High-Performance Flexible Energy Storage Devices Based on Graphene Decorated with Flower-Shaped MoS Heterostructures.

MoS, owing to its advantages of having a sheet-like structure, high electrical conductivity, and benign environmental nature, has emerged as a candidate of choice for electrodes of next-generation supercapacitors. Its widespread use is offset, however, by its low energy density and poor durability. In this study, to overcome these limitations, flower-shaped MoS/graphene heterostructures have been deployed as electrode materials on flexible substrates.

Fog Collection Based on Secondary Electrohydrodynamic-Induced Hybrid Structures with Anisotropic Hydrophilicity.

The outcomes of the study of plant surfaces, such as rice leaves or bamboo leaves, have led to extensive efforts being devoted to fabricating anisotropic arrays of micro/nanoscale features for exploring anisotropic droplet spreading. Nonetheless, precise engineering of the density and continuity of three-phase contact lines for anisotropic wetting remains a significant challenge without resorting to chemical modifications and costly procedures. In this work, we investigated secondary electrohydrodynamic instability in polymer films for producing secondary nanosized patterns between the micrometer-sized grooves by controlling the timescale parameter, 1/τ (>10 s).

Sequential ubiquitination of p53 by TRIM28, RLIM, and MDM2 in lung tumorigenesis.

Tripartite motif-containing 28 (TRIM28) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase harboring multiple cellular functions. We found that the TRIM28 protein is frequently overexpressed in patients with lung cancer. The stable overexpression of TRIM28 in lung cancer cells and xenograft models significantly increased the proliferation, migration, and invasiveness, whereas knockdown of TRIM28 had the opposite effect.

Hif-1α Inhibitors Could Successfully Inhibit the Progression of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in Vitro.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α plays an important role in cancer progression. In various cancers, including thyroid cancer, overexpression of HIF-1α is related to poor prognosis or treatment response. However, few studies have investigated the role of HIF-1α inhibition in thyroid cancer progression.

USP14 Inhibition Regulates Tumorigenesis by Inducing Autophagy in Lung Cancer In Vitro.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is an essential regulator of several cellular pathways involving oncogenes. Deubiquitination negatively regulates target proteins or substrates linked to both hereditary and sporadic forms of cancer. The deubiquitinating enzyme ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (USP14) is associated with proteasomes where it trims the ubiquitin chain on the substrate.

Inhibition of peroxiredoxin 2 suppresses Wnt/β-catenin signaling in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common type of malignant tumor that affects humans worldwide, but few targeted therapies for it have been considered that are based on redox systems. Peroxiredoxin2 (Prx2) functions as a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated signaling regulator that controls HO in mammalian cells, and it is involved in the survival of various malignant tumors. In human GC cells, Prx2 depletion markedly reduced the β-catenin levels and expression of β-catenin target genes and proteins.

Administration of Soft Matter Lipid-DNA Nanoparticle As the Immunostimulant via Multiple Routes of Injection in Vivo.

We elucidated the proper routes for injecting lipid-DNA micelles formulated with an oligonucleotide immune adjuvant in naïve and tumor-bearing mice. We report herein that after assessing six ways of administering an immunostimulatory nanoparticle (INP), several of the injection routes effectively induced dendritic cell-mediated immune-stimulation in vivo, making them amenable to cancer immunotherapies and vaccines using such DNA materials.

Role of S100A9 in the development of neutrophilic inflammation in asthmatics and in a murine model.

S100A9 is an endogenous danger signal that promotes and exacerbates the neutrophilic inflammatory response. To investigate the role of S100A9 in neutrophilic asthma, S100A9 levels were measured in sputum from 101 steroid-naïve asthmatics using an ELISA kit and the levels were significantly correlated with percentages of neutrophils in sputum. Intranasal administration of recombinant S100A9 markedly increased neutrophil numbers at 8h and 24h later with concomitant elevation of IL-1β, IL-17, and IFN-γ levels.

