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Fresh fruit and vegetables usually suffer from quality deterioration when exposed to inappropriate temperatures. Common energy-input temperature regulation is widely applied but there remain challenges of increasing energy consumption. Passive temperature management regulates the heat transfer without energy consumption, showing a sustainable strategy for food preservation. Here, thermoresponsive hydrogels were constructed by incorporating NaCl and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles into a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) (P(NIPAM-co-AM)) network. Due to the excellent mechanical properties and reversible thermochromism at 14 °C and 37 °C, Gel-8 wt%-NaCl could inhibit temperature rise and avoid sunburn damage to peppers under direct sunlight by blocking the input of solar energy and accelerating moisture evaporation. Additionally, hydrogels could act as a feasible sensor by providing real-time visual warnings for inappropriate temperatures during banana storage. Based on the self-adaptive thermoresponsive behaviour, the prepared hydrogels showed effective performance of temperature regulation and quality preservation of fruit and vegetables., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Oxidative stability is a key quality characteristic of edible oils, and the oil's antioxidant capacity decreases during the deodorization stage. This study explores the changes in radical formation, molecular structure, oxidative characteristics, fatty acids, and main bioactive compounds in soybean oil during deodorization. The lag phase decreased, whereas the total amount of spins of free radicals increased as the deodorization time increased from 90 to 150 min. The total amount of spins and percentage of alkyl radicals varied dramatically under different times and temperatures (220 ∼ 260 ℃). Results showed that identifying and quantifying the formed radicals can provide useful information for monitoring and controlling oil oxidation in vegetable oil refining systems. Therefore, to control early oxidation events, maximize refined oil product yield, and reduce energy consumption in the refining plant, the priority should be to minimize temperature during the oil refining process and then shorten the deodorization time., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) showing higher cryoprotective effects are attracting concerns, because during the storage, system browning always occurs in aldose/amino acid-based NADESs, which generated brown substances remarkably weaken the cryoprotective effects. In this study, proline/glucose-based (PG) and proline/sorbitol-based (PS) NADESs were prepared, of which storage stability, browning profile, brown substance, and cryoprotective effects were investigated. Results showed that PG at molar ratios of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1, as well as PS at 1:1, and 2:1 can form NADESs, among which only the PG-based ones could get browning after storage. The predominant brown substance was identified as 1-deoxy-1-L-proline-d-fructose (C 11 H 19 O 7 N, 278 m/z), which was subsequently verified to show cytotoxicity and decrease Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells viability after cryopreservation, suggesting that the brown substance could take a negative effect on cryopreservation. This study may help to attract more concerns to the storage and cryopreservation stabilities of the NADESs in food-related applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Chiral optical beams that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) have a broad range of applications such as optical tweezers, chiral microstructure fabrication, and optical communications. However, some chiral optical beams have inhomogeneous intensity distribution that limits the application in these fields. In this Letter, two different types of chiral optical fields with uniform intensity and arbitrary length were proposed based on the amplitude encoding method and multifocal synthesis. The intensity distribution of the chiral optical fields is determined by the distance between the focal points that can greatly extend the modulation length of the chiral optical field. Moreover, since each focal point contains modulable amplitude and phase, an arbitrary interception of the optical field can be realized by selectively retaining a part of the focal points. By partitioning the chiral optical field and assigning different topological charges, the OAM space-division multiplexing and independent tunability of the topological charges can be realized. In addition, the composite multi-petal vortex array formed by combining two different chiral optical fields can greatly enhance the information capacity of the optical communications and may have potential applications in fields such as particle manipulation.

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has become the mainstay of treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) recently. This case-control study aimed to identify the pivotal role of inflammation in the prognosis of AIS patients after MT., Methods: Altogether, 70 AIS patients who underwent MT were retrospectively recruited for this study. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of the inflammatory variables for predicting prognosis. A meta-analysis was performed to pool the published results together. Stata software was used for analysis., Results: There was no differences in pre-MT inflammatory biomarkers between patients who survived and those who died, as well as patients with modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0-2 and mRS ≥ 3. In contrast, post-MT C-reactive protein (CRP) levels might be a potential parameter to predict death after thrombectomy [area under the curve (AUC), 95%confidence interval (CI), 0.737, 0.587-0.887; p = 0.005; optimal cutoff value = 4.565]. Moreover, post-MT monocyte count might be an appropriate parameter to predict poor long-term prognosis after thrombectomy (AUC, 95%CI, 0.704, 0.575-0.833; p = 0.017; optimal cutoff value = 0.345). A meta-analysis revealed that the pre-MT inflammatory indices, including white blood cell count (weighted mean difference, 95%CI, 1.32, 1.01-1.63), neutrophil count (1.23, 0.95-1.51), monocyte count (0.05, 0.02-0.09), neuthrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (2.42, 1.98-2.87) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (24.65, 7.99-41.32), were higher in patients with 3-month mRS ≥ 3, and the lymphocyte count (-0.31,-0.43 to -0.18) was lower in this cohort., Conclusions: Inflammatory indices were significantly associated with the prognosis of patients undergoing MT, especially post-MT CRP and monocyte count, which can predict long-term outcomes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The residue remaining after oil extraction from grape seed contain abundant procyanidins. An ultrasonic-assisted enzyme method was performed to achieve a high extraction efficiency of procyanidins when the optimal extraction conditions were 8 U/g of cellulase, ultrasound power of 200 W, ultrasonic temperature of 50 ℃, and ultrasonic reaction time of 40 min. The effects of free procyanidins on both radical scavenging activity and thermal stability at 40, 60, and 80 ℃ of the procyanidins-loaded liposomal systems prepared by the ultrasonic-assisted method were discussed. The presence of procyanidins at concentrations ranging from 0.02 to 0.10 mg/mL was observed to be effective at inhibiting lipid oxidation by 15.15 % to 69.70 % in a linoleic acid model system during reaction for 168 h, as measured using the ferric thiocyanate method. The procyanidins-loaded liposomal systems prepared by the ultrasonic-assisted method were characterized by measuring the mean particle size and encapsulation efficiency. Moreover, the holographic plots showed that the effect-response points of procyanidins combined with α-tocopherol in liposomes were lower than the addition line and 95 % confidence interval limits. At the same time, there were significant differences between the theoretical IC 50add value and the experimental IC 50mix value. The interaction index (γ) of all combinations was observed to be less than 1. These results indicated that there was a synergistic antioxidant effect between procyanidins combined with α-tocopherol, which will show promising prospects in practical applications. In addition, particle size differentiation and morphology agglomeration were observed at different time points of antioxidant activity determination (0, 48, 96 h)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We experimentally investigated the coalescence-induced droplet-particle jumping phenomenon on a submillimeter scale in symmetric and asymmetric particle arrangements with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles and stainless steel (SS) particles. Coalescence-induced droplet-particle jumping exhibited excellent capability and interesting behavior for both droplet jumping enhancement and particle transport. The particle increased the normalized droplet jumping velocity from 0.250 for no particle case to 0.315 and 0.320 for symmetric and asymmetric particle cases. Compared with similar-sized macrostructures fixed between droplets, better jumping performance with particles may be attributed to avoiding the work of adhesion during droplet-macrostructure separation. Besides, all particles always sunk at the bottom in the symmetric cases, while the stick mode for PMMA particles and sink, wander, and jet modes for SS particles appeared in the asymmetry cases. We revealed that the asymmetric particle arrangement induces an unbalanced surface tension force, which may provide a driving force in the vertical direction. Additionally, a small enough resistive force caused by hydrophobic particles is another necessary condition for the wonder and jet mode. Finally, we realized a significantly superior particle transport in the asymmetric SS particle cases with maximum particle height reaching ∼2.1 mm, ∼12.4 times the particle radius, the most significant vertical self-propelled transport distance currently.

