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Gold nanorods (AuNRs), as relatively common materials used in biomedical areas, have been synthesized by means of many methods. However, the conventional seed-mediated method is limited by complex operations and low yield. Besides, for further applications of AuNRs, well monodispersed AuNRs and tunable longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) remain to be improved. Herein, we report a one-pot method for synthesizing AuNRs without seeding agents. In this method, we use phenols as reducing agents and hydrochloric acid and nitric acid are used to regulate the pH of the growth solution. AuNRs with the longest LSPR peak position reaching 1340 nm are prepared. Furthermore, by systematically optimizing concentrations of the reagents involved in the growth solution, different aspect ratios of AuNRs are synthesized. The facile synthesis, controllability aspect ratio, and long LSPR peak make our method promising for wider applications of AuNRs.

Placenta accreta is an abnormality of the placenta caused by the chorionic villi invading the muscular layer, which can cause serious bleeding, infection, shock, bladder invasion, uterine perforation, and even death. However, the etiology of placental accreta is not entirely clear. In the present study, high-throughput sequencing results showed that FYN is highly expressed in the placental accreta position in the placenta accreta group and is a key regulator of cell invasion and migration. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the role and potential molecular mechanism of FYN in placenta accreta. The results showed that FYN was highly expressed in the placenta tissues of the placenta accreta group. Furthermore, the levels of phosphorylated STAT3, p38, and JNK in the placenta accreta group were remarkably increased compared with those in the control group. In addition, FYN knockdown considerably decreased the migration and invasion rates of trophoblast cells (HTR8/SVneo) and inhibited the levels of phosphorylated STAT3, p38, and JNK. After subsequently blocking these signaling pathways, the invasion and migration abilities of HTR8/SVneo cells were substantially decreased. In conclusion, FYN may promote excessive trophocyte cell invasion by activating STAT3, p38, and JNK pathways and can be a new target for placenta accreta prevention and treatment.

Cancer is still a major disease that threatens human life. Although traditional cancer treatment methods are widely used, they still have many disadvantages. Aptamers, owing to their small size, low toxicity, good specificity, and excellent biocompatibility, have been widely applied in biomedical areas. Therefore, the combination of nanomaterials with aptamers offers a new method for cancer treatment. First, we briefly introduce the situation of cancer treatment and aptamers. Then, we discuss the application of aptamers in breast cancer treatment, lung cancer treatment, and other cancer treatment methods. Finally, perspectives on challenges and future applications of aptamers in cancer therapy are discussed.

Purpose: The present study investigated whether first trimester mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) differed among pregnancies with placenta accreta and healthy pregnancies.Methods: We recruited 176 pregnant females totally from 1 January 2016 to 30 September 2018 in this study, as follows: 65 cases of placenta accreta and 111 cases of BMI and age matched, healthy pregnant controls. First trimester mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) were acquired from laboratory data files. Multiple logistic regression analysis were used to study analyzed the probable risk predictor of placenta accreta. Results: The performance of MAP was lower in healthy pregnancies. The MAP of the placenta accreta group was significantly higher than that of the cont rol group (p=0.001Conclusions: Increased first trimester MAP was significantly positively associated with placenta accreta, suggesting the potential role of MAP in identifying high-risk pregnancies for placenta accreta. Smoking during pregnancy and previous cesarean section history may be risk factors for placenta accreta.

Objectives: In this retrospective study, we investigated whether neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the last trimester among pregnancies with mild preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and healthy status has a role in predicting the severity of pre-eclampsia.Methods: This study involved 933 pregnancies from 1 January 2018 to 30 September 2020, comprising 396 healthy pregnancies, 222 pregnancies with mild preeclampsia, and 315 pregnancies with severe preeclampsia. The relationship between preeclampsia and NLR was analyzed by multiple logistic regression. In addition, maternal placental tissues of three groups were immunohistochemically stained for myeloperoxidase (MPO).Result: NLR was significantly higher in pregnancies with preeclampsia (including pregnancies with mild and severe preeclampsia.) than that in healthy pregnancies. The NLR level was prominently higher in patients with severe preeclampsia compared with those with mild preeclampsia (pConclusion: Increased NLR in the last trimester was significantly positively associated with preeclampsia. Hence, NLR plays a role in predicting the severity of preeclampsia. However, further studies are needed on a more extensive population to confirm the relationship between NLR and preeclampsia severity.

