Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Enhance Metastatic Properties of Breast Cancer Cells by Activating Rho-Associated Kinase (ROCK)

Background: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of structurally related chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons. Numerous studies have documented a wide spectrum of biological effects of PCBs on human health, such as immunotoxicity, neurotoxocity, estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity, and carcinogensis. The role of PCBs as etiologic agents for breast cancer has been intensively explored in a variety of in vivo, animal and epidemiologic studies. A number of investigations indicated that higher levels of PCBs in mammary tissues or sera correlated to breast cancer risk, and PCBs might be implicated in advancing breast cancer progression. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the current study, we for the first time report that PCBs greatly promote the ROCK activity and therefore increase cell motility for both non-metastatic and metastatic human breast cancer cells in vitro. In the in vivo study, PCBs significantly advance disease progression, leading to enhanced capability of metastatic breast cancer cells to metastasize to bone, lung and liver. Additionally, PCBs robustly induce the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in breast cancer cells; ROS mechanistically elevate ROCK activity. Conclusions/Significance: PCBs enhance the metastatic propensity of breast cancer cells by activating the ROCK signaling, which is dependent on ROS induced by PCBs. Inhibition of ROCK may stand for a unique way to restrain metastases in breast cancer upon PCB exposure

Characterization and mass formulas of symplectic self-orthogonal and LCD codes and their application

The object of this paper is to study two very important classes of codes in coding theory, namely self-orthogonal (SO) and linear complementary dual (LCD) codes under the symplectic inner product, involving characterization, constructions, and their application. Using such a characterization, we determine the mass formulas of symplectic SO and LCD codes by considering the action of the symplectic group, and further obtain some asymptotic results. Finally, under the Hamming distance, we obtain some symplectic SO (resp. LCD) codes with improved parameters directly compared with Euclidean SO (resp. LCD) codes. Under the symplectic distance, we obtain some additive SO (resp. additive complementary dual) codes with improved parameters directly compared with Hermitian SO (resp. LCD) codes. Further, we also construct many good additive codes outperform the best-known linear codes in Grassl's code table. As an application, we construct a number of record-breaking (entanglement-assisted) quantum error-correcting codes, which improve Grassl's code table

The weight enumerator polynomials of the lifted codes of the projective Solomon-Stiffler codes

Determining the weight distribution of a code is an old and fundamental topic in coding theory that has been thoroughly studied. In 1977, Helleseth, Kl{\o}ve, and Mykkeltveit presented a weight enumerator polynomial of the lifted code over $\mathbb{F}_{q^\ell}$ of a $q$-ary linear code with significant combinatorial properties, which can determine the support weight distribution of this linear code. The Solomon-Stiffler codes are a family of famous Griesmer codes, which were proposed by Solomon and Stiffler in 1965. In this paper, we determine the weight enumerator polynomials of the lifted codes of the projective Solomon-Stiffler codes using some combinatorial properties of subspaces. As a result, we determine the support weight distributions of the projective Solomon-Stiffler codes. In particular, we determine the weight hierarchies of the projective Solomon-Stiffler codes.Comment: This manuscript was first submitted on September 9, 202

An open problem and a conjecture on binary linear complementary pairs of codes

The existence of $q$-ary linear complementary pairs (LCPs) of codes with $q> 2$ has been completely characterized so far. This paper gives a characterization for the existence of binary LCPs of codes. As a result, we solve an open problem proposed by Carlet $et~al.$ (IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 65(3): 1694-1704, 2019) and a conjecture proposed by Choi $et~al.$ (Cryptogr. Commun. 15(2): 469-486, 2023)

Optimal quaternary linear codes with one-dimensional Hermitian hull and the related EAQECCs

Linear codes with small hulls over finite fields have been extensively studied due to their practical applications in computational complexity and information protection. In this paper, we develop a general method to determine the exact value of $D_4^H(n,k,1)$ for $n\leq 12$ or $k\in \{1,2,3,n-1,n-2,n-3\}$, where $D_4^H(n,k,1)$ denotes the largest minimum distance among all quaternary linear $[n,k]$ codes with one-dimensional Hermitian hull. As a consequence, we solve a conjecture proposed by Mankean and Jitman on the largest minimum distance of a quaternary linear code with one-dimensional Hermitian hull. As an application, we construct some binary entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (EAQECCs) from quaternary linear codes with one-dimensional Hermitian hull. Some of these EAQECCs are optimal codes, and some of them are better than previously known ones.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2211.0248

NEMO Binds Ubiquitinated TANK-Binding Kinase 1 (TBK1) to Regulate Innate Immune Responses to RNA Viruses

RIG-I-like receptors (RLR) are intracellular sensors utilized by nearly all cell types for recognition of viral RNA, initiation of antiviral defense, and induction of type I interferons (IFN). TBK1 is a critical kinase implicated in RLR-dependent IFN transcription. Posttranslational modification of TBK1 by K63-linked ubiquitin is required for RLR driven signaling. However, the TBK1 ubiquitin acceptor sites and the function of ubiquitinated TBK1 in the signaling cascade are unknown. We now show that TBK1 is ubiquitinated on residues K69, K154, and K372 in response to infection with RNA virus. The K69 and K154 residues are critical for innate antiviral responses and IFN production. Ubiquitinated TBK1 recruits the downstream adaptor NEMO through ubiquitin binding domains. The assembly of the NEMO/TBK1 complex on the mitochondrial protein MAVS leads to activation of TBK1 kinase activity and phosphorylation of the transcription factor, interferon response factor 3. The combined results refine current views of RLR signaling, define the role of TBK1 polyubiquitination, and detail the mechanisms involved in signalosome assembly

Binary self-orthogonal codes which meet the Griesmer bound or have optimal minimum distances

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we characterize the existence of binary self-orthogonal codes meeting the Griesmer bound by employing Solomon-Stiffler codes and some related residual codes. Second, using such a characterization, we determine the exact value of $d_{so}(n,7)$ except for five special cases and the exact value of $d_{so}(n,8)$ except for 41 special cases, where $d_{so}(n,k)$ denotes the largest minimum distance among all binary self-orthogonal $[n, k]$ codes. Currently, the exact value of $d_{so}(n,k)$ $(k \le 6)$ was determined by Shi et al. (2022). In addition, we develop a general method to prove the nonexistence of some binary self-orthogonal codes by considering the residual code of a binary self-orthogonal code.Comment: Submitted 20 January, 202

Influenza A virus-host protein interactions control viral pathogenesis

The influenza A virus (IAV), a member of the Orthomyxoviridae family, is a highly transmissible respiratory pathogen and represents a continued threat to global health with considerable economic and social impact. IAV is a zoonotic virus that comprises a plethora of strains with different pathogenic profiles. The different outcomes of viral pathogenesis are dependent on the engagement between the virus and the host cellular protein interaction network. The interactions may facilitate virus hijacking of host molecular machinery to fulfill the viral life cycle or trigger host immune defense to eliminate the virus. In recent years, much effort has been made to discover the virus-host protein interactions and understand the underlying mechanisms. In this paper, we review the recent advances in our understanding of IAV-host interactions and how these interactions contribute to host defense and viral pathogenesis.Peer reviewedPhysiological Science