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CircRNAs have been proven to play a pivotal role in cancer progression. The present study aims to explore the roles and related mechanisms of circSETD2 in breast cancer proliferation, migration and invasion. The expression of circSETD2 in BC was assessed by the GEO database and qRT‒PCR. The biological function and underlying molecular mechanism of circSETD2 in BC were explored using in vitro and in vivo experiments, including CCK8, transwell, RIP, western blot, and xenograft mouse models. The expression of circSETD2 was downregulated in BC tumors, in accordance with the GEO database. Overexpression of circSETD2 significantly suppressed cell growth, cell migration and invasion. Mechanistically, circSETD2 reduced the stabilization of YAP1 by competitively binding with HuR, resulting in inactivation of downstream targets such as CTGF, myc and Slug. Our work suggests that the novel signaling axis circSETD2/HuR/YAP1 plays an important role in BC progression. The molecular mechanism underlying this signaling axis may provide a potential therapeutic target for BC treatment.

In the present study, photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction over TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 catalysts in the presence of formic acid was explored to eliminate Pb(II) pollution in water. Ag/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by the photo-deposition method and characterized using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra, X-ray reflection diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Ag deposition on TiO2 led to enhanced photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction and the Ag/TiO2 catalyst with a Ag loading amount of 0.99 wt.% exhibited the optimum photocatalytic activity. For Pb(II) reduction over Ag/TiO2 with a Ag loading amount of 0.99 wt.%, initial Pb(II) reduction rate was found to be dependent on the initial concentrations of formic acid and Pb(II). Increasing initial Pb(II) concentration led to linearly increased initial Pb(II) reduction rate. At low formic acid concentration, in parallel, initial Pb(II) reduction rates increased with formic concentration, but remained nearly identical at high formic acid concentration. Solution pH impacted the photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction and after irradiation for 100 min Pb(II) was removed by 11.8%, 91.2% and 98.6% at pH of 0.8, 2.0 and 3.5, respectively, indicative of enhanced Pb(II) reduction with pH in the tested pH range. The results showed that Ag/TiO2 displayed superior catalytic activity to TiO2, highlighting the potential of using Ag/TiO2 as a more effective catalyst for photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract Highly dispersed ZrO 2 particles confined in the MIL-101 (denoted as MIL-101@Zr(DS)) with varied ZrO 2 loading amounts were prepared by the double solvents method. For comparison, ZrO 2 loaded MIL-101 samples were synthesized by the conventional impregnation method (denoted as MIL-101@Zr(I)) and the deposition method (denoted as MIL-101@Zr(D)). The characterization results indicated that for MIL-101@Zr(DS), ZrO 2 particles were dominantly confined in MIL-101 with a much higher dispersion as compared with MIL-101@Zr(I) and MIL-101@Zr(D). The maximum phosphate adsorption capacity and ZrO 2 content normalized phosphate adsorption capacity of the MIL-101@Zr(DS) were 21.28 mg P·g−1 and 1120.0 mg P·g−1, respectively. Additionally, the ZrO 2 content normalized phosphate adsorption capacity was significantly larger than that for MIL-101@Zr(I) and MIL-101@Zr(D) as well as the reported values for other Zr-based adsorbents. The effects of solution chemistry on phosphate adsorption to MIL-101@Zr(DS), MIL-101@Zr(I) and MIL-101@Zr(D) were also examined. Compared with MIL-101@Zr(I) and MIL-101@Zr(D), the adsorption of phosphate on MIL-101@Zr(DS) was less affected by the coexistence of anions and dissolved humic acid. Increasing pH from 3 to 12 led to decreased phosphate adsorption capacity of MIL-101@Zr(DS) from 10.38 mg P·g−1 to 2.03 mg P·g−1. Accordingly, used MIL-101@Zr(DS) could be effectively regenerated under alkaline conditions and exhibited stable adsorption-desorption performance. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • ZrO 2 nanoparticles confined in MIL-101 was first prepared by double solvents method. • ZrO 2 was dispersed at molecular level in MIL-101 pores due to the confinement effect. • ZrO 2 -loaded MIL-101 had an extraordinarily high efficiency for phosphate adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence suggests that B cells play important roles in inhibiting the immune response in autoimmune disorders and human tumors as well as murine tumor models. In an effort to explore the role of B cells in human breast cancer etiology, we examined the presence of CD19+B lymphocytes in 134 cases of invasive breast carcinoma (IBCa) and 31 breast fibroadenoma, and assessed its relationship with PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) expression in breast cancer. We found that the density of CD19+B lymphocytes was higher in IBCa compared with fibroadenoma, and significantly associated with increasing tumor grade, negative estrogen status. Similar findings were observed for the expression of IL-10 in IBCa. Meanwhile, CD19+B lymphocytes were shown to be highly coincident with PD-L1 and IL-10 in IBCa. We further demonstrated that CD19+B cells can differentiate into CD19+CD24+CD38+B cells when co-cultured with PD-L1hiMDA-MB231 cells. In addition, the percentage of CD19+CD24+CD38+B cells was higher in breast tissue and peripheral blood cells of IBCa patients than that of benign tumor and health individuals. And CD19+CD24+CD38+B cells were found to be IL-10 secreting B cells. Finally, we showed that CD19+B cells from IBCa patients but not healthy