Increased expression of the pluripotency markers sex-determining region Y-box 2 and Nanog homeobox in ovarian endometriosis

BACKGROUND: The precise etiology of endometriosis is not fully understood; the involvement of stem cells theory is a new hypothesis. Related studies mainly focus on stemness-related genes, and pluripotency markers may play a role in the etiology of endometriosis. We aimed to analyze the transcription pluripotency factors sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2), Nanog homeobox (NANOG), and octamer-binding protein 4 (OCT4) in the endometrium of reproductive-age women with and without ovarian endometriosis. METHODS: We recruited 26 women with laparoscopy-diagnosed ovarian endometriosis (endometriosis group) and 16 disease-free women (control group) to the study. Endometrial and endometriotic samples were collected. SOX2, NANOG, and OCT4 expression were analyzed with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, SOX2 mRNA and protein expression was significantly higher in the eutopic endometrium of participants in the endometriosis group. In the endometriosis group, SOX2 and NANOG mRNA and protein expression were significantly increased in ectopic endometrium compared with eutopic endometrium; there was a trend towards lower OCT4 mRNA expression and higher OCT4 protein expression in ectopic endometrium. CONCLUSIONS: The transcription pluripotency factors SOX2 and NANOG were overexpression in ovarian endometriosis, their role in pathogenesis of endometriosis should be further studied

Hydrophobic/icephobic coatings based on thermal sprayed metallic layers with subsequent surface functionalization

Hydrophobic/icephobic coatings have been fabricated using a combination of thermal sprayed metallic MCrAlY (M = Ni, Co) coatings with a subsequent deposition process using 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (POTS). The MCrAlY coatings provide the desirable surface roughness feature for hydrophobicity, and water contact angle of 135° was directly obtained after aged in the atmosphere for 1 week. However, it was found that the hydrophobicity of MCrAlY was not stable under water impinging due to unstable hydrocarbon absorption. Better hydrophobicity with water contact angle of 154° and improved durability have been achieved by further modification using POTS vapour on the rough MCrAlY coatings. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that replacement of absorption of hydrocarbon by functional C-F groups played important role in the improvement of hydrophobicity and durability. The ice adhesion test confirmed that lower ice adhesion strength of MCrAlY based coatings have been obtained compared with the threshold for icephobicity which is desirable to be applied as icephobic coatings for aircraft. The electro-thermal heating de-icing test showed an energy saving of 28.6% for de-icing with the two-step MCrAlY based coatings. The combination of strong metallic MCrAlY rough layers and the subsequent functionalization enables a new approach for the fabrication of durable hydrophobic/icephobic coatings

Polymorphisms of the bovine chemokine receptor-like 1 gene and their associations with meat quality traits in Qinchuan cattle ( Bos taurus )

Background: We investigated the polymorphisms of the bovine chemokine receptor-like 1(CMKLR1) gene. The coding region of CMKLR1 was screened in Qinchuan cattle by PCR-RFLP technology. Results: In this study, we discovered two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (264G > C and 762C > T) in the coding region of the CMKLR1 gene. Hence, we described the BmgT120l and Pdm1 PCR-RFLP methods for detecting the 64G > C and 762C > T mutations, respectively. PCR-RFLP and sequencing were used to analyze the two loci of CMKLR1 gene in 324 individuals, which were randomly selected from breeding populations. Furthermore, meat quality traits in another 80 Qinchuan individuals were analyzed by the comparison between the genotypes and their phenotypic data. Conclusions: The results showed that the G264C SNP and C762T SNP of bovine CMKLR1 were significantly associated with backfat thickness (BFT) and water holding capacity (WHC), respectively

