Self-Enhanced Acoustic Impedance Difference Strategy for Detecting the Acidic Tumor Microenvironment.

B-mode ultrasound imaging is a significant anatomic technique in clinic, which can display the anatomic variation in tissues. However, it is difficult to evaluate the functional state of organs and display the physiological information in organisms such as the tumor acidic microenvironment (TME). Herein, inspired by the phenomenon of sonographic acoustic shadow during detecting calculus in clinic, a strategy of self-enhanced acoustic impedance difference is proposed to monitor the acidic TME.

Blocking Cancer-Nerve Crosstalk for Treatment of Metastatic Bone Cancer Pain.

The tumor microenvironment is a complex milieu where neurons constitute an important non-neoplastic cell type. From "cancer neuroscience," the crosstalk between tumors and neurons favors the rapid growth of both, making the cancer-nerve interaction a reciprocally beneficial process. Thus, cancer-nerve crosstalk may provide new targets for therapeutic intervention against cancer and cancer-related symptoms.

Combination of ShuangDan Capsule and Sorafenib Inhibits Tumor Growth and Angiogenesis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Via PI3K/Akt/mTORC1 Pathway.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high mortality liver cancer. The existing treatments (transplantation, chemotherapy, and individualized treatment) with limitations. However, drug combination provides a viable option for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.

Phylogeny of Coreoidea based on mitochondrial genomes show the paraphyly of Coreidae and Alydidae.

Coreoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera) is a widely distributed and agriculturally important bugs. However, the phylogeny of Coreoidea lacked consensus on higher-level relationships and several studies by comparative morphological characters and molecular data suggested the non-monophyly of two families: Coreidae and Alydidae. The mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) has long been thought to be a significant marker to understand phylogenetic relationships, but the mitogenome in Alydidae is scarce to date.

Self-Organization of Tissue Growth by Interfacial Mechanical Interactions in Multilayered Systems.

Morphogenesis is a spatially and temporally regulated process involved in various physiological and pathological transformations. In addition to the associated biochemical factors, the physical regulation of morphogenesis has attracted increasing attention. However, the driving force of morphogenesis initiation remains elusive.

Specific Ion Effects in Lanthanide-Amphiphile Structures at the Air-Water Interface and Their Implications for Selective Separation.

The use of surfactants to attract dissolved ions to water surfaces and interfaces is an essential step in both solvent-based and solvent-free separation processes. We have studied the interactions of lanthanide ions in the aqueous subphase with monolayers of dihexadecyl phosphate at air-water interfaces. With heavier lanthanides (atomic number ≥ 65) in the subphase, the floating layer can be compressed to an area/molecule of about half the molecular cross section, indicating bilayer formation.

PCAT-UNet: UNet-like network fused convolution and transformer for retinal vessel segmentation.

The accurate segmentation of retinal vessels images can not only be used to evaluate and monitor various ophthalmic diseases, but also timely reflect systemic diseases such as diabetes and blood diseases. Therefore, the study on segmentation of retinal vessels images is of great significance for the diagnosis of visually threatening diseases. In recent years, especially the convolutional neural networks (CNN) based on UNet and its variant have been widely used in various medical image tasks.

Revealing redox isomerism in trichromium imides by anomalous diffraction.

In polynuclear biological active sites, multiple electrons are needed for turnover, and the distribution of these electrons among the metal sites is affected by the structure of the active site. However, the study of the interplay between structure and redox distribution is difficult not only in biological systems but also in synthetic polynuclear clusters since most redox changes produce only one thermodynamically stable product. Here, the unusual chemistry of a sterically hindered trichromium complex allowed us to probe the relationship between structural and redox isomerism.

Efficiency evaluation of maxillary molar distalization using Invisalign based on palatal rugae registration.

Introduction: This study aimed to compare the predicted maxillary molar distalization with the achieved clinical outcome using the palatal rugae area for registration and superimposition of digital models. Understanding Invisalign efficiency may assist clinicians in predicting changes, thus applying specific measures to minimize the chance of midcourse correction later.

Methods: The study sample included 38 patients with a mean age of 25.

Identification of Metabolism-Related Genes Influencing Prognosis of Multiple Myeloma Patients.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most commonly diagnosed hematological malignancy. Understanding the basic mechanisms of the metabolism in MM may lead to new therapies that benefit patients. We collected the gene expression profile data of GSE39754 and performed differential analysis.

A case of pagetoid reticulosis treated with topical photodynamic therapy.

A 70-year-old male presented with reddish brown, keratotic plaque on his left leg which had grown slowly for ten years. The histopathological examination revealed acanthosis and bands of lymphocytes with significant epidermotropism. The intraepidermal lymphocytes showed large, pleomorphic and hyperchromatic nuclei with distinct nucleoli and perinuclear halos, positive for CD3, CD4 and CD30, negative for CD8, CD20 and high in Ki67 index.

