Genetic Fingerprint Concerned with Lymphatic Metastasis of Human Lung Squamous Cancer

Background and objective With the most recent introduction of microarray technology to biology, it becomes possible to perform comprehensive analysis of gene expression in cancer cell. In this study the laser microdissection technique and cDNA microarray analysis were combined to obtain accurate molecular profiles of lymphatic metastasis in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Primary lung squamous cancer tissues and regional lymph nodes were obtained from 10 patients who underwent complete resection of lung cancer. According to the source of lung cancer cells, the samples were classified into three groups: the primary tumor with lymphatic metastasis (TxN+, n=5), the primary tumor without lymphatic metastasis (TxN-, n=5) and matched tumor cells from metastatic lymph nodes (N+, n=5). Total RNA was extracted from laser microdissected tumor samples. Adequate RNA starting material of mRNA from primary tumor or metastatic nodes were labeled and then hybridized into the same microarray containing 6 000 known, named human genes/ESTs. After scanning, data analysis was performed using GeneSpringTM6.2. Results A total of 37 genes were found to be able to separate TxN+ from TxN-. TxN+ have higher levels of genes concerned with structural protein, signal transducer, chaperone and enzyme. TxN- have higher levels of genes coding for cell cycle regulator, transporter, signal transducer and apoptosis regulator. Interestingly, there were no differentially expressed genes between N+ and TxN+. Conclusion The acquisition of the metastatic phenotype might occur early in the development of lung squamous cancer. We raise the hypothesis that the gene-expression signature described herein is valuable to elucidate the molecular mechanisms regarding lymphatic metastasis and to look for novel therapeutic targets

Involvement of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Myocardial Apoptosis of Streptozocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Apoptosis plays critical role in diabetic cardiomyopathy and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is one of intrinsic apoptosis pathways. For previous studies have shown that endoplasmic reticulum become swell in diabetic myocardium and ERS was involved in diabetes mellitus and heart failure, this study aimed to demonstrate whether ERS was induced in myocardium of streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. We established type 1 diabetic rat model with STZ intraperitoneal injection, used echocardiographic evaluation, hematoxylin-eosin staining and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated DNA nick-end labeling staining to identify the existence of diabetic cardiomyopathy and enhanced apoptosis in the diabetic heart. We performed immunohistochemistry, Western blot and real time PCR to analysis two hallmarks of ERS, glucose regulated protein78 (Grp78) and Caspase12. We found both Grp78 and Caspase12 had enhanced expression in protein and mRNA levels in diabetic myocardium than normal rat’s, and Caspase12 was activated in diabetic heart. Those results suggested that ERS was induced in STZ-induced diabetic rats’ myocardium, and ERS-associated apoptosis took part in the pathophysiology of diabetic cardiomyopathy

Magnetization-tuned topological quantum phase transition in MnBi2Te4 devices

Recently, the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 has attracted enormous research interest due to the great success in realizing exotic topological quantum states, such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), axion insulator state, high-Chern-number and high-temperature Chern insulator states. One key issue in this field is to effectively manipulate these states and control topological phase transitions. Here, by systematic angle-dependent transport measurements, we reveal a magnetization-tuned topological quantum phase transition from Chern insulator to magnetic insulator with gapped Dirac surface states in MnBi2Te4 devices. Specifically, as the magnetic field is tilted away from the out-of-plane direction by around 40-60 degrees, the Hall resistance deviates from the quantization value and a colossal, anisotropic magnetoresistance is detected. The theoretical analyses based on modified Landauer-Buttiker formalism show that the field-tilt-driven switching from ferromagnetic state to canted antiferromagnetic state induces a topological quantum phase transition from Chern insulator to magnetic insulator with gapped Dirac surface states in MnBi2Te4 devices. Our work provides an efficient means for modulating topological quantum states and topological quantum phase transitions

Fabrication of Ligusticum chuanxiong polylactic acid microspheres: A promising way to enhance the hepatoprotective effect on bioactive ingredients

hpeer-reviewedLigusticum chuanxiong extract-polylactic acid sustained-release microspheres (LCE-PLA) are fabricated in this study for enhancing both duration and hepatoprotective efficacy of the main bioactive ingredients. LCE-PLA in vitro release, cytotoxicity and in vivo hepatoprotective effect were discussed to evaluate its efficiency and functionality. Results demonstrated that the optimal drug-loading rate and encapsulation efficiency of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP, the main active ingredient) were 8.19%, 83.72%, respectively. The LCE-PLA in vitro release of TMP showed prolong 5-fold and in vitro cytotoxicity declined 25.00% compared with naked LCE. After 6 weeks of in vivo intervention in high fat diet mice, both liver aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were higher in LCE-PLA group than LCE group. The above results indicated that TMP had a higher bioavailability of hepatoprotection when encapsulation of LCE-PLA was applied. The current study has provided a promising novel way to enhance the efficacy of short half-life ingredients.National Natural Science Foundation of Chin

