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Combining the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) with the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an effective technology for energy-saving hydrogen production. Herein, a bifunctional electrocatalyst with CoNiP nanosheet coating on P-doped MoO 2 nanorods (P-MoO 2 @CoNiP) is obtained via a two-step hydrothermal followed a phosphorization process. The catalyst demonstrates exceptional alkaline HER performance due to the formation of MoO 2 and the dissolution/absorption of Mo. Meanwhile, the inclusion of Co and P in the P-MoO 2 @CoNiP catalyst facilitated the formation of NiOOH, enhancing UOR performance. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the hydrogen adsorption Gibbs free energy (ΔG H* ) of P-MoO 2 @CoNiP is closer to 0 eV than CoNiP, favoring the HER. The catalyst only needs -0.08 and 1.38 V to reach 100 mA cm -2 for catalyzing the HER and UOR, respectively. The full urea electrolysis system driven by P-MoO 2 @CoNiP requires 1.51 V to achieve 100 mA cm -2 , 120 mV lower than the traditional water electrolysis., 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 Inc. All rights reserved.)

Transition metal-based electrocatalysts generally take place surface reconstruction in alkaline conditions, but little is known about how to improve the reconstruction to a highly active oxyhydroxide surface for an efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we develop a strategy to accelerate surface reconstruction by combining boron modification and cyclic voltammetry (CV) activation. Density functional theory calculations and in-situ/ex-situ characterizations indicate that both B-doping and electrochemical activation can reduce the energy barrier and contribute to the surface evolution into highly active oxyhydroxides. The formed oxyhydroxide active phase can tune the electronic configuration and boost the OER process. The reconstructed catalyst of CV-B-NiFe-LDH displays excellent alkaline OER performance in freshwater, simulated seawater, and natural seawater with low overpotentials at 100 mA cm -2 (η 100 : 219, 236, and 255 mV, respectively) and good durability. This catalyst also presents outstanding Cl - corrosion resistance in alkalized seawater electrolytes. The CV-B-NiFe-LDH||Pt/C electrolyzer reveals prominent performance for alkalized freshwater/seawater splitting. This study provides a guideline for developing advanced OER electrocatalysts by promoting surface reconstruction., 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 Inc. All rights reserved.)

Seawater electrolysis to generate hydrogen offers a clean, green, and sustainable solution for new energy. However, the catalytic activity and durability of anodic catalysts are plagued by the corrosion and competitive oxidation reactions of chloride in high concentrations. In this study, we find that the additive CrO 4 2- anions in the electrolyte can not only promote the formation and stabilization of the metal oxyhydroxide active phase but also greatly mitigate the adverse effect of Cl - on the anode. Linear sweep voltammetry, accelerated corrosion experiments, corrosion polarization curves, and charge transfer resistance results indicate that the addition of CrO 4 2- distinctly improves oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics and corrosion resistance in alkaline seawater electrolytes. Especially, the introduction of CrO 4 2- even in the highly concentrated NaCl (2.5 M) electrolyte prolongs the durability of NiFe-LDH to almost five times the case without CrO 4 2- . Density functional theory calculations also reveal that the adsorption of CrO 4 2- can tune the electronic configuration of active sites of metal oxyhydroxides, enhance conductivity, and optimize the intermediate adsorption energies. This anionic additive strategy can give a better enlightenment for the development of efficient and stable oxygen evolution reactions for seawater electrolysis., 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 Inc. All rights reserved.)

