Clay-based nanomaterials, especially 2:1 aluminosilicates such as vermiculite, biotite, and illite, have demonstrated great potential in various fields. However, their characteristic sandwiched ...structures and the lack of effective methods to exfoliate two-dimensional (2D) functional core layers (FCLs) greatly limit their future applications. Herein, we present a universal wet-chemical exfoliation method based on alkali etching that can intelligently "capture" the ultrathin and biocompatible FCLs (MgO and Fe
O
) sandwiched between two identical tetrahedral layers (SiO
and Al
O
) from vermiculite. Without the sandwich structures that shielded their active sites, the obtained FCL nanosheets (NSs) exhibit a tunable and appropriate electron band structure (with the bandgap decreased from 2.0 eV to 1.4 eV), a conductive band that increased from -0.4 eV to -0.6 eV, and excellent light response characteristics. The great properties of 2D FCL NSs endow them with exciting potential in diverse applications including energy, photocatalysis, and biomedical engineering. This study specifically highlights their application in cancer theranostics as an example, potentially serving as a prelude to future extensive studies of 2D FCL NSs.
Background
Endometrial cancer (EC) is a common malignant tumor in women with increasing mortality. The prognosis of EC is highly heterogeneous which needs more effective biomarkers for clinical ...decision. Here, we reported the effect of autophagy-related genes (ARGs) on the prognosis of EC.
Methods
The expression data of EC tissues and adjacent non-tumor samples were available from the TCGA dataset and 232 autophagy-related genes were from The Human Autophagy Database. A prognostic ARGs risk model was further constructed by using LASSO-Cox regression, and its prognostic and predictive value were evaluated by nomogram. Further functional analysis was conducted to reveal a significant signaling pathway.
Results
A total of 45 differentially expressed ARGs were obtained, including 18 upregulated and 27 downregulated genes. Eleven ARGs (BID, CAPN2, CDKN2A, DLC1, GRID2, IFNG, MYC, NRG3, P4HB, PTK6, and TP73) were finally selected to build ARGs risk. This signature could well distinguish between the high- and low-risk patients (survival analysis:
P
= 1.18E-10; AUC: 0.733 at 1 year, 0.795 at 3 years, and 0.823 at 5 years). Furthermore, a nomogram was plotting to predict the possibility of overall survival and suggested good value for clinical utility.
Conclusion
We established an eleven-ARG signature, which was probably effective in the prognostic prediction of patients with EC.
•The biosensor had wide linear range (10aM∼100pM) and low detection limit (1.35aM).•The biosensor could realize accurate detection of miRNA-377 in human serum samples.•The biosensor amplified ...electrochemical signal by embedding MB into G-quadruplexes.•MXene-Au had high electrical conductivity and massive active sites for DNA capture.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considered as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostic assessment of diabetic nephropathy. In this work, an electrochemical biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of miRNA-377 was constructed based on MXene-Au nanocomposites and G-quadruplex nano-amplification strategy. As a promising nanocarrier, taking advantage of leveraging synergistic effects between Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and MXene nanosheet, MXene-Au nanocomposites exhibited excellent electronic conductivity and provided massive active sites for DNA capture probe immobilization by Au-S bonds. AuNPs modified with Guanine-rich sequence DNA detection probes were designed as signal amplification nano-labels. Specifically, by inducing the transition of Guanine-rich detection probes to G-quadruplex, the strong affinity interaction between methylene blue and G-quadruplex could not only reflect trace concentration information of miRNA-377, but also lead to the further enhancement of electrochemical signal (2.7-fold). As a result, this newly designed biosensor exhibited superior sensing performance with a wide linear range from 10 aM to 100 pM and the limit of detection was as low as 1.35 aM. Compared with biosensors based on other nanocomposites and reported miRNA-377 biosensors, the proposed sensing platform did not require any thermal cycling or reverse transcription process, meeting the miRNA sensing requirements of convenient, sensitive, specific and stable. Furthermore, the as-constructed biosensor also displayed good selectivity, which was applied to accurate detection of miRNA-377 in human serum samples with satisfactory sensitivity, suggesting the biosensor system has promising applications in biological researches and early clinical diagnosis for diabetic nephropathy.
