Sex differences in innate and adaptive immune responses are known, and women generally mount a stronger immune response than men. Cancer immunotherapy, represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors ...(ICIs), has revolutionized the treatment of cancer, and sex differences in cancer immunotherapy are just starting to be revealed. Here, we summarize recent research progress concerning sex differences in cancer immunotherapy efficacy. On their own, ICIs tend to be more effective in male cancer patients compared with female patients, while ICIs combined with chemotherapy tend to be more effective in female patients than male patients. Male tumors are usually more antigenic than female tumors, and this is reflected by their increased number of tumor mutations and cancer germline antigens. The biomarker tumor mutational burden (TMB), which reflects tumor antigenicity, is more effective at predicting immunotherapy response for female lung cancer patients than for male patients. In this review, we propose different therapeutic strategies for the different sexes: For male cancer patients, the immune environment should be enhanced, whereas for female cancer patients, tumor antigenicity should be enhanced.
Electrocatalysis plays a vital role in energy conversion and storage in modern society. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a highly attractive approach to enhance the electrocatalytic ...activity and selectivity with solar energy. LSPR excitation can induce the transfer of hot electrons and holes, electromagnetic field enhancement, lattice heating, resonant energy transfer and scattering, in turn boosting a variety of electrocatalytic reactions. Although the LSPR-mediated electrocatalysis has been investigated, the underlying mechanism has not been well explained. Moreover, the efficiency is strongly dependent on the structure and composition of plasmonic metals. In this review, the currently proposed mechanisms for plasmon-mediated electrocatalysis are introduced and the preparation methods to design supported plasmonic nanostructures and related electrodes are summarized. In addition, we focus on the characterization strategies used for verifying and differentiating LSPR mechanisms involved at the electrochemical interface. Following that are highlights of representative examples of direct plasmonic metal-driven and indirect plasmon-enhanced electrocatalytic reactions. Finally, this review concludes with a discussion on the remaining challenges and future opportunities for coupling LSPR with electrocatalysis.
Incorporation of LSPR features into electrocatalysis shows unprecedented activities. This review summarizes the mechanisms, preparation and characterization strategies, as well as recent exciting progress in LSPR-mediated electrocatalysis.
The aryl‐to‐vinyl nickel 1,4‐migration (1,4‐Ni migration) reaction has been reported for the first time. The generated alkenyl Ni species undergo a reductive coupling reaction with unactivated ...brominated alkanes affording a series of trisubstituted olefins. This tandem reaction exhibits mild conditions, a broad substrate scope, high regioselectivity, and excellent Z/E stereoselectivity. A series of controlled experiments have shown that the critical 1,4‐Ni migration process is reversible. In addition, the alkenyl nickel intermediates obtained after migration are highly Z/E stereoselective and do not undergo Z/E isomerization. The obtained trace isomerization products are caused by the instability of the product.
The 1,4‐nickel migration process from aryl to alkenyl groups is now reported for the first time. The alkenyl nickel intermediates generated by this highly stereoselective migration process can be coupled with brominated alkanes to form multisubstituted olefins. The current method provides a new and efficient approach for the synthesis of Z/E olefins with high stereoselectivity.
Immunotherapy, represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), is transforming the treatment of cancer. However, only a small percentage of patients show response to ICI, and there is an unmet ...need for biomarkers that will identify patients who are more likely to respond to immunotherapy. The fundamental basis for ICI response is the immunogenicity of a tumor, which is primarily determined by tumor antigenicity and antigen presentation efficiency. Here, we propose a method to measure tumor immunogenicity score (TIGS), which combines tumor mutational burden (TMB) and an expression signature of the antigen processing and presenting machinery (APM). In both correlation with pan-cancer ICI objective response rates (ORR) and ICI clinical response prediction for individual patients, TIGS consistently showed improved performance compared to TMB and other known prediction biomarkers for ICI response. This study suggests that TIGS is an effective tumor-inherent biomarker for ICI-response prediction.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, bioaccumulative pollutants found in water resources at concentrations harmful to human health. Whereas current PFAS destruction strategies ...use nonselective destruction mechanisms, we found that perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) could be mineralized through a sodium hydroxide–mediated defluorination pathway. PFCA decarboxylation in polar aprotic solvents produced reactive perfluoroalkyl ion intermediates that degraded to fluoride ions (78 to ~100%) within 24 hours. The carbon-containing intermediates and products were inconsistent with oft-proposed one-carbon-chain shortening mechanisms, and we instead computationally identified pathways consistent with many experiments. Degradation was also observed for branched perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids and might be extended to degrade other PFAS classes as methods to activate their polar headgroups are identified.
Forever chemicals’ Achilles’ heel
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been referred to as “forever chemicals” because of their resistance to most biological and chemical degradation mechanisms. Most current methods use very harsh conditions to decompose these compounds. Trang
et al
. found that there is a potential weak spot in carboxylic acid–containing PFAS: Decarboxylation in polar, non-protic solvents yields a carbanion that rapidly decomposes (see the Perspective by Joudan and Lundgren). The authors used computational work and experiments to show that this process involves fluoride elimination, hydroxide addition, and carbon–carbon bond scission. The initial decarboxylation step is rate limiting, and subsequent defluorination and chain shortening steps occur through a series of low barrier steps. The procedure can accommodate perfluoroether carboxylic acids, although sulfonic acids are not currently compatible. —MAF
Mechanistic insights into a decarboxylation–defluorination pathway inform methods for perfluorocarboxylic acid mineralization.
