Colossal negative thermal expansion (NTE) with a volume contraction of about 8 %, the largest value reported so far for NTE materials, was observed in an electron‐doped giant tetragonal perovskite ...compound Pb1−xBixVO3 (x=0.2 and 0.3). A polar tetragonal (P4mm) to non‐polar cubic structural transition took place upon heating. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the working temperature could be tuned by changing the Bi content, and La substitution decreased the transition temperature to room temperature. Pb0.76La0.04Bi0.20VO3 exhibited a unit cell volume contraction of 6.7 % from 200 K to 420 K. Interestingly, further gigantic NTE of about 8.5 % was observed in a dilametric measurement of a Pb0.76La0.04Bi0.20VO3 polycrystalline sample. The pronounced NTE in the sintered body should be attributed to an anisotropic lattice parameter change.
Colossal negative thermal expansion (NTE) with a volume contraction of 6–8 %, the largest value reported for NTE materials, was observed in Pb1−xBixVO3 (x=0.2 and 0.3) and Pb0.76La0.04Bi0.20VO3. The coefficient of thermal expansion and the working temperature could be tuned by changing the Bi and La content. This finding opens an avenue to designing new NTE materials based on giant tetragonal perovskite materials.
Since CD8+ T cells have immunological memory and can eliminate tumor or infected cells, antigen-specific CD8+ T cell inducing DNA vaccines are potential next-generation vaccines. However, the ...relationship between single amino acid deletion of target antigens in plasmid DNA vaccines and vaccine efficacy is not completely understood. To address this knowledge disparity and improve DNA vaccine development, two constructs cytosolic form of ovalbumin, pOVAv (346 amino acids) and pOVAy (345 amino acids) were constructed and compared. OVA proteins from both constructs were detected in an in vitro experiment. Then, the efficacy of prophylactic DNA vaccination using a gene gun against OVA-expressing mouse thymoma cells was compared. Both constructs conferred protection against tumor challenge, and there was no significant difference between the efficacies of pOVAv and pOVAy. The pOVAv vaccine induced stronger antigen-specific cytotoxicity in vivo, while bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) transfected with pOVAv induced higher levels of IFN-γ production from OT-I CD8+ T cells in vitro compared to pOVAy. These results indicate that a single amino acid deletion at N-terminus of the target antigen in a DNA vaccine leads to a different immunological outcome. The small modification of the target antigen in the DNA vaccine might improve its efficacy against tumor or infectious diseases.
The kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet is a leading candidate in the search for a spin system with a quantum spin-liquid ground state. The nature of its ground state remains a matter of active debate. ...We conducted oxygen-17 single-crystal nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of the spin-1/2 kagome lattice in herbertsmithite ZnCu₃(OH)₆Cl₂, which is known to exhibit a spinon continuum in the spin excitation spectrum. We demonstrated that the intrinsic local spin susceptibility χkagome, deduced from the oxygen-17 NMR frequency shift, asymptotes to zero below temperatures of 0.03J, where J ∼ 200 kelvin is the copper-copper superexchange interaction. Combined with the magnetic field dependence of χkagome that we observed at low temperatures, these results imply that the kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet has a spin-liquid ground state with a finite gap.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells are destroyed. Intestinal helminths can cause asymptomatic chronic and immunosuppressive infections and ...suppress disease in rodent models of T1D. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms for this protection are unclear. Here, we report that CD8
regulatory T (Treg) cells prevent the onset of streptozotocin -induced diabetes by a rodent intestinal nematode. Trehalose derived from nematodes affects the intestinal microbiota and increases the abundance of Ruminococcus spp., resulting in the induction of CD8
Treg cells. Furthermore, trehalose has therapeutic effects on both streptozotocin-induced diabetes and in the NOD mouse model of T1D. In addition, compared with healthy volunteers, patients with T1D have fewer CD8
Treg cells, and the abundance of intestinal Ruminococcus positively correlates with the number of CD8
Treg cells in humans.
