Inspired by the swimming of natural microorganisms, synthetic micro‐/nanomachines, which convert energy into movement, are able to mimic the function of these amazing natural systems and help ...humanity by completing environmental and biological tasks. While offering autonomous propulsion, conventional micro‐/nanomachines usually rely on the decomposition of external chemical fuels (e.g., H2O2), which greatly hinders their applications in biologically relevant media. Recent developments have resulted in various micro‐/nanomotors that can be powered by biocompatible fuels. Fuel‐free synthetic micro‐/nanomotors, which can move without external chemical fuels, represent another attractive solution for practical applications owing to their biocompatibility and sustainability. Here, recent developments on fuel‐free micro‐/nanomotors (powered by various external stimuli such as light, magnetic, electric, or ultrasonic fields) are summarized, ranging from fabrication to propulsion mechanisms. The applications of these fuel‐free micro‐/nanomotors are also discussed, including nanopatterning, targeted drug/gene delivery, cell manipulation, and precision nanosurgery. With continuous innovation, future autonomous, intelligent and multifunctional fuel‐free micro‐/nanomachines are expected to have a profound impact upon diverse biomedical applications, providing unlimited opportunities beyond one's imagination.
Fuel‐free synthetic micro‐/nanomachines powered by external stimuli are able to swim efficiently in biologically relevant environments. Tremendous progress made in the past decade to develop different synthesis strategies for designing and fabricating fuel‐free micro‐/nanomotors with different functionalities is reviewed. These artificial nanomachines can achieve predetermined tasks in biomedical applications.
MYC transcriptional factors are members of the bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) superfamily, and play important roles in plant growth and development. Recent studies have revealed that some MYCs are ...involved in the crosstalk between Jasmonic acid regulatory pathway and light signaling in Arabidopsis, but such kinds of studies are rare in wheat, especially in photo-thermo-sensitive genic male sterile (PTGMS) wheat line.
27 non-redundant MYC gene copies, which belonged to 11 TaMYC genes, were identified in the whole genome of wheat (Chinese Spring). These gene copies were distributed on 13 different chromosomes, respectively. Based on the results of phylogenetic analysis, 27 TaMYC gene copies were clustered into group I, group III, and group IV. The identified TaMYC genes copies contained different numbers of light, stress, and hormone-responsive regulatory elements in their 1500 base pair promoter regions. Besides, we found that TaMYC3 was expressed highly in stem, TaMYC5 and TaMYC9 were expressed specially in glume, and the rest of TaMYC genes were expressed in all tissues (root, stem, leaf, pistil, stamen, and glume) of the PTGMS line BS366. Moreover, we found that TaMYC3, TaMYC7, TaMYC9, and TaMYC10 were highly sensitive to methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and other TaMYC genes responded at different levels. Furthermore, we confirmed the expression profiles of TaMYC family members under different light quality and plant hormone stimuli, and abiotic stresses. Finally, we predicted the wheat microRNAs that could interact with TaMYC family members, and built up a network to show their integrative relationships.
This study analyzed the size and composition of the MYC gene family in wheat, and investigated stress-responsive and light quality induced expression profiles of each TaMYC gene in the PTGMS wheat line BS366. In conclusion, we obtained lots of important information of TaMYC family, and the results of this study was supposed to contribute novel insights and gene and microRNA resources for wheat breeding, especially for the improvement of PTGMS wheat lines.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A series of (
)-1-phenyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-2(1
)-carboxamide derivatives was synthesized and evaluated for inhibitory activity against monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A and-B, acetylcholine esterase ...(AChE), and butyrylcholine esterase (BChE). Four compounds (
,
,
, and
) showed good inhibitory activity against both MAO-A and MAO-B, and two compounds (
and
) showed selective inhibitory activity against MAO-A, with IC
values of 1.38 and 2.48 µM, respectively. None of the compounds showed inhibitory activity against AChE; however, 12 compounds showed inhibitory activity against BChE. None of the active compounds showed cytotoxicity against L929cells. Molecular docking revealed several important interactions between the active analogs and amino acid residues of the protein receptors. This research paves the way for further study aimed at designing MAO and ChE inhibitors for the treatment of depression and neurodegenerative disorders.
Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is a tumor virus that is associated with a variety of neoplasms, including EBV-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC). Recently, EBV was reported to generate various circular ...RNAs (circRNAs). CircRNAs are important regulators of tumorigenesis by modulating the malignant behaviors of tumor cells. However, to date, the functions of ebv-circRNAs in EBVaGC remain poorly understood. In the present study, we observed high ebv-circRPMS1 expression in EBVaGC and showed that ebv-circRPMS1 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion and inhibited the apoptosis of EBVaGC cells. In addition, METTL3 was upregulated in GC cells overexpressing ebv-circRPMS1. Mechanistically, ebv-circRPMS1 bound to Sam68 to facilitate its physical interaction with the METTL3 promotor, resulting in the transactivation of METTL3 and cancer progression. In clinical EBVaGC samples, ebv-circRPMS1 was associated with distant metastasis and a poor prognosis. Based on these findings, ebv-circRPMS1 contributed to EBVaGC progression by recruiting Sam68 to the METTL3 promoter to induce METTL3 expression. ebv-circRPMS1, Sam68, and METTL3 might serve as therapeutic targets for EBVaGC.
•ebv-circRPMS1 promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion, and anti-apoptosis abilities of EBVaGC cells.•ebv-circRPMS1 performed its effects by recruiting the Sam68 to the promoter of METTL3 and enhancing its transcription.•In clinical EBVaGC samples, ebv-circRPMS1 was associated with distant metastasis and poor prognosis.
The existence of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) is a major reason underlying cancer metastasis and recurrence after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Targeting BCSCs may ameliorate breast cancer ...relapse and therapy resistance. Here we report that expression of the pseudokinase Tribble 3 (TRIB3) positively associates with breast cancer stemness and progression. Elevated TRIB3 expression supports BCSCs by interacting with AKT to interfere with the FOXO1-AKT interaction and suppress FOXO1 phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and degradation by E3 ligases SKP2 and NEDD4L. The accumulated FOXO1 promotes transcriptional expression of SOX2, a transcriptional factor for cancer stemness, which in turn, activates FOXO1 transcription and forms a positive regulatory loop. Disturbing the TRIB3-AKT interaction suppresses BCSCs by accelerating FOXO1 degradation and reducing SOX2 expression in mouse models of breast cancer. Our study provides insights into breast cancer development and confers a potential therapeutic strategy against TRIB3-overexpressed breast cancer.
Conjugated polymeric molecules have been heralded as promising electrode materials for the next-generation energy-storage technologies owing to their chemical flexibility at the molecular level, ...environmental benefit, and cost advantage. However, before any practical implementation takes place, the low capacity, poor structural stability, and sluggish ion/electron diffusion kinetics remain the obstacles that have to be overcome. Here, we report the synthesis of a few-layered two-dimensional covalent organic framework trapped by carbon nanotubes as the anode of lithium-ion batteries. Remarkably, upon activation, this organic electrode delivers a large reversible capacity of 1536 mAh g
and can sustain 500 cycles at 100 mA g
. Aided by theoretical calculations and electrochemical probing of the electrochemical behavior at different stages of cycling, the storage mechanism is revealed to be governed by 14-electron redox chemistry for a covalent organic framework monomer with one lithium ion per C=N group and six lithium ions per benzene ring. This work may pave the way to the development of high-capacity electrodes for organic rechargeable batteries.
The bioinspired micropatterns exhibit outstanding capacity in controlling and patterning microdroplets, which have offered new functionalities and possibilities towards a wide variety of emerging ...biological and biomedical applications. By taking the advantages of the microdroplet anchoring ability, enrichment ability, and the accessibility of such bioinspired micropatterns, the selected topic mainly focuses on the important aspects related to (super)wettable surfaces and their emerging sensing applications (DNA, miRNA, proteins,
etc.
) by combining them with multiple signal output approaches (fluorescence, colorimetric, SERS, electrochemical,
etc.
). In the end, we also provide a personal perspective on the future development, and address the remaining challenges in the commercialization of (super)wettable micropatterns towards biosensing.
The bioinspired micropatterns exhibit outstanding capacity in controlling and patterning microdroplets, which have offered new functionalities and possibilities towards a wide variety of emerging biological and biomedical applications.
Abstract
Background
The high cost and insufficient supply of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have slowed the pace of controlling cervical cancer. A phase III clinical trial was conducted to ...evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of a novel Escherichia coli-produced bivalent HPV-16/18 vaccine.
