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Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) have long been known as the most widely used plasticizer with a broad range of industrial application. PAEs are ubiquitous in different environments and our daily life due to their large and widespread application. Recent PAEs research mainly focused on their environmental fate (including leaching, migration, transformation) and toxicology and risk assessment. With the comprehensive recognition of their potential hazard, the elimination of PAEs has attracted worldwide concerns. Although many factors may contribute to the degradation of PAEs, the dominant role of biodegradation was widely reported. Many PAEs-degrading bacteria were isolated, metabolites and metabolic pathways were proposed, and enzymes involved in the degradation were identified. The current paper presents an overview of available reports about PAEs-degrading bacteria and related molecular mechanisms. The metabolic pathways deduced from the identified intermediates were presented. The upstream and downstream pathways of PAEs metabolism were summarized, including the aerobic and anaerobic pathways of phthalic acid (PA) degradation. Known enzymes involved in the hydrolysis of ester bonds were characterized according to their properties. Based on phylogenetic analysis, all these enzymes were distributed in four families of esterases and one unknown family. For these five families, conserved sequence motifs were identified and the biological properties of these motifs were characterized. Challenges and emerging opportunities are also discussed.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common type of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and has one of the poorest prognosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying IPF progression remain largely unknown. In this study, we determined that IL-24, an IL-20 subfamily cytokine member, was increased both in the serum of IPF patients and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice following bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis. As a result, IL-24 deficiency protected mice from BLM-induced lung injury and fibrosis. Specifically, loss of IL-24 significantly attenuated transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) production and reduced M2 macrophage infiltration in the lung of BLM-induced mice. Mechanistically, IL-24 alone did not show a perceptible impact on the induction of M2 macrophages, but it synergized with IL-4 to promote M2 program in macrophages. IL-24 suppressed IL-4-induced expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) and SOCS3, through which it enhanced signal transducer and activator of transcription 6/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (STAT6/PPARγ) signaling, thereby promoting IL-4-induced production of M2 macrophages. Collectively, our data support that IL-24 synergizes with IL-4 to promote macrophage M2 program contributing to the development of pulmonary fibrosis.

The Sharp-van der Heijde score (SvH) is crucial for assessing joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through radiographic images. However, manual scoring is time-consuming and subject to variability. This study proposes a multistage deep learning model to predict the Overall Sharp Score (OSS) from hand X-ray images. The framework involves four stages: image preprocessing, hand segmentation with UNet, joint identification via YOLOv7, and OSS prediction utilizing a custom Vision Transformer (ViT). Evaluation metrics included Intersection over Union (IoU), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Huber loss, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). The model was trained using stratified group 3-fold cross-validation on a dataset of 679 patients and tested externally on 291 subjects. The joint identification model achieved 99% accuracy. The ViT model achieved the best OSS prediction for patients with Sharp scores < 50. It achieved a Huber loss of 4.9, an RMSE of 9.73, and an MAE of 5.35, demonstrating a strong correlation with expert scores (ICC = 0.702, P  < 0.001). This study is the first to apply a ViT for OSS prediction in RA. It presents an efficient and automated alternative for overall damage assessment. This approach may reduce reliance on manual scoring.

Healthcare‐acquired infections as well as increasing antimicrobial resistance have become an urgent global challenge, thus smart alternative solutions are needed to tackle bacterial infections. Antibacterial materials in biomedical applications and hospital hygiene have attracted great interest, in particular, the emergence of surface design strategies offer an effective alternative to antibiotics, thereby preventing the possible development of bacterial resistance. In this review, recent progress on advanced surface modifications to prevent bacterial infections are addressed comprehensively, starting with the key factors against bacterial adhesion, followed by varying strategies that can inhibit biofilm formation effectively. Furthermore, “super antibacterial systems” through pre‐treatment defense and targeted bactericidal system, are proposed with increasing evidence of clinical potential. Finally, the advantages and future challenges of surface strategies to resist healthcare‐associated infections are discussed, with promising prospects of developing novel antimicrobial materials. This review provides a systematic overview of recent progress on advanced surface modifications to prevent bacterial infections, starting with the key factors against bacterial adhesion, followed by varying strategies that can inhibit biofilm formation effectively. Finally, the advantages and future challenges of surface strategies to resist healthcare‐associated infections are discussed, with promising prospects of developing novel antimicrobial materials.

