Afterglow Electrochemiluminescence from Nitrogen-Deficient Graphitic Carbon Nitride.

Almost all current electrochemiluminescent reagents require real-time electrochemical stimulation to emit light. Here, we report a novel electrochemiluminescent reagent, nitrogen-deficient graphitic carbon nitride (CN), that can emit afterglow electrochemiluminescence (ECL) after cessation of electric excitation. CN obtained by post-thermal treatment of graphitic carbon nitride (CN) with KSCN has a cyanamide group and a nitrogen vacancy, which created defects to trap electrically injected electrons.

Human liver cancer organoids: Biological applications, current challenges, and prospects in hepatoma therapy.

Liver cancer and disease are among the most socially challenging global health concerns. Although organ transplantation, surgical resection and anticancer drugs are the main methods for the treatment of liver cancer, there are still no proven cures owing to the lack of donor livers and tumor heterogeneity. Recently, advances in tumor organoid technology have attracted considerable attention as they can simulate the spatial constructs and pathophysiological characteristics of tumorigenesis and metastasis in a more realistic manner.

DDX56 transcriptionally activates MIST1 to facilitate tumorigenesis of HCC through PTEN-AKT signaling.

: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver that is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. However, genetic alterations and mechanisms underlying HCC development remain unclear. Tissue specimens were used to evaluate the expression of DEAD-Box 56 (DDX56) to determine its prognostic value.

Tumor Cell-Specific and Lipase-Responsive Delivery of Hydrogen Sulfide for Sensitizing Chemotherapy of Pancreatic Cancer.

The inability of small molecule drugs to diffuse into tumor interstitium is responsible for the relatively low effectiveness of chemotherapy. Herein, a hydrogen sulfide (HS) gas-involved chemosensitization strategy is proposed for pancreatic cancer treatment by developing a tumor-specific lipase-responsive nanomedicine based on aptamer-conjugated DATS/Dox co-loaded PCL--PEO micelle (DA/D@Ms-A). After receptor-mediated endocytosis and subsequent digestion of PCL blocks by intracellular lipase, the nanomedicine releases Dox and DATS, which then react with intracellular glutathione to produce HS.

Efficacy of Auricular Acupressure in Prevention and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: More than 40% of patients with cancer have reported that chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remained the most debilitating side effects of treatment even in the era of new antiemetics.

Objective: The purpose of this review was to systematically evaluate the clinical effect of auricular acupressure (AA) in prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Methods: The following databases were searched: PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, the Web of Science, Chinese Biological Medicine (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP (from database inception to April 2020).

Hybridizing Carbon-Based Dot-Capped Manganese Dioxide Nanosheets and Gold Nanoparticles as a Highly Sensitive Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrate.

Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is a sensitive and nondestructive technique that provides fingerprint structural information of molecules. Designing and constructing sensitive and stable SERS substrates is of great significance for the application of the technique. In this study, single-layer carbon-based dots (CDs) are used as capping agents to synthesize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/CDs) and manganese dioxide nanosheets (MnO/CDs), which are then hybridized through a simple cocentrifugation method.

Tune the Fluorescence and Electrochemiluminescence of Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets by Controlling the Defect States.

The effects of defect states on the fluorescence (FL) and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) properties of graphite phase carbon nitride (g-CN) are systematically investigated for the first time. The g-CN nanosheets (CNNSs) obtained at different condensation temperatures are used as the study models. It can be found that all the CNNSs have two kinds of defect states, one is originated from the edge of CNNSs (labeled as CN-defect) and the other is attributed to the partially carbonization regions (labeled as C-defect).

Heparin versus 0.9% saline solution to maintain patency of totally implanted venous access ports in cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: The use of heparin and 0.9% saline solution is always controversial for central venous catheters. However, there is no systematic review or guideline about whether saline solution can replace heparin solution in adult cancer patients with totally implantable venous access ports (TIVAPs).

