Anti-miR21-conjugated DNA nanohydrogel for enhanced cancer therapy.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding, endogenous small single-stranded RNA molecules involved in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. It has been demonstrated that dysregulation of miRNA plays a major role in tumor formation, proliferation, and metastasis. Therefore, the delivery of anti-miRNA oligonucleotides to block the activity of these oncogenic miRNAs is a high-potential anti-cancer therapy approach.

Positional effects of electron-donating and withdrawing groups on the photophysical properties of single benzene fluorophores.

We investigated how the positional arrangement of electron-donating (amino) and electron-withdrawing (ester) groups in single benzene-based fluorophores influences their emission properties. By synthesizing 26 regioisomeric fluorophores, we achieved wavelength modulation from 322 to 539 nm, revealing key correlations between functional group positioning and photophysical behavior.

Recent Advances and Prospects of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics for Anti-Cancer Therapy.

Nucleic acid therapeutics are promising alternatives to conventional anti-cancer therapy, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. While conventional therapies have limitations, such as high side effects, low specificity, and drug resistance, nucleic acid therapeutics work at the gene level to eliminate the cause of the disease. Nucleic acid therapeutics treat diseases in various forms and using different mechanisms, including plasmid DNA (pDNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA), anti-microRNA (anti-miR), microRNA mimics (miRNA mimic), messenger RNA (mRNA), aptamer, catalytic nucleic acid (CNA), and CRISPR cas9 guide RNA (gRNA).

Linkage of alternative exon assembly in Drosophila TrpA1 transcripts.

Drosophila TrpA1 (transient receptor potential ankyrin 1) transcripts are alternatively spliced at 2 distinct sites each with a choice of mutually exclusive exons. The first site determines exon1 encoding the amino terminus to produce either nucleophile-, electrophile- and noxious temperature-gated TRPA1(A) or electrophile- and innocuous warmth-gated TRPA1(B). The second site selects for exon10, resulting in TrpA1 variants with either exon10a or exon10b encoding a domain between the N-terminal ankyrin repeats and the transmembrane segments.

A comprehensive multi-task deep learning approach for predicting metabolic syndrome with genetic, nutritional, and clinical data.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex disorder characterized by a cluster of metabolic abnormalities, including abdominal obesity, hypertension, elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and impaired glucose tolerance. It poses a significant public health concern, as individuals with MetS are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Early and accurate identification of individuals at risk for MetS is essential.

HCN mediates gustatory homeostasis by preserving sensillar transepithelial potential in sweet environments.

Establishing transepithelial ion disparities is crucial for sensory functions in animals. In insect sensory organs called sensilla, a transepithelial potential, known as the sensillum potential (SP), arises through active ion transport across accessory cells, sensitizing receptor neurons such as mechanoreceptors and chemoreceptors. Because multiple receptor neurons are often co-housed in a sensillum and share SP, niche-prevalent overstimulation of single sensory neurons can compromise neighboring receptors by depleting SP.

Nanosized DNA Hydrogel Functionalized with a DNAzyme Tetrahedron for Highly Efficient Gene Silencing.

DNAzymes are DNA oligonucleotides that have catalytic activity without the assistance of protein enzymes. In particular, RNA-cleaving DNAzymes were considered as ideal candidates for gene therapy due to their unique characteristics. Nevertheless, efforts to use DNAzyme as a gene therapeutic agent are limited by issues such as their low physiological stability in serum and intracellular delivery efficiency.

Recent Advances in Biological Applications of Aptamer-Based Fluorescent Biosensors.

Aptamers have been spotlighted as promising bio-recognition elements because they can be tailored to specific target molecules, bind to targets with a high affinity and specificity, and are easy to chemically synthesize and introduce functional groups to. In particular, fluorescent aptasensors are widely used in biological applications to diagnose diseases as well as prevent diseases by detecting cancer cells, viruses, and various biomarkers including nucleic acids and proteins as well as biotoxins and bacteria from food because they have the advantages of a high sensitivity, selectivity, rapidity, a simple detection process, and a low price. We introduce screening methods for isolating aptamers with q high specificity and summarize the sequences and affinities of the aptamers in a table.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma tumor spheroid drug screen reveals vulnerability to tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 inhibitors.

Background: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas are rare neoplasms with no effective treatments and poor prognosis. Few reliable preclinical models exist for the study of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas, limiting investigation of novel treatments. We used tumor spheroids from our recently established gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma patient-derived xenograft models to systematically screen for compounds with diverse structures to identify potential new categories of therapeutic agents that can target gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas.

