Engineering artificial non-coding RNAs for targeted protein degradation.

Targeted protein degradation has become a notable drug development strategy, but its application has been limited by the dependence on protein-based chimeras with restricted genetic manipulation capabilities. The use of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has emerged as a viable alternative, offering interactions with cellular proteins to modulate pathways and enhance degradation capabilities. Here we introduce a strategy employing artificial lncRNAs (alncRNAs) for precise targeted protein degradation.

Conventional ultrasonography enabled with augmented reality needle guidance for percutaneous kidney access: An innovative methodologies randomized controlled trial.

Importance: Successful needle puncture of the renal collecting system is a critical but difficult procedure in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). Although fluoroscopy and ultrasound are the standard imaging techniques to guide puncture during PCNL, both have known limitations.

Objective: To assess the feasibility and safety of a new navigation system for needle puncture in ultrasound-guided PCNL.

Quantifying the conductivity of a single polyene chain by lifting with an STM tip.

Conjugated polymers are promising candidates for molecular wires in nanoelectronics, with flexibility in mechanics, stability in chemistry and variety in electrical conductivity. Polyene, as a segment of polyacetylene, is a typical conjugated polymer with straightforward structure and wide-range adjustable conductance. To obtain atomic scale understanding of charge transfer in polyene, we have measured the conductance of a single polyene-based molecular chain via lifting it up with scanning tunneling microscopy tip.

Universal inter-molecular radical transfer reactions on metal surfaces.

On-surface synthesis provides tools to prepare low-dimensional supramolecular structures. Traditionally, reactive radicals are a class of single-electron species, serving as exceptional electron-withdrawing groups. On metal surfaces, however, such species are affected by conduction band screening effects that may even quench their unpaired electron characteristics.

In vivo immunological activity of chitosan-derived nanoparticles.

Chitosan has been studied as an immunomodulator, but few studies have used chitosan derivatives as adjuvants alone. After a preliminary study, we found that nanoparticles prepared from chitosan derivatives had better cellular immune activity when used as an adjuvant. Therefore, animal experiments were conducted to further investigate the performance and mechanism of these nanoparticles as immune adjuvants.

Prognostic model development and molecular subtypes identification in bladder urothelial cancer by oxidative stress signatures.

Background: Mounting studies indicate that oxidative stress (OS) significantly contributes to tumor progression. Our study focused on bladder urothelial cancer (BLCA), an escalating malignancy worldwide that is growing rapidly. Our objective was to verify the predictive precision of genes associated with overall survival (OS) by constructing a model that forecasts outcomes for bladder cancer and evaluates the prognostic importance of these genetic markers.

Constructing Two-Dimensional Distorted Kagome Lattices on Ag(111).

Two-dimensional (2D) tessellation of organic species acquired increased interest recently because of their potential applications in physics, biology, and chemistry. Herein, we successfully synthesized the chiral distorted Kagome lattice 3 (333) with bicomponent precursors on Ag(111). Scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional calculation studies reveal that the networks are formed by multiple intermolecular hydrogen bonds.

Precisely constructing hybrid nanogap arrays via wet-transfer of dielectric metasurfaces onto a plasmonic mirror.

We propose a new method for fabricating hybrid metasurfaces by combining Mie and plasmonic resonances. Our approach involves obtaining an ultrasmooth gold film and separately structuring monocrystalline silicon (c-Si) nanoantenna arrays, which are then wet-transferred and finally immobilized onto the gold film. The experimental and simulation analysis reveals the importance of the native oxide layer of Si and demonstrates fascinating dispersion curves with nanogap resonances and bound states in the continuum.

Dual Control of Enhanced Quasi-Bound States in the Continuum Emission from Resonant c-Si Metasurfaces.

Optical bound states in the continuum (BICs) offer strong interactions with quantum emitters and have been extensively studied for manipulating spontaneous emission, lasing, and polariton Bose-Einstein condensation. However, the out-coupling efficiency of quasi-BIC emission, crucial for practical light-emitting devices, has received less attention. Here, we report an adaptable approach for enhancing quasi-BIC emission from a resonant monocrystalline silicon (c-Si) metasurface through lattice and multipolar engineering.