Genome alteration signatures reflect recurring patterns caused by distinct endogenous or exogenous mutational events during the evolution of cancer. Signatures of single base substitution (SBS) have ...been extensively studied in different types of cancer. Copy number alterations are important drivers for the progression of multiple cancer. However, practical tools for studying the signatures of copy number alterations are still lacking. Here, a user-friendly open source bioinformatics tool "sigminer" has been constructed for copy number signature extraction, analysis and visualization. This tool has been applied in prostate cancer (PC), which is particularly driven by complex genome alterations. Five copy number signatures are identified from human PC genome with this tool. The underlying mutational processes for each copy number signature have been illustrated. Sample clustering based on copy number signature exposure reveals considerable heterogeneity of PC, and copy number signatures show improved PC clinical outcome association when compared with SBS signatures. This copy number signature analysis in PC provides distinct insight into the etiology of PC, and potential biomarkers for PC stratification and prognosis.
A series of lanthanide metal‐organic frameworks (Ln‐MOFs) are synthesized through solvothermal conditions with 1,3‐bis(4‐carboxyphenyl)imidazolium (H2L). Owing to the lanthanide contraction effect, ...two different types of Ln‐MOFs, namely, {Ln(L)2(OH)·3H2O}n (Ln:Pr, Nd, Sm) and {Ln(L)2(COO)(H2O)2·H2O}n (Ln: Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Tm, Yb, Y), and their corresponding codoped Ln‐MOFs EuxTb1‐xL are obtained. With careful adjustment of the relative concentration of the lanthanide ions and the excitation wavelength, the color of the luminescence can be systematically modulated and white light emission can be further successfully achieved. Furthermore, by virtue of the temperature‐dependent luminescent behavior, Eu0.2Tb0.8L allows for the design of a thermometer with an excellent linear response to temperature over a wide range, from 40 to 300 K. This work highlights the practical applications of Ln‐MOFs for tailoring fluorescent color and even obtaining practical white light emission, and especially for sensing temperature as luminescent thermometers in a single framework by controlling in different ways.
Codoped Ln‐metal‐organic frameworks EuxTb1‐xL are synthesized based on the isostructural Ln‐metal‐organic frameworks using lanthanide ion emitters. With careful adjustment of the relative concentration of the lanthanide ions and the excitation wavelength, the emission trajectory can be modulated, allowing white emission. Furthermore, Eu0.2Tb0.8L allows for the design of a thermometer operating over a wide range, from 40 to 300 K.
The synthesis of all-carbon tetrasubstituted olefins under mild reaction conditions is challenging because of the inevitable issues including significant steric hindrance and the uncontrolled Z/E ...stereoselectivity. In this paper, we report the synthesis of all-carbon tetrasubstituted alkenes from readily available carboxylic acids and alkenyl triflates with the synergistic catalysis of cyclo-octa-1,5-diene(tetramethyl-1,4-benzoquinone)nickel and visible light under an air atmosphere, thus avoiding the need for a glovebox or a Schlenk line. A wide range of aromatic carboxylic acids and cyclic and acyclic alkenyl triflates undergo the C-C coupling process smoothly, forming structurally diverse alkenes stereospecifically in moderate to good yields. The practicality of the method is further illustrated by the late-stage modification of complex molecules, the one pot synthesis and gram-scale applications. This is an important step towards the valuable utilization of carboxylic acids, and it also simplifies the experimental operation of metallophotoredox catalysis with moisture sensitive nickel(0) catalysis.
Foodborne protein hydrolysates exhibit biological activity that may be therapeutic in a number of human disease settings. Hemp peptides (HP) generated by controlled hydrolysis of hemp proteins have a ...number of health benefits and are of pharmaceutical value. In the present study, we produce small molecular weight HP from hemp seed and investigate its anticancer properties in Hep3B human liver cancer cells. We demonstrate that HP treatment increased apoptosis, reduced cell viability, and reduced cell migration in Hep3B human liver cancer cells without affecting the normal liver cell line L02. We correlate these phenotypes with increased cellular ROS levels, upregulation of cleaved caspase 3 and Bad, and downregulation of antiapoptotic Bcl‐2. HP treatment led to increased Akt and GSK‐3β phosphorylation, with subsequent downregulation of β‐catenin, suggesting β‐catenin signaling modulation as a critical mechanism by which HP exhibits anticancer properties. Our findings suggest HP are of potential therapeutic interest for liver cancer treatment.
Anti‐cancer property of new hemp protein hydrolysates on human liver cancers
•Comprehensive information of classification and physiological activity of biogenic amines.•Updated information on sample pretreatment and analytical methods of biogenic amines.•Separation ...conditions, analytical conditions and validation information are compared.•Abundant figures and tables are offered.
Biogenic amines (BAs), mainly produced by amino acid decarboxylation, are widespread in foods and human organisms. Appropriate intake of BAs is beneficial to the human body, while excessive consumption may cause discomfort. Meanwhile, BAs are a kind of chemical marker for evaluating meat freshness. For these reasons, simple, rapid and efficient methods have been developed for the determination of BAs in food and biological products. This review introduces the provenance, classification and physiological activity of eight essential BAs and summarizes the dominant pretreatment and analysis methods since 2010. Pretreatment technologies mainly include the “dilute and shoot” method, ultrasonic assisted extraction, solid-phase extraction, matrix solid-phase dispersion, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, etc. Determination methods include liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet or fluorescence detectors, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis, biosensors and so on.
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