR pathways, and the research on synthetic lethal targets and their application and prospect in ovarian cancer. We aim to provide guidance for basic research and clinical application.

Type 1 diabetes is caused by impaired function of pancreatic β-cells and insufficient insulin secretion. Currently, it is primarily managed with exogenous insulin supplementation; however, exogenous insulin cannot precisely regulate blood glucose levels, and severe hypoglycemia can be life-threatening. Islet transplantation serves as an alternative therapy, but faces challenges such as a shortage of organ donors and the risk of cross-species infections from xenogeneic sources of islet β-cells. Thus, obtaining a sufficient and safe supply of islet β-cells remains a significant challenge in cell therapy for type 1 diabetes. This study aims to differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into islet β-cells in vitro, offering a potential new strategy for treating type 1 diabetes. To achieve this, we utilized a differentiation strategy that combines 2D and 3D culture systems to simulate the in vivo developmental environment of islet β-cells and employed various growth factors to regulate key signaling pathways crucial in pancreatic development and β-cell differentiation, including the Notch, Wnt, and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways. Our results show that under combined 2D and 3D culture conditions, the expression of specific genes at the stages of definitive endoderm, pancreatic progenitors, pancreatic endocrine cells, and islet β-cells significantly increased (P<0.05). And there was a marked enhancement in insulin content and secretion following glucose stimulation (P<0.05). In summary, this study successfully established a differentiation strategy from hiPSCs to functional islet β-cells, providing a new cell therapy approach for type 1 diabetes. This method not only offers new tools for studying the developmental biology of islet β-cells, but also provides a potential source of islet β-cells for clinical applications, potentially overcoming the limitations of current treatment methods.

p53 is one of the most crucial tumor suppressor genes in mammalian cells. Over 50% of human tumors exhibit p53 mutations, predominantly consisting of the missense mutations, leading to the generation and accumulation of mutant p53 protein in tumor cells. Apart from losing its normal biological functions and inhibiting the transactivity and tumor suppressive action of wildtype p53 through dominant negative effect, accumulating evidences indicate that the “gain-of-function” of mutant p53 plays critical roles in promoting tumor progression and metastasis. The posttranslational modifications (PTMs) represent a key mechanism by which the molecular functions of both the wildtype p53 and a spectrum of various mutant p53 can be regulated through universal or mutant p53-specific ways. Thus, the PTMs may represent an emerging potential target for reversing mutant p53-driven tumors. Here by focusing on the PTMs of mutant p53, the review provides an overview of how mutant p53 participates in the process of tumor initiation and progression through “gain-of-function”, the regulatory mechanisms of PTMs on mutant p53, and the applications of targeting mutant p53 and its PTMs in cancer treatment. Additionally, we discuss unresolved issues regarding the roles of mutant p53 in cancer biology and provide insights into future research direction. This review comprehensively summarizes the regulatory networks of mutant p53 “gain-of-function” by PTMs in tumor development, serving as a basis for developing intervention strategies by targeting the PTMs of mutant p53 in cancer.

The gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem composed of many bacteria and their metabolites. It plays an irreplaceable role in human digestion, nutrient absorption, energy supply, fat metabolism, immune regulation, and many other aspects. Exploring the structure and function of the gut microbiota, as well as their key genes and metabolites, will enable the early diagnosis and auxiliary diagnosis of diseases, new treatment methods, better effects of drug treatments, and better guidance in the use of antibiotics. The identification of gut microbiota plays an important role in clinical diagnosis and treatment, as well as in drug research and development. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of this rapidly evolving topic. Traditional identification methods cannot comprehensively capture the diversity of gut microbiota. Currently, with the rapid development of molecular biology, the classification and identification methods for gut microbiota have evolved from the initial phenotypic and chemical identification to identification at the molecular level. This review integrates the main methods of gut microbiota identification and evaluates their application. We pay special attention to the research progress on molecular biological methods and focus on the application of high-throughput sequencing technology in the identification of gut microbiota. This revolutionary method for intestinal flora identification heralds a new chapter in our understanding of the microbial world.