In recent years, advanced radiation therapy techniques, including stereotactic body radiotherapy and carbon-ion radiotherapy, have progressed to such an extent that certain types of cancer can be ...treated with radiotherapy alone. The therapeutic outcomes are particularly promising for early stage lung cancer, with results matching those of surgical resection. Nevertheless, patients may still experience local tumor recurrence, which might be exacerbated by the acquisition of radioresistance after primary radiotherapy. Notwithstanding the risk of tumors acquiring radioresistance, secondary radiotherapy is increasingly used to treat recurrent tumors. In this context, it appears essential to comprehend the radiobiological effects of repeated photon and particle irradiation and their underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms in order to achieve the most favorable therapeutic outcome. However, to date, the mechanisms of acquisition of radioresistance in cancer cells have mainly been studied after repeated
X-ray irradiation. By contrast, other critical aspects of radioresistance remain mostly unexplored, including the response to carbon-ion irradiation of X-ray radioresistant cancer cells, the mechanisms of acquisition of carbon-ion resistance, and the consequences of repeated
X-ray or carbon-ion irradiation. In this review, we discuss the underlying mechanisms of acquisition of X-ray and carbon-ion resistance in cancer cells, as well as the phenotypic differences between X-ray and carbon-ion-resistant cancer cells, the biological implications of repeated
X-ray or carbon-ion irradiation, and the main open questions in the field.
Our aim was to evaluate whether repetition of C‐ion (carbon ion beam) irradiation induces radioresistance as well as repeated X‐ray irradiation in cancer cell lines, and to find the key molecular ...pathway for radioresistance by comparing radioresistant cancer cells with their parental cells. A mouse squamous cell carcinoma cell line, NR‐S1, and radioresistant cancer cells, NR‐S1‐C30 (C30) and NR‐S1‐X60 (X60), established by repetition of C‐ion and X‐ray irradiation, respectively, were used. X‐ray and C‐ion sensitivity, changes in lysosome, mitochondria, intracellular ATP and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling were evaluated. Moreover, the effect of rapamycin on radioresistance was also assessed. X‐ray and C‐ion resistance of C30 cells was moderate, and the resistance of X60 cells was the highest in this study. In X60 cells, the amount of lysosome, mitochondria, intracellular ATP and ROS level were significantly increased, and mTOR and p70S6K (ribosomal protein S6 kinase p70) phosphorylation were enhanced compared with C30 and NR‐S1 cells. The inhibition of mTOR signaling was effective for X‐ray and C‐ion radiosensitization in both cell lines, especially in X60 cells in which X‐ray and C‐ion resistance was decreased to the same level as that in NR‐S1 cells. Our results indicated that the contribution to generate X‐ray and C‐ion resistance was less for repeated C‐ion irradiations compared with repeated X‐ray irradiation. Moreover, we found that activated mTOR signaling contributes to X‐ray and C‐ion resistance in the X60 cancer cells.
Repeated X‐ray irradiations, but not repeated C‐ion irradiations, induced the significant X‐ray and C‐ion resistance. The X‐ray and C‐ion resistance was significantly decreased by Rapamycin treatment, indicating that the mTOR signaling contributes both X‐ray and C‐ion resistance.
Abstract Cancer patients without metastasis are generally considered as candidates for curative localized radiation therapy. However, while the benefits of localized radiation have been demonstrated ...by many clinical studies, recurrences or distant metastases that develop after local treatment remain a major therapeutic challenge. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have reported that irradiation may subsequently alter tumor aggression by reducing or promoting the invasiveness of the remaining cancer cells after radiation, which appears to differ depending on the form of radiation, as well as the investigated cell lines. Cell lines recapitulate cancer heterogeneity based on the characteristics reflected in their genetic abnormalities, and thus can be used as a tool to investigate the genetic basis of cancer aggression. Importantly, molecular insights into this process would allow us to tailor drug treatments for use in combination with local radiation treatment. This review summarizes the diverse responses of cancer cell invasiveness induced by radiation, and discusses the possible molecular pathways and the genetic variations that may affect radiation-altered invasion.
PDF
