Spatiotemporal alterations in the brain oscillations of Arctic explorers.

BACKGROUND: The limited understanding of the physiology and psychology of polar expedition explorers has prompted concern over the potential cognitive impairments caused by exposure to extreme environmental conditions. Prior research has demonstrated that such stressors can negatively impact cognitive function, sleep quality, and behavioral outcomes. Nevertheless, the impact of the polar environment on neuronal activity remains largely unknown. METHODS: In this study, we aimed to investigate spatiotemporal alterations in brain oscillations of 13 individuals (age range: 22-48 years) who participated in an Arctic expedition. We utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to record cortical activity before and during the Arctic journey, and employed standardized low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography to localize changes in alpha, beta, theta, and gamma activity. RESULTS: Our results reveal a significant increase in the power of theta oscillations in specific regions of the Arctic, which differed significantly from pre-expedition measurements. Furthermore, microstate analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in the duration of microstates (MS) D and alterations in the local synchrony of the frontoparietal network. CONCLUSION: Overall, these findings provide novel insights into the neural mechanisms underlying adaptation to extreme environments. These findings have implications for understanding the cognitive consequences of polar exploration and may inform strategies to mitigate potential neurological risks associated with such endeavors. Further research is warranted to elucidate the long-term effects of Arctic exposure on brain function.

Itga5-PTEN signaling regulates striatal synaptic strength and motor coordination in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is marked by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, leading to motor and cognitive dysfunctions. The molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic alterations in PD remain elusive, with a focus on the role of Itga5 in synaptic integrity and motor coordination and TAT-Itga5 was designed to suppress PTEN activity in this investigation. Methods: This study utilized MPTP-induced PD animal models to investigate the expression and role of Itga5 in the striatum. Techniques included quantitative PCR, Western blotting, immunostaining, CRISPR-CasRx-mediated knockdown, electrophysiological assays, behavioral tests, and mass spectrometry. Results: Itga5 expression was significantly reduced in MPTP-induced PD models. In these models, a marked decrease in dendritic spine density and a shift towards thinner spines in striatal GABA neurons were observed, suggesting impaired synaptic integration. Knockdown of Itga5 resulted in reduced dendritic branching, decreased mushroom spines, and increased thin spines, altering synaptic architecture. Electrophysiological analyses revealed changes in action potential and spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents, indicating altered synaptic transmission. Motor behavior assessments showed that Itga5 deficiency led to impairments in fine motor control and coordination. Furthermore, Itga5 was found to interact with PTEN, affecting AKT signaling crucial for synaptic development and motor coordination. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that Itga5 plays a critical role in maintaining synaptic integrity and motor coordination in PD. The Itga5-PTEN-AKT pathway represents a potential therapeutic target for addressing synaptic and motor dysfunctions in PD.

Neural network predictive controller based on the improved TPA-LSTM model for ultra-supercritical units.

To mitigate the impact of large-scale renewable energy power on the national grid in China, it is imperative to enhance the flexible peaking capability of coal-fired thermal power units. The coordinated control system, central to the load control of coal-fired units, faces challenges such as multivariable coupling, sluggish response, and uncertain coal quality parameters. This paper introduces a neural network predictive controller based on the improved TPA-LSTM model, aimed at addressing these issues. Initially, a data-driven control model is established to break through the limitations of traditional linear predictive control and effectively handle disturbance uncertainties. Then, a multivariable coordinated control strategy based on the neural network controller is designed, achieving effective decoupling of multiple parameters and ensuring high adaptability across all load conditions. Additionally, by integrating an automatic model updating mechanism, the system can recalibrate in real-time when model mismatches occur due to equipment aging, maintenance, or changes in coal quality, thereby enhancing overall control performance. Simulation results demonstrate that this strategy has excellent control effectiveness, meeting the flexible peaking demands of 1000 MW ultra-supercritical units. The calibration feature of the data-driven model significantly improves control performance following model mismatches.

Overcoming Kinetic Limitations of Polyanionic Cathode toward High-Performance Na-Ion Batteries.

