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Abstract Mismatch Repair (MMR) mechanisms play a pivotal role in rectifying DNA replication errors and maintaining the stability of DNA microsatellite structure. Colorectal cancer (CRC) can be characterized into microsatellite stability (MSS) and microsatellite instability (MSI) subtypes based on the functionality of MMR. MSI CRC notably exhibits enhanced chemotherapy resistance, attributable to diminished MMR-related protein expression. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has emerged as a promising treatment modality, demonstrating efficacy in inducing apoptosis in various cancer cells. However, the therapeutic impact of CAP on MSI colorectal cancer, and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the effects of CAP on MSI (MC38, HCT116, and LOVO) and MSS (CT26 and HT29) CRC cell lines. We are probing into the products of CAP treatment. Our findings indicate that CAP treatment induces comparable effects on apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), as well as the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in both MSI and MSS cells. Mechanistically, CAP treatment led to an elevation in the expression of mismatch repair proteins (MLH1 and MSH2), particularly in MSI cells, which notably have been proven to facilitate the activation of apoptosis-related proteins. Collectively, our study reveals that CAP enhances apoptotic signaling and induces apoptosis in MSI colorectal cancer cells by upregulating the expression of MMR-related proteins, thereby reinforcing MMR stabilization.

In the realm of Australian agriculture, the invasive presence of two round snail species, Cernuella virgata and Theba pisana, and two conical snail species, Cochlicella acuta and Cochlicella barbara, has inflicted substantial economic losses. Effective integrated snail management hinges on precise monitoring of snail populations, yet current manual sampling techniques are prohibitively labour-intensive and susceptible to errors. This study underscores the imperative for a machine vision system capable of accurately and efficiently observing snail populations in the diverse landscapes of Australian broadacre no-till cropping fields. The inherent challenges of varied plant residues, gravels, and soil types in crop fields demands a sophisticated optical system to detect small, clustered, and camouflaged snails. Through a meticulous exploration of spectral features and detectability, employing different combinations of wavelengths and machine learning algorithms, this study yielded the promising findings that live round snails, dead round snails, live conical snails, dead conical snails, and complex field materials, were classified with F1 scores ranging from 0.7 to 0.9. This study not only highlights the potential of such a machine vision system, but also delineates ongoing challenges that warrant further investigation. The insights derived serve as a guide for the development of a robust machine vision system aimed at mitigating the impact of pest snails in agricultural fields.

The tea tussock moth is a pest that damages tea leaves, affecting the quality and yield of tea and causing huge economic losses. The efficient asymmetric total synthesis of the sex pheromone of the tea tussock moth was achieved using commercially available starting materials with a 25% overall yield in 11 steps. Moreover, the chiral moiety was introduced by Evans’ template and the key C-C bond construction was accomplished through Julia–Kocienski olefination coupling. The synthetic sex pheromone of the tea tussock moth will facilitate the subsequent assessment and implementation of pheromones as environmentally friendly tools for pest management.

Seven new lanthanide coordination polymers, namely [Ln(cpt)3H2O)]n(Ln = La (1), Pr (2), Sm (3), Eu (4), Gd (5), Dy (6), and Er (7)), which were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions using 4′-(4-(4-carboxyphenyloxy)phenyl)-4,2′:6′,4′-tripyridine (Hcpt) as the ligand. The crystal structures of these seven complexes were determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and they were found to be isostructural, crystallizing in the triclinic P1- space group. The Ln(III) ions were nine-coordinated with tricapped trigonal prism coordination geometry. The Ln(III) cations were coordinated by carboxylic and pyridine groups from (cpt)− ligands, forming one-dimensional ring-chain structures. Furthermore, the luminescent properties of complexes 1–7 were investigated using fluorescent spectra in the solid state. The fluorescence sensing experiments demonstrated that complex 4 exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity for detecting Co2+, Cu2+ ions, and nitrobenzene. Moreover, complex 3 shows good capability for detecting Cu2+ ions and nitrobenzene. Additionally, the sensing mechanism was also thoroughly examined through theoretical calculations.

Abstract In this study, by injecting cold plasma into the silk fibroin (SF) solution, and adding poly (3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT:PSS) into the SF solution, the conductive SF‐PEDOT:PSS hydrogel modified by plasma was successfully prepared. The changes of the electrochemical parameters and structure of SF‐PEDOT:PSS hydrogels after plasma modification were observed with plasma discharge time (60, 120, 180 s) and the type of working gas (Ar, air, He) as variables. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy show that both argon plasma and helium plasma can reduce the impedance of SF‐PEDOT:PSS hydrogel in the extremely low‐frequency range (10−2–10° Hz), and a longer discharge time shrinks the impedance, while the impact of air plasma on the impedance of hydrogel is not obvious. The capacitance results show that both argon and helium plasma can make the capacitance of hydrogel larger, and the longer discharge time leads to the larger capacitance. While air plasma can reduce the capacitance of hydrogel. The results of Fourier infrared absorption spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction spectrum show that the secondary structure of SF is mainly β‐fold. The results of Raman show that PEDOT:PSS is successfully incorporated into hydrogel, and there exists random coil conformation of SF in hydrogel. The results of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy show that the SF‐PEDOT:PSS hydrogel mainly contains C, O, and N elements.

