We comprehensively analyzed clinical, genomic, and transcriptomic data of a cohort of 465 primary triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). PIK3CA mutations and copy-number gains of chromosome 22q11 were ...more frequent in our Chinese cohort than in The Cancer Genome Atlas. We classified TNBCs into four transcriptome-based subtypes: (1) luminal androgen receptor (LAR), (2) immunomodulatory, (3) basal-like immune-suppressed, and (4) mesenchymal-like. Putative therapeutic targets or biomarkers were identified among each subtype. Importantly, the LAR subtype showed more ERBB2 somatic mutations, infrequent mutational signature 3 and frequent CDKN2A loss. The comprehensive profile of TNBCs provided here will serve as a reference to further advance the understanding and precision treatment of TNBC.
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•We build the genomic and transcriptomic landscape of 465 primary TNBCs•Chinese TNBC cases demonstrate more PIK3CA mutations and LAR subtype•Transcriptomic data classify TNBCs into four subtypes•Multi-omics profiling identifies potential targets within specific TNBC subtypes
Jiang et al. characterize primary Chinese triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and classify it into four subtypes. They find that these TNBCs have more frequent PIK3CA mutations and chromosome 22q11 copy-number gains than non-Asian TNBCs and that the LAR subtype has more ERBB2 somatic mutations and CDKN2A loss.
Healable, electrically conductive materials are highly desirable and valuable for the development of various modern electronics. But the preparation of a material combining good mechanical ...elasticity, functional properties, and intrinsic self‐healing ability remains a great challenge. Here, we design composites by connecting a polymer network and single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) through host–guest interactions. The resulting materials show bulk electrical conductivity, proximity sensitivity, humidity sensitivity and are able to self‐heal without external stimulus under ambient conditions rapidly. Furthermore, they also possess elasticity comparable to commercial rubbers.
Candidates for smart robotics: Self‐healing conductive composites were prepared by connecting single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) to a polymer network through host–guest interactions (see picture). The poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate)–SWCNT composite combines bulk electrical conductivity, proximity sensitivity, humidity sensitivity, and autonomic self‐healing properties.
High‐dielectric solvents were explored for enhancing the sulfur utilization in lithium–sulfur (Li−S) batteries, but their applications have been impeded by low stability at the lithium metal anode. ...Now a radical‐directed, lithium‐compatible, and strongly polysulfide‐solvating high‐dielectric electrolyte based on tetramethylurea is presented. Over 200 hours of cycling was realized in Li|Li symmetric cells, showing good compatibility of the tetramethylurea‐based electrolyte with lithium metal. The high solubility of short‐chain polysulfides, as well as the presence of active S3.− radicals, enabled pouch cells to deliver a discharge capacity of 1524 mAh g−1 and an energy density of 324 Wh kg−1. This finding suggests an alternative recipe to ether‐based electrolytes for Li−S batteries.
Li−S batteries: A lithium‐compatible and strongly polysulfide‐solvating high‐dielectric electrolyte based on tetramethylurea was proposed to direct a solvation‐mediated radical reaction pathway. It enables Li−S pouch cells to deliver an energy density of 324 Wh kg−1. Key: red=electrochemical, black=chemical, dashed=diffusion/precipitation.
Since the outbreak in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. We analyzed and compared the clinical, laboratory, and radiological ...characteristics between survivors and non-survivors and identify risk factors for mortality.
Clinical and laboratory variables, radiological features, treatment approach, and complications were retrospectively collected in two centers of Hubei province, China. Cox regression analysis was conducted to identify the risk factors for mortality.
A total of 432 patients were enrolled, and the median patient age was 54 years. The overall mortality rate was 5.09% (22/432). As compared with the survivor group (n = 410), those in the non-survivor group (n = 22) were older, and they had a higher frequency of comorbidities and were more prone to suffer from dyspnea. Several abnormal laboratory variables indicated that acute cardiac injury, hepatic damage, and acute renal insufficiency were detected in the non-survivor group. Non-surviving patients also had a high computed tomography (CT) score and higher rate of consolidation. The most common complication causing death was acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (18/22, 81.8%). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that hemoglobin (Hb) <90 g/L (hazard ratio, 10.776; 95% confidence interval, 3.075-37.766; p<0.0001), creatine kinase (CK-MB) >8 U/L (9.155; 2.424-34.584; p = 0.001), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) >245 U/L (5.963; 2.029-17.529; p = 0.001), procalcitonin (PCT) >0.5 ng/ml (7.080; 1.671-29.992; p = 0.008), and CT score >10 (39.503; 12.430-125.539; p<0.0001) were independent risk factors for the mortality of COVID-19.
Low Hb, high LDH, PCT, and CT score on admission were the predictors for mortality and could assist clinicians in early identification of poor prognosis among COVID-19 patients.
