Eco-Friendly Water-Processable Polyimide Binders with High Adhesion to Silicon Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Silicon is an attractive anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its natural abundance and excellent theoretical energy density. However, Si-based electrodes are difficult to commercialize because of their significant volume changes during lithiation that can result in mechanical damage. To overcome this limitation, we synthesized an eco-friendly water-soluble polyimide (W-PI) precursor, poly(amic acid) salt (W-PAmAS), as a binder for Si anodes via a simple one-step process using water as a solvent.

APP overexpression in the absence of NPC1 exacerbates metabolism of amyloidogenic proteins of Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides originating from β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) are critical in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cellular cholesterol levels/distribution can regulate production and clearance of Aβ peptides, albeit with contradictory outcomes. To better understand the relationship between cholesterol homeostasis and APP/Aβ metabolism, we have recently generated a bigenic ANPC mouse line overexpressing mutant human APP in the absence of Niemann-Pick type C-1 protein required for intracellular cholesterol transport.

Loss of VHL promotes progerin expression, leading to impaired p14/ARF function and suppression of p53 activity.

Renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) are frequently occurring genitourinary malignancies in the aged population. A morphological characteristic of RCCs is an irregular nuclear shape, which is used to index cancer grades. Other features of RCCs include the genetic inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau gene, VHL, and p53 genetic-independent inactivation.

Elevated TRAF2/6 expression in Parkinson's disease is caused by the loss of Parkin E3 ligase activity.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second leading neurodegenerative disease, and is known to be induced by environmental factors or genetic mutations. Among the verified genetic mutations of PD, Parkin, isolated from the PARK2 locus, shows an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern and is known to be an E3 ligase. However, the physiological target of Parkin and the molecular mechanism of Parkin-deficiency-induced PD have not been clearly demonstrated until now.

Direct interaction of α-synuclein and AKT regulates IGF-1 signaling: implication of Parkinson disease.

Genetic mutation of α-synuclein (α-SYN) is clearly verified as the causal factor of human and mouse Parkinson's disease. However, biological function of α-SYN has not been clearly demonstrated until now. In this investigation, we reveal that α-SYN is a co-regulator of growth factor-induced AKT activation.

Slug, mammalian homologue gene of Drosophila escargot, promotes neuronal-differentiation through suppression of HEB/daughterless.

At the neuron developmental stage, neuron-precursor cells can be differentiated into neuron or glia cells. However, precise molecular mechanism to determine the cell fate has not been clearly demonstrated. In this study, we reveal that Drosophila esgarcot and its mammalian homologue genes, Snail and Slug, play a key role in neuronal differentiation.