METTL3-mediated m6A modification of EPPK1 to promote the development of esophageal cancer through regulating the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Methyltransferase like 3 (METTL3) has been proved to be involved in the progression of various cancers. In this study, we explored the role of METTL3 and its underlying mechanism in esophageal cancer progression. The mRNA and protein levels of METTL3 and epiplakin1 (EPPK1) were determined using qRT-PCR and western blot.

A nuclear-targeted titanium dioxide radiosensitizer for cell cycle regulation and enhanced radiotherapy.

A nuclear-targeted titanium dioxide radiosensitizer was developed to regulate the cell cycle and enhance the radiation effect.

Ratiometric Fluorescent Quantification of the Size-Dependent Cellular Toxicity of Silica Nanoparticles.

Nanoscale particles are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, and the widespread use of nanoparticles may increase the risks of organ damage. Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate the toxicity of nanoparticles of different sizes toward living cells, especially lung epithelial cells. In this study, the quantitative ratiometric fluorescent detection of intracellular pH changes was utilized to evaluate the cytotoxicity of mesoporous silica nanoparticles of different sizes after the nanoparticles had entered lung epithelial cells.

Enhancement of mitochondrial ROS accumulation and radiotherapeutic efficacy using a Gd-doped titania nanosensitizer.

Radiotherapy is an extensively used treatment modality in the clinic and can kill malignant cells by generating cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Unfortunately, excessive dosages of radiation are typically required because only a small proportion of the radiative energy is adsorbed by the soft tissues of a tumor, which results in the nonselective killing of normal cells and severe systemic side effects. An efficient nanosensitizer that makes cancer cells more sensitive to radiotherapy under a relatively low radiation dose would be highly desirable.

A mitochondria-targeted nanoradiosensitizer activating reactive oxygen species burst for enhanced radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy (RT) has been widely used for malignant tumor treatment. However, the large dosage of ionizing radiation and high frequency of radiotherapy in clinical cancer therapy cause severe damage to normal tissues adjacent to tumors. Therefore, how to increase the local treatment efficacy and reduce the damage to normal tissues has been a challenge for RT.

Visualizing Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation and Invasion for Assessing Drug Efficacy with a Fluorescent Nanoprobe.

Hard-to-treat cancers are closely relative to uncontrolled cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Assessing proliferation and invasion properties of tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo is especially important for acquiring reliable information for cancer pathogenesis, drug screening, and therapeutic effect evaluation. Herein, we developed a multicolor fluorescent nanoprobe for simultaneously monitoring breast cancer cells' proliferation marker Ki-67 and invasion marker urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA).

Silicon-graphene conductive photodetector with ultra-high responsivity.

Graphene is attractive for realizing optoelectronic devices, including photodetectors because of the unique advantages. It can easily co-work with other semiconductors to form a Schottky junction, in which the photo-carrier generated by light absorption in the semiconductor might be transported to the graphene layer efficiently by the build-in field. It changes the graphene conduction greatly and provides the possibility of realizing a graphene-based conductive-mode photodetector.

Tunable pattern-free graphene nanoplasmonic waveguides on trenched silicon substrate.

Graphene has emerged as a promising material for active plasmonic devices in the mid-infrared (MIR) region owing to its fast tunability, strong mode confinement, and long-lived collective excitation. In order to realize on-chip graphene plasmonics, several types of graphene plasmonic waveguides (GPWGs) have been investigated and most of them are with graphene ribbons suffering from the pattern-caused edge effect. Here we propose a novel nanoplasmonic waveguide with a pattern-free graphene monolayer on the top of a nano-trench.

Local and nonlocal optically induced transparency effects in graphene-silicon hybrid nanophotonic integrated circuits.

Graphene is well-known as a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms arrayed in a honeycomb structure. It has some unique and fascinating properties, which are useful for realizing many optoelectronic devices and applications, including transistors, photodetectors, solar cells, and modulators. To enhance light-graphene interactions and take advantage of its properties, a promising approach is to combine a graphene sheet with optical waveguides, such as silicon nanophotonic wires considered in this paper.