In vivo synergistic tumor therapies based on copper sulfide photothermal therapeutic nanoplatforms.

Tumor cells may be eliminated by increasing their temperature. This is achieved via photothermal therapy (PTT) by penetrating the tumor tissue with near-infrared light and converting light energy into heat using photothermal agents. Copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NPs) are commonly used as PTAs in PTT.

The association between monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and clinical prognosis of acute ischemic stroke after intravenous thrombolysis therapy.

The monocyte-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) ratio (MHR) is accepted as a novel marker for demonstrating inflammation. We investigated whether the monocyte-to-HDL ratio is related to the 90-day clinical prognosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). Patients with AIS treated with alteplase IVT were included consecutively, and clinical information and laboratory data were collected.

Targeted delivery of a PD-1-blocking scFv by CD133-specific CAR-T cells using nonviral Sleeping Beauty transposition shows enhanced antitumour efficacy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: CD133 is considered a marker for cancer stem cells (CSCs) in several types of tumours, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chimeric antigen receptor-specific T (CAR-T) cells targeting CD133-positive CSCs have emerged as a tool for the clinical treatment of HCC, but immunogenicity, the high cost of clinical-grade recombinant viral vectors and potential insertional mutagenesis limit their clinical application.

Methods: CD133-specific CAR-T cells secreting PD-1 blocking scFv (CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells) were constructed using a sleeping beauty transposon system from minicircle technology, and the antitumour efficacy of CD133 CAR-T and PD-1 s cells was analysed in vitro and in vivo.

Lenvatinib improves anti-PD-1 therapeutic efficacy by promoting vascular normalization via the NRP-1-PDGFRβ complex in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction: The limited response to immune checkpoint blockades (ICBs) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) highlights the urgent need for broadening the scope of current immunotherapy approaches. Lenvatinib has been shown a potential synergistic effect with ICBs. This study investigated the optimal method for combining these two therapeutic agents and the underlying mechanisms.

Dietary Supplementation with Different Types of Potassium and Magnesium during Late Gestation and Lactation Modulates the Reproductive Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, and Immune Function of Sows.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with different types of potassium and magnesium on the reproductive performance, antioxidant capacity, and immunity of sows. Forty-five Landrace × Yorkshire sows at the late gestation stage (85 d) were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 15). Sows in the control group (CON), potassium chloride and magnesium sulfate group (PM), and potassium-magnesium sulfate group (PMS) were fed with a basal diet, a basal diet supplemented with magnesium sulfate (0.

BMP9-induced vascular normalisation improves the efficacy of immunotherapy against hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: In the past decade, the field of tumour immunotherapy has made a great progress. However, the efficacy of immune checkpoint blocking (ICB) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains limited. Cytotoxic lymphocyte trafficking into tumours is critical for the success of ICB.

Smartphone-based platforms implementing microfluidic detection with image-based artificial intelligence.

The frequent outbreak of global infectious diseases has prompted the development of rapid and effective diagnostic tools for the early screening of potential patients in point-of-care testing scenarios. With advances in mobile computing power and microfluidic technology, the smartphone-based mobile health platform has drawn significant attention from researchers developing point-of-care testing devices that integrate microfluidic optical detection with artificial intelligence analysis. In this article, we summarize recent progress in these mobile health platforms, including the aspects of microfluidic chips, imaging modalities, supporting components, and the development of software algorithms.

Extracellular matrix physical properties govern the diffusion of nanoparticles in tumor microenvironment.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are confronted with limited and disappointing delivery efficiency in tumors clinically. The tumor extracellular matrix (ECM), whose physical traits have recently been recognized as new hallmarks of cancer, forms a main steric obstacle for NP diffusion, yet the role of tumor ECM physical traits in NP diffusion remains largely unexplored. Here, we characterized the physical properties of clinical gastric tumor samples and observed limited distribution of NPs in decellularized tumor tissues.

Forming Epidermal Bioelectronics for Daily Monitoring and Comprehensive Exercise.

Conventional epidermal bioelectronics usually do not conform well with natural skin surfaces and are susceptible to motion artifact interference, due to incompatible dimensions, insufficient adhesion, imperfect compliance, and usually require complex manufacturing and high costs. We propose forming hydrogel electrodes or electronics (ISF-HEs) that can establish highly conformal interfaces on curved biological surfaces without auxiliary adhesions. The ISF-HEs also have favorable flexibility and soft compliance comparable to human skin (≈0.

SPC25 promotes proliferation and stemness of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via the DNA-PK/AKT/Notch1 signaling pathway.

The imbalance of kinetochore-microtubule attachment during cell mitosis is a response to the initiation and progression of human cancers. Spindle component 25 (SPC25) is indispensable for spindle apparatus organization and chromosome segregation. SPC25 plays an important role in the development of malignant tumors, but its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is yet to be determined.

Targeting Tumor Physical Microenvironment for Improved Radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy has led to important clinical advances; existing cancer radiotherapy resistance is one remaining major challenge. Recently, biophysical cues in the tumor microenvironment (TME) have been regarded as the new hallmarks of cancer, playing pivotal roles in various cancer behaviors and treatment responses, including radiotherapy resistance. With recent advances in micro/nanotechnologies and functional biomaterials, radiotherapy exerts great influence on biophysical cues in TME, which, in turn, significantly affect the response to radiotherapy.

