This study is conducted by the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases of Xiamen University, China National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Company.

Premalignant and malignant lesions of the cervix and other sites related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection pose a significant health burden worldwide, especially in developing countries. Although prophylactic HPV vaccination is considered one of the most effective measures to prevent cervical cancer and other related diseases, accessibility to HPV vaccines, particularly the 9-valent HPV vaccine, remains a considerable challenge. Among the six available prophylactic HPV vaccines worldwide, the E. coli-produced HPV 16/18 bivalent vaccine (Cecolin, Xiamen Innovax) has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA) and received prequalification by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on its high efficacy and good safety profile. Using the same E. coli expression system as the first-generation HPV vaccine, a second-generation 9-valent HPV vaccine (Cecolin 9, Xiamen Innovax), covers seven high-risk types (HPV 16/18/31/33/45/52/58) and two low-risk types (HPV 6/11), was developed. To further evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of this 9vHPV vaccine candidate, a single-center, double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled phase 2 clinical trial was conducted in an expanded female population aged 18–45 years old.

In total, 627 eligible healthy female volunteers from Dongtai, Jiangsu Province of China, were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive three doses of 1.0 mL (270 µg) of Cecolin 9 or a placebo on a 0-1-6-month schedule. All adverse events (AEs) were monitored after each vaccination, and serial serum samples were collected from all participants to evaluate the seroconversion rate and level of antibodies against nine HPV types. All participants in the per-protocol set for immunogenicity (PPS-I) seroconverted for nAbs or IgG antibodies against all the nine HPV types at month 7. For safety assessment, the incidence rates of total AEs in the Cecolin 9 and placebo groups were comparable, with the majority of them being mild and recovering shortly. None of the SAEs were considered related to vaccination. In conclusion, the E. coli-produced 9-valent HPV vaccine candidate was well tolerated and immunogenic, which warrants further efficacy studies in larger populations.

The insufficient supply and uneven distribution of HPV vaccines are one of the important barriers to the implementation of the WHO’s strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer, which was proposed in 2018. Given the robustness and low cost of the E. coli system, Cecolin 9 is believed to be an important addition to the national immunization program, especially in countries with limited resources.

This study was led by Prof. Zi-Jiang Chen’ team from the Center for Reproductive Medicine of Shandong University, in collaboration with Prof. Fei Gao from the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The researchers employed two types of obese mice induced by environmental and genetic factors as their experimental subjects. They utilized single-cell transcriptome technology(snRNA-seq) and nanoscale spatial transcriptome sequencing technology (Stereo-seq) to describe the panoramic cell map of the ovary (as shown in the figure). This mapping revealed both the similarities and differences in follicle development between the two types of obese mice, as well as the key regulatory molecular mechanisms involved.

The researchers identified six common cell types (see below, the bottom). They subsequently analyzed the cellular composition and functional changes within the follicles and in the extrafollicular region. Specifically, they focused on granulosa cells within the follicles, defining distinct types of granulosa cells at different stages of follicle development and elucidating their specific gene sets.

Through a series of advanced analyses, the researchers pinpointed the key transcription factor FOXO1, which plays a critical role in mediating the differences in granulosa cell development between the different types of obese mice. In the two types of obese model mice, the expression patterns of FOXO1 and its regulatory gene set differed greatly. For instance, Foxo1 and its target gene Cyp11a1 exhibited a negative correlation expression pattern in ovarian granulosa cells and displayed opposite expression patterns in the two types of obese model mice. These findings suggest that maintaining a dynamic balance of FOXO1 during follicular development is crucial, as excessive or insufficient expression can impair normal follicle development.

Additionally, the study discovered alterations in the composition and function of extrafollicular cells in obese mice. Notably, a small population of tumor-like cells was observed in the ovaries of obese mice. Given that obesity is associated with an increased risk of various tumors, including ovarian cancer, these findings warrant attention.

By providing a detailed panoramic view of the ovary under diet and genetically induced obesity conditions, this study enhances our understanding of the impact of obesity on the ovarian microenvironment. It holds significant implications for further research on obesity-related reproductive health issues in women.