Methods
A multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial started on November 22, 2012 in China. In total, 7372 eligible women aged 18–45 years were age-stratified and randomly assigned to receive three doses of the test or control (hepatitis E) vaccine at months 0, 1, and 6. Co-primary endpoints included high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection (over 6 months) associated with HPV-16/18. The primary analysis was performed on a per-protocol susceptible population of individuals who were negative for relevant HPV type-specific neutralizing antibodies (at day 0) and DNA (at day 0 through month 7) and who received three doses of the vaccine. This report presents data from a prespecified interim analysis used for regulatory submission.
Results
In the per-protocol cohort, the efficacies against high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection were 100.0% (95% confidence interval = 55.6% to 100.0%, 0 of 3306 in the vaccine group vs 10 of 3296 in the control group) and 97.8% (95% confidence interval = 87.1% to 99.9%, 1 of 3240 vs 45 of 3246), respectively. The side effects were mild. No vaccine-related serious adverse events were noted. Robust antibody responses for both types were induced and persisted for at least 42 months.
Conclusions
The E coli-produced HPV-16/18 vaccine is well tolerated and highly efficacious against HPV-16/18–associated high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection in women.
Photocatalysis as a sustainable technology is expected to provide a novel sight for the green synthesis of urea directly using N2, CO2, and H2O under mild conditions. However, the fundamental issue ...of inefficient electron transfer in photocatalysis strongly hinders its feasibility, especially for the above multi‐electron‐demanding urea synthesis. Herein, an effective strategy of accelerating electron‐transfer dynamics is reported by TiO2‐immobilized reversible single‐atom copper (denoted as Cu SA‐TiO2) to enhance the performance for photosynthesis of urea from N2, CO2, and H2O. As revealed by a series of quasi‐in‐situ characterizations (e.g., electron paramagnetic resonance, and wavelength‐resolved and femtosecond time‐resolved spectroscopies), the expedited dynamics behaviors originating from reversible single‐atom copper in as‐designed Cu SA‐TiO2 (electron extraction rate: over 30 times faster than the reference photocatalysts) allow the assurance of abundant and continual photogenerated electrons for multi‐electron‐demanding co‐photoactivation of N2 and CO2, resulting in considerable rates of urea production. The strategy above for improving the photoelectron‐extraction ability of photocatalysts will offer a high‐efficiency and promising route for artificial urea photosynthesis and other multi‐electron‐demanding photocatalytic reactions.
Accelerating electron‐transfer dynamics by TiO2‐immobilized reversible single‐atom copper is proposed for enhancing artificial urea photosynthesis using N2 and CO2 in pure H2O. The quasi‐in‐situ characterizations reveal that the accelerated electron‐transfer dynamics can be attributed to the reversibility of single‐atom Cu for ensuring multi‐electron‐demand and supply of urea photosynthesis, thereby yielding as high as 432.12 µg gcat.−1 of urea.
Phosphorene, also known as single- or few-layer black phosphorus (FLBP), is a new member of the two-dimensional (2D) material family and has attracted significant attention in recent years for ...applications in optoelectronics, energy storage and biomedicine due to its unique physicochemical properties and excellent biocompatibility. FLBP is regarded as a potential biological imaging agent for cancer diagnosis due to its intrinsic fluorescence (FL) and photoacoustic (PA) properties and negligible cytotoxicity. FLBP-based photothermal and photodynamic therapies have emerged with excellent anti-tumour therapeutic efficacies due to their unique physical properties, such as near-infrared (NIR) optical absorbance, large extinction coefficients, biodegradability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) or heat generation upon light irradiation. Furthermore, FLBP is a promising drug delivery platform because of its high drug-loading capacity due to its puckered layer structure with an ultralarge surface area, and FLBP is size-controllable with facile surface chemical modification. Because of the marked advantages of FLBP nanomaterials in biomedical applications, an overview of the latest progress and paradigms of FLBP-based nanoplatforms for multidisciplinary biomedical applications is presented in this tutorial review.
Phosphorene, also known as single- or few-layer black phosphorus (FLBP), is a new member of the two-dimensional (2D) material family and has attracted significant attention in recent years for bio-applications.
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