Programming peptide-oligonucleotide nano-assembly for engineering of neoantigen vaccine with potent immunogenicity.

Neoantigen nanovaccine has been recognized as a promising treatment modality for personalized cancer immunotherapy. However, most current nanovaccines are carrier-dependent and the manufacturing process is complicated, resulting in potential safety concerns and suboptimal codelivery of neoantigens and adjuvants to antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Here we report a facile and general methodology for nanoassembly of peptide and oligonucleotide by programming neoantigen peptide with a short cationic module at N-terminus to prepare nanovaccine.

EPAC inhibitor suppresses angiogenesis and tumor growth of triple-negative breast cancer.

Aims: Exchange protein directly activated by cAMP 1 (EPAC1), a major isoform of guanine nucleotide exchange factors, is highly expressed in vascular endothelia cells and regulates angiogenesis in the retina. High intratumor microvascular densities (MVD) resulting from angiogenesis is responsible for breast cancer development. Downregulation of EPAC1 in tumor cell reduces triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)-induced angiogenesis.

Bioactive mesoporous silica nanoparticle-functionalized titanium implants with controllable antimicrobial peptide release potentiate the regulation of inflammation and osseointegration.

Bacterial infection and delayed osseointegration are two major challenges for titanium-based orthopedic implants. In the present study, we developed a functionalized titanium implant Ti-M@A by immobilizing antimicrobial peptide (AMP) HHC36-loaded diselenide-bridged mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) on the surface, which showed good long-term and mechanical stability. The functionalized implants can realize the sustained release of AMP over 30 days and exhibit over 95.

Surface Energy Engineering of Buried Interface for Highly Stable Perovskite Solar Cells with Efficiency Over 25.

The abundant oxygen-related defects (e.g., O vacancies, O-H) in the TiO electron transport layer results in high surface energy, which is detrimental to effective carrier extraction and seriously impairs the photovoltaic performance and stability of perovskite solar cells.

Iridium nanozyme-mediated photoacoustic imaging-guided NIR-II photothermal therapy and tumor microenvironment regulation for targeted eradication of cancer stem cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are found in many solid tumors, which play decisive roles in the occurrence, recurrence and metastasis of tumors. However, drugs are difficult to kill CSCs due to their limited number and location in oxygen-deprived tissue far from the blood vessels. Meanwhile, the survival and stemness maintenance of CSCs strongly depend on the tumor microenvironment (TME).

A spatially-controlled DNA triangular prism nanomachine for AND-gated intracellular imaging of ATP in acidic microenvironment.

A DNA triangular prism nanomachine (TPN)-based logic device for intracellular AND-gated imaging of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) has been constructed. By using i-motif sequences and ATP-binding aptamers as logic control units, the TPN logic device is qualified to respond to the acidic environment and ATP in cancer cell lysosomes. Once internalized into the lysosome, the specific acidic microenvironment in lysosome causes the i-motif sequence to fold into a tetramer, resulting in compression of DNA tri-prism.

In Situ Formation of 2D Perovskite Seeding for Record-Efficiency Indoor Perovskite Photovoltaic Devices.

With 40% efficiency under room light intensity, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) will be promising power supplies for low-light applications, particularly for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and indoor electronics, shall they become commercialized. Herein, β-alaninamide hydrochloride (AHC) is utilized to spontaneously form a layer of 2D perovskite nucleation seeds for improved film uniformity, crystallization quality, and solar cell performance. It is found that the AHC addition indeed improves film quality as demonstrated by better uniformity, lower trap density, smaller lattice stress, and, as a result, a 10-fold increase in charge carrier lifetime.

Combination of specific proteins as markers for accurate detection of extracellular vesicles using proximity ligation-mediated bHCR amplification.

