The electrical repair of device circuits has been considered a main issue in the area of electronic packaging. Demand for self‐healing conductors as cost‐effective and promising materials for ...prolonging the durability of devices has increased. Recently, diverse designs of self‐healing and deformable circuits have been introduced in virtue of their high stretchability and conductivity. However, encapsulating a liquid metal with a polymer in a micro‐size container is essential for real applications. In this work, core–shell‐structured liquid metal microcapsules (LMCs, diameter = 2–10 µm) are synthesized via in situ polymerization of urea‐formaldehyde onto liquid metal colloids. Passivation films comprising LMC/polymer composites are simply prepared using phase separation between the capsules and the liquid prepolymer. Capsules ruptured by cutting or pressing release and transport liquid metal to the damaged sites, leading to effective recovery of electrical pathways. Such self‐healing of the metal contacts shows the high potential of LMCs for smart passivation of electronic devices. As an example, flexible perovskite solar cells incorporated with the passivation film demonstrate perfect recovery of the photovoltaic parameters immediately after cutting the metal contact, exhibiting a power conversion efficiency (PCE) retention of 99% relative to the initial value (PCE = 15.07%).
Liquid metal microcapsules (LMCs) are prepared by in situ polymerization of urea‐formaldehyde. A flexible perovskite solar cell employing the passivation film made of LMCs exhibits an excellent recovery rate from mechanical damage, 99% of initial power conversion efficiencies.
Histologic features of diffuse-type gastric cancer indicate that the tumor microenvironment (TME) may substantially impact tumor invasiveness. However, cellular components and molecular features ...associated with cancer invasiveness in the TME of diffuse-type gastric cancers are poorly understood.
We performed single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) using tissue samples from superficial and deep invasive layers of cancerous and paired normal tissues freshly harvested from five patients with diffuse-type gastric cancer. The scRNA-seq results were validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and duplex
hybridization (ISH) in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues.
Seven major cell types were identified. Fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and myeloid cells were categorized as being enriched in the deep layers. Cell type-specific clustering further revealed that the superficial-to-deep layer transition is associated with enrichment in inflammatory endothelial cells and fibroblasts with upregulated
transcripts. IHC and duplex ISH revealed the distribution of the major cell types and CCL2-expressing endothelial cells and fibroblasts, indicating tumor invasion. Elevation of CCL2 levels along the superficial-to-deep layer axis revealed the immunosuppressive immune cell subtypes that may contribute to tumor cell aggressiveness in the deep invasive layers of diffuse-type gastric cancer. The analyses of public datasets revealed the high-level coexpression of stromal cell-specific genes and that
correlated with poor survival outcomes in patients with gastric cancer.
This study reveals the spatial reprogramming of the TME that may underlie invasive tumor potential in diffuse-type gastric cancer. This TME profiling across tumor layers suggests new targets, such as CCL2, that can modify the TME to inhibit tumor progression in diffuse-type gastric cancer.
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The present study aimed to investigate whether the Janus‑activated kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway is a critical mechanism underlying the ...cancer‑associated fibroblast (CAF)‑induced chemoresistance of gastric cancer (GC). In addition, the present study tried to suggest a natural product to compromise the effects of CAF on the chemoresistance of GC. The results of cell proliferation assay revealed that the conditioned medium (CM) collected from CAFs further increased resistance to 5‑fluorouracil (5‑FU) in GC cell lines. Secretome analysis revealed that the levels of several secreted proteins, including C‑C motif chemokine ligand 2, C‑X‑C motif chemokine ligand 1, interleukin (IL)‑6 and IL‑8, were increased in the CM from CAFs co‑cultured with cancer cells compared to CM from cancer cells. Western blot analysis revealed that CAFs activated the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway in cancer cells. The experimental models revealed that curcumin abrogated the CAF‑mediated activation of the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway in GC cells.
data revealed the synergistic effects of curcumin with 5‑FU treatment in xenograft GC tumors. These data strongly suggest that the suppression of the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway counteracts the CAF‑induced chemoresistance of GC cells. It is suggested that curcumin may be a suitable natural product which may be used to overcome chemoresistance by inhibiting the CAF‑induced activation of the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway in GC.
It is very challenging to accurately quantify the amounts of amyloid peptides Aβ40 and Aβ42, which are Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, in blood owing to their low levels. This has driven the ...development of sensitive and noninvasive sensing methods for the early diagnosis of AD. Here, an approach for the synthesis of Ag nanogap shells (AgNGSs) is reported as surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) colloidal nanoprobes for the sensitive, selective, and multiplexed detection of Aβ40 and Aβ42 in blood. Raman label chemicals used for SERS signal generation modulate the reaction rate for AgNGSs production through the formation of an Ag‐thiolate lamella structure, enabling the control of nanogaps at one nanometer resolution. The AgNGSs embedded with the Raman label chemicals emit their unique SERS signals with a huge intensity enhancement of up to 107 and long‐term stability. The AgNGS nanoprobes, conjugated with an antibody specific to Aβ40 or Aβ42, are able to detect these AD biomarkers in a multiplexed manner in human serum based on the AgNGS SERS signals. Detection is possible for amounts as low as 0.25 pg mL−1. The AgNGS nanoprobe‐based sandwich assay has a detection dynamic range two orders of magnitude wider than that of a conventional enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay.
