Nano-TiO regulates the MAPK (ERK, P38) pathway to promote apoptosis and inhibit proliferation of human colon cells.

Background: Nano titanium dioxides (TiO) are widely used in drug development, food additives and packaging materials. Although several studies have demonstrated the poisonousness of TiO in vivo and in vitro, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully revealed.

Methods: Characterization of TiO by FTIR, XRD, TEM and DLS.

Mutational profile evaluates metastatic capacity of Chinese colorectal cancer patients, revealed by whole-exome sequencing.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the prevalence rate of CRC is increasing in the China. In this study, whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed on primary tissues of 47 CRC Chinese patients including 22 metastatic and 25 non-metastatic patients. By comparison with data from western colorectal cancer patients in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified a number of genes that are more likely to be mutated in Chinese colorectal cancer patients, such as MUC12, MUC12, MUC2, MUC4, HYDIN and KMT2C.

Downward fingering accompanies upward tube growth in a chemical garden grown in a vertical confined geometry.

Chemical gardens are self-assembled structures of mineral precipitates enabled by semi-permeable membranes. To explore the effects of gravity on the formation of chemical gardens, we have studied chemical gardens grown from cobalt chloride pellets and aqueous sodium silicate solution in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. Through photography, we have observed and quantitatively analysed upward growing tubes and downward growing fingers.