Various types of RNA within cells play crucial roles in regulating cellular biological processes. RNA modifications are chemical modifications on substrate RNA with chemical groups. 8-hydroxyguanosine modification of RNA can impact the stability, structure and function of RNA. This modification enhances the diversity of RNA functions and roles. During oxidative stress, 8-hydroxyguanine is a common and signature form of RNA chemical oxidative modification in cells. Both the structure and function of RNA may be affected by 8-hydroxyguanine modification. The 8-hydroxyguanine modification of RNA has been demonstrated to impact both the structure and function of RNA through the induction of RNA strand breaks and base shedding. Research suggests that the presence of 8-hydroxyguanine modification in RNA may serve as a potential biomarker for disease progression. As interests in RNA modifications grow, the 8-hydroxyguanine modification of RNA has garnered increasing attention. This article mainly reviews the mechanisms involved in the generation of 8-hydroxyguanine modification in RNA, its biological implications, and the proteins involved in regulating and repairing this modification, the detection technology for 8-hydroxyguanine modified RNA, and the relationship between 8-hydroxyguanine modification of RNA and various diseases, including neuropathic diseases and cancer. The primary objective is to offer a deeper understanding of the biological significance of RNA modification and the potential involvement of 8-hydroxyguanine modified RNA in disease pathogenesis.

The spatial conformation of chromosomes within the nucleus plays a pivotal role in gene expression, DNA replication, DNA damage repair, and gene stability. Understanding the intricate spatial organization of chromosomes is crucial for studying disease occurrence and development. However, our current understanding of changes in chromosome spatial conformation remains insufficient, limiting our ability to investigate the relationship between chromosomal structure and disease. This limitation primarily stems from the need for further development and refinement of high-resolution techniques used to study chromosome spatial conformation. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the fundamental spatial structure of chromosomes before delving into detailed discussions on the application of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), chromosome conformation capture (3C) and its derivatives, along with relevant research findings. To achieve more accurate real-time observations of chromosomal dynamics and spatial organization, it is imperative to conduct experiments using live cells. Therefore, this paper provides an extensive description of how fluorescence microscopy-based location tracking technology and chromosome dynamic tracking technology have been applied in studying chromosomal spatial conformation as well as highlighting notable achievements in this field. Finally, based on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses associated with various techniques employed thus far, we identify existing challenges within chromosomal spatial conformation studies while offering suggestions for future research endeavors.

Protein-based plant immune inducers are special compounds that can induce plant defense responses. They are mainly derived from pathogenic microorganisms, biocontrol microorganisms, host plants, and host-pathogen interaction processes. Protein elicitors improve plant resistance by triggering plant pathogen-associated molecular patterns to trigger immunity and effectors to trigger immune responses that frequently involve reactive oxygen species, Ca²⁺, salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, gibberellin, and ethylene cascade signaling pathways. They can bolster plant resistance against bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases, as well as environmental stress. Here we summarize the sources, mechanisms of action, and current applications of protein-based elicitors, identify existing problems, and outline future development trends. We propose that future research should focus on improving the persistence and stability of these elicitors, exploring the combined use of multiple elicitors or their combination with other agents, and their application in plant breeding., aiming for developing green biopesticides using protein-based elicitors.

The CRISPR/Cas is an immune defense system acquired by prokaryotes to resist the invasion of foreign genetic materials during their evolutionary process. In recent years, it has been developed into an efficient tool for genome editing, gene regulation and molecular diagnosis. Its programmable targeting mechanism has opened the door to use this system for genome manipulation and allows for dynamic regulation and control of gene expression within its activity range. As one of the most flexible and cost-effective techniques among existing gene modification methods, it has been widely applied in clinical disease treatment, industrial and agricultural production, sustainable dye development, chemical processing and many other fields. With the continuous investigation and exploration of the CRISPR/Cas system, a large number of studies have been reported on the engineering modification and optimization approaches of gRNA, including changing the length of the spacer region, regulating the structure of constant and variable sequence parts, adding extra functional sequences through the end or middle extension, and chemical synthesis modifications, in order to reduce off-target and mutation rates, improve the efficiency of the CRISPR system, and fully stimulate the potential of CRISPR gene manipulation tools in biomedical fields. Based on this, this review will introduce the latest progress in gRNA engineering design strategies and application research of CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12 systems, analyze and discuss the opportunities and challenges in the current gRNA engineering technology, aiming to provide ideas and reference directions for obtaining gRNAs with better performance, thereby effectively improving the ability to probe the human genomes using the CRISPR/Cas system and bringing more possibilities to programmable biology.

