Integration of hydrothermal liquefaction of Cyanophyta and supercritical water oxidation of its aqueous phase products: Biocrude production and nutrient removal

Cyanophyta has the potential to produce biocrude via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). However, aqueous phase products (APs), as by-products of HTL, pose a risk of eutrophication for the high levels of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) can efficiently convert organics into small molecules, offering a technique for the harmless treatment of APs. Effects of holding time, pressure, and moisture content on the biocrude yields from isothermal HTL (300 °C) and fast HTL (salt bath temperature of 500 °C) were comprehensively investigated. Biocrude properties were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and GC-MS. Subsequently, the APs obtained under the conditions producing the highest biocrude yield were subjected to SCWO at 550 °C with different oxidation coefficients (n) from 0 to 2. Removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and total phosphorus (TP) were further explored. The results show that the highest biocrude yields from isothermal HTL and fast HTL were 24.2 wt% (300 °C, 1800 s, 25 MPa, and 80 wt% moisture content) and 21.9 wt% (500 °C, 40 s, 25 MPa, and 80 wt% moisture content), respectively. The biocrude primarily consisted of N-containing heterocyclic compounds, amides, and acids. SCWO effectively degraded the COD and TP in APs, while the NH3-N required further degradation. At n = 2, the highest removal rates of COD, NH3-N and TP were 98.5 %, 22.6 % and 89.1 %, respectively.

Ascites exosomal lncRNA PLADE enhances platinum sensitivity by inducing R-loops in ovarian cancer

Cisplatin resistance is a major cause of therapeutic failure in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of human cancers; however, their modes of action in HGSOC remain largely unknown. Here, we provide evidence to demonstrate that lncRNA Platinum sensitivity-related LncRNA from Ascites-Derived Exosomes (PLADE) transmitted by ascites exosomes enhance platinum sensitivity in HGSOC. PLADE exhibited significantly decreased expression in ascites exosomes and tumor tissues, as well as in the corresponding metastatic tumors from patients with HGSOC cisplatin-resistance. Moreover, HGSOC patients with higher PLADE expression levels exhibited longer progression-free survival. Gain- and loss-of-function studies have revealed that PLADE promotes cisplatin sensitivity by suppressing cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and enhancing apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the functions of PLADE in increasing cisplatin sensitivity were proven to be transferred by exosomes to the cultured recipient cells and to the adjacent tumor tissues in mouse models. Mechanistically, PLADE binds to and downregulates heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein D (HNRNPD) by VHL-mediated ubiquitination, thus inducing an increased amount of RNA: DNA hybrids (R-loop) and DNA damage, consequently promoting cisplatin sensitivity in HGSOC. Collectively, these results shed light on the understanding of the vital roles of long noncoding RNAs in cancers.

Interfacial Polarization Locked Flexible β-Phase Glycine/Nb2 CTx Piezoelectric Nanofibers

Biomolecular piezoelectric materials show great potential in the field of wearable and implantable biomedical devices. Here, a self-assemble approach is developed to fabricating flexible β-glycine piezoelectric nanofibers with interfacial polarization locked aligned crystal domains induced by Nb2 CTx nanosheets. Acted as an effective nucleating agent, Nb2 CTx nanosheets can induce glycine to crystallize from edges toward flat surfaces on its 2D crystal plane and form a distinctive eutectic structure within the nanoconfined space. The interfacial polarization locking formed between O atom on glycine and Nb atom on Nb2 CTx is essential to align the β-glycine crystal domains with (001) crystal plane intensity extremely improved. This β-phase glycine/Nb2 CTx nanofibers (Gly-Nb2 C-NFs) exhibit fabulous mechanical flexibility with Young's modulus of 10 MPa, and an enhanced piezoelectric coefficient of 5.0 pC N-1 or piezoelectric voltage coefficient of 129 × 10-3 Vm N-1 . The interface polarization locking greatly improves the thermostability of β-glycine before melting (≈210°C). A piezoelectric sensor based on this Gly-Nb2 C-NFs is used for micro-vibration sensing in vivo in mice and exhibits excellent sensing ability. This strategy provides an effective approach for the regular crystallization modulation for glycine crystals, opening a new avenue toward the design of piezoelectric biomolecular materials induced by 2D materials.

Cytoplasmic expression of UTP23 promotes colorectal cancer progression

UTP23 (UTP23 small subunit processome component) plays a pivotal role in the intricate processing and maturation of the small subunit of ribosomes within the nucleolus. In cases of nucleolar stress, such as those observed in certain tumor cells, the aberrant nucleolar organization and structure can lead to the translocation of nucleolar proteins into the nucleus or cytoplasm, consequently impacting the physiological processes of the tumor cells through non-ribosome-related functions. Our investigation revealed altered localization of UTP23 protein in colorectal cancer clinical tissue samples. Upon analyzing UTP23 expression and its correlation with patient prognosis in a cohort of 143 colorectal cancer patients, the result suggested that high cytoplasmic expression pattern of UTP23 was occured in early-stage metastasis-free colorectal cancer and was significantly associated with poor prognosis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that cytoplasmic expression of UTP23 significantly promoted the metastatic and invasive capabilities of colorectal cancer cells, which was not showed in the nucleollcalised UTP23. Intriguingly, mass spectrometry result suggested that KRT5 bind to UTP23 and showed a regulatory influence on UTP23 metastatic potential in colorectal cancer cells. Conclusively, our study demonstrated that the localization of UTP23 play a key role in colorectal cancer metastatic progression, which may serve as a novel prognostic indicator.

Soft ferroelectret ultrasound receiver for targeted peripheral neuromodulation

Bioelectronic medicine is a rapidly growing field where targeted electrical signals can act as an adjunct or alternative to drugs to treat neurological disorders and diseases via stimulating the peripheral nervous system on demand. However, current existing strategies are limited by external battery requirements, and the injury and inflammation caused by the mechanical mismatch between rigid electrodes and soft nerves. Here we report a wireless, leadless, and battery-free ferroelectret implant, termed NeuroRing, that wraps around the target peripheral nerve and demonstrates high mechanical conformability to dynamic motion nerve tissue. As-fabricated NeuroRing can act as an ultrasound receiver that converts ultrasound vibrations into electrostimulation pulses, thus stimulating the targeted peripheral nerve on demand. This capability is demonstrated by the precise modulation of the sacral splanchnic nerve to treat colitis, providing a framework for future bioelectronic medicines that offer an alternative to non-specific pharmacological approaches.

