Constructing Dynamic Macropores in Thermo-Responsive Hydrogel Actuator for Large-Deformable Gripper.

Poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAm)-based smart hydrogels are widely employed in emerging applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering, because their lower critical solution temperature (LCST) is close to physiological conditions. However, the dense chain collapse during the thermo-responsive phase transition restricts water diffusion, resulting in limited volumetric change. Here, a pure PNIPAm hydrogel that achieves a large-scale volume transition by incorporating PNIPAm microgels, is presented.

H-bond-type thermo-responsive schizophrenic copolymers: The phase transition correlation with their parent polymers and the improved protein co-assembly ability.

Schizophrenic copolymers are one type of the popular smart polymers that show invertible colloidal structures in response to temperature stimulus. However, the lack of principles to predict the phase transition temperature of a schizophrenic copolymer from its corresponding parent thermo-responsive polymers limits their development. Additionally, studies on their applications remain scarce.

Design of a UCST Polymer with Strong Hydrogen Bonds and Reactive Moieties for Facile Polymer-Protein Hybridization.

Polymer-protein hybrids have been extensively used in biomedical fields. Polymers with upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behaviors can form a hydrated coacervate phase below the cloud point (), providing themselves the opportunity to directly capture hydrophilic proteins and form hybrids in aqueous solutions. However, it is always a challenge to obtain a UCST polymer that could aggregate at a high temperature at a relatively low concentration and also efficiently bind with proteins.

Aqueous Synthesis of Upper Critical Solution Temperature and Lower Critical Solution Temperature Copolymers through Combination of Hydrogen-Donors and Hydrogen-Acceptors.

The synthesis of thermo-responsive polymers from non-responsive and water-soluble monomers has great practical advantages but significant challenges. Herein, the authors report a novel aqueous copolymerization strategy to prepare polymers with tunable upper critical solution temperature (UCST) or lower critical solution temperature (LCST) from non-responsive monomers. Acrylic acid (AAc), N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), and acrylamide (AAm) are copolymerized in water, yielding copolymers with UCST behavior.

Clinical characteristics and the risk factors for severe events of elderly coronavirus disease 2019 patients.

Objectives: To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for severe events of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in elderly patients.

Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of all elderly COVID- 19 patients treated in Changsha Public Health Treatment Center from January 17, 2020 to March 15, 2020, which included basic diseases, symptoms, test results, and other clinical characteristics, and prognostic indicators such as severity of illness, length of hospital stay, virus shedding time and mortality rate. The differences in clinical characteristics and prognostic indicators between elderly, middle-aged, and young COVID-19 patients were also analyzed.

Diagnostic Utility of Serum Golgi Phosphoprotein 3 in Bladder Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND This study assessed whether serum Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) could be used as a biomarker for detecting bladder cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay were performed to measure GOLPH3 expression in serum and tissue samples, respectively, of bladder cancer patients. The associations of serum GOLPH3 expression with clinicopathological factors and the diagnostic accuracy were statistically evaluated using the chi-square test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

GPR137 is a promising novel bio-marker for the prognosis of bladder cancer patients.

Objectives: G protein-coupled receptor 137 (GPR137) was reported to be associated with several cancers, but its role in bladder cancer has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical significance of GPR137 in bladder cancer.

Methods: The expressions of GPR137 in pathological tissues and corresponding normal tissues from bladder cancer patients were detected via quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

IFITM3 promotes bone metastasis of prostate cancer cells by mediating activation of the TGF-β signaling pathway.

Advanced-stage prostate cancer (PCa) is often diagnosed with bone metastasis, for which there are limited therapies. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is known to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and abundance of TGF-β in the bone matrix is one of the important growth factors contributing to bone metastasis. TGF-β is reported as a key mediator of bone metastasis, but the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated.

The value of as a novel biomarker in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

is reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of cancers. However, its clinic significance in prostate cancer (PCa) had not yet to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of in PCa.

Upregulated osterix promotes invasion and bone metastasis and predicts for a poor prognosis in breast cancer.