Rationale: Pheochromocytomas are a group of tumors with high genetic heterogeneity, and the clinical characteristics of rearranged during transfection (RET)-mutated pheochromocytoma with medullary spongiform kidney are rarely studied. The treatment process of 1 patient with bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma combined with medullary sponge kidney with RET gene mutation in our department was retrospectively analyzed, and the treatment methods for this type of disease were studied and summarized in combination with relevant literature., Patient Concerns: In this case, the patient was found to have bilateral adrenal masses for 8 years due to physical examination, and intermittent dizziness and discomfort for 2 years. Imaging and related laboratory examinations suggest bilateral adrenal giant pheochromocytoma with bilateral medullary sponge kidney. RET gene testing was performed on the patient and his descendant after signing the informed consent form., Diagnoses: The patient was diagnosed with bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma with a RET proto-oncogene mutation and a bilateral medullary spongy kidney., Intervision and Outcomes: After sufficient perioperative preparation, retroperitoneal laparoscopic bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma resection was performed by stages. The operation was successful, and hormone replacement therapy was performed after the operation, with regular follow-up. Relevant genetic testing revealed that the c.1900T > C: p.C634R mutation was detected in the patient's RET gene, which was a heterozygous missense mutation, and the mutation was also present in the son of his family. A literature analysis found that pheochromocytoma is a tumor with high genetic heterogeneity, and the RET proto-oncogene is a common pathogenic gene for bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma. Medullary sponging of kidneys is a rare complication of this disease., Lessons: On the basis of adequate perioperative preparation, surgical resection is the most effective and preferred treatment for this type of disease. Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive, safe, and effective by stages. Mutations in the RET proto-oncogene may lead to medullary spongy kidneys in multiple endocrine neoplasia 2., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: Ewing's sarcoma is the second most common bone and soft tissue malignancy in children and adolescents. Tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein 8-like 1 (TIPE1) functions as a tumor suppressor in several cancers. Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in subpopulations of tumor cells contributes to phenotypic heterogeneity and disease progression in Ewing's sarcoma. The exact role of TIPE1 in Ewing's sarcoma remains to be elucidated., Purpose: This study aimed to assess the expression and function of TIPE1 in Ewing's sarcoma., Methods: TIPE1 expression in Ewing's sarcoma cells was determined by qPCR and western blotting. Furthermore, the Ewing's sarcoma cell line RD-ES was transfected with a lentivirus-based TIPE1 expression system to upregulate the expression of TIPE1. The Cell Counting Kit 8 was used to assess the effect of TIPE1 on cell proliferation. The effects of TIPE1 on cell migration and invasion was detected by Transwell assay. Flow cytometry was performed to detect apoptosis., Results: Our results suggested lower TIPE1 expression in Ewing's sarcoma cell lines compared with normal osseous cells. TIPE1 remarkably inhibited the growth and proliferation of Ewing's sarcoma cell; TIPE1 also induced apoptosis and inhibited invasion in vitro. TIPE1 inhibited Ewing's sarcoma growth, motility, and survival through regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling., Conclusions: Our results demonstrated the anti-tumor function of TIPE1 in Ewing's sarcoma and reveal a novel therapeutic target., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Federación de Sociedades Españolas de Oncología (FESEO).)

Objective: To construct a prognostic evaluation model for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients using bioinformatics method and to screen potential drugs for ccRCC . Methods: ccRCC RNA sequencing data, clinical data, and protein expression data were downloaded from the TCGA database. Univariate Cox and Lasso regression analyses were performed on the combined data to screen out the proteins related to the prognosis, and they were included in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model. The patients were divided into high and low-risk groups for a survival difference analysis. The predictive power of the model was evaluated on the basis of overall survival, progression-free survival, independent prognostic, clinically relevant receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, C-index, principal component, and clinical data statistics analyses. GSEA enrichment and immune function correlation analyses were performed. The samples were divided into different subtypes based on the expression of the risk proteins, and survival analysis of the subtypes was performed. The risk-related protein and RNA sequencing data were analyzed to screen out sensitive drugs with significant differences between the high and low-risk groups. Results: A total of 469 ccRCC-related proteins were screened, of which 13 proteins with independent prognostic significance were screened by univariate Cox, Lasso, and multivariate Cox regression analyses to construct the prognostic model. The sensitivity and accuracy of the model in predicting the survival of patients with ccRCC were high (1 year: 0.811, 3 years: 0.783, 5 years: 0.777). The 13 proteins were closely related to immunity, and the model proteins were different between kidney and tumor tissues according to the HPA database. The samples were divided into three subtypes, and there were obvious clinical characteristics of the three subtypes in the grade and T, N and M stages. According to the IC50 values, CGP-60474, vinorelbine, doxorubicin, etoposide, FTI-277, JQ12, OSU-03012, pyrimethamine, and other drugs were more sensitive in the high-risk group. Conclusions: A prognostic model of protein expression in ccRCC was successfully constructed, which had good predictive ability for the prognosis of ccRCC patients. The ccRCC-related proteins in the model can be used as targets for studying the pathogenesis and targeted therapy., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Excessive solar radiation and high temperature often cause considerable loss and waste of fruits during transportation, retail, and storage. In the current study, a natural deep eutectic solvent-based polyacrylamide/poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel with nanoparticles (NPs/NADES@PAAm/PVA) is developed for fruit quality protection from solar radiation and high-temperature stress by achieving the combined effect of radiative and evaporative cooling. NPs/NADES@PAAm/PVA presents an average solar reflectance of ∼0.89 and an average emittance at the atmospheric window of ∼0.90. Besides, NPs/NADES@PAAm/PVA possesses excellent flexibility, robust mechanical strength, and good swelling behavior. The fruit preservation experiments under sunlight demonstrate that the pear ( Pyrus sinkiangensis ) treated with NPs/NADES@PAAm/PVA can achieve an average temperature decrease of ∼15.3 °C after sun exposure compared with the blank, and its quality-related attributes, including color, total soluble solid, relative conductivity, and respiration rate, are similar to the fresh one. Multivariate data analyses, including principal component analysis and cluster analysis, further verify that the pear treated with NPs/NADES@PAAm/PVA possesses similar quality to the fresh one after sun exposure. Thus, NPs/NADES@PAAm/PVA has promising prospects for fruit transportation, retail, and storage under solar radiation in a low-operation-cost and sustainable manner.

Background: Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent cancer that lacks a sufficiently efficient approach to guide immunotherapy. Additionally, cuproptosis is a recently identified regulated cell death program that is triggered by copper ionophores. However, its possible significance in tumor immune cell infiltration is still unclear., Methods: Cuproptosis subtypes in HCC were identified using unsupervised consensus cluster analysis based on 10 cuproptosis regulators expressions, and a cuproptosis-related risk signature was generated using univariate and LASSO Cox regression and validated using the ICGC data. Moreover, the relationship between signature and tumor immune microenvironment (TME) was studied through tumor immunotherapy responsiveness, immune cell infiltration, and tumor stem cell analysis. Finally, clinical specimens were analyzed using immunohistochemistry to verify the expression of the three genes in the signature., Results: Two subtypes of cuproptosis regulation were observed in HCC, with different immune cell infiltration features. Genes expressed differentially between the two cuproptosis clusters in the TCGA were determined and used to construct a risk signature that was validated using the ICGC cohort. Greater immune and stromal cell infiltration were observed in the high-risk group and were associated with unfavorable prognosis. Elevated risk scores were linked with higher RNA stemness scores (RNAss) and tumor mutational burden (TMB), together with a greater likelihood of benefitting from immunotherapy., Conclusion: It was found that cuproptosis regulatory patterns may play important roles in the heterogeneity of immune cell infiltration. The risk signature associated with cuproptosis can assess each patient's risk score, leading to more individualized and effective immunotherapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Xiao, Zhao, Sun, Guo, Li, Zhang, Bian, Qiu and Wang.)