An egg holders-inspired structure design for large-volume-change anodes with long cycle life

Abstract(#br)Silicon has been considered as a potential alternative of anodes for advanced lithium ion battery as it possesses high capacity and abundance. However, it encounters excessive volume expansion and inferior electoral conductivity, which imposes restrictions on its further development. In order to address these two problems, yolk-shell structure is employed, in which there is a suitable void for the expansion with a shell to protect the core and promote the conductivity. Here, by the inspiration from the egg holders and inverse-opal structure, an egg-stacking-like Si/C composite (ES) anode with spherical air holes was fabricated to gather the yolk-shell particles in a 3D carbon network with abundant channels allowing electrolyte to enter the material, which can facilitate the cycling performance. The half-cell battery assembled with these anodes presents high capacity and good rate performance, with a capacity reduction of only 2–7% per current density. And the cycling performance of ES anode is also praiseworthy that it delivers a high reversible discharge capacity of 2175 mAh g −1 after 300 cycles at 0.5 A g −1 . This kind of structure design is expected to be applicative for most of large-volume-change anodes

Synthesis of single-crystal La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 freestanding films with different crystal-orientation

We report the synthesis of single-crystal La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) freestanding films with different crystal orientations. By using pulsed laser deposition, water soluble perovskite-like sacrificial layers Sr3Al2O6 (SAO) followed by LSMO films are grown on differently oriented SrTiO3 substrates. Freestanding LSMO films with different orientations are obtained by etching the SAO in pure water. All the freestanding films show room-temperature ferromagnetism and metallicity, independent of the crystal orientation. Intriguingly, the Curie temperature (TC) of the freestanding films is increased due to strain relaxation after releasing from the substrates. Our results provide an additional degree of freedom to tailor the properties of freestanding perovskite oxide heterostructures by crystal orientation and an opportunity to further integrate different oriented films together

Copper Selenide Nanosnakes: Bovine Serum Albumin-Assisted Room Temperature Controllable Synthesis and Characterization

Herein we firstly reported a simple, environment-friendly, controllable synthetic method of CuSe nanosnakes at room temperature using copper salts and sodium selenosulfate as the reactants, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) as foaming agent. As the amounts of selenide ions (Se2−) released from Na2SeSO3 in the solution increased, the cubic and snake-like CuSe nanostructures were formed gradually, the cubic nanostructures were captured by the CuSe nanosnakes, the CuSe nanosnakes grew wider and longer as the reaction time increased. Finally, the cubic CuSe nanostructures were completely replaced by BSA–CuSe nanosnakes. The prepared BSA–CuSe nanosnakes exhibited enhanced biocompatibility than the CuSe nanocrystals, which highly suggest that as-prepared BSA–CuSe nanosnakes have great potentials in applications such as biomedical engineering

A Systematic Analysis on DNA Methylation and the Expression of Both mRNA and microRNA in Bladder Cancer

Background: DNA methylation aberration and microRNA (miRNA) deregulation have been observed in many types of cancers. A systematic study of methylome and transcriptome in bladder urothelial carcinoma has never been reported. Methodology/Principal Findings: The DNA methylation was profiled by modified methylation-specific digital karyotyping (MMSDK) and the expression of mRNAs and miRNAs was analyzed by digital gene expression (DGE) sequencing in tumors and matched normal adjacent tissues obtained from 9 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients. We found that a set of significantly enriched pathways disrupted in bladder urothelial carcinoma primarily related to "neurogenesis" and "cell differentiation" by integrated analysis of -omics data. Furthermore, we identified an intriguing collection of cancer-related genes that were deregulated at the levels of DNA methylation and mRNA expression, and we validated several of these genes (HIC1, SLIT2, RASAL1, and KRT17) by Bisulfite Sequencing PCR and Reverse Transcription qPCR in a panel of 33 bladder cancer samples. Conclusions/Significance: We characterized the profiles between methylome and transcriptome in bladder urothelial carcinoma, identified a set of significantly enriched key pathways, and screened four aberrantly methylated and expressed genes. Conclusively, our findings shed light on a new avenue for basic bladder cancer research

Threshold Analysis of a Stochastic SIRS Epidemic Model with Logistic Birth and Nonlinear Incidence

The paper mainly investigates a stochastic SIRS epidemic model with Logistic birth and nonlinear incidence. We obtain a new threshold value (R0m) through the Stratonovich stochastic differential equation, different from the usual basic reproduction number. If R0m1, the disease-free equilibrium of the illness is globally asymptotically stable in probability one. If R0m>1, the disease is permanent in the mean with probability one and has an endemic stationary distribution. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the theoretical results. Interestingly, we discovered that random fluctuations can suppress outbreaks and control the disease