Uncovering BTB and CNC Homology1 (BACH1) as a Novel Cancer Therapeutic Target.

BTB and CNC homology1 (BACH1), working as a transcriptional factor, is demonstrated to function on the regulation of epigenetic modifications by complex regulatory networks. Although BACH1 is reported as an oncogene, the overall analysis of its role remains lacking. In this study, we uncovered the capacity of BACH1 as a new pan-cancer therapeutic target.

Disulfiram bolsters T-cell anti-tumor immunity through direct activation of LCK-mediated TCR signaling.

Activation of the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex is critical to induce the anti-tumor response of CD8 T cells. Here, we found that disulfiram (DSF), an FDA-approved drug previously used to treat alcohol dependency, directly activates TCR signaling. Mechanistically, DSF covalently binds to Cys20/Cys23 residues of lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (LCK) and enhances its tyrosine 394 phosphorylation, thereby promoting LCK kinase activity and boosting effector T cell function, interleukin-2 production, metabolic reprogramming, and proliferation.

Exogenous nitrogen from riverine exports promotes soil methane production in saltmarshes in China.

Methane emissions from saltmarshes can potentially promote climate warming. Soil methane production is positively correlated with methane emissions from saltmarshes. Understanding the factors influencing soil methane production will improve the prediction of methane emissions, but an investigation of these factors has not been conducted in saltmarshes in China.

Discovery of novel coumarin-indole derivatives as tubulin polymerization inhibitors with potent anti-gastric cancer activities.

Novel coumarin-indole derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as tubulin polymerization inhibitors targeting the colchicine binding site. Among these compounds, compound MY-413 displayed the most potent inhibitory activities against gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 with an IC value of 0.011 μM.

HBV pgRNA profiles in Chinese HIV/HBV coinfected patients under pre- and posttreatment: a multicentre observational cohort study.

Data on hepatitis B virus (HBV) pregenomic (pgRNA) levels in HIV/HBV coinfected patients pre- and post-combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of HBV pgRNA levels in treatment-naive coinfected patients and explore the changes that occur after the initiation of cART by examining patients from multicentre cohort studies performed in China. We included HIV/HBV coinfected subjects from the China AIDS Clinical Trial cohorts established from 2008 to 2014.

Contributions of species shade tolerance and individual light environment to photosynthetic induction in tropical tree seedlings.

It has long been debated whether tree leaves from shady environments exhibit higher photosynthetic induction efficiency (IE) than those from sunny environments and how the shade tolerance of tree species and the light environment of leaves contribute to the dynamics of photosynthesis. To address these questions, we investigated leaf photosynthetic responses to simulated changes of light intensity in seedlings of six tree species with differential shade tolerance. The seedlings were growing under different light environments in a lowland tropical forest.

Lactate Transporter SLC16A3 (MCT4) as an Onco-Immunological Biomarker Associating Tumor Microenvironment and Immune Responses in Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Lactate, a marker of tumor metabolic reprogramming, maintains the acidic microenvironment and also affects the metabolism and function of immune cells. SLC16A3 is responsible for the extracellular transport of lactate, which is a key component of glycolysis. However, the role of SLC16A3 in immune infiltration and immunosuppression of lung cancer is largely unknown.

Exosomal LncRNA RP5-977B1 as a novel minimally invasive biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of all lung cancer cases. For lack of conveniently sensitive and specific biomarkers, the majority of patients are in the late stage at initial diagnosis.

Polyphenols from Chinese Herbal Medicine: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets in Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a highly confounding and fatal pathological process with finite treatment options. Multiple factors such as oxidative and immune/inflammation involve key pathological processes in chronic lung disease, and their intimate interactions mediate chronic lung damage, denudation of the alveolar epithelium, hyperproliferation of type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECIIs), proliferation and differentiation of fibroblasts, and the permeability of microvessels. We reviewed the classic mechanism of PF and highlighted a few emerging mechanisms for studying complex networks in lung disease pathology.

Individualized prediction of psychiatric readmissions for patients with major depressive disorder: a 10-year retrospective cohort study.

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are at high risk of psychiatric readmission while the factors associated with such adverse illness trajectories and the impact of the same factor at different follow-up times remain unclear. Based on machine learning (ML) approaches and real-world electronic medical records (EMR), we aimed to predict individual psychiatric readmission within 30, 60, 90, 180, and 365 days of an initial major depression hospitalization. In addition, we examined to what extent our prediction model could be made interpretable by quantifying and visualizing the features that drive the predictions at different follow-up times.

Investigation of serum markers of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma based on machine learning methods.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the malignant tumors with high mortality in humans, and there is a lack of effective and convenient early diagnosis methods. By analyzing the serum miRNA expression data in ESCC tumor samples and normal samples, on the basis of the maximal relevance and minimal redundancy (mRMR) feature selection and the incremental feature selection method, a random forest classifier constructed by five-feature miRNAs was acquired in our study. The receiver operator characteristic curve showed that the model was able to distinguish samples.

Hypoxia Promotes Human Umbilical Vein Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Switching via the ERK 1/2/c-fos/NF-κB Signaling Pathway.

Background: Vein wall hypoxia has long been suggested as a key factor for the development of varicose veins (VVs) and accumulating evidence has revealed the phenotypic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) under hypoxic conditions. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of this process remain poorly understood. Our previous study revealed a positive correlation between c-fos expression and VSMC functional disturbance of VVs.

Construction of a prognostic risk assessment model for lung adenocarcinoma based on Integrin β family-related genes.

Background: Integrin β (ITGB) superfamily plays an essential role in the intercellular connection and signal transmission. It was exhibited that overexpressing of ITGB family members promotes the malignant progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), but the relationship between ITGB superfamily and the LUAD prognosis remains unclear.