Vaccines have become one of the most effective strategies to deal with various infectious diseases and chronic noninfectious diseases, such as SARS virus, Novel Coronavirus, cancer, etc. However, recent studies have found that the neutralizing antibody titers induced by vaccines would drop to half level or even lower after vaccination. In this study, we designed a novel small-sized positively charged nanofiber-1 (PEI-CNF-1) as a vaccine carrier, which can induce a high long-term humoral immune response by controlled release of antigen. Further studies showed that PEI-CNF-1 could significantly induce the release of immune response factor IL-1 β and bone marrow-derived cell (BMDC) maturation. Moreover, compare to other cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), PEI-CNF-1 combined antigen (ovalbumin, OVA) induced and maintained the highest and longest antibody titers after vaccination. Interestingly, the antibody titers have no significant difference between at 21 and 90 d. Mechanically, we found that PEI-NCF-1 not only could control the slow-release of antigen, but also could be more easily swallowed by macrophages and metabolized by the bodies, thus presenting antigen more effectively. In conclusion, we believe that PEI-CNF-1 have a very high application prospect in inducing long-term humoral immune response, so as to achieve efficient prevention effect to epidemic viruses., (© 2022 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Background: Renal carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in the urinary system. Autophagy can be both activated and inhibited in renal carcinoma, and it plays a double-edged role in the development of renal carcinoma. In the early stage of cancer, autophagy can suppress tumors. In the late stage, autophagy contributes to the survival of tumor cells in an unfavorable environment, and some autophagy-related proteins P62, LC3B, and beclin-1 have become indicators of the prognosis of patients with renal carcinoma., Aim: To demonstrate that ursolic acid activates autophagy in renal carcinoma 786-O cells by inhibiting the hedgehog signaling pathway., Methods: The effect of ursolic acid on the viability of 786-O cells was determined by the MTT method; the effect of ursolic acid on the proliferation and migration of 786-O cells was examined by crystalline violet staining and scratch assay, respectively. For the study of autophagy, we firstly screened the time points. Western blot assay was used to detect the expression level of autophagic protein P62 at different time points of ursolic acid on 786-O. Then, the Cell MeterTM Autophagy Assay Kit was used to detect the effect of different doses of ursolic acid on the autophagic fluorescence intensity of 786-O cells; the Western blot method was used to detect the effect of different doses of ursolic acid on the expression levels of LC3II and P62 proteins in 786-O cells. Further, AdPlus-mCherry-GFP-LC3B adenovirus transfection was used to detect the effect of ursolic acid on the autophagic flow of 786-O cells; ursolic acid was combined with the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) to detect the expression level of autophagy protein LC3II by Western blot. In terms of mechanism, the effect of ursolic acid on hedgehog signaling pathway-related proteins in 786-O cells was detected by Western blot., Results: Ursolic acid inhibited the activity, proliferation, and migration of 786-O cells, enhanced the fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes in 786-O cells, increased the expression level of autophagy marker protein LC3II, and inhibited the expression level of P62 in a time and dose-dependent manner; ursolic acid activated the autophagic flow in 786-O cells, which showed that ursolic acid caused the accumulation of autophagic fluorescent spots and enhanced the fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes. Ursolic acid activated the autophagic flow in 786-O cells, as evidenced by the accumulation of autophagic fluorescent spots and enhanced fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes, and the combined use of the autophagy inhibitor CQ increased the expression level of LC3II compared to ursolic acid alone; ursolic acid decreased the expression levels of PTCH1, GLI1, SMO, SHH, and c-Myc and increased the expression level of Sufu in the hedgehog signaling pathway., Conclusion: Ursolic acid activates autophagy in renal carcinoma 786-O cells, probably by inhibiting hedgehog signaling pathway activity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2022 Xiao Lyu et al.)

Temperature is one of the most important factors for drying edible mushrooms. To evaluate the effects of different hot-air drying (HAD) temperatures on the umami taste and aroma profile of Suillus granulatus (S. granulatus) mushrooms, we measured umami substances and volatile compounds of S. granulatus dried at 40°C, 50°C, 60°C, 70°C, and 80°C. Results showed that when dried at 60°C, S. granulatus exhibited significantly higher (p < 0.05) equivalent umami concentration, taste activity values of glutamic acid (Glu) and 5'-guanosine monophosphate (5'-GMP), and electronic tongue umami sensory scores. The results identified a total of 71 volatile components of which geranylacetone, benzaldehyde, phenylethyl alcohol, and 3-methylbutanoic acid were the dominant compounds. Sensory evaluation and relative odor activity values (ROAVs) revealed that 16 volatile compounds were the key volatile organic compounds contributing mushroom-like and sweet odor to the overall aroma of S. granulatus; these included 1-octen-3-ol (ROAV: 15.11-62.06) and ethyl phenylacetate (ROAV: 13.62-79.11). The drying temperature changed the aroma profile of S. granulatus. Furthermore, the mushroom dried at 60°C had a more desirable mushroom-like and almond odor. It was, therefore, proposed that HAD at 60°C was optimal for retaining a pleasant flavor in S. granulatus. This study provides a theoretical basis for the optimal drying condition selection for the mushroom processing industry. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Hot-air drying at 60°C can significantly retain the flavor of S. granulatus and is an optimal temperature for mushroom drying., (© 2022 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Background: Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) is a widespread and often deadly neoplasm. There is increasing evidence that necroptosis mediates numerous tumor-associated behaviors, as well as the regulation of the tumor microenvironment, suggesting its use as a biomarker for tumor prognosis. Methods: Data on mRNA expression and necroptosis regulators were acquired from the TCGA and KEGG databases, respectively. Clinical liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) patient data and information on the expression of necroptosis regulators were processed by unsupervised cluster analysis was performed on LIHC patients together with necroptotic regulator expression and, differentially expressed necroptosis-related genes (DENRGs) were identified by comparing the two clusters. A signature based on eight DENRGs was constructed and verified through independent data sets, and its relationship with the tumor microenvironment was investigated. Results: Unsupervised cluster analysis demonstrated inherent immune differences among LIHC patients. In all, 1,516 DENRGs were obtained by comparison between the two clusters. In the training set, the final eight genes obtained by univariate, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression were utilized for constructing the signature. The survival and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve achieved satisfactory results in both sets. The high-risk group was characterized by greater immune infiltration and poor prognosis. The results of survival analysis based on the expression of eight DENRGs further confirmed the signature. Conclusion: We established and validated a risk signature based on eight DERNGs related to the tumor microenvironment. This provides a possible explanation for the different clinical effects of immunotherapy and provides a novel perspective for predicting tumor prognosis in LIHC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Ding, Sun, Guo, Wang, Li, Zhang, Lv and Qiu.)

Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death that participates in diverse physiological processes. Increasing evidence suggests that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate ferroptosis in tumors, including stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD). In the present study, RNA‑sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and ferroptosis‑related markers from the FerrDb data resource were analyzed to select differentially expressed lncRNAs. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed on these differentially expressed lncRNAs to screen 12 lncRNAs linked with overall survival (OS) and 13 associated with progression‑free survival (PFS). Subsequently, two signatures for predicting OS and PFS were established based on these lncRNAs. Kaplan‑Meier analyses indicated that the high‑risk group of patients with STAD had relatively poor prognosis. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of the two signatures indicated their excellent efficacy in predicting STAD prognosis. In addition, the effect of the lncRNA LASTR on proliferation and migration in gastric cancer was confirmed and the relationship between LASTR and ferroptosis was initially explored through experiments. These results provide potential novel targets for tumor treatment and promote personalized medicine.

