Role of Exosomes in Crosstalk Between Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts and Cancer Cells

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are important cells of the tumor microenvironment that can communicate with tumor cells through various mechanisms. Recently, increasing studies have found that exosomes transmit biological information by carrying microRNAs, lncRNAs, proteins, metabolites, and other substances, and thus exert biological and therapeutic effects. CAF-secreted exosomes can also affect the tumor phenotype, while the exosomes released by tumor cells can activate CAFs. Here, we review the role of exosomes in the crosstalk between CAFs and tumor cells and elaborate its mechanism

Visualizing symmetry-breaking electronic orders in epitaxial Kagome magnet FeSn films

Kagome lattice hosts a plethora of quantum states arising from the interplay of topology, spin-orbit coupling, and electron correlations. Here, we report symmetry-breaking electronic orders tunable by an applied magnetic field in a model Kagome magnet FeSn consisting of alternating stacks of two-dimensional Fe3Sn Kagome and Sn2 honeycomb layers. On the Fe3Sn layer terminated FeSn thin films epitaxially grown on SrTiO3(111) substrates, we observe trimerization of the Kagome lattice using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, breaking its six-fold rotational symmetry while preserving the transitional symmetry. Such a trimerized Kagome lattice shows an energy-dependent contrast reversal in dI/dV maps, which is significantly enhanced by bound states induced by Sn vacancy defects. This trimerized Kagome lattice also exhibits stripe modulations that are energy-dependent and tunable by an applied in-plane magnetic field, indicating symmetry-breaking nematicity from the entangled magnetic and charge degrees of freedom in antiferromagnet FeSn

Micro/Nano Gas Sensors: A New Strategy Towards In-Situ Wafer-Level Fabrication of High-Performance Gas Sensing Chips

Nano-structured gas sensing materials, in particular nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanowires, enable high sensitivity at a ppb level for gas sensors. For practical applications, it is highly desirable to be able to manufacture such gas sensors in batch and at low cost. We present here a strategy of in-situ wafer-level fabrication of the high-performance micro/nano gas sensing chips by naturally integrating microhotplatform (MHP) with nanopore array (NPA). By introducing colloidal crystal template, a wafer-level ordered homogenous SnO_2 NPA is synthesized in-situ on a 4-inch MHP wafer, able to produce thousands of gas sensing units in one batch. The integration of micromachining process and nanofabrication process endues micro/nano gas sensing chips at low cost, high throughput, and with high sensitivity (down to ~20 ppb), fast response time (down to ~1 s), and low power consumption (down to ~30 mW). The proposed strategy of integrating MHP with NPA represents a versatile approach for in-situ wafer-level fabrication of high-performance micro/nano gas sensors for real industrial applications