Folate receptor-targeted mixed polysialic acid micelles for combating rheumatoid arthritis: in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with chronic inflammation. The suppression of inflammation is key to the treatment of RA. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are classical anti-inflammatory drugs with several disadvantages such as poor water solubility and low specificity in the body. These disadvantages are the reasons for the quick elimination and side effects of GCs in vivo. Micelles are ideal carriers for GCs delivery to inflamed synovium. We set out to improve the targeting and pharmacokinetic profiles of GCs by preparing a targeting micelle system. Methods: In this study, natural chlosterol (CC) and folic acid (FA) were used to fabricate polysialic acid (PSA) micelles for the targeted delivery of Dexamethasone (Dex). The biodistribution and therapeutic efficacy of the resulting micelles were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Results: PSA-CC and FA-PSA-CC micelles showed a size below 100 nm and a moderate negative charge. PSA-CC and FA-PSA-CC micelles could also enhance the intracellular uptake of Dex and the suppression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in vitro and in vivo. Arthritis mice showed reduced paw thickness and clinical arthritis index using PSA-CC and FA-PSA-CC micelle treatment. Micellized Dex demonstrated a 4 ∼ 5 fold longer elimination half-life and a 2 ∼ 3 folds higher bioavailability than commercial Dex injection. FA modification significantly improved the anti-inflammatory efficacy of PSA-CC micelles. Conclusion: FA-PSA-CC micelles demonstrated significant advantages in terms of the suppression of inflammation and the treatment of inflammatory arthritis. These reliable and stable micelles possess a high potential to be transferred for clinical use

Origin of Non-cubic Scaling Law in Disordered Granular Packing

Recent diffraction experiments on metallic glasses have unveiled an unexpected non-cubic scaling law between density and average interatomic distance, which lead to the speculations on the presence of fractal glass order. Using X-ray tomography we identify here a similar non-cubic scaling law in disordered granular packing of spherical particles. We find that the scaling law is directly related to the contact neighbors within first nearest neighbor shell, and therefore is closely connected to the phenomenon of jamming. The seemingly universal scaling exponent around 2.5 arises due to the isostatic condition with contact number around 6, and we argue that the exponent should not be universal.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures,to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Original Article Correlation of rs1799793 polymorphism in ERCC2 and the clinical response to platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with triple negative breast cancer

Abstract: Background: Polymorphisms of DNA repair genes may affect the repair capacity of DNA damages and cause different responses towards chemotherapy. Excision repair cross-complementing group 2 (ERCC2) plays an important role in the nucleotide excision repair. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ERCC2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the response to platinum-based chemotherapy among patients with triple negative breast cancer. Methods: In total, 60 triple negative breast cancer patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy were studied. The clinical, pathological and treatment data of them were collected. Sequenom's MassARRAY system was used in the detection of the SNPs of ERCC2. Finally, the association between genotypes and different clinical responses among patients was analyzed. All of the patients received a platinum-based chemotherapy for 4 cycles in median and achieved an overall response rate of 66.7%, showing a comparative good response towards platinum-based chemotherapy among triple negative breast cancer. Fifty-three of the 60 patients had got the results of ERCC2 rs1799793 polymorphisms after MassARRAY detection. Results: The proportion of GG genotype and GA genotype was 81.1% and 18.9% respectively. The response rate of the rs1799793 GG genotype group was 69.8%, while the GA genotype group only had a response rate of 30.0%. It turned out that the GG genotype was associated with better response towards platinum-based chemotherapy (P=0.030). Conclusions: ERCC2 rs1799793 polymorphism may be associated with the clinical sensitivity of platinum-based chemotherapy and could be a potential predictive biomarker for triple negative breast cancer patients treated with platinum compounds

Reduction of Ice Adhesion on Nanostructured and Nanoscale Slippery Surfaces

Ice nucleation and accretion on structural surfaces are a source of major concerns for safety and operations in many industries such as aviation and renewable energy sectors. Common approaches to tackle these involve the uses of active methods such as heating, ultrasonic or chemical methods, or passive methods such as surface coatings. In this study, we explored the ice adhesion properties of slippery coated substrates by measuring shear forces which were required to remove a glaze ice block on the coated substrates. Among the studied nanostructured and nanoscale surfaces (e.g., a superhydrophobic coating, a fluoro-polymer coating, and a PDMS chain coating), the PDMS chain coated surface, with its flexible polymer brushes and liquid-like structure, significantly reduced the ice adhesion on both glass and silicon surfaces. Further studies on the PDMS chain coating on the roughened substrates also demonstrated its low ice adhesion. The reduction in ice adhesion is attributed to the flexible nature of brush-like structures of PDMS chains, allowing ice to be easily detached