As the molecular characteristics of extracellular vesicles (EVs) are closely related to the occurrence and progression of cancer, the detection of tumor-derived EVs provides a promising non-invasive tool for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. However, it would be difficult for most of the existing methods to avoid false positives because the obtained result declares the amounts of proteins, but cannot accurately reflect the protein sources, including EV proteins and interfering proteins, in the actual samples. In this manuscript, a robust, accurate, and sensitive fluorescent strategy for profiling EV proteins is developed by using the combination of specific proteins as markers (Co-marker).

Development of a QM/MM(ABEEM) method combined with a polarizable force field to investigate the excision reaction mechanism of damaged thymine.

This paper focuses on the development of a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics method using the ABEEM polarizable force field (QM/MM(ABEEM) method) to investigate the excision reaction mechanism of damaged thymine. This method does not simply combine the QM method with the polarizable force field. A valence electronegativity piecewise function with the distance between atoms as a variable is introduced to describe the atomic partial charges, and changes greatly during the reaction process.

Targeting the activity of T cells by membrane surface redox regulation for cancer theranostics.

T cells play a determining role in the immunomodulation and prognostic evaluation of cancer treatments relying on immune activation. While specific biomarkers determine the population and distribution of T cells in tumours, the in situ activity of T cells is less studied. Here we designed T-cell-targeting fusogenic liposomes to regulate and quantify the activity of T cells by exploiting their surface redox status as a chemical target.

An autonomous synthetic DNA machine for ultrasensitive detection of Salmonella typhimurium based on bidirectional primers exchange reaction cascades.

Statistics show that food poisoning caused by Salmonella typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) often tops the list of bacterial food poisoning types in countries around the world. However, detecting traces of S.

Genome-Wide Association Study on the Hematological Phenotypic Characteristics of the Han Population from Northwest China.

Background: Hematological characteristics have positive reference value as clinical indicators in the evaluation of various diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine the gene loci associated with 20 hematological phenotypes in the Han population from northwest China.

Methods: A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted on hematological indicators of 1005 Han people from northwest China.

Andrographolide Suppresses the Growth and Metastasis of Luminal-Like Breast Cancer by Inhibiting the NF-κB/miR-21-5p/PDCD4 Signaling Pathway.

Tumor growth and metastasis are responsible for breast cancer-related mortality. Andrographolide (Andro) is a traditional anti-inflammatory drug used in the clinic that inhibits NF-κB activation. Recently, Andro has been found in the treatment of various cancers.

Water-Mediated Oxidation of Guanine by a Repair Enzyme: Simulation Using the ABEEM Polarizable Force Field.

The recognition mechanism of oxidative damage in organisms has long been a research hotspot. Water is an important medium in the recognition process, but its specific role remains unknown. There is a need to develop a suitable force field that can adequately describe the electrostatic, hydrogen bond, and other interactions among the molecules in the complex system of the repair enzyme and oxidized base.

Correction: Yao, Y., et al. Activation of Slit2/Robo1 Signaling Promotes Tumor Metastasis in Colorectal Carcinoma through Activation of the TGF-β/Smads Pathway. 2019, , 635.

The author wishes to make the following correction to this paper [...

A Bromodomain-Containing Protein 4 (BRD4) Inhibitor Suppresses Angiogenesis by Regulating AP-1 Expression.

Angiogenesis dysregulation contributes to inflammation, infections, immune disorders, and carcinogenesis. Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an epigenetic reader that recognizes histone proteins and acts as a transcriptional regulator to trigger tumor growth and the inflammatory response. The pan-bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) inhibitor, (+)-JQ1 (), was reported to inhibit angiogenesis.

Promoted off-on recognition of HO based on the fluorescence of silicon quantum dots assembled two-dimensional PEG-MnO nanosheets hybrid nanoprobe.

An "off-on" assay system for HO determination was developed based on assembling ultra-bright fluorescent silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) and PEG-MnO nanosheets. Among them, SiQDs acted as fluorometric reporter, which can effectively eliminate the interference of plant pigments under excitation of 365 nm. PEG-MnO nanosheets played dual function of nanoquencher and HO recognizer.

