Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a cancer with extremely high mortality. Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) may play an important role in the occurrence, invasion and prognosis of HCC; however, ...its relationship with immunity in HCC has not yet been studied. Therefore, we investigated the diagnostic and prognostic values of EMT and explored its potential connections with tumorigenic immune infiltrates in HCC. We first proposed a quantitative metric of EMT activity, the EMT score. After applying this metric to 20 datasets from the Integrative Molecular Database of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, the Cancer Genome Atlas, and the Gene Expression Omnibus, we explored the ability of the EMT score to stratify across sample types. We then applied the EMT score for survival analysis and to differentiate patients with/without vascular invasion to test its prognostic value. We also collected and calculated data on the abundance of immune cells and immune cell markers in HCC and investigated their correlations with EMT scores. Finally, we synthesized and analyzed 20 datasets and constructed an EMT‐gene‐immune linkage network. The results showed higher EMT scores in HCC samples than in cirrhotic and normal livers. The cases with higher EMT scores also showed poorer performance in terms of prognostic factors such as vascular invasion and overall survival time. Our research demonstrated a broad correlation between EMT and the tumor immune microenvironment, and we uncovered multiple potential linkers associated with both EMT and immunity. Studying EMT has clinical relevance and high diagnostic and prognostic value for HCC.
Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) may play an important role in the occurrence, invasion, and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, its relationship with immunity in HCC has not yet been studied. Therefore, we investigated the diagnostic and prognostic values of EMT and explored its potential connections with tumorigenic immune infiltrates in HCC.
A 57-year-old man presented with intermittent dull abdominal pain after a period of 1 year. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed. Except for the endoscopy, the work-up for possible ...medical causes remained inconclusive. An open-abdomen, partial surgical excision of the stomach was performed after the unsuccessful endoscopic resection. The pathology report revealed a glomus tumor of the stomach. Importantly, glomus tumors of the stomach are rare and are almost always benign. Therefore, the most important current role of imaging associated with the diagnostic approach and therapeutic plan for a glomus tumor is to differentiate it from other gastric submucosal tumors (SMTs). We report this case with representative radiologic findings, including CT and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) reports, and also correlate them with clinical and pathologic presentations that can help in the early detection and differentiation of gastric SMTs from other SMTs. As such, the purpose of this report is to provide a better understanding of relevant CT and EUS features. Alternative treatments should be considered carefully according to the imaging results.
Current status of radiology in China Zeng, Su-Meng; Zhou, Kang-Rong; Zhang, Zhi-Yong ...
World journal of gastroenterology : WJG,
04/2000, Letnik:
6, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Organic cocrystals possess valuable properties owing to the synergistic effect of the individual components. However, the growth of molecular cocrystals is still in its primary stage. Here we develop ...a microspacing in-air sublimation method to grow organic cocrystals, and furthermore to realize morphology control on them, which is essential for structure-property relations. A series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)‒1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) complexes cocrystals are grown directly on the substrate, with the morphology tunable from 1D needle-like to 2D plate-like on demand. Spatially resolved photoluminescence spectra analyses on different cocrystals display morphology dependent and anisotropic optical waveguiding properties. In situ observation and energy calculations of the crystallization processes reveal the formation mechanism being from a competition between growth kinetics-defined crystal habit and the thermodynamics driving force. This growth technique may serve the future demand for tunable morphology organic cocrystals in different functional applications.
Dendritic cell-associated C-type lectin-1 (Dectin-1) receptor has been reported to be involved in neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. The present study was designed ...to investigate the role of Dectin-1 and its downstream target spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) in early brain injury after ischemic stroke using a focal cortex ischemic stroke model.
Adult male C57BL/6 J mice were subjected to a cerebral focal ischemia model of ischemic stroke. The neurological score, adhesive removal test, and foot-fault test were evaluated on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after ischemic stroke. Dectin-1, Syk, phosphorylated (p)-Syk, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression was analyzed via western blotting in ischemic brain tissue after ischemic stroke and in BV2 microglial cells subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) injury in vitro. The brain infarct volume and Iba1-positive cells were evaluated using Nissl's and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. The Dectin-1 antagonist laminarin (LAM) and a selective inhibitor of Syk phosphorylation (piceatannol; PIC) were used for the intervention.
Dectin-1, Syk, and p-Syk expression was significantly enhanced on days 3, 5, and 7 and peaked on day 3 after ischemic stroke. The Dectin-1 antagonist LAM or Syk inhibitor PIC decreased the number of Iba1-positive cells and TNF-α and iNOS expression, decreased the brain infarct volume, and improved neurological functions on day 3 after ischemic stroke. In addition, the in vitro data revealed that Dectin-1, Syk, and p-Syk expression was increased following the 3-h OGD and 0, 3, and 6 h of reperfusion in BV2 microglial cells. LAM and PIC also decreased TNF-α and iNOS expression 3 h after OGD/R induction.
Dectin-1/Syk signaling plays a crucial role in inflammatory activation after ischemic stroke, and further investigation of Dectin-1/Syk signaling in stroke is warranted.
