High expression level of MMP9 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with clear cell renal carcinoma

Matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) was found to be associated with tumor aggressiveness. In this study, we focused on the correlation between MMP9 expression and clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC). Through the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, we observed that compared with adjacent normal renal tissues, in ccRCC tissues the mRNA and protein levels of MMP9 were enhanced, and the mRNA levels of GTP-binding protein smg p21B(RAP1B), B rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (RAF), methyl ethyl ketone2 (MEK2), extracellular regulated protein kinases1 (ERK1), ERK2, v-ets avian erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene homolog1 (ETS1) and ETS2 also increased. The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis suggested that high MMP9 expression was an unfavorable prognostic biomarker for ccRCC patients. Our results indicated that the increased expression level of MMP9 in ccRCC may be due to the activation of the Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK)/ERK signaling pathway, and MMP9 may be an attractive target for ccRCC therapy

Shape-selective formation of monodisperse copper nanospheres and nanocubes via disproportionation reaction route and their optical properties

Synthesis of stable and monodisperse Cu nanocrystals of controlled morphology has been a long-standing challenge. In this Article, we report a facile disproportionation reaction approach for the synthesis of such nanocrystals in organic solvents. Either spherical or cubic shapes can be produced, depending on conditions. The typical Cu nanospheres are single crystals with a size of 23.4 ± 1.5 nm, and can self-assemble into three-dimensional (3D) nanocrystal superlattices with a large scale. By manipulating the chemical additives, monodisperse Cu nanocubes with tailorable sizes have also been obtained. The probable formation mechanism of these Cu nanocrystals is discussed. The narrow size distribution results in strong surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks even though the resonance is located in the interband transition region. Double SPR peaks are observed in the extinction spectra for the Cu nanocubes with relative large sizes. Theoretical simulation of the extinction spectra indicates that the SPR band located at longer wavelengths is caused by assembly of Cu nanocubes into more complex structures. The synthesis procedure that we report here is expected to foster systematic investigations on the physical properties and self-assembly of Cu nanocrystals with shape and size singularity for their potential applications in photonic and nanoelectronic devices. © 2014 American Chemical Society

Synthesis of ZnO-ZnCo2O4 hybrid hollow microspheres with excellent lithium storage properties

通讯作者地址: Peng, DLZnO-ZnCo2O4 hybrid hollow microspheres are successfully produced via an annealing process of the pre-fabricated zinc-cobalt citrate hollow microspheres in air. ZnO and ZnCo2O4 have homogeneous distribution within the whole hollow microspheres. The gained hybrid hollow microspheres deliver outstanding lithium storage properties when utilized as the anode material in lithium ion batteries. A high reversible capacity of 1199 mA h g (1) can be retained after 200 cycles. The exceptional electrochemical properties of the hybrid hollow microspheres are ascribed to the synergetic effect between ZnO and ZnCo2O4 nanoparticles, the catalytic effect of Co nanocrystals, the favorable hollow structures together with the nanometer-sized building blocks of hybrid microspheres

Synthesis of ZnO-ZnCo2O4 hybrid hollow microspheres with excellent lithium storage properties

通讯作者地址: Peng, DLZnO-ZnCo2O4 hybrid hollow microspheres are successfully produced via an annealing process of the pre-fabricated zinc-cobalt citrate hollow microspheres in air. ZnO and ZnCo2O4 have homogeneous distribution within the whole hollow microspheres. The gained hybrid hollow microspheres deliver outstanding lithium storage properties when utilized as the anode material in lithium ion batteries. A high reversible capacity of 1199 mA h g (1) can be retained after 200 cycles. The exceptional electrochemical properties of the hybrid hollow microspheres are ascribed to the synergetic effect between ZnO and ZnCo2O4 nanoparticles, the catalytic effect of Co nanocrystals, the favorable hollow structures together with the nanometer-sized building blocks of hybrid microspheres

DAPK1 as an independent prognostic marker in liver cancer

The death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1) can act as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene depending on the cellular context as well as external stimuli. Our study aims to investigate the prognostic significance of DAPK1 in liver cancer in both mRNA and protein levels. The mRNA expression of DAPK1 was extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus database in three independent liver cancer datasets while protein expression of DAPK1 was detected by immunohistochemistry in our Chinese liver cancer patient cohort. The associations between DAPK1 expression and clinical characteristics were tested. DAPK1 mRNA expression was down-regulated in liver cancer. Low levels of DAPK1 mRNA were associated with shorter survival in a liver cancer patient cohort (n = 115; p = 0.041), while negative staining of DAPK1 protein was significantly correlated with shorter time to progression (p = 0.002) and overall survival (p = 0.02). DAPK1 was an independent prognostic marker for both time to progression and overall survival by multivariate analysis. Liver cancer with the b-catenin mutation has a lower DAPK1 expression, suggesting that DAPK1 may be regulated under the b-catenin pathway. In addition, we also identified genes that are co-regulated with DAPK1. DAPK1 expression was positively correlated with IRF2, IL7R, PCOLCE and ZBTB16, and negatively correlated with SLC16A3 in both liver cancer datasets. Among these genes, PCOLCE and ZBTB16 were significantly down-regulated, while SLC16A3 was significantly upregulated in liver cancer. By using connectivity mapping of these co-regulated genes, we have identified amcinonide and sulpiride as potential small molecules that could potentially reverse DAPK1/PCOLCE/ZBTB16/SLC16A3 expression. Our study demonstrated for the first time that both DAPK1 mRNA and protein expression levels are important prognostic markers in liver cancer, and have identified genes that may contribute to DAPK1-mediated liver carcinogenesis

