BackgroundAirway remodeling is a repair process that occurs after injury resulting in increased airway hyper-responsiveness in asthma. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a vital cytokine, plays a critical role in orchestrating, perpetuating and amplifying the inflammatory response in asthma. TSLP is also a critical factor in airway remodeling in asthma.ObjectivesTo examine the role of TSLP-induced cellular senescence in airway remodeling of asthma in vitro and in vivo.MethodsCellular senescence and airway remodeling were examined in lung specimens from patients with asthma using immunohischemical analysis. Both small molecule and shRNA approaches that target the senescent signaling pathways were used to explore the role of cellular senescence in TSLP-induced airway remodeling in vitro. Senescence-Associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) staining, and BrdU assays were used to detect cellular senescence. In addition, the Stat3-targeted inhibitor, WP1066, was evaluated in an asthma mouse model to determine if inhibiting cellular senescence influences airway remodeling in asthma.ResultsActivation of cellular senescence as evidenced by checkpoint activation and cell cycle arrest was detected in airway epithelia samples from patients with asthma. Furthermore, TSLP-induced cellular senescence was required for airway remodeling in vitro. In addition, a mouse asthma model indicates that inhibiting cellular senescence blocks airway remodeling and relieves airway resistance.ConclusionTSLP stimulation can induce cellular senescence during airway remodeling in asthma. Inhibiting the signaling pathways of cellular senescence overcomes TSLP-induced airway remodeling.

Porous PtCuBiMn nanosheets are developed with a thickness of ≈3-4 nm. The specific and mass activities of these nanosheets are ten and seven times greater than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst, respectively. PtCuBiMn nanosheets demonstrate superior catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction, as well as resistance to methanol cross-over effects, suggesting that it is a promising catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells.

TSLP variants are significantly associated with bronchial asthma. TSLP might be a new therapeutic target molecule for asthma.

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A method for localizing a fire source based on a distributed temperature sensor system is proposed. Two sections of optical fibers were placed orthogonally to each other as the sensing elements. A tray of alcohol was lit to act as a fire outbreak in a cabinet with an uneven ceiling to simulate a real scene of fire. Experiments were carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the method. Rather large fluctuations and systematic errors with respect to predicting the exact room coordinates of the fire source caused by the uneven ceiling were observed. Two mathematical methods (smoothing recorded temperature curves and finding temperature peak positions) to improve the prediction accuracy are presented, and the experimental results indicate that the fluctuation ranges and systematic errors are significantly reduced. The proposed scheme is simple and appears reliable enough to locate a fire source in large spaces.