Suppression of breast cancer cell growth by Na(+)/H(+ )exchanger regulatory factor 1 (NHERF1)

INTRODUCTION: Na(+)/H(+ )exchanger regulatory factor 1 (NHERF1, also known as EBP50 or NHERF) is a putative tumour suppressor gene in human breast cancer. Located at 17q25.1, NHERF1 is frequently targeted during breast tumourigenesis. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the NHERF1 locus is found in more than 50% of breast tumours. In addition, NHERF1 is mutated in a subset of primary breast tumours and breast cancer cell lines. LOH at the NHERF1 locus is strongly associated with aggressive features of breast tumours, implicating NHERF1 as a haploinsufficiency tumour suppressor gene. However, the putative NHERF1 tumour suppressor activity has not been functionally verified. METHODS: To confirm the NHERF1 tumour suppressor activity suggested by our genetic analyses, we used retrovirus-transduced short hairpin RNA (shRNA) to knock down NHERF1 expression in breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and T47D. These cells were then assessed for cell growth in vitro and in vivo. The control and NHERF1 knockdown cells were also serum-starved and re-fed to compare their cell cycle progression as measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses. RESULTS: We found that downregulation of the endogenous NHERF1 in T47D or MCF7 cells resulted in enhanced cell proliferation in both anchorage-dependent and -independent conditions compared with that of the vector control cells. NHERF1 knockdown T47D cells implanted at mammary fat pads of athymic mice formed larger tumours than did control cells. We found that serum-starved NHERF1 knockdown cells had a faster G(1)-to-S transition after serum re-stimulation than the control cells. Immunoblotting showed that the accelerated cell cycle progression in NHERF1 knockdown cells was accompanied by increased expression of cyclin E and elevated Rb phosphorylation level. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that the normal NHERF1 function in mammary epithelial cells involves blockage of cell cycle progression. Our study affirmed the tumour suppressor activity of NHERF1 in breast which may be related to its regulatory effect on cell cycle. It warrants future investigation of this novel tumour suppressor pathway in human breast cancer which may turn up therapeutic opportunities

Where is the Machine Looking? : Locating Discriminative Light-Scattering Features by Class-Activation Mapping

We explore a technique called class-activation mapping (CAM) to investigate how a Machine Learning (ML) architecture learns to classify particles based on their light-scattering signals. We release our code, and also find that different regions of the light-scattering signals play different roles in ML classification. These regions depend on the type of particles being classified and on the nature of the data obtained and trained. For instance, the Mueller-matrix elements S-11*, S-1(2)* and S-21* had the greatest classification activation in the diffraction region. Linear polarization elements S-1(2)* and S-21* were most accurate in the backscattering region for clusters of spheres and spores, and was most accurate in the diffraction region for other particle classes. The CAM technique was able to highlight light-scattering angles that maximize the potential for discrimination of similar particle classes. Such information is useful for designing detector systems to classify particles where limited space or resources are available, including flow cytometry and satellite remote sensing. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Automated classification of single airborne particles from two-dimensional angle-resolved optical scattering (TAOS) patterns by non-linear filtering

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Optical scattering (TAOS) by tire debris particles: preliminary results

Tire debris particles from low severity laboratory wear tests have been investigated by the TAOS optical scattering facility at Yale University. The incident wavelength is 532 nm. After the TAOS event some particle samples have been imaged by a scanning electron microscope and microanalyzed. The TAOS intensity patterns recorded within a solid angle in the backward sector have been processed by cluster analysis and compared with the patterns computed by a T-matrix code. Preliminary agreement has been found between TAOS data and the particle models (size, shape, refractive index). The purpose of the investigation is to obtain signatures of the material, based on its TAOS pattern. © 2001 Optical Society of America

Increasing 28 mitogenomes of Ephemeroptera, Odonata and Plecoptera support the Chiastomyaria hypothesis with three different outgroup combinations