Interpersonal needs and depression are two recognized significant risk factors for suicidal ideation. Previous studies have preliminarily revealed the gender-dependent effects of interpersonal needs and depression on suicidal ideation. However, there are very few studies that place these variables within a single framework and apply symptom-level analysis to investigate the gender-dependent relationships among them. This study applied symptom-level network analysis to construct female and male networks using data from 781 female and 628 male young adults. The networks included interpersonal needs, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Key characteristics of networks, including edge connections, bridge expected influence (BEI), and global expected influence (GEI), were compared. The results suggested that gender significantly impacts edge connections, node BEI, and GEI of the final networks. Several significantly gender-dependent connections were disclosed, such as perceived burdensomeness (PB)-suicidal ideation, hopelessness-suicidal ideation, PB-sense of failure, and PB-sadness. PB (marginally) and thwarted belongingness show significant gender differences in their impact on depressive symptoms. The GEI of the female network is significantly greater than that of the male network. These findings offer valuable insights for modern theoretical frameworks examining gender differences in the connections between suicidal ideation, interpersonal needs, and depressive symptoms. Additionally, results provide empirical support for selecting screening, prevention, and intervention strategies for suicidal ideation and depression across genders.

Micro-nano biorobots based on bacteria have demonstrated great potential for tumor diagnosis and treatment. The bacterial gene expression and drug release should be spatiotemporally controlled to avoid drug release in healthy tissues and undesired toxicity. Herein, we describe an alternating magnetic field-manipulated tumor-homing bacteria developed by genetically modifying engineered Escherichia coli with Fe 3 O 4 @lipid nanocomposites. After accumulating in orthotopic colon tumors in female mice, the paramagnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles enable the engineered bacteria to receive and convert magnetic signals into heat, thereby initiating expression of lysis proteins under the control of a heat-sensitive promoter. The engineered bacteria then lyse, releasing its anti-CD47 nanobody cargo, that is pre-expressed and within the bacteria. The robust immunogenicity of bacterial lysate cooperates with anti-CD47 nanobody to activate both innate and adaptive immune responses, generating robust antitumor effects against not only orthotopic colon tumors but also distal tumors in female mice. The magnetically engineered bacteria also enable the constant magnetic field-controlled motion for enhanced tumor targeting and increased therapeutic efficacy. Thus, the gene expression and drug release behavior of tumor-homing bacteria can be spatiotemporally manipulated in vivo by a magnetic field, achieving tumor-specific CD47 blockage and precision tumor immunotherapy. Several strategies have been employed to enhance the tumor-targeting and anti-cancer properties of engineered bacteria. Here the authors describe the design of alternating magnetic field-manipulated bacteria engineered to release an anti-CD47 nanobody, promoting anti-tumor immune response in preclinical cancer models.

With the characteristics of low driving voltage, light weight, and flexibility, ionic polymer‐metal composites (IPMCs) have attracted much attention as excellent candidates for artificial muscle materials in the fields of biomedical devices, flexible robots, and microelectromechanical systems. Under small voltage excitation, ions inside the IPMC proton exchange membrane migrate directionally, leading to differences in the expansion rate of the cathode and the anode, which in turn deform. This behavior is caused by the synergistic action of a three‐layer structure consisting of an external electrode layer and an internal proton exchange membrane, but the electrode layer is more dominant in this process due to the migration and storage of ions. The exploration of modifications and alternatives for proton exchange membranes and recent advances in the fabrication and characterization of conductive materials, especially carbon‐based materials and conductive polymers, have contributed significantly to the development of IPMCs. This paper reviews the progress in the application of proton exchange membranes and electrode materials for IPMCs, discusses various processes currently applied to IPMCs preparation, and introduces various promising applications of cutting‐edge IPMCs with high performance to provide new ideas and approaches for the research of  new generation of low‐voltage ionic soft actuators. The recent development and advances in ionic polymer‐metal composite （IPMCs）are reviewed. Ion exchange membranes and conductive electrodes are first discussed, which are the components of the IPMCs sandwiched structure. Subsequently, novel preparation technology and innovative applications of IPMCs are given. Finally, current challenges in IPMCs are identified, and future perspectives are discussed.

