Search

Coxiella burnetii is a gram-negative bacterium that causes acute and chronic Q fever. Because of the severe adverse effect of whole-cell vaccination, identification of immunodominant antigens of C. burnetii has become a major focus of Q fever vaccine development. We hypothesized that secreted C. burnetii type IV secretion system (T4SS) effectors may represent a major class of CD8+ T-cell antigens, owing to their cytosolic localization. Twenty-nine peptides were identified that elicited robust CD8+ T-cell interferon γ (IFN-γ) recall responses from mice infected with C. burnetii. Interestingly, 22 of 29 epitopes were derived from 17 T4SS-related proteins, none of which were identified as immunodominant antigens by using previous antibody-guided approaches. These epitopes were expressed in an attenuated Listeria monocytogenes vaccine strain. Immunization with recombinant L. monocytogenes vaccines induced a robust CD8+ T-cell response and conferred measurable protection against C. burnetii infection in mice. These data suggested that T4SS effectors represent an important class of C. burnetii antigens that can induce CD8+ T-cell responses. We also showed that attenuated L. monocytogenes vaccine vectors are an efficient antigen-delivery platform that can be used to induce robust protective CD8+ T-cell immune responses against C. burnetii infection.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a common ailment in high-altitude areas caused by the body's inadequate adaptation to low-pressure, low-oxygen environments, leading to organ edema, oxidative stress, and impaired intestinal barrier function. The gastrointestinal tract, being the first to be affected by ischemia and hypoxia, is highly susceptible to injury. This study investigates the role of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus in alleviating acute hypoxic-induced intestinal and tissue damage from the perspective of daily consumed lactic acid bacteria. An acute hypoxia mouse model was established to evaluate tissue injury, oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and intestinal barrier function in various groups of mice. The results indicate that strain 4L3 significantly mitigated brain and lung edema caused by hypoxia, improved colonic tissue damage, and effectively increased the content of tight junction proteins in the ileum, reducing ileal permeability and alleviating mechanical barrier damage in the intestines due to acute hypoxia. Additionally, 4L3 helped to rebalance the intestinal microbiota. In summary, this study found that Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus strain 4L3 could alleviate acute intestinal damage caused by hypoxia, thereby reducing hypoxic stress. This suggests that probiotic lactic acid bacteria that exert beneficial effects in the intestines may alleviate acute injury under hypoxic conditions in mice, offering new insights for the prevention and treatment of AMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxygen is important to the human body. Cell survival and operations depend on oxygen. When the body becomes hypoxic, it affects the organs, tissues and cells and can cause irreversible damage. Hypoxia can occur under various conditions, including external environmental hypoxia and internal hypoxia. The gut microbiota plays different roles under hypoxic conditions, and its products and metabolites interact with susceptible tissues. This review was conducted to elucidate the complex relationship between hypoxia and the gut microbiota under different conditions. We describe the changes of intestinal microbiota under different hypoxic conditions: external environment and internal environment. For external environment, altitude was the mayor cause induced hypoxia. With the increase of altitude, hypoxia will become more serious, and meanwhile gut microbiota also changed obviously. Body internal environment also became hypoxia because of some diseases (such as cancer, neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, even COVID-19). In addition to the disease itself, this hypoxia can also lead to changes of gut microbiota. The relationship between hypoxia and the gut microbiota are discussed under these conditions.

The Microbiome Protocols eBook (MPB) is a valuable resource that provides standardized wet-lab protocols for microbiome research. The first edition, launched in 2020, received widespread acclaim and featured 152 meticulously curated protocols. The MPB aims to bridge the gaps in microbiome protocols and facilitate progress in the field by addressing challenges in wet experiments and data analysis. The upcoming second edition will incorporate updates from the first edition and expand into new areas, covering innovative methodologies and emerging technologies. The MPB is an open-access resource that is easily accessible to all researchers. [Extracted from the article]

