Although three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology has gained much attention in the field of tissue engineering, there are still several significant engineering challenges to overcome, including ...lack of bioink with biocompatibility and printability. Here, we show a bioink created from silk fibroin (SF) for digital light processing (DLP) 3D bioprinting in tissue engineering applications. The SF-based bioink (Sil-MA) was produced by a methacrylation process using glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) during the fabrication of SF solution. The mechanical and rheological properties of Sil-MA hydrogel proved to be outstanding in experimental testing and can be modulated by varying the Sil-MA contents. This Sil-MA bioink allowed us to build highly complex organ structures, including the heart, vessel, brain, trachea and ear with excellent structural stability and reliable biocompatibility. Sil-MA bioink is well-suited for use in DLP printing process and could be applied to tissue and organ engineering depending on the specific biological requirements.
Salt tolerance is an important constrain for rice, which is generally categorized as a typicalglycophyte. Soil salinity is one of the major constraints affecting rice production worldwide, especially ...inthe coastal areas. Susceptibility or tolerance of rice plants to high salinity is a coordinated action ofmultiple stress responsive genes, which also interacts with other components of stress signaltransduction pathways. Salt tolerant varieties can be produced by marker-assisted selection or geneticengineering by introducing salt-tolerance genes. In this review, we have updated on mechanisms andgenes which can help in transferring of the salt tolerance into high-yielding rice varieties. We havefocused on the need for integrating phenotyping, genomics, metabolic profiling and phenomics intotransgenic and breeding approaches to develop high-yielding as well as salt tolerant rice varieties.
The conductivity of graphite oxide films is modulated using reducing agents. It is found that the sheet resistance of graphite oxide film reduced using sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is much lower than ...that of films reduced using hydrazine (N2H4). This is attributed to the formation of CN groups in the N2H4 case, which may act as donors compensating the hole carriers in reduced graphite oxide. In the case of NaBH4 reduction, the interlayer distance is first slightly expanded by the formation of intermediate boron oxide complexes and then contracted by the gradual removal of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups along with the boron oxide complexes. The fabricated conducting film comprising a NaBH4‐reduced graphite oxide reveals a sheet resistance comparable to that of dispersed graphene.
Reduced graphite oxide films obtained using NaBH4 exhibit much lower sheet resistance than films obtained using N2H4 because the latter results in the formation of C–N groups, which may act as donors compensating the hole carriers in the film and increasing resistivity. A transparent conducting film prepared using optimized NaBH4 reduction reveals a sheet resistance comparable to that observed in dispersed graphene.
Nanomedicine is extensively employed for cancer treatment owing to its unique advantages over conventional drugs and imaging agents. This increased attention to nanomedicine, however, has not fully ...translated into clinical utilization and patient benefits due to issues associated with reticuloendothelial system clearance, tumor heterogeneity, and complexity of the tumor microenvironment. To address these challenges, efforts are being made to modify the design of nanomedicines, including optimization of their physiochemical properties, active targeting, and response to stimuli, but these studies are often performed independently. Combining favorable nanomedicine designs from individual studies may improve therapeutic outcomes, but, this is difficult to achieve as the effects of different designs are interconnected and often conflicting. Glycol chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) are shown to accumulate in tumors, suggesting that this type of nanoparticle may constitute a good basis for the additional modification of nanoparticles. Here, multifunctional glycol CNPs designed to overcome multiple obstacles to their use are described and key factors influencing in vivo targeted delivery, targeting strategies, and interesting stimulus‐responsive designs for improving cancer nanomedicine are discussed.
Glycol chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) are widely utilized for tumor‐targeted delivery of various theranostic agents. The continuing efforts to develop tumor‐targeting CNPs for the delivery of therapeutics and imaging agents are reviewed. Furthermore, various targeting strategies and interesting stimulus‐responsive designs of CNPs are discussed to overcome multiple physiological barriers, such as tumor heterogeneity and the complex tumor microenvironment.
Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that positively regulates seed dormancy and stress tolerance. PYL/RCARs were identified an intracellular ABA receptors regulating ABA-dependent gene expression ...inArabidopsis thaliana. However, their function in monocot species has not been characterized yet. Herein, it is demonstrated that PYL/RCAR orthologues inOryza sativafunction as a positive regulator of the ABA signal transduction pathway. Transgenic rice plants expressing OsPYL/RCAR5, a PYL/RCAR orthologue of rice, were found to be hypersensitive to ABA during seed germination and early seedling growth. A rice ABA signalling unit composed of OsPYL/RCAR5, OsPP2C30, SAPK2, and OREB1 for ABA-dependent gene regulation was further identified, via interaction assays and a transient gene expression assay. Thus, a core signalling unit for ABA-responsive gene expression modulating seed germination and early seedling growth in rice has been unravelled. This study provides substantial contributions toward understanding the ABA signal transduction pathway in rice.
Despite continual efforts to develop a prognostic model of gastric cancer by using clinical and pathologic parameters, a clinical test that can discriminate patients with good outcomes from those ...with poor outcomes after gastric cancer surgery has not been established. We aim to develop practical biomarker-based risk score that can predict relapse of gastric cancer after surgical treatment.
