Controlling the amount of MoSe2 loaded SrTiO3 to activate peroxymonosulfate for efficient elimination of organic pollutants.

It is critical to effectively eliminate recalcitrant organic pollutants from wastewater. In this paper, the MoSe2/SrTiO3 (MST) catalysts were synthesized through simply controlling the amount of MoSe2 in the hydrothermal method to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the degradation of pollutants. The results demonstrated that sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline were almost eliminated by PMS/MST-3 (MoSe2/SrTiO3 mass ratio 0.3: 1) activation system. The effect of inorganic anions (Cl -, H2PO4 -, HCO3 -) and metal ions (Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+) commonly found in actual water bodies on catalytic reaction was explored. Moreover, SO4• -, •OH and 1O2 were identified by EPR tests and scavenger experiments, where the SO4• - and •OH were the dominant reactive species. The XPS analysis indicated that the oxygen vacancies and charge transfer on the catalyst surface were the keys of PMS activation. The effect of active sites in SMX and TC on the catalytic degradation activity was explored by density functional theory, and it was obtained that the central nitrogen site of SMX was more vulnerable in the catalytic system, while the edge oxygen site of TC was more susceptible to attack.

[Construction and culture condition optimization of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for production of galactitol].

Galactitol, a rare sugar alcohol, has promising potential in the food industry and pharmaceutical field. The available industrial production methods rely on harsh hydrogenation processes, which incur high costs and environmental concerns. It is urgent to develop environmentally friendly and efficient biosynthesis technologies. In this study, a xylose reductase named AnXR derived from Aspergillus niger CBS 513.88 was identified and characterized for the enzymatic properties. AnXR exhibited the highest activity at 25 ℃ and pH 8.0, and it belonged to the NADPH-dependent aldose reductase family. To engineer a strain for galactitol production, we deleted the galactokinase (GAL1) gene in Saccharomyes cerevisiae by using the recombinant gene technology, which significantly reduced the metabolic utilization of D-galactose by host cells. Subsequently, we introduced the gene encoding AnXR into this modified strain, creating an engineered strain capable of catalyzing the conversion of D-galactose into galactitol. Furthermore, we optimized the whole-cell catalysis conditions for the engineered strain, which achieved a maximum galactitol yield of 12.10 g/L. Finally, we tested the reduction ability of the strain for other monosaccharides and discovered that it could produce functional sugar alcohols such as xylitol and arabinitol. The engineered strain demonstrates efficient biotransformation capabilities for galactitol and other functional sugar alcohols, representing a significant advancement in environmentally sustainable production practices.

Pharmacological suppression of the OTUD4/CD73 proteolytic axis revives antitumor immunity against immune-suppressive breast cancers.

Despite widespread utilization of immunotherapy, treating immune-cold tumors remains a challenge. Multiomic analyses and experimental validation identified the OTUD4/CD73 proteolytic axis as a promising target in treating immune-suppressive triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Mechanistically, deubiquitylation of CD73 by OTUD4 counteracted its ubiquitylation by TRIM21, resulting in CD73 stabilization inhibiting tumor immune responses. We further demonstrated the importance of TGF-ß signaling for orchestrating the OTUD4/CD73 proteolytic axis within tumor cells. Spatial transcriptomics profiling discovered spatially resolved features of interacting malignant and immune cells pertaining to expression levels of OTUD4 and CD73. In addition, ST80, a newly developed inhibitor, specifically disrupted proteolytic interaction between CD73 and OTUD4, leading to reinvigoration of cytotoxic CD8+ T cell activities. In preclinical models of TNBC, ST80 treatment sensitized refractory tumors to anti-PD-L1 therapy. Collectively, our findings uncover what we believe to be a novel strategy for targeting the immunosuppressive OTUD4/CD73 proteolytic axis in treating immune-suppressive breast cancers with the inhibitor ST80.

Protein engineering of transaminase facilitating enzyme cascade reaction for the biosynthesis of azasugars.

