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There is an increasing interest in using monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) for optoelectronic devices because of its inherent direct band gap characteristics. However, the weak absorption of monolayer MoS 2 restricts its applications, novel concepts need to be developed to address the weakness. In this work, monolayer MoS 2 monolithically integrates with plane microcavity structure, which is formed by the top and bottom chirped distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), is demonstrated to improve the absorption of MoS 2 . The optical absorption is 17-fold enhanced, reaching values over 70% at work wavelength. Moreover, the monolayer MoS 2 -based photodetector device with microcavity presents a significantly increased photoresponse, demonstrating its promising prospects in MoS 2 -based optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel structure with bilayer hybrid graphene/metal (G/M) gratings to realize tunable double Fano resonances has been proposed. Different band gaps can be obtained by applying voltages on the bilayer graphenes. Due to the tunability of the hybrid structure, two different resonances are separately tuned under various parametric conditions. The Fano resonances are produced by the interaction between the metal and graphene gratings, the related mechanism is investigated by the electric field distribution and transmission phase. The superior characteristics of the separately tunable double Fano resonances indicate a promising application in THz optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) causes high mortality and large economic losses in cultured shrimp. The VP28, VP19 and VP15 genes encode viral structural proteins of WSSV. In this study, hens were immunized with recombinant plasmid (pCI-VP28/VP19/VP15) with linkers or with inactivated WSSV, which used CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs) and Freund''s adjuvant as adjuvant, respectively. Egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) from hens immunized with inactivated vaccine and DNA vaccine was obtained, purified and used for protection of Metapenaeus ensis shrimp against WSSV. The data showed that the antibody response of the hens immunized with the DNA vaccine was improved by CpG ODNs as adjuvant, but was still inferior to inactivated WSSV in both sera and egg yolks. Using specific IgY from hens immunized with inactivated WSSV and DNA vaccine to neutralize WSSV, the challenged shrimp showed 73.3% and 33.3% survival, respectively. Thus, the results suggest that passive immunization strategy with IgY will be a valuable method against WSSV infection in shrimp. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A simple dual-emission fluorescent biothiol probe was designed and synthesized. • The probe could discriminate cysteine from homocysteine and glutathione in both blue and green channels. • The probe could be successfully applied for visualizing biothiols in living HeLa cells and zebrafish. Cellular biothiols function crucially and differently in physiological and pathological processes. However, it is still challenging to detect and discriminate thiols within a single one molecule, especially for cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy). In this study, a simple two-emission turn-on fluorescent biothiol probe (ICN-NBD) was rationally designed and synthesized through a facile ether bond linking 7-nitro-1,2,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) and phenanthroimidazole containing a cyano tail. The probe in the presence of Cys elicited two fluorescence responses at 470 nm and 550 nm under excitation at 365 nm and 480 nm, respectively, because of the concomitant generation of both the fluorophore and NBD- N -Cys. In contrast, addition of Hcy and glutathione (GSH) could result in only a blue fluorescence enhancement at 470 nm. which was reasonably attributed to rearrangement from NBD- S -Hcy/GSH to NBD- N -Hcy/GSH as a result of geometrical constraints or solvent effects. Therefore, the fluorescent probe with the NBD scaffold could detect biothiols and simultaneously discriminate Cys from Hcy/GSH in both blue and green channels. The probe has been successfully applied for visualizing biothiols in living cells and zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytokine-like factor 1 (CYTL1) is a small cytokine and has diverse biological functions in mammals. However, whether CYTL1 exists in lower vertebrates is not clear. In this study, we identified cytl homologs in fish and characterized the immune functions in a teleost species, grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). Fish CYTL1 homologs share conserved molecular features with their mammalian counterparts, including 6 cysteine residues in the mature peptide, genomic organization and synteny. Gene expression analysis revealed that cytl1 was constitutively expressed in tissues of grass carp, with the highest expression detected in the heart. Upon infection with Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) , cytl1 was downregulated in the hindgut, head kidney, skin, and spleen. In the primary head kidney leukocytes (HKLs), stimulation