A single-cell landscape of pre- and post-menopausal high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is a hormone-related cancer with high mortality and poor prognosis. Based on the transcriptome of 57,444 cells in ascites from 10 patients with HGSOC (including 5 pre-menopausal and 5 post-menopausal patients), we identified 14 cell clusters which were further classified into 6 cell types, including T cells, B cells, NK cells, myeloid cells, epithelial cells, and stromal cells. We discovered an increased proportion of epithelial cells and a decreased proportion of T cells in pre-menopausal ascites compared with post-menopausal ascites. GO analysis revealed the pre-menopausal tumor microenvironments (TME) are closely associated with viral infection, while the post-menopausal TME are mostly related to the IL-17 immune pathway. SPP1/CD44-mediated crosstalk between myeloid cells and B cells, NK cells, and stromal cells mainly present in the pre-menopausal group, while SPP1/PTGER4 -mediated crosstalk between myeloid cells and epithelial cells mostly present in the post-menopausal group.

Targeting XPO1 Combined with Radiotherapy to Enhance Systemic Anti-tumor Effects in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

The combination of radiation and radiosensitizing chemotherapeutic agents have shown promising anti-tumor effects in NSCLC. Acting as an oncogenic driver, XPO1 is frequently overexpressed and/or mutated in lung cancer. Thus, suppression of XPO1-mediated nuclear export presents a unique therapeutic strategy. We hypothesize that XPO1 inhibition combined with radiotherapy (XRT) may remodel the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and reduce radioresistance, thus enhance systemic anti-tumor effects.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Herein, we optimized a small molecule inhibitor, WJ01024, which can bind to XPO1 and antagonize its activity to inhibit nuclear export. In the C57BL/6 mouse subcutaneous tumor model, we evaluated the ability of different treatment regimens containing oral WJ01014 single or combined with XRT (one fractions of 15 Gy) in tumor control and tumor recurrence inhibition. The effects of each treatment regimen on the alterations of immunophenotypes, including the quantification, activation, proliferative capacity, exhaustion marker expression, and memory status, were evaluated by flow cytometry.

RESULTS

In our study, we found that the overexpression of XPO1 was associated with poor prognosis and survival in radioresistant patients with NSCLC. The combination therapy of WJ01024 and XRT resulted in an increase of apoptosis and a decrease of proliferation compared to monotherapy, which was closely correlated with tumor regression and improved survival in the C57BL/6 mouse subcutaneous tumor model. Notably, we found that WJ01024 were shown to enhance the therapeutic effect of XRT by remodeling TIME. Compared with XRT, the addition of WJ01024 increased the infiltration and proliferation of radiation-stimulated CD8+ T cells, which especially promoted the production of interferon-γ and granzyme B. Moreover, the combination therapy also reversed the immunosuppressive effect of radiation on the percentage of Tregs and exhausted T cells in mouse xenografts. Thus, the TIME was significantly improved in combination therapy. Strikingly, mechanistic studies suggested that the activation of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase/stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS/STING) signaling pathway is required to reshape TIME and produce synergistic anti-tumor effect with the combination of WJ01024 and XRT.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that WJ01024 might be a potential synergistic treatment for radiotherapy to control the proliferation of NSCLC cells, promote tumor regression and prolong survival in mouse model of NSCLC by activating cGAS/STING signaling, and this in turn potentiate the immune microenvironment.

AMER1 deficiency promotes the distant metastasis of colorectal cancer by inhibiting SLC7A11- and FTL-mediated ferroptosis

The crosstalk between ferroptosis and cancer metastasis remains unclear. Here, we identify AMER1 as a key regulator of ferroptosis. AMER1 loss causes resistance to ferroptosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Interestingly, AMER1-deficient CRC cells preferentially form distant metastases, while AMER1-naive CRC cells mainly invade lymph nodes. Moreover, the ferroptosis inhibitor liproxstatin-1 effectively promotes hematogenous transfer of AMER1-naive cells. Mechanistically, AMER1 binds to SLC7A11 and ferritin light chain (FTL) and recruits β-TrCP1/2, which degrade SLC7A11 and FTL by ubiquitination. Therefore, AMER1 deficiency increases cellular cystine levels but decreases the pool of labile free iron, thereby enhancing resistance to ferroptosis in CRC cells. Thus, AMER1 deficiency increases the survival of CRC cells in the blood under conditions of high oxidative stress and then promotes hematogenous metastasis of CRC. In conclusion, AMER1 mediates the crosstalk between ferroptosis and cancer metastasis, which provides a window of opportunity for treating metastatic colorectal cancer patients with AMER1 mutations.

Management of Occupational Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure among Medical Personnel: a 4-Year Prospective Study

This study examined the management of occupational bloodborne pathogen exposure at a tertiary hospital in China. This prospective study was conducted at the Zhejiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between January 2016 and December 2019. Data on bloodborne occupational exposure management were collected. In total, 460 exposures were reported. The majority of exposures (40.2 %) were from hepatitis B virus (HBV)-positive index patients. Of the 460 cases, 453 (98.5%) exposures were reported timeously, and 371 (80.7%) cases received emergency treatment response and management. Sixty-eight personnel (93.2%) received timely prophylaxis treatment. Only 82/113 (72.6%) personnel completed the recommended follow-up period. Outsourced personnel(P = 0.002) and interns (P = 0.011) were independent follow-up factors. Although adequate compliance was achieved with timely reporting and prophylactic medication, there is room for improvement in terms of emergency treatment response and follow-up compliance. Furthermore, HBV vaccination and improved follow-up with outsourced personnel are recommended.

