Ultrasensitive amplification-free detection of circulating miRNA droplet-based processing of SERS tag-miRNA-magnetic nanoparticle sandwich nanocomplexes on a paper-based electrowetting-on-dielectric platform.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a promising class of biomarkers for early detection of various cancers, including ovarian cancer. However, quantifying miRNAs in human blood samples is challenging owing to the issues of sensitivity and specificity. In this study, hsa-miR-200a-3p of the miR-200a sub-family, which is a biomarker of ovarian cancer, was used as the analyte to demonstrate the analytical capability of an integrated biosensing platform using an extremely sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanotag-nanoaggregate-embedded beads (NAEBs), magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), a pair of highly specific locked nucleic acid (LNA) probes, and a semi-automated paper-based electrowetting-on-dielectric (pEWOD) device to provide labor-less and thorough sample cleanup and recovery.

Exosomal long noncoding RNA MLETA1 promotes tumor progression and metastasis by regulating the miR-186-5p/EGFR and miR-497-5p/IGF1R axes in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Lung cancer is the most common and deadliest cancer worldwide, and approximately 90% of all lung cancer deaths are caused by tumor metastasis. Tumor-derived exosomes could potentially promote tumor metastasis through the delivery of metastasis-related molecules. However, the function and underlying mechanism of exosomal long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) in lung cancer metastasis remain largely unclear.

Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5 facilitates cancer stem cell-like properties in lung cancer by deubiquitinating β-catenin.

Background: Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate in the world, and mounting evidence suggests that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are associated with poor prognosis, recurrence, and metastasis of lung cancer. It is urgent to identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for targeting lung CSCs.

Methods: We computed the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) of 1554 Reactome gene sets to identify the mRNA expression-based stemness index (mRNAsi)-associated pathways using the genome-wide RNA sequencing data of 509 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

CASZ1 promotes migration, invasion, and metastasis of lung cancer cells by controlling expression of ITGAV.

CASZ1, a zinc finger transcription factor with two isoforms, is known to play important roles in cardiac and neural development. The abnormal expression of CASZ1 is also frequently found in a variety of tumors but has different effects on different tumors; for example, it acts as a tumor suppressor in neuroblastoma but promotes cancer metastasis in ovarian cancer. However, the effect of CASZ1 in lung cancer, the most lethal cancer, remains unclear.

sp. nov., an anaerobic bacterium isolated from the saliva of a patient with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

A Gram-stain-negative or -positive, strictly anaerobic, non-spore-forming and pleomorphic bacterium (designated 14-104) was isolated from the saliva sample of a patient with oral squamous cell carcinoma. It was an acid-tolerant neutralophilic mesophile, growing at between 20 and 40 °C (with optimum growth at 30 °C) and pH between pH 3.0 and 7.

MiR-455-5p suppresses PDZK1IP1 to promote the motility of oral squamous cell carcinoma and accelerate clinical cancer invasion by regulating partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Background: Lymph node and distant metastasis contribute to poor outcomes in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The mechanisms regulating cancer migration and invasion play a key role in OSCC.

Methods: We determined migration and invasion ability of OSCC by wound-healing assay, two-chamber transwell invasion assay and cell mobility tracking and evaluated tumor metastasis in vivo.

Microbiome dysbiosis inhibits carcinogen-induced murine oral tumorigenesis.

Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and ranks fourth for the mortality rate of cancers in males in Taiwan. The oral microbiota is the microbial community in the oral cavity, which is essential for maintaining oral health, but the relationship between oral tumorigenesis and the oral microbiota remains to be clarified. This study evaluated the effect of microbiome dysbiosis on oral carcinogenesis in mice, and the impact of the microbiome and its metabolic pathways on regulating oral carcinogenesis.

Galectin-1 orchestrates an inflammatory tumor-stroma crosstalk in hepatoma by enhancing TNFR1 protein stability and signaling in carcinoma-associated fibroblasts.

Most cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arise with the fibrotic microenvironment where hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are critical components in HCC progression. Therefore, CAF normalization could be a feasible therapy for HCC. Galectin-1 (Gal-1), a β-galactoside-binding lectin, is critical for HSC activation and liver fibrosis.

A novel DNA aptamer targeting lung cancer stem cells exerts a therapeutic effect by binding and neutralizing Annexin A2.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the underlying reason for tumor recurrence, progression, and therapeutic resistance. Aptamers are synthetic single-stranded oligonucleotides that can specifically bind to various molecular targets.

α-Catulin promotes cancer stemness by antagonizing WWP1-mediated KLF5 degradation in lung cancer.

The cytoskeletal linker protein α-Catulin has been shown to be important for tumor progression in various cancers. However, its role in the regulation of cancer stemness remains unclear. Phenotypic effects of α-Catulin on the cancer stem cell (CSC)-like properties and metastasis were examined by sphere formation assay, migration assay, invasion assay, and xenografted animal models.

Taxonomic and Functional Dysregulation in Salivary Microbiomes During Oral Carcinogenesis.

Exploring microbial community compositions in humans with healthy versus diseased states is crucial to understand the microbe-host interplay associated with the disease progression. Although the relationship between oral cancer and microbiome was previously established, it remained controversial, and yet the ecological characteristics and their responses to oral carcinogenesis have not been well studied. Here, using the bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing along with the function analysis by PICRUSt2 (Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States 2), we systematically characterized the compositions and the ecological drivers of saliva microbiome in the cohorts of orally healthy, non-recurrent oral verrucous hyperplasia (a pre-cancer lesion), and oral verrucous hyperplasia-associated oral cancer at taxonomic and function levels, and compared them with the re-analysis of publicly available datasets.

Malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders in Taiwan: An observational nationwide population database study.

