Molecular Characteristics of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) and Its Effects in Cancer

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a type 1 transmembrane glycoprotein, and its homologs amyloid precursor-like protein 1 (APLP1) and amyloid precursor-like protein 2 (APLP2) are highly conserved in mammals. APP and APLP are known to be intimately involved in the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and to play important roles in neuronal homeostasis and development and neural transmission. APP and APLP are also expressed in non-neuronal tissues and are overexpressed in cancer cells. Furthermore, research indicates they are involved in several cancers. In this review, we examine the biological characteristics of APP-related family members and their roles in cancer.     

TiO2/MXene-Assisted LDI-MS for Urine Metabolic Profiling in Urinary Disease

Cancer remains an intractable medical problem. Rapid diagnosis and identification of cancer are critical to differentiate it from nonmalignant diseases. High-throughput biofluid metabolic analysis has potential for cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, the present metabolite analysis method does not meet the demand for high-throughput screening of diseases. Herein, a high-throughput, cost-effective, and noninvasive urine metabolic profiling method based on TiO₂/MXene-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) is presented for the efficient screening of bladder cancer (BC) and nonmalignant urinary disease. Combined with machine learning, TiO₂/MXene-assisted LDI-MS enables high diagnostic accuracy (96.8%) for the classification of patient groups (including 47 BC and 46 ureteral calculus (UC) patients) from healthy controls (113 cases). In addition, BC patients can also be identified from noncancerous UC individuals with an accuracy of 88.3% in the independent test cohort. Furthermore, metabolite variations between BC and UC individuals are investigated based on relative quantification, and related pathways are also discussed. These results suggest that this method, based on urine metabolic patterns, provides a potential tool for rapidly distinguishing urinary diseases and it may pave the way for precision medicine.     

Simultaneous determination of synthetic food additives in kimchi by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Food Science and Biotechnology - A new analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of seven food additives (Ponceau 4R, Allura Red AC, Amaranth, 4-hydroxymethyl benzoic acid,...     

Harmful effects of pyrethroid ester insecticide on the male reproductive system mainly through affecting testicular function and inflammatory markers

Pyrethroid esters are widely used as insecticides worldwide. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the harmful effect of deltamethrin on the male reproductive system through the assessment of reproductive hormones, inflammatory markers, and testicular function. To achieve our aim, eighty male 7-9-week-old, Wistar rats were taken, weighed, and divided into four experimental groups. The first group was kept as a control group, and the other three groups were given deltamethrin orally at different concentrations (0.87, 8.7, and 17.4 mg/kg body weight) for nine weeks. The results indicated that deltamethrin administration associated with a significant decrease in reproductive hormones, especially FSH, LH, and significant elevation in the interleukin 2 (IL2), interleukin 6 (IL6), histamine, and cortisol levels. Also, the significance of inhibition of sperm motility and viability, decreased testis weights, sperm count, and fructose in semen were noted. These findings clarify the harmful effect of deltamethrin on the male reproductive system by producing a significant alteration in reproductive hormones, inflammatory markers as well as testicular function.     

Co-coating effect of GdPO4 and carbon on LiFePO4 cathode surface for lithium ion batteries

The electronic conductivity enhanced has been extensively studied and reported in lithium iron phosph-ate (LiFePO₄). However, only few existing literatures are available for researchers to enhance simultaneously the ion and electronic conductivity of LiFePO₄. Herein, we disclose that the LiFePO₄ is co-coated with novel GdPO₄ and Carbon via a hydrothermal-assisted solid-phase method, contributing to particle size and dispersibility. What surprising is that the ionic and electronic conductivity of the material is significantly enhanced, and the interfacial side reaction is effectively inhibited between the materials and the electrolytes. The diverse proportions of the mixed coating (LiFePO₄/C&xGdPO₄ (x = 0, 1 wt%, 2 wt%, 3 wt%, 4 wt%)) are synthesized compared with bare LiFePO₄. The experimental results suggest that LiFePO₄/C&0.03GdPO₄ exhibits the most excellent electrochemical performance. There is discharge capacity of 158, 148.8, 141.6, 134.9, 121.8, 104.9, and 86.7mAh/g at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 C rates, respectively.     

酸性服役管线管BNS力学及耐腐蚀性能研究

文章介绍了包钢钢管公司酸性服役管线管BNS成分设计要求,对材料的拉伸性能、冲击性能、组织以及耐腐蚀性能进行了检测和分析,正火处理后,材料具有良好的力学性能和抗腐蚀性能.试验结果表明,设计的BNS完全能满足酸性服役条件下管线管性能要求.     