Microarray technologies were used to generate and analyze gene expression profiling data from 65 gastric cancer patients to identify biomarker genes associated with relapse. The association of expression patterns of identified genes with relapse and overall survival was validated in independent gastric cancer patients.
We uncovered two subgroups of gastric cancer that were strongly associated with the prognosis. For the easy translation of our findings into practice, we developed a scoring system based on the expression of six genes that predicted the likelihood of relapse after curative resection. In multivariate analysis, the risk score was an independent predictor of relapse in a cohort of 96 patients. We were able to validate the robustness of the six-gene signature in an additional independent cohort.
The risk score derived from the six-gene set successfully prognosticated the relapse of gastric cancer patients after gastrectomy.
Background
Optimal pain management after insertion of a central venous catheter in children remains unclear.
Aim
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a selective supraclavicular nerve block on ...postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients undergoing hickman catheter or chemoport insertion.
Methods
Fifty patients aged 3–18 years scheduled for elective Hickman or chemoport insertion were randomized into two groups of 25 each: one group received an ultrasound‐guided selective supraclavicular nerve block with 0.1 mL/kg of 0.5% ropivacaine (SSCNB group), and the other group did not receive a nerve block (control group). The primary outcome was the postoperative Wong‐Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale score measured between 10 and 30 min after surgery. Secondary outcomes included pain scores at 1, 3, and 24 h after the surgery, block‐related complications, length of stay in the postanesthesia care unit, postoperative analgesic consumption, and time to first analgesic use 24 h after surgery.
Results
The worst pain score within 30 min in the recovery room was significantly lower in the SSCNB group compared to the control group (6 5–7 vs. 3 2–4; median difference, −3; 95% CI, −4 to −1; p < .001). Pain scores at 1, 3, and 24 h after surgery were also significantly lower in the SSCNB group. The need for both opioid and non‐opioid analgesics in the postoperative period was significantly lower in the SSCNB group (36.0% vs. 0%; p = .002 and 44.0% vs. 16.0%; mean difference, −28%; 95% CI, −56 to 0.19; p = .033, respectively), while other secondary outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups.
Conclusions
Ultrasound‐guided SSCNB is an effective method for managing postoperative pain in children undergoing Hickman catheter or chemoport insertion, reducing the need for analgesics within 24 h after surgery.
To evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and feasibility of intraoperative radiofrequency ablation (IORFA) under ultrasound guidance for the treatment of liver metastases from gastrointestinal stromal ...tumors (GISTs).
From August 2009 to February 2017, 24 patients with liver metastases of GISTs underwent IORFA, 14 underwent concurrent IORFA and primary GIST resection, and 10 underwent IORFA to treat hepatic recurrence after previous primary GIST resection. Seventy-six hepatic metastases were treated, of which 47 were surgically resected and 29 underwent IORFA. All included patients received imatinib therapy as standard treatment before and after IORFA or surgical resection. A retrospective medical record review was conducted, and follow-up data were collected. Technical success and effectiveness, overall and GIST-specific survival, and complications were assessed.
The mean follow-up duration was 50.7 ± 34.7 months. The technical success rate of IORFA was 100%. New metastases developed in three of the 24 patients (12.5%) following a complete response 16, 51, and 95 months after IORFA, respectively. The cumulative one-, three-, and five-year overall survival rates were 100, 94.4, and 87.7%, respectively. The one-, three-, and five-year GIST-related survival rates were 100, 94.4, and 94.4%, respectively. Two major complications (biliary stricture and hepatic abscess) were observed.
IORFA appears to be a feasible and safe treatment option for liver metastasis in patients with primary GISTs. In addition, IORFA and surgical resection may be complementary, helping to obtain complete response in cases of otherwise inoperable liver metastases secondary to GISTs.
Enzyme-activatable anticancer prodrugs are modified medications that are composed of an anticancer drug, cleavable linker, and functional moiety. The purpose of such a prodrug structure is to ...generate multipurpose functions that traditional drugs cannot perform and to reduce the toxicity of conventional anticancer drugs by the mask of the cleavable linker. Once the cleavable linker is degraded via a specific chemical reaction in the cancer microenvironment, the cytotoxicity of the degraded prodrugs is selectively recovered. Among many factors that cleave the linker, we focus on the overexpressed enzymes in cancer. Because of the selective enzymatic degradation of the cleavable linker and the high local concentration of specific enzymes in cancer, the enzyme-activatable prodrugs could show low toxicity in normal tissues, while showing comparable anticancer effect in tumors. In addition, some prodrugs provide additional features, such as cancer imaging, drug release monitoring, tumor targeting, and enhanced stability, which conventional anticancer drugs cannot possess. In this review, we summarize currently developed enzyme-activatable prodrugs according to their activating enzymes, and categorize them by their additional functions, e.g. targeting, imaging, and delivery. This summary of enzyme-activatable prodrugs may help in the design of anticancer prodrugs, and in the establishment of a personalized cancer treatment strategy.
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