Identification of gas molecules plays a key role a wide range of applications extending from healthcare to security. However, the most widely used gas nano-sensors are based on electrical approaches ...or refractive index sensing, which typically are unable to identify molecular species. Here, we report label-free identification of gas molecules SO
, NO
, N
O, and NO by detecting their rotational-vibrational modes using graphene plasmon. The detected signal corresponds to a gas molecule layer adsorbed on the graphene surface with a concentration of 800 zeptomole per μm
, which is made possible by the strong field confinement of graphene plasmons and high physisorption of gas molecules on the graphene nanoribbons. We further demonstrate a fast response time (<1 min) of our devices, which enables real-time monitoring of gaseous chemical reactions. The demonstration and understanding of gas molecule identification using graphene plasmonic nanostructures open the door to various emerging applications, including in-breath diagnostics and monitoring of volatile organic compounds.
miR-21 is aberrantly expressed, and plays a role in various types of tumors and many other diseases. However, the mechanism of miR-21 in LPS-induced septic shock is still unclear. In this study, we ...investigated the mechanism of miR-21 in LPS-induced pyroptosis and septic shock. Here, we show that miR-21 deficiency inhibited NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 expression, as well as inflammasome activation in myeloid cells from both mice and humans. We found that the NF-κB pathway was regulated by miR-21, and that A20 was a direct target of miR-21. Furthermore, miR-21 deficiency inhibited the ASC pyroptosome, which restrained caspase-1 activation and GSDMD cleavage, thereby preventing LPS-induced pyroptosis and septic shock. miR-21 deficiency resulted in an increase in A20, which led to decreased IL-1β production and caspase-1 activation. Caspase-1-mediated GSDMD cleavage was consequently decreased, which prevented pyroptosis in LPS-induced sepsis in mice. Our results demonstrate that miR-21 is a critical positive regulator of the NF-κB pathway and NLRP3 inflammasomes in pyroptosis and septic shock via A20. In addition, by analyzing published miRNA expression profiles in the Gene Expression Omnibus database, we found that the miR-21 levels in peripheral blood from patients with septic shock were elevated. Thus, miR-21 may serve as a potential treatment target in patients with septic shock.
Due to the two-dimensional character of graphene, the plasmons sustained by this material have been invariably studied in supported samples so far. The substrate provides stability for graphene but ...often causes undesired interactions (such as dielectric losses, phonon hybridization, and impurity scattering) that compromise the quality and limit the intrinsic flexibility of graphene plasmons. Here, we demonstrate the visualization of plasmons in suspended graphene at room temperature, exhibiting high-quality factor Q~33 and long propagation length > 3 μm. We introduce the graphene suspension height as an effective plasmonic tuning knob that enables in situ change of the dielectric environment and substantially modulates the plasmon wavelength, propagation length, and group velocity. Such active control of micrometer plasmon propagation facilitates near-unity-order modulation of nanoscale energy flow that serves as a plasmonic switch with an on-off ratio above 14. The suspended graphene plasmons possess long propagation length, high tunability, and controllable energy transmission simultaneously, opening up broad horizons for application in nano-photonic devices.
Surface‐enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) has attracted increasing attention due to the potential of infrared spectroscopy in applications such as molecular trace sensing of solids, polymers, and ...proteins, specifically fueled by recent substantial developments in infrared plasmonic materials and engineered nanostructures. Here, the significant progress achieved in the past decades is reviewed, along with the current state of the art of SEIRA. In particular, the plasmonic properties of a variety of nanomaterials are discussed (e.g., metals, semiconductors, and graphene) along with their use in the design of efficient SEIRA configurations. To conclude, perspectives on potential applications, including single‐molecule detection and in vivo bioassays, are presented.
Surface‐enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) based on near‐field plasmons is of great importance for direct identification of trace materials via infrared spectroscopy. The significant progress achieved in the past decades of SEIRA is reviewed from the standpoint of materials (e.g., metals, semiconductors, and graphene) and structures. Perspectives of future SEIRA applications are also discussed.
Abstract
Common fragile sites (CFSs) are specific breakage-prone genomic regions and are present frequently in cancer cells. The (E2-independent) E3 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme FATS (fragile ...site-associated tumor suppressor) has antitumor activity in cancer cells, but the function of FATS in immune cells is unknown. Here, we report a function of FATS in tumor development via regulation of tumor immunity.
Fats
−/−
mice show reduced subcutaneous B16 melanoma and H7 pancreatic tumor growth compared with WT controls. The reduced tumor growth in
Fats
−/−
mice is macrophage dependent and is associated with a phenotypic shift of macrophages within the tumor from tumor-promoting M2-like to antitumor M1-like macrophages. In addition, FATS deficiency promotes M1 polarization by stimulating and prolonging NF-κB activation by disrupting NF-κB/IκBα negative feedback loops and indirectly enhances both CD4
+
T helper type 1 (Th1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) adaptive immune responses to promote tumor regression. Notably, transfer of
Fats
−/−
macrophages protects mice against B16 melanoma. Together, these data suggest that FATS functions as an immune regulator and is a potential target in cancer immunotherapy.
Cherenkov radiation (CR) excited by fast charges can serve as on-chip light sources with a nanoscale footprint and broad frequency range. The reversed CR, which usually occurs in media with the ...negative refractive index or negative group-velocity dispersion, is highly desired because it can effectively separate the radiated light from fast charges thanks to the obtuse radiation angle. However, reversed CR at the mid-infrared remains challenging due to the significant loss of conventional artificial structures. Here we observe mid-infrared analogue polaritonic reversed CR in a natural van der Waals (vdW) material (i.e., α-MoO
), whose hyperbolic phonon polaritons exhibit negative group velocity. Further, the real-space image results of analogue polaritonic reversed CR indicate that the radiation distributions and angles are closely related to the in-plane isofrequency contours of α-MoO
, which can be further tuned in the heterostructures based on α-MoO
. This work demonstrates that natural vdW heterostructures can be used as a promising platform of reversed CR to design on-chip mid-infrared nano-light sources.
