Analysis of the effects of essential oils on airborne bacteria in a customized bio-clean room

The Role of Indoor Plants in air Purification and Human Health in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Proposal for a Novel Line of Inquiry

The last two decades have seen the discovery of novel retroviruses that have resulted in severe negative consequences for human health. In late 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged with a high transmission rate and severe effects on human health, with 5% infected persons requiring hospitalisation and 3.81 million deaths to date globally. Aerosol particles containing virions are considered the main source of SARS CoV-2 transmission in this pandemic, with increased infection rates in confined spaces. Consequently, public and private institutions had to institute mitigation measures including the use of facial masks and social distancing to limit the spread of the virus. Moreover, the role of air purification and bio-decontamination is understood as being essential to mitigate viral spread. Various techniques can be applied to bio-decontaminate the air such as the use of filtration and radiation; however, these methods are expensive and not feasible for home use. Another method of air purification is where indoor plants can purify the air by the removal of air pollutants and habituated airborne microbes. The use of indoor plants could prove to be a cost-efficient way of indoor air-purification that could be adapted for a variety of environments with no need for special requirements and can also add an aesthetic value that can have an indirect impact on human health. In this review, we discuss the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the currently used air purification methods, and we propose the use of indoor plants as a new possible eco-friendly tool for indoor air purification and for reducing the spread of COVID-19 in confined places.

MEX3A knockdown inhibits the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Background

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is one of the most serious causes of death in the world due to its high mortality and inefficacy treatments. MEX3A was first identified in nematodes and was associated with tumor formation and may promote cell proliferation and tumor metastasis. So far, nothing is known about the relationship between MEX3A and PDA.

Methods

In this study, the expression level of MEX3A in PDA tissues was measured by immunohistochemistry. The qRT-PCR and western blot were used to identify the constructed MEX3A knockdown cell lines, which was further used to construct mouse xenotransplantation models. Cell proliferation, colony formation, cell apoptosis and migration were detected by MTT, colony formation, flow cytometry and Transwell.

Results

This study showed that MEX3A expression is significantly upregulated in PDA and associated with tumor grade. Loss-of-function studies showed that downregulation of MEX3A could inhibit cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, it was demonstrated that knockdown of MEX3A in PDA cells promotes apoptosis by regulating apoptosis-related factors, and inhibits migration through influencing EMT. At the same time, the regulation of PDA progression by MEX3A involves changes in downstream signaling pathways including Akt, p-Akt, PIK3CA, CDK6 and MAPK9.

Conclusions

We proposed that MEX3A is associated with the prognosis and progression of PDA,which can be used as a potential therapeutic target.