Disproportionation route to monodispersed copper nanoparticles for the catalytic synthesis of propargylamines

National Basic Research Program of China [2012CB933103]; National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of China [50825101]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51171157, 50971108]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [201112G015]By taking advantage of the coordination between a monovalent Cu+ precursor and trioctylphosphine, monodisperse Cu nanoparticles were synthesized via a disproportionation reaction. A Cu@SiO2 nanocatalyst was formed by supporting Cu nanoparticles onto a silica aerogel, which showed a high surface area (779.53 m(2) g(-1)) and excellent catalytic activity for the synthesis of propargylamines

Engineering oxygen vacancies in hierarchically Li-rich layered oxide porous microspheres for high-rate lithium ion battery cathode

Abstract(#br)Lithium-rich layered oxides always suffer from low initial Coulombic efficiency, poor rate capability and rapid voltage fading. Herein, engineering oxygen vacancies in hierarchically Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 porous microspheres (L@S) is carried out to suppress the formation of irreversible Li 2 O during the initial discharge process and improve the Li + diffusion kinetics and structural stability of the cathode mateiral. As a result, the prepared L@S cathode delivers high initial Coulombic efficiency of 92.3% and large specific capacity of 292.6 mA h g −1 at 0.1 C. More importantly, a large reversible capacity of 222 mA h g −1 with a capacity retention of 95.7% can be obtained after 100 cycles at 10 C. Even cycled at ultrahigh rate of 20 C, the L@S cathode can..

Surface Ni-rich engineering towards highly stable Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 cathode materials

Abstract(#br)Li-rich layered oxide cathode materials (LLOs) are regarded as promising next-generation cathode candidate in high-energy-density lithium ion batteries due to their high specific capacity over 250 mA h g −1 . However, LLOs always suffer from a series of severe issues, such as rapid voltage fading, fast capacity decay and bad cycling stability. In this work, Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 -Li 1.2 Mn 0.44 Ni 0.32 Co 0.04 O 2 (LLO-111@111/811) hybrid layered-layered cathode is constructed via facilely increasing surface Ni content. Profiting from this special design, the prepared LLO-111@111/811 cathode exhibits a remarkable specific capacity of 249 mA h g −1 with a high capacity retention of 89.3% and a high discharge voltage of 3.57 V with a voltage retention of 83.0% after cycling 350 times at 0.5 C. As a result, the specific energy of LLO-111@111/811 cathode is 887 Wh Kg −1 at 0.5 C and it keeps as high as 658 Wh Kg −1 after 350 cycles. LLO-111@111/811 also exhibits an initial high capacity of 169 mA h g −1 at a high rate of 5 C and maintains a good capacity retention of 90.0% after 200 cycles. This strategy can successfully improve structural stability, suppress capacity decay and restrain voltage fading of LLOs, which is beneficial for their practical application

Regulation of the expression of DAPK1 by SUMO pathway.

Death Associated Protein Kinase 1 (DAPK1) is an important signaling kinase mediating the biological eect of multiple natural biomolecules such as IFN-, TNF-, curcumin, etc. DAPK1 is degraded through both ubiquitin-proteasomal and lysosomal degradation pathways. To investigate the crosstalk between these two DAPK1 degradation pathways, we carried out a screen using a set of ubiquitin E2 siRNAs at the presence of Tuberous Sclerous 2 (TSC2) and identified that the small ubiquitin-like molecule (SUMO) pathway is able to regulate the protein levels of DAPK1. Inhibition of the SUMO pathway enhanced DAPK1 protein levels and the minimum domain of DAPK1 proteinrequired for this regulation is the kinase domain, suggesting that the SUMO pathway regulates DAPK1 protein levels independent of TSC2. Suppression of the SUMO pathway did not enhance DAPK1 protein stability. In addition, mutation of the potential SUMO conjugation sites on DAPK1 kinase domain did not alter its protein stability or response to SUMO pathway inhibition. These data suggested that the SUMO pathway does not regulate DAPK1 protein degradation. The exact molecular mechanism underlying this regulation is yet to be discovered