ABSTRACT
Head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSC) is a prevalent malignant disease, with the majority of patients being diagnosed at an advanced stage. Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is considered to be a process that promotes tumorigenesis and impacts the tumor microenvironment (TME) in various cancers. The study aims to investigate the predictive value of ERS in HNSC and explore the correlation between ERS-related genes and TME. A series of bioinformatics analyses were carried out based on mRNA and scRNA-seq data from the TCGA and GEO databases. We conducted RT-qPCR and western blot to validate the signature, and performed cell functional experiments to investigate the in vitro biological functions of the gene. We identified 63 ERS-related genes that were associated with outcome and stage in HNSC. A three-gene signature (ATF6, TRIB3, and UBXN6) was developed, which presents predictive value in the prognosis and immunotherapy response of HNSC patients. The high-risk group exhibited a worse prognosis but may benefit from immunotherapy. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the signature and immune infiltration. In the high-risk group, fibroblasts were more active in intercellular communication, and more T cells were observed at the end of the sequential phase. The genes in the ERS-related signature were overexpressed in HNSC cells, and the knockdown of TRIB3 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration. This study established a novel ERS-related signature that has potential implications for HNSC therapy and the understanding of TME.
Subject(s)
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Head and Neck Neoplasms , Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck , Tumor Microenvironment , Humans , Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress/genetics , Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck/genetics , Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck/pathology , Head and Neck Neoplasms/genetics , Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology , Head and Neck Neoplasms/metabolism , Tumor Microenvironment/genetics , Prognosis , Cell Line, Tumor , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , Activating Transcription Factor 6/metabolism , Activating Transcription Factor 6/genetics , Female , Cell Proliferation/genetics , Computational Biology/methods , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , Male , Cell Movement/genetics , Gene Expression Profiling , Transcriptome , Repressor Proteins , Cell Cycle ProteinsABSTRACT
Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have the characteristics of low cost, environmental protection, and high theoretical energy density, and have broad application prospects in the new generation of electronic products. However, there are some problems that seriously hinder the Li-S batteries from going from the laboratory to the factory, such as poor stability caused by the large volume expansion of sulfur during charging and discharging, sluggish kinetics of the electrochemical reaction resulting from the low conductivity of the active materials, and loss of active materials arising from the dissolution and diffusion of the intermediate product lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). In this paper, the two-dimensional layered material MXene and TiN are firstly combined by spray drying method to prepare pomegranate-like TiN@MXene microspheres with both adsorption capacity and catalytic effect on LiPSs conversion. The interconnected skeleton composed of MXene not only solves the problem of easy stacking of MXene sheets but also ensures the uniform distribution of sulfur. Without affecting the excellent characteristics of MXene itself, the overall conductivity of the composite electrode material is improved. The TiN hollow nanospheres are coated with MXene layers to form a shell, catalyzing the adsorption of LiPSs and accelerating the transformation of high-order LiPSs to Li2S2/Li2S. As a result, the TiN@MXene cathode delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 1436 mA h g-1 at 0.1C, excellent rate performance of 636 mA h g-1 up to 3C, and an ultralong lifespan over 1000 cycles with a small capacity decay of 0.048% per cycle at the current density of 1.0C.
ABSTRACT
The commercial application of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is obstructed by the inherent dissolution/shuttling of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in a sluggish redox reaction. Here, a heterophase V2O3-VN yolk-shell nanosphere encapsulated by a nitrogen-doped carbon layer has been designed to address the problems of the short cycle life and rapid capacity decay of Li-S batteries synchronously. The structural merits comprise efficient polysulfide anchoring (V2O3), rapid electron transfer (VN) and a reinforced frame (N-doped carbon). The assembled cathode based on the V2O3-VN@NC sulfur host delivered a high initial capacity of 1352 mA h g-1 at 0.1C with excellent rate performance (797 mA h g-1 at 2C) and favorable cycle stability with a low capacity-decay rate of only 0.038% per cycle over 800 cycles at 1C. Even with a high sulfur loading of 3.95 mg cm-2, an initial capacity of 954 mA h g-1 at 0.2C could be achieved, along with a good capacity retention of 75.1% after 150 cycles. Density functional theory computations demonstrated the crucial role of the V2O3-VN@NC heterostructure in the trapping-diffusion-conversion of polysulfides. This multi-functional cathode is very promising in realizing practically usable Li-S batteries owing to the simple process and the prominent rate and cyclic performances.