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A one-step strategy was designed to prepare short Ag nanorods whose aspect ratios ranges from 1.0 to 5.0 in aqueous phase without seed and template intervention. The as-prepared short Ag nanorods ...showed controllable longitudinal plasmon modes in visible and infrared regions. The electric-field enhancement, excitation wavelength- and excitation fluence-dependent electronic dynamics of short Ag nanorods were found adjustable.
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•Short Ag nanorods synthesized using a green one-step aqueous-phase strategy.•Precise control of short Ag nanorods with aspect ratios especially from 1.0 to 5.0.•Short Ag nanorods showed tunable optical property in visible and infrared regions.•Short Ag nanorods showed tunable electric-field enhancement and electronic dynamics.
Ag nanorods with finely controllable aspect ratios (especially 1–5) were synthesized in high yield via an effective one-step aqueous-phase method, in which the longitudinal plasmon modes in visible and infrared regions of short Ag nanorods were well adjustable. Meanwhile, excitation wavelength- and excitation fluence-dependent electronic dynamics of short Ag nanorods were acquired and were found to be regular. This suggested that short Ag nanorods would have great potential in plasmonic and photoelectronic fields.
Although the growth mechanisms (e.g., seed-induced growth and capping agent orientation) of bimetal nanocrystals (e.g., core–shell, alloy, segmented, and branched) from artificial experimental ...speculation and theoretical calculation have been widely accepted, precisely revealing their growth mechanisms is still tremendously challenging. In this work, we utilized redox reaction kinetics for the first time to successfully reveal the aqueous sequential growth mechanism between Au and Ag nanocrystals of segmented Ag-Au-Ag heterojunction nanorods (HJNRs) in a one-step and high-temperature aqueous system. Herein, electrode potentials of different electrical pairs (e.g., Ag+/Ag and AuCl4 –/Au) at 200 °C could be calculated through using the Helgeson–Kirkham–Flowers state and other equations, from which whether Au and Ag nanocrystals grew successively and formed segmented Ag-Au-Ag HJNRs could be correctly assessed. The redox reaction kinetics mechanism can also explain well the aqueous-phase growth mechanisms of other bimetal nanocrystals and paves a promising avenue for the design and synthesis of other one-dimensional segmented metal nanostructures.
Segmented metal–metal heterostructure nanorods/nanowires are very promising for development in photoelectric devices, wearable electronics, biomedicine, and energy storage due to unique surface and ...interface and adjustable electronic and optical properties. Regretfully, most of the segmented heterojunctions are presently synthesized in organic solvent, and its electronic dynamics is still rarely studied and poorly understood. Here, we reported a pressure-assisted one-step aqueous-phase strategy to successfully synthesize segmented Ag–Au–Ag heterojunction nanorods (HJNRs), the aspect ratios and heterojunction contents of which can be well controlled by varying pressure value. The heterojunction-induced femtosecond-to-nanosecond dynamics in 1D direction of the Ag–Au–Ag HJNRs were for the first time acquired and presented a unique regularity tendency (e.g., electron–phonon scattering time). The unprecedented aqueous-phase strategy opens up horizons of synthesis of other segmented metal–metal HJNRs, and the fascinating Ag–Au–Ag HJNRs are hopeful for the development of a new class devices in photothermal and photoelectronic fields.
