CPXM1 correlates to poor prognosis and immune cell infiltration in gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death and the fifth most frequent malignant cancer, especially advanced GC. Carboxypeptidase X member 1 (CPXM1) is an epigenetic factor involved in many physiological processes, including osteoclast differentiation and adipogenesis. Several studies have shown the association of CPXM1 with multiple tumors; however, the mechanism of CPXM1 involvement in the progression of GC is yet to be characterized. Method: CPXM1 expression data were obtained from the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource. The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Gene Expression Omnibus databases were used to obtain patient-matched clinicopathological information, and the Kaplan-Meier plot database was utilized for the prognosis analysis of GC patients. The Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer and cBioportal databases were adopted to study CPXM1 mutations in tumors. Next, we utilized the Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis for mechanism research. Furthermore, we performed tumor microenvironment and immune infiltration analysis based on CPXM1. Finally, we predicted sensitivity to several targeted drugs in GC patients based on CPXM1.CPXM1 is upregulated in GC and is correlated with poor prognosis, gender, and tumor stage in GC patients. Gene enrichment analysis suggested that CPXM1 may regulate the occurrence and progression of GC via the PI3K-AKT and TGF-ß pathway. Moreover, CPXM1 expression results in an increase in the proportion of immune and stromal cells. Additionally, the proportion of plasma cells was inversely related to the expression of CPXM1, whereas macrophage M2 expression was proportionate to CPXM1 expression. Finally, six small-molecule drugs that showed notable variations in IC50 between two groups were screened. Conclusion: These results suggested that CPXM1 regulates the progression of GC and may represent a novel target for the detection and treatment of GC.

Apolipoprotein C1 promotes tumor progression in gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignancy with the worst prognosis that seriously threatens human health, especially in East Asia. Apolipoprotein C1 (apoc1) belongs to the apolipoprotein family. In addition, apoc1 has been associated with various tumors. However, its role in GC remains unclear. Methods: Firstly, we quantified its expression in GC and adjacent tumor tissues, using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Next, we assessed cell invasion and migration abilities. Finally, we revealed the role of apoc1 in the tumor microenvironment (TME), immune cell infiltration and drug sensitivity. Results: Firstly, in TCGA database, it has been shown that elevated expression of apoc1 was identified in various cancers, including GC, then we found that high expression of apoc1 was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in GC. Histologically, apoc1 expression is proportional to grade, cancer stage, and T stage. The experimental results showed that apoc1 promoted cell invasion and migration. Then GO, KEGG, and GSEA pathway analyses indicated that apoc1 may be involved in the WNT pathway and immune regulation. Furthermore, we found out the tumor-infiltrating immune cells related to apoc1 in the tumor microenvironment (TME) using TIMER. Finally, we investigated the correlation between apoc1 expression and drug sensitivity, PD-1 and CTLA-4 therapy. Conclusions: These results suggest that apoc1 participates in the evolution of GC, and may represent a potential target for detection and immunotherapy in GC.

Facile and Scalable Coating of Metal-Organic Frameworks on Fibrous Substrates by a Coordination Replication Method at Room Temperature.

Coating of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on flexible substrates is a crucial technology for applications such as purification/separation, sensing, and catalysis. In this work, a facile coordination replication strategy was developed to coat various MOFs onto flexible fibrous materials where a dense layer of an insoluble precursor template, such as a layered hydroxide salt, was first deposited onto a fiber substrate via a mild interfacial reaction and then rapidly transformed into a MOF coating in a ligand solution at room temperature. Spatiotemporal harmonization of solid precursor dissolution and MOF crystallization enabled precise replication of the precursor layer morphology to form a continuous MOF coating composed of intergrown crystals. The resulting flexible, highly robust, and processable fibrous MOF/textile composites demonstrated tremendous potential for industrially relevant applications such as continuous removal of the organosulfur compound dibenzothiophene from simulated gasoline and ammonia capture. This rapid, versatile, eco-friendly, and scalable MOF coating process at room temperature gives rise to new possibilities for preparing MOF-coated functional materials.

Flexible Slippery Surface to Manipulate Droplet Coalescence and Sliding, and Its Practicability in Wind-Resistant Water Collection.