Melanocortin-2 receptor accessory protein 2 (MRAP2) is essential for the intricate regulation of energy balance. Although rare MRAP2 variants have been reported in obese individuals, their overall impact on human obesity risk remains uncertain because previous studies were small, heterogeneous, and often lacked systematic functional characterization. To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review and cohort-level meta-analysis to quantify the association between rare coding variants in MRAP2 and obesity. We systematically searched five major databases (Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) and identified five eligible publications comprising seven independent cohorts. In total, 27 rare coding MRAP2 variants were observed in 46 (1.01%) individuals with obesity and 18 (0.34%) individuals with normal weight, among 9771 individuals (5223 with normal weight and 4548 with obesity). Using inverse-variance–weighted random-effects models fitted with restricted maximum likelihood, carriers of rare coding MRAP2 variants had higher odds of obesity (OR = 2.61; 95% CI, 1.49–4.58; p = 8.0 × 10−4). Taken together, these findings, derived predominantly from European-ancestry cohorts, support MRAP2 as a biologically plausible susceptibility gene for human obesity and indicate that rare coding MRAP2 variants are associated with higher odds of obesity, providing a quantitative framework to guide future large-scale genetic and functional studies.

An effective tumor vaccine vector that can rapidly display neoantigens is urgently needed. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) can strongly activate the innate immune system and are qualified as immunoadjuvants. Here, we describe a versatile OMV-based vaccine platform to elicit a specific anti-tumor immune response via specifically presenting antigens onto OMV surface. We first display tumor antigens on the OMVs surface by fusing with ClyA protein, and then simplify the antigen display process by employing a Plug-and-Display system comprising the tag/catcher protein pairs. OMVs decorated with different protein catchers can simultaneously display multiple, distinct tumor antigens to elicit a synergistic antitumour immune response. In addition, the bioengineered OMVs loaded with different tumor antigens can abrogate lung melanoma metastasis and inhibit subcutaneous colorectal cancer growth. The ability of the bioengineered OMV-based platform to rapidly and simultaneously display antigens may facilitate the development of these agents for personalized tumour vaccines. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), non-replicative particles secreted by Gram-negative bacteria, are known for their immunostimulatory and adjuvant properties. Here, by employing a Plug-and-Display technology, the authors engineer OMVs to display tumor antigens on the surface, a platform that promotes anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical cancer models.

Dendrobium huoshanense is a famous edible and medicinal herb, and polysaccharides are the main bioactive component in it. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) combined with a Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to optimize the enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE), ultrasound–microwave–assisted extraction (UMAE), and hot water extraction (HWE) conditions and obtain the polysaccharides named DHP-E, DHP-UM, and DHP-H. The effects of different extraction methods on the physicochemical properties, structure characteristics, and bioactivity of polysaccharides were compared. The differential thermogravimetric curves indicated that DHP-E showed a broader temperature range during thermal degradation compared with DHP-UM and DHP-H. The SEM results showed that DHP-E displayed an irregular granular structure, but DHP-UM and DHP-H were sponge-like. The results of absolute molecular weight indicated that polysaccharides with higher molecular weight detected in DHP-H and DHP-UM did not appear in DHP-E due to enzymatic degradation. The monosaccharide composition showed that DHPs were all composed of Man, Glc, and Gal but with different proportions. Finally, the glycosidic bond types, which have a significant effect on bioactivity, were decoded with methylation analysis. The results showed that DHPs contained four glycosidic bond types, including Glcp-(1→, →4)-Manp-(1→, →4)-Glcp-(1→, and →4,6)-Manp-(1→ with different ratios. Furthermore, DHP-E exhibited better DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities. These findings could provide scientific foundations for selecting appropriate extraction methods to obtain desired bioactivities for applications in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries.