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Small‐molecule drugs modulate biological processes and disease states through engagement of target proteins in cells. Assessing drug–target engagement on a proteome‐wide scale is of utmost importance in better understanding the molecular mechanisms of action of observed beneficial and adverse effects, as well as in developing next generation tool compounds and drugs with better efficacies and specificities. However, systematic assessment of drug–target engagement has been an arduous task. With the continuous development of mass spectrometry‐based proteomics instruments and techniques, various chemical proteomics approaches for drug target deconvolution (i.e., the identification of molecular target for drugs) have emerged. Among these, the label‐free target deconvolution approaches that do not involve the chemical modification of compounds of interest, have gained increased attention in the community. Here we provide an overview of the basic principles and recent biological applications of the most important label‐free methods including the cellular thermal shift assay, pulse proteolysis, chemical denaturant and protein precipitation, stability of proteins from rates of oxidation, drug affinity responsive target stability, limited proteolysis, and solvent‐induced protein precipitation. The state‐of‐the‐art technical implications and future outlook for the label‐free approaches are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear Editor, Currently no accurate prognostic test is available to predict prostate cancer (PCa) biochemical recurrence (BCR) after treatment or cancer metastasis.1-7 To address the unmet medical need, we developed a novel 23-Gene Classifier urine test as the first accurate and noninvasive tool for PCa prognosis with potential to improve cancer treatment. ROC curve of the 23-Gene Classifier (G), cancer stage (H), Gleason score (I), and combination of the 23-Gene Classifier, cancer stage and Gleason score (J) for BCR prediction in the IND-CHTN cohort. In this study, we developed and validated a novel 23-Gene Classifier that can be used as a highly accurate and noninvasive urine test for prediction of BCR and cancer metastasis with great potential to improve PCa treatment and reduce mortality in clinical practice. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: To compare the safety and effectiveness of super‐mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy (SMP) and retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for the treatment of 1–2 cm lower‐pole renal calculi (LPC). Patients and Methods: An international multicentre, prospective, randomised, unblinded controlled study was conducted at 10 academic medical centres in China, India, and Turkey, between August 2015 and June 2017. In all, 160 consecutive patients with 1–2 cm LPC were randomised to receive SMP or RIRS. The primary endpoint was stone‐free rate (SFR). Stone‐free status was defined as no residual fragments of ≥0.3 cm on plain abdominal radiograph of the kidneys, ureters and bladder, and ultrasonography at 1‐day and on computed tomography at 3‐months after operation. Secondary endpoints included blood loss, operating time, postoperative pain scores, auxiliary procedures, complications, and hospital stay. Postoperative follow‐up was scheduled at 3 months. Analysis was by intention‐to‐treat. The trial was registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT02519634). Results: The two groups had similar baseline characteristics. The mean (sd) stone diameters were comparable between the groups, at 1.50 (0.29) cm for the SMP group vs 1.43 (0.34) cm for the RIRS group (P = 0.214). SMP achieved a significantly better 1‐day and 3‐month SFR than RIRS (1‐day SFR 91.2% vs 71.2%, P = 0.001; 3‐months SFR 93.8% vs 82.5%, P = 0.028). The auxiliary procedure rate was lower in the SMP group. RIRS was found to be superior with lower haemoglobin drop and less postoperative pain. Blood transfusion was not required in either group. There was no significant difference in operating time, hospital stay, and complication rates, between the groups. Conclusions: SMP was more effective than RIRS for treating 1–2 cm LPC in terms of a better SFR and lesser auxiliary procedure rate. The complications and hospital stay were comparable. RIRS has the advantage of less postoperative pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological engineering of nanosized transitional metal oxides shows great promise for performance improvement, yet limited efforts have been attempted to engineer the atomic structure. Oxygen vacancy (VO) can boost charge transfer leading to enhanced performance; yet excessive VO may impair the conductivity. Herein, tungsten oxide is atomically tailored by incorporating nitrogen heteroatoms into the oxygen vacancies. The efficient nitrogen‐filling into the oxygen vacancies is evidenced by the electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy. The coordinated N atoms play a crucial role in facilitating the charge transfer and maintaining efficient lithium‐ion diffusion. Consequently, the tungsten oxide with N‐filled oxygen vacancies exhibits superior lithium‐ion storage performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]