The separation and purification of light hydrocarbons (LHs) mixtures is one of the most significantly important but energy demanding processes in the petrochemical industry. As an alternative ...technology to energy intensive traditional separation methods, such as distillation, absorption, extraction, etc., adsorptive separation using selective solid adsorbents could potentially not only lower energy cost but also offer higher efficiency. The need to develop solid materials for the efficiently selective adsorption of LHs molecules, under mild conditions, is therefore of paramount importance and urgency. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), emerging as a relatively new class of porous organic–inorganic hybrid materials, have shown promise for addressing this challenging task due to their unparalleled features. Herein, recent advances of using MOFs as separating agents for the separation and purification of LHs, including the purification of CH4, and the separations of alkynes/alkenes, alkanes/alkenes, C5–C6–C7 normal/isoalkanes, and C8 alkylaromatics, are summarized. The relationships among the structural and compositional features of the newly synthesized MOF materials and their separation properties and mechanisms are highlighted. Finally, the existing challenges and possible research directions related to the further exploration of porous MOFs in this very active field are also discussed.
The recent advances of using metal–organic framework (MOF) materials as separating agents in the separation and purification of light hydrocarbons mixtures are summarized. The existing challenges and possible research directions related to the further exploration of porous MOFs in this very active field are also presented.
Nonlocality is one unique property of quantum mechanics that differs from the classical world. One of its quantifications can be properly described as the maximum global effect caused by locally ...invariant measurements, known as measurement-induced nonlocality (MIN) (2011 Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 120401). Here, we propose quantifying the MIN by the trace norm. We show explicitly that this measure is monotonically decreasing under the action of a completely positive trace-preserving map, which is the general local quantum operation, on the unmeasured party for the bipartite state. This property avoids the undesirable characteristic appearing in the known measure of MIN defined by the Hilbert-Schmidt norm which may be increased or decreased by trivial local reversible operations on the unmeasured party. We obtain analytical formulas of the trace-norm MIN for any -dimensional pure state, two-qubit state, and certain high-dimensional states. As with other quantum correlation measures, the newly defined MIN can be directly applied to various models for physical interpretations.
Exosomes are a subset of extracellular vesicles that carry specific combinations of proteins, nucleic acids, metabolites, and lipids. Mounting evidence suggests that exosomes participate in ...intercellular communication and act as important molecular vehicles in the regulation of numerous physiological and pathological processes, including cancer development. Exosomes are released by various cell types under both normal and pathological conditions, and they can be found in multiple bodily fluids. Moreover, exosomes carrying a wide variety of important macromolecules provide a window into altered cellular or tissue states. Their presence in biological fluids renders them an attractive, minimally invasive approach for liquid biopsies with potential biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, prediction, and surveillance. Due to their biocompatibility and low immunogenicity and cytotoxicity, exosomes have potential clinical applications in the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. Here, we summarize recent advances in various technologies for exosome isolation for cancer research. We outline the functions of exosomes in regulating tumor metastasis, drug resistance, and immune modulation in the context of cancer development. Finally, we discuss prospects and challenges for the clinical development of exosome-based liquid biopsies and therapeutics.
Although microRNAs (miRNAs), other non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) (e.g. lncRNAs, pseudogenes and circRNAs) and competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) have been implicated in cell-fate determination and in ...various human diseases, surprisingly little is known about the regulatory interaction networks among the multiple classes of RNAs. In this study, we developed starBase v2.0 (http://starbase.sysu.edu.cn/) to systematically identify the RNA-RNA and protein-RNA interaction networks from 108 CLIP-Seq (PAR-CLIP, HITS-CLIP, iCLIP, CLASH) data sets generated by 37 independent studies. By analyzing millions of RNA-binding protein binding sites, we identified ∼9000 miRNA-circRNA, 16 000 miRNA-pseudogene and 285,000 protein-RNA regulatory relationships. Moreover, starBase v2.0 has been updated to provide the most comprehensive CLIP-Seq experimentally supported miRNA-mRNA and miRNA-lncRNA interaction networks to date. We identified ∼10,000 ceRNA pairs from CLIP-supported miRNA target sites. By combining 13 functional genomic annotations, we developed miRFunction and ceRNAFunction web servers to predict the function of miRNAs and other ncRNAs from the miRNA-mediated regulatory networks. Finally, we developed interactive web implementations to provide visualization, analysis and downloading of the aforementioned large-scale data sets. This study will greatly expand our understanding of ncRNA functions and their coordinated regulatory networks.