with inactivated A. hydrophila , LPS , poly(I:C), IL-22, IFN-a or IFN-γrel resulted in downregulation of cytl1 expression. Recombinant grass carp CYTL1 protein produced in the HEK293-F cells was potent to induce il-10 expression, but had little effect on the expression of il-1β and il-6. In vivo experiments revealed that CYTL1 was effective to recruit macrophages to the muscle injected with cytl expression plasmids. Taken together, our results indicate that CYTL1 is a potent chemokine for recruitment of macrophages in fish. • Fish CYTL1s share conserved molecular features with their mammalian counterparts. • Grass carp cytl1 is downregulated upon infection with Aeromonas hydrophila. • Grass carp cytl1 is downregulated by LPS , poly(I:C), IL-22, IFN-a and IFN-γrel. • Grass carp CYTL1 is a chemoattractant for macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid novel structure of monolayer WS 2 with Ag nanograting and distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) on Si substrate has been proposed to obtain broad-band absorption response for two-dimensional (2D) materials. It is effective to reduce light loss and reflect the incident light efficiently for monolayer WS 2 absorption with DBR dielectric layers. Moreover, by combining Ag nanograting with DBR structure, the average absorption achieves as high as 52.9% within broad wavelength ranging from 420 to 700 nm, which is attributed to the plasmonic resonant effect of metal nanostripes. The absorption would be influenced by the period and height of the Ag nanograting, and shows incident angle dependent characteristics, while an average absorption higher than 50% has been obtained at the incident angle around 40°. These results indicate that 2D WS 2 in combination with DBR and metal nanograting have a promising potential applications for optical nano-devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin (IL) 27 is a member of the IL-12 family and is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of IL-27A and Epstein-Barr virus-induced 3 (EBI3). It plays an important role in regulating inflammation and cancer progression. IL-27A not only functions by dimerizing with EBI3 but also acts alone. Here, we report that IL-27A and EBI3 suppress spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) replication in zebrafish. Expression analysis reveals that il-27a and ebi3 were significantly upregulated in the ZF4 cells by SVCV and poly(I:C), and in the zebrafish caudal fin (ZFIN) cells overexpressed with SVCV genes. Interestingly, il-27a and ebi3 were not modulated by IFNφ1, indicating that they are not IFN stimulated genes (ISGs). Furthermore, overexpression of IL-27A and EBI3 alone inhibited SVCV replication in the EPC cells, but less potent than co-expression of IL-27A and EBI3. Intriguingly, IL-27A could not induce the expression of irf3 , ifn , isg15 and mx1. Taken together, our results demonstrate that IL-27A and EBI3 activate innate antiviral response in an IFN independent manner in zebrafish. • Zebrafish il-27a and ebi3 were induced by virus but not type I IFN. • IL-27A did not upregulate irf3 , ifn , isg15 and mx1. • IL-27A and EBI3 inhibited replication of spring viremia of carp virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiogenesis is the process by which new blood vessels form from preexisting vessels and regulates the processes of embryonic development, wound healing and tumorigenesis. HMGA2 is involved in the occurrence of several cancers, but its biological role and the exact downstream genes involved in vascular development and sprouting angiogenesis remain largely unknown. Here, we first found that HMGA2 knockdown in zebrafish embryos resulted in defects of central artery formation. RNA sequencing revealed that IGFBP2 was significantly downregulated by interference with HMGA2, and IGFBP2 overexpression reversed the inhibition of brain vascular development caused by HMGA2 deficiency. In vitro , we further found that HMGA2 knockdown blocked the migration, tube formation and branching of HUVECs. Similarly, IGFBP2 protein overexpression attenuated the impairments induced by HMGA2 deficiency. Moreover, the promotion of angiogenesis by HMGA2 overexpression was verified in a Matrigel plug assay. We next found that HMGA2 bound directly to a region in the IGFBP2 promoter and positively regulated IGFBP2 expression. Interestingly, the mRNA expression levels of HMGA2 and IGFBP2 were increased significantly in the peripheral blood of hemangioma patients, indicating that overexpression of HMGA2 and IGFBP2 results in vessel formation, consistent with the results of the in vivo and in vitro experiments. In summary, our findings demonstrate that HMGA2 promotes central artery formation by modulating angiogenesis via IGFBP2 induction. • Our findings demonstrates that HMGA2 promotes central arteries formation in zebrafish. • HMGA2 induces vascular development through modulation of IGFBP2 whatever in vivo or in vitro. • The mRNA expressions of HMGA2 and IGFBP2 increased significantly in peripheral blood of Hemangioma patients. • HMGA2-IGFBP2 are promising candidates towards therapeutical vascularization in vascular diseases like Hemangioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]