Three new metal coordination polymers with different spatial structure, namely {[Co2(H2O)6(4-PDCA)2]2·3H2O}n (SNUT-12), {[Cd(H2O)2(4-PDCA)]·2H2O}n (SNUT-13) and [Zn2(4-PDCA)2]n (SNUT-14), where H2(4-PDCA) = 1-(4-carboxyphenyl)-5-methyl-4-oxo-1,4-dihydropyridazine-3-carboxylic acid, were synthesized by changing the central ion with the same ligand under solvothermal and hydrothermal conditions, which were further characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder XRD, FT-IR and TGA. Single crystal X-ray analysis revealed that SNUT-12 exhibits a 1D infinite zigzag chains which were constructed by Cobalt(II) ion and 4-PDCA2− ligand, SNUT-13 features a 2D ladder-like structure. Meanwhile, SNUT-14 displays 2-fold 3D → 3D parallel interpenetrating frameworks. In addition, SNUT-12 exhibited high electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction, and SNUT-13, SNUT-14 showed strong fluorescence at room temperature.

Cyclodepsipeptides are a large family of peptide-related natural products consisting of hydroxy and amino acids linked by amide and ester bonds. A number of cyclodepsipeptides have been isolated and characterized from fungi and bacteria. Most of them showed antitumor, antifungal, antiviral, antimalarial, and antitrypanosomal properties. Herein, this review summarizes the recent literatures (2010–2022) on the progress of cyclodepsipeptides from fungi and bacteria except for those of marine origin, in order to enrich our knowledge about their structural features and biological sources.

Fatty acid and central carbon metabolism are crucial energy metabolism reactions. However, to date, few studies have examined their distribution characteristics within the alfalfa–rhizobia symbiotic system. To clarify the distributional differences and accumulation rates of fatty acids and central carbon with this system, we measured the plant phenotype, nodule formation, nitrogen fixation capacity, and key nitrogen metabolism enzyme activities of Medicago sativa ‘Gannong No. 9’ 35 days post-inoculation (dpi) with Sinorhizobia meliloti LL11. Additionally, we employed targeted metabolomics to analyze central carbon and fatty acid metabolites in various tissue samples of symbiotic and control (C.K.) plants, as well as in S. meliloti LL11. We found that plant height; root length; aboveground fresh and dry weights; underground fresh and dry weights; and nitrate reductase, nitrogen reductase, glutamine synthetase, and glutamate synthase activities were significantly higher in the leaves and roots of symbiotic plants than in those of C.K. plants. Compared to symbiotic plants, C.K. plants exhibited higher total central carbon and fatty acid metabolite content, accounting for 38.61% and 48.17% of C.K. plants, respectively. We detected 32 central carbon and 40 fatty acid metabolites in S. meliloti LL11, with succinate (343,180.8603 ng·mL−1) and hexadecanoic acid (4889.7783 ng·mL−1) being the most. In both symbiotic and C.K. plants, central carbon metabolite was considerably higher than the fatty acid metabolite central. Moreover, the carbon metabolites found in symbiotic plants were primarily distributed in pink nodule roots (PNRs), with malate exhibiting the highest content (4,800,612.3450 ng·g−1), accounting for 53.09% of total central carbon metabolite content. Fatty acid metabolites were mainly found in pink root nodules (P.N.s), which are sites of nitrogen fixation. Trans-10-nonadecenoic acid and hexadecanoic acid exhibited the highest contents, comprising >15% of the total fatty acid metabolite content. We found that petroselaidic acid is only present in P.N., which seems to be closely related to the nitrogen fixation reaction in P.N. In general, symbiotic plants transfer central carbon metabolites to nodules via PNRs to drive nitrogen fixation. However, in P.N.s, these metabolites are limited, leading to accumulation in PNRs. Fatty acid metabolites, crucial for nitrogen fixation, are prevalent in P.N.s. Conversely, C.K. plants without nitrogen fixation distribute these metabolites primarily to the stems, emphasizing growth. This study provides new insights into the energy metabolism of symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

Tracking the evolution of air pollutants has a critical impact on our ability to further improve air quality, which have been extensively studied in the North China Plain (NCP), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) regions, but remain poorly characterized in Guizhou located in the east of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Here, we analyzed spatiotemporal variations and trends of six criteria air pollutants, i.e., inhalable particles (PM10), fine particle (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3), from 2016 to 2020 in the focus major cities in Guizhou, taking advantage of the extensive network data available since 2016. The annual mean concentrations of the six criteria air pollutants were substantially lower than China’s national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS-II), confirmed a significant improvement of air quality in Guizhou. The annual mean concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, SO2, CO and NO2 all decreased year by year during 2016–2020 in the focus major cities, and the highest decrease occurred in fall or winter. By contrast, O3 increased with a rate ranged from 0.85 μg·m−3 yr−1 (95% CI: 0∼1.78) to 3.71 μg·m−3 yr−1 (95% CI: 2.54∼5.13), and the highest increase occurred in spring or summer, revealing a strong impetus for reducing O3 pollution. Correlations among the six criteria air pollutants unveiled that the correlation coefficients between PM2.5 and NO2 were higher than those of between PM2.5 and SO2 in most focus major cities, mirroring a priority to control NOx to further reduce PM2.5 pollution in Guizhou. The focus of curbing O3 pollution in Guizhou should be redesigned to mitigate multiple precursors from multiple sectors, and efficient control strategies to mitigate warm seasons O3 pollution should also be implemented in cold seasons. Our results will benefit for our knowledge about current air pollution situation and police makers for future air pollution control in Guizhou.