Prevalence and clinico-genomic characteristics of patients with TRK fusion cancer in China

Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase (NTRK) fusions involving NTRK1, NTRK2, and NTRK3 were found in a broad range of solid tumors as driver gene variants. However, the prevalence of NTRK fusions in Chinese solid tumor patients is rarely reported. Based on the next-generation sequencing data from 10,194 Chinese solid tumor patients, we identified approximately 0.4% (40/10,194) of Chinese solid tumor patients with NTRK fusion. NTRK fusions were most frequently detected in soft tissue sarcoma (3.0%), especially in the fibrosarcoma subtype (12.7%). A total of 29 NTRK fusion patterns were identified, of which 11 were rarely reported. NTRK fusion mostly co-occurred with TP53 (38%), CDKN2A (23%), and ACVR2A (18%) and rarely with NTRK amplification (5.0%) and single nucleotide variants (2.5%). DNA-based NTRK fusion sequencing exhibited a higher detection rate than pan-TRK immunohistochemistry (100% vs. 87.5%). Two patients with NTRK fusions showed clinical responses to larotrectinib, supporting the effective response of NTRK fusion patients to TRK inhibitors.

A binary pulsar in a 53-minute orbit

Spider pulsars are neutron stars that have a companion star in a close orbit. The companion star sheds material to the neutron star, spinning it up to millisecond rotation periods, while the orbit shortens to hours. The companion is eventually ablated and destroyed by the pulsar wind and radiation1,2. Spider pulsars are key for studying the evolutionary link between accreting X-ray pulsars and isolated millisecond pulsars, pulsar irradiation effects and the birth of massive neutron stars3-6. Black widow pulsars in extremely compact orbits (as short as 62 minutes7) have companions with masses much smaller than 0.1 M⊙. They may have evolved from redback pulsars with companion masses of about 0.1-0.4 M⊙ and orbital periods of less than 1 day8. If this is true, then there should be a population of millisecond pulsars with moderate-mass companions and very short orbital periods9, but, hitherto, no such system was known. Here we report radio observations of the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1953+1844 (M71E) that show it to have an orbital period of 53.3 minutes and a companion with a mass of around 0.07 M⊙. It is a faint X-ray source and located 2.5 arcminutes from the centre of the globular cluster M71.

Concordance between microsatellite instability and mismatch repair protein expression in colorectal cancer and their clinicopathological characteristics: a retrospective analysis of 502 cases

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is one of the hallmarks of colorectal cancer (CRC). Mismatch repair (MMR) protein expression may reflect MSI status. To analyze the concordance between MSI and MMR expression in CRC and their clinicopathological characteristics, 502 CRC patients were retrospectively collected in this study. Polymerase chain reaction-capillary electrophoresis (PCR-CE) was used to measure MSI, and MMR expression was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The causes of non-concordance were analyzed. Chi-square test was used to find the correlation between MSI and various clinicopathological parameters. PCR-CE results showed 64 (12.7%) patients had high microsatellite instability (MSI-H); low microsatellite instability (MSI-L) and microsatellite stable (MSS) cases were 19 (3.8%)and 419 (83.5%), respectively. With regard to IHC, 430 (85.7%) showed proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) and 72 (14.3%) showed deficient mismatch repair (dMMR). The coincidence rate of MSI and MMR expression in CRC was 98.4% (494/502), with good concordance (Kappa = 0.932). Using PCR-CE as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of IHC were 100%, 98.2%, 88.9%, and 100%, respectively. MSI-H was more common in women, right colon, tumors ≥ 5 cm, ulcerative type, mucinous adenocarcinoma, poor differentiation, T stage I/II, and without lymph node or distant metastasis for CRC patients. In summary, MSI exhibited some typical clinicopathological characteristics. MSI and MMR expression in CRC had good concordance. However, it is still extremely necessary to perform PCR-CE. We recommend that testing packages of different sizes should be developed in clinical practice to create a testing echelon, to facilitate comprehensive selection according to experimental conditions, clinical diagnosis, and treatment needs.

Analysis of volatile compounds by GCMS reveals their rice cultivars

Due to the similarity in the grain and difference in the market value among many rice varieties, deliberate mislabeling and adulteration has become a serious problem. To check the authenticity, we aimed to discriminate rice varieties based on their volatile organic compounds (VOCs) composition by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The VOC profiles of Wuyoudao 4 from nine sites in Wuchang were compared to 11 rice cultivar from other regions. Multivariate analysis and unsupervised clustering showed an unambiguous distinction between Wuchang rice and non-Wuchang rice. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) demonstrated a goodness of fit of 0.90 and a goodness of prediction of 0.85. The discriminating ability of volatile compounds is also supported by Random forest analysis. Our data revealed eight biomarkers including 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) that can be used for variation identification. Taken together, the current method can readily distinguish Wuchang rice from other varieties which it holds great potential in checking the authenticity of rice.

Circular RNA ARHGAP5 inhibits cisplatin resistance in cervical squamous cell carcinoma by interacting with AUF1

Cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in women worldwide. Patients with advanced cervical carcinoma always have a poor prognosis once resistant to cisplatin due to the lack of effective treatment. It is urgent to investigate the molecular mechanisms of cisplatin resistance. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are known to exert their regulatory functions in a series of malignancies. However, their effects on CSCC remain to be elucidated. Here, we found that cytoplasmic circARHGAP5, derived from second and third exons of the ARHGAP5 gene, was downregulated in cisplatin-resistant tissues compared with normal cervix tissues and untreated cervical cancer tissues. In addition, experiments from overexpression/knockdown cell lines revealed that circARHGAP5 could inhibit cisplatin-mediated cell apoptosis in CSCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circARHGAP5 interacted with AU-rich element RNA-binding protein (AUF1) directly. Overexpression of AUF1 could also inhibit cell apoptosis mediated by cisplatin. Furthermore, we detected the potential targets of AUF1 related to the apoptotic pathway and found that bcl-2-like protein 11 (BIM) was not only negatively regulated by AUF1 but positively regulated by circARHGAP5, which indicated that BIM mRNA might be degraded by AUF1 and thereby inhibited tumor cell apoptosis. Collectively, our data indicated that circARHGAP5 directly bound to AUF1 and prevented AUF1 from interacting with BIM mRNA, thereby playing a pivotal role in cisplatin resistance in CSCC. Our study provides insights into overcoming cancer resistance to cisplatin treatment.