Soil remediation with minimum amendments is a good strategy for tailings disposal. Carbonate‐rich gold‐copper mine tailings occurring alongside the Yangzi River, China, were employed as the objective in this study. They showed the characteristics of fine particles and alkaline pH with high density and low nutrition. The amendments including bacterial fertilizer (BF), polymer, peat, straw, and compound fertilizer (CF) were used for soilless remediation on the tailings. Soil quality index (SQI) involved in tailing properties and growth characteristics of ryegrass was used to optimize the combination of amendments. The results showed that the optimum amendment combination was 0.2% BF + 0.6% CF + 0.2% polymer + 10% peat and 2% straw. Tailing nutrients such as soil organic matter (5.56%), available nitrogen (93.6 mg kg−1), available phosphorus (51.7 mg kg−1), available potassium (711 mg kg−1), and ryegrass exhibited the highest germination rate and biomass level under the optimal improvement conditions. Additional environmental assessments revealed that soilless treatment of the tailings helped to convert Cu, Zn, and As into residual forms. These findings show a good strategy for tailings soil improvement and provide a promising perspective of the soilless remediation for fine carbonate‐rich metal tailings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Follicular T helper (Tfh) cells are a subset of CD4+ T cells that play an important role in the formation of germinal centers and the maturation and differentiation of affinity‐matured B cells. Recent studies have demonstrated important functions of Tfh cells in tertiary lymphoid structures of tumors, revealing great potential of Tfh cells in tumor immunity. However, Tfh development is incompletely understood. The differentiation of Tfh cells is a complex, multistage process regulated at the DNA, RNA and protein levels. This review just summarizes current research on the molecular mechanisms of Tfh cell differentiation to better understand the role of Tfh cells in antitumor immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Follicular helper T (TFH) cells are essential for inducing germinal centre (GC) reactions to mediate humoral adaptive immunity and antiviral effects, but the mechanisms of TFH cell differentiation remain unclear. Here, we found that the hippo kinase MST1 is critical for TFH cell differentiation, GC formation, and antibody production under steady‐state conditions and viral infection. MST1 deficiency intrinsically enhanced TFH cell differentiation and GC reactions in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, mTOR and HIF1α signalling is involved in glucose metabolism and increased glycolysis and decreased OXPHOS, which are critically required for MST1 deficiency‐directed TFH cell differentiation. Moreover, upregulated Foxo3 expression is critically responsible for TFH cell differentiation induced by Mst1−/−. Thus, our findings identify a previously unrecognized relationship between hippo kinase MST1 signalling and mTOR‐HIF1α‐metabolic reprogramming coupled with Foxo3 signalling in reprogramming TFH cell differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezo1 was originally identified as a mechanically activated, nonselective cation ion channel, with significant permeability to calcium ions, is evolutionally conserved, and is involved in the proliferation and development of various types of cells, in the context of various types of mechanical or innate stimuli. Recently, our study and work by others have reported that Piezo1 from all kinds of immune cells is involved in regulating many diseases, including infectious inflammation and cancer. This review summarizes the recent progress made in understanding the immunoregulatory role and mechanisms of the mechanical receptor Piezo1 in inflammation and cancer and provides new insight into the biological significance of Piezo1 in regulating immunity and tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal macrophages are the most abundant immune cells in the small and large intestine, which maintain intestinal homeostasis by clearing invading bacteria and dead cells, secreting anti‐inflammatory cytokines, and inducing tolerance to symbiotic bacteria and food particles. In addition, as antigen‐presenting cells, they also participate in eliciting adaptive immune responses through bridging innate immune responses. After the intestinal homeostasis is disrupted, the damaged or apoptotic intestinal epithelial cells cannot be effectively cleared, and the infection of exogenous pathogens and leakage of endogenous antigens lead to persistent intestinal inflammation. Long‐term chronic inflammation is one of the important causes of colitis‐associated carcinogenesis (CAC). Tumor microenvironment (TME) is gradually formed around tumor cells, in which tumor associated macrophage (TAMs) is not only the builder, but also regulated by TME. This review just briefly summarized the role of intestinal macrophages under physiological and pathological inflammatory and cancerous conditions, and current therapeutic strategies for intestinal diseases targeting macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO2 in natural gas (NG) is prone to condense directly from gas to solid or solidify from liquid to solid at low temperatures due to its high triple point and boiling temperature, which can cause a block of equipment. Meanwhile, CO2 will also affect the calorific value of NG. Based on the above reasons, CO2 must be removed during the NG liquefaction process. Compared with conventional methods, cryogenic technologies for CO2 removal from NG have attracted wide attention due to their non-polluting and low-cost advantages. Its integration with NG liquefaction can make rational use of the cold energy and realize the purification of NG and the production of by-product liquid CO2. In this paper, the phase behavior of the CH4-CO2 binary mixture is summarized, which provides a basis for the process design of cryogenic CO2 removal from NG. Then, the detailed techniques of design and optimization for cryogenic CO2 removal in recent years are summarized, including the gas-liquid phase change technique and the gas-solid phase change technique. Finally, several improvements for further development of the cryogenic CO2 removal process are proposed. The removal process in combination with the phase change and the traditional techniques with renewable energy will be the broad prospect for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]