AS1041, a Novel Synthesized Derivative of Marine Natural Compound Aspergiolide A, Arrests Cell Cycle, Induces Apoptosis, and Inhibits ERK Activation in K562 Cells.

AS1041 is a novel synthesized anthraquinone lactone derivative of marine natural compound aspergiolide A (ASP-A) with new structure skeleton and marked cytotoxicity in cancer cells. To study its cytotoxicity in detail, we evaluated its activity on human K562 chronic myelogenous leukemia cells and investigated the related molecule mechanisms. AS1041 significantly inhibited the proliferation and colony formation of K562 cells.

Controllable formation of multi-layered SnO@FeO sandwich cubes as a high-performance anode for Li-ion batteries.

The design and controllable synthesis of hollow multi-layered "sandwich" nanostructures offer opportunities for metal oxides to buffer the volume expansion and aggregation due to coalescence into bulk structures, while realizing improved tap density and superior ion transport. We report the intentional construction of FeO nanorod-assembled layers to cover and fill the surface and interlayer of double-shelled SnO hollow nanocubes (HNCs) to form multi-layered SnO@FeO sandwich nanocubes (SNCs). The crystallinity and morphological characteristics confirm that the dense well-aligned FeO nanorods vertically cover all surfaces of the SnO layers.

Aptamer-Based Therapeutic Approaches to Target Cancer Stem Cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are believed to be a principal cellular source for tumour progression and therapeutic drug resistance as they are capable of self-renewal and can differentiate into cancer cells. Importantly, CSCs acquire the ability to evade the killing effects of cytotoxic agents through changes at the genetic, epigenetic and micro-environment levels. Therefore, therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs hold great potential as an avenue for cancer treatment.

Correlation between extreme fear and focal cortical dysplasia in anterior cingulate gyrus: Evidence from a surgical case of refractory epilepsy.

Localizing the semiology of ictal fear and seizure onset in epilepsy patients is commonly challenging due to limited value of routine electroencephalography (EEG) and very few surgical attempts. Here we reported a case of refractory epilepsy characterized by aura of extreme fear and hypermotor seizures, in which the left (dominant hemisphere) anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) was determined to be the epileptogenic zone (EZ) through multiple modalities of presurgical evaluation including analysis of high frequency oscillation on intracranial EEG. Tailored resection of EZ was thus performed and pathological examination revealed focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type IIb.

Concave ZnFeO Hollow Octahedral Nanocages Derived from Fe-Doped MOF-5 for High-Performance Acetone Sensing at Low-Energy Consumption.

Herein, through a morphology-inherited annealing treatment of a hollow Fe-doped MOF-5 octahedron as the self-sacrificing template, we report the synthesis of concave ZnFeO hollow octahedral nanocages as sensing materials, which exhibited high performance, including unprecedented excellent sensitivity, good selectivity, and cyclic stability at ultralow working temperature (120 °C).

Status of M1 and M2 type macrophages in keloid.

Macrophages, differentiation from monocytes infiltrated in the wound, have been suggested to be involved and to play an important role in the pathogenesis of wound healing. Nevertheless, no evidence has been established regarding M1 and M2 type macrophages in Keloid. To understand the status of M1 and M2 type macrophages in keloid, immunohistochemistry was performed on 30 cases of Keloid tissues and normal controls, with CD68, typical surface marker for M1 and CD163, well-accepted marker for M2 being immunostained.

Bacterial Whole Cell Typing by Mass Spectra Pattern Matching with Bootstrapping Assessment.

Bacterial typing is of great importance in clinical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, food safety analysis, and biological research. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is now widely used to analyze bacterial samples. Identification of bacteria at the species level can be realized by matching the mass spectra of samples against a library of mass spectra of known bacteria.

Gene coexpression network analysis of fruit transcriptomes uncovers a possible mechanistically distinct class of sugar/acid ratio-associated genes in sweet orange.

Background: The ratio of sugars to organic acids, two of the major metabolites in fleshy fruits, has been considered the most important contributor to fruit sweetness. Although accumulation of sugars and acids have been extensively studied, whether plants evolve a mechanism to maintain, sense or respond to the fruit sugar/acid ratio remains a mystery. In a prior study, we used an integrated systems biology tool to identify a group of 39 acid-associated genes from the fruit transcriptomes in four sweet orange varieties (Citrus sinensis L.

