Targeting notch-related lncRNAs in cancer: Insights into molecular regulation and therapeutic potential

Cancer is a group of diseases marked by unchecked cell proliferation and the ability for the disease to metastasize to different body areas. Enhancements in treatment and early detection are crucial for improved outcomes. LncRNAs are RNA molecules that encode proteins and have a length of more than 200 nucleotides. LncRNAs are crucial for chromatin architecture, gene regulation, and other cellular activities that impact both normal growth & pathological processes, even though they are unable to code for proteins. LncRNAs have emerged as significant regulators in the study of cancer biology, with a focus on their intricate function in the Notch signaling pathway. The imbalance of this pathway is often linked to a variety of malignancies. Notch signaling is essential for cellular functions like proliferation, differentiation, and death. The cellular response is shaped by these lncRNAs through their modulation of essential Notch pathway constituents such as receptors, ligands, and downstream effectors around it. Furthermore, a variety of cancer types exhibit irregular expression of Notch-related lncRNAs, underscoring their potential use as therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers. Gaining an understanding of the molecular processes behind the interaction between the Notch pathway and lncRNAs will help you better understand the intricate regulatory networks that control the development of cancer. This can open up new possibilities for individualized treatment plans and focused therapeutic interventions. The intricate relationships between lncRNAs & the Notch pathway in cancer are examined in this review.

Exploring the Landscape of General Surgery in the Adolescent Age Group: Challenges and Considerations

INTRODUCTION

The adolescent age group typically ranges from 10 to 19 years. This age group differs from the paediatric and adult populations based on their physiological, psychological, and social behaviour. Patients of this age group usually present with trauma, swellings, burns, hernias, hydroceles, haemorrhoids, fibroadenomas, abscesses, pilonidal diseases, etc. The objective of this study was to identify various causes requiring surgical intervention in adolescent patients and to determine the demography of these patients, reasons for surgery, and surgical outcomes in the patients of the adolescent age group.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This single-centre, hospital record-based, retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on 445 adolescent patients who underwent various general surgical interventions from August 2022 to July 2023 in the Department of General Surgery, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi.

RESULTS

A total of 445 patients were included in this study; among them, 277 underwent elective surgeries and 168 emergency surgeries. Major surgeries included 315 patients, while 130 were daycare procedures. Males were 294, and 151 were females. Cyst excision was the most performed, followed by fibroadenoma excision. Burn (10.78%) was the most common cause requiring major intervention, followed by intestinal obstruction (6.96%) and perforation (6.51%). Mortality was observed in 6.51% of patients.

CONCLUSION

In this study, the adolescent age group required more elective surgical care as compared to emergency care. Among major surgeries, abdominal laparotomy was most common, and in daycare procedures as well as overall, cyst excision was most performed.

Direct Observation of Folding Energy Landscape of RNA Hairpin at Mechanical Loading Rates

By applying a controlled mechanical load using optical tweezers, we measured the diffusive barrier crossing in a 49 nt long P5ab RNA hairpin. We find that in the free-energy landscape the barrier height (G^‡) and transition distance (x^‡) are dependent on the loading rate (r) along the pulling direction, x, as predicted by Bell. The barrier shifted toward the initial state, whereas ΔG^‡ reduced significantly from 50 to 5 kT, as r increased from 0 to 32 pN/s. However, the equilibrium work (ΔG) during strand separation, as estimated by Crook's fluctuation theorem, remained unchanged at different rates. Previously, helix formation and denaturation have been described as two-state (F ↔ U) transitions for P5ab. Herein, we report three intermediate states I₁, I, and I₂ located at 4, 11, and 16 nm respectively, from the folded conformation. The intermediates were observed only when the hairpin was subjected to an optimal r, 7.6 pN/s. The results indicate that the complementary strands in P5ab can zip and unzip through complex routes, whereby mismatches act as checkpoints and often impose barriers. The study highlights the significance of loading rates in force-spectroscopy experiments that are increasingly being used to measure the folding properties of biomolecules.