individuals induced formation of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+T cells when co-cultured with T cells from IBCa patients and healthy subjects (80.4% and 30.8% respectively). The induction of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+T cells by CD19+B cells was further shown to be mediated by PD-L1. Together, these results are suggestive of a role for CD19+B lymphocytes in immune suppression and tumor evasion via PD-L1 in breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Liquid catalytic hydrogenation is a green and cost-effective technique for the reductive removal of pollutants in water. Supported noble metals are the most frequently used catalysts in liquid phase catalytic hydrogenation, whereas marked catalyst deactivation is commonly identified. In this study, we coated supported Pd catalyst on carbon nanotube (denoted as Pd/CNT) by different overcoatings (including SiO 2 , carbon and N-doped carbon) to prevent catalyst deactivation. The activities of the coated catalysts for liquid phase catalytic hydrogenation reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) differed with the overcoating properties. Negligible Cr(VI) conversion was observed on SiO 2 coated Pd/CNT, while feasible Cr(VI) reduction was identified on carbon coated (denoted as Pd/CNT@C) and N-doped carbon coated catalysts (denoted as Pd/CNT@CN). Pd/CNT@CN exhibited a much higher catalytic activity than Pd/CNT@C, which was ascribed to the stronger Cr(VI) adsorption on CN overcoating. The catalytic activity of Pd/CNT@CN was positively correlated with the conductivity and hydrophilicity of CN overcoating, which could be optimized by varying carbonization temperature. Furthermore, Pd/CNT@CN retained its initial activity after ten consecutive catalyst cycles without any deactivation, whereas Pd/CNT only retained 8.2% of its initial activity, reflecting much higher catalytic stability of Pd/CNT@CN than Pd/CNT. The findings in the present study highlight that liquid catalytic reduction using Pd/CNT@CN as the catalyst is a highly stable and effective method to remove Cr(VI) in water. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Pd supported on carbon nanotubes was coated by overcoatings for Cr(VI) reduction. • Coating by N-doped carbon (CN) enhanced stability of supported Pd catalyst. • CN coated Pd catalyst had a higher catalytic activity than other coated catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cr(VI) is a commonly identified heavy metal pollutant in the aquatic environment. In the present study, TiO2 nanotube (TNT) supported Pd (Pd/TNT) and commercial TiO2 (P25) supported Pd (Pd/TiO2) catalysts were prepared using the photo-deposition method and Cr(VI) reduction by catalytic hydrogenation over the catalysts were investigated. Compared with P25, TNT had much higher specific surface area and surface acidity, resulting in higher Pd dispersion on the catalyst support. Given a Pd loading amount of approximately 2.0wt.%, complete removal of Cr(VI) at an initial concentration of 1.92mM by catalytic hydrogenation over Pd/TNT and Pd/TiO2 was achieved in 30min and 50min, respectively. The higher catalytic activity of Pd/TNT was attributed to the combined effect of higher Pd dispersion and higher surface acidity on TNT. Increasing the initial concentration of Cr(VI) or pH suppressed the hydrogenation reduction due to the lowered availability of the support acid sites by Cr(VI) adsorption or deprotonation. The findings indicate that catalytic hydrogenation over Pd/TNT is a promising technique to reduce Cr(VI) in aqueous solutions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Understanding the molecular characteristics of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and developing more tailored treatment approaches is crucial. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), as potential therapeutic targets, remain largely unexplored in TNBC. This study utilized circRNA microarray analysis to determine the expression of circRNAs in TNBC, analyzing nine patient specimens. The characteristics of circBRAF were examined using divergent PCR primers, Sanger sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis, and the application of RNase and actinomycin D. The biological function of circBRAF in TNBC was further investigated through colony formation, tube formation, and transwell assays. Crucially, the mechanisms underlying the effects of circBRAF on TNBC progression were explored via RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (RIP-seq) data, MS2 pulldown, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, circBRAF knockdown, histone H3K9me3 modification, and Chromatin Isolation by RNA Purification (ChIRP) tests followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We focused particularly on hsa_circ_0007178, produced from exons 4-13 of the oncogene BRAF. Functional experiments revealed that circBRAF is crucial for the development of TNBC, with its knockdown preventing angiogenesis, metastasis, and cell division in vitro . Mechanistically, circBRAF interacts with KDM4B and IGF2BP3, promoting TNBC growth. Interaction of circBRAF with IGF2BP3 increased the expression of VCAN, FN1, CDCA3, or B4GALT3 by controlling mRNA stability through RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification. Furthermore, circBRAF upregulated the expression of ADAMTS14 and MMP9 through recruitment of KDM4B to enhance respective H3K9me3 modification. Furthermore, overexpression of circBRAF was able to overcome the inhibitory effects of siKDM4B and siIGF2BP3 on cell migration and invasion. Our findings suggest that circBRAF may act as an oncogene in TNBC through its specific interactions with KDM4B and IGF2BP3, implying that circBRAF could serve as a potentially effective novel therapeutic target for TNBC., Competing Interests: None., (AJCR Copyright © 2024.)