Polyanionic cathodes have attracted extensive research interest for Na-ion batteries (NIBs) due to their moderate energy density and desirable cycling stability. However, these compounds suffer from visible capacity fading and significant voltage decay upon the rapid sodium storage process, even if modified through nanoengineering or carbon-coating routes, leading to limited applications in NIBs. Herein, the Na3(VOPO4)2F cathode material with dominantly exposed {001} active facets is demonstrated by a topochemical synthesis route. Owing to the rational geometrical structure design and thereby directly shortening Na diffusion distance, the electrode delivers a reversible capacity of ∼129 mA h g-1 even at a high rate of 10 C, which is very close to the theoretical capacity of 132 mA h g-1, achieving a high energy density of ∼452 W h kg-1 coupled with a high-power density of 4660 W kg-1. When further served as a cathode for nonaqueous, aqueous-based, and solid-state full NIBs, respectively, our designed Na3(VOPO4)2F always enables superior electrochemical performance due to favorable kinetics.

Complete genome sequence of a novel Pseudomonas sp. IT1137 isolated from Antarctic intertidal sediment showing potential for alkane degradation at low temperatures.

Pseudomonas species are known for their diverse metabolic abilities and broad ecological distribution. They are fundamental components of bacterial communities and perform essential ecological functions in the environment. A psychrotrophic Pseudomonas sp. IT1137 was isolated from intertidal sediment in the coastal region of the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica. The strain contained a circular chromosome of 5,346,697 bp with a G + C content of 61.66 mol% and one plasmid of 4481 bp with a G + C content of 64.61 mol%. A total of 4848 protein-coding genes, 65 tRNA genes and 15 rRNA genes were obtained. Genome sequence analysis revealed that strain IT1137 not only is a potentially novel species of the genus Pseudomonas but also harbors functional genes related to nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus cycling. In addition, genes involved in alkane degradation, ectoine synthesis and cyclic lipopeptide (CLP) production were detected in the bacterial genome. The results indicate the potential of the strain Pseudomonas sp. IT1137 for biotechnological applications such as bioremediation and secondary metabolite production and are helpful for understanding bacterial adaptability and ecological function in cold coastal environments.

Neonatal X-linked myotubular myopathy with a de novo mutation: A case report and literature review. / æ–°å‘çªå˜åŸºå› çš„æ–°ç”Ÿå„¿X-è¿žé”è‚Œå°ç®¡è‚Œç— 1例并文献回顾.

X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a rare congenital myopathy. In February 2021, a male neonate was admitted to the West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, with clinical manifestations of hypotonia, accompanied by distinctive facial features, and requiring continuous ventilatory support. He was born prematurely at 36+2 weeks gestation and developed respiratory distress postnatally, followed by difficulty in weaning from mechanical ventilation. Additional clinical features included hypotonia of the limbs, swallowing dysfunction, and specific facial characteristics (elongated limbs, narrow face, high-arched palate, wrist drop, empty scrotum, elongated fingers/toes). Genetic testing confirmed the diagnosis of XLMTM. Whole-exome sequencing analysis of the family revealed no mutations in the father, paternal grandfather, or paternal grandmother, while the mother had a heterozygous mutation. The pathogenic mutation was identified as MTM1 gene (OMIM: 300415), chromosome position chrX-150649714, with a nucleotide change of c.868-2A>C. The patient exhibited typical facial features. Genetic testing is crucial for accurate diagnosis of XLMTM in infants presenting with abnormal muscle tone and distinctive facial features.

Current application and future perspective of CRISPR/cas9 gene editing system mediated immune checkpoint for liver cancer treatment.

Liver cancer, which is well-known to us as one of human most prevalent malignancies across the globe, poses a significant risk to live condition and life safety of individuals in every region of the planet. It has been shown that immune checkpoint treatment may enhance survival benefits and make a significant contribution to patient prognosis, which makes it a promising and popular therapeutic option for treating liver cancer at the current time. However, there are only a very few numbers of patients who can benefit from the treatment and there also exist adverse events such as toxic effects and so on, which is still required further research and discussion. Fortunately, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) provides a potential strategy for immunotherapy and immune checkpoint therapy of liver cancer. In this review, we focus on elucidating the fundamentals of the recently developed CRISPR/Cas9 technology as well as the present-day landscape of immune checkpoint treatment which pertains to liver cancer. What's more, we aim to explore the molecular mechanism of immune checkpoint treatment in liver cancer based on CRISPR/Cas9 technology. At last, its encouraging and powerful potential in the future application of the clinic is discussed, along with the issues that already exist and the difficulties that must be overcome. To sum it all up, our ultimate goal is to create a fresh knowledge that we can utilize this new CRISPR/Cas9 technology for the current popular immune checkpoint therapy to overcome the treatment issues of liver cancer. .