Manipulating a quantum state via electrostatic gating has been of great importance for many model systems in nanoelectronics. Until now, however, controlling the electron spins or, more specifically, ...the magnetism of a system by electric-field tuning has proven challenging
. Recently, atomically thin magnetic semiconductors have attracted significant attention due to their emerging new physical phenomena
. However, many issues are yet to be resolved to convincingly demonstrate gate-controllable magnetism in these two-dimensional materials. Here, we show that, via electrostatic gating, a strong field effect can be observed in devices based on few-layered ferromagnetic semiconducting Cr
Ge
Te
. At different gate doping, micro-area Kerr measurements in the studied devices demonstrate bipolar tunable magnetization loops below the Curie temperature, which is tentatively attributed to the moment rebalance in the spin-polarized band structure. Our findings of electric-field-controlled magnetism in van der Waals magnets show possibilities for potential applications in new-generation magnetic memory storage, sensors and spintronics.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer featured with high intra-tumoral heterogeneity and poor prognosis. To comprehensively delineate the PDAC ...intra-tumoral heterogeneity and the underlying mechanism for PDAC progression, we employed single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) to acquire the transcriptomic atlas of 57,530 individual pancreatic cells from primary PDAC tumors and control pancreases, and identified diverse malignant and stromal cell types, including two ductal subtypes with abnormal and malignant gene expression profiles respectively, in PDAC. We found that the heterogenous malignant subtype was composed of several subpopulations with differential proliferative and migratory potentials. Cell trajectory analysis revealed that components of multiple tumor-related pathways and transcription factors (TFs) were differentially expressed along PDAC progression. Furthermore, we found a subset of ductal cells with unique proliferative features were associated with an inactivation state in tumor-infiltrating T cells, providing novel markers for the prediction of antitumor immune response. Together, our findings provide a valuable resource for deciphering the intra-tumoral heterogeneity in PDAC and uncover a connection between tumor intrinsic transcriptional state and T cell activation, suggesting potential biomarkers for anticancer treatment such as targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a reversible mRNA modification that has been shown to play important roles in various biological processes. However, the roles of m6A modification in macrophages are still ...unknown. Here, we discover that ablation of Mettl3 in myeloid cells promotes tumour growth and metastasis in vivo. In contrast to wild-type mice, Mettl3-deficient mice show increased M1/M2-like tumour-associated macrophage and regulatory T cell infiltration into tumours. m6A sequencing reveals that loss of METTL3 impairs the YTHDF1-mediated translation of SPRED2, which enhances the activation of NF-kB and STAT3 through the ERK pathway, leading to increased tumour growth and metastasis. Furthermore, the therapeutic efficacy of PD-1 checkpoint blockade is attenuated in Mettl3-deficient mice, identifying METTL3 as a potential therapeutic target for tumour immunotherapy.
To conquer the bottleneck of sluggish kinetics in cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of metal‐air batteries, catalysts with dual‐active centers have stood out. Here, a “pre‐division metal ...clusters” strategy is firstly conceived to fabricate a N,S‐dual doped honeycomb‐like carbon matrix inlaid with CoN4 sites and wrapped Co2P nanoclusters as dual‐active centers (Co2P/CoN4@NSC‐500). A crystalline {CoII2} coordination cluster divided by periphery second organic layers is well‐designed to realize delocalized dispersion before calcination. The optimal Co2P/CoN4@NSC‐500 executes excellent 4e− ORR activity surpassing the benchmark Pt/C. Theoretical calculation results reveal that the CoN4 sites and Co2P nanoclusters can synergistically quicken the formation of *OOH on Co sites. The rechargeable Zn‐air battery (ZAB) assembled by Co2P/CoN4@NSC‐500 delivers ultralong cycling stability over 1742 hours (3484 cycles) under 5 mA cm−2 and can light up a 2.4 V LED bulb for ≈264 hours, evidencing the promising practical application potentials in portable devices.
A “pre‐division metal clusters” strategy is first conceived to fabricate dual‐active center catalysts (Co2P/CoN4@NSC‐500) with dispersed CoN4 and Co2P sites. The optimal catalyst executes superior ORR activity and was applied in ultralong Zn‐air batteries surpassing the benchmark 20 % Pt/C. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the dual‐active sites synergistically quicken the formation of the *OOH intermediate, greatly boosting the performance.
Pollution by heavy metals limits the area of land available for cultivation of food crops. A potential solution to this problem might lie in the molecular breeding of food crops for phytoremediation ...that accumulate toxic metals in straw while producing safe and nutritious grains. Here, we identify a rice quantitative trait locus we name cadmium (Cd) accumulation in leaf 1 (CAL1), which encodes a defensin-like protein. CAL1 is expressed preferentially in root exodermis and xylem parenchyma cells. We provide evidence that CAL1 acts by chelating Cd in the cytosol and facilitating Cd secretion to extracellular spaces, hence lowering cytosolic Cd concentration while driving long-distance Cd transport via xylem vessels. CAL1 does not appear to affect Cd accumulation in rice grains or the accumulation of other essential metals, thus providing an efficient molecular tool to breed dual-function rice varieties that produce safe grains while remediating paddy soils.