Sorafenib is the first-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is a lack of validated biomarkers to predict sorafenib sensitivity. In this study we investigated the ...role of ACSL4, a positive-activating enzyme of ferroptosis, in sorafenib-induced cell death and HCC patient outcome. We showed that ACSL4 protein expression was negatively associated with IC
values of sorafenib in a panel of HCC cell lines (R = -0.952, P < 0.001). Knockdown of ACSL4 expression by specific siRNA/sgRNA significantly attenuated sorafenib-induced lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis in Huh7 cells, and also rescued sorafenib-induced inhibition of xenograft tumor growth in vivo. We selected 29 HCC patients with surgery as primary treatment and sorafenib as postoperative adjunct therapy from a hospital-based cohort. A high proportion (66.7%) of HCC patients who had complete or partial responses to sorafenib treatment (according to the revised RECIST guideline) had higher ACSL4 expression in the pretreated HCC tissues, compared with those who had stable or progressed tumor growth (23.5%, P = 0.029). Since ACSL4 expression was independent of sorafenib treatment, it could serve as a useful predictive biomarker. Taken together, this study demonstrates that ACSL4 is essential for sorafenib-induced ferroptosis and useful for predicting sorafenib sensitivity in HCC. This study may have important translational impacts in precise treatment of HCC.
Recent advances in glycan synthesis Li, Bo-Han; Ye, Xin-Shan
Current opinion in chemical biology,
October 2020, 2020-10-00, 20201001, Letnik:
58
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Carbohydrates play important roles in life science, but their synthesis is always hampered by their complicated chemical structures. Scientists have never stopped trying to solve the problem of ...glycan synthesis from various aspects. Here a brief overview of recent progress in glycan synthesis, including chemical approaches, chemoenzymatic approaches, and automated synthesis, will be discussed, focusing on the efficiency of new glycosylation methods, the stereoselectivity of coupled products, and their applications in the assembly of complex glycan chains.
Photochromic metal–organic complexes (PMOCs) have received huge attention of chemists, thanks to their diverse structural characteristic and various available photo-modulate physicochemical ...functionalities. The organic ligand plays a crucial role in the quest of PMOCs with specific photo-responsive functionalities. The multiple coordination modes of polydentate ligands also provide possibilities for forming isomeric MOCs, which may open a new perspective on the research of PMOCs. The exploration of suitable PMOC systems is significant for the yield of isomeric PMOCs. Taking into account extant PMOCs based on polypyridines and carboxylate as electron acceptors (EAs) and donors (EDs), the covalent fusion of suitable pyridyl and carboxyl species may produce single functionalized ligands bearing ED and EA moieties for the building of novel PMOCs. In this study, the coordination assembly of bipyridinedicarboxylate (2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid, H2bpdc) and Pb2+ ions generate two isomeric MOCs, Pb(bpdc)·H2O (1 and 2), which have the same chemical compositions with main discrepancies in the coordination mode of bpdc2– ligands. As expected, supramolecular isomers 1 and 2 exhibited different photochromic performance, thanks to the distinct microscopic functional structural units. A schematic encryption and anti-counterfeiting device based on complexes 1 and 2 has also been studied. Compared with the extensively studied PMOCs supported by photoactive ligands like pyridinium and naphthalimide-derivatives and PMOCs derived from mixed electron-accepting polydentate N-ligands and electron-donating ligands, our work provides a new idea for building PMOCs based on pyridinecarboxylic acid ligands.
pH‐dependent peptide biomaterials hold tremendous potential for cell delivery and tissue engineering. However, identification of responsive self‐assembling sequences with specified secondary ...structure remains a challenge. In this work, An experimental procedure based on the one‐bead one‐compound (OBOC) combinatorial library is developed to rapidly screen self‐assembling β‐sheet peptides at neutral aqueous solution (pH 7.5) and disassemble at weak acidic condition (pH 6.5). Using the hydrophobic fluorescent molecule thioflavin T (ThT) as a probe, resin beads displaying self‐assembling peptides show fluorescence under pH 7.5 due to the insertion of ThT into the hydrophobic domain, and are further cultured in pH 6.5 solution. The beads with extinguished fluorescence are selected. Three heptapeptides are identified that can self‐assemble into nanofibers or nanoparticles at pH 7.5 and disassemble at pH 6.5. P1 (LVEFRHY) shows a rapid acid response and morphology transformation with pH modulation. Changes in the charges of histidine and hydrophobic phenyl motif of phenylalanine may play important roles in the formation of pH‐responsive β‐sheet nanofiber. This high‐throughput screening method provides an efficient way to identify pH‐dependent β‐sheet self‐assembling peptide and gain insights into structural design of such nanomaterials.
High‐throughput one‐bead one‐compound (OBOC）screening strategy enables identification of pH‐dependent self‐assembling peptides with β‐sheet structure, providing insight into interactions between histidine and phenylalanine in the rational design of pH‐dependent biomaterials.
Nano-silica is an important component for producing elastomer composites used for fabricating “green tires.” However, the poor dispersion of silica particles in the rubber matrix and the emission of ...volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the silica modification limit the applications of the modifiers. Here, bis-epoxypropyl polysulfide (BEP), a novel epoxy-type coupling agent, was designed and synthesized for nano-silica modification to cause an interfacial interaction between nano-silica and the rubber matrix and avoid VOC emission. The thermogravimetric analysis result and the bound rubber content show that BEP effectively built a bridge between the nano-silica and the rubber, which led to a strong interfacial effect and promising mechanical performance characteristics. The silica dispersion in solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR) was studied using a transmission electron microscope and a rubber process analyzer, and the results demonstrate that BEP could significantly improve silica dispersion. The static and dynamic mechanical performance results indicate that BEP is a valid coupling agent that can achieve silica/SSBR composites with high moduli and reinforcement indices. Moreover, the combination of BEP and bis-(γ-triethoxysilylpropyl)-tetrasulfide (TESPT) was also found to demonstrate a synergistic effect, which resulted in excellent static and dynamic performances of silica/SSBR composites for preparing higher-energy-efficient “green tires.”
A novel VOC-free epoxy-typed coupling agent, bis-epoxypropyl polysulfide (BEP), is designed and synthesized for silica-filled rubber composites used in tire industry. The strong interfacial effect between silica and rubber was built by BEP. Display omitted
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