Ozone Therapy Attenuates NF-κB-Mediated Local Inflammatory Response and Activation of Th17 Cells in Treatment for Psoriasis.

Ozone therapy has been widely used to treat many skin diseases, including infections, allergic dermatosis, and skin ulcers. However, its efficacy as a treatment for psoriasis is unclear. In this study, we explored the clinical efficacy and the underlying molecular mechanisms of ozone therapy on psoriasis.

New land surface temperature retrieval algorithm for heavy aerosol loading during nighttime from Gaofen-5 satellite data.

Land surface temperature (LST) is a key variable used for studies of the water cycles and energy budgets of land-atmosphere interfaces. The Chinese Gaofen-5 (GF5) satellite, with an onboard visual and infrared multispectral imager (VIMS), is the only satellite that can capture the earth's thermal infrared information for use in the national high-resolution earth observation project of China; it can observe the earth surface at a high spatial resolution of 40 m in four thermal infrared channels and two mid-infrared channels. This article selects the optimum spectral channel combination for reducing the aerosol effect on LST retrieval with the aid of simulated data, and a new four-channel LST retrieval method from GF5 infrared data under heavy dust aerosol during nighttime is proposed.

The deubiquitylase OTUD3 stabilizes GRP78 and promotes lung tumorigenesis.

The deubiquitylase OTUD3 plays a suppressive role in breast tumorigenesis through stabilizing PTEN protein, but its role in lung cancer remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that in vivo deletion of OTUD3 indeed promotes breast cancer development in mice, but by contrast, it slows down Kras-driven lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) initiation and progression and markedly increases survival in mice. Moreover, OTUD3 is highly expressed in human lung cancer tissues and its higher expression correlates with poorer survival of patients.

Activation of Slit2/Robo1 Signaling Promotes Tumor Metastasis in Colorectal Carcinoma through Activation of the TGF-β/Smads Pathway.

Slit2 (slit guidance ligand 2), a ligand of the Roundabout1 (Robo1) transmembrane receptor, is often overexpressed in colorectal carcinomas (CRCs). In this study, we performed data mining in the Metabolic gEne RApid Visualizer (MERAV) database and found that Slit2 and TGF-β1 (Transforming growth factor-β1) are highly expressed in carcinomas relative to those in tumor-free tissues from healthy volunteers or wild type mice. Furthermore, expression of Slit2 and TGF-β1 in CRCs increases with pathological stages.

mTORC2 Suppresses GSK3-Dependent Snail Degradation to Positively Regulate Cancer Cell Invasion and Metastasis.

mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) positively regulates cell invasion and metastasis by enhancing translation of Snail. A connection between mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) and cell invasion and metastasis has also been suggested, yet the underlying biology or mechanism is largely unknown and thus is the focus of this study. Inhibition of mTOR with both mTOR inhibitors and knockdown of key components of mTORC, including rictor, Sin1, and raptor, decreased Snail protein levels.

Author Correction: Dynamic ubiquitylation of Sox2 regulates proteostasis and governs neural progenitor cell differentiation.

The original version of this Article contained an error in Figure 7. In panel c, the lanes of the western blots were incorrectly labelled '+/+ +/+ -/- -/- +/+ +/+ -/- -/-'. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Dynamic ubiquitylation of Sox2 regulates proteostasis and governs neural progenitor cell differentiation.

Sox2 is a key transcriptional factor for maintaining pluripotency of stem cells. Sox2 deficiency causes neurodegeneration and impairs neurogenesis. Although the transcriptional regulation of Sox2 has been extensively studied, the mechanisms that control Sox2 protein turnover are yet to be clarified.

Dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid inhibits breast cancer growth by suppressing angiogenesis via inhibition of the CUX1/FGF1/HGF signalling pathway.

Tumour growth depends on a continual supply of the nutrients and oxygen, which are offered by tumour angiogenesis. Our previous study showed that dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (DPPA), a bioactive phospholipid, inhibits the growth of triple-negative breast cancer cells. However, its direct effect on angiogenesis remains unknown.