Response surface optimization of product yields and biofuel quality during fast hydrothermal liquefaction of a highly CO2-tolerant microalgae

The effects of biochemical components and processing variables (e.g., temperatures, solid-liquid ratio, ethanol concentration, and time) during fast hydrothermal liquefaction of a highly CO₂-tolerant microalgae (Micractinium sp.) on the product yields and biofuel quality were explored using response surface methodology coupled with central composite design. Results showed that the maximum bio-oil yield (51.4 %) was obtained at 321 °C for 49 min at ethanol concentration of 75 % and solid-liquid ratio of 15.3 %. Among different studied parameters, ethanol concentration showed the highest significant impact on the bio-oil yield due to the low P-value and high F-value in ANOVA analysis. Furthermore, the chemical compositions of bio-oils were determined, which showed that the increase of ethanol concentration in the solvent not only increased the bio-oil yield but also promoted the bio-oil quality by reduction of carboxylic acids and nitrogen-containing compounds with simultaneous enhancement of esters in the bio-oil. The present results show that fast hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising approach to convert the microalgae into high quality biofuels rich in esters.

Unique metabolism and protein expression signature in human decidual NK cells

Human decidual natural killer (dNK) cells are a unique type of tissue-resident NK cells at the maternal-fetal interface. dNK cells are likely to have pivotal roles during pregnancy, including in maternal-fetal immune tolerance, trophoblast invasion, and fetal development. However, detailed insights into these cells are still lacking. In this study, we performed metabolomic and proteomic analyses on human NK cells derived from decidua and peripheral blood. We found that 77 metabolites were significantly changed in dNK cells. Notably, compared to peripheral blood NK (pNK) cells, 29 metabolites involved in glycerophospholipid and glutathione metabolism were significantly decreased in dNK cells. Moreover, we found that 394 proteins were differentially expressed in dNK cells. Pathway analyses and network enrichment analyses identified 110 differentially expressed proteins involved in focal adhesion, cytoskeleton remodeling, oxidoreductase activity, and fatty acid metabolism in dNK cells. The integrated proteomic and metabolomic analyses revealed significant downregulation in glutathione metabolism in dNK cells compared to pNK cells. Our data indicate that human dNK cells have unique metabolism and protein-expression features, likely regulating their function in pregnancy and immunity.

Prodrug Nanosensitizer Overcomes the Radiation Resistance of Hypoxic Tumor

Clinical radiation therapy (RT) is often hindered by the low radiation energy absorption coefficient and the hypoxic features of tumor tissues. Among the tremendous efforts devoted to overcoming the barriers to efficient RT, the application of hypoxic radiosensitizers and cell-cycle-specific chemotherapeutics has shown great potential. However, their effectiveness is often compromised by their limited bioavailability, especially in the hypoxic region, which plays a major role in radioresistance. Herein, to simultaneously improve the delivery efficacy of both hypoxic radiosensitizer and cell-cycle-specific drug, a gambogic acid (GA) metronidazole (MN) prodrug (GM) was designed and synthesized based on GA, a naturally occurring chemotherapeutic and multiple pathway inhibitor, and MN, a typical hypoxic radiosensitizer. In combination with MN-containing block copolymers, the prodrug nanosensitizer (NS) of GM was obtained. Owing to the bioreduction of MN, the as-designed prodrug could be efficiently delivered to hypoxic cells and act on mitochondria to cause the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The strong G₂/M phase arrest caused by the prodrug NS could further sensitize treated cells to external radiation under hypoxic conditions by increasing DNA damage and delaying DNA repair. After coadministration of the NS with a well-established tissue-penetrating peptide, efficient tumor accumulation, deep tumor penetration, and highly potent chemoradiotherapy could be achieved.

Supercritical water co-oxidation behavior in the different monohydric alcohol-ammonia reaction environment

The degradation of ammonia is a key rate-limiting step during the supercritical water oxidation of nitrogen-containing organics. This paper studied the co-oxidation behavior between different ammonia-alcohol environments, including the influence of reaction parameters and the co-oxidation mechanism. The results showed that increasing temperature, oxidation coefficient, residence time, and alcohol concentration significantly promoted the degradation of NH₃-N and TOC, while rising the ammonia concentration enhanced the NH₃-N destruction but inhibited the TOC degradation. Alcohols were oxidized first in the co-oxidation system to produce more OH* and HO₂* radicals. Ethanol generated the highest concentration of HO₂* in the shortest time, leading to more significant ammonia removal than isopropanol and methanol; however, the produced intermediate products like aldehydes and ketones reacted with residual ammonia to generate a small amount of organics at lower temperatures, inhibiting the degradation of alcohols slightly, and combined catalyst or nitrate in the batch reactor or used continuous supercritical water oxidation or supercritical hydrothermal combustion system without controlling the exotherm of fuels could improve this.

Risk, Obligation, and Public Noncompliance with Mobility Directives in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Human mobility greatly increases the risk of epidemic transmission. This study examines the psychological mechanism of individuals' noncompliance with public health directives and their choice to travel amidst threats through two rounds of surveys (N = 1473 in total) in China at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research revealed the relative strength of the motivating and impeding factors that determined behavioral intention. In subtle internal conflicts, maladaptive responses (e.g., wishful thinking, denial, fatalism) were identified as a significant factor in negotiating risk-related constraints and encouraging risky travel behavior. Interestingly, both those who traveled amidst threats and those who did not travel agreed that they had social obligations for epidemic prevention. The results demonstrated that obligation could have an indirect negative impact on behavioral intention only via attitude. By unveiling the psychological mechanism of individuals' noncompliance with health directives and travel during the pandemic, this study can aid in the development of appropriate operational strategies to manage population mobility during crises.

Optimising diffusion-weighted imaging of the thyroid gland using dedicated surface coil

AIM

To assess the feasibility of applying field-of-view (FOV) optimised and constrained undistorted single-shot (FOCUS) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the thyroid gland by comparing its image quality with conventional DWI (C-DWI) qualitatively and quantitatively using a dedicated surface coil exclusively designed for the thyroid gland at 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this prospective study, 32 healthy volunteers who had undergone 3 T the thyroid gland MRI with FOCUS-DWI and C-DWI were enrolled. Two independent reviewers assessed the overall image quality, artefacts, sharpness, and geometric distortion based on a five-point Likert scale. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were quantified for both sequences. Interobserver agreement, qualitative scores, and quantitative parameters were compared between two sequences.