Numerical study of spectral shaping in high energy Ho:YLF amplifiers

We present a new chromatic numerical approach to simulate the amplification of laser pulses in multipass laser amplifiers. This enables studies on spectral effects such as gain narrowing and spectral shaping with optical elements expressed by a transmission transfer function. We observe good agreement between our simulations and measurements with a Ho:YLF regenerative amplifier (RA). To demonstrate the capabilities of our simulation model, we numerically integrate an intra-cavity etalon in this laser and find optimum etalon parameters that enhance the peak power of the output pulses up to 65%.

Intracavity gain shaping in millijoule-level, high gain Ho:YLF regenerative amplifiers

We demonstrate intracavity gain shaping inside a 2 μm Ho:YLF regenerative amplifier with a spectral bandwidth of 2.9 nm broadened to 5.4 nm, corresponding to Fourier-limited pulses of 1 ps duration. The intracavity gain shaping is achieved by using a simple etalon, which acts as a frequency-selective filter. The output of the regenerative amplifier is amplified by a single-pass amplifier, and we achieve total energy of 2.2 mJ and pulse duration of 2.4 ps at 1 kHz with pulse fluctuations <1%. The amplifier chain is seeded by a home-built mode-locked holmium-doped fiber oscillator.

Overcoming bifurcation instability in high-repetition-rate Ho:YLF regenerative amplifiers

We demonstrate a Ho:YLF regenerative amplifier (RA) overcoming bifurcation instability and consequently achieving high extraction energies of 6.9 mJ at a repetition rate of 1 kHz with pulse-to-pulse fluctuations of 1.1%. Measurements of the output pulse energy, corroborated by numerical simulations, identify an operation point (OP) that allows high-energy pulse extraction at a minimum noise level. Complete suppression of the onset of bifurcation was achieved by gain saturation after each pumping cycle in the Ho:YLF crystal via lowering the repetition rate and cooling the crystal. Even for moderate cooling, a significant temperature dependence of the Ho:YLF RA performance was observed.

A novel comparative study of crystalline perfection and optical homogeneity in Nd:GGG crystals grown by the Czochralski technique with different crystal/melt interface shapes

Nd:GGG crystals (GGG is gadolinium gallium garnet) grown with different crystal/melt interface shapes (convex/flat/concave) by varying the seed rotation rate while using the Czochralski technique were studied for their optical homogeneity and crystalline perfection by optical polarization microscopy (OPM) and high-resolution X-ray diffractometry (HRXRD), respectively. It was found that there is a remarkable effect of seed rotation rate, which decides the shape of the crystal/melt interface, on the optical homogeneity and crystalline perfection. It was found experimentally that, as the rotation rate increases, the crystal/melt interface changes from convex to flat. If the rate further increases the interface becomes concave. With a steep convex interface (for low rotation rates), certain facets are concentrated in the small central portion of the crystal, and as the rate increases, these facets slowly move outward, leading to improved optical homogeneity and crystalline perfection as observed from the OPM and HRXRD results. The strain developed in the crystalline matrix as a result of segregation of oxygen in the crystals at low seed rotation rates as observed from HRXRD seems to be the reason for the observed optical inhomogeneity. The correlation between optical inhomogeneity and crystalline perfection for a variety of specimens with different shapes of the crystal/liquid interface obtained at different seed rotation rates is reported.

Antihyperglycemic activity with DPP-IV inhibition of alkaloids from seed extract of Castanospermum australe: Investigation by experimental validation and molecular docking

The antidiabetic actions of Castanospermum australe Cunn., seed (CAS) extract were evaluated in Poloxamer-407 (PX-407) induced T2DM rats. The CAS extract (100 and 150 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally once a day for 5 weeks after the animals were confirmed diabetic. A significant increase in blood glucose, HbA₁c and serum insulin levels were observed in T2DM rats in comparison to citrate control rats. Treatment with CAS extract in T2DM rats reduced the elevated levels of blood glucose, HbA₁c and insulin with significant (p≤0.001) improvement in OGT. The CAS extract treatment also increased (p≤0.001) the K(ITT) and prevented increase in HOMA-R level in T2DM rats. The DPP-IV inhibitory potential of CAS extract showed IC₅₀ value of 13.96 μg/ml whilst the standard Diprotin A displayed the IC₅₀ value of 1.543 μg/ml. Molecular docking of the three reported alkaloids from the seeds of C. australe showed comparable DPP-IV inhibition with berberine. Our data suggest that CAS extract (150 mg/kg body weight) normalizes hyperglycemia in T2DM rats with strong DPP-IV inhibitory potential. The molecular docking showed that among the three alkaloids of seed extract 7-Deoxy-6-epi-castanospermine is a potent DPP-IV inhibitor similar to berberine.

