Quanzhu Chen

BACKGROUND: Unraveling the mystery of cell death is one of the most fundamental progresses of life sciences during the past decades. Regulated cell death (RCD) or programmed cell death (PCD) is not only essential in embryonic development, but also plays an important role in the occurrence and progression of diseases, especially cancers. Escaping of cell death is one of hallmarks of cancer. MAIN BODY: Pyroptosis is an inflammatory cell death usually caused by microbial infection, accompanied by activation of inflammasomes and maturation of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18). Gasdermin family proteins are the executors of pyroptosis. Cytotoxic N-terminal of gasdermins generated from caspases or granzymes proteases mediated cleavage of gasdermin proteins oligomerizes and forms pore across cell membrane, leading to release of IL-1β, IL-18. Pyroptosis exerts tumor suppression function and evokes anti-tumor immune responses. Therapeutic regimens, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and immune therapy, induce pyroptosis in cancer, which potentiate local and systemic anti-tumor immunity. On the other hand, pyroptosis of normal cells attributes to side effects of anti-cancer therapies. CONCLUSION: In this review, we focus on the regulatory mechanisms of pyroptosis and the tumor suppressive function of pyroptosis. We discuss the attribution of pyroptosis in reprogramming tumor microenvironments and restoration of anti-tumor immunity and its potential application in cancer immune therapy.

Cylindrocladium leaf blight is one of the most important diseases in Eucalyptus plantations. We investigated the proteome and transcriptome of Eucalyptus infected or not infected with Calonectria pseudoreteaudii. Here we provide the information about the processing of raw data obtained by RNA-seq and iTRAQ technologies. The data are related to [1].

This paper addresses the kinematic calibration issues for a 7-DOF cable-driven humanoid arm in order to improve its motion control accuracy. The proposed 7-DOF humanoid arm has a hybrid parallel-serial kinematic structure, which consists of three serially connected parallel cable-driven modules, i.e., a 3-DOF shoulder module, a 1-DOF elbow module, and a 3-DOF wrist module. Due to the unique arm design features such as hybrid parallel-serial structure, modular configuration, and redundant sensors, an integrated two-level self-calibration method is proposed in this work. The first level of self-calibration, termed as the central linkage mechanism calibration, is to identify the kinematics errors existed in the 7-DOF central linkage mechanism based on its self-motion capability. The second level of calibration, termed as the cable-driven module calibration, is to identify the kinematics errors existed in each of the parallel cable-driven modules based on its sensing redundancy. To simplify the formulation of the calibration algorithms, the error model of the serial central linkage mechanism is derived from its forward kinematics, in which the Products-Of-Exponential (POE) formula is employed, while the error models of the parallel cable-driven modules are derived from their inverse kinematics. The simulation and experimental results have shown that the proposed self-calibration algorithms can effectively improve the accuracy of the 7-DOF cable-driven humanoid arm.

Seeds lose their viability when they are exposed to high temperature and moisture content (MC) during storage. The expression and metabolism of proteins plays a critical role in seed resistance to heat stress. However, the proteome response to heat stress in oat (Avena sativa) seeds during storage has not been revealed. To understand mechanisms of heat stress acclimation and tolerance in oat seeds, an integrated physiological and comparative proteomic analysis was performed on oat seeds with different MC during heat stress. Oat seeds with 10% and 16% MC were subjected to high temperatures (35, 45, and 50°C) for 24 and 2 days, respectively, and changes in physiological and biochemical characteristics were analyzed. The results showed that seed vigor decreased significantly with temperature increase from 35 to 50°C. Also, the proline content in 10% MC seeds decreased significantly (p < 0.05) whereas that in 16% MC seeds increased significantly (p < 0.05) during heat treatment from 35 to 50°C. There were no significant differences in malondialdehyde content in 10% MC seeds with temperature from 35 to 50°C, but a significant (p < 0.05) decline occurred in 16% MC seeds at 45°C. Proteome analysis revealed 21 significantly different proteins, including 19 down-regulated and two up-regulated proteins. The down-regulated proteins, notably six heat shock proteins and two ATP synthases, have important roles in the mobilization of carbohydrates and energy, and in the balance between synthesis and degradation of other proteins during seed deterioration. The up-regulation of argininosuccinate synthase participated in proline biosynthesis at 16% MC, which is important for maintaining reactive oxygen species homeostasis for the resistance of heat stress. In summary, heat-responsive protein species and mitochondrial respiratory metabolism were sensitive to high temperature and MC treatment. These studies provide a new insight into acclimation and tolerance to heat stress in oat seeds.