Accumulating evidence suggests that regulatory B cells (Bregs) play important roles in inhibiting the immune response in tumors. Programmed death 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) are important molecules that maintain the balance of the immune response and immune tolerance. This study aims to evaluate the soluble form of PD-L1 and its function in inducing the differentiation of B lymphocytes, investigate the relationship between soluble PD-L1 (sPD-L1) and B-cell subsets, and explore the antitumor activity of T lymphocytes after PD-L1 blockade in coculture systems. In an effort to explore the role of sPD-L1 in human breast cancer etiology, we examined the levels of sPD-L1 and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the serum of breast tumor patients and the proportions of B cells, PD-1 + B cells, Bregs, and PD-1 + Bregs in the peripheral blood of patients with breast tumors and assessed their relationship among sPD-L1, IL-10, and B-cell subsets. The levels of sPD-L1 and IL-10 in serum were found to be significantly higher in invasive breast cancer (IBCa) patients than in breast fibroadenoma (FIBma) patients. Meanwhile, the proportions and absolute numbers of Bregs and PD-1 + Bregs in the peripheral blood of IBCa patients were significantly higher than those of FIBma patients. Notably, they were the highest in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) among other subtypes of IBCa. Positive correlations of sPD-L1 and IL-10, IL-10 and PD-1 + Bregs, and also sPD-L1 and PD-1 + Bregs were observed in IBCa. We further demonstrated that sPD-L1 could induce Breg differentiation, IL-10 secretion, and IL-10 mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner in vitro . Finally, the induction of regulatory T cells (T regs ) by Bregs was further shown to suppress the antitumor response and that PD-L1 blockade therapies could promote the apoptosis of tumor cells. Together, these results indicated that sPD-L1 could mediate the differentiation of Bregs, expand CD4 + T regs and weaken the antitumor activity of CD4 + T cells. PD-L1/PD-1 blockade therapies might be a powerful therapeutic strategy for IBCa patients, particularly for TNBC patients with high level of PD-1 + Bregs., 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 Li, Du, Zhan, Liu, Wang, Lan, PuYang, Wan, Qu, Wang, Yang, Wang and Xie.)

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), which are considered to be important functional regulators in cancer, have provided a new perspective regarding our understanding of tumor biology, including that of breast cancer. To investigate the regulatory effect of circRPPH1 on cellular behaviors of breast cancer and the potential mechanism, the expression of circRPPH1 and miR-556-5p in breast cancer tissues and cell lines were examined by quantitative RT-PCR. The regulatory effects of the circRPPH1/miR-556-5p/YAP1 axis on cellular behaviors of breast cancer cells were evaluated through functional experiments in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. The relationship between circRPPH1 and miR-556-5p/YAP1 was assessed using dual-luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. PCR results showed that circRPPH1 levels were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues and breast cancer cells. Functionally, circRPPH1 promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis of breast cancer cell lines and tumor growth in vivo. Regarding the mechanism, dual-luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays showed that circRPPH1 was capable of sponging miR-556-5p to increase expression of the oncogene YAP1. Our data reveal that circRPPH1 plays a vital regulatory role in breast cancer via the miR-556-5p/YAP1 axis and may serve as a promising therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2020.)