RESULTS

Agreement between the two readers was good for FOCUS-DWI (κ = 0.714-0.778) and moderate to good for C-DWI (κ = 0.525-0.672) in qualitative image quality assessment. Qualitatively, image quality (overall image quality, artefacts, sharpness, and geometric distortion) was significantly better in FOCUS-DWI than that in the C-DWI (all p<0.05); however, quantitatively, FOCUS-DWI had significantly lower SNRs (p<0.001) and CNRs (p=0.012) compared with C-DWI. The ADC value on FOCUS-DWI was significantly higher than that on C-DWI (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

FOCUS-DWI depicted the thyroid gland with significantly better image quality qualitatively and less ghost artefacts, but had significantly lower SNR and CNR quantitatively, compared with C-DWI, suggesting that both DWI sequences have advantages and could be chosen for different purposes.

Deep-Penetrating Triple-Responsive Prodrug Nanosensitizer Actuates Efficient Chemoradiotherapy in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Models

Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the most accepted treatment for locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and can significantly improve the R0 resection rate. However, there are few long-term survivors after CRT. Although some polymer nanoparticles have shown potential in alleviating the dose-limiting toxicity and assisting the chemotherapy of PDAC, there are few efficient nanosensitizers (NS) available for CRT of this malignancy, especially in the context of its hypoxic nature. Herein, based on the biological features of PDAC, a γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT)/glutathione (GSH)/hypoxia triple-responsive prodrug NS to overcome the biological barrier and microenvironmental limitations confronted by CRT in PDAC is developed. Due to triple-responsiveness, deep tumor penetration, GSH/hypoxia-responsive drug release/activation, and hypoxia-induced chemoradio-sensitization can be simultaneously achieved with this NS. As a result, tumor shrinkage after CRT with this NS can be observed in both subcutaneous and orthotopic PDAC models, foreshadowing its potential in clinical neoadjuvant CRT.

Driving Influences of the Doppler Flash Observed by SuperDARN HF Radars in Response to Solar Flares

Sudden enhancement in high-frequency absorption is a well-known impact of solar flare-driven Short-Wave Fadeout (SWF). Less understood, is a perturbation of the radio wave frequency as it traverses the ionosphere in the early stages of SWF, also known as the Doppler flash. Investigations have suggested two possible sources that might contribute to it's manifestation: first, enhancements of plasma density in the D-and lower E-regions; second, the lowering of the F-region reflection point. Our recent work investigated a solar flare event using first principles modeling and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) HF radar observations and found that change in the F-region refractive index is the primary driver of the Doppler flash. This study analyzes multiple solar flare events observed across different SuperDARN HF radars to determine how flare characteristics, properties of the traveling radio wave, and geophysical conditions impact the Doppler flash. In addition, we use incoherent scatter radar data and first-principles modeling to investigate physical mechanisms that drive the lowering of the F-region reflection points. We found, (a) on average, the change in E- and F-region refractive index is the primary driver of the Doppler flash, (b) solar zenith angle, ray's elevation angle, operating frequency, and location of the solar flare on the solar disk can alter the ionospheric regions of maximum contribution to the Doppler flash, (c) increased ionospheric Hall and Pedersen conductance causes a reduction of the daytime eastward electric field, and consequently reduces the vertical ion-drift in the lower and middle latitude ionosphere, which results in lowering of the F-region ray reflection point.

Fluoride contamination, spatial variation, and health risk assessment of groundwater using GIS: a high-density survey sampling in Weifang City, North China

The present study, with the aid of GIS, utilizes high-density groundwater (GW) sampling data (1398 samples) to analyze the spatial variation characteristics of GW fluoride in Weifang City (WFC), and evaluate the health risks associated with drinking water routes. The concentration of fluoride in the GW of WFC is observed to be between 0.08 and 9.16 mg/L, with a mean value of 0.62 mg/L. The fluoride concentration of a total of 192 GW samples exceeded the limit of China's GW quality standards (1 mg/L), accounting for 14.74%. The GW fluoride concentration in most areas of WFC is less than 1 mg/L. However, the relatively high-value zones are mostly concentrated in the upper reaches of Wen River, the east of Shouguang, the southeast of Anqiu, the east of Qingzhou, the east of Fangzi, and the southeast and northwest of Gaomi. The hydrochemical types of GW in WFC are mostly HCO₃-Ca·Mg and SO₄·Cl-Ca·Mg, while GW samples with hydrochemical types HCO₃-Na and SO₄·Cl-Na are characterized by high fluoride content. The hydrochemical characteristics of GW in WFC are mostly dominated by rock weathering. In addition, the northern coastal plain is evidently influenced by seawater intrusion. The concentration of fluoride in GW is affected by the dissolution of fluorine-containing minerals, cation exchange, and alkaline environmental factors. The effect of GW by seawater intrusion and very high content of Na⁺ will decrease the fluoride content of the GW through cation exchange. Health risk assessment demonstrated that the mean values of non-carcinogenic hazard quotient (HQ) for infants, children, teenagers, and adults were 0.52, 0.35, 0.31, and 0.30, respectively. In addition, the distribution characteristics of GW fluoride in high health risk areas (HQ > 1) in WFC are further consistent with the spatial variation of GW fluoride content. Overall, the health risk distribution area of GW fluoride in WFC is decreasing in the following order: infants > children > teenagers > adults.

Polyphenol Extracts From Germinated Mung Beans Can Improve Type 2 Diabetes in Mice by Regulating Intestinal Microflora and Inhibiting Inflammation

Studies have shown that inhibiting inflammation and regulating intestinal microflora imbalance is a significant factor in controlling the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This experiment studied the protective effect of polyphenol extract from germinated mung beans on diabetic C57BL/6 mice.

