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The growing knowledge of ferroptosis has suggested the role and therapeutic potential of ferroptosis in cancer, but has not been translated into effective therapy. Liver cancer, primarily hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is highly lethal with limited treatment options. LIFR is frequently downregulated in HCC. Here, by studying hepatocyte-specific and inducible Lifr-knockout mice, we show that loss of Lifr promotes liver tumorigenesis and confers resistance to drug-induced ferroptosis. Mechanistically, loss of LIFR activates NF-κB signaling through SHP1, leading to upregulation of the iron-sequestering cytokine LCN2, which depletes iron and renders insensitivity to ferroptosis inducers. Notably, an LCN2-neutralizing antibody enhances the ferroptosis-inducing and anticancer effects of sorafenib on HCC patient-derived xenograft tumors with low LIFR expression and high LCN2 expression. Thus, anti-LCN2 therapy is a promising way to improve liver cancer treatment by targeting ferroptosis.

Hypertension is one component of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Here, the study evaluated hypertension‐associated metabolites in relation to other MetS components. Fasting plasma samples were collected from 22 hypertensive and 63 normotensive subjects for non‐targeted metabolomics. Compared with normotensive subjects, hypertensive patients were more diabetic (6.3% vs. 36.4%) and had dyslipidemia (27.0% vs. 63.6%) (both p < .05). By non‐targeted metabolomics, 758 metabolites in 22 classes were identified and 56 were differentially regulated between hypertensive and normotensive groups. Amongst these 56 metabolites, receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that 14 had an area under the curve above 0.6. Multivariate‐adjusted logistic regression analysis demonstrated that per one‐fold increase of L‐glutmatic acid, L‐cystine, (9S,10E,12Z,15Z)‐9‐Hydroxy‐10,12,15‐octadecatrienoic acid, deoxyribose 5‐phosphate, and falcarinolone, the odds ratios were 3.64, 4.61, 0.26, 0.26, and 0.37 for having the risk of hypertension, respectively. Of five metabolites, by Spearman's correlation analysis, only L‐glutmatic acid and L‐cystine levels were positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (all p < .05). Spearman's correlation analysis further revealed that L‐glutmatic acid levels were positively correlated with to body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose, and serum triglyceride but negatively associated with HDL‐c (all p < .05) whereas L‐cystine levels were not related to any of these components (p ≥ .13). Multivariate‐adjusted linear regression analysis confirmed the positive correlation between L‐cystine levels and systolic or diastolic blood pressure (β = 2.66 for SBP; β = 2.50 for DBP; both p < .05). In conclusion, L‐cystine could be a potent metabolite for increased risk of hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Watershed water environment governance has always been a research hotspot in the field of transboundary governance. Based on evolutionary game theory, the regional governments of East Dongting Lake, West Dongting Lake and South Dongting Lake were taken as participants to construct a tripartite game model, and the game evolution strategies under unconstrained and constrained conditions were explored respectively, so as to analyze the influencing factors of the construction of synergistic mechanism of water environment governance in Dongting Lake Basin. The results show that: (1) Under the unconstrained condition, the stable strategy of the evolutionary game is “two parties govern, one party does not govern”. However, without intervention of external restraint measures for a long time, the players keep learning and improving according to the game results, and the final synergy mechanism cannot be achieved. (2) Under constraint conditions, the composition of synergistic mechanism mainly depends on the size of ecological compensation and punishment given by the superior government and the duration of constraint by the superior government.

Poststent restenosis is caused by insufficient endothelialization and is one of the most serious clinical complications of stenting. We observed a rapid endothelialization rate and increased fibrin deposition on the surfaces of the corroded iron stents. Thus, we hypothesized that corroded iron stents would promote endothelialization by increasing fibrin deposition on rough surfaces. To verify this hypothesis, we conducted an arteriovenous shunt experiment to analyze fibrin deposition in the corroded iron stents. We implanted a corroded iron stent in both the carotid and iliac artery bifurcations to elucidate the effects of fibrin deposition on endothelialization. Co‐culture experiments were conducted under dynamic flow conditions to explore the relationship between fibrin deposition and rapid endothelialization. Our findings indicate that, from the generation of corrosion pits, the surface of the corroded iron stent was rough, and numerous fibrils were deposited in the corroded iron stent. Fibrin deposition in corroded iron stents facilitates endothelial cell adhesion and proliferation, which, in turn, promotes endothelialization after stenting. Our study is the first to elucidate the role of iron stent corrosion in endothelialization, pointing to a new direction for preventing clinical complications caused by insufficient endothelialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discovering new functional genes, designing perfect crystal structures, and developing high‐performance materials are the goals being pursued by scientists. Herein, the first antimony pyrophosphate, K2Sb(P2O7)F, possessing an optimal layered structure, is reported, where the perfect structural arrangement induces excellent optical properties. K2Sb(P2O7)F not only displays a sharply enhanced birefringence (0.157@546 nm) compared to the existing phosphate optical materials, but also exhibits a strong second‐harmonic generation response (4.0×KDP). Remarkably, a new bifunctional gene, the square‐pyramidal SbO4F group, was discovered, and a unique two‐dimensional arrangement of Cairo pentagonal tiling units was observed in inorganic compounds for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel noncentrosymmetric (NCS) metal-free formic-borate, (NH4)3[B(OH)3]2(COOH)3, has been discovered, which exhibits an infrequent graphite-like structure. The alliance of two types of π-conjugated planar anions BO33− and COOH− produced an optimized layered structure to maximize the anisotropic polarizability, resulting in an extremely large birefringence (0.156@546 nm), larger than that of the classical commercial UV birefringent material α-BBO (0.122@546 nm). This strategy that structural optimization could enhance birefringence will guide the discovery of large birefringence materials, especially in the UV region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]