Prolonging the flush-lock interval of totally implantable venous access ports in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Recently, some studies have shown that prolonging flush interval is safe and feasible for patients who complete chemotherapy. However, there is no consensus about the optimal flush interval for those patients.

Objective: The purpose of this review was to evaluate whether the flush interval could be prolonged based on monthly interval for regular maintenance and to explore the optimal flush interval.

Ultra-high quantum yield ultraviolet fluorescence of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) nanosheets (CNNs) with an ultra-high quantum yield (80.1%) ultraviolet fluorescence (FL) were prepared. The effects of the lateral size and the polymerization temperature on the optical properties of CNNs have been studied.

Gas-Mediated Cancer Bioimaging and Therapy.

Gas-involving cancer theranostics have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their high therapeutic efficacy and biosafety. We have reviewed the recent significant advances in the development of stimuli-responsive gas releasing molecules (GRMs) and gas nanogenerators for cancer bioimaging, targeted and controlled gas therapy, and gas-sensitized synergistic therapy. We have focused on gases with known anticancer effects, such as oxygen (O), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen sulfide (HS), hydrogen (H), sulfur dioxide (SO), carbon dioxide (CO), and heavy gases that act the gas-generating process.

Spontaneous Cancers, But Not Many Induced Ones in Animals, Resemble Semi-New Organisms that Possess a Unique Programmed Cell Death Mode Different from Apoptosis, Senescent Death, Necrosis and Stress-Induced Cell Death.

There are four basic cell death modes in animals, i.e. physiological senescent death (SD) and apoptosis as well as pathological necrosis and stress-induced cell death (SICD).

Evaluating the Remote Control of Programmed Cell Death, with or without a Compensatory Cell Proliferation.

Organisms and their different component levels, whether organelle, cellular or other, come by birth and go by death, and the deaths are often balanced by new births. Evolution on the one hand has built demise program(s) in cells of organisms but on the other hand has established external controls on the program(s). For instance, evolution has established death program(s) in animal cells so that the cells can, when it is needed, commit apoptosis or senescent death (SD) in physiological situations and stress-induced cell death (SICD) in pathological situations.

While it is not deliberate, much of today's biomedical research contains logical and technical flaws, showing a need for corrective action.

Biomedical research has advanced swiftly in recent decades, largely due to progress in biotechnology. However, this rapid spread of new, and not always-fully understood, technology has also created a lot of false or irreproducible data and artifacts, which sometimes have led to erroneous conclusions. When describing various scientific issues, scientists have developed a habit of saying "on one hand… but on the other hand…", because discrepant data and conclusions have become omnipresent.

Effects of C-Related Dangling Bonds and Functional Groups on the Fluorescent and Electrochemiluminescent Properties of Carbon-Based Dots.

Single-layer carbon-based dots (SCDs) were chosen as a model to investigate the effect of the C-related dangling bonds with spin S=1/2 and functional groups on the electrochemiluminescent (ECL) and fluorescent (FL) properties of CDs. The C-related dangling bonds and functional groups of SCDs were tuned by chemical reduction with NaBH . There have several main findings via investigating the ECL and FL properties of SCDs before and after the chemical reduction.

Transcriptional-Readthrough RNAs Reflect the Phenomenon of "A Gene Contains Gene(s)" or "Gene(s) within a Gene" in the Human Genome, and Thus Are Not Chimeric RNAs.

Tens of thousands of chimeric RNAs, i.e., RNAs with sequences of two genes, have been identified in human cells.

Probably less than one-tenth of the genes produce only the wild type protein without at least one additional protein isoform in some human cancer cell lines.

To estimate how many genes produce multiple protein isoforms, we electrophoresed proteins from MCF7 and MDA-MB231 (MB231) human breast cancer cells in SDS-PAGE and excised narrow stripes of the gel at the 48kD, 55kD and 72kD. Proteins in these stripes were identified using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 765, 750 and 679 proteins from MB231 cells, as well as 470, 390 and 490 proteins from MCF7 cells, were identified from the 48kD, 55kD and 72kD stripes, respectively.