Results

Fasting blood glucose (FBG) was decreased, glucose tolerance was increased, insulin resistance was decreased, serum lipid indexes in T2DM mice were improved, and the enzyme activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) in serum were reduced. Meanwhile, the levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum were decreased, the concentration of interleukin 10 (IL-10) in serum was increased, inhibiting the inflammatory reaction induced by diabetes and repairing the morphology of mice liver tissue. At the same time, germinated mung bean polyphenol (GMP) can regulate the main intestinal flora, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria in diabetic mice and can also regulate species diversity and improve intestinal flora imbalance. Taken together, the experimental conclusion is a certain dose of polyphenol extract from germinated mung beans that can improve mouse T2DM by inhibiting inflammatory reaction and regulating intestinal microflora.

The interaction between S100A2 and KPNA2 mediates NFYA nuclear import and is a novel therapeutic target for colorectal cancer metastasis

Nucleocytoplasmic transport of proteins is disrupted and dysregulated in cancer cells. Nuclear pore complexes and cargo proteins are two main transportation regulators. However, the mechanism regulating nucleocytoplasmic transport in cancer remains elusive. Here, we identified a S100A2/KPNA2 cotransport complex that transports the tumor-associated transcription factor NFYA in colorectal cancer (CRC). Through the S100A2/KNPA2 complex, depending on its interaction with S100A2, NFYA is transported to the nucleus and inhibits the transcriptional activity of E-cadherin, which in turn promotes CRC metastasis. Targeting the S100A2/KPNA2 binding sites with the specific inhibitor delanzomib is a potential therapeutic approach for CRC.

An early transition to magnetic supercriticality in star formation

Magnetic fields have an important role in the evolution of interstellar medium and star formation^1,2. As the only direct probe of interstellar field strength, credible Zeeman measurements remain sparse owing to the lack of suitable Zeeman probes, particularly for cold, molecular gas³. Here we report the detection of a magnetic field of +3.8 ± 0.3 microgauss through the H I narrow self-absorption (HINSA)^4,5 towards L1544^6,7—a well-studied prototypical prestellar core in an early transition between starless and protostellar phases^8–10 characterized by a high central number density¹¹ and a low central temperature¹². A combined analysis of the Zeeman measurements of quasar H I absorption, H I emission, OH emission and HINSA reveals a coherent magnetic field from the atomic cold neutral medium (CNM) to the molecular envelope. The molecular envelope traced by the HINSA is found to be magnetically supercritical, with a field strength comparable to that of the surrounding diffuse, magnetically subcritical CNM despite a large increase in density. The reduction of the magnetic flux relative to the mass, which is necessary for star formation, thus seems to have already happened during the transition from the diffuse CNM to the molecular gas traced by the HINSA. This is earlier than envisioned in the classical picture where magnetically supercritical cores capable of collapsing into stars form out of magnetically subcritical envelopes^13,14.

An analysis of Zeeman measurements reveals that the reduction of magnetic flux relative to mass, which is necessary for star formation, seems to have occurred earlier than previously thought.

Advances in applications of piezoelectronic electrons in cell regulation and tissue regeneration

Bioelectricity plays a significant role in major biological processes and electrical stimulation is an effective and non-invasive way to promote cellular growth, differentiation and tissue regeneration. In tissue engineering, piezoelectric...

A proteomic and phosphoproteomic landscape of KRAS mutant cancers identifies combination therapies

KRAS mutant cancer, characterized by the activation of a plethora of phosphorylation signaling pathways, remains a major challenge for cancer therapy. Despite recent advancements, a comprehensive profile of the proteome and phosphoproteome is lacking. This study provides a proteomic and phosphoproteomic landscape of 43 KRAS mutant cancer cell lines across different tissue origins. By integrating transcriptomics, proteomics, and phosphoproteomics, we identify three subsets with distinct biological, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics. The integrative analysis of phosphoproteome and drug sensitivity information facilitates the identification of a set of drug combinations with therapeutic potentials. Among them, we demonstrate that the combination of DOT1L and SHP2 inhibitors is an effective treatment specific for subset 2 of KRAS mutant cancers, corresponding to a set of TCGA clinical tumors with the poorest prognosis. Together, this study provides a resource to better understand KRAS mutant cancer heterogeneity and identify new therapeutic possibilities.

A bimodal burst energy distribution of a repeating fast radio burst source

The event rate, energy distribution and time-domain behaviour of repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) contain essential information regarding their physical nature and central engine, which are as yet unknown^1,2. As the first precisely localized source, FRB 121102 (refs. ^3-5) has been extensively observed and shows non-Poisson clustering of bursts over time and a power-law energy distribution^6-8. However, the extent of the energy distribution towards the fainter end was not known. Here we report the detection of 1,652 independent bursts with a peak burst rate of 122 h^-1, in 59.5 hours spanning 47 days. A peak in the isotropic equivalent energy distribution is found to be approximately 4.8 × 10³⁷ erg at 1.25 GHz, below which the detection of bursts is suppressed. The burst energy distribution is bimodal, and well characterized by a combination of a log-normal function and a generalized Cauchy function. The large number of bursts in hour-long spans allows sensitive periodicity searches between 1 ms and 1,000 s. The non-detection of any periodicity or quasi-periodicity poses challenges for models involving a single rotating compact object. The high burst rate also implies that FRBs must be generated with a high radiative efficiency, disfavouring emission mechanisms with large energy requirements or contrived triggering conditions.

A novel micro-tensile system for full-field deformation measurement of thin films

We propose a novel micro-tensile system fit for mechanical property characterization of low-dimensional materials. The micro-tensile system was integrated with a micro-tensile apparatus driven by a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and an optical microscope. The displacement provided by the PZT actuator was amplified by a lever structure on the micro-tensile apparatus. A stalloy was designed to transmit the displacement and reduce the mechanical resistance to the PZT actuator. Quantitative analysis was conducted for the designed apparatus. A calibration experiment was performed based on the micro-scale digital image correlation under the optical microscope. To validate the feasibility, the PET film specimen with a V-notch was tested by the proposed system. The results indicate that the proposed micro-tensile system is reliable and powerful.