It has been reported that Jumonji histone demethylase inihibitor (JIB-04) inhibits the occurrence and development of tumors, but the specific mechanism is still unclear. In this paper, hepatocellular carcinoma cells HepG2 and Huh7 were used as the models, and the effect of JIB-04 on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma was explored and its mechanism was explained. CCK-8 assays and EDU staining assays showed that JIB-04 reduced the proliferation ability of HepG2 and Huh7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, with the half-inhibitory concentrations being 0.7689 μmol/L and 0.7392 μmol/L, respectively. Flow cytometry analysis showed that JIB-04 could significantly activate the accumulation of ROS in cells. The levels of intracellular GSH and lipid peroxide MDA were detected by glutathione (GSH) detection kit and lipid peroxide malondialdehyde (MDA) detection kit, respectively. It was found that under 2 μmol/L JIB-04 treatment, the intracellular GSH of HepG2 and Huh7 cells decreased by 88.4% and 80.7%, respectively. Lipid peroxides increased 4.75-fold and 9.25-fold, respectively. qRT-PCR and Western blotting results showed that JIB-04 could significantly reduce the mRNA levels and protein levels of ferroptosis related factors GPX4 and SLC7A11, while ferroptosis related pathway protein MDM2 was significantly down-regulated and P53 protein was significantly up-regulated. Mechanistic analysis found that JIB-04 reduced histone demethylase KDM4C protein levels by about 58% and 51%. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that Tri-methylation level of histone H3 at lysine 9 at the promoter region of the MDM2 gene, was increased by 2.19-fold and 2.14-fold respectively in JIB-04 treated hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Meanwhile, qRT-PCR proved that MDM2 mRNA level was significantly down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma cells after JIB-04 treatment. In summary, this study initially reveals that JIB-04 could downregulate the expression of the specific demethylase KDM4C, and then affect the methylation level of H3K9me3 in the promoter region of MDM2 gene to inhibit the expression of MDM2 gene, reduce MDM2 protein binding to P53 protein, upregulate P53 protein expression and simultaneous downregulate ferroptosis related proteins SLC7A11 and GPX4. It leads to intracellular GSH depletion, ROS and lipid peroxide accumulation, and finally leads to ferroptosis of cells.

p53 is an important tumor suppressor in the body, but research has found that p53 is one of the most frequent alterations in nearly half of human cancers. Mutant p53 (mtp53) not only promotes tumor development but also serves as a pivotal factor in tumor immunity. Research has demonstrated that mtp53 participates in many aspects of tumor immune response through multiple mechanisms. We firstly describe the structure and function of mtp53, then the molecular mechanisms of mtp53 in tumor immunity, including four aspects of promoting tumor immune escape, facilitating oxidative stress, regulating tumor-associated inflammatory signaling networks and tumor-infiltrating immune cell recruitment and differentiation. Finally, we summarize the effects of mtp53 on the immune micro-environment of lung cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and colorectal cancer as well as the advances in the application of mtp53 in the treatment of cancers with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, which may provide suitable directions and options for the immunotherapy of mtp53-expressing cancers.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) represent a critical area of study within congenital anomalies, with folate known for its preventative role. However, the mechanisms underlying its protective effects remain largely unknown. This study investigates the potential molecular mechanisms involving lysine demethylase 5A (KDM5A) and its subsequent alteration of histone H3K4me3 in the development of NTDs under folate deficiency. We used chromatin immunoprecipitation along with Cut&Tag to examine the function of KDM5A in a low-folate cell model and a mouse model of folate-deficient NTDs. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analyses demonstrated a marked reduction in KDM5A expression in the low-folate cell model (P<0.05). In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) followed by quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR) analysis confirmed the increased accumulation of histone H3K4me3 in the promoter regions of important neurodevelopmental genes, Axin2 and Atoh1, with folate deficiency (P<0.05). By creating a KDM5A-knockout cell model, Cut&Tag experiments was used to confirm the preferential enrichment of H3K4me3 on neurodevelopmental genes. In the brains of folate-deficient NTDs models, decreased expression of KDM5A and upregulated Axin2 and Atoh1 expression were observed, along with increased H3K4me3 enrichment at respective gene promoters (P<0.05). Collectively, these findings highlight the important function of KDM5A in NTDs with folate deficiency. KDM5A affects the expression of genes related to neurodevelopment by modifying H3K4me3 downstream. This study enhances our comprehension of the development of NTDs by examining the impact of disrupted folate metabolism and abnormal regulation of histone modification by KDM5A. It provides valuable insights into potential treatments for reducing birth defects and improving reproductive health.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, but current clinical methods lack effective screening and treatment options. Despite the widespread use of gemcitabine as a first-line chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of PDAC over the past decade, its efficacy is limited by the development of drug resistance, which significantly shortens patient survival. This review systematically elucidates the critical role of the tumor microenvironment in the development of gemcitabine resistance of PDAC cells, highlighting the contributions of the extracellular matrix barrier, hypoxia-induced adaptive changes in cancer cells, and the formation of an immunosuppressive microenvironment as key factors in gemcitabine resistance.Additionally, we also introduce novel strategies for reversing chemoresistance, including advanced drug delivery systems, and provide a comprehensive overview of the current opportunities and challenges.

