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The high-throughput genomic and proteomic scanning approaches allow investigators to measure the quantification of genome-wide genes (or gene products) for certain disease conditions, which plays an essential role in promoting the discovery of disease mechanisms. The high-throughput approaches often generate a large gene list of interest (GOIs), such as differentially expressed genes/proteins. However, researchers have to perform manual triage and validation to explore the most promising, biologically plausible linkages between the known disease genes and GOIs (disease signals) for further study. Here, to address this challenge, we proposed a network-based strategy DDK-Linker to facilitate the exploration of disease signals hidden in omics data by linking GOIs to disease knowns genes. Specifically, it reconstructed gene distances in the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network through six network methods (random walk with restart, Deepwalk, Node2Vec, LINE, HOPE, Laplacian) to discover disease signals in omics data that have shorter distances to disease genes. Furthermore, benefiting from the establishment of knowledge base we established, the abundant bioinformatics annotations were provided for each candidate disease signal. To assist in omics data interpretation and facilitate the usage, we have developed this strategy into an application that users can access through a website or download the R package. We believe DDK-Linker will accelerate the exploring of disease genes and drug targets in a variety of omics data, such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics data, and provide clues for complex disease mechanism and pharmacological research. DDK-Linker is freely accessible at http://ddklinker.ncpsb.org.cn/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroprotectant strategies that have worked in rodent models of stroke have failed to provide protection in clinical trials. Here we show that the opposite circadian cycles in nocturnal rodents versus diurnal humans.sup.1,2 may contribute to this failure in translation. We tested three independent neuroprotective approaches--normobaric hyperoxia, the free radical scavenger [alpha]-phenyl-butyl-tert-nitrone ([alpha]PBN), and the N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) antagonist MK801--in mouse and rat models of focal cerebral ischaemia. All three treatments reduced infarction in day-time (inactive phase) rodent models of stroke, but not in night-time (active phase) rodent models of stroke, which match the phase (active, day-time) during which most strokes occur in clinical trials. Laser-speckle imaging showed that the penumbra of cerebral ischaemia was narrower in the active-phase mouse model than in the inactive-phase model. The smaller penumbra was associated with a lower density of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL)-positive dying cells and reduced infarct growth from 12 to 72 h. When we induced circadian-like cycles in primary mouse neurons, deprivation of oxygen and glucose triggered a smaller release of glutamate and reactive oxygen species, as well as lower activation of apoptotic and necroptotic mediators, in 'active-phase' than in 'inactive-phase' rodent neurons. [alpha]PBN and MK801 reduced neuronal death only in 'inactive-phase' neurons. These findings suggest that the influence of circadian rhythm on neuroprotection must be considered for translational studies in stroke and central nervous system diseases. Studies in rats and mice at different times of day suggest that the failure of neuroprotective strategies for stroke in translational studies might be related to the difference in circadian cycles between humans and rodents., Author(s): Elga Esposito [sup.1] , Wenlu Li [sup.1] , Emiri T. Mandeville [sup.1] , Ji-Hyun Park [sup.1] [sup.2] , Ikbal Sencan [sup.3] , Shuzhen Guo [sup.1] , Jingfei Shi [sup.1] [...]

The mechanism by which LED red light irradiation regulates postharvest banana ripening was evaluated in this study by the continuous irradiation of banana fruits at the mature-green stage. In this study, a self-developed LED banana fresh-keeping container lid was used to continuously irradiate the immature banana fruit. The light wavelength was 655.0 ± 1.0 nm, the light intensity was 800.0 ± 10.0 LX, and the height between the LED lamp and the fruit was 15.0 ± 0.5 cm. Bananas stored under dark conditions were used as the negative control group, and bananas stored under dark conditions after spraying with 500.0 mg/L ethephon diluent were used as the positive control group. Changes in physiological parameters related to postharvest banana ripening, such as the respiration rate, ethylene release, texture, color, carotenoid content, chlorophyll content, adenosine triphosphate content, and energy metabolism-related enzyme activities, were measured during 8 days of storage at 20.0 ± 0.1 °C to analyze the key factors determining postharvest banana ripening in response to red light. The red light-irradiated bananas had higher total color differences and higher rates of chlorophyll degradation and carotenoid synthesis than those of the ethephon-treated group during the storage period. Red light irradiation promoted banana fruit ripening and senescence mainly by promoting carotenoid synthesis, capturing absorbed light energy, accelerating energy metabolism, effectively enhancing the activities of the respiratory and energy metabolism-related enzymes H+ adenosine triphosphatase, Ca2+ adenosine triphosphatase, succinate dehydrogenase, cytochrome C oxidase, and malic enzyme, and promoting organic acid degradation. In conclusion, LED red light can be used as a new physical ripening technology for bananas, with a similar effect to that of traditional ethephon treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]