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Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A) is a transcriptional factor which plays an important role in the development of the liver, kidney, and intestines. Nevertheless, its role in cervical cancer and the underlying mechanism remain unknown. In this study, both immunohistochemistry and western blotting revealed that the expression of HNF4A was downregulated in cervical cancer. Xenograft assays suggested that HN4A could inhibit tumorigenic potential of cervical cancer in vivo. Functional studies illustrated that HNF4A also inhibited the proliferation and viability of cervical cancer cells in vitro. In addition, FACS analysis implied that HNF4A could induce cell cycle arrest from the G0/G1 phase to S phase. Further studies suggested that HNF4A downregulated the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Altogether, our data demonstrated that HNF4A inhibited tumor formation and proliferation of cervical cancer cells through suppressing the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

NF‐YA is considered as a crucial regulator for the maintenance of cancer stem cell (CSC) and involved in various types of malignant tumours. However, the exact function and molecular mechanisms of NF‐YA in the progression of cervical cancer remains poorly understood. Here, the expression of NF‐YA detected by immunohistochemistry was gradually increased from normal cervical tissues, to the high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and then to cervical cancer tissues. NF‐YA promoted the cell proliferation and tumorigenic properties of cervical cancer cells as well as tumorsphere formation and chemoresistance in vitro. The luciferase reporter assay combined with mutagenesis analyses and Western blotting showed that NF‐YA trans‐activated the expression of SOX2 in cervical cancer. Furthermore, quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation (qChIP) and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) confirmed that NF‐YA protein directly bound to the CCAAT box region located upstream of the SOX2 promoter. Together, our data demonstrated that NF‐YA was highly expressed in cervical cancer and promoted the cell proliferation, tumorigenicity and CSC characteristic by trans‐activating the expression of SOX2.

HOXA5 is considered a regulator involved in embryonic development and cellular differentiation and a tumor suppressor. Nevertheless, its biological role in cervical carcinoma is still unclear. In the present study, immunohistochemistry showed that HOXA5 expression gradually decreased as the degree of cervical lesions deepened. Ectopic expression of HOXA5 restrained cell proliferation, decreased cell viability, and inhibited tumor formation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the expression of HOXA5 could arrest cell cycle from G0/G1 to S phase. RNA-seq revealed that p21 and cyclinD1 were involved in this process. Moreover, the gene set enrichment analysis and the TOP/FOP reporter assay both suggested that HOXA5 could restrain the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Further study using dual-luciferase reporter assay and quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that HOXA5 could directly bind to the TAAT motif within the promoter of TP53 by its HD domain and transactivate TP53, which can upregulate p21. Altogether, our data suggest that HOXA5 inhibits the proliferation and neoplasia via repression activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and transactivating TP53 in cervical cancer.

The leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 6 (LGR6) is considered to be a stem cell marker in many normal tissues and promotes tissue development, regeneration, and repair. LGR6 is also related to the initiation and progression of some malignant tumors. However, the role of LGR6 in cervical cancer has not been reported. Here, immunohistochemistry and western blotting showed that LGR6 was significantly upregulated in cervical cancer, compared with the normal cervix. By analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas database, LGR6 was found to be correlated with a poor prognosis of cervical cancer. Then, a small population of LGR6high cells isolated by using the fluorescence-activated cell sorting exhibited enhanced properties of cancer stem cells including self-renewal, differentiation, and tumorigenicity. Moreover, RNA sequencing revealed that LGR6 was correlated with the Wnt signaling pathway and TOP/FOP, reverse transcription-PCR, and western blotting further proved that LGR6 could activate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Interestingly, LGR6 upregulated the expression of TCF7L2 by activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Then, TCF7L2 combining with β-catenin in the nucleus enhanced LGR6 transcription by binding the promoter of LGR6, which further activated the Wnt signaling to form a positive feedback loop. Thus, our study demonstrated that LGR6 activated a novel β-catenin/TCF7L2/LGR6-positive feedback loop in LGR6high cervical cancer stem cells (CSCs), which provided a new therapeutic strategy for targeting cervical CSCs to improve the prognosis of cervical cancer patients.

Four butyrolactones were isolated from the Aspergillus sp. Their structures were identified as 8′′-hydroxy-9′′-en-butyrolactone I (1), butyrolactone VII (2), 3-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-methoxycarbonyl-5-(4-hydroxy-3-formylbenzyl)-2,5-dihydro-2-furanone (3), and butyrolactone III (4). Compound 1 is a new butyrolactone and its absolute configuration was determined via the Rh2(OCOCF3)4 method.

The effects of the fluorinated monomer with an ethynyl group on the electro-optical properties of polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals (PSBPLCs) were investigated in different polymer systems. In rigid polymer systems, the Kerr constant can be increased by about 27.6%, while keeping a microsecond response time. In soft polymer systems, hysteresis decreased by about 45.5% and residual birefringence can be reduced from 1.85% to 0.6%. The above phenomena exhibited dual functions of affecting the anchoring energy and the viscosity of the system simultaneously. The results provide a potential value for the ethynyl-containing monomers in PSBPLC systems.

A new sesquiterpene lactone glycoside (1) and a new quinic acid methyl ester (2) were isolated from Patrinia villosa, together with another two known compounds chlorogenic acid n-butyl ester (3), 3, 4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid methyl ester (4). Their structures were established using 1D/2D-NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and comparing with spectroscopic data reported in the literature.

