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Copper nanoparticles are uniformly supported on acidified carbon nanotubes (CNTs/Cu NPs) by a mild liquid-phase reduction method without surfactants or bridging molecules. The surface of copper nanoparticles is smooth without impurities. Then, polystyrene (PS) microspheres are prepared by emulsion polymerization and composited with CNTs/Cu NPs (CNTs/Cu NPs/PS). Nanocopper/carbon nanotubes as the core and polyaniline as the shell were prepared via situ polymerization as a core–shell structure (PANI@CNTs/Cu NPs/PS). At a high temperature, the PS cracks and eliminates materials, forming porous structures, and the polyaniline is carbonized, realizing nitrogen doping of the material (NCMP). The results indicated that the acidified carbon nanotubes played a crucial role in the synthesis procedure, achieving consistent growth of copper on carbon nanotubes. The size of evenly dispersed copper nanoparticles is about 5–15 nm. When NCMP is applied as an electrode material, it demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance as a high-performance supercapacitor.

The large tumor suppressor homolog 2 (LATS2), one of the central regulators of the Hippo/MST signaling pathway, plays an inhibitory role in ovarian function and different organ development and growth in mammals. However, the exact roles and molecular regulatory mechanisms of LATS2 in chicken granulosa cell (GC) proliferation, differentiation, and steroidogenesis required for ovarian follicle growth, development, and follicular selection remain poorly understood. This study demonstrated that the LATS2 protein was predominantly localized in the oocytes and undifferentiated GCs of various-sized prehierarchical follicles of the hen ovary. Expression levels of LATS2mRNA were significantly higher in the smaller follicles (from 1 mm to 5.9 mm in diameter) and the GCs than in the larger follicles (6–6.9 mm in diameter up to F1). Moreover, we found that high levels of LATS2 suppressed the GC proliferation and the mRNA and protein expression of the genes serving as the biomarkers of follicle selection, GC differentiation, and steroidogenesis in the GCs, including FSHR, STAR, CYP11A1, ESR1, and ESR2. Interestingly, the LATS2 significantly downregulated SAV1and YAP1transcripts but upregulated the expression of STK3, STK4, TEAD1, and TEAD3mRNA. Our study provided evidences that STK3/4-LATS2-YAP1 not only acts as a suppressor of cell proliferation and follicle selection but also LATS2 may serve as an enhancer in cell proliferation and follicle selection through the YAP1-LATS2 and the LATS2-STK3/4 feedback loops by promoting the expression of TEAD1/3but inhibiting the expression of SAV1transcripts in the prehierarchical follicle development of hen ovary. Taken together, the present study initially revealed the pivotal role and molecular mechanism of LATS2 in the regulation of hen prehierarchical follicle development by controlling GC proliferation, differentiation, steroidogenesis, and follicle selection via the Hippo/MST signaling pathway.