Puerarin acts on the skeletal muscle to improve insulin sensitivity in diabetic rats involving μ-opioid receptor.

Puerarin, a major active isoflavone extracted from the root of Pueraria lobate, significantly increases plasma β-endorphin and insulin levels and improves impaired insulin signaling in diabetic animals. However, the target tissues and underlying mechanisms in and through which puerarin functions to ameliorating insulin resistance remains largely unclear. In this study, we showed that puerarin enhanced μ-opioid receptor expression and phosphorylation, and increased insulin-stimulated glucose transporter 4 translocation to the plasma membrane in the skeletal muscle of diabetic rats, which were recaptured by a direct application of puerarin in the palmitate-induced insulin-resistant L6 myotubes.

Dysregulated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for tumorigenesis, disease progression, and liver cancer stem cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumours with a poor prognosis worldwide. While early stage tumours can be treated with curative approaches such as liver transplantation or surgical resection, these are only suitable for a minority of patients. Those with advanced stage disease are only suitable for supportive approaches and most are resistant to the conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Rapid Enrichment and Sensitive Detection of Multiple Metal Ions Enabled by Macroporous Graphene Foam.

Nanomaterials have shown great promise in advancing biomedical and environmental analysis because of the unique properties originated from their ultrafine dimensions. In general, nanomaterials are separately applied to either enhance detection by producing strong signals upon target recognition or to specifically extract analytes taking advantage of their high specific surface area. Herein, we report a dual-functional nanomaterial-based platform that can simultaneously enrich and enable sensitive detection of multiple metal ions.

VRK1 promotes cisplatin resistance by up-regulating c-MYC via c-Jun activation and serves as a therapeutic target in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant disease characterized by poor prognosis. Chemoresistance remains a major cause of ESCC relapse. Vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1) has previously been identified as a cancer-related gene.

Role of nutrition, gene polymorphism, and gut microbiota in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in the world. The nutrients play important roles in the development and progression of NAFLD. High-calorie diet, especially the diet rich in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, as well as sugary drinks with high fructose content, induces hepatic steatosis and triggers progression of steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma.

Long noncoding RNA in liver cancer stem cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and a major cause of cancer-related deaths. HCC often has an insidious onset, fast progression, and high tendency of metastasis and recurrence, hence it is a highly fatal malignant tumor. The origin of HCC is still a topic of debate but studies over the past decade have clearly identified liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) being a cardinal source of liver cancer.

Human papillomavirus 16L1-58L2 chimeric virus-like particles elicit durable neutralizing antibody responses against a broad-spectrum of human papillomavirus types.

The neutralizing antibodies elicited by human papillomavirus (HPV) major capsid protein L1 virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccines are largely type-specific. An HPV vaccine inducing cross-neutralizing antibodies broadly will be cost-effective and of great value. To this end, we constructed HPV16L1-58L2 chimeric VLP (cVLP) by displaying HPV58 L2 aa.

A novel missense variant in is associated with developmental dysplasia of the hip in Han Chinese population.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is one of the most common inborn disabilities of the hip joint and a common disease with a genetic component for its etiology. However, genetic basis of Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) remains largely unknown. Previous study has identified that is significant associated with osteoarthritis and the development of chondrocytes and bone.

Changes in expression of Wnt signaling pathway inhibitors dickkopf-1 and sclerostin before and after total joint arthroplasty.

The aim is to study how serum concentration of Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) and Sclerostin (SOST) varies in patients before and after undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA). A total of 104 patients undergoing TJA were included in this study. Serum DKK1 and SOST were measured at 1 day before and 1, 3, and 5 days after surgery.

Body Shape and Coloration of Silkworm Larvae Are Influenced by a Novel Cuticular Protein.

The genetic basis of body shape and coloration patterns on caterpillars is often assumed to be regulated separately, but it is possible that common molecules affect both types of trait simultaneously. Here we examine the genetic basis of a spontaneous cuticle defect in silkworm, where larvae exhibit a bamboo-like body shape and decreased pigmentation. We performed linkage mapping and mutation screening to determine the gene product that affects body shape and coloration simultaneously.

