sj-pdf-1-onc-10.1177_11795549231195293 – Supplemental material for The Value of Neoadjuvant Anthracycline-Based Regimens for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Including 1366 Patients

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-onc-10.1177_11795549231195293 for The Value of Neoadjuvant Anthracycline-Based Regimens for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Including 1366 Patients by Yuqin Ding, Kaijing Ding, Xiangming He, Wenju Mo, Chenlu Liang, Lijie Gong, Yuting Huang and Xiaowen Ding in Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology</p

Solution-Processed Tungsten Oxide as an Effective Anode Buffer Layer for High-Performance Polymer Solar Cells

WO₃ is an effective anode buffer layer to substitute PEDOT:PSS in both organic light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, the vacuum deposition of the WO₃ layer is not compatible with low-cost solution-processing technology for the roll-to-roll fabrication of PSCs. Here, we report, for the first time, a solution-processed WO₃ (s-WO₃) anode buffer layer that was prepared by spin-coating tungsten­(VI) isopropoxide solution on an ITO electrode and then thermal annealing at 150 °C for 10 min in air, for the application in PSCs. The s-WO₃ layer shows a high hole mobility of 9.4 × 10^–3 cm²/V·s and high light transmittance. The photovoltaic performance of the buffer layer was investigated by fabricating the PSCs based on poly­(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a donor and (6,6)-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₆₀BM), (6,6)-phenyl-C₇₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₀BM), indene-C₆₀ bisadduct (IC₆₀BA), or indene-C₇₀ bisadduct (IC₇₀BA) as an acceptor. The PSCs with the s-WO₃ anode buffer layer show enhanced photovoltaic performance in comparison with the devices with PEDOT:PSS as the anode buffer layer. The power conversion efficiency of the PSC based on P3HT/IC₇₀BA with the s-WO₃ anode buffer layer reached 6.36% under the illumination of AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm². The results indicate that s-WO₃ is a promising solution-processable anode buffer layer material for high-efficiency PSCs and for the fabrication of flexible PSCs

TIMP-3 Expression Associates with Malignant Behaviors and Predicts Favorable Survival in HCC

<div><p>The tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are proteins that specifically inhibit the proteolytic activity of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). TIMP-3, the only member of the TIMPs that can tightly bind to the extracellular matrix, has been identified as a unique tumor suppressor that demonstrates the ability to inhibit tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. This study aimed to detect the expression of TIMP-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigate the association between TIMP-3 expression and its clinicopathological significance in HCC patients. In the current study, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting of HCC cell lines and one-step quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses in HCC tissues were performed, to characterize the TIMP-3 expression. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were utilized to evaluate the prognosis of 101 HCC patients. The results showed that the expression of TIMP-3 in HCC was significantly decreased relative to that of non-cancerous cells and tissues. Furthermore, the TIMP-3 expression was statistically associated with malignant behaviors of HCC, including portal vein invasion (p = 0.036) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.030). Cox regression analysis revealed that TIMP-3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (p = 0.039) and overall survival (p = 0.049). These data indicate that TIMP-3 expression is a valuable prognostic biomarker for HCC and that TIMP-3 expression suggests a favorable prognosis for HCC patients.</p></div

Univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in HCC for overall survival.

<p>*p<0.05.</p><p>Univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in HCC for overall survival.</p

TIMP-3 expression in four hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and one non-cancerous cell line.

<p>A. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed that TIMP-3 mRNA expression in HCC cell lines was detected at a low intensity when compared to TIMP-3 expression in the human liver cell line, LO-2. B. Western blotting illustrated that TIMP-3 protein expression in the HCC cell lines BEL-7402, SMMC-7721, HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 are decreased relative to the non-cancerous human liver cell line LO-2.</p

Relationship of high TIMP-3 expression with clinicopathological characteristics in HCC.

<p>*p<0.05.</p><p>Relationship of high TIMP-3 expression with clinicopathological characteristics in HCC.</p

TIMP-3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and tumor-adjacent, non-cancerous tissues.

<p>One-step quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) demonstrated that the mRNA expression of TIMP-3 in HCC tissues (1.81±0.197) was significantly lower than in matched non-cancerous tissues (4.49±0.446) after normalization with the GAPDH internal control. *p<0.05.</p

Representative staining pattern of TIMP-3 protein expression in HCC and corresponding non-cancerous tissues in a tissue microarray (TMA).

<p>A1, A2 and A3. Negative immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of TIMP-3 in HCC samples. B1, B2 and B3. Positive IHC staining of TIMP-3 in HCC samples. The red arrow highlights positive staining in the cytoplasm of cancer cells. C1, C2 and C3. Negative IHC staining of TIMP-3 in non-cancerous tissue samples. D1, D2 and D3. Positive IHC staining of TIMP-3 in non-cancerous tissue samples. The blue arrow highlights positive staining in the cytoplasm of non-cancerous cells. Original magnification ×40 in A1, B1, C1 and D1; ×200 in A2, B2, C2 and D2; ×400 in A3, B3, C3 and D3.</p

Survival analysis of HCC patients by the Kaplan-Meier method.

<p>A. The disease-free survival rate in patients with negative TIMP-3 expression (blue line) was significantly lower than that of patients with positive TIMP-3 expression (green line). B. The disease-free survival rate in patients with pathological grade 1 (blue line) and 2 (green line) was significantly higher than that of patients with pathological grade 3 (yellow line). C. The disease-free survival rate in patients with positive portal vein invasion (green line) was significantly lower than that of patients without portal vein invasion (blue line). D. The overall survival rate in patients with negative TIMP-3 expression (blue line) was significantly lower than that in patients with positive TIMP-3 expression (green line). D The overall survival rate in patients with positive portal vein invasion (green line) was significantly lower than that of patients without portal vein invasion (blue line).</p