The cognitive frame and transferences from sources to targets of metaphor study have been evident in humanities. The present article aims to compare Chinese heritage Hua'er folksongs, Chinese new ...poetry, Chinese prose, Chinese news reportage, and Chinese news editorials. By adopting the indicator
I
1
, the results show that the A = B metaphor is typically representative of Chinese Hua'er folksongs. At a more detailed level of comparison of the
a-index
, heritage folksong Hua'er bears the lowest level of metaphoricity for its repeated use of the metaphorical lexis both in the target domain and source domain. The genre-specific metaphorical expressions in Chinese poetic texts show that the higher
a-index
is, the more metaphoricity and more cognitive the effort will be. The nominalized metaphorical expressions in heritage Hua'er might limit the working memory constraints and the cognitive mastery of source-to-target structure for the singers to create metaphors.
The increasing development of targeted cancer therapy provides extensive possibilities in clinical trials, and numerous strategies have been explored. The prodrug is one of the most promising ...strategies in targeted cancer therapy to improve the selectivity and efficacy of cytotoxic compounds. Compared with normal tissues, cancer cells are characterized by unique aberrant markers, thus inactive prodrugs targeting these markers are excellent therapeutics to release active drugs, killing cancer cells without damaging normal tissues. In this review, we explore an integrated view of potential prodrugs applied in targeted cancer therapy based on aberrant cancer specific markers and some examples are provided for inspiring new ideas of prodrug strategy for cancer cell-specific targeting.
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•Various prodrug strategies for cancer cell-specific targeting are reviewed.•Targeted prodrugs are based on specific cancer markers.•Structures schematic and metabolism routes of various prodrugs are provided.
Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a central regulator involved in detection and adaption to cellular oxygen stress through regulation of the hypoxic transcriptional program in angiogenesis, ...erythropoiesis, and metabolism. The HIF pathway is involved in many diseases. On one hand, overexpression of the HIF pathway is associated with solid tumors such as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). On the other hand, suppression of the HIF pathway is correlated with inflammatory, anemia, and other hypoxic-ischemic diseases. Therefore, modulation of the HIF pathway has been perceived as a promising strategy for treating HIF-related diseases. Recent advances in understanding of the biochemistry underlying the HIF pathway have stimulated small-molecule drugs development, and therapeutically, manipulation of the HIF-mediated response has been shown to have considerable medicinal potential. This review will summarize and provide insight into recent advances in research that have expanded our knowledge of the HIF pathway, including its structural basis and biology, small-molecule modulators of the pathway, including inhibitors and activators, and the potential therapeutic applications of these modulators.
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•Azobenzene-based photoswitchable catalysts are classified.•Mechanisms of photoswitchable catalytic activity are described.•Strategies to enable photoswitchable catalysis are ...presented.•Challenges and perspectives of azobenzene-based photoswitchable catalysts are discussed.
Photoswitchable catalysts are becoming attractive materials for catalytic applications because of their favorable characteristics, such as customizable catalytic activity and particularly possible recyclability, as well as the unique advantages of light stimulation, such as low cost, good harvesting, non-toxicity and excellent stability. In this mini-review article, we focus primarily on azobenzene-based photoswitchable catalysts, in which the active sites are integrated with azobenzene. Single molecules, molecular assemblies, molecularly printed polymers and organometallics are systematically classified according to the type of active sites. The scientific challenges and the remaining opportunities are emphasized to demonstrate the future prospects of azobenzene-based photoswitchable catalysts. This mini-review article is expected to provide comparative perspectives and critical insights to promote more in-depth research on photoswitchable catalysts and to expand the feasibility of photoswitchable catalysis.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are being developed to enhance tissue regeneration. Here we show that a hyperbranched polymer with high miRNA-binding affinity and negligible cytotoxicity can self-assemble into ...nano-sized polyplexes with a 'double-shell' miRNA distribution and high transfection efficiency. These polyplexes are encapsulated in biodegradable microspheres to enable controllable two-stage (polyplexes and miRNA) delivery. The microspheres are attached to cell-free nanofibrous polymer scaffolds that spatially control the release of miR-26a. This technology is used to regenerate critical-sized bone defects in osteoporotic mice by targeting Gsk-3β to activate the osteoblastic activity of endogenous stem cells, thus addressing a critical challenge in regenerative medicine of achieving cell-free scaffold-based miRNA therapy for tissue engineering.