Association of Uba6-Specific-E2 (USE1) With Lung Tumorigenesis.

Background: The UBA6-specific E2 conjugating enzyme 1 (USE1) ubiquitin enzyme cascade is a poorly characterized arm of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. We investigated whether the UBA6-USE1 enzyme cascade plays a role in lung cancer tumorigenesis.

Methods: USE1 expression was assessed in tumor-normal paired samples from 106 lung cancer patients by immunoblot.

Neutrophilic inflammation in asthma: mechanisms and therapeutic considerations.

Neutrophilic airway inflammation represents a pathologically distinct form of asthma and frequently appears in symptomatic adulthood asthmatics. However, clinical impacts and mechanisms of the neutrophilic inflammation have not been thoroughly evaluated up to date. Areas covered: Currently, distinct clinical manifestations, triggers, and molecular mechanisms of the neutrophilic inflammation (namely Toll-like receptor, Th1, Th17, inflammasome) are under investigation in asthma.

Circulating IL-33 level is associated with the progression of lung cancer.

Objectives: Interleukin (IL)-33 protects against infection and inflammation; however, few studies have explored the relevance of IL-33 in lung cancer patients. We evaluated relation of plasma IL-33 levels with development and progression of lung cancer.

Materials And Methods: A total of 160 patients with lung cancer and 160 controls with normal lungs were enrolled.

Role of inflammasome activation in development and exacerbation of asthma.

Human airways contact with pathogen-associated molecular patterns and danger-associated molecular patterns present in many environments. Asthmatic's airways may be more susceptible to these patterns and lead to inflammasome activation; however, the participation of inflammasome in the development and exacerbation of asthma is not fully understood and remains controversial. Asthma is a heterogeneous group composed of different airway inflammation patterns with different underlying immune mechanisms.

Elevation of S100 calcium binding protein A9 in sputum of neutrophilic inflammation in severe uncontrolled asthma.

Background: Neutrophilic airway inflammation is frequently observed in severe uncontrolled asthma (UA) and controlled asthma (CA). However, there is no sputum biomarker to differentiate the 2 conditions.

Objective: To identify biomarkers of severe uncontrolled asthma with neutrophilic airway inflammation.

Association analysis of formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) polymorphisms and aspirin exacerbated respiratory diseases.

Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory diseases (AERD) are associated with the metabolism of arachidonic acid. FPR2 (formyl peptide receptor2) is a high-affinity ligand receptor for potent anti-inflammatory lipid metabolites: lipoxins. Thus, functional alterations of the FPR2 may contribute to AERD.

Particle stimulation dephosphorylates glutathione S-transferase π1 of epithelial cells.

Environmental pollutant exposure is associated with adverse respiratory outcomes. The phosphorylation of enzymes activates or deactivates many cellular processes and is related to the development of lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, little is known about protein phosphorylation of bronchial epithelial cells in response to airborne particulates.

Novel hyaluronate-atelocollagen/beta-TCP-hydroxyapatite biphasic scaffold for the repair of osteochondral defects in rabbits.

The authors devised a novel biphasic scaffold combining hyaluronic acid and atelocollagen for the chondral phase and combining hydroxyapatite (HA) and beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) for the osseous phase. The biphasic scaffold was fabricated by placing the freeze-dried chondral phase over the HA/beta-TCP scaffold prewetted with hyaluronate/atelocollagen solution. Chondrocytes were isolated in 28 rabbits, expanded, injected inside the chondral phase of the biphasic scaffold, and then cultured in chondrogenic medium.

Cloning, characterization, and expression of xylanase A gene from Paenibacillus sp. DG-22 in Escherichia coli.

The xynA gene encoding the xylanase A of Paenibacillus sp. DG-22 was isolated with a DNA probe obtained by PCR amplification, using degenerated primers deduced from the amino acid residues of the known N-terminal region of the purified enzyme and the conserved region in the family 11 xylanases. The positive clones were screened on the LB agar plates supplemented with xylan, by the Congo-red staining method.