Advances and Trends in miRNA Analysis Using DNAzyme-Based Biosensors.

miRNAs are endogenous small, non-coding RNA molecules that function in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Because miRNA plays a pivotal role in maintaining the intracellular environment, and abnormal expression has been found in many cancer diseases, detection of miRNA as a biomarker is important for early diagnosis of disease and study of miRNA function. However, because miRNA is present in extremely low concentrations in cells and many types of miRNAs with similar sequences are mixed, traditional gene detection methods are not suitable for miRNA detection.

MP-LASSO chart: a multi-level polar chart for visualizing group LASSO analysis of genomic data.

Penalized regression has been widely used in genome-wide association studies for jointanalyses to find genetic associations. Among penalized regression models, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) method effectively removes some coefficientsfrom the model by shrinking them to zero. To handle group structures, such as genes andpathways, several modified Lasso penalties have been proposed, including group Lasso andsparse group Lasso.

Effectiveness of Plasma-Treated Hydrogen Peroxide Mist Disinfection in Various Hospital Environments.

Hospital environments are associated with a high risk of infection. As plasma-treated hydrogen peroxide mist disinfection has a higher disinfection efficacy, we tested the efficacy of plasma-treated hydrogen peroxide mist disinfection on several surfaces in various hospital environments. Disinfection was performed in 23 rooms across different hospital environments, including hospital wards, outpatient departments (OPDs), and emergency rooms.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Unpredictable Dynamics of the Cryptocurrency Market.

The global economy is under great shock again in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it has not been long since the global financial crisis in 2008. Therefore, we investigate the evolution of the complexity of the cryptocurrency market and analyze the characteristics from the past bull market in 2017 to the present the COVID-19 pandemic. To confirm the evolutionary complexity of the cryptocurrency market, three general complexity analyses based on nonlinear measures were used: approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SampEn), and Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZ).

Review of machine learning methods in soft robotics.

Soft robots have been extensively researched due to their flexible, deformable, and adaptive characteristics. However, compared to rigid robots, soft robots have issues in modeling, calibration, and control in that the innate characteristics of the soft materials can cause complex behaviors due to non-linearity and hysteresis. To overcome these limitations, recent studies have applied various approaches based on machine learning.

Evaluation of Finger Force Control Ability in terms of Multi-finger Synergy.

In this study, finger force control abilities are quantified by the concept of multi-finger synergy in conjunction with uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis. Two indices, named repeatability and flexibility, representing features of multi-finger synergy were proposed to overcome the limitation of previously introduced indices, such as floor effects and distortion problems. The proposed indices were applied to stroke patients and healthy adults through specifically designed experiments.

Reclassification of and variants of uncertain significance: a multifactorial analysis of multicentre prospective cohort.

Background: and () variants classified ambiguously as variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are a major challenge for clinical genetic testing in breast cancer; their relevance to the cancer risk is unclear and the association with the response to specific -targeted agents is uncertain. To minimise the proportion of VUS in , we performed the multifactorial likelihood analysis and validated this method using an independent cohort of patients with breast cancer.

Methods: We used a data set of 2115 patients with breast cancer from the nationwide multicentre prospective Korean Hereditary Breast Cancer study.

A RNA producing DNA hydrogel as a platform for a high performance RNA interference system.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a mechanism in which small interfering RNA (siRNA) silences a target gene. Herein, we describe a DNA hydrogel capable of producing siRNA and interfering with protein expression. This RNAi-exhibiting gel (termed I-gel for interfering gel) consists of a plasmid carrying the gene transcribing siRNA against the target mRNA as part of the gel scaffold.

DNA hydrogel microspheres and their potential applications for protein delivery and live cell monitoring.

Microfluidic devices have been extensively developed as methods for microscale materials fabrication. It has also been adopted for polymeric microsphere fabrication and in situ drug encapsulation. Here, we employed multi-inlet microfluidic channels for DNA hydrogel microsphere formation and in situ protein encapsulation.

Concurrent celecoxib with 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel for stages II - III invasive breast cancer: the OOTR-N001 study.

Objectives: This prospective study aimed at investigating the efficacy and safety of the concurrent use of celecoxib (CXB) with 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (FEC), followed by docetaxel (T) in the neoadjuvant setting.

Patients And Methods: A total of 64 invasive breast cancer patients were recruited in the N001 Phase II, multicenter, open-label, single-arm study to receive four cycles of FEC (500, 100, 500 mg/m(2)) followed by four cycles of T (100 mg/m(2)) with concurrent CXB (200 mg b.i.