Objectives: This study sought to provide contemporary data from a multi-institution with respect to DNA-repair genes (DRGs) status and its impact on effects of platinum-based chemotherapy in treatment-emergent neuroendocrine prostate cancer (t-NEPC), for which little data exist., Patients and Methods: All patients were retrospectively collected with eligible biopsied tissues for targeted next generation sequencing (NGS). The main outcomes were radiologic progression-free survival and overall survival according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1., Results: Among the 43 NEPC patients, 13/43 (30%) harbored homozygous deletions, deleterious mutations, or both in DRGs. Eleven patients (11/13, 85%) with DRGs aberrations had effective response, including 7 patients with BRCA1/2 defects and 2 with mismatch repair-deficient caused by MSH2 alterations. While significantly fewer responders (30%) were detected in patients without DRGs aberrations (odds ratio = 12.83, p = 0.003). Compared with patients without genomic DRGs aberrations, the hazard ratio (HR) for radiologic progression in those with DRGs defects was 0.42 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.93), and the HR for death was 0.65 (95% CI: 0.24-1.72). The most common adverse event of Grade 3 or 4 was anemia, as noted in 7 patients (16%)., Conclusion: The DRGs status is therapeutically meaningful in t-NEPC. Given the potential responses to platinum-based chemotherapy, our findings support the clinical use of NGS in t-NEPC patients to identify DRGs aberrations., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Umami and aroma are important flavor qualities of edible mushrooms, and packaging can maintain or improve the flavor during storage. This study explored the effects of light-proof packaging (LPP), light-transparent packaging (LTP), vacuum light-proof packaging (VLPP), and vacuum light-transparent packaging (VLTP) on umami taste and aroma of dried Suillus granulatus. Monosodium glutamate-like amino acid content, equivalent umami concentration, and electronic tongue umami sensory scores in VLTP were higher at 2, 4, and 6 months and higher in LTP at 8 and 10 months. Principal component analysis of aroma components showed that the comprehensive scores were higher for the transparent packaging. Ketones and pyrazines were more abundant in transparent packaging. Flavor quality was better at 4-6 months, based on the equivalent umami concentration and the concentration of eight-carbon compounds that contribute to aroma. Transparent packaging is a promising way to optimize the flavor of dried Suillus granulatus., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide due to the lack of early diagnostic markers and specific drugs. Previous studies have shown the association of LUAD growth with aberrant alternative splicing (AS). Herein, clinical data of 535 tumor tissues and 59 normal tissues were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Each sample was analyzed using the ESTIMATE algorithm; a comparison between higher and lower score groups (stromal or immune) was made to determine the overall- and progression-free survival-related differentially expressed AS (DEAS) events. We then performed unsupervised clustering of these DEASs, followed by determining their relationship with survival rate, immune cells, and the tumor microenvironment (TME). Next, two prognostic signatures were developed using bioinformatics tools to explore the prognosis of cases with LUAD. Five OS- and six PFS-associated DEAS events were implemented to establish a prognostic risk score model. When compared to the high-risk group (HRG), the PFS and OS of the low-risk group (LRG) were found to be considerable. Additionally, a better prognosis was found considerably associated with the ESTIMATE score of the patients as well as immune cells infiltration. Our analysis of AS events in LUAD not only helps to clarify the tumorigenesis mechanism of AS but also provides ideas for revealing potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

In this work casein (CN) was used as a carrier system for the hydrophobic agent α-tocopherol (α-TOC), and an amphiphilic self-assembling micellar nanostructure was formed with ultrasound treatment. The interaction mechanism was detected with UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, proton spectra, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The stability of the nanoparticles was investigated by using typical processing and storage conditions (thermal, photo, 20 ± 2 °C and 4 ± 2 °C). Oil-in-water emulsions containing the self-assembled nanoparticles and grape seed oil were prepared, and the effect of emulsion oxidation stability was studied using the accelerated Rancimat method. The results indicated that the UV-Vis spectra of α-TOC/CN nanoparticles complexes were different for ultrasonic treatments performed with different combinations of power (100, 200, 300 W) and time (5, 10, and 15 min). The results of UV-Vis fluorescence spectrum data indicated that the secondary structure of casein changed in the presence of α-TOC. The nanoparticles exhibited the chemical shifts of conjugated double bonds. Interactions between α-TOC and casein at different molar concentrations resulted in a quenching of the intrinsic fluorescence at 280 nm and 295 nm. Moreover, by performing FTIR deconvolution analysis and multicomponent peak modeling, the relative quantitative amounts of α-helix and β-sheet protein secondary structures were determined. The self-assembled nanoparticles can improve the stability of α-TOC by protecting them against degradation caused by light and oxygen. The antioxidant activity of the nanoparticles was stronger than those of the two free samples. Lipid hydroperoxides remained at a low level throughout the course of the study in emulsions containing 200 mg α-TOC/kg oil with the nanoparticles. The presence of 100 and 200 mg α-TOC/kg oil led to a 78.54 and 63.54 μmol/L inhibition of TBARS formation with the nanoparticles, respectively, vs the free samples containing control after 180 mins., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Kruppel-like factors (KLFs) play an important role in many biological processes including cell proliferation, differentiation and development. Our study showed that the level of KLF9 is lower in PCa cell lines compared to a benign prostate cell line; the androgen-independent cell line PC3 expresses significantly lower KLF9 than the androgen-dependent cell line, LNCaP. Forced overexpression of KLF9 suppressed cell growth, colony formation, and induced cell apoptosis in LNCaP cells. We also found that KLF9 expression was induced in response to apoptosis caused by flutamide, and further addition of dihydrotestosterone antagonized the action of flutamide and significantly decreased KLF9 expression. Furthermore, activation of the androgen receptor (AR) was inhibited by the overexpression of KLF9. Our research shows that KLF9 is lower in androgen-independent cell lines than in androgen-dependent cell lines; Overexpression of KLF9 dramatically suppresses the proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, and induces apoptosis in androgen-dependent cells; KLF9 inhibition on prostate cancer cell growth may be acting through the AR pathway. Our results therefore suggest that KLF9 may play a significant role in the transition from androgen-dependent to androgen-independent prostate cancer and is a potential target of prevention and therapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Optical metasurfaces hold great potential for near-eye display applications with high optical efficiency, light-weight and compactness. Taking advantage of optical resonances in subwavelength features, metasurfaces can diffract optical beams at RGB primary colors efficiently, forming superimposed virtual images over a real-world scene with merely a single glass substrate in augmented realities (AR) applications. We report for the first time a metasurface with double or triple nano-beams in each period for high angle diffraction with a uniform efficiency at RGB wavelengths. An efficiency as high as 30-40% of the first diffraction order is obtained across field of view, allowing a single piece of AR glass for light in-coupling to deliver image uniformly. The underlying physics is investigated through systematic full-vector numerical simulations. It is found that strong resonances inside the nano-beams with different sizes are the main reason for the deflection of wavefront as well as the Poynting vectors, leading to an efficient coupling of the incident light into the first-order diffraction. The resonances also manipulate the light absorption among the RGB colors for uniform efficiency. This work provides a new understanding of optimal metasurface structure for waveguide couplers using multiple nano-beams.

In this study, headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, multivariate analyses, and transcriptomics were used to explore the biosynthesis of key volatiles and the formation of spores in Lentinula ( L. ) edodes . Among the 50 volatiles identified, 1-octen-3-ol, phenethyl alcohol, and several esters were considered key aromas because of their higher odor activity values. Eleven volatiles were screened as biomarkers by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, and hierarchical cluster analysis showed that these biomarkers could represent all volatiles to distinguish the spore release stage. The activities of lipoxygenase (LOX), hydroperoxide lyase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and alcohol acyltransferase were higher in L. edodes with spore release. Moreover, linolenic acid and phenylalanine metabolism were involved in aroma biosynthesis. One LOX-related gene and five aryl alcohol dehydrogenase-related genes could regulate the biosynthesis of 1-octen-3-ol, phenethyl alcohol, and phenylacetaldehyde. In addition, several key genes were involved in meiosis to regulate sporulation.