Metal organic frameworks hold great promise as heterogeneous catalysts in sulfate radical (SO 4 ∙- ) based advanced oxidation. However, the aggregation of powdered MOF crystals and the complicated recovery procedure largely hinder their large-scale practical applications. It is important to develop eco-friendly and adaptable substrate-immobilized metal organic frameworks. Based on the hierarchical pore structure of the rattan, gravity-driven metal organic frameworks loaded rattan-based catalytic filter was designed to degrade organic pollutants by activating PMS at high liquid fluxes. Inspired by the water transportation of rattan, ZIF-67 was in-situ grown uniformly on the rattan channels inner surface using the continuous flow method. The intrinsically aligned microchannels in the vascular bundles of rattan acted as reaction compartments for the immobilization and stabilization of ZIF-67. Furthermore, the rattan-based catalytic filter exhibited excellent gravity-driven catalytic activity (up to 100 % treatment efficiency for a water flux of 10173.6 L·m -2 ·h -1 ), recyclability, and stability of organic pollutant degradation. After ten cycles, the TOC removal of ZIF-67@rattan was 69.34 %, maintaining a stable mineralisation capacity for pollutants. The inhibitory effect of the micro-channel promoted the interaction between active groups and contaminants, increasing the degradation efficiency and improving the stability of the composite. The design of a gravity-driven rattan-based catalytic filter for wastewater treatment provides an effective strategy for developing renewable and continuous catalytic systems., 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 © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Currently, the biological production of L-malic acid (L-MA) is mainly based on the fermentation of filamentous fungi at near-neutral pH, but this process requires large amounts of neutralizing agents, resulting in the generation of waste salts when free acid is obtained in the downstream process, and the environmental hazards associated with the waste salts limit the practical application of this process. To produce L-MA in a more environmentally friendly way, we metabolically engineered the acid-tolerant yeast Pichia kudriavzevii and achieved efficient production of L-MA through low pH fermentation. First, an initial L-MA-producing strain that relies on the reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) pathway was constructed. Subsequently, the L-MA titer and yield were further increased by fine-tuning the flux between the pyruvate and oxaloacetate nodes. In addition, we found that the insufficient supply of NADH for cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase (MDH) hindered the L-MA production at low pH, which was resolved by overexpressing the soluble pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase SthA from E. coli. Transcriptomic and metabolomic data showed that overexpression of EcSthA contributed to the activation of the pentose phosphate pathway and provided additional reducing power for MDH by converting NADPH to NADH. Furthermore, overexpression of EcSthA was found to help reduce the accumulation of the by-product pyruvate but had no effect on the accumulation of succinate. In microaerobic batch fermentation in a 5-L fermenter, the best strain, MA009-10-URA3 produced 199.4 g/L L-MA with a yield of 0.94 g/g glucose (1.27 mol/mol), with a productivity of 1.86 g/L/h. The final pH of the fermentation broth was approximately 3.10, meaning that the amount of neutralizer used was reduced by more than 50% compared to the common fermentation processes using filamentous fungi. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the efficient bioproduction of L-MA at low pH and represents the highest yield of L-MA in yeasts reported to date., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest This work has been included in patent applications by the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences., (Copyright © 2022 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Exploring the transition-metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts with high performance for efficient water-splitting and urea electrolysis is significant but challenging. This work presents the in situ preparation of holey NiFe-LDH nanosheets on Ni foam (H-NiFe-LDH/NF) via a one-step hydrothermal method in the presence of PEO-PPO-PEO as the soft template. The holey NiFe-LDH nanosheets provide a high electrochemical surface area, more edge catalytic sites, and abundant oxygen vacancies. Consequently, H-NiFe-LDH/NF exhibits excellent catalytic activity to oxygen evolution, urea oxidation, and hydrogen evolution reactions (OER, UOR, and HER) with good stability in alkaline electrolytes. This electrode requires an overpotential of 261 mV for the OER, a potential of 1.480 V for the UOR to achieve a current density of 100 mA cm -2 in alkaline solutions. By employing the self-supported electrode as both the anode and cathode, this electrolysis cell (H-NiFe-LDH/NF||H-NiFe-LDH/NF) gains current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm -2 at low cell voltages of 1.575 and 1.933 V in the 1.0 M KOH solution. After adding 0.33 M urea, the voltages to deliver 10 and 100 mA cm -2 respectively decrease to 1.418 and 1.691 V. The H-NiFe-LDH/NF electrode also shows excellent stability for water-splitting and urea electrolysis. This work not only contributes to developing a low-cost, high-efficiency, bifunctional electrocatalyst but also provides a practically feasible approach for urea-rich wastewater electrolysis., 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 © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Developing high-efficiency and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for electrochemical seawater-splitting is of great significance but remains a grand challenge due to the presence of high-concentration chloride. This work presents the synthesis of a three-dimensional core-shell nanostructure with an amorphous and crystalline NiFe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) layer on sulfur-modified nickel molybdate nanorods supported by porous Ni foam (S-NiMoO 4 @NiFe-LDH/NF) through hydrothermal and electrodeposition. Benefiting from high intrinsic activity, plentiful active sites, and accelerated electron transfer, S-NiMoO 4 @NiFe-LDH/NF displays an outstanding bifunctional catalytic activity toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in both simulated alkaline seawater and natural seawater electrolytes. To reach a current density of 100 mA cm -2 , this catalyst only requires overpotentials of 273 and 315 mV for OER and 170 and 220 mV for HER in 1 M KOH + 0.5 M NaCl freshwater and 1 M KOH + seawater electrolytes, respectively. Using S-NiMoO 4 @NiFe-LDH as both anode and cathode, the electrolyzer shows superb overall seawater-splitting activity, and respectively needs low voltages of 1.68 and 1.73 V to achieve a current density of 100 mA cm -2 in simulated alkaline seawater and alkaline natural seawater electrolytes with good Cl - resistance and satisfactory durability. The electrolyzer outperforms the benchmark IrO 2 ||Pt/C pair and many other reported bifunctional catalysts and exhibits great potential for realistic seawater electrolysis., 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 © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Accumulating evidence has shown that many long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) participate in the tumorigenesis, including osteosarcoma (OS). Of them, lncRNA ODRUL was previously reported to act as a possible oncogene in OS doxorubicin resistance. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of ODRUL involved in the progression of OS still remains to be thoroughly investigated. In the current study, we reported another mechanism by which ODRUL regulates OS progression. QRT-PCR and WB were conducted to detect ODRUL, miR-6874-3p and IL-6 expression in OS tissues and cells. The Kaplan-Meier was used to assess the relevance between the expression level of miR-6874-3p and the overall survival of OS patients. Wound healing assays and Transwell assays were used to evaluate the invasion and migration of OS cells. Furthermore, the binding sites of ODRUL and IL-6 to miR-6874-3p were predicted by bioinformatics and verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assays. ODRUL and IL-6 were highly expressed in OS cells and tissues, while miR-6874-3p was expressed at low levels. The overall survival of high miR-6874-3p expression of OS patients was longer than that of low miR-6874-3p expression of OS patients. MiR-6874-3p overexpression markedly inhibited the progression of OS cells. Both ODRUL and IL-6 could bind to miR-6874-3p at the predicted binding sites which were authenticated by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. MiR-6874-3p could inhibit OS cell proliferation and metastasis and ODRUL could reverse the suppression induced by miR-6874-3p in vivo. In conclusion, ODRUL could effectively sponge miR-6874-3p to upregulate the expression of IL-6 in OS progression., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is imperative but challenging to develop non-noble metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our work reports a core-shell nanostructure that is constructed by the electrodeposition of ultrathin NiFe-LDH nanosheets (NiFe-LDHNS) on Cu 2 Se nanowires, which are obtained by selenizing Cu(OH) 2 nanowires in situ grown on Cu foam. The obtained Cu 2 Se@NiFe-LDHNS electrocatalyst provides more exposed edges and catalytic active sites, thus exhibiting excellent OER and HER electrocatalytic performance in alkaline electrolytes. This catalyst needs only an overpotential of 197 mV for OER at 50 mA cm -2 and 195 mV for HER at 10 mA cm -2 . Besides, when employed as a bifunctional catalyst for overall water-splitting, it requires a cell voltage of 1.67 V to reach 10 mA cm -2 in alkaline media. Furthermore, the corresponding water electrolyzer demonstrates robust durability for at least 40 h. The excellent performance of Cu 2 Se@NiFe-LDHNS might be ascribed to the synergistic effect from the ultrathin NiFe-LDHNS, the Cu 2 Se nanowires