Properties of afterdischarges from electrical stimulation in patients with epilepsy.

Objective: To investigate the properties of afterdischarges (ADs) from intracerebral electrical stimulation (ES) in patients with epilepsy who underwent stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) and determine the relationship between epileptogenic zone (EZ) or irritative zone (IZ) and ADs.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 10 patients with intractable epilepsy who underwent SEEG. ESs were delivered following the given parameters: bipolar, biphasic, 50Hz, 0.

The assessment of femoral shaft morphology in the sagittal plane in Chinese patients with osteoarthritis-a radiographic analysis.

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze femoral shaft sagittal parameters in Chinese osteoarthritis (OA) patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and identify whether the parameters in the coronal plane could be predictors of those in the sagittal plane.

Methods: Standard long-standing anteroposterior and femoral lateral radiographs of 50 lower limbs in 50 Chinese OA patients were included. Sagittal femoral bowing angle (sFBA), angle between femoral distal anterior cortex axis and sagittal mechanical axis (DACSMA), angle between femoral distal anterior cortex axis and sagittal distal anatomic axis (DACSDAA), and angle between femoral sagittal mechanical axis and sagittal distal anatomic axis (SMADAA) were measured.

Electronic Structure and Band Alignment at the NiO and SrTiO p-n Heterojunctions.

Understanding the energetics at the interface, including the alignment of valence and conduction bands, built-in potentials, and ionic and electronic reconstructions, is an important challenge in designing oxide interfaces that have controllable multifunctionalities for novel (opto-)electronic devices. In this work, we report detailed investigations on the heterointerface of wide-band-gap p-type NiO and n-type SrTiO (STO). We show that despite a large lattice mismatch (∼7%) and dissimilar crystal structure, high-quality NiO and Li-doped NiO (LNO) thin films can be epitaxially grown on STO(001) substrates through a domain-matching epitaxy mechanism.

Gene expression variations in high-altitude adaptation: a case study of the Asiatic toad (Bufo gargarizans).

Background: Genome-wide investigation of molecular mechanisms for high-altitude adaptation has attracted great attention in the last few years. In order to understand the contribution of gene expression level variations to high-altitude adaptation in Asiatic toads (Bufo gargarizans), we implemented a reciprocal transplant experiment between low- and high-altitude sites and sequenced 12 transcriptomes from brain, heart, and liver tissues.

Results: A large number of genes with expression differences (DEGs) between high- and low-altitude individuals (193 fixed and 844 plastic) were identified, and the majority of them were tissue specific.

Focal epilepsy with paroxysmal pain due to somatic injury.

We present two cases with paroxysmal pain that developed after a somatic injury to the trunk. The main characteristic of the episodes was paroxysmal severe pain, mainly located in the original region of somatic injury, with ipsilateral tonic or dystonic behaviour. The clinical characteristics supported a diagnosis of focal epilepsy.

An HTML5-Based Pure Website Solution for Rapidly Viewing and Processing Large-Scale 3D Medical Volume Reconstruction on Mobile Internet.

This study aimed to propose a pure web-based solution to serve users to access large-scale 3D medical volume anywhere with good user experience and complete details. A novel solution of the interaction mode was proposed, which absorbed advantages of remote volume rendering and surface rendering. On server side, we designed a message-responding mechanism to listen to interactive requests from clients ( model) and to guide volume rendering.

Photochemical Bionanoreactor for Efficient Visible-Light-Driven in Vitro Drug Metabolism.

In light of the significance of cytochrome P450 (CYP) catalyzed drug metabolism for drug development and toxicity screening, it is very important to imitate natural metabolic pathways accurately and efficiently in vitro. Herein, a novel and simple photochemical bionanoreactor has been constructed for efficient visible-light-driven in vitro drug metabolism based on eosin-Y-functionalized macroporous ordered silica foams (MOSF-EY). Because of the unique transfer of photoinduced electrons from photosensitizers to CYP heme domain, CYP catalyzed drug metabolism can be in vitro driven by the MOSF-EY nanoreactor under the irradiation of visible light.