Pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) is characterized by being self-incompatible and dependent on cross-pollination to set fruit. Honeybee (Apis mellifera) is considered the most important pollinator of pear. Nevertheless, limited pollen transfer has been cited as the main cause of poor fruit set in many pear orchards. Here, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) colony manipulations increase the pollen collection tendency of honeybees and (ii) the proportion of pollen loads being returned to the hive is from the target plant. The technique reliably and rapidly estimates the pollination of honeybees tested under different colony manipulations: (1) using pollen trapping (PT); (2) PT with sugar syrup feeding (SS) (PTSS); (3) SS alone and (4) control without PT and SS. The results clearly show that the pollen collection of honeybees during the experiment was significantly affected (P < 0.05) by colony manipulations. The mean amount of pollen harvested daily was higher for PTSS (19.4 g) and PT (16.4 g) than for SS (12.85 g) and control (8.7 g) colonies. Therefore, PTSS was the most effective treatment for increasing pear pollen collection; other treatments such as PT and SS could also be useful. This study was important for determining how the behavior of honeybee colonies is shaped through colony manipulation to enhance pollen collection of less preferred pear flowers, which is critical when pollination is required.

Background: TGF-β1 promotes keratinocyte migration and re-epithelialization of cutaneous wounds during the wound healing process. Decreased SOCS7 expression has been associated with increased healing potential. However, the relationship between TGF-β1 and SOCS7 in wound re-epithelialization remains unclear. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between TGF-β1 and SOCS7 in the re-epithelialization of keratinocytes during skin wound healing. Methods: The expression of SOCS7 under different concentrations of TGF-β1 was detected by WB and qPCR. The migration ability of keratinocytes was detected by scratch and Transwell assay. Protein interactions were detected by ChIP and luciferase assay. The effect of SOCS7 on skin healing in mice was detected in animal model. Results: In this study, we found that SOCS7 was downregulated by TGF-β1 and that overexpression of SOCS7 led to suppression of TGF-β1-induced keratinocyte migration through inhibition of the PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK pathways. Also, TGF-β1 negatively regulated SOCS7 expression at the transcriptional level through the binding of EGR1 to the EGR1/SP1 overlapping binding sites in the SOCS7 promoter. Conclusion: Taken together, our findings show that TGF-β1-induced EGR1 expression is required for repression of SOCS7, which promotes keratinocyte migration and re-epithelialization during wound healing. Finally, our study identifies the TGF-β1/EGR1/SOCS7 pathway as a potential therapeutic target to promote wound healing.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease that significantly affects patients’ quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of cell-free fat extract (FE) in AD. In this study, the therapeutic effect of DNCB-induced AD mouse models was investigated. Dermatitis scores and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) were recorded to evaluate the severity of dermatitis. Histological analysis and cytokines measurement were conducted to assess the therapeutic effect. Additionally, the ability of FE to protect cells from ROS-induced damage and its ROS scavenging capacity both in vitro and in vivo were investigated. Furthermore, we performed Th1/2 cell differentiation with and without FE to elucidate the underlying therapeutic mechanism. FE reduced apoptosis and cell death of HaCat cells exposed to oxidative stress. Moreover, FE exhibited concentration-dependent antioxidant activity and scavenged ROS both in vitro and vivo. Treatment with FE alleviated AD symptoms in mice, as evidenced by improved TEWL, restored epidermis thickness, reduced mast cell infiltration, decreased DNA oxidative damage and lower inflammatory cytokines like IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-13. FE also inhibited the differentiation of Th2 cells in vitro. Our findings indicate that FE regulates oxidative stress and mitigates Th2-mediated inflammation in atopic dermatitis by inhibiting Th2 cell differentiation, suggesting that FE has the potential as a future treatment option for AD.

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that typically affects the central facial area. Its main clinical symptoms include paroxysmal flushing, telangiectasia, and non-temporary erythema. Cell-free adipose tissue extracts (ATEs) are liquid components extracted from human adipose tissue that contain large amounts of growth factors. Despite the scar-reducing, anti-aging, and wound-healing effects of ATEs, the efficacy of ATEs in rosacea remains unknown. Therefore, the anti-rosacea effects of ATEs were investigated in human cathelicidin peptide (LL-37) induced rosacea mice and capsaicin (CAP)-stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes. In vitro, ATEs significantly reduced TRPV1 expression, intracellular calcium ions influx and the release of inflammatory factors (such as KLK5, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α) after intervening in CAP-stimulated cells. The in vivo results revealed that ATEs alleviated rosacea symptoms, such as erythema score, erythema area, transepidermal water loss, abnormal epidermal thickness, mast cell infiltration and telangiectasia upon downregulating TRPV1 and CD31 expression. Moreover, the up-regulated TRPV1 protein expression was also recovered by ATEs administration in vivo and in vitro. Meanwhile, ATEs demonstrated good biocompatibility. In summary, ATEs could be a potential therapeutic agent for rosacea by regulating inflammation and alleviating telangiectasia.

Background: The sentinel vein (SV) plays a vital role in temporal rhytidectomy and temporal cosmetic injection procedures. Accurate anatomic localization and morphologic data of this vein are currently lacking. This study delineates its detailed anatomic characteristics through cadaver anatomy and ultrasonic examination. Methods: Twenty cadavers (40 temporal regions) were dissected, and 20 healthy volunteers (40 temporal regions) underwent ultrasonographic examination. The course, caliber, spatial depth, tributaries, and superficial projection of the SV were documented, along with its positional relationship to the frontal branch of the facial nerve. Results: The SV presents a mean of 2.4 tributaries and can be categorized into 6 confluence types based on tributary course. The vein comprises a horizontal segment and a vertical segment. The horizontal segment travels superficially parallel to the skin within the plane between the superficial temporal fascia and subcutaneous fat before transitioning into the vertical segment, which ultimately drains into the middle temporal vein (MTV). The superficial projection of the SV and its anatomic relationship with the frontal branch of the facial nerve exhibit relatively consistent anatomic features. Conclusions: This study established 6 anatomic classification patterns of the SV and quantified its superficial projection landmarks. These findings provide critical anatomic references for temporal rhytidectomy and temporal cosmetic filler injection.