Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive disease with a poor clinical outcome. The cancer stem cell (CSC) model states that tumour growth is powered by a subset of tumour stem cells within ...cancers. This model explains several clinical observations in HCC (as well as in other cancers), including the almost inevitable recurrence of tumours after initial successful chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, as well as the phenomena of tumour dormancy and treatment resistance. The past two decades have seen a marked increase in research on the identification and characterization of liver CSCs, which has encouraged the design of novel diagnostic and treatment strategies for HCC. These studies revealed novel aspects of liver CSCs, including their heterogeneity and unique immunobiology, which are suggestive of opportunities for new research directions and potential therapies. In this Review, we summarize the present knowledge of liver CSC markers and the regulators of stemness in HCC. We also comprehensively describe developments in the liver CSC field with emphasis on experiments utilizing single-cell transcriptomics to understand liver CSC heterogeneity, lineage-tracing and cell-ablation studies of liver CSCs, and the influence of the CSC niche and tumour microenvironment on liver cancer stemness, including interactions between CSCs and the immune system. We also discuss the potential application of liver CSC-based therapies for treatment of HCC.
We demonstrate the rational design and construction of sandwich-like ZnIn2S4–In2O3 hierarchical tubular heterostructures by growing ZnIn2S4 nanosheets on both inner and outer surfaces of In2O3 ...microtubes as photocatalysts for efficient CO2 photoreduction. The unique design integrates In2O3 and ZnIn2S4 into hierarchical one-dimensional (1D) open architectures with double-heterojunction shells and ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet subunits. This design accelerates the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges, offers large surface area for CO2 adsorption, and exposes abundant active sites for surface catalysis. Benefiting from the structural and compositional merits, the optimized ZnIn2S4–In2O3 photocatalyst exhibits outstanding performance for reductive CO2 deoxygenation with considerable CO generation rate (3075 μmol h–1 g–1) and high stability.
Herein we report a general dual-templating approach to prepare hierarchically macro-/meso-/microporous heteroatom-doped carbon materials using diverse low-cost biomass precursors. ...Nitrogen/oxygen-doped carbon materials with hierarchical porosity are first synthesized as an example using Mg 5 (OH) 2 (CO 3 ) 4 /ZnCl 2 as hard templates and glucose/urea as carbon and heteroatom sources through a high-temperature thermal reaction and subsequent etching treatment. This approach is very versatile and can be applied to produce many hierarchically structured heteroatom-doped carbon materials via pyrolysis of other biomass precursors, including roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of various plants. Lastly, we demonstrate that the as-prepared hierarchically porous nitrogen/oxygen-doped carbon materials manifest enhanced electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline electrolyte.
Here we demonstrate the delicate design and construction of hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon@NiCo2O4 (NC@NiCo2O4) double-shelled nanoboxes for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 with visible ...light. This smart design rationally combines the structural and functional advantages of catalytically active Co and Ni species with conductive nitrogen-doped carbon into a three-dimensional hollow nanoarchitecture, which can remarkably facilitate the migration and separation of photogenerated charge carriers, enhance the adsorption and concentration of CO2 molecules, and provide more active sites for photochemical reactions. Benefitting from these unique structural and compositional features, the hierarchical NC@NiCo2O4 double-shelled nanoboxes manifest considerable performance for the deoxygenative reduction of CO2 with a high CO-evolving rate (26.2 μmol h−1; 2.62 × 104 μmol h−1 g−1) and high stability.
Free fatty acid (FFA) and acylcarnitine (AcCar) are key elements of energy metabolism. Dysregulated levels of FFA and AcCar are associated with genetic defects and other metabolic disorders. Due to ...differences in the physicochemical properties of these two classes of compounds, it is challenging to quantify FFA and AcCar in human plasma using a single method. In this work, we developed a chemical isotope labeling (CIL)–based liquid chromatography–multiple reaction monitoring (LC-MRM) method to simultaneously quantify FFA and AcCar. Dansylhydrazine (DnsHz) was used to label the carboxylic acid moiety on FFA and AcCar. This resulted in the formation of a permanently charged ammonium ion for facile ionization in positive ionization mode and higher hydrophobicity for enhanced retention of short-chain analogs on reversed-phase LC columns and enabled absolute quantification by using heavy labeled DnsHz analogs as internal standards. Labeling conditions including the concentration and freshness of cross-linker, reaction time, and temperature were optimized. This method can successfully quantify all short-, medium- and long-chain FFAs and AcCars with greatly enhanced sensitivity. Using this method, 25 FFAs and 13 AcCars can be absolutely quantified and validated in human plasma samples within 12 min. Simultaneous quantification of FFA and AcCar enabled by this CIL-based LC-MRM method facilitates the investigation of fatty acid metabolism and has potential in clinical applications.