Accumulating evidence suggests that B cells play important roles in inhibiting the immune response in autoimmune disorders and human tumors as well as murine tumor models. In an effort to explore the role of B cells in human breast cancer etiology, we examined the presence of CD19 + B lymphocytes in 134 cases of invasive breast carcinoma (IBCa) and 31 breast fibroadenoma, and assessed its relationship with PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) expression in breast cancer. We found that the density of CD19 + B lymphocytes was higher in IBCa compared with fibroadenoma, and significantly associated with increasing tumor grade, negative estrogen status. Similar findings were observed for the expression of IL-10 in IBCa. Meanwhile, CD19 + B lymphocytes were shown to be highly coincident with PD-L1 and IL-10 in IBCa. We further demonstrated that CD19 + B cells can differentiate into CD19 + CD24 + CD38 + B cells when co-cultured with PD-L1 hi MDA-MB231 cells. In addition, the percentage of CD19 + CD24 + CD38 + B cells was higher in breast tissue and peripheral blood cells of IBCa patients than that of benign tumor and health individuals. And CD19 + CD24 + CD38 + B cells were found to be IL-10 secreting B cells. Finally, we showed that CD19 + B cells from IBCa patients but not healthy individuals induced formation of CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + T cells when co-cultured with T cells from IBCa patients and healthy subjects (80.4% and 30.8% respectively). The induction of CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + T cells by CD19 + B cells was further shown to be mediated by PD-L1. Together, these results are suggestive of a role for CD19 + B lymphocytes in immune suppression and tumor evasion via PD-L1 in breast cancer.

Batch sorption isotherms of 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene, 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, and tetracycline to organic-free montmorillonites and soils receiving heat treatment (375°C for 24 h) were compared with those to unheated sorbents. Sorption of the nonpolar 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene to soil was lowered after the removal of humus by heating, consistent with the mechanism of hydrophobic partition into organic matter. For 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, the enhanced sorption to heated soils was attributed to specific interactions with exchangeable cations facilitated by heating-induced irreversible partial dehydration of the clay interlayer. For tetracycline, an additional mechanism for sorption enhancement could be due to increased exposure of strong complexation sites on clay minerals after removal of the humic coating. These hypotheses were supported by the sorption data to heated and unheated Na-, K-, and Cs-saturated montmorillonites. The combustion method is commonly adopted to measure the content of black carbon in soils and sediments. However, findings from the present study indicate that combustion may greatly modify the structural properties of clay minerals, leading to misinterpreted sorption contributions of different soil components to sorption of polar or ionic compounds., (Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.)

In the present study, photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction over TiO(2) and Ag/TiO(2) catalysts in the presence of formic acid was explored to eliminate Pb(II) pollution in water. Ag/TiO(2) catalysts were prepared by the photo-deposition method and characterized using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra, X-ray reflection diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Ag deposition on TiO(2) led to enhanced photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction and the Ag/TiO(2) catalyst with a Ag loading amount of 0.99 wt.% exhibited the optimum photocatalytic activity. For Pb(II) reduction over Ag/TiO(2) with a Ag loading amount of 0.99 wt.%, initial Pb(II) reduction rate was found to be dependent on the initial concentrations of formic acid and Pb(II). Increasing initial Pb(II) concentration led to linearly increased initial Pb(II) reduction rate. At low formic acid concentration, in parallel, initial Pb(II) reduction rates increased with formic concentration, but remained nearly identical at high formic acid concentration. Solution pH impacted the photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction and after irradiation for 100 min Pb(II) was removed by 11.8%, 91.2% and 98.6% at pH of 0.8, 2.0 and 3.5, respectively, indicative of enhanced Pb(II) reduction with pH in the tested pH range. The results showed that Ag/TiO(2) displayed superior catalytic activity to TiO(2), highlighting the potential of using Ag/TiO(2) as a more effective catalyst for photocatalytic Pb(II) reduction.