Toll-like receptor 4 deficiency affects the balance of osteoclastogenesis and osteoblastogenesis in periodontitis.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) acts as a double-edged sword in the occurrence and development of periodontitis. While the activation of TLR4 in macrophages aids in clearing local pathogens, it can also disrupt innate immune responses, upsetting microecological balance and accelerating the destruction of periodontal bone tissues. To date, the effects of TLR4 on osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis in periodontitis have not been comprehensively studied. In this study, we investigated the development of periodontitis in the Tlr4-/- mice by ligating their second molars with silk threads. Compared to wild-type (WT) mice, Tlr4-/- mice demonstrated increased resistance to periodontitis-associated bone destruction, as evidenced by decreased bone resorption and enhanced bone regeneration. Mechanistically, the deletion of Tlr4 not only inhibited osteoclast formation by reducing the expression of NFATc1, CTSK and TRAP, but also enhanced osteogenic abilities through increased expression of OCN, OPN and RUNX2. In conclusion, TLR4 tips the balance of osteoclastogenesis and osteogenesis, thereby promoting periodontal bone destruction in periodontitis.

Generation of a competing endogenous RNA network and validation of BNIP1 expression in the lung of irradiated mice.

BACKGROUND: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a serious complication of radiation therapy, and it is mediated by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Mouse lung tissues were examined using RNA-Seq and RNA-Seq libraries 72 h after the administration of 6 Gy of X-ray irradiation. The target mRNAs were functionally annotated and the target lncRNA-based miRNAs and target miRNA-based mRNAs were predicted after irradiation to establish the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA axis. RESULTS: The analyses showed that relative to unirradiated controls, 323 mRNAs, 114 miRNAs, and 472 lncRNAs were significantly up-regulated following irradiation, whereas 1907 mRNAs, 77 miRNAs, and 1572 lncRNAs were significantly down-regulated following irradiation. Voltage-gated ion channels, trans-membrane receptor protein tyrosine kinases, and vascular endothelial growth factor have all been associated with dysregulated miRNA-mRNA relationships. KEGG pathway analysis of the dysregulated miRNA-mRNA targets revealed involvement in pathways associated with the hedgehog signaling pathway-fly, ErbB signaling, VEGF signaling, axon guidance, and focal adhesion. KEGG analysis of differentially expressed showed enrichment of mRNAs in primary immunodeficiency, the intestinal immune axis for IgA production, hematopoietic cell lineages, systemic lupus erythematosus, and Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation. Finally, the ceRNA network revealed that BNIP1 was a critical mRNA modulated by the most significant upregulation of lncRNA E230013L22Rik. CONCLUSION: In summary, the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA axis of RILI was constructed following irradiation in a mouse model. RNA dysregulation in the early stage of RILI may lead to severe complications at a later stage, with BNIP1 contributing to radiation-induced cellular apoptosis in RILI.

A Convolutional Neural Network for SSVEP Identification by Using a Few-Channel EEG.

The application of wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) devices is growing in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) owing to their good wearability and portability. Compared with conventional devices, wearable devices typically support fewer EEG channels. Devices with few-channel EEGs have been proven to be available for steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based BCI. However, fewer-channel EEGs can cause the BCI performance to decrease. To address this issue, an attention-based complex spectrum-convolutional neural network (atten-CCNN) is proposed in this study, which combines a CNN with a squeeze-and-excitation block and uses the spectrum of the EEG signal as the input. The proposed model was assessed on a wearable 40-class dataset and a public 12-class dataset under subject-independent and subject-dependent conditions. The results show that whether using a three-channel EEG or single-channel EEG for SSVEP identification, atten-CCNN outperformed the baseline models, indicating that the new model can effectively enhance the performance of SSVEP-BCI with few-channel EEGs. Therefore, this SSVEP identification algorithm based on a few-channel EEG is particularly suitable for use with wearable EEG devices.

InA: Inhibition Adaption on pre-trained language models.

