Increased USP42 expression correlated with poor survival of patients with GC.

<p>A. The mRNA levels of USP42 relative to GAPDH expression in GC and non-tumorous tissues were determined using real-time PCR (<i>P</i><0.0001). B. The expression of USP42 in GC and normal tissues based on TCGA dataset (<i>P</i><0.0001). C. Survival analysis showed that patients with USP42-higher expression tumors have a lower overall survival than those with USP42-lower expression tumors (<i>P</i> = 0.0141). D. Survival analysis on GSE26253 dataset.</p

Knockdown of USP42 expression inhibited GC cell proliferation <i>in vivo</i>.

<p>A. Tumor volume was measured after USP42 siRNA (siRNA) or siRNA control (siNC) injection. B. Mice were sacrificed and tumors were recovered at 36 days after tumor placement. The pictures (upper panel) and weight (n = 6, expressed as mean ± SD, lower panel) of recovered tumors were shown. C. The expression of USP42 and PCNA in tumors from the nude mice was determined by western blot. * <i>P</i><0.05, ** <i>P</i><0.01, *** <i>P</i><0.001 compared with siNC.</p

Nature-Inspired Strategy toward Superhydrophobic Fabrics for Versatile Oil/Water Separation

Phytic acid, which is a naturally occurring component that is widely found in many plants, can strongly bond toxic mineral elements in the human body, because of its six phosphate groups. Some of the metal ions present the property of bonding with phytic acid to form insoluble coordination complexes aggregations, even at room temperature. Herein, a superhydrophobic cotton fabric was prepared using a novel and facile nature-inspired strategy that introduced phytic acid metal complex aggregations to generate rough hierarchical structures on a fabric surface, followed by PDMS modification. This superhydrophobic surface can be constructed not only on cotton fabric, but also on filter paper, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric, and sponge. Ag^I, Fe^III, Ce^III, Zr^IV, and Sn^IV are very commendatory ions in our study. Taking phytic acid–Fe^III-based superhydrophobic fabric as an example, it showed excellent resistance to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, high temperature, and organic solvent immersion, and it has good resistance to mechanical wear and abrasion. The superhydrophobic/superoleophilic fabric was successfully used to separate oil/water mixtures with separation efficiencies as high as 99.5%. We envision that these superantiwetting fabrics, modified with phytic acid–metal complexes and PDMS, are environmentally friendly, low cost, sustainable, and easy to scale up, and thereby exhibit great potentials in practical applications

Correlation of USP42 expression with patients’ features in gastric cancer.

<p>Correlation of USP42 expression with patients’ features in gastric cancer.</p

USP42 was important for GC cell viability.

<p>A. USP42 protein levels were determined in diverse GC cell lines by Western blot and normalized to GAPDH. B. USP42 silencing efficiency of siRNA transfection in AGS and MKN-45 cells was evaluated by Western blot. C. USP42 silencing by siRNA transfection resulted in growth inhibition as detected by CCK-8 assay in AGS and MKN-45 cells. Cells transfected with USP42 siRNA or non-silencing siRNA (siNC) for 48h, along with non-treated cells, were seeded in a 96-well plates, and cell viability was determined at indicated time points. * <i>P</i><0.05, ** <i>P</i><0.01, *** <i>P</i><0.001 compared with siNC.</p

USP42 silencing inhibited cell invasion.

<p>A. GSEA analysis in GC patients with higher USP42 expression versus lower USP42 expression based on TCGA datasets. Cell metastasis pathway was associated with USDP42-higher expression. The enrichment score (ES, green line) reflects the correlation between metastasis pathway and the sample. Black bars indicate previously known genes associated with cell metastasis pathway. B. USP42 silencing decreased cell invasion as detected by in vitro invasion assay. C, D. Expression of key proteins in metastasis and EMT was determined by western blot. * <i>P</i><0.05, ** <i>P</i><0.01, *** <i>P</i><0.001 compared with siNC.</p

Nature-Inspired Strategy toward Superhydrophobic Fabrics for Versatile Oil/Water Separation

Phytic acid, which is a naturally occurring component that is widely found in many plants, can strongly bond toxic mineral elements in the human body, because of its six phosphate groups. Some of the metal ions present the property of bonding with phytic acid to form insoluble coordination complexes aggregations, even at room temperature. Herein, a superhydrophobic cotton fabric was prepared using a novel and facile nature-inspired strategy that introduced phytic acid metal complex aggregations to generate rough hierarchical structures on a fabric surface, followed by PDMS modification. This superhydrophobic surface can be constructed not only on cotton fabric, but also on filter paper, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric, and sponge. Ag^I, Fe^III, Ce^III, Zr^IV, and Sn^IV are very commendatory ions in our study. Taking phytic acid–Fe^III-based superhydrophobic fabric as an example, it showed excellent resistance to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, high temperature, and organic solvent immersion, and it has good resistance to mechanical wear and abrasion. The superhydrophobic/superoleophilic fabric was successfully used to separate oil/water mixtures with separation efficiencies as high as 99.5%. We envision that these superantiwetting fabrics, modified with phytic acid–metal complexes and PDMS, are environmentally friendly, low cost, sustainable, and easy to scale up, and thereby exhibit great potentials in practical applications

USP42 silencing induced G0/G1 phase arrest.

<p>A. GSEA analysis in GC patients with higher USP42 expression versus lower USP42 expression based on TCGA datasets. KEGG cell cycle pathway was associated with USDP42-higher expression. The enrichment score (ES, green line) reflects the correlation between cell cycle pathway and the sample. Black bars indicate previously known genes associated with cell cycle pathway. B. USP42 silencing induced a G0/G1 arrest in GC cells. FACS histograms and cell-cycle analysis of AGS and MKN-5 cells. Quantification of the percentage of cells in G0/G1, S, and G2/M phase was shown. C. Expression of key proteins in cell cycle was determined by western blot. All assays were performed in triplicate. * <i>P</i><0.05, ** <i>P</i><0.01, *** <i>P</i><0.001 compared with siNC.</p

Matchstick-Like Cu₂S@Cu_<i>x</i>O Nanowire Film: Transition of Superhydrophilicity to Superhydrophobicity

We fabricated a matchstick-like Cu₂S@Cu_<i>x</i>O nanowire film on copper mesh by applying a Cu­(OH)₂ nanowires template-sacrificial method, which can transformed from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic just after storage in air for a certain period without any further organic modification. The surface morphology, chemical composition and the wettability were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Raman, X-ray Photoelectron Microscopy (XPS), and contact angle measurement. Results showed that the change of surface chemical composition and the trapped air among the matchstick-like structures were the decisive factors for the wettability transition. Therefore, on-demand oil/water separation was achieved, which was performed by using the superhydrophilic–underwater superoleophobic mesh for separating light oil/water mixtures and the superhydrophobic one for separating heavy oil/water mixtures