A plasmonic sensing platform was developed as a noninvasive method to monitor gas-phase biomarkers related to cystic fibrosis (CF). The nanohole array (NHA) sensing platform is based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and offers a rapid data acquisition capability. Among the numerous gas-phase biomarkers that can be used to assess the lung health of CF patients, acetaldehyde was selected for this investigation. Previous research with diverse types of sensing platforms, with materials ranging from metal oxides to 2-D materials, detected gas-phase acetaldehyde with the lowest detection limit at the µmol/mol (parts-per-million (ppm)) level. In contrast, this work presents a plasmonic sensing platform that can approach the nmol/mol (parts-per-billion (ppb)) level, which covers the required concentration range needed to monitor the status of lung infection and find pulmonary exacerbations. During the experimental measurements made by a spectrometer and by a smartphone, the sensing examination was initially performed in a dry air background and then with high relative humidity (RH) as an interferent, which is relevant to exhaled breath. At a room temperature of 23.1 °C, the lowest detection limit for the investigated plasmonic sensing platform under dry air and 72% RH conditions are 250 nmol/mol (ppb) and 1000 nmol/mol (ppb), respectively.

Objective: The aim of this study was to use bioinformatic analyses to identify key genes and pathways driving gastric cancer (GC). Materials and Methods: The gene expression profiles, from human gastric tissue samples were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE)29272 dataset. These data revealed 284 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that included a group upregulated in cancer tissues ( n  = 142) and another group that were downregulated in cancer tissues. ( n  = 142). These DEGs were identified using the GEO2R. We used multiple online analysis tools, including, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), protein-protein interaction networks, gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA), and the cBio Cancer Genomics Portal (cBioportal) database. Next, we identified the most significant DEGs using the Kaplan-Meier plotter (KM-plotter) database. Multiple bioinformatic platforms were used to identify candidate prognostic marker genes. We then analyzed freshly frozen GC tissues for the expression of these marker genes to validate the informatic findings. Results: We identified three DEGs related to overall survival from our analyses of the GEO data. Next, we analyzed these three DEGs in GEPIA and the cBioportal database and found that the biglycan ( BGN ) gene was related to invasion and metastases of GCs. This finding of differential gene expression was confirmed in a separate laboratory analysis of normal and GC tissues. In this analysis we found that high levels of BGN expression were correlated with GC clinicopathological characteristics, including microvascular tumor thrombus ( p  = 0.018), lymph node metastases ( p  = 0.013), and vessel invasion ( p  = 0.004). Conclusions: BGN expression levels appear to be an independent prognostic factor for predicting the survival times of GC patients.

Gastric cancer is one of the most common types of cancer; notably, gastric cancer is one of the top five malignancies with regards to incidence and mortality rates. The symptoms of early gastric cancer are not typical, exhibiting only slight upper abdominal discomfort. When the symptoms become more obvious, the lesion has usually progressed to an advanced stage. Notably, >90% of inpatients already have locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer at the time of initial diagnosis, with limited treatment options for advanced gastric cancer. These options include chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). With regards to ICIs, the clinical benefit of monotherapy for advanced gastric cancer is limited; however, combinations of ICIs and other therapies may have clinical benefit. Relevant clinical studies have demonstrated that combinations of ICIs with chemotherapy, anti-vascular targeted therapy or other molecular targeted therapies, and the use of two ICIs, improve outcomes for patients with advanced gastric cancer. This article is a review of progress in the use of ICIs in combination with other therapies for the treatment of gastric cancer. The purpose of this article was to advance gastric cancer immunotherapy and to improve the overall therapeutic benefit for patients with advanced gastric cancer., (Copyright: © Song et al.)

Background: Although the medical level is constantly improving, cancer is still a major disease that threatens human health, and very effective treatments have not been found. In recent years, studies have found that four-transmembrane superfamily proteins are involved in multiple stages of tumorigenesis and development, but their expression and function in tumors have not been systematically studied., Methods: We used the Oncomine database to analyze the mRNA expression levels of TSPAN family in various cancers. Then differentially expressed genes were screened out and verified by liver cancer, colorectal cancer, and gastric cancer cells by q-PCR and Western blot analysis. CCK8 and EDU analysis are used to detect cell proliferation, Cell wound scrape assay and Cell invasion assay are used to analyze cell invasion and metastasis. Nude tumor formation test used to verify the tumor suppressive effect of TSPAN7 in vivo., Results: Differential analysis of 33 TSPAN proteins revealed that a total of 11 proteins showed differential expression in 10% of independent analyses, namely TSPAN1, TSPAN3, TSPAN5, TSPAN6, TSPAN7, TSPAN8, TSPAN13, TSPAN25, TSPAN26, TSPAN29, TSPAN30. TSPAN7 is the only four-transmembrane protein with reduced expression in three types of digestive tract tumors, so we chose TSPAN7 to be selected for cellular and molecular level verification. We found that compared with normal cells, the expression of TSPAN7 in liver cancer cells was significantly reduced, while the expression of gastric and colon cancer was not significantly different from that of normal cells. In addition, we also found that the high expression of Tspan7 not only inhibited the proliferation of HCC-LM3 cells, but also inhibited its invasion and metastasis., Conclusions: Our study evaluated the expression and function of the TSPANs family in digestive cancers and explored TSPAN7 in hepatoma cells in detail. We found some members of the TSPAN family show significant expression differences between cancer and normal tissues, of which TSPAN7 may be a potential biomarker for liver cancer., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous disease and optimum gene targeting treatment is often impermissible. We aim to determine the intratumoral genomic heterogeneity of prostate cancer and explore candidate genes for targeted therapy. Exome sequencing was performed on 37 samples from 16 patients with prostate cancer. Somatic variant analysis, copy number variant (CNV) analysis, clonal evolution analysis and variant spectrum analysis were used to study the intratumoral genomic heterogeneity and genetic characteristics of metastatic prostate cancer. Our study confirmed the high intratumoral genetic heterogeneity of prostate cancer in many aspects, including number of shared variants, tumor mutation burden (TMB), variant genes, CNV burden, weighted genome instability index (wGII), CNV profiles, clonal evolutionary process, variant spectrum and mutational signatures. Moreover, we identified several common genetic characteristics of prostate cancer. Alterations of DNA damage repair genes, RTK/RAS pathway associated gene RASGRF1 and autophagy gene EPG5 may be involved in tumorigenesis in prostate cancer. CNV burden and DNA damage repair (DDR) genes may be associated with metastasis of prostate cancer., (© 2020 UICC.)

Background: Forkhead box K1 (FOXK1) is a transcription factor belonging to the Forkhead box (FOX) family and is closely related to the development of various cancers, but the functional mechanism through which FOXK1 regulates autophagy and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the acidic microenvironment of gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear., Results: Our results indicated that the inhibition of FOXK1 induced autophagy and thus exerted antimetastatic effects in an acidic microenvironment. The dual inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and FOXK1 enhanced autophagy and reversed EMT of acidic GC cells. In addition, FOXK1 activated transcription in conjunction with the MAZ promoter., Conclusion: Together, our results suggest that FOXK1 can be used as an independent prognostic indicator for GC patients. We also revealed a new strategy involving the cotargeting of FOXK1 and autophagy to reverse the effects of EMT. MAZ is involved in the development and progression of GC as a downstream target of FOXK1., Methods: Here, the cellular responses to the inhibition of FOXK1 in GC were studied in vivo and in vitro through wound healing assays, transwell assays, Western blotting, laser confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The molecular mechanisms of FOXK1 and Myc-associated zinc finger protein (MAZ) were studied via chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), bioinformatics, Western blotting, and quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR).