Adsorption of sulfapyridine, tetracycline, and tylosin to a commercial microporous activated carbon (AC) and its potassium hydroxide (KOH)-, CO-, and steam-treated counterparts (prepared by heating at 850°C) was studied to explore efficient adsorbents for the removal of selected pharmaceuticals from water. Phenol and nitrobenzene were included as additional adsorbates, and nonporous graphite was included as a model adsorbent. The activation treatments markedly increased the specific surface area and enlarged the pore sizes of the mesopores of AC (with the strongest effects shown on the KOH-treated AC). Adsorption of large-size tetracycline and tylosin was greatly enhanced, especially for the KOH-treated AC (more than one order of magnitude), probably due to the alleviated size-exclusion effect. However, the treatments had little effect on adsorption of low-size phenol and nitrobenzene due to the predominance of micropore-filling effect in adsorption and the nearly unaffected content of small micropores causative to such effect. These hypothesized mechanisms on pore-size dependent adsorption were further tested by comparing surface area-normalized adsorption data and adsorbent pore size distributions with and without the presence of adsorbed antibiotics. The findings indicate that efficient adsorption of bulky pharmaceuticals to AC can be achieved by enlarging the adsorbent pore size through suitable activation treatments., (Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.)

Environmental residues of aromatic ionizable organic compounds (AIOCs) have received considerable attention due to their potential human health and ecological risks. The main objective of this study was to investigate the key factors and mechanisms controlling sorption of a series of anionic and zwitterionic AIOCs (two aromatic sulfonates, 4-methyl-2,6-dinitrophenol, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, and tannic acid) to montmorillonites modified with hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium (HDTMA) and polydiallyldimethyl ammonium (PDADMA). Compared with naphthalene (a nonpolar and nonionic solute), all AIOCs showed stronger sorption (the sorbent-to-solution distribution coefficient was in the order of 10-10 L kg) to the two organoclays in spite of the much lower hydrophobicity, indicating the predominance of electrostatic interaction in sorption. The proposed electrostatic mechanism of the tested AIOCs was supported by the pH dependency of sorption to the two organoclays. The two organoclays manifested weaker sorption affinity but faster sorption kinetics for bulky AIOCs than commercial activated carbon, resulting from the high accessibility of sorption sites in the open, ordered clay interlayer. The findings of this study highlight the potential of using HDTMA- and PDADMA-exchanged montmorillonites as effective sorbents for AIOCs in water and wastewater treatments., (Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.)

The main objective of this study was to investigate the key factors and mechanisms of antibiotic adsorption on crop residue-derived black carbon, as well as the relative importance of black carbon to the overall sorption to soil. Batch sorption experiments were performed for two reference antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline) on wheat- and maize-residue-derived black carbon. After removal of the mineral fraction from the raw black carbon by acidification, tetracycline exhibited less enhanced adsorption than sulfamethoxazole, implying stronger complexation of tetracycline on the mineral components. The antibiotic adsorption on the demineralized black carbon was very strong (The measured K(d) was in the order of 10(3)-10(5) L/kg). The adsorbent surface area-normalized adsorption of sulfamethoxazole was higher on the demineralized black carbon than on nonporous graphite due to the micropore-filling effect. The opposite trend observed for bulky tetracycline was attributed to the size-exclusion effect. Owing to the strong surface complexation and/or cation exchange reaction, sorption of tetracycline to Na(+)-exchanged montmorillonite, soil humic acids, and bulk soil was remarkably stronger than sulfamethoxazole. It was estimated that the contribution of black carbon to the overall sorption to bulk soil was important for sulfamethoxazole, but negligible for tetracycline.

Humic acids are ubiquitous in surface and underground waters and may pose potential risk to human health when present in drinking water sources. In this study, ordered mesoporous carbon was synthesized by means of a hard template method and further characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, transition electron microscopy, elemental analysis, and zeta-potential measurement. Batch experiments were conducted to evaluate adsorption of two humic acids from coal and soil, respectively, on the synthesized carbon. For comparison, a commercial microporous activated carbon and nonporous graphite were included as additional adsorbents; moreover, phenol was adopted as a small probe adsorbate. Pore size distribution characterization showed that the synthesized carbon had ordered mesoporous structure, whereas the activated carbon was composed mainly of micropores with a much broader pore size distribution. Accordingly, adsorption of the two humic acids was substantially lower on the activated carbon than on the synthesized carbon, because of the size-exclusion effect. In contrast, the synthesized carbon and activated carbon showed comparable adsorption for phenol when the size-exclusion effect was not in operation. Additionally, we verified by size-exclusion chromatography studies that the synthesized carbon exhibited greater adsorption for the large humic acid fraction than the activated carbon. The pH dependence of adsorption on the three carbonaceous adsorbents was also compared between the two test humic acids. The findings highlight the potential of using ordered mesoporous carbon as a superior adsorbent for the removal of humic acids., (Copyright © 2011 SETAC.)