Metal sulfides have received considerable attention for efficient sodium storage owing to their high capacity and decent redox reversibility. However, the poor rate capability and fast capacity decay ...greatly hinder their practical application in sodium‐ion batteries. Herein, an elegant multi‐step templating strategy has been developed to rationally synthesize hierarchical double‐shelled nanoboxes with the CoS2 nanosheet‐constructed outer shell supported on the CuS inner shell. Their structure and composition enable these hierarchical CuS@CoS2 nanoboxes to show boosted electrochemical properties with high capacity, outstanding rate capability, and long cycle life.
Sodium in a box: Double‐shelled CuS@CoS2 nanoboxes composed of an outer shell of hierarchical CoS2 nanosheets supported on the inner CuS nanobox are synthesized by a delicate template‐based strategy using Cu2O nanocubes as the starting material. Their structure and composition enable these hierarchical CuS@CoS2 nanoboxes to exhibit attractive electrochemical properties as an anode material for sodium‐ion batteries.
Designing advanced structures for semiconductor photocatalysts is an effective approach to enhance their performance. However, it is not easy to fabricate functional photocatalytic materials with ...complex nano-architectures. Here we have developed a sequential solution growth, sulfidation and cation-exchange strategy to fabricate CdS hierarchical multi-cavity hollow particles (HMCHPs). This strategy starts with the growth of Zn-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) onto cobalt glycerate (Co-G) solid spheres. Sulfidation of the obtained Co-G@ZIF-8 composite particles leads to the formation of CoSx@ZnS HMCHPs, which are converted into CdS HMCHPs via a cation-exchange reaction. Owing to the favourable properties of the well-defined hierarchical hollow structure, the CdS HMCHPs exhibit enhanced activity for photocatalytic CO2 reduction compared with other CdS photocatalysts with solid and common hollow structures. The performance of CdS HMCHPs can be further promoted by loading of Au to reach a CO generation rate of 3758 μmol h−1 g−1 under visible light irradiation.
Rational design of complex metal–organic framework (MOF) hybrid precursors offers a great opportunity to construct various functional nanostructures. Here, a novel MOF‐hybrid‐assisted strategy to ...synthesize Co3O4/Co‐Fe oxide double‐shelled nanoboxes is reported. In the first step, zeolitic imidazolate framework‐67 (ZIF‐67, a Co‐based MOF)/Co‐Fe Prussian blue analogue (PBA) yolk–shell nanocubes are formed via a facile anion‐exchange reaction between ZIF‐67 nanocube precursors and Fe(CN)63− ions at room temperature. Subsequently, an annealing treatment is applied to prepare Co3O4/Co‐Fe oxide double‐shelled nanoboxes. Owing to the structural and compositional benefits, the as‐derived Co3O4/Co‐Fe oxide double‐shelled nanoboxes exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic performance for oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline solution.
Yolk–shelled zeolitic imidazolate framework‐67 (ZIF‐67)/Co‐Fe Prussian blue analogue nanocubes are synthesized via an anion‐exchange reaction between ZIF‐67 nanocubes and Fe(CN)63− ions. After thermal treatment in air, the complex metal–organic framework hybrid precursors are transformed into double‐shelled Co3O4/Co‐Fe oxide nanoboxes, which exhibit enhanced performance as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction.
We demonstrate rational design and fabrication of hierarchical In2S3-CdIn2S4 heterostructured nanotubes as efficient and stable photocatalysts for visible light CO2 reduction. The novel ...self-templated strategy, including sequential anion- and cation-exchange reactions, integrates two distinct sulfide semiconductors into hierarchical tubular hybrids with homogeneous interfacial contacts and ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet subunits. Accordingly, the hierarchical heterostructured nanotubes facilitate separation and migration of photoinduced charge carriers, enhance the adsorption and concentration of CO2 molecules, and offer rich active sites for surface redox reactions. Benefiting from these structural and compositional features, the optimized hierarchical In2S3-CdIn2S4 nanotubes without employing noble metal cocatalysts in the catalytic system manifest remarkable performance for deoxygenative reduction of CO2 with high CO generation rate (825 μmol h–1 g–1) and outstanding stability under visible light irradiation.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides a promising solution for sharing information-theoretic secure keys between remote peers with physics-based protocols. According to the law of quantum physics, ...the photons carrying signals cannot be amplified or relayed via classical optical techniques to maintain quantum security. As a result, the transmission loss of the channel limits its achievable distance, and this has been a huge barrier towards building large-scale quantum-secure networks. Here we present an experimental QKD system that could tolerate a channel loss beyond 140 dB and obtain a secure distance of 833.8 km, setting a new record for fibre-based QKD. Furthermore, the optimized four-phase twin-field protocol and high-quality set-up make its secure key rate more than two orders of magnitude greater than previous records over similar distances. Our results mark a breakthrough towards building reliable and efficient terrestrial quantum-secure networks over a scale of 1,000 km.Twin-field (TF) quantum key distribution (QKD) over a secure distance of 833.8 km is demonstrated even in the finite-size regime. To this end, an optimized four-phase TF-QKD protocol and a high-speed low-noise TF-QKD system are developed.
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