Silver nanogap shells (AgNGSs) with a controllable nanogap size are prepared by modulating the nucleation reaction kinetics using various Raman label chemicals. AgNGSs are successfully employed as colloidal surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoprobes emitting intense and stable SERS signals for the sensitive, selective, and multiplexed detection of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, Aβ40 and Aβ42 in human serum.
The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has now exceeded 20%; thus, research focus has shifted to establishing the foundations for commercialization. One of the pivotal ...themes is to curtail the overall fabrication time, to reduce unit cost, and mass‐produce PSCs. Additionally, energy dissipation during the thermal annealing (TA) stage must be minimized by realizing a genuine low‐temperature (LT) process. Here, tin oxide (SnO2) thin films (TFs) are formulated at extremely high speed, within 5 min, under an almost room‐temperature environment (<50 °C), using atmospheric Ar/O2 plasma energy (P‐SnO2) and are applied as an electron transport layer of a “n–i–p”‐type planar PSC. Compared with a thermally annealed SnO2 TF (T‐SnO2), the P‐SnO2 TF yields a more even surface but also outstanding electrical conductivity with higher electron mobility and a lower number of charge trap sites, consequently achieving a superior PCE of 19.56% in P‐SnO2‐based PSCs. These findings motivate the use of a plasma strategy to fabricate various metal oxide TFs using the sol–gel route.
A tin oxide (SnO2) electron transport layer for a perovskite solar cell is successfully fabricated at extremely high speeds at a genuinely low temperature using atmospheric Ar/O2 plasma annealing. This plasma‐annealed SnO2 (P‐SnO2) exhibits outstanding electrical conductivity and charge‐extraction ability compared to thermally‐annealed SnO2, consequently achieving a superior PCE of 19.56% in P‐SnO2‐based PSCs.
2D MoS2 nanostructures have recently attracted considerable attention because of their outstanding electrocatalytic properties. The synthesis of unique Co–Ru–MoS2 hybrid nanosheets with excellent ...catalytic activity toward overall water splitting in alkaline solution is reported. 1T′ phase MoS2 nanosheets are doped homogeneously with Co atoms and decorated with Ru nanoparticles. The catalytic performance of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is characterized by low overpotentials of 52 and 308 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slopes of 55 and 50 mV decade−1 in 1.0 m KOH, respectively. Analysis of X‐ray photoelectron and absorption spectra of the catalysts show that the MoS2 well retained its metallic 1T′ phase, which guarantees good electrical conductivity during the reaction. The Gibbs free energy calculation for the reaction pathway in alkaline electrolyte confirms that the Ru nanoparticles on the Co‐doped MoS2 greatly enhance the HER activity. Water adsorption and dissociation take place favorably on the Ru, and the doped Co further catalyzes HER by making the reaction intermediates more favorable. The high OER performance is attributed to the catalytically active RuO2 nanoparticles that are produced via oxidation of Ru nanoparticles.
Metallic 1T′ phase Co–Ru–MoS2 hybrid nanosheets are synthesized for bifunctional catalytic water splitting in alkaline solution. Their excellent catalytic performance is a result of their optimized electronic structures. Gibbs free energy calculation for the reaction pathways confirms that the Ru nanoparticles on the Co‐doped MoS2 greatly enhance the catalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction.
Background
The effects of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) on the progression of gastric carcinoma (GC) has recently been demonstrated. However, agents targeting the interaction between CAF and GC ...cells have not been applied in a clinical setting. Here, we examined if inhibition for Axl receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL) can suppress CAF-induced aggressive phenotype in GC.
Methods
We investigated the function of CAF-derived growth arrest-specific 6 (GAS6), a major ligand of AXL, on the migration and proliferation of GC cells. The effect of the AXL inhibitor, BGB324, on the CAF-induced aggressive phenotype of GC cells was also investigated. In addition, we performed immunohistochemistry to examine the expression of phosphorylated AXL protein in 175 GC tissues and evaluated its correlation with the prognosis.