Bemisia tabaci Gennadius biotypes B and Q are two of the most important worldwide agricultural insect pests. Genomic sequences of Type-2 B. tabaci chemosensory protein (BtabCSP2) were cloned and sequenced in B and Q biotypes, revealing key biotype-specific variations in the intron sequence. A Q260 sequence was found specifically in Q-BtabCSP2 and Cucumis melo LN692399, suggesting ancestral horizontal transfer of gene between the insect and the plant through bacteria. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) method was then developed to differentiate B and Q based on the sequence variation in exon of BtabCSP2 gene. The performances of CSP2-based CAPS for whitefly recognition were assessed using B. tabaci field collections from Shandong Province (P.R. China). Our SacII based CAPS method led to the same result compared to mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase-based CAPS method in the field collections. We therefore propose an explanation for CSP origin and a new rapid simple molecular method based on genomic DNA and chemosensory gene to differentiate accurately the B and Q whiteflies of the Bemisia complex around the world.

The enthalpy relaxation of glassy d-sorbitol was analyzed in terms of the Tool–Narayanaswamy–Moynihan model using differential scanning calorimetry. Both the classic and annealing cycles were carried out to obtain the experimental heat capacity data. Both the single- and multi-curve fittings were performed to get the model parameters. A series of initial values of apparent activation energy were tested, with the aim to minimize the average square deviations in fittings. The parameter sets found by single-curve fitting differ from each other, so they should not be taken as the model constants. The multi-curve fitting seems to be more reliable for the model parameters extraction.

We conducted on a questionnaire survey for the current college students’ civic awareness from four aspects of equality consciousness, national consciousness, freedom consciousness and public consciousness. Survey data was analyzed with the SAS® statistical software, the results shown that some of our country’s College Students with a strong national consciousness, and their patriotic feeling is deep at present. They identity the consciousness of equality, but their awareness of fighting for rights is not strong. They have a sense of freedom, but some students are not clear about the relationship between freedom and law. Their enthusiasm to participate in public affairs is not high. Their awareness of social morality is not comprehensive. The reason is that the influence of traditional culture and the political development can’t keep up with the development of economy and the systematic citizenship education is lacked. Finally, we put forward a method of improve the civic awareness of Contemporary College Students in this paper.

With respect to thermal barrier coating, the analysis of interface cohesion and residual stress is important to the life of TBC from mechanical view point. Up to now, there is not a model of describing interface cohesion. In the paper, we give a simple model of computing residual stress and study the residual stress of TBC with ANSYS. The distribution of the residual stress in different interface topography and the relationship between the residual stress and the interface topography dimension are presented.

Five indole alkaloids and two phenylethylamine derivatives were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the fermentation broth of the marine bacterium Pantoea agglomerans P20-14. Their structures were identified as N-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)-2-(1H-indol-3-yl)acetamide (1), 3-(p-hydroxy)benzoyl indole (2), 1,2-di(1H-indol-3-yl)ethane (3), 1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid (4), 2-hydroxy-1-(1H-indol-3-y1)ethanone (5), N-acetyltyramine (6), and 2-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)-N-phenylacetamide (7). Compound 1 is a new indole alkaloid and compounds 2 and 3 are new natural products.The structures of the seven compounds were established on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic methods. The spectroscopic data of compound 2 is provided for the first time.

Spontaneous emission can create coherence in a ladder-type three-level atom with equispaced levels, subject to the condition that the atomic dipole moments are nonorthogonal. We study the effects of this kind of coherence on the steady-state population inversion in the atomic system. We show that the population inversion can be greatly enhanced on one of the optical transitions due to the spontaneous emission-induced coherence. Furthermore, we find, within suitable parameters regions, that such coherence can also lead to unexpected population inversion on both of the optical transitions.

Phosphatidylserine (PS)-containing liposomes (PSLs) strongly inhibit inflammatory bone loss in adjuvant arthritic (AA) rats. This effect was attributed to the inhibition of osteoclastogenesis through the secretion of prostaglandin E(2) and transforming growth factor-β1 by osteoclast precursors after the phagocytosis of PSLs. However, infiltrated macrophages are considered to secrete anti-inflammatory mediators after phagocytosis of PSLs, which also contribute to inhibiting osteoclastogenesis. In the present study, we have attempted to elucidate the effects of PSLs on the phenotype of infiltrated macrophages during inflammatory bone loss. In AA rats, the ankle joints swelled with the infiltration of both macrophages and helper T cells into the synovium after a complete Freund's adjuvant injection. In the ankle joints of AA rats, approximately half of the infiltrated macrophages underwent a phenotypic change from interleukin (IL)-1β-producing to IL-10-producing cells after the phagocytosis of PSLs. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages, PSLs also significantly decreased IL-1β production, but increased IL-10 production. Moreover, PSLs inhibited the rapid activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB, but enhanced the delayed activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in LPS-stimulated macrophages. PSL-induced different influence on the activities of p38 MAPK and ERK is a likely underlying mechanism for phenotypic change of infiltrated macrophages after the phagocytosis of PSLs. This phenotypic change may be responsible for a significant decrease in the mean mRNA level of the receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK) and the RANK ligand (RANKL) in the ankle joint of PSL-treated AA rats, resulting in the inhibition of inflammatory bone loss.

We review our recent experimental progress in quantum technology employing amplification effect of four-wave mixing in a rubidium vapor. We have produced an intensity difference squeezed light source at frequencies as low as 1.5 kHz which is so far the lowest frequency at which squeezing has been observed in an atomic system. Moreover, we find that the bandwidth of our squeezed light source can be controlled with light intensity pumping. Using our non-classical light source, we have further developed a nonlinear Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer, for which the maximum fringe intensity depends quadratically on the intensity of the phase-sensing field at the high-gain regime, leading to much better sensitivity than a linear MZ interferometer in which the beam splitters have the same phase-sensing intensity. The quantum technologies developed by our group could have great potential in areas such as precision measurement and quantum information.