Studying the membrane physiology of filamentous fungi is key to understanding their interactions with the environment and crucial for developing new therapeutic strategies for disease-causing pathogens.However,their plasma membrane has been inaccessible for a micron-sized patch-clamp pipette for pA current recordings due to the rigid chitinous cell wall.Here,we report the first femtosecond IR laser nanosurgery of the cell wall of the filamentous fungi,which enabled patch-clamp measurements on protoplasts released from hyphae.A reproducible and highly precise(diffraction-limited,submicron resolution)method for obtaining viable released protoplasts was developed.Protoplast release from the nanosurgery-generated incisions in the cell wall was achieved from different regions of the hyphae.The plasma membrane of the obtained protoplasts formed tight and high-resistance(GΩ)contacts with the recording pipette.The entire nanosurgical procedure followed by the patch-clamp technique could be completed in less than 1 hour.Compared to previous studies using heterologously expressed channels,this technique provides the opportunity to identify new ionic currents and to study the properties of the ion channels in the protoplasts of filamentous fungi in their native environment.
Objective To find a viable alternative to reduce the number of doses required for the patients with post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD),and to improve efficacy and patient compliance.Methods In this study,we used ginger oil,a phytochemical with potential therapeutic properties,to prepare ginger oil patches.High-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)was used to quantify the main active component of ginger oil,6-gingerol.Transdermal absorption experiments were conducted to optimize the various pressure-sensitive adhesives and permeation enhancers,including their type and concentration.Subsequently,the ginger oil patches were optimized and subjected to content determination and property evaluations.A PTSD mouse model was established using the foot-shock method.The therapeutic effect of ginger oil patches on PTSD was assessed through pathological sections,behavioral tests,and the evaluation of biomarkers such as tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),and melatonin(MT).Results The results demonstrated that ginger oil patches exerted therapeutic effects against PTSD by inhibiting inflammatory responses and modulating MT and BDNF levels.Pharmacokinetic experiments revealed that ginger oil patches maintained a stable blood drug concentration for at least one day,addressing the rapid metabolism drawback of 6-gingerol and enhancing its therapeutic efficacy.Conclusions Ginger oil can be prepared as a transdermal drug patch that meets these requirements,and the bioavailability of the prepared patch is better than that of oral administration.It can improve PTSD with good patient compliance and ease of administration.Therefore,it is a promising therapeutic formulation for the treatment of PTSD.
Objective:To analyze the clinical effect of a simple egg membrane patch bridging method in repairing tympanic membrane perforation.Methods:A total of 93 tympanic membrane perforation patients admitted to the hospital between September 2022 and October 2023 were selected and divided into two groups according to the random number table method.The control group implemented the conventional treatment(n=46 cases),and the patch group adopted the simple egg membrane patch bridging method(n=47 cases).The healing rate of the tympanic membrane,the air-bone gap,the air conduction hearing threshold,the dry ear rate,and the incidence of complications in both groups were compared before and after treatment.Results:The healing rate of the tympanic membrane in the patch group was significantly higher than that of the control group(95.75%vs.76.09%),with P<0.05;there was no difference in the air-bone gap and air conduction hearing threshold levels between the two groups before treatment(P>0.05),and the hearing indexes of the patch group were significantly lower than those of the control group 3 months after treatment(P<0.05);the dry ear rate in the patch group was significantly higher than that of the control group after treatment(85.11%vs.67.39%),and the total incidence of complications was also significantly lower than that of the control group(6.38%vs.21.74%),with P<0.05.Conclusion:The simple egg membrane patch bridging method is effective in repairing tympanic membrane perforation,which can effectively improve patients’hearing levels and reduce the occurrence of post-treatment complications.Thus,it is worth popularizing and applying in the clinic.
[Objectives]To observe the clinical efficacy of Sanying capsule combined with Xiaoying Patch in treating thyroid nodule(TN).[Methods]Two groups were treated similarly,with 200 cases in the control group undergoing basic treatment for 12 weeks and 198 cases in the observation group receiving Sanying capsule combined with Xiaoying patches for the same duration.The clinical symptoms,number of nodules,diameter of the largest nodule,and maximum reduction of nodules were observed before and after treatment.A control analysis was performed,and the underlying mechanisms were explored.[Results]The primary symptoms of the observation group exhibited a more favorable improvement than those of the control group.Additionally,the number of nodules decreased,the diameter of the largest nodule decreased,and the maximum reduction of nodules decreased in both groups following treatment.However,the observation group demonstrated a more pronounced improvement than the control group(P<0.05).[Conclusions]The combination of Sanying capsule and Xiaoying patch has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for TN,with a high degree of reliability in terms of safety.