Fine-tuning pre-trained language models (LMs) may not always be the most practical approach for downstream tasks. While adaptation fine-tuning methods have shown promising results, a clearer explanation of their mechanisms and further inhibition of the transmission of information is needed. To address this, we propose an Inhibition Adaptation (InA) fine-tuning method that aims to reduce the number of added tunable weights and appropriately reweight knowledge derived from pre-trained LMs. The InA method involves (1) inserting a small trainable vector into each Transformer attention architecture and (2) setting a threshold to directly eliminate irrelevant knowledge. This approach draws inspiration from the shunting inhibition, which allows the inhibition of specific neurons to gate other functional neurons. With the inhibition mechanism, InA achieves competitive or even superior performance compared to other fine-tuning methods on BERT-large, RoBERTa-large, and DeBERTa-large for text classification and question-answering tasks.

Alternative muscle synergy patterns of upper limb amputees.

Myoelectric hand prostheses are effective tools for upper limb amputees to regain hand functions. Much progress has been made with pattern recognition algorithms to recognize surface electromyography (sEMG) patterns, but few attentions was placed on the amputees' motor learning process. Many potential myoelectric prostheses users could not fully master the control or had declined performance over time. It is possible that learning to produce distinct and consistent muscle activation patterns with the residual limb could help amputees better control the myoelectric prosthesis. In this study, we observed longitudinal effect of motor skill learning with 2 amputees who have developed alternative muscle activation patterns in response to the same set of target prosthetic actions. During a 10-week program, amputee participants were trained to produce distinct and constant muscle activations with visual feedback of live sEMG and without interaction with prosthesis. At the end, their sEMG patterns were different from each other and from non-amputee control groups. For certain intended hand motion, gradually reducing root mean square (RMS) variance was observed. The learning effect was also assessed with a CNN-LSTM mixture classifier designed for mobile sEMG pattern recognition. The classification accuracy had a rising trend over time, implicating potential performance improvement of myoelectric prosthesis control. A follow-up session took place 6 months after the program and showed lasting effect of the motor skill learning in terms of sEMG pattern classification accuracy. The results indicated that with proper feedback training, amputees could learn unique muscle activation patterns that allow them to trigger intended prosthesis functions, and the original motor control scheme is updated. The effect of such motor skill learning could help to improve myoelectric prosthetic control performance.

A New Evaluation Method of Recoverable Reserves and Its Application in Carbonate Gas Reservoirs.

The propagation pattern of pressure drawdown effectively reflects the recoverable reserves range around the gas well and serves as a crucial basis for development strategies. However, it is not easy to detect the pressure propagation boundary near the producing well, especially in low-permeability reservoirs where the drainage radius is small. Physical simulation experiments can serve as a crucial method as the whole pressure profile and gas rate can be obtained in real time. Using long core plugs with permeabilities of 2.300 mD, 0.486 mD, and 0.046 mD, physical simulation experiments were carried out under varying initial water saturation (Swi) conditions of 0%, 20%, 40%, and 55% to observe the dynamic variations in pressure profiles of the core plugs during pressure depletion. Based on the material balance equation and pressure profile characteristics of the core plugs, a method for evaluating recoverable reserves within a well-spacing radius through laboratory experiments was proposed and performed. Mechanism analysis was conducted based on mercury injection tests, and suggestions for enhancing gas recovery were presented. Research findings indicate that lower permeability, higher initial water saturation, and higher abandonment gas rates result in reduced reserve utilization range and degree. Under abandoned gas rate conditions, for type I and II rocks, the pore radius is primarily distributed between 0.1 and 1 µm, the pressure drawdown can reach the well-spacing radius of 600 m, and the ultimate recovery efficiencies are more than 70.6%. For type III rocks, the pore radius mainly falls below 0.1 µm, the drainage radius is smaller than 10 m with Swi greater than 40%, and the ultimate recovery is below 10%. This paper provides an experimental method for recoverable reserves evaluation while formulating gas reservoir development strategies before well testing.

Degree centrality-based resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging explores central mechanisms in lumbar disc herniation patients with chronic low back pain.