Background: Forkhead box K1 (FOXK1) is a transcription factor that contributes to cancer development, but it is unclear how FOXK1 regulates the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer (GC) cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance, biological function, and molecular mechanisms of FOXK1 in GC., Methods: We conducted bioinformatics assays and western blotting to assess FOXK1 expression. Then, we performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) with tissue microarrays (TMAs) to assess FOXK1 expression in order to identify an association between FOXK1 expression levels and clinical parameters. We used 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), wound healing and Transwell assays to determine whether FOXK1 promotes malignant behaviors in GC. Furthermore, immunofluorescence staining, transmission electron microscopy and western blotting were used to verify an association between FOXK1 and autophagy., Results: We observed high levels of FOXK1 expression in GC tissues, which were associated with the degree of malignancy in GC. FOXK1 promotes the malignant behavior of GC by regulating autophagy via activation of the class I phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and inhibition of the expression of class III PI3K., Conclusions: These findings provide a new target for the comprehensive treatment of GC by highlighting the relationship between FOXK1 and malignant behaviors in GC., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (2020 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Background: The issue of drug resistance in gastric cancer has attracted global attention. TSPAN9, a 4-transmembrane protein that plays an important role in tumor progression and signal transduction, has been found to be closely related to tumor invasion, metastasis, and autophagy., Methods: Immunoblotting was used to evaluate TSPAN9 expression in parental and drug-resistant gastric cancer cells. Functional assays, such as the CCK-8 assay, were used to detect the proliferation of gastric cancer cells and the response of TSPAN9 to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of constituents of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR-mediated autophagy pathway induced by TSPAN9. Coimmunoprecipitation was performed to assess the specific mechanism by which TSPAN9 affects the PI3K pathway., Results: We demonstrated that TSPAN9 is overexpressed in 5-FU-resistant cells compared to parental cells. 5-FU-mediated inhibition of cell proliferation can be significantly restored by increasing TSPAN9 expression, and inhibiting this expression in drug-resistant cells can restore the sensitivity of the cells to 5-FU. In addition, TSPAN9 also significantly promoted autophagy in gastric cancer cells in vitro. Further studies indicated that TSPAN9 downregulates the expression of PI3K and proteins associated with PI3K-mediated autophagy. In addition, TSPAN9 interacts with PI3K and inhibits its catalytic activity., Conclusion: The current study reveals the important role of TSPAN9 in drug resistance to 5-FU in gastric cancer. It also provides a new target to clinically address drug-resistant gastric cancer and will contribute to the treatment strategy of this disease., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

Context: In the management of bladder tumors bipolarenergy has been used as a common alternative to the conventional monopolar transurethral resection of the bladder (M-TURB)., Aim: This study aims to examine the clinical efficacy and safety of bipolar versus monopolar TURB tumors (TURBTs)., Subjects and Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases for the identification of prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the outcomes between the two procedures., The Statistical Tool: Meta-analysis was performed using the software Review Manager 5.3., Results: We identified nine RCTs involving 1193 patients. In terms of the surgical outcomes, there was no significant difference between the bipolar and monopolar TURBT. However, there was significantly reduced bladder perforation (risk ratio [RR] = 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30-0.77; P = 0.002) and shorter hospital stay (mean difference = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.83-0.03, P = 0.01) in the bipolar TURBT group. There was also a lower incidence of thermal damage, which causes histopathological artifacts for patients treated via bipolar TURBT relative to those treated via monopolar TURBT (RR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.55-0.78; P < 0.00001). P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. However, after bipolar and monopolar TURBT, we had no sufficient evidence regarding the recurrence rate., Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that the use of bipolar technology, which is associated with less bladder perforation and lower thermal artifacts in TURBT is safer and more effective., Competing Interests: None

Background: As deregulation of androgen receptor (AR) signaling target genes is associated with tumorigenesis and the development of prostate cancer (PCa), AR signaling is the primary therapeutic target for PCa. Although patients initially responses to first-line androgen deprivation therapies (ADTs), most of them with advanced PCa progress to lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Recent studies have suggested the molecular mechanisms by which AR elicit the robust up-regulation of the FKBP51 gene. We suggest that restored expression of FKBP51 gene, modulated by androgen receptor splicing variant 7 (AR-V7) which replaces full length androgen receptor (AR-FL) in androgen ablation status, promotes CRPC progression through activating NF-κB signaling., Methods: Immunohistochemistry assays were used to detect the expression of AR-V7, FKBP51 and NF-κB signaling correlated proteins in CRPC tissues. An androgen ablation resistant PCa cell line model established by Long-term culturing in androgen depleted medium, named androgen-independent LNCaP (LNCaP-AI) cells, were used to dynamically monitor FKBP51 expression during the process of androgen dependent PCa cells transforming into androgen-independent cells, as well as its association with NF-κB signal pathway. LNCaP-AI cell line was determined to express AR-V7 protein continuously. Luciferase reporter assays and DNA pull down were used to determine the association between AR-V7 and FKBP51., Results: Our results suggested that CRPC patients with AR-V7 high expression tend to have higher expression of FKBP51 and enhanced NF-κB signaling compared with AR-V7 negative patients. Knockdown of AR-V7 or FKBP51 in LNCaP-AI cells attenuated the level of p-NF-κB (Ser536) and androgen-resistant cells growth. Luciferase reporter assays and DNA pull down results indicated that FKBP51 was transcriptionally promoted by AR-V7 in absence of androgen, which enhanced NF-κB signaling., Conclusions: Because of upregulation of AR-V7 in androgen-independent PCa cells, increasing of FKBP51 induced NF-κB signaling, leading to progression of CRPC., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2019 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Background: Globally, the incidence and mortality rates of gastric cancer are high, and its poor prognosis is closely related to tumor recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms associated with the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells are important for gastric cancer treatment. Previously, TSPAN9 has been reported to inhibit gastric cancer cell migration; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear., Methods: Human gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines, SGC7901 and AGS, were cultured in vitro. TSPAN9 expression was determined by RT-PCR, western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry in gastric cancer and tumor-adjacent tissues. Following the over-expression and knockdown of TSPAN9, wound healing and cell invasion assays were performed and EMT-related protein expression was evaluated to analyze the invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells. TSPAN9 expression and the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cells were observed by the functional assays following EMILIN1 over-expression., Results: Inhibiting TSPAN9 expression significantly promoted the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells. In addition, immunofluorescence co-localization and co-immunoprecipitation analysis revealed closely related expression of EMILIN1 and TSPAN9. Moreover, EMILIN1 can synergistically boost the tumor suppressive effect of TSPAN9, which may be produced by promoting TSPAN9 expression., Conclusions: We have demonstrated that EMILIN1 induces anti-tumor effects by up-regulating TSPAN9 expression in gastric cancer. Hence, membrane proteins TSPAN9 and EMILIN1 may represent novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of gastric cancer.

The present work demonstrates development of a miniaturized plasmonic platform comprised of a Au nanohole array (NHA) on a Si/Si3N4 substrate. Plasmonic responses of the NHA platform, which is coated with Cu-benzenetricarboxylate metal organic framework (MOF), are found to be promising even towards 500 nmol mol-1 (ppb) of acetone or ethanol vapors at room temperature. The sensing characteristics are further investigated by varying the operating temperature (296 K to 318 K) of the sensor and the concentrations of vapors (500 nmol mol-1 to 320 μmol mol-1). The plasmonic responses for the sensors are correlated with the adsorption of vapors on the MOF surface and modeled in accordance to Langmuir-type adsorption. Kinetic parameters are estimated for the adsorption of fixed concentrations of acetone and ethanol vapors within the studied operating temperature range. The linear variation of characteristic response time constants with the operating temperature provides Arrhenius activation energies for the adsorption of acetone and ethanol vapors. The comparatively lower activation energy estimated for the adsorption of ethanol results in faster and more sensitive response of the sensor towards that analyte. The plasmonic sensor for the detection of nmol mol-1 level acetone and ethanol vapors at room temperature along with the kinetic correlation on plasmonic response with the adsorption of the analytes described herein offer new insights to existing reports on surface modification and plasmonic detection.

