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Expanding the application of high-strength hydrogels has attracted tremendous attention in the fields of biomedical engineering, agriculture and wastewater treatment owing to their versatility and outstanding deformation resistance. In this paper, a new class of graphene oxide (GO)/hydrophobically associated polyacrylamide composite hydrogels (GHA gels) were constructed by a simple one-pot method. Without the introduction of any conventional organic cross-linkers, the GHA gels physically cross-linked by GO sheets and hydrophobically associated domains demonstrated superior mechanical strength and high toughness. Because the networks of hydrophobically associated polyacrylamide could swiftly reconstruct without any external stimuli, the GHA gels exhibited prominent self-healing ability and fatigue resistance. The GHA gels also manifested improved adsorption capacity for the removal of dye pollutants with the aid of GO sheets. More impressively, on slightly heating GHA gels in ethanol for only 30 min after adsorption, the dyes would exude from the GHA gels rapidly and subsequently dissolve in ethanol. Thus the recovered adsorbents could be reused in the next water purification cycle. These types of strong and fully physically cross-linked hydrogels prepared by such a convenient strategy are promising as efficient recyclable toxic substance adsorbents, thus meeting the demand for the newly developed soft matter requiring remarkable mechanical properties and satisfying recyclability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chlorogenic acid, the primary active component in Chinese medicines like honeysuckle, exhibits anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects. It has been demonstrated that chlorogenic acid effectively prevents and treats Duck enteritis virus (DEV) infection. This study aims to further elucidate the mechanism by which chlorogenic acid prevents DEV infection. Methods: Duck embryo fibroblast (DEF) cells were pre-treated with chlorogenic acid before being infected with DEV. Cell samples were collected at different time points for transcriptomic sequencing, while qPCR was used to detect the proliferation of DEV. Additionally, 30-day-old ducks were treated with chlorogenic acid, and their lymphoid organs were harvested for histopathological sections to observe pathological damage. The proliferation of DEV in the lymphoid organs was also detected using qPCR Based on the transcriptomic sequencing results, NF-κB1 gene was silenced by RNAi technology to analyze the effect of NF-κB1 gene on DEV proliferation. Results: Compared to the viral infection group, DEF cells in the chlorogenic acid intervention group exhibited significantly reduced DEV load (P < 0.05). Transcriptomic sequencing results suggested that chlorogenic acid inhibited DEV proliferation in DEF cells by regulating NF-κB signaling pathway. The results of RNAi silencing suggested that in the three treatment groups, compared with the DEV experimental group, there was no significant difference in the effect of pre-transfection after transfection on DEV proliferation, while both the pre-transfection after transfection and the simultaneous transfection group showed significant inhibition on DEV proliferation Furthermore, compared to the virus infection group, ducks in the chlorogenic acid intervention group showed significantly decreased DEV load in their lymphoid organs (P < 0.05), along with alleviated pathological damage such as nuclear pyretosis and nuclear fragmentation. Conclusions: Chlorogenic acid effectively inhibits DEV proliferation in DEF and duck lymphatic organs, mitigates viral-induced pathological damage, and provides a theoretical basis for screening targeted drugs against DEV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation of cells within tumors with stem cell property. Increased evidence suggest that CSCs could be responsible for chemoresistance and recurrence in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, a reliable therapeutic target on CSCs is still lacking. Methods: Here we describe a two-step strategy to generate CSC targets with high selectivity for colon stem cell markers, specific proteins that are interacted with CSC markers were selected and subsequently validated in a survival analysis. TMEM17 protein was found and its biological functions in CRC cells were further examined. Finally, we utilized the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to investigate the potential mechanisms of TMEM17 in CRC. Results: By combining protein–protein interaction (PPI) database and high-throughput gene profiles, network analysis revealed a cluster of colon CSCs related genes. In the cluster, TMEM17 was identified as a novel CSCs related gene. The results of in-vitro functional study demonstrated that TMEM17 depletion can suppress the proliferation of CRC cells and sensitize CRC cells to chemotherapy drugs. Enrichment analysis revealed that the expression of TMEM17 is associated with the magnitude of activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Further validation in clinical samples demonstrated that the TMEM17 expression was much higher in tumor than normal tissue and was associated with poor survival in CRC patients. Conclusion: Collectively, our finding unveils the critical role of TMEM17 in CRC and TMEM17 could be a potential effective therapeutic target for tumor recurrence and chemoresistance in the colorectal cancer (CRC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: There is still no consensus on whether laparoscopic surgery can be routinely recommended as a safe approach for complex Crohn's disease (CD). Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases were searched (up to February 2019). Comparative studies reporting laparoscopic surgery for complex CD (LC group) comparing with simple CD (LS group) were included. The outcomes were blood loss, operative time, conversion rate, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and reoperation rate within 30 days after surgery. Results: Thirteen retrospective studies with 1120 participants were included. The LC group has significantly more blood loss (weighted mean difference [WMD] 43.64 mL; 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.37-78.91; P = .020), longer operative time (WMD 17.59 minutes; 95% CI 6.38-28.81; P = .002), higher conversion rate (WMD 2.04%; 95% CI 1.43-2.91; P < .001), and longer length of hospital stay (WMD 0.86 day; 95% CI 0.53-1.19; P < .001). Overall postoperative complication rates (WMD 0.98; 95% CI 0.71-1.34; P = .90) did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Conclusions: LC is safe and feasible with comparable postoperative complications, although there is a more blood loss, longer operative time, higher conversion rate, and longer length of hospital stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]