Solid-state molecular oxygen activation using ball milling and a piezoelectric material for aerobic oxidation of thiols.

The agitation of BaTiO3 via ball milling converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, leading to the reduction of molecular oxygen via a single electron transfer pathway analogous to the photocatalytic reaction. This mechanoredox strategy for the oxidative coupling of thiols could eliminate waste and develop a recyclable methodology to accomplish organic transformations in a greener fashion, exhibiting promising potential for large-scale chemical manufacturing.

The Analysis of Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets for the Occurrence and Development of Gastric Cancer Based on Bioinformatics.

Objective: Gastric cancer is among the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system. This study explored the molecular mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for gastric cancer occurrence and progression using bioinformatics. Methods: The gastric cancer microarray dataset was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The R package was used for data mining and screening differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Based on the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, core targets and core subsets were screened. Then, the relationship between the expression level of the core genes and the prognosis of gastric cancer patients was analyzed using the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) database. Results: Using the GSE19826 and GSE54129 datasets, a total of 550 DEGs were identified, including 248 upregulated and 302 downregulated genes. GO and KEGG analyses showed that the upregulated DEGs were mainly enriched in the extracellular matrix (ECM) organization of the biological process (BP), the collagen-containing ECM of cellular component (CC), and the ECM structural constituent of molecular function (MF). DEGs were also enriched in human papillomavirus infections, the focal adhesion pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and among others. The downregulated DEGs were mainly enriched in digestion, basal part of the cell, and aldo-keto reductase (NADP) activity. And the above pathways were enriched primarily in the metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, drug metabolism-cytochrome P450, and retinol metabolism. Five core genes, including COL1A2, COL3A1, BGN, FN1, and VCAN, were significantly highly expressed in gastric cancer patients and were associated with poor prognosis. Conclusion: This study identified new potential molecular targets closely related to gastric cancer occurrence and development via mining public data using bioinformatics analysis methods.

Porous graphene oxide/chitosan beads with honeycomb-biomimetic microchannels as hydrophilic adsorbent for the selective capture of glycopeptides.

A porous hydrophilic affinity bead consisting of graphene oxide and chitosan (pGC) with the honeycomb-biomimetic microchannels has been synthesized and applied as hydrophilic adsorbent for selective capture of glycopeptides. The pGC beads have open-porous structure, honeycomb-like microchannels, large interior voids, and hydrophilic property. Based on the multivalent hydrophilic interactions between glycan moieties on glycopeptides and amino groups and hydroxyl groups on chitosan, the glycopeptides were enriched and separated by pGC beads. The pGC beads exhibit high sensitivity (detection limit, 5 fmol), binding capacity (111.1 mg/g), enrichment selectivity (molar ratio of human IgG to BSA tryptic digests of 1:200), and recovery yield (89.78%). By combing pGC beads and nano LC-MS/MS analysis, a total of 325 N-glycosylated peptides corresponding to 152 N-glycosylated proteins were identified from 2 µL human serum. These experimental results demonstrate the practical application of the method in glycoproteomics research. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of fabrication for porous hydrophilic affinity beads (pGC) with honeycomb-biomimetic microchannels based on graphene oxide (GO) and chitosan (CS). The pGC was successfully applied to capturing and identifying low-abundant glycopeptides from biological samples.

miR­146a improves hepatic lipid and glucose metabolism by targeting MED1.

Non­alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide. Increasing evidence has shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in the progression of NAFLD. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression level and roles of miR­146a in fatty liver of high­fat diet (HFD) and ob/ob mice and fatty acid­treated hepatic cells using RT­qPCR and western blot analysis. The results showed that the expression of miR­146a was significantly decreased in the livers of high­fat diet (HFD) and ob/ob mice and free fatty acid­stimulated cells by RT­qPCR. Overexpression of hepatic miR­146a improved glucose and insulin tolerance as well as lipid accumulation in the liver by promoting the oxidative metabolism of fatty acids. In addition, the overexpression of miR­146a increased the amount of mitochondria and promoted mitochondrial respiration in hepatocytes. Similarly, inhibition of miR­146a expression levels significantly reduced mitochondrial numbers in AML12 cells as well as the expression of mitochondrial respiration related genes. Additionally, MED1 was a direct target of miR­146a and restoring MED1 abolished the metabolic effects of miR­146a on lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function. Therefore, results of the present study identified a novel function of miR­146a in glucose and lipid metabolism in targeting MED1, suggesting that miR­146a serves as a potential therapeutic target for metabolic syndrome disease.

Long non-coding RNA ANRIL enhances mitochondrial function of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the MiR-199a-5p/ARL2 axis.

Although the roles of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) ANRIL (Antisense non-coding RNA in the INK4A locus) have been established in various tumors, its roles in mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells are still unclear. This work aims to explore lncRNA ANRIL roles in regulating the mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming of liver cancer cells. First, we found that lncRAN ANRIL expression was significantly increased in HCC tissues or cells compared with the normal adjacent tissues and normal tissues or cells. Functional experiment showed that overexpression of lncRNA ANRIL promoted mitochondrial function in HCC cells, evident by the increased mitochondrial DNA copy numbers, ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) level, mitochondrial membrane potential, and the expression levels of mitochondrial markers, while ANRIL knockdown exerted the opposite effects. Mechanistically, lncRNA ANRIL acted as a competing endogenous RNA to increase ARL2 (ADP-ribosylationfactor-like 2) expression via sponging miR-199a-5p. Notably, the miR-199a-5p/ARL2 axis is necessary for ANRIL-mediated promoting effects on HCC cell mitochondrial function. This work reveals a novel ANRIL-miR-199a-5p-ARL2 axis in HCC cell progression, which might provide potential targets for HCC treatment.