Objective: To investigate the central mechanism of lumbar disc herniation in patients with chronic low back pain (LDHCP) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) utilizing the Degree Centrality (DC) method. Methods: Twenty-five LDHCP and twenty-two healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled, and rs-fMRI data from their brains were collected. We compared whole-brain DC values between the LDHCP and HC groups, and examined correlations between DC values within the LDHCP group and the Visual Analogue Score (VAS), Oswestry Dysfunction Index (ODI), and disease duration. Diagnostic efficacy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: LDHCP patients exhibited increased DC values in the bilateral cerebellum and brainstem, whereas decreased DC values were noted in the left middle temporal gyrus and right post-central gyrus when compared with HCs. The DC values of the left middle temporal gyrus were positively correlated with VAS (r = 0.416, p = 0.039) and ODI (r = 0.405, p = 0.045), whereas there was no correlation with disease duration (p > 0.05). Other brain regions showed no significant correlations with VAS, ODI, or disease duration (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the results obtained from ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the Area Under the Curve (AUC) for the left middle temporal gyrus was 0.929. Conclusion: The findings indicated local abnormalities in spontaneous neural activity and functional connectivity in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral brainstem, left middle temporal gyrus, and right postcentral gyrus among LDHCP patients.

Nurse-Assisted Rehabilitation Protocols Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Despite significant advancements in surgical instruments and operation skills, short- and long-term outcomes following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) remain unsatisfactory, as many patients fail to return to their pre-injury level of sports. Inadequate ACL rehabilitation is the primary cause of poor outcomes. Nurses have become a crucial element in the rehabilitation process. Although there is no consensus regarding the optimal post-operative rehabilitation protocols, restoring muscle strength and neuromuscular control are consistently the primary goals. This literature review presents nurse-assisted rehabilitation protocols aiming at improving muscle strength and neuromuscular control. The review discusses postoperative rehabilitation, including home-based and supervised rehabilitation, open and closed kinetic chain exercises, eccentric and concentric training, blood flow restriction training, and plyometric training. Each training protocol has its benefits and drawbacks, and should be used cautiously in specific stages of rehabilitation. Neuromuscular training, such as neuromuscular electrical stimulation, neuromuscular control exercises, and vibration therapy, is considered crucial in rehabilitation.

Suppressing Jahn-Teller distortion and locking lattice water with doped Fe(III) in birnessite toward fast and stable zinc-ion batteries.

Birnessite has been regarded as a promising cathode material for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), but severe Jahn-Teller distortion and abrupt lattice collapse at deep charged states lead to serious problems such as poor capacity retention and short cycle life, which severely impede its practical applications. We herein report the construction of an advanced layered Fe-doped Na0.55Mn2O4·xH2O (Fe-NMO·xH2O) cathode to promote zinc-ion storage performance and electrochemical stability. An outstanding capacity of 102 mA h g-1 at a high current density of 20 A g-1 and a long cycle life of 6000 cycles have been achieved, comparable to the state-of-the-art manganese oxide-based cathodes. Both experimental measurements and theoretical calculations reveal that Fe3+ substitution and lattice water cooperatively stabilize the interlayer structure, accelerate zinc-ion diffusion, and improve electronic conductivity. Notably, Fe doping is conducive to alleviating the Jahn-Teller effect and locking lattice water, which effectively prevents phase transformation and lattice collapse during the (de)intercalation process. This work sheds light on the synergistic interplay between dopants and structural water in zinc-ion storage and demonstrates instructive strategies to regulate layered structures for ZIBs.

An "off-on-enhanced on" electrochemiluminescence biosensor based on resonance energy transfer and surface plasmon coupled 3D DNA walker for ultra-sensitive detection of microRNA-21.

In this study, a novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor was developed to detect microRNA-21 (miRNA-21) with high sensitivity by leveraging the combined mechanisms of resonance energy transfer (RET) and surface plasmon coupling (SPC). Initially, the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) were coated with Cu-Zn-In-S quantum dots (CZIS QDs), known for their defect-related emission suitable for ECL sensing. Subsequently, a hairpin DNA H3 with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) attached at the end was modified over the surface of the quantum dots. The Au NPs could effectively quench the ECL signals of CZIS QDs via RET. Further, a significant amount of report DNA was generated through the action of a 3D DNA walker. When the report DNA opened H3-Au NPs, the hairpin structure experienced a conformational change to a linear shape, increasing the gap between the CZIS QDs and the Au NPs. Consequently, the localized surface plasmon resonance ECL (LSPR-ECL) effect replaced ECL resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET). Moreover, the report DNA was released following the addition of H4-Au NPs, resulting in the formation of Au dimers and a surface plasma-coupled ECL (SPC-ECL) effect that enhanced the ECL intensity to 6.97-fold. The integration of new ECL-RET and SPC-ECL biosensor accurately quantified miRNA-21 concentrations from 10-8 M to 10-16 M with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.08 fM, as well as successfully applied to validate human serum samples.

