Summary
Tea is the world's widely consumed nonalcohol beverage with essential economic and health benefits. Confronted with the increasing large‐scale omics‐data set particularly the genome sequence ...released in tea plant, the construction of a comprehensive knowledgebase is urgently needed to facilitate the utilization of these data sets towards molecular breeding. We hereby present the first integrative and specially designed web‐accessible database, Tea Plant Information Archive (TPIA; http://tpia.teaplant.org). The current release of TPIA employs the comprehensively annotated tea plant genome as framework and incorporates with abundant well‐organized transcriptomes, gene expressions (across species, tissues and stresses), orthologs and characteristic metabolites determining tea quality. It also hosts massive transcription factors, polymorphic simple sequence repeats, single nucleotide polymorphisms, correlations, manually curated functional genes and globally collected germplasm information. A variety of versatile analytic tools (e.g. JBrowse, blast, enrichment analysis, etc.) are established helping users to perform further comparative, evolutionary and functional analysis. We show a case application of TPIA that provides novel and interesting insights into the phytochemical content variation of section Thea of genus Camellia under a well‐resolved phylogenetic framework. The constructed knowledgebase of tea plant will serve as a central gateway for global tea community to better understand the tea plant biology that largely benefits the whole tea industry.
A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric tandem C–C bond activation/Cacchi reaction between cyclobutanones and o-ethynylanilines was reported. The transient chiral σ-alkylpalladium species generated via ...enantioselective C(sp3)–C(sp2) bond activation of cyclobutanones promotes cyclization of o-ethynylanilines, leading to one-carbon-tethered chiral indanone-substituted indoles. Two C–C bonds and one C–N bond are created with concomitant formation of an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter. Furthermore, a chiral C2-aryl axis can be created in 2,3-disubstituted indole moiety, leading to indanone-substituted indoles with both central and axial stereogenic elements.
Previous studies have shown that the tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) levels in serum and bone tissues formed in avascular necrosis of femoral head (ANFH) patients were higher than those of normal ...individuals, indicating TNF‐α might play a role in the pathogenesis of ANFH. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was performed to show the pathological changes of ANFH bone tissues. TNF‐α expression in normal and ANFH tissues was examined by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses. Osteoblast autophagy and apoptosis, as well as signaling pathways activation, were measured by their corresponding marker proteins. Osteoblast proliferation, autophagy, and apoptosis were evaluated using cell counting kit‐8, transmission electron microscopy, and flow cytometry. The structures of bone tissues of ANFH were obviously damaged. TNF‐α expression was significantly upregulated in ANFH bone tissues compared to normal tissues. Autophagy and apoptosis were remarkably promoted, and p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK)/nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) signaling pathways were markedly activated in ANFH. Suppression of the p38 MAPK/NF‐κB pathway significantly attenuated the TNF‐α‐induced autophagy, however, enhanced the TNF‐α‐induced apoptosis in osteoblasts. Increased TNF‐α in ANFH regulated osteoblast autophagy and apoptosis by p38 MAPK/NF‐κB signaling pathways, blocking the pathway by inhibitors exacerbated TNF‐α‐induced apoptosis through impairing autophagy flux.
Hole mobility is critical to the power conversion efficiencies of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Organic small‐molecule hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) have attracted considerable interest in PSCs ...due to their structural flexibility and operational durability, but they suffer from modest hole mobility. On the other hand, inorganic HTMs with good hole mobility are inflexible in structural variation and exhibit unsatisfactory cell efficiency. In this study, a ligand BT28 and its zinc‐based coordination complex BTZ30 were synthesized, characterized, and investigated as HTMs for PSC applications. The mixed‐halide perovskites can be grown uniformly with large crystalline grains on both HTMs, which exhibit similar optical and electrochemical properties. However, it was discovered that the BTZ30‐based solar cell exhibited an open‐circuit voltage of 1.0817 V and a high short‐circuit current density of 23.1392 mA cm−2 with a champion power conversion efficiency of close to 20 %. The performance difference between the two HTMs can be attributed to the difference in their hole mobilities, which is 63.31 % higher for BTZ30 than BT28. The comparison of non‐metal and metal HTMs revealed the importance of considering hybrid structures to overcome some shortcomings associated with organic and inorganic HTMs and achieve high‐performance PSCs.
A new hybrid organic‐inorganic structured hole‐transporting material for perovskite solar cells application has been developed. The Zn‐metal based complex, BTZ30, achieved impressive close to 20 % efficiency. The good performance is attributed to its high hole mobility, enabling higher short‐circuit current density and efficiency.
Considering the great energy and biomass demand for cell survival, cancer cells exhibit unique metabolic signatures compared to normal cells. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of ...the most prevalent neoplasms worldwide. Recent findings have shown that environmental challenges, as well as intrinsic metabolic manipulations, could modulate HNSCC experimentally and serve as clinic prognostic indicators, suggesting that a better understanding of dynamic metabolic changes during HNSCC development could be of great benefit for developing adjuvant anti-cancer schemes other than conventional therapies. However, the following questions are still poorly understood: (i) how does metabolic reprogramming occur during HNSCC development? (ii) how does the tumorous milieu contribute to HNSCC tumourigenesis? and (iii) at the molecular level, how do various metabolic cues interact with each other to control the oncogenicity and therapeutic sensitivity of HNSCC? In this review article, the regulatory roles of different metabolic pathways in HNSCC and its microenvironment in controlling the malignancy are therefore discussed in the hope of providing a systemic overview regarding what we knew and how cancer metabolism could be translated for the development of anti-cancer therapeutic reagents.