anchored on the Cu foam, and the formed core-shell nanostructure, which offers large surface area, ample active sites, and sufficient channels for gas and electrolyte diffusion. This work provides an efficient strategy for the fabrication of self-supported electrocatalysts for efficient overall water-splitting., 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 © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is established that ultrathin layered double hydroxide nanosheets (LDHNS) and zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIF) are desirable electrochemical sensing modifiers owing to their large surface area and abundant catalytic sites. Integration of them is thus an effective solution to maximize their electrocatalytic activity. Herein, a novel reaction-diffusion framework (RDF) technique is applied for the in situ growth of ZIF-67 on ultrathin CoAl-LDHNS (CoAl-LDHNS@ZIF-67). In a confined space of the agar gel matrix of RDF, the coordination reaction between organic ligands and CoAl-LDHNS without an additional Co 2+ source achieves the controllable growth of ZIF-67 crystals through a long vertical diffusion. The prepared composite comprises both CoAl-LDHNS and ZIF-67 components with a certain ratio and provides a large surface area and amply catalytic sites, thus realizing a rapid transfer of electron and mass. The CoAl-LDHNS@ZIF-67 modified electrode is employed for the simultaneous detection of naphthol isomers by differential pulse voltammetry. Naphthol isomers display anodic reactions with a wide peak potential difference, allowing their simultaneous detection feasible. Voltammetric responses of α-naphthol and β-naphthol follow good linearity against the concentration in a wide range from 0.3 to 150 μM with limits of detection of 54 and 82 nM, respectively. The proposed sensor also demonstrates excellent selectivity, stability, reproducibility, and practicability for the simultaneous detection of naphthol isomers., 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 © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The development of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is accompanied by B cell hyperproliferation and mutation. Our previous study identified aberrant expression of BST-2 (also known as Tetherin/CD317) in B cells from either the peripheral blood or infiltrated salivary glands. However, the roles of BST-2 in the regulation of B cell activation remain unknown. In this study, we identified that BST-2 can respond to BAFF simulation but not to other B cell simulators in neoplastic B cell lines. A CCK-8 assay, an EdU assay and Annexin V/PI staining indicated that BST-2 inhibition attenuated BAFF-enhanced proliferation and survival in both Raji cells and Daudi cells. Screening of BAFF-related signaling in neoplastic B-lymphoid cells indicated that BST-2 was involved in the regulation of NF-κB signaling upon BAFF simulation. However, inhibition of NF-κB by JSH-23 significantly reduced the proliferation and survival of Raji and Daudi cells under both normal and BAFF-simulated conditions. Collectively, our results indicate that BST-2/Tetherin is a BAFF-responsive membrane factor involved in the regulation of NF-κB signaling, thereby assisting in the proliferation and survival of neoplastic B-lymphoid cells. Our study provides a potential molecular mechanism underlying aberrant overactivation of B cells upon SS development., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Distant metastasis has been the major concern of prognosis in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of TMB in blood (bTMB) in LARC patients after receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) and surgery. Using targeted ctDNA sequencing, we revealed that bTMB level at baseline was positively correlated with recurrence-free survival (RFS). Following nCRT, the patients with decreasing TMB tends to have a longer median RFS. bTMB level after surgery was negatively correlated with RFS. The serum cytokines including IFNγ, IFNα2, IL-1β, IL-2 and MIP-1β were significantly higher in pre-nCRT serum with higher bTMB group than that of lower bTMB group. Clonal evolution analysis showed that the pre- and post-nCRT ctDNAs of most cases had shared mutations. In conclusion, we presume that bTMB could potentially improve pre- and post-treatment risk assessment and facilitate individualized therapy for patients with LARC., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Enhancing the dispersibility and conductivity is an effective solution to develop the application zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIF) in the electrochemical field. This work thus employs a novel reaction-diffusion framework (RDF) technique for the in situ growth of ZIF-8 crystals on graphene oxide (GO@ZIF-8) matrixes. In detail, the outer electrolyte of 2-methyl imidazole naturally diffuses into the inner agar gel matrix containing Zn 2+ cations and GO nanosheets. The long reaction-diffusion makes the growth of ZIF-8 crystals controllable in a vertical gradient. After thermal treatment, the title product of ZIF-8 in situ grown on reduced graphene