“Rooted in agriculture, rural areas, and farmers; Focused on integration” is an important gripper for Henan College of Animal Husbandry Economics to serve the development of regional agriculture and animal husbandry industries for high-level application-oriented universities. The courses of biochemistry and molecular biology are the foundational courses for agricultural majors in our school, and are an important carrier for the integration of science and technology in the construction of new agricultural science. In order to achieve the ideological and political goals of the curriculum under the background of the new agricultural curriculum, the course team has built a training platform for students’ “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” sentiments from the aspects of disciplinary development history, practical application of agriculture, rural areas, alumni excellent cases, ecological civilization, professional ethics, and bioethics through the condensation of ideological and political cases; In the arrangements of ideological and political cases and practical project, industry development, agriculture, rural areas, teacher research, school enterprise cooperation projects, and student independent innovation projects were connected and integrated to establish a “fusion” platform for student knowledge application, thereby achieving the sentiment cultivation of students’ “rooted in agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” and the enhancement of their integration capability. During the teaching process, blended online and offline teaching was applied to transform single classroom teaching into full cycle participation in talent cultivation. By integrating ideological and political elements into online tasks before class and teaching in the “six stages” of class and the second classroom after class, ideological and political goals were achieved through challenging, advanced, and innovative knowledge applications. Through curriculum reform, the employment rate of students in the frontline of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers has significantly increased, and their ability to solve the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers through disciplinary integration has been effectively improved. This has successfully enhanced their awareness of serving agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, strengthened their professional thinking, and stimulated their endogenous motivation to use curriculum knowledge in practice.

AP2 transcription factors belong to the AP2/ERF superfamily and are involved in the regulation of various biological processes in plant growth and development, as well as in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, studies on the AP2 transcription factor family of Perilla frutescens have not been reported. In this study, totally 18 AP2 family members were identified from the Perilla frutescens genome and analyzed for gene structure, conserved motifs, and cis-acting elements using bioinformatics.WRINKLED1 (WRI1) is a key regulator of lipid biosynthesis in many plant species and plays an important role in the regulation of lipid synthesis. Sequence comparison revealed that one member of WRI1 is highly homologous to AtWRI1 and contains two conserved AP2 domains, named PfWRI1. The expression levels of PfAP2 family genes were analyzed in different tissues of Perilla frutescens and at different stages of seed development in conjunction with the transcriptome data, and the results showed that PfWRI1 is highly expressed only in the seeds of Perilla frutescens, suggesting that PfWRI1 may be related to the developmental process of the seeds. The overexpression vector of plant pCAMBIA1303-PfWRI1 was constructed, and wild-type (Col) and mutant (wri1-1) Arabidopsis thaliana were transformed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens to obtain overexpression and complementation lines, respectively. The results showed that the expression of PfWRI1 led to an increase in oil content of Arabidopsis seeds by 8.90%-13.57% compared with Col, and promoted the accumulation of oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (18:2) and reduced the accumulation of palmitic acid (C16:0), arachidonic acid (C20:0), and cis-11-Eicosenoic acid (C20:1) in transgenic Arabidopsis seeds. In addition, PfWRI1 gene expression increased the expression of glycolysis and fatty acid biosynthesis-related genes AtPKP-α, AtPKP-β1, AtBCCP2, AtSUS2, and AtLIP1. Taken together, PfWRI1 may promote lipid accumulation by increasing unsaturated fatty acid content through interaction with the above genes.

Identifying essential proteins plays a significant role in fields such as disease treatment and drug design. In this paper, we initially employed five node importance ranking algorithms to identify essential proteins in four yeast protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. By analyzing the common essential proteins among different networks, we constructed a subnetwork of essential proteins. Subsequently, using the Jaccard index, we filtered out pairs of essential proteins within the subnetwork that exhibited similar topological characteristics. This analysis revealed the presence of six core protein groups, namely Gavin-EPG 1, Gavin-EPG 2, Babu-EPG 1, Babu-EPG 2, LCMS-EPG, and MALDI-EPG, across the four networks. Although they are predominantly ribosomal proteins, the composition of proteins within the core protein groups varies significantly among the different yeast PPI networks. The essential proteins and core protein groups identified in this paper provide important theoretical references for further research on how protein interactions on the ribosome affect peptide chain synthesis and folding.