See the article:

Cellular atlases of ovarian microenvironment alterations by diet and genetically-induced obesity

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-023-2360-3

They published their work on Oct. 12 in Energy Material Advances.

“The development of cost-effective and high-performance zinc-air battery cathode catalyst is imperative,” said paper author Zhonghua Xiang, professor with the Beijing University of Chemical Technology. “Currently, zinc-air batteries still not occupy the market, because they are limited in both stability and in their energy density.”

Xiang explained that zinc-air batteries can only work for very limited time at high current density, because there are lots of problems of its cathode, anode and electrolyte.

“The air cathode is critical to life span of ZABs.” Xiang said. “The construction of the three-phase (gas–liquid–solid) interface is the key to long life span ZABs. For kinetics, a three-phase (gas–liquid–solid) reaction occurs on the air cathode, ORR need a maintain relative hydrophobicity environment and an efficient gas diffusion pathway. During long-time cycle, the ORR active sites may be flood and leads to a lower ORR activity, which leads to the decay of discharge. In contrast, the OER catalyst requires super-hydrophilicity, this means air cathode that the air cathode is more easily flooded.

The O₂ bubbles generated during the OER can cause the catalyst fall off. So, it is also important to ensure that the catalyst is solidly attached to the electrode surface.

When the ZABs working at high current density, requires a large number of reactants (O₂) to participate in the reaction. It means the air cathode excellent substance transport pathways are required to ensure efficient transport of reactants. The other hand, the superior dual-function catalysts are also very important, a good ZABs catalyst must exhibit excellent ΔE[E₁₀-E_1/2], outstanding stability at high current densities and a large electrochemical specific surface area and enriched pore structure. For conventional two-electrode ZABs, the air cathode must come from the bifunctional catalyst which one function for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and another for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). ORR and OER are reversible reactions, but they occur with high overpotentials. Under high voltage when OER occur, which makes ORR active decay rapidly.”

“For efficient production of air cathode catalysts with superior performance. We creatively developed a pyrolysis-free strategy. The pyrolysis-free strategy can effectively avoid the structural reconfiguration during the pyrolysis process.” Xiang said. “In this paper, we make more hierarchically porous structures for pyrolysis-free catalysis, which efficient boost the transport of both reactant (O₂) and product (H₂O).”

“Zinc-air batteries have been studied for decades, but, after a considerable amount of research, their commercialized is still not increase significantly,” Xiang said. “To advance the field, we’re turning to pyrolysis-free strategy. The pyrolysis-free strategy has overcome some issues of zinc-air battery cathode in resent research work, and similar work is also being carried out in our group.”

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Reference
Authors: TENGGE CHEN, DI LIU, XUELI LI , MENGQING SHI, AND ZHONGHUA XIANG

Title of original paper: A Mass Transfer-Enhanced Pyrolysis-Free Bifunctional Catalyst to Boost Ultralong Lifespan Zinc-Air Batteries

Journal: Energy Material Advances

DOI: 10.34133/energymatadv.0061

Affiliations: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites; Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.

About the Author: Zhonghua Xiang is a professor and director of the Molecular Energy Materials R&D Center at Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT). He received his B.S. in Xiangtan University in 2007, Ph.D. in 2013 at BUCT and was a postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University (2013–2014). His research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of molecular energy materials, mainly including covalent-organic frameworks (COPs) for fuel cells and flow battery. He has published over 100 SCI articles in J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Sci. Adv., Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater. et al., and authorized 19 invention patents, 6 of which have been successfully transferred to the enterprise; He led and presided over the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the key international cooperation projects of the National Fund Commission, National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars, Beijing National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, PetroChina and other enterprises; He won the First Prize (Natural Science) of Scientific and Technical Awards of Ministry of Education of China as a second winner; the Hou Debang Chemical Science and Technology Award for young scientists; the China Renewable Energy Society Excellent Science and Technology Talent Award; He was an associate board members of Next Mater., and young board members of Green Chem. Eng., eScience, Chinese Chem. Lett. He was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Youth Working Committee of China Renewable Energy Society, member of the Hydrogen Energy Professional Committee of China Renewable Energy Society, and member of the International Academic Exchange Working Committee of China Chemical Society.