Relationship between serum MMP-9 level and prognosis after radical resection for Hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients

Abstract Purpose: To analyze the preoperative serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels and prognosis of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) undergoing radical resection. Methods: Preoperative serum MMP-9 levels in patients with HC undergoing radical resection were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ROC curve assay was used to analyze the preoperative serum MMP-9 level to determine the most valuable cut-off point. The relationship between MMP-9 and clinicopathological features of HC patients was analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the prognostic factors, and COX regression model was used to analyze the independent risk factors affecting prognosis. Results: Preoperative serum MMP-9 levels were significantly elevated in the death patients compared with the survival patients. The most valuable cut-off point for preoperative serum MMP-9 for prognosis was 201.93 ng/mL. Preoperative serum MMP-9 was associated with Bismuth-Corlette classification) and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that MMP-9, Bismuth-Corlette classification, Lymph node metastasis, Portal vein invasion, Hepatic artery invasion, Liver invasion, Incised margin, and Preoperative biliary drainage were related to prognosis. Cox regression model confirmed that hepatic artery invasion, liver invasion, incised margin, and MMP-9 have the potential to independence predicate prognosis in HC patients. Conclusion: Preoperative serum MMP-9 has high predictive value for prognosis and is an independent influencing factor for the prognosis of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.</div

Interfacial Synthesis: Amphiphilic Monomers Assisted Ultrarefining of Mesoporous Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles and the Electrochemical Implications

Amphiphilic monomers, namely pyrrole and aniline, were used to reduce permanganate ion (MnO4–) at the dichloromethane/water interface for the preparation of ultrafine manganese oxide (MnOx, x ≤ 2) nanoparticles (NPs). These monomers did not undergo polymerization upon oxidation by MnO4–, but exerted an interesting effect of ultrarefining the produced MnOx NPs from reducing MnO4– at the organoaqueous interface. This was attributed to the ability of the monomer to access the interfacial reaction sites from both organic and aqueous phases, and hence retard the as-produced MnOx nuclei from aggregation at the interface. Such obtained products were mesoporous matrixes of three-dimensionally interconnected and uniform pseudospherical MnOx NPs (o-aminophenol, to reduce MnO4– produced a composite of nanobelts of poly(o-aminophenol) embedded in micrometer-sized MnOx blocks. The ultrafine MnOx NPs prepared from using aniline or pyrrole exhibited highly capacitive behavior in aqueous Na2SO4, promising their use in supercapacitors. It was also found that the MnOx NPs prepared from pyrrole-assisted synthesis possessed higher specific capacitance than that from aniline-assisted synthesis, despite the latter having a higher specific surface area. This difference is discussed in terms of crystallographic properties and water contents of these two samples

Additional file 2 of AFAP1L1 promotes gastric cancer progression by interacting with VAV2 to facilitate CDC42-mediated activation of ITGA5 signaling pathway

Additional file 2: Fig. S1. AFAP1L1 is significantly upregulated in GC tissues and cell lines. Fig. S2. High AFAP1L1 expression in GC promotes proliferation, invasion in vitro and growth, metastasis in vivo. Fig. S3. AFAP1L1 facilitates EMT process of GC cells. Fig. S4. AFAP1L1 is associated with integrin signaling and promotes ITGA5 expression in GC. Fig. S5. Western blot analysis of total RhoA, total Rac1 and their active forms in AGSshAFAP1L1, MKN74AFAP1L1 and their control cells

Synergistic Geometric and Electronic Effects in Bi–Cu Bimetallic Catalysts for CO₂ Electroreduction to Formate over a Wide Potential Window

Electrochemical CO2 reduction to formate provides a prospective avenue to produce more valuable products. Compared to pure Bi and Cu, the Bi–Cu (2:1) bimetallic catalyst optimizes the interfacial electronic structure through the electronic interaction between Bi and Cu. The Bi–Cu (2:1) catalyst exhibits a high faradaic efficiency of 94.1% at −1.0 V vs RHE, high faradaic efficiency (>90%) toward formate in a wide potential window (500 mV), and long-term stability of 20 h. The electrocatalytic mechanism is identified by combining in situ FT-IR and DFT calculations, which demonstrates that formate prefers to be formed through the HCOO* pathway. High faradaic efficiency in a wide potential window can be ascribed to stable active sites and the decreased energy barrier in HCOO* and formate. This study further provides inspirations for promoting the electrocatalytic selectivity of bimetallic catalysts through effective interfacial electronic modulation