Solid-state nanopores, inspired by biological nanopores, have the advantages of good mechanical properties, stability, and easy modification. They have attracted wide attention in the fields of ...sequencing, sensing, molecular sieving, nanofluidic devices, nanoelectrochemistry, and energy conversion. Because of the ion/molecule transport characteristic of the pore, the research on solid-state nanopores mainly focuses on the functional modification of its inner wall. In recent years, the outer surface of nanopores has also attracted the attention of researchers, and the functional elements on the outer surface have the functions of anti-interference and ionic signal enhancement. In this perspective, we review research progress of inner wall and outer surface distinguished solid-state nanopores, highlight their processing and advantages, summarize their functions and applications in sensing, and give insight into further research.
The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial for the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer. However, how Notch signaling regulates the EMT process and invasion in breast cancer remains ...largely unknown.
The impact of Notch1 silencing by specific shRNAs on the EMT and invasion of human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells as well as xenografts was tested by western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunofluorescence, transwell, and immunohistochemistry assays. The effect of Slug silencing or upregulation on the EMT and invasion of breast cancer cells was analyzed, and the effect of Notch1 signaling on Slug expression was determined by the luciferase reporter assay.
The Notch1 intracellular domain (N1ICD) and Jagged1 were expressed in breast cancer cells. Notch1 silencing reversed the spontaneous EMT process and inhibited the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells and the growth of xenograft breast cancers. The expression of N1ICD was upregulated significantly by Jagged1-mediated Notch signaling activation. Moreover, Jagged1-mediated Notch signaling promoted the EMT process, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells, which were abrogated by Notch silencing. Furthermore, the N1ICD positively regulated the Slug expression by inducing Slug promoter activation. Importantly, the knockdown of Slug weakened the invasion ability of breast cancer cells and reversed the Jagged1-induced EMT process with significantly decreased expression of vimentin and increased expression of E-cadherin. In addition, Slug overexpression restored the Notch1 knockdown-suppressed EMT process.
Our novel data indicate that Notch signaling positively regulates the EMT, invasion, and growth of breast cancer cells by inducing Slug expression. The Notch1-Slug signaling axis may represent a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer therapy.
Telomerase plays a significantly important role in keeping the telomere length of a chromosome. Telomerase overexpresses in nearly all tumor cells, suggesting that telomerase could be not only a ...promising biomarker but also a potential therapeutic target for cancers. Therefore, numerous efforts focusing on the detection of telomerase activity have been reported from polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assays to PCR-free assays such as isothermal amplification in recent decade. In this review, we highlight the strategies for the detection of telomerase activity using isothermal amplification and discuss some of the challenges in designing future telomerase assays as well.
To facilitate accurate prediction and empirical research on regional agricultural carbon emissions, this paper uses the LLE-PSO-XGBoost carbon emission model, which combines the Local Linear ...Embedding (LLE), Particle Swarm Algorithm (PSO) and Extreme Gradient Boosting Algorithm (XGBoost), to forecast regional agricultural carbon emissions in Anhui Province under different scenarios. The results show that the regional agricultural carbon emissions in Anhui Province generally show an upward and then downward trend during 2000-2021, and the regional agricultural carbon emissions in Anhui Province in 2030 are expected to fluctuate between 11,342,100 tones and 14,445,700 tones under five different set scenarios. The projections of regional agricultural carbon emissions can play an important role in supporting the development of local regional agriculture, helping to guide the input and policy guidance of local rural low-carbon agriculture and promoting the development of rural areas towards a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.
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