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The BCR-ABL fusion gene, formed by the fusion of the breakpoint cluster region protein (BCR) and the Abl Oncogene 1, Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (ABL) genes, encodes the BCR-ABL oncoprotein, which plays a crucial role in leukemogenesis. Current therapies have limited efficacy in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) because of drug resistance or disease relapse. Identification of novel strategies to treat CML is essential. This study aims to explore the efficiency of novel CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9)/dual-single guide RNA (sgRNA)-mediated disruption of the BCR-ABL fusion gene by targeting BCR and cABL introns. A co-expression vector for Cas9 green fluorescent protein (GFP)/dual-BA-sgRNA targeting BCR and cABL introns is constructed to produce lentivirus to affect BCR-ABL expression in CML cells. The effects of dual-sgRNA virus-mediated disruption of BCR-ABL are analyzed via the use of a genomic sequence and at the protein expression level. Cell proliferation, cell clonogenic ability, and cell apoptosis are assessed after dual sgRNA virus infection, and phosphorylated BCR-ABL and its downstream signaling molecules are detected. These effects are further confirmed in a CML mouse model via tail vein injection of Cas9-GFP/dual-BA-sgRNA virus-infected cells and in primary cells isolated from patients with CML. Cas9-GFP/dual-BA-sgRNA efficiently disrupts BCR-ABL at the genomic sequence and gene expression levels in leukemia cells, leading to blockade of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase signaling pathway and disruption of its downstream molecules, followed by cell proliferation inhibition and cell apoptosis induction. This method prolongs the lifespan of CML model mice. Furthermore, the effect is confirmed in primary cells derived from patients with CML.

Objective: The effect of sodium hypochlorite on the physicochemical properties and digestive characteristics of arrowhead starch was studied. Methods: In a weakly alkaline environment, sodium hypochlorite was used as an oxidant, and the added amounts were 0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9% (based on the mass fraction of available chlorine in dry basis arrowhead starch). Following a 4-hour oxidation reaction with arrowhead starch, the modified starch's amylose content, swelling power, solubility, coagulation stability, color difference, light transmittance, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and other physical and chemical properties were measured, along with its digestibility. Results: The amylose concentration, solubility and transparency all arose as the additive amount was increased. The amylose content increased from 55.59% to 79.02%. When the addition amount was 5%, 7%, and 9%, the light transmittance reached more than 90%. When the addition amount was 9%, the light transmittance reached 97.13%. At 80 ℃, with the increase of the addition amount, the solubility increased from 4.01% to 32.59%, while the swelling power decreased, and the crystallinity of starch decreased from 43.99% to about 25.00%, The surface of starch became rough gradually, the crystal structure of starch was destroyed, and the content of amylose increased. Conclusion: Sodium hypochlorite could significantly change the properties of arrowhead starch, and the changes in properties vary with the amount of addition.

This article discusses the development of a rapid and portable method for detecting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA using enzymatic recombinase amplification (ERA) combined with the CRISPR-Cas12a system. EBV DNA detection is important for screening and monitoring diseases related to EBV infection, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The study optimized the ERA and CRISPR-Cas12a systems to improve sensitivity and specificity. The integrated ERA-Cas12a system was able to detect EBV as low as 20 copies/µL with high specificity. This method offers a practical solution for the detection of EBV infections and may have clinical applicability for screening and diagnosing related diseases. [Extracted from the article]

The sterile line is the basis of crop heterosis utilization. To broaden the sources of male sterility in tobacco, the Ntms1 (Nicotiana tabacum L. ms1) gene was cloned from the tobacco variety K326 by homologous cloning based on the Cams1 (Capsicum annuum L. ms1) gene sequence of male-sterility genes in pepper. The protein structure and physicochemical properties of the two genes were determined by bioinformatics analysis, and the function of the Ntms1 gene was verified by the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The results showed that the sequences of Ntms1 and Cams1 were 85.25% similar, and plant homeodomains were found in both genes; the physical and chemical properties were also very similar. It is speculated that the Ntms1 gene had the same function as the Cams1 gene in controlling male sterility. Compared to the wild-type plants, the filaments of the Ntms1 knockout mutant plants were shorter, and the stamen was shorter than the pistil. The anthers did not develop fully and had few viable pollen grains; the tapetum and the anther wall had developed abnormally, and the anther chamber was severely squeezed. The malondialdehyde content in the mutant plants was significantly higher than that in the wild-type plants, while self-fertility was significantly lower in the mutant plants. The results showed that the Ntms1 gene plays an important role in regulating fertility in tobacco.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measures backscattering characteristics of man-made targets and has the advantage of not being affected by weather and time. For target recognition in SAR images, the target reconstruction results based on attribute scattering centres are introduced for decision fusion. In comparison with original images, the reconstructed targets better relieve corruptions caused by noises, clutters, etc. A deep learning model, i.e. ResNet, is adopted as a basic classifier to classify both original and reconstructed images. According to the energy relationship between the reconstruction target and residual, the noise level of the original SAR image is defined. Then, the adaptive weights of original and reconstructed images are determined and a weighted decision fusion process is conducted to combine decisions from both images to confirm the target label. The proposed method is tested based on MSTAR dataset, and experimental results show its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]