Internode Length Is Correlated with GA Content and Is Crucial to the Harvesting Performance of Tea-Picking Machines.

High labor costs and labor shortages are limiting factors affecting the tea industry in Anhui Province. Thus, exploiting the full mechanization of shoot harvesting is an urgent task in the tea industry. Tea quality is greatly influenced by the integrity rate of tea leaves; therefore, it is important to choose tea cultivars suitable for machine picking.

Clinical value of anoikis-related genes and molecular subtypes identification in bladder urothelial carcinoma and validation.

Background: Anoikis is a programmed cell death process that was proven to be associated with cancer. Uroepithelial carcinoma of the bladder (BLCA) is a malignant disease of the urinary tract and has a strong metastatic potential. To determine whether anoikis-associated genes can predict the prognosis of BLCA accurately, we evaluated the prognostic value of anoikis-associated genes in BLCA and constructed the best model to predict prognosis.

Clinical characteristics and prostate-cancer-specific mortality of competitive risk nomogram in the second primary prostate cancer.

Background: With the development of early diagnosis and treatment, the second primary malignancy (SPM) attracts increasing attention. The second primary prostate cancer (spPCa) is an important class of SPM, but remains poorly understood.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 3,322 patients with spPCa diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

Enhancement of protein translation by CRISPR/dCasRx coupled with SINEB2 repeat of noncoding RNAs.

The use of new long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as biotechnological or therapeutic tools is still in its infancy, despite recent efforts to uncover their involvement in various biological processes including mRNA translation. An important question is whether lncRNA functional elements can be used to target translation of mRNAs of interest by incorporating the RNA-targeting CRISPR tools. The CRISPR/dCasRx-SINEB2 technology was developed in this research by coupling the sgRNA of a catalytically inactive Type VI-D Cas13 enzyme (CasRx) to an integrated SINEB2 domain of uchl1 lncRNA that promotes the translation of targeted mRNA.

Clinical neutrophil-associated genes as reliable predictors of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Growing evidence suggests that infiltrating neutrophils are key players in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor progression. However, a comprehensive analysis of the biological roles of neutrophil infiltration and related genes in clinical outcomes and immunotherapy is lacking. HCC samples were obtained from the TCGA and GEO databases.

Development and validation of a competing risk model for second primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: A population-based study.

Background: With advances in early diagnosis and treatment, the number of cancer survivors continues to grow, and more and more cancer survivors face the threat of second primary cancer (SPM). Second primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (spPDAC) is an important subclass of SPM, but its prognostic characteristics are poorly understood.

Methods: A total of 5,439 spPDAC samples and 67,262 primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (pPDAC) samples were extracted from the SEER database for this study.

Clinical Eosinophil-Associated Genes can Serve as a Reliable Predictor of Bladder Urothelial Cancer.

Numerous studies have shown that infiltrating eosinophils play a key role in the tumor progression of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA). However, the roles of eosinophils and associated hub genes in clinical outcomes and immunotherapy are not well known. BLCA patient data were extracted from the TCGA database.

Clinical M2 Macrophage-Related Genes Can Serve as a Reliable Predictor of Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Background: Numerous studies have found that infiltrating M2 macrophages play an important role in the tumor progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, the roles of M2 macrophage infiltration and M2 macrophage-related genes in immunotherapy and clinical outcomes remain obscure.

Methods: Sample information was extracted from TCGA and GEO databases.

The Effect of N-Acetylation on the Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Chitooligosaccharides and Its Potential for Relieving Endotoxemia.

Endotoxemia is mainly caused by a massive burst of inflammatory cytokines as a result of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) invasion. Chitooligosaccharides (COS) is expected to be a potential drug for relieving endotoxemia due to its anti-inflammatory properties. However, the structural parameters of COS are often ambiguous, and the effect of degree of acetylation (DA) of COS on its anti-inflammatory remains unknown.