Antidiabetic activity and molecular docking of fructooligosaccharides produced by Aureobasidium pullulans in poloxamer-407-induced T2DM rats

This study evaluated the beneficial effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) intake from Aureobasidium pullulans using poloxamer-407 (PX-407) induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in rat. Administration of FOS enhanced enzymatic activities of catalase and glutathione reductase in a dose-dependent manner. Significant reduction in fasting plasma triacylglycerol and very low-density lipoprotein level coupled with slight increase in fasting plasma insulin level was observed. Significant decrease in severe glucosuria, proteinuria, blood creatinine, urea and advanced glycation end products was also observed. Supplementation of FOS increased glucagon like peptide-1 content as well as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli populations in the caecum. Molecular docking by Gold and Glide software revealed that three sugar types present in the FOS (1-kestose, nystose, and 1-β-fructofuranosyl nystose) are potent dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitors as well as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonists. This work indicates that FOS can be positioned as a nutraceutical product, beneficial in diabetes-associated metabolic abnormalities.

Wireless micropower instrumentation for multimodal acquisition of electrical and chemical neural activity

The intricate coupling between electrical and chemical activity in neural pathways of the central nervous system, and the implication of this coupling in neuropathologies, such as Parkinson's disease, motivates simultaneous monitoring of neurochemical and neuropotential signals. However, to date, neurochemical sensing has been lacking in integrated clinical instrumentation as well as in brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Here, we present an integrated system capable of continuous acquisition of data modalities in awake, behaving subjects. It features one channel each of a configurable neuropotential and a neurochemical acquisition system. The electrophysiological channel is comprised of a 40-dB gain, fully differential amplifier with tunable bandwidth from 140 Hz to 8.2 kHz. The amplifier offers input-referred noise below 2 muV rms for all bandwidth settings. The neurochemical module features a picoampere sensitivity potentiostat with a dynamic range spanning six decades from picoamperes to microamperes. Both systems have independent on-chip, configurable DeltaSigma analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with programmable digital gain and resolution. The system was also interfaced to a wireless power harvesting and telemetry module capable of powering up the circuits, providing clocks for ADC operation, and telemetering out the data at up to 32 kb/s over 3.5 cm with a bit-error rate of less than 10(-5). Characterization and experimental results from the electrophysiological and neurochemical modules as well as the full system are presented.

Contrast-enhanced imaging of cerebral vasculature with laser speckle

High-resolution cerebral vasculature imaging has applications ranging from intraoperative procedures to basic neuroscience research. Laser speckle, with spatial contrast processing, has recently been used to map cerebral blood flow. We present an application of the technique using temporal contrast processing to image cerebral vascular structures with a field of view a few millimeters across and approximately 20 microm resolution through a thinned skull. We validate the images using fluorescent imaging and demonstrate a factor of 2-4 enhancement in contrast-to-noise ratios over reflectance imaging using white or spectrally filtered green light. The contrast enhancement enables the perception of approximately 10%-30% more vascular structures without the introduction of any contrast agent.

VLSI Potentiostat Array With Oversampling Gain Modulation for Wide-Range Neurotransmitter Sensing

A 16-channel current-measuring very large-scale integration (VLSI) sensor array system for highly sensitive electrochemical detection of electroactive neurotransmiters like dopamine and nitric-oxide is presented. Each channel embeds a current integrating potentiostat within a switched-capacitor first-order single-bit delta-sigma modulator implementing an incremental analog-to-digital converter. The duty-cycle modulation of current feedback in the delta-sigma loop together with variable oversampling ratio provide a programmable digital range selection of the input current spanning over six orders of magnitude from picoamperes to microamperes. The array offers 100-fA input current sensitivity at 3.4-muW power consumption per channel. The operation of the 3 mm times3 mm chip fabricated in 0.5-mum CMOS technology is demonstrated with real-time multichannel acquisition of neurotransmitter concentration.