Circulating Tumor Cells: Moving Biological Insights into Detection.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have shown promising potential as liquid biopsies that facilitate early detection, prognosis, therapeutic target selection and monitoring treatment response. CTCs in most cancer patients are low in abundance and heterogeneous in morphological and phenotypic profiles, which complicate their enrichment and subsequent characterization. Several methodologies for CTC enrichment and characterization have been developed over the past few years.

Cervical Cancers Manifest a High Rate of Infection by a High-Risk Human Papilloma Virus Subtype but a Very Low Rate of Infection by a Low-Risk Subtype in the Guiyang District of China.

The prevalence of infection by different genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) varies among different geographic areas. We studied the prevalence of infection by 21 HPV genotypes in cervical tissue specimens from 4213 women in the Guiyang district, that is located in the southwest of China and is dominated by minor ethnicities of Chinese, and 2074 cases in our cohort had pathological diagnosis available. The overall infection rate was 36.

Establishment of a Simple and Quick Method for Detecting Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) Genes in Bacteria.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes that render bacteria resistant to antibiotics are commonly detected using phenotype testing, which is time consuming and not sufficiently accurate. To establish a better method, we used phenotype testing to identify ESBL-positive bacterial strains and conducted PCR to screen for TEM (named after the patient Temoneira who provided the first sample), sulfhydryl reagent variable (SHV), cefotaxime (CTX)-M-1, and CTX-M-9, the 4 most common ESBL types and subtypes. We then performed multiplex PCR with 1 primer containing a biotin and hybridized the PCR products with gene-specific probes that were coupled with microbeads and coated with a specific fluorescence.

The well-accepted notion that gene amplification contributes to increased expression still remains, after all these years, a reasonable but unproven assumption.

"Gene amplification causes overexpression" is a longstanding and well-accepted concept in cancer genetics. However, raking the whole literature, we find only statistical analyses showing a positive correlation between gene copy number and expression level, but do not find convincing experimental corroboration for this notion, for most of the amplified oncogenes in cancers. Since an association does not need to be an actual causal relation, in our opinion, this widespread notion still remains a reasonable but unproven assumption awaiting experimental verification.

Two RNAs or DNAs May Artificially Fuse Together at a Short Homologous Sequence (SHS) during Reverse Transcription or Polymerase Chain Reactions, and Thus Reporting an SHS-Containing Chimeric RNA Requires Extra Caution.

Tens of thousands of chimeric RNAs have been reported. Most of them contain a short homologous sequence (SHS) at the joining site of the two partner genes but are not associated with a fusion gene. We hypothesize that many of these chimeras may be technical artifacts derived from SHS-caused mis-priming in reverse transcription (RT) or polymerase chain reactions (PCR).

Learning about the Importance of Mutation Prevention from Curable Cancers and Benign Tumors.

Some cancers can be cured by chemotherapy or radiotherapy, presumably because they are derived from those cell types that not only can die easily but also have already been equipped with mobility and adaptability, which would later allow the cancers to metastasize without the acquisition of additional mutations. From a viewpoint of biological dispersal, invasive and metastatic cells may, among other possibilities, have been initial losers in the competition for resources with other cancer cells in the same primary tumor and thus have had to look for new habitats in order to survive. If this is really the case, manipulation of their ecosystems, such as by slightly ameliorating their hardship, may prevent metastasis.

Single plasmonic nanoparticles for ultrasensitive DNA sensing: From invisible to visible.

The background signal is a major factor that restricts the limit of detection of biosensors. Herein, we present a zero-background DNA-sensing approach that utilizes enzyme-guided gold nanoparticle (AuNP) enlargement. This sensing strategy is based on the finding that small nanoparticles are invisible under a darkfield optical microscope, thus completely eliminating the background signal.