Programmed cell death-ligand 1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunohistochemistry score has been approved as the predictive biomarker for anti-PD1/PD-L1 therapy in several advanced malignancies. Although its predictive role remained inconclusive in hepatocellular carcinoma, ongoing study of anti-PD1/PD-L1 therapy showed promising results. However, less is known about the PD-L1 immunohistochemistry score and factors correlated with it in hepatocellular carcinoma. We investigated PD-L1 immunohistochemistry scores in a large cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as its correlation with various clinical and genomic factors.

METHODS

Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of PD-L1 protein in 315 hepatocellular carcinoma tissues. All slides were independently reviewed by three senior pathologists. Next-generation YS panel (450 genes) sequencing was performed on 309 patients.

RESULTS

Higher PD-L1 expression as measured by combined positive score (CPS) was associated with increased Edmondson-Steiner grade (grade III vs II, P = 0.041) and TP53 mutations (P = 0.021). PD-L1 CPS had no correlation with tumor mutational burden (Spearman's correlation coefficient 0.067). PD-L1 CPS was not significantly associated with hepatitis B virus infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data indicated that patients with higher Edmondson-Steiner grade (grade III) had significantly higher PD-L1 CPS than patients with lower Edmondson-Steiner grade (grade II). Patients with TP53 mutations had significantly higher PD-L1 expression.

Gamma-Ray Observation of the Cygnus Region in the 100-TeV Energy Region

We report observations of gamma-ray emissions with energies in the 100-TeV energy region from the Cygnus region in our Galaxy. Two sources are significantly detected in the directions of the Cygnus OB1 and OB2 associations. Based on their positional coincidences, we associate one with a pulsar PSR J2032+4127 and the other mainly with a pulsar wind nebula PWN G75.2+0.1, with the pulsar moving away from its original birthplace situated around the centroid of the observed gamma-ray emission. This work would stimulate further studies of particle acceleration mechanisms at these gamma-ray sources.

A Review of the Clinical Characteristics and Novel Molecular Subtypes of Endometrioid Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynecologic cancers that has the highest mortality rate. Endometrioid ovarian cancer, a distinct subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer, is associated with endometriosis and Lynch syndrome, and is often accompanied by synchronous endometrial carcinoma. In recent years, dysbiosis of the microbiota within the female reproductive tract has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer, with some specific pathogens exhibiting oncogenic having been found to contribute to cancer development. It has been shown that dysregulation of the microenvironment and accumulation of mutations are stimulatory factors in the progression of endometrioid ovarian carcinoma. This would be a potential therapeutic target in the future. Simultaneously, multiple studies have demonstrated the role of four molecular subtypes of endometrioid ovarian cancer, which are of particular importance in the prediction of prognosis. This literature review aims to compile the potential mechanisms of endometrioid ovarian cancer, molecular characteristics, and molecular pathological types that could potentially play a role in the prediction of prognosis, and the novel therapeutic strategies, providing some guidance for the stratified management of ovarian cancer.

CircRNA-ceRNA Network Revealing the Potential Regulatory Roles of CircRNA in Alzheimer's Disease Involved the cGMP-PKG Signal Pathway

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease. The characteristic pathologies include extracellular senile plaques formed by β-amyloid protein deposition, neurofibrillary tangles formed by hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, and neuronal loss with glial cell hyperplasia. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are rich in miRNA-binding sites (miRNA response elements, MREs), which serve as miRNA sponges or competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). Although several research groups have identified dysregulated circRNAs in the cerebral cortex of SAMP8 mice or APP/PS1 mice using deep RNA-seq analysis, we need to further explore circRNA expression patterns, targets, functions and the signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of AD and in particular the hippocampal circRNA expression profiles in AD.

Methods: We used deep RNA sequencing to investigate circRNA-ceRNA network patterns in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice.

Results: In our study, 70 dysregulated circRNAs, 39 dysregulated miRNAs and 121 dysregulated mRNAs were identified between the APP/PS1 group and the wild-type group at 8 months in the hippocampus of the mice. Through correlation analysis, we identified 11 dysregulated circRNAs, 7 dysregulated miRNAs and 8 dysregulated mRNAs forming 16 relationships in the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. Gene ontology (GO) analysis indicated that the dysregulated circRNAs were most enriched in biological metabolic processes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that the dysregulation of circRNAs was enriched in the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, cAMP signaling pathway, Hippo signaling pathway, platelet activation, long-term potentiation and axon guidance. In addition, our findings preliminarily verified that the novel_circ_0003012/mmu-miR-298-3p/Smoc2 signaling axis may regulate the pathophysiology of AD by affecting the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway.

Conclusions: These newly identified circRNAs in networks and signaling pathways reveal potential diagnostic or therapeutic targets for AD.

Clinical characteristics and prognosis of ovarian clear cell carcinoma: a 10-year retrospective study

Background

Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a special pathological type of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC). We conducted this research to investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of OCCC and to provide additional supporting evidence to aid in the clinical diagnosis and management.

Methods

This was a retrospective study investigating the clinical characteristics and survival outcomes of 86 patients with OCCC treated at our center between January 2010 and March 2020. Survival analysis was also performed on 179 patients with OCCC obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry database.

Results

The median age of participants was 49.21 ± 9.91 years old, and 74.42% of them were diagnosed at early stage. The median CA125 level was 601.48 IU/mL, while 19.77% of the patients had normal CA125 levels. Sixteen patients (18.60%) had co-existing endometriosis and 8 patients (9.3%) developed venous thromboembolism (VTE). There were 5 patients received suboptimal cytoreduction. Sixty-six patients (76.74%) underwent lymphadenectomy, and only 3 (4.55%) patients had positive lymph nodes. Patients diagnosed at an early stage had higher 3-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates than those with advanced stage OCCC. CA19–9 (P = 0.025) and ascites (P = 0.001) were significantly associated with OS, while HE4 (P = 0.027) and ascites (P = 0.001) were significantly associated with PFS. Analysis of data from the SEER database showed that positive lymph nodes is also an independent prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.001).

Conclusions

OCCC often presents at an early stage and young age with a mildly elevated CA125. CA19–9, HE4, massive ascites, and positive lymph node are independent prognostic factors.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08061-7.