Additional file 1 of AFAP1L1 promotes gastric cancer progression by interacting with VAV2 to facilitate CDC42-mediated activation of ITGA5 signaling pathway

Additional file 1: Table S1. The sequences of PCR primers used in this study. Table S2. The primary antibodies used in this study. Table S3. The association between AFAP1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of GC patients. Table S4. The association between AFAP1L1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of GC patients. Table S5. The association between AFAP1L2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of GC patients. Table S6. Univariate and multivariate analysis of risk factors associated with overall survival of GC patients

Molecular-Level Anion and Li⁺ Co-Regulation by Amphoteric Polymer Separator for High-Rate Stable Lithium Metal Anode

Regulating ion transport is a prevailing strategy to suppress lithium dendrite growth, in which the distribution of ion regulatory sites plays an important role. Here a hyperbranched polyamidoamine (HBPA) grafted polyethylene (PE) composite separator (HBPA-g-PE) is reported. The densely and uniformly distributed positive -NH2 and negative −CHNO- groups efficiently restrict the anion migration and promote Li+ transport at the surface of the lithium metal anode. The obtained Li foil symmetric cell delivers a stable cycle performance with a low-voltage hysteresis of 130 mV for over 1500 h (3000 cycles) at an ultrahigh current density of 20 mA cm–2 and a practical areal capacity of 5 mAh cm–2. Moreover, HBPA-g-PE separator enables a practical lithium–sulfur battery to achieve over 200-cycle stable performance with initial and retained capacity of 700 and 455 mAh g–1, at a high sulfur loading of 4 mg cm–2 and a low electrolyte content/sulfur loading ratio of 8 μL mg–1

A Host–Guest Interaction Assisted Approach for Fabrication of Polybutadiene Nanocomposites Reinforced with Well-Dispersed Cellulose Nanocrystals

Fabrication of homogeneous hydrophobic polymer/cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) nanocomposites with high mechanical reinforcement is a tough issue owing to the poor interfacial interactions between the two components and the aggregation of CNCs in hydrophobic matrices. In this study, the polybutadiene (PB) nanocomposites reinforced with cotton-derived CNCs were prepared through a host–guest inclusion complex assisted approach. In the system the pendent guest adamantane moieties of PB reacted with β-cyclodextrins (βCDs) to form inclusion complexes, which acted as competitive binding sites to the CNCs via hydrogen bonds, allowing the CNCs to disperse homogeneously in the matrix. Dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile testing studies of the nanocomposites revealed that the incorporation of CNCs into the polymer matrix significantly improved the mechanical properties. For the nanocomposites with 10 wt % βCDs and 15 wt % CNCs, the storage modulus, Young’s modulus, and tensile strength were enhanced by about an order of magnitude compared to neat PB. The increase in the βCD and/or CNC contents led to a shifting of the tan δ peak of the nanocomposite to higher temperatures, suggesting the presence of filler–polymer interactions. Moreover, scanning electron and polarized optical microscopy analyses revealed that in the matrix the individual CNCs aligned in parallel and longitudinal directions to form long and entangled assemblies. The reinforcement could be attributed to the filler–filler and filler–matrix interactions which consequently led to the stress transfer between polymer and CNCs in the system

Additional file 6 of A T-cell-related signature for prognostic stratification and immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma based on transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing

Additional file 6: Figure S3. Construction and validation of a T cell-related prognostic signature (TRPS) for HCC. (A-B) The coefficient and partial likelihood deviance of TRPS. (C-D) Risk scores distribution, patients’ survival status, gene expression heatmap of TRPS in TCGA cohort and GSE14520cohort

Additional file 2 of A T-cell-related signature for prognostic stratification and immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma based on transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing

Additional file 2: Table S2. The Details and characteristics of TCGA and GSE14520 cohort

Additional file 1 of A T-cell-related signature for prognostic stratification and immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma based on transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing

Additional file 1: Table S1. The details and characteristics of singe cell HCC cases