In PTEN-deficient prostate cancers, AKT signaling may be activated upon suppression of androgen receptor signaling. Activation of AKT as well as NF-κB signaling involves a key regulatory protein complex containing PHLPP, FKBP51 and IKKα. Here, we report a critical role of lncRNA PCAT1 in regulating the PHLPP/FKBP51/IKKα complex and progression of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Using database queries, bioinformatic analyses, as well as RIP and RNA pull-down assays, we discovered and validated that the lncRNA-PCAT1 perturbs the PHLPP/FKBP51/IKKα complex and activates AKT and NF-κB signaling. Expression of lncRNA-PCAT1 is positively linked to CRPC progression. PCAT1 binds directly to FKBP51, displacing PHLPP from the PHLPP/FKBP51/IKKα complex, leading to activation of AKT and NF-κB signaling. Targeting PCAT1 restores PHLPP binding to FKBP1 leading to suppression of AKT signaling. Preclinical study in a mouse model of CRPC suggests therapeutic potential by targeting lncRNA PCAT1 to suppress CRPC progression. Together, the newly identified PCAT1/FKBP51/IKKα complex provides mechanistic insight in the interplay between AKT, NF-κB and AR signaling in CRPC, and the preclinical studies suggest that a novel role for PCAT1 as a therapeutic target., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

Gastric cancer has become a serious disease in the past decade. It has the second highest mortality rate among the four most common cancer types, leading to ~700,000 mortalities annually. Previous studies have attempted to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms of gastric cancer. The present study aimed to obtain useful biomarkers and to improve the understanding of gastric cancer mechanisms at the genetic level. The present study used bioinformatics analysis to identify 1,829 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which were obtained from the GSE54129 dataset. Using protein‑protein interaction information from the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes database, disease modules were constructed for gastric cancer using Cytoscape software. In the Gene Ontology analysis of biology processes, upregulated genes were significantly enriched in 'extracellular matrix organization', 'cell adhesion' and 'inflammatory response', whereas downregulated DEGs were significantly enriched in 'xenobiotic metabolic process', 'oxidation‑reduction process' and 'steroid metabolic process'. During Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, upregulated DEGs were significantly enriched in 'extracellular matrix‑receptor interaction', 'focal adhesion' and 'PI3K‑Akt signaling pathway', whereas the downregulated DEGs were significantly enriched in 'chemical carcinogenesis', 'metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450' and 'peroxisome'. The present study additionally identified 10 hub genes from the DEGs: Tumor protein p53 (TP53), C‑X‑C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8), tetraspanin 4 (TSPAN4), lysophosphatidic acid receptor 2 (LPAR2), adenylate cyclase 3 (ADCY3), phosphoinositide‑3‑kinase regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1), neuromedin U (NMU), C‑X‑C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL12), fos proto‑oncogene, AP‑1 transcription factor subunit (FOS) and sphingosine‑1‑phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1), which have high degrees with other DEGs. The survival analysis revealed that the high expression of ADCY3, LPAR2, S1PR1, TP53 and TSPAN4 was associated with a lower survival rate, whereas high expression of CXCL8, FOS, NMU and PIK3R1 was associated with a higher survival rate. No significant association was identified between CXCL12 and survival rate. Additionally, TSPAN1 and TSPAN8 appeared in the top 100 DEGs. Finally, it was observed that 4 hub genes were highly expressed in gastric cancer tissue compared with para‑carcinoma tissue in the 12 patients; the increased TSPAN4 was significant (>5‑fold). Tetraspanin family genes may be novel biomarkers of gastric cancer. The findings of the present study may improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of gastric cancer.

Background/aims: Previous studies have shown that FOXO3, a member of the forkhead box O (FOXO) family, regulates autophagy in various cells. To date, whether the induction of autophagy in gastric cancer (GC) cells is triggered by an acidic microenvironment is unclear. Little is known about the relationship between FOXO3 and acidic microenvironments in GC. The aims of our study were to investigate the roles of FOXO3 and the acidic microenvironment in autophagy and to determine how FOXO3 and the acidic microenvironment regulate GC cell growth through autophagy., Methods: We cultured human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells in media with different pH values in vitro, transfected the cells with FOXO3a plasmids and then detected autophagy in the cells under different conditions. In addition, we also performed cell counting kit 8 (CCK8), wound and cell invasion assays to test cell viability and invasion, respectively. We employed real-time PCR, western blotting and mRFP-GFP-LC3 vectors to detect the expression of various autophagy indicators., Results: We found that cells treated with FOXO3 and exposed to an acidic microenvironment displayed suppressed growth compared with control cells. We also found that the protein expression levels of several autophagy makers, such as LC3I, LC3II and Beclin-1, were higher in FOXO3 plasmid-transfected AGS cells cultured in an acidic microenvironment than in control cells, while P62 protein expression levels were clearly decreased in FOXO3 plasmid-transfected cells compared with control cells. Moreover, we observed autophagic flux in AGS cells overexpressing FOXO3 and exposed to low pH conditions., Conclusion: These findings suggest that FOXO3 inhibits AGS cell growth by promoting autophagy in an acidic microenvironment. Furthermore, the results showed that anticancer therapies targeting FOXO3 and low pH conditions may be useful in the treatment of GC., (© 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is one of the main contributors to the death of prostate cancer patients. To date, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying mCRPC are unclear. Given the crucial role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer metastasis, we aimed to analyse the expression and function of Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signal-associated protein named Sox5 in mCRPC., Methods: The protein expression levels were analysed by western blot, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation were employed to validate the target of Sox5. The effect of Smad3/Sox5/Twist1 on PCa progression was investigated in vitro and in vivo., Results: Here, we found that TGF-β-induced EMT was accompanied by increased Sox5 expression. Interestingly, knockdown of Sox5 expression attenuated EMT induced by TGF-β signalling. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Smad3 could bind to the promoter of Sox5 and regulate its expression. Mechanistically, Sox5 could bind to Twist1 promoter and active Twist1, which initiated EMT. Importantly, knockdown of Sox5 in prostate cancer cells resulted in less of the mesenchymal phenotype and cell migration ability. Furthermore, targeting Sox5 could inhibit prostate cancer progression in a xenograft mouse model. In clinic, patients with high Sox5 expression were more likely to suffer from metastases, and high Sox5 expression also has a lower progression-free survival and cancer specific-survival in clinic database., Conclusions: Therefore, we propose a new mechanism in which Smad3/Sox5/Twist1 promotes EMT and contributes to PCa progression.

Background: The independent prognostic role of squamous differentiation in pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma has not been reported in previous studies. This article describes the impact of squamous differentiation on tumor recurrence and survival, and whether this histologic variant could indeed alter definitive treatment, based on single center-based retrospective data., Methods: Totally, we retrieved (1)1449 histologically confirmed pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients without histologic variants; (2)227 pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients with squamous differentiation in our institution, from May 2004 to Oct 2015. The total amount of high/low grade urothelial carcinoma patients was 991/685 respectively. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) and intravesical chemotherapy were performed as initial treatments for all the patients. The clinical and pathological characteristics, treatment and survival outcomes were compared between squamous differentiation-positive and squamous differentiation-negative patients., Results: In our study, 14% urothelial carcinoma patients were detected with squamous differentiation. The mean age of all the patients examined was 66.4, of whom 82% were males. The 5-year cancer specific survival rates were 69% for squamous differentiation-positive patients and 91% for squamous differentiation-negative patients (p < 0.001). Recurrence proved to be more common in squamous differentiation-positive patients than in negative patients. In the results of the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, recurrence and squamous differentiation were confirmed to be the prognostic factors associated with patients' survival., Conclusions: Squamous differentiation in pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma is correlated to high risk of recurrence and poor prognosis as an independent prognostic factor. Radical cystectomy is essential for recurred high grade pT1 bladder urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation accompanied by lymphovascular invasion.