Updates of Pathogenesis, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Perspectives for Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma

Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a special pathological type of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) and has a high prevalence in Asia without specific molecular subtype classification. Endometriosis is a recognized precancerous lesion that carries 3-fold increased risk of OCCC. Ovarian endometrioid carcinoma, which also originates from endometriosis, shares several features with OCCC, including platinum resistance and younger age at diagnosis. Patients with OCCC have about a 2.5 to 4 times greater risk of having a venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with other EOC, and OCCC tends to metastasize through lymphatic vesicular and peritoneal spread as opposed to hematogenous metastasis. There is only mild elevation of the conventional biomarker CA125. Staging surgery or optimal cytoreduction combined with chemotherapy is a common therapeutic strategy for OCCC. However, platinum resistance commonly portends a poor prognosis, so novel treatments are urgently needed. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are currently being studied, including PARP, EZH2, and ATR inhibitors combined with the synthetic lethality of ARID1A-dificiency, and MAPK/PI3K/HER2, VEGF/bFGF/PDGF, HNF1β, and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Advanced stage, suboptimal cytoreduction, platinum resistance, lymph node metastasis, and VTE are major prognostic predictors for OCCC. We focus on update pathogenesis, diagnostic methods and therapeutic approaches to provide future directions for clinical diagnosis and treatment of OCCC.

SPA: A Quantitation Strategy for MS Data in Patient-derived Xenograft Models

With the development of mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics technologies, patient-derived xenograft (PDX), which is generated from the primary tumor of a patient, is widely used for the proteome-wide analysis of cancer mechanism and biomarker identification of a drug. However, the proteomics data interpretation is still challenging due to complex data deconvolution from the PDX sample that is a cross-species mixture of human cancerous tissues and immunodeficient mouse tissues. In this study, by using the lab-assembled mixture of human and mouse cells with different mixing ratios as a benchmark, we developed and evaluated a new method, SPA (shared peptide allocation), for protein quantitation by considering the unique and shared peptides of both species. The results showed that SPA could provide more convenient and accurate protein quantitation in human–mouse mixed samples. Further validation on a pair of gastric PDX samples (one bearing FGFR2 amplification while the other one not) showed that our new method not only significantly improved the overall protein identification, but also detected the differential phosphorylation of FGFR2 and its downstream mediators (such as RAS and ERK) exclusively. The tool pdxSPA is freely available at https://github.com/Li-Lab-Proteomics/pdxSPA.

Prodrug Nanomedicine Inhibits Chemotherapy-Induced Proliferative Burst by Altering the Deleterious Intercellular Communication

Chemotherapy is one of the most commonly used clinical antitumor strategies. However, the therapy-induced proliferative burst, which always accompanies drug resistance and metastasis, has become a major obstacle during treatment. Except for some endogenous cellular or genetic mechanisms and some microenvironmental selection pressures, the intercellular connections in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are also thought to be the driving force for the acquired drug resistance and proliferative burst. Even though some pathway inhibitors or cell exempting strategies could be applied to partially avoid these unwanted communications, the complexity of the TME and the limited knowledge about those unknown detrimental connections might greatly compromise the efforts. Therefore, a more broad-spectrum strategy is urgently needed to relieve the drug-induced burst proliferation during various treatments. In this article, based on the possible discrepancies in metabolic activity between cells with different growth rates, several ester-bond-based prodrugs were synthesized. After screening, 7-ethyl-10-hyodroxycamptothecin-based prodrug nanoparticles were found to efficiently overcome the paclitaxel resistance, to selectively act on the malignantly proliferated drug-resistant cells and, furthermore, to greatly diminish the proliferative effect of common cytotoxic agents by blocking the detrimental intercellular connections. With the discriminating ability against malignant proliferating cells, the as-prepared prodrug nanomedicine exhibited significant anticancer efficacy against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tumor models, either by itself or by combining with highly potent nonselective chemotherapeutics. This work provides a different perspective and a possible solution for the treatment of therapy-induced burst proliferation.

Study on two-step hydrothermal liquefaction of macroalgae for improving bio-oil

In this work, the conversion of Enteromorpha clathrata into bio-oil through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) was investigated under different preparation conditions. A two-step reaction method was compared with single-step reaction. At a high temperature, bio-oil produced through the two-step hydrothermal reaction displayed slight changes in yield, but solid residue rate was low. The liquid-to-material ratio of the optimal preparation condition was 40/4 (mL/g). Bio-oil produced in each experiment at this ratio was further analyzed using GC/MS. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) quantitative calculation was used in analyzing and proving the possible reaction path of the conversion of furan compounds to aromatic compounds during a direct high-temperature liquefaction process. Results revealed that the two-step method can ensure a high bio-oil yield, while preventing the occurrence of side reactions caused by long-term high-temperature reactions, and improve the bio-oil quality.

Effect of claudin 1 on cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis in human cervical squamous cell carcinoma

Claudin 1 is a member of the claudin protein family that serves an important role in tight junctions. Increased or decreased expression levels of claudin 1 are found in several diseases, including breast cancer and viral infections. However, the function of claudin 1 in cervical cancer remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the biological functions of claudin 1 in different human cervical cancer cell lines. First, SiHa and ME‑180 cells with stable claudin 1 overexpression or knockdown were established using lentiviral transduction, and the mRNA and protein levels were measured via reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. Subsequently, cell proliferation, colony formation and migration experiments were performed in vitro using standard protocols, demonstrating that claudin 1 was able to inhibit cell proliferation and migration in both SiHa and ME‑180 cells. Furthermore, cell cycle and apoptosis were detected via flow cytometry and western blotting, and the results revealed that claudin 1 inhibited cell cycle progression and promoted apoptosis. To further verify whether claudin 1 was involved in tumor growth in vivo, xenograft tumors were established in athymic mice via injecting SiHa cells overexpressing claudin 1, which was found to decrease tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, the association between claudin 1 expression and prognosis was analyzed in different types of cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas. Overall, the findings of the present study revealed that claudin 1 may serve an antitumor role in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and may be of value as a potential therapeutic target.