Han Zhao

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Neuroimaging studies investigating the neural substrates of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia have yielded mixed results, which may be reconciled by network localization. We sought to examine whether AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia localize to common or distinct networks. STUDY DESIGN: We initially identified AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia reported in 48 previous studies. By integrating these affected brain locations with large-scale discovery and validation resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets, we then leveraged novel functional connectivity network mapping to construct AVH-state and AVH-trait dysfunctional networks. STUDY RESULTS: The neuroanatomically heterogeneous AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia localized to distinct and specific networks. The AVH-state dysfunctional network comprised a broadly distributed set of brain regions mainly involving the auditory, salience, basal ganglia, language, and sensorimotor networks. Contrastingly, the AVH-trait dysfunctional network manifested as a pattern of circumscribed brain regions principally implicating the caudate and inferior frontal gyrus. Additionally, the AVH-state dysfunctional network aligned with the neuromodulation targets for effective treatment of AVH, indicating possible clinical relevance. CONCLUSIONS: Apart from unifying the seemingly irreproducible neuroimaging results across prior AVH studies, our findings suggest different neural mechanisms underlying AVH state and trait in schizophrenia from a network perspective and more broadly may inform future neuromodulation treatment for AVH.

BACKGROUND: Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with increased macrophage infiltration. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine the significance of macrophage infiltration, and the correlation between Guanylate-binding protein 5 (GBP5) and polarization of macrophages in rosacea-like inflammation. METHODS: Here we tested the hypothesis that Guanylate-binding protein 5 (GBP5) aggravates rosacea-like skin inflammation by promoting the polarization of the M1 macrophages through the NF-κB signalling pathway. We depleted macrophage by injecting clodronate-containing liposomes. We next explored the association between GBP5 and macrophage in rosacea tissue through transcriptome analysis and immunofluorescence analysis. We evaluated the severity of rosacea-like skin inflammation when BALB/c mice were injected with GBP5 siRNA intradermally daily for three consecutive days. At last, to study the causality of knocking down GBP5-blunted M1 macrophage polarization, THP-1 cell was treated with GBP5 siRNA. RESULTS: Macrophage depletion ameliorated rosacea-like skin inflammation in mice, implying the important role of macrophages in rosacea. Based on the transcriptome analysis, Guanylate-binding protein 5 (GBP5) was identified as hub gene that was associated with macrophage infiltration in rosacea. Next, we found that GBP5 expression was significantly upregulated in rosacea tissues and positively correlated with macrophage infiltration, the immunofluorescence analysis revealed the co-localization between GBP5 and macrophages. In vivo, silencing of GBP5 attenuated rosacea-like skin inflammation in the LL-37-induced mouse model and suppressed the expression of M1 signature genes such as IL-6, iNOS and TNF-a. In vitro, knocking down GBP5 significantly blunted the polarization of the M1 macrophages partly by repressing the activation of the NF-κB signalling pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Together, our study revealed the important role of macrophages in rosacea and identified GBP5 as a key regulator of rosacea by inducing M1 macrophage polarization via NF-κB signalling pathways.

Sperm motility is the main index used to assess the quality of bull semen. It may also be used to evaluate the fertility potential of bulls. Protein-coding mRNA and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) participate in the regulation of spermatogenesis. Here, we employed strand-specific RNA sequencing to profile the semen transcriptome (mRNA and lncRNA) of six paired full-sibling Holstein bulls with divergent sperm motility and to determine the functions of mRNA and lncRNA in sperm motility. Among 20,875 protein-encoding genes detected in semen, 19 were differentially expressed between the high sperm motility group (H: H1, H2, and H3) and low sperm motility group (L: L1, L2, and L3). Of the 11,561 lncRNAs identified in sperm, 2,517 were differentially expressed between the H and L groups. We found that TCONS_00041733 lncRNA targets the node gene EFNA1 (ephrin A1), involved in male reproductive physiology. Our study provides a global mRNA and lncRNA transcriptome of bull semen, as well as novel insights into the regulation of neighboring protein coding by lncRNAs and the influence of mRNAs on sperm motility.

The presence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in food and drinking water is a chronic problem worldwide. Protecting food against bacterial contamination and rapid diagnosis of infection require simple and rapid assays for detection of bacterial pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7. Here we report a rapid and novel colorimetric method for detecting E. coli O157:H7. This colorimetric method is based on the catalytic oxidation of the peroxidase substrate 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine by hydrogen peroxide using 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid-functioned Au@Pt nanoparticles adsorbed on the surface of E. coli O157:H7. The assay showed excellent sensitivity both with the naked eye and based on absorbance measurements. The absorbance at 652 nm was proportional to the concentration of E. coli O157:H7 ranging from 7 to 6 × 10(6) cfu mL(-1) with a limit of detection of 7 cfu mL(-1). The total detection time was less than 40 min.