miR-638 is a new biomarker for outcome prediction of non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, mediate gene expression by either cleaving target mRNAs or inhibiting their translation. They have key roles in the tumorigenesis of several cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of miR-638 in the evaluation of NSCLC patient prognosis in response to chemotherapy. First, we detected miR-638 expression levels in vitro in the culture supernatants of the NSCLC cell line SPC-A1 treated with cisplatin, as well as the apoptosis rates of SPC-A1. Second, serum miR-638 expression levels were detected in vivo by using nude mice xenograft models bearing SPC-A1 with and without cisplatin treatment. In the clinic, the serum miR-638 levels of 200 cases of NSCLC patients before and after chemotherapy were determined by quantitative real-time PCR, and the associations of clinicopathological features with miR-638 expression patterns after chemotherapy were analyzed. Our data helped in demonstrating that cisplatin induced apoptosis of the SPC-A1 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner accompanied by increased miR-638 expression levels in the culture supernatants. In vivo data further revealed that cisplatin induced miR-638 upregulation in the serum derived from mice xenograft models, and in NSCLC patient sera, miR-638 expression patterns after chemotherapy significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis. Moreover, survival analyses revealed that patients who had increased miR-638 levels after chemotherapy showed significantly longer survival time than those who had decreased miR-638 levels. Our findings suggest that serum miR-638 levels are associated with the survival of NSCLC patients and may be considered a potential independent predictor for NSCLC prognosis

Method of determining cosmological parameter ranges with samples of candles with an intrinsic distribution

In this paper, the effect of the intrinsic distribution of cosmological candles is investigated. We find that, in the case of a narrow distribution, the deviation of the observed modulus of sources from the expected central value could be estimated within a ceratin range. We thus introduce a lower and upper limits of $\chi ^{2}$, $\chi_{\min}^{2}$ and $\chi_{\max}^{2}$, to estimate cosmological parameters by applying the conventional minimizing $\chi ^{2}$ method. We apply this method to a gamma-ray burst (GRB) sample as well as to a combined sample including this GRB sample and an SN Ia sample. Our analysis shows that: a) in the case of assuming an intrinsic distribution of candles of the GRB sample, the effect of the distribution is obvious and should not be neglected; b) taking into account this effect would lead to a poorer constraint of the cosmological parameter ranges. The analysis suggests that in the attempt of constraining the cosmological model with current GRB samples, the results tend to be worse than what previously thought if the mentioned intrinsic distribution does exist.Comment: 6 pages,4 figures,1 tables.Data updated. Main conclusion unchange

Controlled Synthesis of Organic/Inorganic van der Waals Solid for Tunable Light-matter Interactions

Van der Waals (vdW) solids, as a new type of artificial materials that consist of alternating layers bonded by weak interactions, have shed light on fascinating optoelectronic device concepts. As a result, a large variety of vdW devices have been engineered via layer-by-layer stacking of two-dimensional materials, although shadowed by the difficulties of fabrication. Alternatively, direct growth of vdW solids has proven as a scalable and swift way, highlighted by the successful synthesis of graphene/h-BN and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) vertical heterostructures from controlled vapor deposition. Here, we realize high-quality organic and inorganic vdW solids, using methylammonium lead halide (CH3NH3PbI3) as the organic part (organic perovskite) and 2D inorganic monolayers as counterparts. By stacking on various 2D monolayers, the vdW solids behave dramatically different in light emission. Our studies demonstrate that h-BN monolayer is a great complement to organic perovskite for preserving its original optical properties. As a result, organic/h-BN vdW solid arrays are patterned for red light emitting. This work paves the way for designing unprecedented vdW solids with great potential for a wide spectrum of applications in optoelectronics

Empirical modeling of the stellar spectrum of galaxies

An empirical method of modeling the stellar spectrum of galaxies is proposed, based on two successive applications of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA is first applied to the newly available stellar library STELIB, supplemented by the J, H and K$_{s}$ magnitudes taken mainly from the 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Next the resultant eigen-spectra are used to fit the observed spectra of a sample of 1016 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release One (SDSS DR1). PCA is again applied, to the fitted spectra to construct the eigen-spectra of galaxies with zero velocity dispersion. The first 9 galactic eigen-spectra so obtained are then used to model the stellar spectrum of the galaxies in SDSS DR1, and synchronously to estimate the stellar velocity dispersion, the spectral type, the near-infrared SED, and the average reddening. Extensive tests show that the spectra of different type galaxies can be modeled quite accurately using these eigen-spectra. The method can yield stellar velocity dispersion with accuracies better than 10%, for the spectra of typical S/N ratios in SDSS DR1.Comment: 34 pages with 18 figures, submitted to A

MicroRNA-1 acts as a tumor suppressor microRNA by inhibiting angiogenesis-related growth factors in human gastric cancer

Background We recently reported that miR-1 was one of the most significantly downregulated microRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas microRNA sequencing data. Here we aim to elucidate the role of miR-1 in gastric carcinogenesis. Methods We measured miR-1 expression in human GC cell lines and 90 paired primary GC samples, and analyzed the association of its status with clinicopathological features. The effect of miR-1 on GC cells was evaluated by proliferation and migration assay. To identify the target genes of miR-1, bioinformatic analysis and protein array analysis were performed. Moreover, the regulation mechanism of miR-1 with regard to these predicted targets was investigated by quantitative PCR (qPCR), Western blot, ELISA, and endothelial cell tube formation. The putative binding site of miR-1 on target genes was assessed by a reporter assay. Results Expression of miR-1 was obviously decreased in GC cell lines and primary tissues. Patients with low miR-1 expression had significantly shorter overall survival compared with those with high miR-1 expression (P = 0.0027). Overexpression of miR-1 in GC cells inhibited proliferation, migration, and tube formation of endothelial cells by suppressing expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and endothelin 1 (EDN1). Conversely, inhibition of miR-1 with use of antago-miR-1 caused an increase in expression of VEGF-A and EDN1 in nonmalignant GC cells or low-malignancy GC cells. Conclusions MiR-1 acts as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting angiogenesis-related growth factors in human gastric cancer. Downregulated miR-1 not only promotes cellular proliferation and migration of GC cells, but may activates proangiogenesis signaling and stimulates the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells, indicating the possibility of new strategies for GC therapy

A Search for Double-peaked narrow emission line Galaxies and AGNs in the LAMOST DR1

LAMOST has released more than two million spectra, which provide the opportunity to search for double-peaked narrow emission line (NEL) galaxies and AGNs. The double-peaked narrow-line profiles can be well modeled by two velocity components, respectively blueshifted and redshifted with respect to the systemic recession velocity. This paper presents 20 double-peaked NEL galaxies and AGNs found from LAMOST DR1 using a search method based on multi-gaussian fit of the narrow emission lines. Among them, 10 have already been published by other authors, either listed as genuine double-peaked NEL objects or as asymmetric NEL objects, the remaining 10 being first discoveries. We discuss some possible origins for double-peaked narrow-line features, as interaction between jet and narrow line regions, interaction with companion galaxies and black hole binaries. Spatially resolved optical imaging and/or follow-up observations in other spectral bands are needed to further discuss the physical mechanisms at work.Comment: 17 pages, 5figures, 4 tables, accepted by RA