Abstract
Successful development of biological databases requires accommodation of the burgeoning amounts of data from high-throughput genomics pipelines. As the volume of curated data in Animal QTLdb ...(https://www.animalgenome.org/QTLdb) increases exponentially, the resulting challenges must be met with rapid infrastructure development to effectively accommodate abundant data curation and make metadata analysis more powerful. The development of Animal QTLdb and CorrDB for the past 15 years has provided valuable tools for researchers to utilize a wealth of phenotype/genotype data to study the genetic architecture of livestock traits. We have focused our efforts on data curation, improved data quality maintenance, new tool developments, and database co-developments, in order to provide convenient platforms for users to query and analyze data. The database currently has 158 499 QTL/associations, 10 482 correlations and 1977 heritability data as a result of an average 32% data increase per year. In addition, we have made >14 functional improvements or new tool implementations since our last report. Our ultimate goals of database development are to provide infrastructure for data collection, curation, and annotation, and more importantly, to support innovated data structure for new types of data mining, data reanalysis, and networked genetic analysis that lead to the generation of new knowledge.
Mitochondrial dynamics plays an important role in tumour progression. However, how these dynamics integrate tumour metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis is still unclear.
The ...mitochondrial fusion protein mitofusin-1 (MFN1) expression and its prognostic value are detected in HCC. The effects and underlying mechanisms of MFN1 on HCC metastasis and metabolic reprogramming are analysed both in vitro and in vivo.
Mitochondrial dynamics, represented by constant fission and fusion, are found to be associated with HCC metastasis. High metastatic HCC displays excessive mitochondrial fission. Among genes involved in mitochondrial dynamics, MFN1 is identified as a leading downregulated candidate that is closely associated with HCC metastasis and poor prognosis. While promoting mitochondrial fusion, MFN1 inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and migration capacity both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, disruption of mitochondrial dynamics by depletion of MFN1 triggers the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC. Moreover, MFN1 modulates HCC metastasis by metabolic shift from aerobic glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation. Treatment with glycolytic inhibitor 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) significantly suppresses the effects induced by depletion of MFN1.
Our results reveal a critical involvement of mitochondrial dynamics in HCC metastasis via modulating glucose metabolic reprogramming. MFN1 may serve as a novel potential therapeutic target for HCC.
Flexible metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) receive much attention owing to their attractive properties that originate from their flexibility and dynamic behavior, and show great potential applications ...in many fields. Here, recent progress in the discovery, understanding, and property investigations of flexible MOFs are reviewed, and the examples of their potential applications in storage and separation, sensing, and guest capture and release are presented to highlight the developing trends in flexible MOFs.
Flexible metal–organic frameworks are widely investigated as functional materials based on their remarkable properties, and potential applications of these materials are found in many fields. The most recent advances in the discovery, understanding and property investigations are reviewed, and new trends for their applications are highlighted.
The design and development of efficient catalytic materials with synergistic catalytic sites always has long been known to be a thrilling and very dynamic research field. Crystalline porous materials ...(CPMs) mainly including metal–organic frameworks and zeolites with high scientific and industrial impact have recently been the subject of extensive research due to their essential role in modern chemical industrial processes. The rational incorporation of guest species in CPMs can synergize the respective strengths of these components and allow them to collaborate with each other for synergistic catalysis, leading to enhanced catalytic activity, selectivity, and stability in a broad range of catalytic processes. In this review, the recent advances in the development of CPMs‐confined active metal species, including metal nanoparticles, metal/metal oxides heteroparticles, metal oxide, subnanometric metal clusters, and polyoxometalates, for heterogeneous catalysis, with a particular focus on synergistic effects between active components that result in an enhanced performance are highlighted. Insights into catalysts design strategies, host–guest interactions, and structure–property relationships have been illustrated in detail. Finally, the existing challenges and possible development directions in CPMs‐based encapsulation‐structured synergistic catalysts are discussed.