•A flexible approach is proposed to design metasurfaces for polarization-controllable generation of focused singular beams.•Metasurfaces are fabricated to demonstrate the controllable generation of ...focused optical vortices with arbitrary topological charges pair.•Both focused vortices and vector beams can be generated and controlled easily by incident polarization.
Singular beam has attracted lots of research interests because of its great potential for applications in various fields such as optical communications and super-resolution imaging. To meet the increasing demands of integrated photonic systems, miniaturized devices for generating singular beams are required. Here, a coherent approach is proposed to design metasurfaces for polarization-controllable generation of focused singular beams with phase or polarization singularity. Metasurfaces with different topological charges configuration are designed, and the capability of generating focused optical vortices with arbitrary topological charges pair and required focusing performance is demonstrated. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that both focused vortices and cylindrical vector beams can be generated and controlled easily by incident polarization. The flexibility and versatility of the proposed approach may provide new opportunities to realize compact and multifunctional singular optical devices for applications including optical tweezers, light-matter interaction, optical communication, and other related fields.
Silk nanofibrils (SNFs), the fundamental building blocks of silk fibers, endow them with exceptional properties. However, the intricate mechanism governing SNF assembly, a process involving both ...protein conformational transitions and protein molecule conjunctions, remains elusive. This lack of understanding has hindered the development of artificial silk spinning techniques. In this study, we address this challenge by employing a graphene plasmonic infrared sensor in conjunction with multi-scale molecular dynamics (MD). This unique approach allows us to probe the secondary structure of nanoscale assembly intermediates (0.8-6.2 nm) and their morphological evolution. It also provides insights into the dynamics of silk fibroin (SF) over extended molecular timeframes. Our novel findings reveal that amorphous SFs undergo a conformational transition towards β-sheet-rich oligomers on graphene. These oligomers then connect to evolve into SNFs. These insights provide a comprehensive picture of SNF assembly, paving the way for advancements in biomimetic silk spinning.
•Knockdown of miR-181c ameliorates the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.•miR-181c mediates the pathogenesis of CNS inflammation and demyelination.•miR-181c promotes the differentiation of ...the Th17 cells.•miR-181c enhances the TGF-β-induced Smad2/3 signaling by targeting Smad7.•miR-181c level is increased in peripheral blood of multiple sclerosis patients.
Among T helper (Th) cell subsets differentiated from naive CD4+ T cells, IL-17-producing Th17 cells are closely associated with the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and the MS animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The modulation of Th17 differentiation offers a potential avenue for treatment. Although a series of microRNAs (miRNAs) that modulate autoimmune disease development have been reported, further studies on miRNA roles in Th17 differentiation and MS pathogenesis are still warranted. Here, we demonstrated that mice with miR-181c knockdown presented with delayed EAE and slowed disease progression, along with a decreased Th17 cell population. We also found that miR-181c was a Th17 cell-associated miRNA and that Smad7, a negative regulator of TGF-β signaling, was a potential target of miR-181c. miR-181c knockdown rendered T cells less sensitive to TGF-β-induced Smad2/3, enhancing the expression of IL-2 which has been reported to inhibit Th17 cell differentiation. Moreover, through the analysis of published miRNA expression profiles from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, increased miR-181c levels were found in peripheral blood from MS patients. Our results identified a novel miRNA that promotes Th17 cell differentiation and autoimmunity, thus miR-181c may serve as a potential treatment target in patients with MS.
Metabolic reprogramming contributes to bladder cancer development. This study aimed to understand the role of SLC7A5 in bladder cancer.
We systematically analyzed the correlation between SLC7A5 and ...bladder cancer through various approaches, including bioinformatics, western blotting, cell cycle analysis, cell proliferation assays, and invasion experiments. We also investigated the immunological features within the tumor microenvironment (TME), encompassing cancer immune cycles, immune modulators, immune checkpoints, tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIIC), T cell inflammation scores, and treatment responses. Additionally, for a comprehensive assessment of the expression patterns and immunological roles of SLC7A5, pan-cancer analysis was performed using cancer genomics datasets.
SLC7A5 was associated with adverse prognosis in bladder cancer patients, activating the Wnt pathway and promoting bladder cancer cell cycle progression, proliferation, migration, and invasion. Based on the evidence that SLC7A5 positively correlated with immunomodulators, TIIC, the cancer immune cycle, immune checkpoint and T cell inflammation scores, we also found that SLC7A5 was associated with the inflammatory tumor immune microenvironment. EGFR-targeted therapy, cancer immunotherapy, and radiation therapy were effective for patients with high SLC7A5 expression in bladder cancer. Low SLC7A5 patients were, however, sensitive to targeted therapies and anti-angiogenic therapy, such as blocking β-catenin network, PPAR-γ and FGFR3 signaling. Anti-SLC7A5 combined with cancer immunotherapy may have greater effectiveness than either therapy alone. Furthermore, we observed specific overexpression of SLC7A5 in TME of various cancers.
SLC7A5 can predict therapeutic response to immunotherapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy in bladder cancer patients. Targeting SLC7A5 in combination with immunotherapy may be a potentially appropriate treatment option.
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