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-exos) are phospholipid bimolecular vesicles containing various materials, and they mediate crosstalk among cells. MSC-exos can maintain glucose homeostasis and delay the progression of diabetes and its microvascular complications through multiple mechanisms, such as by improving β-cell viability and insulin resistance as well as through multiple signal transduction pathways. However, related knowledge has not yet been systematically summarized. Therefore, we reviewed the applications and relevant mechanisms of MSC-exos in treatments for diabetes and its microvascular complications, particularly treatments for improving islet β-cells viability, insulin resistance, diabetic nephropathy, and retinopathy.

Our objective of this study was to investigate whether first trimester serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) differed amongst pregnancies with placenta previa-accreta and non-adherent placenta previa and healthy pregnancies by a retrospective cohort analysis. A total of 177 pregnant females were included in the study, as follows: 35 cases of placenta previa-accreta, 30 cases of non-adherent placenta previa, and 112 cases of BMI and age matched, healthy pregnant controls. PAPP-A multiples of the median (MoM) were acquired from laboratory data files in 1 January 2017–30 September 2019. The probable maternal serum biochemical predictor of placenta accreta was analyzed by using multiple logistic regression analysis. PAPP-A MoM of placenta previa-accreta group was significantly higher than those of the non-adherent placenta previa group and control group (p = 0.009

High-risk HPV is clearly associated with cervical cancer. HPV integration has been confirmed to promote carcinogenesis in the previous studies. In our study, a total of 285 DNA breakpoints and 287 RNA breakpoints were collected. We analyzed the characteristic of HPV integration in the DNA and RNA samples. The results revealed that the patterns of HPV integration in RNA and DNA samples differ significantly. FHIT, KLF5, and LINC00392 were the hotspot genes integrated by HPV in the DNA samples. RAD51B, CASC8, CASC21, ERBB2, TP63, TEX41, RAP2B, and MYC were the hotspot genes integrated by HPV in RNA samples. Breakpoints of DNA samples were significantly prone to the region of INTRON (P < 0.01, Chi-squared test), whereas in the RNA samples, the breakpoints were prone to EXON. Pathway analysis had revealed that the breakpoints of RNA samples were enriched in the pathways of transcriptional misregulation in cancer, cancer pathway, and pathway of adherens junction. Breakpoints of DNA samples were enriched in the pathway of cholinergic synapse. In summary, our data helped to gain insights into the HPV integration sites in DNA and RNA samples of cervical cancer. It had provided theoretical basis for understanding the mechanism of tumorigenesis from the perspective of HPV integration in the HPV-associated cervical cancers.

The use of various optical methods for detection of dopamine (DA), such as colorimetry, fluorometry, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and electrochemiluminescence (ECL), has progressively matured over the past decade. However, the development of a simple, inexpensive, and quick detection method for dopamine still remains a challenge. Herein, we used stable black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) for sensitive and selective detection of dopamine by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The initial UV-Vis absorption peaks of the BPQDs in aqueous solution were effectively quenched upon the addition of DA. The quenching efficiency was proportional to the concentration of DA within the range of 1 nM to 70 nM or 1 nM to 1250 nM (encompassing physiological DA concentrations) with a low detection limit of 0.33 nM (pH 5˜9). This optical analysis method provides a platform for the detection of dopamine, which has many advantages such as high sensitivity, selectivity, stability, low cost, non-toxicity, and so on.