We report that in a Pt-doped nanoporous Au(Ag), while the network connectivity was maintained constant, the elastic modulus (E) varied with relative density (φ) in a power-law relation, E∝φn, with an exponent of n = 2.2 ± 0.1, which agreed well with the classical Gibson-Ashby scaling equation (n = 2). It testifies that the mechanical response of np metals can be well described by the classical scaling equations, providing that the network connectivity and the size effects are taken into account properly. We also demonstrate that the coarsening-induced reduction in the network connectivity can be suppressed by enhancing the relative density of the nanoporous structure.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic virus that ubiquitously establishes life-long persistence in humans. To ensure its survival and maintain its B cell transformation function, EBV has developed powerful strategies to evade host immune responses. Emerging evidence has shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are powerful regulators of the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. In this review, we summarize current progress on how EBV utilizes miRNAs for immune evasion. EBV encodes miRNAs targeting both viral and host genes involved in the immune response. The miRNAs are found in two gene clusters, and recent studies have demonstrated that lack of these clusters increases the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell response of infected cells. These reports strongly indicate that EBV miRNAs are critical for immune evasion. In addition, EBV is able to dysregulate the expression of a variety of host miRNAs, which influence multiple immune-related molecules and signaling pathways. The transport via exosomes of EBV-regulated miRNAs and viral proteins contributes to the construction and modification of the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. During EBV immune evasion, viral proteins, immune cells, chemokines, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and pro-apoptosis molecules are involved. Our increasing knowledge of the role of miRNAs in immune evasion will improve the understanding of EBV persistence and help to develop new treatments for EBV-associated cancers and other diseases.
In this article we compared benzidine with derivative methods of developing blood fingerprint and put forward a new fluorescence method. Combination and nature were briefly discussed. Blood fingerprint was developed distinctly through strong oxidation agent destroying ferroheme, depositing pearl protein by blood stain activation and protein decoration method. Fifteen fluorescence agents for developing latent blood fingerprint were exploited. Development theory of blood fingerprint was discussed systematically, including all kinds of affected factors of blood fingerprint fluorescence development. The method, main characteristics and developing effect of blood stain activation and protein decoration for developing blood fingerprint were explained.
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly aggressive cancer characterized by a poor prognosis and resistance to chemotherapy. In this study, utilizing scRNA-seq, we discovered that the tetra-transmembrane protein mal, T cell differentiation protein 2 (MAL2), exhibited specific enrichment in ICC cancer cells and was strongly associated with a poor prognosis. The inhibition of MAL2 effectively suppressed cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Transcriptomics and metabolomics analyses suggested that MAL2 promoted lipid accumulation in ICC by stabilizing EGFR membrane localization and activated the PI3K/AKT/SREBP-1 axis. Molecular docking and Co-IP proved that MAL2 interacted directly with EGFR. Based on constructed ICC organoids, the downregulation of MAL2 enhanced apoptosis and sensitized ICC cells to cisplatin. Lastly, we conducted a virtual screen to identify sarizotan, a small molecule inhibitor of MAL2, and successfully validated its ability to inhibit MAL2 function. Our findings highlight the tumorigenic role of MAL2 and its involvement in cisplatin sensitivity, suggesting the potential for novel combination therapeutic strategies in ICC.
MicroRNAs (miRs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, have been demonstrated to be involved in the development and progression of human malignancies, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). miR-186 serves a suppressive role in certain common types of human cancer; however, its exact function in CSCC has not been reported previously. In the present study, the expression of miR-186 was significantly increased in CSCC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumour tissues. Overexpression of miR-186 significantly promoted CSCC cell proliferation while inhibiting cell apoptosis. Reticulophagy regulator 1 (RETREG1), a gene that is significantly downregulated in CSCC tissues and cell lines, was identified as a novel target of miR-186. In addition, the expression of RETREG1 was inversely correlated with miR-186 expression in CSCC tissues. Furthermore, the expression of RETREG1 was negatively regulated by miR-186 in CSCC cells, and restoration of RETREG1 attenuated the effects of miR-186 on CSCC cells. Taken together, the results of the current study suggest that miR-186 serves an oncogenic role in CSCC and may be used as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of this disease.
Abstract p53 tumor suppressor undergoes mutational loss in majority of cancers contributing to tumor formation. Therapeutic strategies are aimed towards p53 overexpression in tumors or to identify targets that compensate for p53-functional loss. p63 & p73, share structural similarities to p53, making them excellent candidates for therapeutic compensation of p53. Unlike p53, p63 and p73 do not undergo mutational loss and their role in tumorigenesis is being delineated. p63 and p73 have two major isoforms, the transactivation (TA), with activities similar to p53 and the delta (Δ)N- isoform with oncogenic functions. Inhibition of TAp63 and TAp73 is observed in cancers as a consequence of overexpression of ΔN isoforms of p63 and p73. In disparity, recent studies report, tumor suppressive properties of ΔNp63 and ΔNp73 in activating genes involved in DNA repair and apoptosis. To define the functional roles of ΔNp63 and ΔNp73 in cancer, mouse models targeting the ΔN isoforms were generated. We observed that, ΔNp63+/- and ΔNp73−/− mice on a p53−/− background had lower thymic lymphoma incidence compared to the p53−/− mice. I found TAp63 and TAp73 up regulated in the double mutant mice that correspond with an increase in p53-downstream apoptotic (PUMA, Noxa, BAX) and cell cycle targets (p21, p16, PML). This suggests that ablation of ΔN isoforms mediate TAp63 and TAp73 up regulation inducing apoptosis or cell cycle arrest by activation of p53-downstream targets. To further demonstrate this, I ablated ΔNp63 and ΔNp73 in vivo in p53−/- mice thymic lymphoma by administering adenoviral-CRE specifically to the thymus. The CRE-treated mice had a significant thymic lymphoma regression within 3 weeks as imaged by MRI in comparison to the mock-treated mouse cohorts. Additionally, RNA-Seq analysis from CRE-treated versus untreated mice, has identified novel metabolic genes with apoptotic or cell-cycle functions. We further report, ΔNp63 and ΔNp73 to bind to promoter site of TAp63 and TAp73 by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). This supports the notion that ablation of ΔN isoforms of p63 and p73 restores the function of TAp63 and TAp73 thus compensating for p53-tumor suppressive function in vivo. To test, if ablation of ΔN isoforms reduces tumorigenesis in human cancers, ΔNp63 and ΔNp73 were knocked down in human cancer cell lines were p53 expression was ablated or mutated. TAp63 and TAp73 were upregulated in ΔNp63/ΔNp73 knock down human cancer cell lines. However, induction of apoptosis or cell-cycle arrest was observed in p53-deleted cancer cell lines in comparison to the p53-mutated cell lines. This highlights the co-repressive effect of mutant p53, preventing activation of TAp63/TAp73 downstream targets. Current work is aimed towards overcoming mutant p53 effect in these cancer cell lines. Thus, targeting the ΔNp63/ΔNp73 compensates for p53-functional loss mediating tumor suppression. Citation Format: Avinashnarayan Venkatanarayan, Deepavali Chakravarti, Xiaohua Su, Santosh Sandur, Lingzhi Liu, Eliot Fletcher Sananikone, Payal Raulji, Cristian Coarfa, William Norton, Preethi Gunaratne, Elsa Renee Flores. Deletion of ΔNp63 and ΔNp73 in p53 deficient mice results in TAp63 and TAp73 compensation of p53 tumor suppression in vivo. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2331. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2331