Summary
A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted to evaluate the relative effectiveness of different dietary macronutrient patterns on changes in resting energy expenditure (REE) in ...relation to weight loss, categorized as minimal (<5%) and moderate to high (>5%). Changes in REE were assessed using a DerSimonian and Laird random‐effects meta‐analysis. A diet lower in carbohydrates (CHO) or higher in fat and protein was associated with smaller reductions in REE, with these trends being more pronounced among participants who experienced moderate to high weight loss. Adjusted meta‐regression analysis indicated that, within the participants who experienced moderate to high weight loss, each 1% increase in CHO intake was associated with a reduction of 2.30 kcal/day in REE (95% CI: −4.11 to −0.47, p = 0.013). In contrast, a 1% increase in protein and fat intake was correlated with an increase in REE by 3.00 (95% confidence interval CI 1.02, 5.07, p = 0.003) and 0.5 (95% CI −2.43, 3.41, p = 0.740) kcal/day, respectively. No significant associations were found among participants who experienced minimal weight loss. These findings indicate that, under a caloric deficit, the impact of dietary macronutrient composition on REE may vary depending on the degree of weight loss and individual metabolic responses.
The Sonogashira-type cross-coupling reaction is one of the most significant alkynylation transformations in organic chemistry. However, highly enantioselective alkynylation
via
the Sonogashira-type ...cross-coupling reaction is rather limited, mainly due to the difficulties in matching the stereoselective induction of chiral ligands with the combinational behavior of Pd/Cu-based bimetallic catalysts. We herein report novel enantioselective palladium/copper-catalyzed alkyl alkynylation of cyclobutanones with terminal alkynes
via
tandem C-C bond activation/Sonogashira-type cross coupling reaction, in which a novel chiral TADDOL-derived phosphoramidite ligand bearing fluorine and silicon-based bulky groups simplified as TFSi-Phos is found to be an efficient ligand for both C(sp
2
)-C(sp
3
) bond cleavage and new C(sp
3
)-C(sp) bond formation. A wide range of chiral alkynylated indanones bearing an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter are obtained efficiently with up to 97.5 : 2.5 er.
A highly enantioselective Pd/Cu-catalyzed tandem C-C bond activation/Sonogashira reaction was developed with the aid of new TFSi-Phos, which provided chiral alkynyl indanones in good yields and enantioselectivities.
During glycolysis, the muscle isoform of pyruvate kinase PKM2 produces ATP in exchange for dephosphorylation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) into pyruvate. PKM2 has been considered as a tumor-promoting ...factor in most cancers, whereas the regulatory role of PKM2 during head and neck carcinogenesis remained to be delineated. PKM2 mRNA and protein expression was examined in head and neck tumorous specimens. The role of PKM2 in controlling cellular malignancy was determined in shRNA-mediated PKM2-deficient head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) cells. In agreement with the results in other cancers, PKM2 expression is enriched in both mouse and human HNSC tissues. Nevertheless, PKM2 mRNA expression reversely correlated with tumor stage, and greater recurrence-free survival rates are evident in the PKM2
HNSC population, arguing that PKM2 may be tumor-suppressive. Multifaceted analyses showed a greater in vivo xenografic tumor growth and an enhanced cisplatin resistance in response to PKM2 loss, whereas PKM2 silencing led to reduced cell motility. At the molecular level, metabolic shifts towards mitochondrial metabolism and activation of oncogenic Protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signals were detected in PKM2-silencing HNSC cells. In sum, our findings demonstrated that PKM2 differentially modulated head and neck tumorigenicity via metabolic reprogramming.
Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) can effectively protect the alloy substrate of hot components in aeroengines or land-based gas turbines by the thermal insulation and corrosion/erosion resistance of ...the ceramic top coat. However, the continuous pursuit of a higher operating temperature leads to degradation, delamination, and premature failure of the top coat. Both new ceramic materials and new coating structures must be developed to meet the demand for future advanced TBC systems. In this paper, the latest progress of some new ceramic materials is first reviewed. Then, a comprehensive spalling mechanism of the ceramic top coat is summarized to understand the dependence of lifetime on various factors such as oxidation scale growth, ceramic sintering, erosion, and calcium-magnesium-aluminium-silicate (CMAS) molten salt corrosion. Finally, new structural design methods for high-performance TBCs are discussed from the perspectives of lamellar, columnar, and nanostructure inclusions. The latest developments of ceramic top coat will be presented in terms of material selection, structural design, and failure mechanism, and the comprehensive guidance will be provided for the development of next-generation advanced TBCs with higher temperature resistance, better thermal insulation, and longer lifetime.
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