A flexible slippery membrane (FSM) with tunable morphology and high elastic deformability has been developed by infusing perfluoropolyether (PFPE) into a fluorinated-copolymer-modified thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofiberous membrane. To immobilize PFPE in TPU matrix, we synthesized a fluorinated-copolymer poly(DFMA-co-IBOA-co-LMA) with low surface energy, high chemical affinity to PFPE, adequate flexibility, and strong physical adhesion on TPU. Upon external tensile stress, the as-prepared FSM can realize a real-time manipulation of water sliding and coalescence on it. Furthermore, it exhibits the ability to preserve the captured water from being blown away by strong wind, which ensures the water collection efficiency in windy regions.

Beads-on-String Structured Nanofibers for Smart and Reversible Oil/Water Separation with Outstanding Antifouling Property.

It is challenging to explore a unified solution for the treatment of oily wastewater from complex sources. Thus, membrane materials with flexible separation schemes are highly desired. Herein, we fabricated a smart membrane by electrospinning TiO2 doped polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers. The as-formed beads-on-string structure and hierarchical roughness of the nanofibers contribute to its superwetting/resisting property to liquids, which is desirable in oil/water separation. Switched simply by UV (or sunlight) irradiation and heating treatment, the smart membrane can realize reversible separation of oil/water mixtures by selectively allowing water or oil to pass through alone. Most importantly, the as-prepared nanofiber membrane possesses outstanding antifouling and self-cleaning performance resulting from the photocatalytic property of TiO2, which has practical significance in saving solvents and recycling materials. This work provides a route for fabricating cost-effective, easily scaled up, and recyclable membranes for on-demand oil/water separation in versatile situations, which can be of great usage in the new green separation technology.

Antibacterial modification of an injectable, biodegradable, non-cytotoxic block copolymer-based physical gel with body temperature-stimulated sol-gel transition and controlled drug release.

Biomaterials are being extensively used in various biomedical fields; however, they are readily infected with microorganisms, thus posing a serious threat to the public health care. We herein presented a facile route to the antibacterial modification of an important A-B-A type biomaterial using poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether (mPEG)- poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-mPEG as a typical model. Inexpensive, commercial bis(2-hydroxyethyl) methylammonium chloride (DMA) was adopted as an antibacterial unit. The effective synthesis of the antibacterial copolymer mPEG-PCL-∼∼∼-PCL-mPEG (where ∼∼∼ denotes the segment with DMA units) was well confirmed by FTIR and (1)H NMR spectra. At an appropriate modification extent, the DMA unit could render the copolymer mPEG-PCL-∼∼∼-PCL-mPEG highly antibacterial, but did not largely alter its fascinating intrinsic properties including the thermosensitivity (e.g., the body temperature-induced sol-gel transition), non-cytotoxicity, and controlled drug release. A detailed study on the sol-gel-sol transition behavior of different copolymers showed that an appropriate extent of modification with DMA retained a sol-gel-sol transition, despite the fact that a too high extent caused a loss of sol-gel-sol transition. The hydrophilic and hydrophobic balance between mPEG and PCL was most likely broken upon a high extent of quaternization due to a large disturbance effect of DMA units at a large quantity (as evidenced by the heavily depressed PCL segment crystallinity), and thus the micelle aggregation mechanism for the gel formation could not work anymore, along with the loss of the thermosensitivity. The work presented here is highly expected to be generalized for synthesis of various block copolymers with immunity to microorganisms. Light may also be shed on understanding the phase transition behavior of various multiblock copolymers.

Biomimetic Water-Collecting Fabric with Light-Induced Superhydrophilic Bumps.

To develop an efficient water-collecting surface that integrates both fast water-capturing and easy drainage properties is of high current interest for addressing global water issues. In this work, a superhydrophobic surface was fabricated on cotton fabric via manipulation of both the surface roughness and surface energy. This was followed by a subsequent spray coating of TiO2 nanosol that created light-induced superhydrophilic bumps with a unique raised structure as a result of the interfacial tension of the TiO2 nanosol sprayed on the superhydrophobic fiber surface. These raised TiO2 bumps induce both a wettability gradient and a shape gradient, synergistically accelerating water coalescence and water collection. The in-depth study revealed that the quantity and the distribution of the TiO2 had a significant impact on the final water collection efficiency. This inexpensive and facilely fabricated fabric biomimicks the desert beetle's back and spider silk, which are capable of fog harvesting without additional energy consumption.