Approximately 70% of patients with advanced breast cancer develop bone metastases, accompanied by complications, such as bone pain, fracture, and hypercalcemia. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern this process remains fragmentary. Osterix (Osx) is a zinc finger-containing transcription factor essential for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation.

Oridonin induces G/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in hormone-independent prostate cancer cells.

Oridonin is an active constituent isolated from the traditional Chinese herb , which exerts antitumor effects in experimental and clinical settings. However, its antitumor effects and underlying mechanisms on prostate cancer cells have not yet been clearly identified. In the present study, the androgen-independent prostate cancer PC3 and DU145 cell lines were used as models to investigate the effects and possible mechanisms of oridonin on cellular proliferation and apoptosis.

Osterix acetylation at K307 and K312 enhances its transcriptional activity and is required for osteoblast differentiation.

Osterix (Osx) is an essential transcription factor involved in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. The precise molecular mechanisms of the regulation of Osx expression are not fully understood. In the present study, we found that in cells, both endogenous and exogenous Osx protein increased after treatment with histone deacetylase inhibitors Trichostatin A and hydroxamic acid.

Overexpression of USP39 predicts poor prognosis and promotes tumorigenesis of prostate cancer via promoting EGFR mRNA maturation and transcription elongation.

Castration resistance is a serious problem facing clinical treatment of prostate cancer (PCa). The underlying molecular mechanisms of acquired proliferation ability of tumor cells upon androgen deprivation are largely undetermined. In the present study, we identified that ubiquitin specific peptidase 39 (USP39) was significantly upregulated in PCa samples and cell lines.

Low LKB1 Expression Results in Unfavorable Prognosis in Prostate Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND The present study aimed to compare the expression of liver kinase B1 (LKB1) in prostate cancer (PCa) tissues and the paired adjacent tissues, then to evaluate the statistical relationship between LKB1 expression and prognosis of PCa patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS The relative expression of LKB1 at mRNA level was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The expression of LKB1 at protein level was measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) method.

Osthole inhibits proliferation of human breast cancer cells by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

Recent studies have revealed that osthole, an active constituent isolated from the fruit of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson, a traditional Chinese medicine, possesses anticancer activity. However, its effect on breast cancer cells so far has not been elucidated clearly.

Phosphorylation of Serine422 increases the stability and transactivation activities of human Osterix.

Osterix (Osx) is an essential regulator for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Although phosphorylation has been reported to be involved in the regulation of Osx activity, the precise underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here we identified S422 as a novel phosphorylation site of Osx and demonstrated that GSK-3β interacted and co-localized with Osx.

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein, OXPAPC, corrects defects in maturation and cytokine secretion of peripheral blood dendritic cells from sepsis patients.

Objective: To investigate the expression differences in maturation and cytokine production of dendritic cells (DCs) from sepsis patients and the effect of oxidized phospholipid 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (OXPAPC) on DCs phenotypes.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 50 sepsis patients and 50 controls were cultured in the presence of GM-CSF, IL-4 and TNF-α to induce DCs maturation. DCs from sepsis patients were also treated with three different concentrations of OXPAPC.

MDM2 promotes invasion and metastasis in invasive ductal breast carcinoma by inducing matrix metalloproteinase-9.

The molecular mechanisms that underpin invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) invasion and metastasis are incompletely understood. The oncogene, mouse double minute 2 (MDM2), has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous cancers, where it stimulates the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), an important enzyme in the breakdown of the extracellular matrix. However, its role in breast cancer remains poorly understood.

MicroRNA-214 suppresses osteogenic differentiation of C2C12 myoblast cells by targeting Osterix.

Osterix (Osx) is an osteoblast-specific transcription factor that is essential for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Osx-null mice, which exhibit a complete absence of bone formation and arrested osteoblast differentiation, die immediately after birth. However, our understanding of the regulatory mechanism of Osx expression remains poor.

Characterization of Osterix protein stability and physiological role in osteoblast differentiation.

Osterix (Osx/SP7) is a C2H2 zinc finger-containing transcription factor of the SP gene family. Osx knockout mice indicate that the gene plays an essential role in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. However, the mechanisms involved in the regulation of Osx are still poorly understood.