ECM dimensionality tunes actin tension to modulate endoplasmic reticulum function and spheroid phenotypes of mammary epithelial cells.

Patient-derived organoids and cellular spheroids recapitulate tissue physiology with remarkable fidelity. We investigated how engagement with a reconstituted basement membrane in three dimensions (3D) supports the polarized, stress resilient tissue phenotype of mammary epithelial spheroids. Cells interacting with reconstituted basement membrane in 3D had reduced levels of total and actin-associated filamin and decreased cortical actin tension that increased plasma membrane protrusions to promote negative plasma membrane curvature and plasma membrane protein associations linked to protein secretion.

CMTM6 inhibits tumor growth and reverses chemoresistance by preventing ubiquitination of p21 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies and has a poor prognosis. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is required for the degradation of most short-lived proteins. CMTM6 has been implicated in the progression of various tumors, but its biological function and the underlying molecular mechanisms in HCC are still unknown.

Optical tweezer measurements of asymptotic nonlinearities in complex fluids.

This article presents micro-medium-amplitude oscillatory shear (μMAOS), a method to measure the frequency-dependent micromechanical properties of soft materials in the asymptotically nonlinear regime using optical tweezers. We have developed a theoretical framework to extract these nonlinear mechanical properties of the material from experimental measurements and also proposed a physical interpretation of the third-order nonlinearities measured in single-tone oscillatory tests. We validate the method using a well-characterized surfactant solution of wormlike micelles, and subsequently employ this technique to demonstrate that the cytoplasm of a living cell undergoes strain softening and shear thinning when locally subjected to weakly nonlinear oscillatory deformations.

Inhibition of DTYMK significantly restrains the growth of HCC and increases sensitivity to oxaliplatin.

Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are in the middle or advanced stage at the time of diagnosis, and the therapeutic effect is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to verify whether deoxythymidylate kinase (DTYMK) increased in HCC and was an effective therapeutic target in HCC. The findings revealed that the DTYMK level significantly increased and correlated with poor prognosis in HCC.

Configurational fingerprints of multicellular living systems.

Cells cooperate as groups to achieve structure and function at the tissue level, during which specific material characteristics emerge. Analogous to phase transitions in classical physics, transformations in the material characteristics of multicellular assemblies are essential for a variety of vital processes including morphogenesis, wound healing, and cancer. In this work, we develop configurational fingerprints of particulate and multicellular assemblies and extract volumetric and shear order parameters based on this fingerprint to quantify the system disorder.

Targeting Hypoxic Tumors with Hybrid Nanobullets for Oxygen-Independent Synergistic Photothermal and Thermodynamic Therapy.

Hypoxia is a feature of solid tumors and it hinders the therapeutic efficacy of oxygen-dependent cancer treatment. Herein, we have developed all-organic oxygen-independent hybrid nanobullets ZPA@HA-ACVA-AZ for the "precise strike" of hypoxic tumors through the dual-targeting effects from surface-modified hyaluronic acid (HA) and hypoxia-dependent factor carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX)-inhibitor acetazolamide (AZ). The core of nanobullets is the special zinc (II) phthalocyanine aggregates (ZPA) which could heat the tumor tissues upon 808-nm laser irradiation for photothermal therapy (PTT), along with the alkyl chain-functionalized thermally decomposable radical initiator ACVA-HDA on the side chain of HA for providing oxygen-independent alkyl radicals for ablating hypoxic cancer cells by thermodynamic therapy (TDT).

Three-Dimensional Linear Restoration of a Tunnel Based on Measured Track and Uncontrolled Mobile Laser Scanning.

Traditional precision measurement adopts discrete artificial static observation, which cannot meet the demands of the dynamic, continuous, fine and high-precision holographic measurement of large-scale infrastructure construction and complex operation and maintenance management. Due to its advantages of fast, accurate and convenient measurement, mobile laser scanning technology is becoming a popular technology in the maintenance and measurement of infrastructure construction such as tunnels. However, in some environments without satellite signals, such as indoor areas and underground spaces, it is difficult to obtain 3D data by means of mobile measurement technology.

The efficacy and safety of the combination of axitinib and pembrolizumab-activated autologous DC-CIK cell immunotherapy for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma: a phase 2 study.

Objectives: Although axitinib has achieved a preferable response rate for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), patient survival remains unsatisfactory. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of a combination treatment of axitinib and a low dose of pembrolizumab-activated autologous dendritic cells-co-cultured cytokine-induced killer cells in patients with advanced RCC.

Methods: All adult patients, including treatment-naive or pretreated with VEGF-targeted agents, were enrolled from May 2016 to March 2019.

Cancer-Associated Fibroblast-Mediated Cellular Crosstalk Supports Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression.

Background And Aims: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key players in multicellular, stromal-dependent alterations leading to HCC pathogenesis. However, the intricate crosstalk between CAFs and other components in the tumor microenvironment (TME) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the cellular crosstalk among CAFs, tumor cells, and tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) during different stages of HCC pathogenesis.

Deformation Detection Method of Mine Tunnel Based on Mobile Detection System.

Subway structure safety detection is an important method to ensure the safe operation of trains. Efficient, high-precision, and automatic tunnel clearance detection is the key to ensure safe operations. This study introduces a mobile tunnel scanning system that integrates a scanner, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a rail car.