The biomimetic construction of a microstructural–mechanical–electrical anisotropic microenvironment adaptive to the native cardiac tissue is essential to repair myocardial infarction(MI).Inspired by the 3D anisotropic characteristic of the natural fish swim bladder(FSB),a novel flexible,anisotropic,and conductive hydrogel was developed for tissue-specific adaptation to the anisotropic structural,conductive,and mechanical features of the native cardiac extracellular matrix.The results revealed that the originally stiff,homogeneous FSB film was tailored to a highly flexible anisotropic hydrogel,enabling its potential as a functional engineered cardiac patch(ECP).In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated the enhanced electrophysiological activity,maturation,elongation,and orientation of cardiomyocytes(CMs),and marked MI repair performance with reduced CM apoptosis and myocardial fibrosis,thereby promoting cell retention,myogenesis,and vascularization,as well as improving electrical integration.Our findings offer a potential strategy for functional ECP and provides a novel strategy to bionically simulate the complex cardiac repair environment.
Early screening of diabetes retinopathy(DR)plays an important role in preventing irreversible blindness.Existing research has failed to fully explore effective DR lesion information in fundus maps.Besides,traditional attention schemes have not considered the impact of lesion type differences on grading,resulting in unreasonable extraction of important lesion features.Therefore,this paper proposes a DR diagnosis scheme that integrates a multi-level patch attention generator(MPAG)and a lesion localization module(LLM).Firstly,MPAGis used to predict patches of different sizes and generate a weighted attention map based on the prediction score and the types of lesions contained in the patches,fully considering the impact of lesion type differences on grading,solving the problem that the attention maps of lesions cannot be further refined and then adapted to the final DR diagnosis task.Secondly,the LLM generates a global attention map based on localization.Finally,the weighted attention map and global attention map are weighted with the fundus map to fully explore effective DR lesion information and increase the attention of the classification network to lesion details.This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method through extensive experiments on the public DDR dataset,obtaining an accuracy of 0.8064.
Delayed or non-healing of diabetic wounds is a significant complication,often attributed to high glucose-induced M1 macrophage accumulation,impaired angiogenesis,and reactive oxygen species(ROS)buildup.Addressing this,we introduced a strontium polyphenol network microneedle patch(SrC-MPNs@MN-PP)for percutaneous drug delivery.This patch,formulated with polymer poly(γ-glutamic acid)(γ-PGA)and epsilon-poly-l-lysine(ε-PLL),incorporates strontium polyphenol networks(SrC-MPNs).The release of chlorogenic acid(CGA)from SrC-MPNs not only neutralizes ROS,but strontium ions also foster angiogen-esis.Consequently,SrC-MPNs@MN-PP can ameliorate the diabetic wound microenvironment and expedite healing.
Objective:To explore the efficacy of auricular acupoint pressure patch combined with modified Huangqi Decoction in treating diabetic nephropathy.Methods:60 patients with diabetic nephropathy treated in our hospital from January 2021 to December 2022 were selected for this study.The patients were randomly divided into two groups using the random number table method,with 30 patients in each group.Among them,the control group was treated with conventional Western medicine,while the experimental group was treated with auricular acupoint pressure patches combined with modified Huangqi Decoction.The patients’fasting blood glucose(FPG),2-hour postprandial blood glucose(2hPG),glycated hemoglobin(HbA1c),urinary protein quantification,urea nitrogen(BUN),serum creatinine(SCr),and other indicators were detected and recorded before and after treatment.Results:Before treatment,there was no statistically significant difference in the FPG,the 2hPG,and the HbA1c between the two groups of patients(P>0.05);after treatment,the FPG,the 2hPG,and the HbA1c of the patients in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P<0.05).Before treatment,there was no statistically significant difference in the urinary protein quantification,the BUN,and the SCr between the two groups of patients(P>0.05);after treatment,the urinary protein quantification,BUN,and SCr of the patients in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P<0.05).The experimental group showed better improvement in symptoms such as fatigue,backache,and frequency of nocturia(P<0.05).Conclusion:Auricular acupoint pressure patch combined with modified Huangqi Decoction effectively treats diabetic nephropathy and it helps control blood sugar and renal function indicators and improve clinical symptoms,therefore improving the patients’quality of life.