Introduction: The role of neuraminidases in cardiovascular disease has recently gained increasing attention. However, the association between neuraminidase gene polymorphisms and heart failure (HF) ...has not yet been investigated. Methods and Results: Genotyping of nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NEU2/NEU3/NEU4 genes was performed in 610 HF patients and 600 healthy controls from the Southwest Han Chinese population using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay. Individuals carrying the A allele of rs11545301 had decreased risk of HF (additive model: OR = 0.704, 95% CI = 0.511–0.97; p = 0.032). However, the C allele of rs2293763 increased the risk of HF in the recessive model (OR = 1.486, 95% CI = 1.095–2.012; p = 0.011). Rs2233384, rs2233394, and rs2293763 were significantly associated with the mortality risk of HF in the dominant model, both with and without adjustment for conventional risk factors (HR = 0.686, 95% CI = 0.52–0.906, p = 0.008 for rs2233384, HR = 1.357, 95% CI = 1.035–1.78, p = 0.027 for rs2233384, and HR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.592–0.975, p = 0.031 for rs2293763). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated the association between a series of variants in NEU2/NEU4 genes and the risk or prognosis of HF in the Han Chinese population. These data suggested an important role of NEU2 and NEU4 in the pathogenesis of HF.
Introduction The role of neuraminidases in cardiovascular disease has recently gained increasing attention. However, the association between neuraminidase gene polymorphisms and heart failure (HF) ...has not yet been investigated. Methods and Results Genotyping of nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NEU2/NEU3/NEU4 genes was performed in 610 HF patients and 600 healthy controls from the Southwest Han Chinese population using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay. Individuals carrying the A allele of rs11545301 had decreased risk of HF (additive model: OR=0.704, 95% CI=0.511-0.97; P = 0.032). While the C allele of rs2293763 increased the risk of HF in recessive model (OR=1.486, 95% CI=1.095-2.012; P = 0.011). Rs2233384, rs2233394 and rs2293763 were significantly associated with the mortality risk of HF in dominant model, both with and without adjustment for conventional risk factors (HR= 0.686, 95% CI= 0.52-0.906, P = 0.008 for rs2233384; HR= 1.357, 95% CI= 1.035-1.78, P = 0.027 for rs2233384 and HR= 0.76, 95% CI= 0.592-0.975; P = 0.031 for rs2293763). Conclusion Our findings demonstrated the association between a series of variants in NEU2/NEU4 genes and the risk or prognosis of HF in Han Chinese Population. These data suggested an important role of NEU2 and NEU4 in the pathogenesis of HF.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Polygonum multiflorum (PM) is known for its anti-aging properties. A previous study by our group showed that extracts of PM were able to prevent and treat bone loss ...in vivo, and the active components emodin and 2,3,5,4,-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-glucoside (TSG) promoted the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. The aim of the present study was to investigate the preventive effects of PM on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) in rats. A crude extract of PM was prepared with 75% ethanol, purified and enriched using a D-101 macroresin column and elution with 30% ethanol, and the material obtained was assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Male or female Sprague Dawley rats (n=180) were randomly divided into nine groups: Control, prednisone, prednisone plus calcitriol (CAL), prednisone plus 30% ethanolic eluate of PM high (H), medium (M) and low (L) dose and prednisone plus crude extract of PM (H, M and L dose). Prednisone was orally administered to the osteoporosis model rats for 21 weeks, alongside which they received PM extracts. The weight of the viscera, anterior tibial muscle and other tissues was recorded at the end of the experiment. The femur and lumbar vertebra were collected for the measurement of three-dimensional microarchitecture by micro-computed tomography scanning, assessment of biomechanical properties and determination of bone mineral density (BMD). In the 30% ethanolic eluate of the PM extract, the content of TSG and combined anthraquinone was 9.20 and 0.15%, respectively, and that in the crude extract of PM was 2.23 and 0.03%, respectively. Over 6 weeks, the weight of the rats the in prednisone group decreased (P<0.05), while the weight of rats treated with M and H doses of 30% ethanolic eluate was increased compared with that in the prednisone group (P<0.05). Rats exposed to prednisone exhibited a deteriorated bone microarchitecture, low BMD, decreased bone volume/total volume and poor biomechanical properties. Furthermore, the weight of the adrenal gland and the anterior tibial muscle was decreased. 30% ethanolic eluate of PM at M and L doses and crude extract of PM at the H dose counteracted the alterations of skeletal and other characteristics induced by prednisone in rats, as did CAL. In conclusion, extracts of PM exerted a protective effect on bone tissue in GIO rats.
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