Objective: Because of the short potential doubling time of esophageal cancer, there is a theoretical benefit to using an accelerated radiation treatment schedule. This study evaluates outcomes and treatment-related mortality and morbidity of patients treated with neoadjuvant hyperfractionated accelerated chemoradiation for resectable esophageal cancer., Methods and Materials: Outcomes from 250 consecutive patients with resectable esophageal cancer treated with preoperative hyperfractionated accelerated chemoradiotherapy (45 Gy in 30 twice-daily fractions over 3 weeks) followed by planned transhiatal esophagectomy were analyzed. Grade 3 or greater treatment related toxicity, surgical complications, and treatment-related mortality were determined. Additionally, available surgical specimens were graded for pathological response to chemoradiation. Overall survival (OS) and locoregional control were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The log rank test was used to determine statistical significance., Results: Median follow-up was 59 months for surviving patients; 87% of patients had adenocarcinoma and 13% had squamous cell carcinoma. Eleven percent of patients did not have surgery because of the development of metastases, declining performance status, or refusal. Twenty-seven patients were found to have unresectable and/or metastatic disease at the time of surgery. Overall, 10 of 223 operated patients died within 3 months, resulting in a perioperative mortality rate of 4%. Median OS was 28.4 months (95% confidence interval, 22.3-35.6 months) for all patients and 35.1 months (95% confidence interval, 27.4-47 months) for patients who underwent esophagectomy. There were 32 isolated locoregional failures with a 3-year locoregional control rate of 83%. Of 129 patients who had independent pathology review, 29% had complete response to treatment. This group had a median OS of 98.9 months and 3-year OS of 74%., Conclusion: Neoadjuvant twice-daily chemoradiation for esophageal cancer is a safe and effective alternative to daily fractionation with low treatment-related mortality and long-term outcomes similar to standard fractionation courses.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) originating from the colon is rare. In terms of its clinicopathological characteristics, this type of cancer has been reported to be more aggressive and have a worse prognosis compared with adenocarcinoma. We herein present a successful therapeutic approach applying neoadjuvant and adjuvant gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in a patient with colon SCC. A 58-year-old male patient received two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with a regimen including gemcitabine, oxaliplatin and capecitabine, followed by radical excision and six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography and serum tumor markers were used for reassessment and evaluation was based on the World Health Organization criteria. Following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the mass had shrunk and the patient was classed as having stable disease. Surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy were then performed and the patient had achieved a progression-free survival of 10 months when this report was submitted. Therefore, gemcitabine may be a treatment option for colon SCC in the neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant chemotherapy setting.

Tetraspanins are a large superfamily of glycoproteins, which are engaged in a wide range of specific molecular interactions by forming tetraspanin-enriched microdomains. Tetraspanin 9 (Tspan9) is a previously poorly studied tetraspanin gene, which was predominantly identified as an amplified gene in serous Fallopian tube carcinoma. However, the expression and role of Tspan9 in gastric cancer have yet to be fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression and clinical significance of Tspan9 in gastric cancer. In the present study, 105 gastric cancer tissue samples and corresponding adjacent normal samples were detected for Tspan9 expression using immunohistochemistry; furthermore, the association between clinical characteristics and Tspan9 expression was also analyzed. Tspan9 expression was determined to be significantly lower in cancer samples compared with those in corresponding adjacent normal samples (P<0.001). However, its increased levels of expression in cancer samples appeared to demonstrate a poorer prognostic tendency, which is associated with deeper tumor depth (P=0.025), more nodal involvement (P=0.01), more advanced tumor/lymph node/metastasis (TNM) stages (P=0.017) and a larger tumor size (P=0.026). Additionally, multivariate analysis demonstrated that high expression of Tspan9 was an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival (P<0.01). These results suggested that Tspan9 may be used as a potential prognostic factor in gastric cancer.

Plasmonic color filters in mass production have been restricted from current fabrication technology, which impede their applications. Soft-X-ray interference lithography (XIL) has recently generated considerable interest as a newly developed technique for the production of periodic nano-structures with resolution theoretically below 4 nm. Here we ameliorate XIL by adding an order sorting aperture and designing the light path properly to achieve perfect-stitching nano-patterns and fast fabrication of large-area color filters. The fill factor of nanostructures prepared on ultrathin Ag films can largely affect the transmission minimum of plasmonic color filters. By changing the fill factor, the color can be controlled flexibly, improving the utilization efficiency of the mask in XIL simultaneously. The calculated data agree well with the experimental results. Finally, an underlying mechanism has been uncovered after systematically analyzing the localized surface plasmon polaritons (LSPPs) coupling in electric field distribution.

Plasmonic color filters inherently suffer from angular sensitiveness, which hinder them from practical applications. Here, we present a plasmonic subtractive color filter incorporating two-dimensional randomly distributed silver nanodisks on top of a glass substrate. Due to the elimination of structural periodicity, the proposed plasmonic color filter works via localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) and thus enables excellent angle-insensitive (up to 60°) performance. In addition, uncoupled LSPRs between nanodisks guarantee stability and reproducibility of the color filter. Finally, a palette of colors across the visible region was obtained with the proposed color filters by simply varying the diameter of nanodisks, exhibiting a promising and robust applicability in digital imaging and sensing industries.

Catalase is an important endogenous antioxidant enzyme that detoxifies hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water, thus limiting the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species. Several studies investigated the role of the Catalase (CAT) C-262T gene polymorphism on the risk of prostate cancer (PCa), but get conflicting results. We performed a meta-analysis based on five studies, to determine whether Catalase C-262T polymorphism contributes to the risk of prostate cancer using odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). On the whole, our evidence indicates that CAT C-262T polymorphism significantly increases PCa risk in the allele comparison model (OR=1.094, 95% CI=1.015-1.178, P=0.018). In the stratified analysis by ethnicity, the same results are found among Caucasians (allele model, OR=1.090, 95% CI=1.009-1.177, P=0.028, dominant model, OR=1.108, 95% CI=1.023-1.201, P=0.012, recessive model, OR=1.379, 95% CI=1.158-1.641, P=0.000, homozygous model, OR=1.429, 95% CI=1.196-1.707, P=0.000, and heterozygote model, OR=1.224, 95% CI=1.020-1.469, P=0.030). In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests a positive correlation between Catalase C-262T polymorphism and the development of PCa., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been linked to cancer stem-like (CD44+) cell in the prostate cancer (PCa) metastasis. However, the molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here, we found EMT contributed to metastasis in PCa patients failed in androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Castration TRAMP model also proved PCa treated with ADT promoted EMT with increased CD44+ stem-like cells. Switched CD44+ cell to EMT cell is a key step for luminal PCa cell metastasis. Our results also suggested ADT might go through promoting TGFβ1-CD44 signaling to enhance swift to EMT. Targeting CD44 with salinomycin and siRNA could inhibit cell transition and decrease PCa invasion. Together, cancer stem-like (CD44+) cells could be the initiator cells of EMT modulated by TGFβ1-CD44 signaling. Combined therapy of ADT with anti-CD44 may become a new potential therapeutic approach to battle later stage PCa.

The aim of this study is to explore the oncological outcomes of hypofractionated radiotherapy for patients with prostate cancer. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library prior to April 2014 and references of relevant original papers and review articles. Unpublished data from meeting abstracts were supplemented. Studies comparing hypofractionated with conventionally fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT) on oncological outcomes of patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were included. Twelve distinct datasets involving 4,572 participants from 13 papers were eligible for this meta-analysis. The biochemical failure rate (BFR) decreases significantly in the hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) group for approximately 30 % (11-43 %). However, no significantly lower prostate cancer-specific survival and overall survival in HFRT group were observed. In subgroup analyses, HFRT without radiation doses reduction was especially effective in controlling BFR (HR = 0.71, 95 % CI 0.53-0.95; P = 0.02). Compared to CFRT, HFRT only yield a consistent advantage on BFR in high-risk patients (HR = 0.61, 95 % CI 0.46-0.82; P = 0.001). Moreover, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) had no effect on two radiotherapies in controlling BFR. HFRT improves biochemical failure-free survival in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. Further well-designed trial is needed to confirm our findings.