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The achaete-scute complex-like (ASCL) family, also referred to as 'achaete-scute complex homolog' or 'achaete-scute family basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor', is critical for proper development of the nervous system and deregulation of ASCL plays a key role in psychiatric and neurological disorders. The ASCL family consists of five members, namely ASCL1, ASCL2, ASCL3, ASCL4 and ASCL5. The ASCL1 gene serves as a potential oncogene during lung cancer development. There is a correlation between increased ASCL2 expression and colon cancer development. Inhibition of ASCL2 reduced cellular proliferation and tumor growth in xenograft tumor experiments. Although previous studies demonstrated involvement of ASCL1 and ASCL2 in tumor development, little is known on the remaining ASCL family members and their potential effect on tumorigenesis. Therefore, a holistic approach to investigating the expression of ASCL family genes in diverse types of cancer may provide new insights in cancer research. In this study, we utilized a web-based microarray database (Oncomine; www.oncomine.org) to analyze the transcriptional expression of the ASCL family in clinical cancer and normal tissues. Our bioinformatics analysis revealed the potential involvement of multiple ASCL family members during tumor onset and progression in multiple types of cancer. Compared to normal tissue, ASCL1 exhibited a higher expression in cancers of the lung, pancreas, kidney, esophagus and head and neck, whereas ASCL2 exhibited a high expression in cancers of the breast, colon, stomach, lung, head and neck, ovary and testis. ASCL3, however, exhibited a high expression only in breast cancer. Interestingly, ASCL1 expression was downregulated in melanoma and in cancers of the bladder, breast, stomach and colon. ASCL2 exhibited low expression levels in sarcoma, melanoma, brain and prostate cancers. Reduction in the expression of ASCL3 was detected in lymphoma, bladder, cervical, kidney and epithelial cancers. Similarly, ASCL5 exhibited low expression in the majority of brain cancer subtypes, such as glioblastoma and oligodendroglioma. This analysis supports the hypothesis that specific ASCL members may play an important role in cancer development. Collectively, our data suggest that alterations in the expression of ASCL gene family members are correlated with cancer development. Furthermore, ASCL family members were categorized according to cancer subtype. The aim of this report was to provide novel insights to the significance of the ASCL family in various cancers and our findings suggested that the ASCL gene family may be an ideal target for future cancer studies.

As railway transportation advances towards higher speeds and increased axle loads, the fatigue damage between wheels and rails has become more severe, significantly limiting the service life and safety of trains. Therefore, developing upgrade wheel-rail materials with enhanced contact fatigue properties has been considered an effective approach to avoid damage. This study reports a newly developed heavy-haul wheel steel with a superior rolling contact fatigue performance and the fatigue damage of wheel was studied by a novel RCF tester with a vision system. The results indicate that the newly developed heavy-haul wheel steel (NW) consists of smaller pearlite layer spacing and reduced proeutectoid ferrite. The NW steel demonstrates outstanding fatigue resistance in both oil and dry conditions, with a fatigue life 2.7 times longer than CL65 wheel steel and superior performance compared to most typical wheel steels. With increasing in pearlite content and decreasing in pearlitic interlamellar spacing, the fatigue damage degree of wheels under oil or dry contact conditions decreases obviously, leading to a significant enhancement in fatigue life. Properly controlling the pearlite content and the interlamellar spacing can optimize the fatigue properties of wheel materials. The vision system observed that the average area and perimeter of the defects gradually increased on the sample surface. The shape of the defect became more rounded under oil contact conditions but showed the opposite result in dry contact. When subjected to cyclic loading, surface cracks propagated along various paths after initiation, eventually forming different morphologies of peeling. The results will not only help optimize wheel materials for heavy-haul railways, but also offer an effective means for analyzing damage evolution in wheel-rail contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new 8,17-epoxybriarane, briastecholide O (1), was isolated from an encrusting algae-containing cultured octocoral Briareum stechei. Moreover, wild-type B. stechei collected from Okinawan waters yielded a new 8,17-epoxybriarane, briastecholide P (2), along with two known analogs, namely, briaexcavatins G (3) and X (4). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction was conducted to determine the absolute configurations of 2 – 4 , while the structure of 1 was established by spectroscopic elucidation. Briaranes 1 and 3 were active in enhancing the growth of MG-63 human mesenchymal stem cells. [Display omitted] • New briaranes, briastecholides O (1) and P (2), were isolated from Briareum stechei. • The absolute configuration of briarane 2 was determined via X-ray analysis. • Briarane 1 enhanced the growth of MG-63 human mesenchymal stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]