Background The phylogenetic relationships of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Ephemeroptera (mayflies) remain unresolved. Different researchers have supported one of three hypotheses (Palaeoptera, Chiastomyaria or Metapterygota) based on data from different morphological characters and molecular markers, sometimes even re-assessing the same transcriptomes or mitochondrial genomes. The appropriate choice of outgroups and more taxon sampling is thought to eliminate artificial phylogenetic relationships and obtain an accurate phylogeny. Hence, in the current study, we sequenced 28 mt genomes from Ephemeroptera, Odonata and Plecoptera to further investigate phylogenetic relationships, the probability of each of the three hypotheses, and to examine mt gene arrangements in these species. We selected three different combinations of outgroups to analyze how outgroup choice affected the phylogenetic relationships of Odonata and Ephemeroptera. Methods Mitochondrial genomes from 28 species of mayflies, dragonflies, damselflies and stoneflies were sequenced. We used Bayesian inference (BI) and Maximum likelihood (ML) analyses for each dataset to reconstruct an accurate phylogeny of these winged insect orders. The effect of outgroup choice was assessed by separate analyses using three outgroups combinations: (a) four bristletails and three silverfish as outgroups, (b) five bristletails and three silverfish as outgroups, or (c) five diplurans as outgroups. Results Among these sequenced mitogenomes we found the gene arrangement IMQM in Heptageniidae (Ephemeroptera), and an inverted and translocated tRNA-Ile between the 12S RNA gene and the control region in Ephemerellidae (Ephemeroptera). The IMQM gene arrangement in Heptageniidae (Ephemeroptera) can be explained via the tandem-duplication and random loss model, and the transposition and inversion of tRNA-Ile genes in Ephemerellidae can be explained through the recombination and tandem duplication-random loss (TDRL) model. Our phylogenetic analysis strongly supported the Chiastomyaria hypothesis in three different outgroup combinations in BI analyses. The results also show that suitable outgroups are very important to determining phylogenetic relationships in the rapid evolution of insects especially among Ephemeroptera and Odonata. The mt genome is a suitable marker to investigate the phylogeny of inter-order and inter-family relationships of insects but outgroup choice is very important for deriving these relationships among winged insects. Hence, we must carefully choose the correct outgroup in order to discuss the relationships of Ephemeroptera and Odonata

Proof-of-principle demonstration of compiled Shor's algorithm using a quantum dot single-photon source

Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (11575174, 11674308, 11704424, 11774326, 11874346); Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Key Research and Development Program of China.We report a proof-of-principle demonstration of Shor’s algorithm with photons generated by an on-demand semiconductor quantum dot single-photon source for the first time. A fully compiled version of Shor’s algorithm for factoring 15 has been accomplished with a significantly reduced resource requirement that employs the four-photon cluster state. Genuine multiparticle entanglement properties are confirmed to reveal the quantum character of the algorithm and circuit. The implementation realizes the Shor’s algorithm with deterministic photonic qubits, which opens new applications for cluster state beyond one-way quantum computing.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Porcine Torovirus (PToV)—A Brief Review of Etiology, Diagnostic Assays and Current Epidemiology

Porcine torovirus (PToV) is a potential enteric swine pathogen, found at especially high rates in piglets with diarrhea. It was first reported in the Netherlands in 1998 and has emerged in many countries around the world. Infections are generally asymptomatic and have not directly caused large economic losses, though co-infections with other swine pathogens and intertype recombination may lead to unpredictable outcomes. This review introduces progress in PToV research regarding its discovery, relationship with other Toroviruses, virion morphological characteristics, genetic structure and variation, recent epidemiology, diagnostic methods, and possibilities for future research

Researches on Heat Pump System using Rotary Compressor in Electric Vehicle

In China, electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasing popular. With several years practical operation experiences, a lot of news reports reveal the existing electrical supplementary heating can dramatically impact the driving range of EVs under cold weather in north China. The high efficient electric heat pump system has become the research hotspot, but previous research show the heat pump operation could supply adequate heating capacity only in mild weather conditions when the working fluid is R134a. Since the user can’t change environment temperature, choose a high pressure working fluid to have better heating performance become a realistic choice. Now the aluminum scroll compressor is wildly used in EVs, but because of the material and structure, it can’t endure the long term high pressure operation. This paper adopted the low cost steel rotary compressor and high pressure working fluid to build the EV heat pump system. The heat pump cycles using R134a, R407c and R290 have been theoretically analyzed; the rotary compressor has been redesigned to respectively apply the R134a, R407c and R290; the heat pump test rig has been build; three combinations (compressor, oil and working fluid) under the same cold weather conditions have been experimentally researched. Results showed the rotary compressor with the high pressure working fluid applied system can generate adequate heating capacity with less energy