A novel silicone derivative of natural osalmid (DCZ0858) exerts anti-multiple myeloma activity by promoting cell apoptosis and inhibiting cell cycle and mTOR signaling.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease characterized by abnormal proliferation of clonal plasma cells. Based on the organic drug osalmid, the novel small molecule compound DCZ0858 was designed and synthesized for treating MM. DCZ0858 inhibited the proliferation and activity of MM cells and reduced colony formation.

Disrupted mitochondrial homeostasis coupled with mitotic arrest generates antineoplastic oxidative stress.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) serve as critical signals in various cellular processes. Excessive ROS cause cell death or senescence and mediates the therapeutic effect of many cancer drugs. Recent studies showed that ROS increasingly accumulate during G2/M arrest, the underlying mechanism, however, has not been fully elucidated.

Knowledge-Based Design of 5-Fluororacil Prodrug Liposomal Formulation: Molecular Packing and Interaction Revealed by Interfacial Isotherms and X-ray Scattering Techniques.

Prodrugs and nanoformulations are two effective strategies for sustained drug release and targeting drug delivery. In this study, we combined the two strategies to judiciously design the liposome formulation incorporating an amphiphilic prodrug of 5-fouroracil (5-FU), named 5-FCPal, for sustained drug release and enhanced bioavailability. 5-FCPal is an analogue of capecitabine (N-pentyloxycarbonyl-5'-deoxy-5-fluorocytidine, Xeloda) by substituting the pentyl group at the N position with the palmityl.

Targeting the Pro-survival Protein BCL-2 to Prevent Breast Cancer.

Current chemopreventive strategies require 3-5 years of continuous treatment and have the concerns of significant side effects; therefore, new chemopreventive agents that require shorter and safer treatments are urgently needed. In this study, we developed a new murine model of breast cancer that mimics human breast cancer initiation and is ideal for testing the efficacy of chemopreventive therapeutics. In this model, introduction of lentivirus carrying a PIK3CA gene mutant commonly found in breast cancers infects a small number of the mammary cells, leading to atypia first and then to ductal carcinomas that are positive for both estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor.

Binding Sites and the Mechanism of Action of Propofol and a Photoreactive Analogue in Prokaryotic Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels.

Propofol, one of the most commonly used intravenous general anesthetics, modulates neuronal function by interacting with ion channels. The mechanisms that link propofol binding to the modulation of distinct ion channel states, however, are not understood. To tackle this problem, we investigated the prokaryotic ancestors of eukaryotic voltage-gated Na channels (Navs) using unbiased photoaffinity labeling (PAL) with a diazirine derivative of propofol (AziP), electrophysiological methods, and mutagenesis.

The phylogenic position of aschiphasmatidae in euphasmatodea based on mitochondrial genomic evidence.

The mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) has been regarded as significant source of data to better understand the phylogenetic relationships within the Euphasmatodea, but no mitogenome in Aschiphasmatoidea has been sequenced to date. In this study, two mitogenomes of Orthomeria smaragdinum and Nanhuaphasma hamicercum of Aschiphasmatidae were sequenced and annotated for the first time. The same mitochondrial gene rearrangement structure was present in the two mitogenomes sequenced, showing as the translocation of tRNA-Arg and tRNA-Asn, which conformed to the tandem duplication-random loss and could be used as a possible synapomorphy for Aschiphasmatidae.

How Tim proteins differentially exploit membrane features to attain robust target sensitivity.

Immune surveillance cells such as T cells and phagocytes utilize integral plasma membrane receptors to recognize surface signatures on triggered and activated cells such as those in apoptosis. One such family of plasma membrane sensors, the transmembrane immunoglobulin and mucin domain (Tim) proteins, specifically recognize phosphatidylserine (PS) but elicit distinct immunological responses. The molecular basis for the recognition of lipid signals on target cell surfaces is not well understood.

Structural insights into hepatitis C virus receptor binding and entry.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a causal agent of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in humans, and afflicts more than 70 million people worldwide. The HCV envelope glycoproteins E1 and E2 are responsible for the binding of the virus to the host cell, but the exact entry process remains undetermined. The majority of broadly neutralizing antibodies block interaction between HCV E2 and the large extracellular loop (LEL) of the cellular receptor CD81 (CD81-LEL).

Toward a global DNA barcode reference library of the intolerant nonbiting midge genus Brundin, 1956.

Environmental DNA metabarcoding is becoming a predominant tool in biodiversity assessment, as this time- and cost-efficient tactics have the ability to increase monitoring accuracy. As a worldwide distributed genus, Brundin, 1956 still does not possess a complete and comprehensive global DNA barcode reference library for biodiversity monitoring. In the present study, we compiled a cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) DNA barcode library of with 434 barcodes around the world, including 121 newly generated DNA barcodes of 32 morphospecies and 313 public barcodes.