Fabrication and characterization of oxidized starch-xanthan gum composite nanoparticles with efficient emulsifying properties.

This study involved the preparation of nanoparticles by combining oxidized starch (OS) with xanthan gum (XG), and emulsions were prepared from this nanoparticle. The physical and chemical characteristics, as well as the emulsification properties of oxidized starch-xanthan gum composite nanoparticles (OGNP), were analyzed. The findings revealed that the OGNP retained spherical shape after the addition of XG, although their diameter increased from approximately 50-150 to 200-400 nm. Zeta potential decreased with XG content. Moreover, emulsions prepared from OGNP exhibited outstanding thermal stability, also showing enhanced storage stability. In addition, emulsions had different rheological properties at different pH values. The apparent viscosity and shear stress of emulsions under alkaline conditions were lower than that of neutral conditions. NaCl increased the apparent viscosity of OGNP-stabilized emulsions while reducing their thermal stability. The nanoparticles prepared in this study have efficient emulsification properties and can extend the application of OS.

Dual-signal ratiometric electrochemiluminescence biosensor based on Au NPs-induced low-potential emission of PFO Pdots and LSPR-ECL mechanism for ultra-sensitive detection of microRNA-141.

In this study, we have for the first time constructed a ratiometric ECL biosensor for the ultrasensitive detection of microRNAs (miRNAs) using gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to trigger both the low-potential emission from conjugated polymer poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl) dots (PFO Pdots) and the LSPR-ECL effect with sulfur-doped boron nitride quantum dots (S-BN QDs). PFO Pdots were first applied to the Au NPs-modified electrode, followed by covalent binding to capture the hairpin H1. Immediately thereafter, a small amount of miRNA-141 was able to generate a large amount of output DNA (OP) by traversing the target cycle. OP, H3-S-BN QDs, and H4-glucose oxidase (H4-GOD) were then added sequentially to the Au NPs-modified electrode surface, and the hybridization chain reaction (HCR) was initiated. This resulted in the introduction of a large amount of GOD into the system, which catalyzed the in situ formation of the co-reactant hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from the substrate glucose. Due to the electron transfer effect, the production of H2O2 led to the ECL quenching of PFO Pdots. Meanwhile, H2O2 served as a co-reactant of S-BN QDs, resulting in strong ECL emission of S-BN QDs at the cathode. Furthermore, the cathodic ECL intensity of S-BN QDs was further enhanced by an LSPR-ECL mechanism between Au NPs and S-BN QDs. By measuring the ratio of ECL intensities at two excitation potentials, this approach could provide sensitive and reliable detection of miRNA-141 in the range of 0.1 fM ∼10 nM, with a detection limit of 0.1 fM.

Serum extracellular vesicle-derived miR-21-5p and miR-26a-5p as non-invasive diagnostic potential biomarkers for gastric cancer: A preliminary study.

PURPOSE: Gastric cancer is the most common malignancy worldwide and is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths, urgently requiring an early and non-invasive diagnosis. Circulating extracellular vesicles may emerge as promising biomarkers for the rapid diagnosis in a non-invasive manner. METHODS: Using high-throughput small RNA sequencing, we profiled the small RNA population of serum-derived extracellular vesicles from healthy controls and gastric cancer patients. Differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) were randomly selected and validated by reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Receiver operating characteristic curves were employed to assess the predictive value of miRNAs for gastric cancer. RESULTS: In this study, 193 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified, of which 152 were upregulated and 41 were significantly downregulated. Among the differently expressed miRNA, the expression levels of miR-21-5p, miR-26a-5p, and miR-27a-3p were significantly elevated in serum-derived extracellular vesicles of gastric cancer patients. The miR-21-5p and miR-27a-3p were closely correlated with the tumor size. Moreover, the expression levels of serum miR-21-5p and miR-26a-5p were significantly decreased in gastric cancer patients after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The present study discovered the potential of serum miR-21-5p and miR-26a-5p as promising candidates for the diagnostic and prognostic markers of gastric cancer.