Oral cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death, which are mostly preceded by oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). Taiwanese government launched a free oral cancer screening program. The aim of this study was to analyze the malignant transformation rate of OPMDs.

The polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase 1 of Pseudomonas sp. H9 synthesized a 3-hydroxybutyrate-dominant hybrid of short- and medium-chain-length PHA.

Pseudomonas sp. H9 (H9), an environmental strain isolated from a riverbank soil sample collected in southern Taiwan, is Gram-negative and shares a 99 % sequence identity to Pseudomonas putida KT2440 based on 16S rRNA gene analysis. H9 produced novel polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) including a hybrid PHA, comprised of 3-hydroxyvalerate (37 mol%) and medium-chain-length (MCL) monomers from valerate, as well as a 3-hydroxyhexanoate-dominant (93 mol%) MCL-PHA from hexanoate.

DNA methylation maintains the CLDN1-EPHB6-SLUG axis to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy and inhibit lung cancer progression.

The loss of cancer-cell junctions and escape from the primary-tumor microenvironment are hallmarks of metastasis. A tight-junction protein, Claudin 1 (CLDN1), is a metastasis suppressor in lung adenocarcinoma. However, as a metastasis suppressor, the underlying molecular mechanisms of CLDN1 has not been well studied.

A fiber optic nanoplasmonic biosensor for the sensitive detection of ampicillin and its analogs.

A novel optical immunosensor for the screening of ampicillin (Amp) residues has been developed. The biosensor is based on fiber optic particle plasmon resonance detection and uses an enhancement method called as fiber optic nanogold-linked immunosorbent assay (FONLISA) for the sensitive detection of antibiotics. A commercial antibody which had a higher affinity for ampicillin than for other β-lactam antibiotics was chosen.

Development of microfluidic concentrator using ion concentration polarization mechanism to assist trapping magnetic nanoparticle-bound miRNA to detect with Raman tags.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding single-stranded ribonucleic acid molecules. This type of endogenous oligonucleotide could be secreted into the circulation and exist stably. The detection of specific miRNAs released by cancer cells potentially provides a noninvasive means to achieve early diagnosis and prognosis of cancers.

A DNA Aptamer Targeting Galectin-1 as a Novel Immunotherapeutic Strategy for Lung Cancer.

Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is a pleiotropic homodimeric β-galactoside-binding protein with a single carbohydrate recognition domain. It has been implicated in several biological processes that are important during tumor progression. Several lines of evidence have indicated that Gal-1 is involved in cancer immune escape and induces T cell apoptosis.

MicroRNA-150-5p promotes cell motility by inhibiting c-Myb-mediated Slug suppression and is a prognostic biomarker for recurrent ovarian cancer.

Treatment of ovarian cancer (OvCa) remains challenging owing to its high recurrence rates. Detachment of cancer cells into the peritoneal fluid plays a key role in OvCa relapse, but how this occurs remains incompletely understood. Here we examined global miRNA expression profiles of paired primary/recurrent OvCa specimens and identified a novel biomarker, microRNA-150-5p (miR-150-5p), that was significantly upregulated in 16 recurrent OvCa tissues compared with their matched primary specimens.

Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate.

Surface ocean phosphate is commonly below the standard analytical detection limits, leading to an incomplete picture of the global variation and biogeochemical role of phosphate. A global compilation of phosphate measured using high-sensitivity methods revealed several previously unrecognized low-phosphate areas and clear regional differences. Both observational climatologies and Earth system models (ESMs) systematically overestimated surface phosphate.

The dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 restricts the growth of lung cancer tumors regardless of EGFR status, as a potent accompanist in combined therapeutic regimens.

Background: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide despite diagnostic improvements and the development of targeted therapies, notably including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling has been shown to contribute to tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and resistance to therapy in most human cancer types, including lung cancer. Here, we explored the therapeutic effects of co-inhibition of PI3K and mTOR in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells with different EGFR status.

Effects of Restorative Materials on Dental Pulp Stem Cell Properties.

Introduction: Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are multipotent progenitors for biotechnological practices, but the influences of existing restorations on their viability and differentiation are not well-known. This study was aimed to investigate in vivo and in vitro responses of DPSCs to restorative materials.

Methods: Class I cavities were prepared on molars scheduled to be extracted and then restored with a resin-based composite (RBC), a glass ionomer cement, or zinc oxide eugenol.

Cultivation temperature modulated the monomer composition and polymer properties of polyhydroxyalkanoate synthesized by Cupriavidus sp. L7L from levulinate as sole carbon source.

Cupriavidus sp. L7L, a newly isolated wild-type soil bacterium, was found to synthesize polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) terpolymers from levulinic acid (LA), a top bio-based platform chemical, as the sole carbon source. NMR spectra showed that the terpolymers consisted mainly of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV), and a small amount (2.

Growth-regulated oncogene-α from oral submucous fibrosis fibroblasts promotes malignant transformation of oral precancerous cells.

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common human malignancy and is usually preceded by the oral precancerous lesions. Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is one of the oral precancerous lesions with high incidence of malignant transformation. In addition to cancer cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment are correlated with cancer progression, but the role of fibroblasts from OSF in tumorigenesis and progression is still unknown.

Glycosylation-dependent galectin-1/neuropilin-1 interactions promote liver fibrosis through activation of TGF-β- and PDGF-like signals in hepatic stellate cells.

Concomitant expressions of glycan-binding proteins and their bound glycans regulate many pathophysiologic processes, but this issue has not been addressed in liver fibrosis. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a rate-limiting step in liver fibrosis and is an important target for liver fibrosis therapy. We previously reported that galectin (Gal)-1, a β-galactoside-binding protein, regulates myofibroblast homeostasis in oral carcinoma and wound healing, but the role of Gal-1 in HSC migration and activation is unclear.