Incorporation of active metal species in crystalline porous materials (CPMs) can synergize the respective strengths and allow them to collaborate with each other for synergistic catalysis. In this review, the state‐of‐the art progress in the encapsulation of catalytically active metal species by CPMs as well as their synergy functions for enhanced catalytic performance is summarized in detail.
Organic donor–acceptor systems have attracted much attention due to their various potential applications. However, the rational construction and modulation of highly ordered donor–acceptor systems ...could be a challenge due to the complicated self‐assembly process of donor and acceptor species. Considering the well‐defined arrangement of species at the molecule level, a crystalline host–guest system could be an ideal platform for the rational construction of donor–acceptor systems. Herein, it is shown how the rational construction of highly tunable donor–acceptor materials can be achieved based on a crystalline host–guest platform. Within the well‐established metal–organic framework NKU‐111 as the crystalline host enabled by the relatively stable coordination‐directed assembly, the introduction and arrangement of guest molecules in the crystals allow the rational construction of the NKU‐111⊃guest donor–acceptor system. The donor–acceptor interaction in the systems can be readily modulated with different guest molecules, which can be justified by the well‐demonstrated guest‐dependent characteristics. Accordingly, the NKU‐111⊃guest reveals highly tunable donor–acceptor properties such as charge‐transfer‐based emissions and electrical conductivity. This work indicates the potential of crystalline host–guest systems as an ideal platform for systematic investigations of donor–acceptor materials.
A donor–acceptor material based on a host–guest crystalline material platform is raised. As a proof of concept, a metal–organic framework (NKU‐111) is utilized as a host acceptor for the accommodation of aromatic donor guests. The resulting donor–acceptor system features highly tunable charge‐transfer‐based emissions and conductivity, indicating the rationality and efficiency of this strategy.
Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) is an immune surface protein that binds to programmed cell death 1 (PD‐1) and allows tumors to evade T‐cell immunity. This study aims to define the role of ...PD‐L1 shuttled by tumor cell‐derived exosomes in the immune escape of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). PD‐L1 expression was determined in the exosomes isolated from the plasma of NPC patients or from NPC cells. It was found that PD‐L1 was highly expressed in the exosomes from the plasma of NPC patients and also in the exosomes from NPC cells. PD‐L1/PD‐1 binding was identified in the presence or absence of interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) or anti‐PD‐L1 antibody. PD‐L1 expression was elevated following IFN‐γ treatment. Binding of PD‐L1 to PD‐1 was augmented by IFN‐γ and blocked by anti‐PD‐L1 antibody. Following this, CD8+ T cells were sorted out from peripheral blood samples to assess the binding between exosomal PD‐L1 and PD‐1 on the CD8+ T‐cell surface, and to measure the percentage of Ki‐67‐positive T cells. The results indicated that exosomal PD‐L1 bound to the PD‐1 on CD8+ T‐cell surface, leading to a reduced percentage of Ki‐67‐positive CD8+ T cells and downregulated production of cytokines. In vivo data confirmed that exosomal PD‐L1 promoted NPC tumor growth in mice by suppressing CD8+ T‐cell activity. In conclusion, NPC cell‐derived exosomes deliver PD‐L1 to bind to PD‐1 on the CD8+ T‐cell surface, through which cytotoxic CD8+ T‐cell function was attenuated and the immune escape was thus promoted in NPC.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell‐derived exosomes deliver programmed cell death ligand 1 to bind to programmed cell death 1 on the CD8+ T‐cell surface, through which cytotoxic CD8+ T cell function was attenuated and the immune escape was thus promoted in NPC.
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