As one of the pivotal signal molecules, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) has been demonstrated to play important roles in many physiological processes of plants. Continuous monitoring of H₂O₂ in vivo could help understand its regulation mechanism more clearly. In this study, a disposable electrochemical microsensor for H₂O₂ was developed. This microsensor consists of three parts: low-cost stainless-steel wire with a diameter of 0.1 mm modified by gold nanoparticles (disposable working electrode), an untreated platinum wire with a diameter of 0.1 mm (counter electrode), and an Ag/AgCl wire with a diameter of 0.1 mm (reference electrode), respectively. The microsensor could detect H₂O₂ in levels from 10 to 1000 µM and exhibited excellent selectivity. On this basis, the dynamic change in H₂O₂ in the vein of tomato leaf under high salinity was continuously monitored in vivo. The results showed that the production of H₂O₂ could be induced by high salinity within two hours. This study suggests that the disposable electrochemical microsensor not only suits continuously detecting H₂O₂ in microscopic plant tissue in vivo but also reduces the damage to plants. Overall, our strategy will help to pave the foundation for further investigation of the generation, transportation, and elimination mechanism of H₂O₂ in plants.

The cell wall, serving as the exoskeleton of plants, is naturally a barrier to resist external stresses. Protoplasts can be obtained by dissolving the cell walls of plant cells without damaging the cell membrane, and are widely used in the rapid propagation, transgenic breeding, and somatic hybridization of plants. However, to regenerate the cell wall is a precondition for cell division. Therefore, to study the culture condition and influencing factors during the cell wall regeneration of protoplasts is vital. Traditionally, culture medium is used to cultivate protoplasts, but it has some disadvantages. Herein, a microfluidic system with crossed channels was constructed to isolate and cultivate the protoplasts of tobacco. Then, the cell wall regeneration of the tobacco protoplasts was also studied based on this microfluidic system. It was found that, compared with the control, benzo-(1, 2, 3)-thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester (BTH) could accelerate the regeneration of the cell wall, while Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) could inhibit the regeneration of the cell wall within 24 h. To conclude, this study demonstrated that a crossed microfluidic chip could be an effective tool to study cell wall regeneration or other behavior of plant cells in situ with high resolution. In addition, this study revealed the rate of cell wall regeneration under BTH and Pst DC3000 treatment.

Protein serine/threonine phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulates diverse cellular processes via the formation of ~100 heterotrimeric holoenzymes. However, a scarcity of knowledge on substrate recognition by various PP2A holoenzymes has greatly prevented the deciphering of PP2A function in phosphorylation-mediated signaling in eukaryotes. The review summarized the contribution of B56 phosphorylation to PP2A-B56 function and proposed strategies for intervening B56 phosphorylation to treat diseases associated with PP2A-B56 dysfunction; it especially analyzed recent advancements in LxxIxEx B56-binding motifs that provide the molecular details of PP2A-B56 binding specificity and, on this basis, explored the emerging role of PP2A-B56 in the mitosis process, virus attack, and cancer development through LxxIxE motif-mediated PP2A-B56 targeting. This review provides theoretical support for discriminatingly targeting specific PP2A holoenzymes to guide PP2A activity against specific pathogenic drivers.

The Forkhead-box (FOX) transcription factors, as one of the largest gene families in humans, play key roles in cancer. Although studies have suggested that several FOX transcription factors have a significant impact on cancer, the functions of most of the FOX genes in cancer remain elusive. In the study, the expression of 43 FOX genes in 63 kinds of cancer diseases (including many subtypes of same cancer) and in response to 60 chemical substances was obtained from the Gene Expression Atlas database of the European Bioinformatics Institute. Based on the high degree of overlap in FOXO family members differentially expressed in various cancers and their particular responses to chemotherapeutic drugs, our data disclosed the FOX genes that played an important role in the development and progression of cancer. More importantly, we predicted the role of one or several combinatorial FOX genes in the diagnosis and prognostic assessment of a specific cancer and evaluated the potential of a certain anticancer drug therapy for this type of cancer by integrating patterns of FOX genes expression with anticancer drugs sensitivity.