A pH-mediated enhancement of the graphene carbocatalyst activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

Using alkaline pH adjustment, the reaction between graphene oxide and L-ascorbic acid led to the formation of a carbocatalyst film with numerous graphene edges protruding out of basal planes, which had a markedly enhanced carbocatalytic activity for conversion of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol, as compared to that of the carbocatalyst counterpart without involving pH mediation.

Electrospun anatase-phase TiO2 nanofibers with different morphological structures and specific surface areas.

Electrospun anatase-phase TiO2 nanofibers with desired morphological structure and relatively high specific surface area are expected to outperform other nanostructures (e.g., powder and film) of TiO2 for various applications (particularly dye-sensitized solar cell and photo-catalysis). In this study, systematic investigations were carried out to prepare and characterize electrospun anatase-phase TiO2 nanofibers with different morphological structures (e.g., solid, hollow/tubular, and porous) and specific surface areas. The TiO2 nanofibers were generally prepared via electrospinning of precursor nanofibers followed by pyrolysis at 500°C. For making hollow/tubular TiO2 nanofibers, the technique of co-axial electrospinning was utilized; while for making porous TiO2 nanofibers, the etching treatment in NaOH aqueous solution was adopted. The results indicated that the hollow/tubular TiO2 nanofibers (with diameters of ~300-500 nm and wall-thickness in the range from tens of nanometers to ~200 nm) had the BET specific surface area of ~27.3 m(2)/g, which was approximately twice as that of the solid TiO2 nanofibers (~15.2 m(2)/g) with diameters of ~200-300 nm and lengths of at least tens of microns. Porous TiO2 nanofibers made from the precursor of Al2O3/TiO2 composite nanofibers had the BET specific surface area of ~106.5 m(2)/g, whereas porous TiO2 nanofibers made from the precursor of ZnO/TiO2 composite nanofibers had the highest BET specific surface area of ~148.6 m(2)/g.

Growth of carbon nanostructures on carbonized electrospun nanofibers with palladium nanoparticles.

This paper studies the mechanism of the formation of carbon nanostructures on carbon nanofibers with Pd nanoparticles by using different carbon sources. The carbon nanofibers with Pd nanoparticles were produced by carbonizing electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers including Pd(Ac)(2). Such PAN-based carbon nanofibers were then used as substrates to grow hierarchical carbon nanostructures. Toluene, pyridine and chlorobenzine were employed as carbon sources for the carbon nanostructures. With the Pd nanoparticles embedded in the carbonized PAN nanofibers acting as catalysts, molecules of toluene, pyridine or chlorobenzine were decomposed into carbon species which were dissolved into the Pd nanoparticles and consequently grew into straight carbon nanotubes, Y-shaped carbon nanotubes or carbon nano-ribbons on the carbon nanofiber substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were utilized to capture the mechanism of formation of Pd nanoparticles, regular carbon nanotubes, Y-shaped carbon nanotubes and carbon nano-ribbons. It was observed that the Y-shaped carbon nanotubes and carbon nano-ribbons were formed on carbonized PAN nanofibers containing Pd-nanoparticle catalyst, and the carbon sources played a crucial role in the formation of different hierarchical carbon nanostructures.

Electrospun polymer nanofibres with small diameters.

Nylon-4,6 nanofibres with diameters ranging from about 1 µm down to 1 nm were prepared by electrospinning. The fibre diameter was varied by adjusting the concentration of the polymer solution. Electrospinning of a concentrated solution of as high as 20% nylon-4,6 by weight in formic acid produced a ribbon-like electrospun fibre with a ribbon width of about 850 nm. A semi-dilute concentration of 2% nylon-4,6 by weight produced the thinnest nylon-4,6 nanofibres with diameters of 1.6 nm or less. A small amount of pyridine was added to the electrospinning solution to avoid the formation of beaded nanofibres in the course of electrospinning at low concentrations. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the size of the nanofibres. An ultra-thin nylon-4,6 nanofibre of 1.2 nm diameter might contain six or seven nylon-4,6 molecules in a typical cross-section of the fibre.