oxide (rGO@ZIF-8) is obtained and thus exhibits good dispersibility, high conductivity, large surface area, and more catalytic sites. The glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified by casting the rGO@ZIF-8 suspension. The obtained rGO@ZIF-8/GCE displays excellent catalytic activity toward naphthol (NAP) isomers. Under the optimal conditions, the amperometric currents of 1-NAP and 2-NAP demonstrate the good linear relationship in wide ranges of 0.05-12 μM and 0.02-15 μM, respectively. Their limits of detection are as low as 15 and 17 nM, respectively. The fabricated modified electrode exhibits excellent selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. The sensor is also utilized to detect NAP molecules in real water samples and indicates good accuracy and reliability., 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 © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Developing high-efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), water-splitting, and the zinc-air battery is essential but challenging. Zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) are generally employed as ideal platforms for the design and fabrication of energy-related catalysts by exploiting their porous structure with high surface area and flexibility. This work presents the preparation of NiFe-bimetallic species decorated N-doped porous carbon composite (NiFe@NPC) through pyrolyzing the NiFe-coordinated ZIF precursor. The obtained NiFe@NPC shows a larger surface area and porous nanostructure comprising the active bimetallic species evenly distributed in the conductive carbon matrix. The nanocomposite demonstrates excellent trifunctional catalytic activity toward ORR, OER, and HER. For ORR, NiFe@NPC offers a half-wave potential value of 0.87 V, which is positively shifted by 30 mV relative to that of Pt/C in 1 M KOH. NiFe@NPC exhibits OER activity with superior overpotential, reaction kinetics, and durability to those of IrO 2 . It also demonstrates the desirable HER activity with a low overpotential of 150 mV at 10 mA/cm 2 and excellent durability in an acidic electrolyte. Additionally, the water-splitting configuration and zinc-air battery assembled with NiFe@NPC catalyst reveal superior performance to noble-metal catalysts. Such excellent electrocatalytic performance can be attributed to the distinct chemical composition of evenly distributed bimetallic active sites on highly conductive carbon sheets, and the porous nanostructure with large surface area and fast mass transfer., 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 © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIF) and ultrathin layered double hydroxide nanosheets (LDHNS) have drawn growing attention in the electrocatalysis field. Combining the merits and maximizing the electrocatalytic activity of each building block in the corresponding composite is imperative but challenging. This work thus proposes a simple strategy for the in situ growth of ZIF-67 on ultrathin CoAl-LDHNS (LDHNS@ZIF-67) without an additional Co 2+ source. Thanks to the ultrathin nature, CoAl-LDHNS provide more Co reactive sites for the ordered growth of ZIF-67 nanocrystals on this 2D matrix via coordination interactions between Co 2+ and 2-methylimidazole. The obtained LDHNS@ZIF-67 provides more convenient pathways to rapid electron transportation between the basal electrode and analytes. Hence, the modified electrode can be applied for the truly simultaneous detection of naphthol isomers by differential pulse voltammetry. α-naphthol and β-naphthol exhibit irreversible oxidation peaks at 0.327 and 0.487 V vs. saturated calomel electrode, respectively, making their simultaneous detection feasible. The voltammetric responses of both isomers are linear in concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 150 μM with limits of detection of 62 and 94 nM, respectively. The sensor exhibits advantages including good reproducibility, stability, selectivity, and practicability for the simultaneous detection of naphthol isomers in real water samples., 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 © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Three-dimensional nitrogen-doped carbon network incorporated with nickel@nickel oxide core-shell nanoparticles composite (3D NC/Ni@NiO) has been facilely prepared, self-templated by the cross-linked polyacrylamide aerogel precursor containing NiCl 2 . Characterizations reveal that the Ni@NiO nanoparticles distribute homogeneously in the 3D nitrogen-doped carbon matrix and the composite is of hierarchical porous structure. When used as supercapacitor electrode in a three-electrode system, the 3D NC/Ni@NiO exhibits enhanced electrical conductivity and excellent electrochemical performance, presenting a high specific capacitance (389F g -1 at 5 mV s -1 ), good rate capability (276 F g -1 at 100 mV s -1 ) and outstanding cycling performance (with the capacitance retention of 70.2% after 5000 charge-discharge cycles). This is due to the synergistic effects of conductive metallic nickel, pseudocapacitive nickel oxide as well as in situ nitrogen doping of carbon network. Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) was fabricated with NC/Ni@NiO as positive electrode and active carbon as negative electrode. The ASC device exhibits a maximum energy density of 19.4 W h kg -1 at a power density of 700 W kg -1 and shows good cycling stability (73.8% capacity retention after 3000 cycles), indicating that it has great promise for practical energy storage and conversion application., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The hyperproliferation and hyperactivation of CD4 + T cells in salivary gland tissue is a hallmark of Sjögren's syndrome (SS). However, the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the pathological process of SS and CD4 + T cell activation has not been fully elucidated. Here, we reported that lncRNA PVT1 was involved in the glycolytic metabolism reprogramming and proliferation upon CD4 + T cell activation. Expression of PVT1 was positively related with CD4 + T cell activation both in SS patients and Ex vivo antigen simulation. Depletion of PVT1 decreased the proliferation of murine CD4 + T cells and Jurkat T cells upon activation. We also showed that expression of the transcription factor Myc is regulated by PVT1 under antigen simulation. Depletion of PVT1 significantly decreased the expression of glycolytic genes, as well as several pivotal glycolytic proteins that were directly transcribed by Myc. Measurement of glucose content and lactate secretion indicated a defected lactate secretion and glucose uptake in PVT1-depleted T cells. Additionally, the real-time extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) and oxygen consumption rate (OCR) measurement also affirmed that PVT1 maintains glycolytic levels, glycolytic capacity under stress and ECAR/OCR ratios during T cell activation. Polarizing assays indicate that PVT1 depletion defected the function of Th1 effector cells as well as down-regulated Myc expression and glycolytic levels. Furthermore, we observed increased glycolytic levels in CD4 + T cells from SS-like NOD/Ltj mice. Treatment with 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG), an inhibitor of glycolysis, significantly decreased the extent of lymphocyte infiltration and CD4 + T cell numbers and attenuated the defect of salivary flow in the lesioned submandibular glands of NOD/Ltj mice. Thus, our study demonstrated that lncRNA PVT1, which was upregulated in the CD4 + T cells of SS patients, could maintain the expression of Myc, thus controlling the proliferation and effector functions of CD4 + T cells through regulating the reprogramming of glycolysis. Inhibition of glycolysis could attenuate the proliferation of CD4 + T cells and the SS-like autoimmune response. Our study provides a novel mechanistic function of lncRNA PVT1 in the pathogenesis of SS., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

It is highly essential but challengeable to explore the earth-abundant and low-cost oxygen evolution reaction catalysts to replace Ir- or/and Ru-based ones. In this article, we report an in situ growth of ultrathin NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheets on reduced graphene oxide in formamide aqueous solution followed by simple chemical reduction. These ultrathin layered double hydroxide nanosheets in the composite occur in single- or multi-layer forms on reduced graphene oxide matrix. Consequently, the obtained catalyst exhibits the enhanced BET surface area and electrochemically active surface area, and low mass transfer resistance. This electrocatalyst displays the excellent OER activity with a small onset potential of 233 mV. Additionally, it only requires an overpotential of 254 mV to achieving current density of 10 mA cm -2 , and can gives a current density of 70.60 mA cm -2 at overpotential of 300 mV in 0.1 M KOH. It also demonstrates the robust long-time electrochemical durability., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

CRISPR/Cas9 has become a powerful method for making changes to the genome of many organisms. First discovered in bacteria as part of an adaptive immune system, CRISPR/Cas9 and modified versions have found a widespread use to engineer genomes and to activate or to repress the expression of genes. As such, CRISPR/Cas9 promises to accelerate cancer research by providing an efficient technology to dissect mechanisms of tumorigenesis, identify targets for drug development, and possibly arm cells for cell-based therapies. Here, we review current applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology for cancer research and therapy. We describe novel Cas9 variants and how they are used in functional genomics to discover novel cancer-specific vulnerabilities. Furthermore, we highlight the impact of CRISPR/Cas9 in generating organoid and mouse models of cancer. Finally, we provide an overview of the first clinical trials that apply CRISPR/Cas9 as a therapeutic approach against cancer., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Abnormal signaling transduction in salivary gland cells is associated with the pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS). Previously, we