Synergy of Immunostimulatory Genetherapy with Immune Checkpoint Blockade Motivates Immune Response to Eliminate Cancer

Normalizing the tumor-induced immune deficiency in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) through increasing the efficient infiltration and activation of antitumoral immunity in TME is the core of promising immunotherapy. Herein, a Cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-d -Phe-Lys) (RGD) peptides-modified combinatorial immunotherapy system based on the self-assembly of the nanoparticles named RGD-DMA composed of RGD-PEG-PLA, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactide) (MPEG-PLA) and 1,2-Dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) is used to codeliver the immunostimulatory chemokine CCL19-encoding plasmid DNA (CCL19 pDNA) and immune checkpoint ligand PD-L1 inhibitor (BMS-1). The RGD-DMA/pCCL19-BMS-1 system not only exhibited significant inhibition of tumor progression but also induced locally high concentrations of immunostimulatory cytokines at tumor sites without causing an obviously systemic inflammatory response. The immunosuppressive TME is efficaciously reshaped by the coadministration of RGD-DMA/pCCL19 and BMS-1, as indicated by the activated T lymphocytes, increased intratumoral-infiltration of mature dendritic cells (DCs), and the repolarization of macrophages from pro-tumoral M2-phenotype toward tumoricidal M1-phenotype. The upregulated PD-L1 expression at tumor sites caused by the increased IFN-γ levels after immunostimulatory gene therapy further demonstrated the synergistic effects of BMS-1 in counteracting the inhibitory role of PD-L1 expression in antitumor immunity. Therefore, the combination of immunostimulating therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitor that synergistically target multiple immune regulatory pathways demonstrates significant potential as a novel immunotherapy approach.     

Comprehensive analysis on anomalous phenomenon of ethanol-soluble poly(vinyl butyral) membrane for ethanol recovery via pervaporation

Poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) is selected as a promising ethanol-permselective membrane based on the solubility parameter theory; however, it exhibits anomalous water perm-selectivity in practical pervaporation (PV) process. Comprehensive analysis based on experimental and theoretical methods were carried out to explore the inherent mechanism of the anomalous performance. Firstly, sum frequency generation vibrational spectra and contact angle were developed to quantify the surface reconstruction of membrane in air and ethanol, which indicated that hydrophilic hydroxyl tended to expose on membrane surface with ethanol thus improving the membrane affinity to water. Meanwhile, swelling behaviors proved more water would accumulate in the ethanol swollen membrane. Furthermore, theoretical analysis in terms of sorption and diffusion process, based on the UNIFAC-FV model and Fujita free-volume theory, confirmed the mechanism of anomalous phenomenon of PVB membrane. The comprehensive investigation was expected to provide insights into the basic separation mechanism of PV process.     

顶空气相色谱质谱法测定生活饮用水中14种挥发性卤代烃

目的:建立自动顶空气相色谱质谱法测定生活饮用水中1,1-二氯乙烯、二氯甲烷、反式-1,2-二氯乙烯、氯丁二烯、顺式-1,2-二氯乙烯、三氯甲烷、四氯化碳、1,2-二氯乙烷、三氯乙烯、一溴二氯甲烷、四氯乙烯、二溴一氯甲烷、三溴甲烷、六氯丁二烯14种挥发性卤代烃的含量。方法:样品经过60℃自动顶空平衡30 min后进样,采用DB-624毛细管色谱柱分离,气相色谱质谱法定量。结果:14种挥发性卤代烃在不同浓度下线性关系良好,相关系数为0.9950~0.9999;加标回收率为95.75%~100.67%;精密度为0.41%~3.58%。结论:本方法可以一次性完成生活饮用水中14种挥发性卤代烃的含量测定,方法简便、快速、准确,能充分满足生活饮用水的检测要求。     

Improving the risk management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in China from the perspective of social relationships

In China, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasingly affecting people's health. Although many risk factors related to T2DM have been researched, the association between social relationships and risk management of T2DM in China has not been fully researched. Therefore, we obtained 2,969 valid cases from the National Chinese Medicine Clinical Research Base-Key Disease of Diabetes Mellitus Study to evaluate the role of social relationships in the risk management of T2DM. We first establish an indicators system of social relationship factors and then propose a comprehensive method that integrates subjective (analytical network process) and objective (entropy weight method) evaluations to rank the importance of the 17 social relationship factors that were the most important and commonly used. The results suggest that different social relationship factors have different effects on the risk management of T2DM. Patients and health workers should pay more attention to the high-benefit factors and thus improve the efficiency of the risk management of T2DM. These findings provided theoretical support for patients and health workers by developing the positive effects of social relationships in improving the risk management of T2DM to the fullest degree.