Results
The qPCR and western blot analysis showed that GAS6 expression was higher in CAF relative to other cells. We found that co-culture with CAF increased the phosphorylation of AXL (P-AXL), differentiation into a mesenchymal-like phenotype, and cell survival in GC cell lines. When the expression of
AXL
was genetically inhibited in GC cells, the effect of CAF was reduced. BGB324, a small molecule inhibitor of AXL, suppressed the effects of CAF on GC cell lines. In GC tissues, high levels of P-AXL were significantly associated with poor overall survival (
P
= 0.022).
Conclusions
We concluded that CAF are a major source of GAS6 and that GAS6 promotes an aggressiveness through AXL activation in GC. We suggested that an AXL inhibitor may be a novel agent for GC treatment.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been known for their strong prognostic and predictive significance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Several mechanisms for TIL influx in TNBC have ...been elucidated. Major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) is an essential component of the adaptive immune system and is generally restricted to the surface of antigen-presenting cells. However, it has been reported that interferon-gamma signaling may induce MHC-II in almost all cell types, including those derived from cancer. We aimed to examine the relationship between MHC-II expression in tumor cells and the amount of TILs in 681 patients with TNBC. Further, the prognostic significance of MHC-II and the association of MHC-II with a couple of molecules involved in the interferon signaling pathway were investigated using immunohistochemical staining. Higher MHC-II expression in tumor cells was associated with the absence of lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.042); larger amounts of TILs (p < 0.001); frequent formations of tertiary lymphoid structures (p < 0.001); higher expression of myxovirus resistance gene A, one of the main mediators of the interferon signaling pathway (p < 0.001); and higher expression of double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase, which can be induced by interferons (p = 0.008). Moreover, tumors that showed high MHC class I expression and any positivity for MHC-II had larger amounts of CD4- and CD8-positive T lymphocytes (p < 0.001). Positive MHC-II expression in tumor cells was associated with better disease-free survival in patients who had lymph node metastasis (p = 0.009). In conclusion, MHC-II expression in tumor cells was closely associated with an increase in TIL number and interferon signaling in TNBC. Further studies are warranted to improve our understanding regarding TIL influx, as well as patients' responses to immunotherapy.
Flexible transparent display is a promising candidate to visually communicate with each other in the future Internet of Things era. The flexible oxide thin‐film transistors (TFTs) have attracted ...attention as a component for transparent display by its high performance and high transparency. The critical issue of flexible oxide TFTs for practical display applications, however, is the realization on transparent and flexible substrate without any damage and characteristic degradation. Here, the ultrathin, flexible, and transparent oxide TFTs for skin‐like displays are demonstrated on an ultrathin flexible substrate using an inorganic‐based laser liftoff process. In this way, skin‐like ultrathin oxide TFTs are conformally attached onto various fabrics and human skin surface without any structural damage. Ultrathin flexible transparent oxide TFTs show high optical transparency of 83% and mobility of 40 cm2 V−1 s−1. The skin‐like oxide TFTs show reliable performance under the electrical/optical stress tests and mechanical bending tests due to advanced device materials and systematic mechanical designs. Moreover, skin‐like oxide logic inverter circuits composed of n‐channel metal oxide semiconductor TFTs on ultrathin, transparent polyethylene terephthalate film have been realized.
Ultrathin, flexible, and transparent oxide thin‐film transistors for skin‐like displays are transferred to an ultrathin flexible substrate using an inorganic based laser liftoff process. The transferred transistor arrays with high mobility of ≈40 cm2 V−1 s−1 adhere to both fabric and human skin and operate stably without significant degradation of their characteristics. Finally, skin‐like oxide logic inverters are successfully manipulated to verify the dynamic responses on an ultrathin plastic substrate.
Nanoscale shape engineering is an essential requirement for the practical use of 2D materials, aiming at precisely customizing optimal structures and properties. In this work, sub‐10‐nm‐scale block ...copolymer (BCP) self‐assembled nanopatterns finely aligned along the atomic edge of 2D flakes, including graphene, MoS2, and h‐BN, are exploited for reliable nanopatterning of 2D materials. The underlying mechanism for the alignment of the self‐assembled nanodomains is elucidated based on the wetting layer alternation of the BCP film in the presence of intermediate 2D flakes. The resultant highly aligned nanocylinder templates with remarkably low levels of line edge roughness (LER) and line‐width roughness (LWR) yield a sub‐10‐nm‐wide graphene nanoribbon (GNR) array with noticeable switching characteristics (on‐to‐off ratio up to ≈6 × 104).
Atomically flat, 2D edge directed self‐assembly of block copolymers are demonstrated as sub‐10 nm nanopatterns that are remarkably well‐aligned along the atomic edge of 2D flakes, including graphene, MoS2, and h‐BN, and they are readily exploited for nanoscale shape engineering of 2D materials. The resultant highly aligned sub‐10‐nm‐wide graphene nanoribbon exhibits superior switching characteristics (on‐to‐off ratio of ≈6 × 104).
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