Methods: In this study, the samples were assigned to different subgroups utilizing non-negative matrix factorization clustering according to the expression of ITGB family members in LUAD.

A Highly Efficient Sulfur Host Enabled by Nitrogen/Oxygen Dual-Doped Honeycomb-Like Carbon for Advanced Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

High energy density and long cycle life of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries suffer from the shuttle/expansion effect. Sufficient sulfur storage space, local fixation of polysulfides, and outstanding electrical conductivity are crucial for a robust cathode host. Herein, a modified template method is proposed to synthesize a highly regular and uniform nitrogen/oxygen dual-doped honeycomb-like carbon as sulfur host (N/O-HC-S).

Tracking the sliding of grain boundaries at the atomic scale.

Grain boundaries (GBs) play an important role in the mechanical behavior of polycrystalline materials. Despite decades of investigation, the atomic-scale dynamic processes of GB deformation remain elusive, particularly for the GBs in polycrystals, which are commonly of the asymmetric and general type. We conducted an in situ atomic-resolution study to reveal how sliding-dominant deformation is accomplished at general tilt GBs in platinum bicrystals.

The dynamic behavior and mechanism of uranium (VI) biomineralization in Enterobacter sp. X57.

The important role of microbes in the biomineralization and migration behavior of uranium in the field of environmental chemistry has been well emphasized in previous work. However, limited work on mineralization processes of indigenous microorganism has prevented us from a deeper understanding of the process and mechanisms of uranium biomineralization. In this work, the dynamic process and mechanism of uranium biomineralization in Enterobacter sp.

Reversible Mechanochromisms via Manipulating Surface Wrinkling.

Mechanochromic structural-colored materials have promising applications in various domains. In this Letter, we report three types of reversible mechanochromisms in simple material systems by harnessing mechano-responsive wrinkling dynamics including (i) brightness mechanochromism (BM), (ii) hue change mechanochromism (HCM), and (iii) viewable angle mechanochromism (VAM). Upon stretching, the BM device exhibits almost a constant hue but reduces light brightness due to the postbuckling mechanics-controlled deformation, while the HCM device can change the hue from blue to red with almost constant intensity because of the linear elastic mechanics-controlled deformation.

Exploiting the Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer Effect to Construct a Wash-Free Solvatochromic Fluorescent Lipid Droplet Probe for Fatty Liver Disease Diagnosis.

The prominent pathological feature of fatty liver disease lesions is excessive fat accumulation in lipid droplets in hepatocytes. Thus, developing fluorescent lipid droplet-specific probes with high permeability and a high imaging contrast provides a robust tool for diagnosing fatty liver diseases. Herein, we rationally developed a novel donor-acceptor lipophilic fluorescent probe ANI with high photostability for wash-free visualization of lipid droplets and fatty liver disease characteristics.

Photonic Nanojet-Mediated Optogenetics.

Optogenetics has become a widely used technique in neuroscience research, capable of controlling neuronal activity with high spatiotemporal precision and cell-type specificity. Expressing exogenous opsins in the selected cells can induce neuronal activation upon light irradiation, and the activation depends on the power of incident light. However, high optical power can also lead to off-target neuronal activation or even cell damage.

Therapeutic targets of neuroprotection and neurorestoration in ischemic stroke: Applications for natural compounds from medicinal herbs.

Neuroprotective and neurorestorative therapy represent two major drug intervention strategies for ischemic stroke. Multiple factors such as excitotoxicity, inflammation, angiogenesis, and neurogenesis are the main pathological processes that underlie acute and chronic ischemic brain injury. Furthermore, their intimate interactions mediate blood-brain barrier permeability, increase neurovascular unit structural damage as well as a hemorrhagic transformation during ischemic stroke.

Irisin/FNDC5 inhibits the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of epithelial ovarian cancer cells via the PI3K/Akt pathway.

Purpose: This study explored the role of irisin/fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5) in epithelial ovarian cancer and investigated its underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed to analyze the expression of irisin/FNDC5 in epithelial ovarian cancer and normal ovarian tissues. Cell Counting Kit-8, transwell, and wound-healing assays were performed to examine the effect of irisin on the viability, migration, and invasion of ovarian cancer cells, respectively.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of NLR genes in lamprey (Lethenteron reissneri) and their responses to lipopolysaccharide/poly(I:C) challenge.

The nucleotide oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) is a relatively conserved receptor family involved in natural immunity that plays a key role in the resistance to pathogen invasion and regulation of the innate immune response. Lethenteron reissneri (lamprey) is a representative species of existing ancient jawless vertebrates. Studies of the evolutionary relationship of immune system-related molecules in lampreys can provide an important reference for the origin and evolution of innate immunity.

Effects of Platelet-Rich Plasma on Clinical Outcomes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Many studies have documented the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) alongside anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) in the management of ACL injury, but evidence on the benefits of PRP in improving the clinical outcomes of ACLR is inconsistent.

Purpose: To help in our understanding, we undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effects of PRP on patient-reported functional scores, the clinical assessments of knee function and structure, and complications.

Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 1.

Novel duplication remnant in the first complete mitogenome of Hemitriakis japanica and the unique phylogenetic position of family Triakidae.

In this study, we firstly determined the complete mitogenome of the Japanese topeshark (Hemitriakis japonica), which belong to the family Triakidae and was assessed as Endangered A2d on the IUCN Red List in 2021. The mitogenome is 17,301 bp long, has a high AT content (60.0%), and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, a control region and specially a 594 bp-long non-coding region between Cytb gene and tRNA-Thr gene.