identified aberrant expression of toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in gland cells of SS patients and mouse models. In this study, we investigated the role of TLR9 and its downstream p38/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling in mediating apoptosis and autophagy in human salivary gland (HSG) cells. We selected either CpG-Odn, a classical TLR9 activator, or lentivirus-packaged TLR9 full-length cDNA to activate TLR9 signaling transduction. Activation of TLR9 signaling induced phosphorylation of its downstream protein kinases, p38/MAPK and JNK, in a time-dependent manner, and decreased HSG cell viability. Western blotting of LC3B-II and p62 in both normal and autophagic flux-administered conditions revealed elevated autophagy upon TLR9 activation. Observing the cell cytoplasm through transmission electron microscopy and mRFP-GFP-LC3B-tagged fluorescence confirmed an increased number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes in TLR9-activated cells. Bax/Bcl-2 ratio calculations, caspase-3 activity assays and Hoechst nuclear staining were utilized to confirm the involvement of apoptosis in TLR9 signaling activation. Furthermore, we selected SB239063, a p38/MAPK signaling inhibitor, and SP600125, a JNK inhibitor, to identify the functions of p38/MAPK and JNK in TLR9-mediated signaling transduction. Multiple approaches, including Western blotting assays, fluorescence assessments and caspase-3 activity measurements, confirmed that inhibition of p38/MAPK signaling ameliorated both autophagy and apoptosis in TLR9-activated HSG cells, whereas inhibition of JNK signaling attenuated apoptosis but failed to modulate autophagy in the models mentioned above. Our results indicate a divergent function of p38/MAPK and JNK in TLR9-mediated autophagy and apoptosis in salivary gland cells., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hemoglobin (Hb) was immobilized in Zn2Al-Layered Double Hydroxides (LDH) modified with Hydroxyl Functionalized Ionic Liquid (HFIL) through adsorption and coprecipitation method, respectively. Adsorption experiments showed that the presence of HFIL could enhance the maximum protein loading. However, the Hb loading through coprecipitation technique was far higher than that for adsorption. The role of HFIL on the interaction between Hb and LDH was investigated by XRD, FTIR, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. Although the quaternary structure of Hb entrapped in HFIL-LDH through coprecipitation technique (denoted as HFIL-LDH-Hbcop) might be altered slightly more than that in LDH (LDH-Hbcop), its secondary structure and redox-active heme groups kept intact. Morphologies of LDH-Hbcop and HFIL-LDH-Hbcop biohybrids were analyzed through SEM and TEM images. The direct electrochemistry of the immobilized Hb indicated that the coprecipitation bioelectrode performed better than that of the corresponding adsorption one. Regardless of adsorption and coprecipitation, the introduction of HFIL could distinctly promote the electron transport. Among all bioelectrodes, HFIL-LDH-Hbcop/GCE displayed the best electrocatalytic activity for H2O2 determination with a larger electroactive Hb percentage (6.76%), higher sensitivity (40.63A/Mcm(2)) and lower detection limit (0.0054μmol/L). So HFIL-LDH could effectively immobilize enzymes via coprecipitation technique, which had potential applications in the fabrication of electrochemical biosensors., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A biocomposite material composed of sodium alginate (SA), Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles, and ionic liquid 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([DMIM]Br) was fabricated and used for the immobilization of myoglobin (Mb) on the surface of a carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE). The CILE was fabricated by mixing graphite powder with ionic liquid N-butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (BPPF(6)) together. UV-Vis absorption and FTIR spectroscopic results indicated that Mb retained its native structure in the composite material. A pair of well-defined redox peaks appeared on the cyclic voltammogram in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution (PBS) with the formal peak potential (E(0')) at -0.256 V (versus SCE), which was the typical electrochemical behavior of Mb heme Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couples. The Mb-modified electrode showed good electrocatalytic activity to the reduction of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and NaNO(2) with wide linear range, good sensitivity, and reproducibility. The calibration range for TCA detection was between 0.6 and 12.0 mmol L(-1) with the linear regression equation as Iss (μA)=42.44C (mmol L(-1))+50.57 and a detection limit of 0.4 mmol L(-1) (3σ). The Mb-modified electrode also applied to NaNO(2) determination in the concentration range from 4.0 to 100.0 mmol L(-1) with a detection limit of 1.3 mmol L(-1) (3σ). So the proposed electrode has potential applications as third-generation biosensors., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)