Azasugars, such as 1-deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ), exhibit unique physiological functions and hold promising applications in medicine and health fields. However, the biosynthesis of 1-DNJ is hindered by the low activity and thermostability of the transaminase. In this study, the transaminase from Mycobacterium vanbaalenii (MvTA) with activity toward d-fructose was engineered through semi-rational design and high-throughput screening method. The final mutant M9-1 demonstrated a remarkable 31.2-fold increase in specific activity and an impressive 200-fold improvement in thermostability compared to the wild-type enzyme. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that the mutation sites of H69R and K145R in M9-1 played crucial roles in the binding of the amino acceptor and donor, leading to the stable conformation of substrates within the active pocket. An enzyme cascade reaction was developed using M9-1 and the dehydrogenase from Paenibacillus polymyxa (GutB1) for the production of mannojirimycin (MJ), which provided a new idea for the in vitro biosynthesis of 1-DNJ.

Three Licorice Extracts' Impact on the Quality of Fresh-Cut Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) Slices.

The quality of fresh-cut produce, particularly sweet potatoes, is crucial for their value. Licorice extract is an optional additive in fresh-cut sweet potatoes. This study examined the impact of three licorice extracts (licorice acid, LA; licorice flavonoids, LF; and licorice polysaccharides, LP) on the quality of fresh-cut sweet potato slices (FCSPSs) for one week of storage. After one week of storage, the extracts showed varying effects on FCSPSs. LA and LF treatments reduced the area proportion of browning (APB), while LP treatments increased APB and decreased L* values. Antioxidant experiments revealed that LP treatments increased PPO and POD activity while reducing SOD activity. The concentrations of the three licorice extracts showed a strong negative correlation with SOD activity. In conclusion, LP harmed the appearance and antioxidant qualities of FCSPSs. LA and LF may be suitable additive components for FCSPSs, and 30 mg/mL LA and LF treatments were found to maintain the appearance and texture quality of FCSPSs during storage. Therefore, careful consideration should be given when using LP as a food additive for FCSPSs.

Intelligent fault diagnosis algorithm of rolling bearing based on optimization algorithm fusion convolutional neural network.

As an essential component of mechanical equipment, the fault diagnosis of rolling bearings may not only guarantee the systematic operation of the equipment, but also minimize any financial losses caused by equipment shutdowns. Fault diagnosis algorithms based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been widely used. However, traditional CNNs have limited feature representation capabilities, thereby making it challenging to determine their hyperparameters. This paper proposes a fault diagnosis method that combines a 1D-CNN with an attention mechanism and hyperparameter optimization to overcome the aforementioned limitations; this method improves the search speed for optimal hyperparameters of CNN models, improves the diagnostic accuracy, and enhances the representation of fault feature information in CNNs. First, the 1D-CNN is improved by combining it with an attention mechanism to enhance the fault feature information. Second, a swarm intelligence algorithm based on Differential Evolution (DE) and Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) is proposed, which not only improves the convergence accuracy, but also increases the search efficiency. Finally, the improved 1D-CNN alongside hyperparameters optimization are used to diagnose the faults of rolling bearings. By using the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and Jiangnan University (JNU) datasets, when compared to other common diagnosis models, the results demonstrate the usefulness and dependability of the DE-GWO-CNN algorithm in fault diagnosis applications by demonstrating the increased diagnostic accuracy and superior anti-noise capabilities of the proposed method. The fault diagnosis methodology presented in this paper can accurately identify faults and provide dependable fault classification, thereby assisting technicians in promptly resolving faults and minimizing equipment failures and operational instabilities.

Development of critical K dilution curves for diagnosing sweetpotato K status.

Scientific and reasonable application of potassium fertilizer is an important agronomic measure to achieve high yield and high quality of sweetpotato, and it is of great significance to determine the appropriate amount of potassium fertilizer in the field. For this we constructing a model of the critical K dilution curve (CKDC) of sweetpotato under different N levels to determine crop nutritional statuses. In this study, a 3-year field experiment was conducted in Zhejiang Province in China, using two nitrogen levels (N0: 0 kg ha-1 and N1: 120 kg ha-1) and five K fertilization rates (K0: 0, K1: 75, K2: 150, K3: 225, K4: 300 kg ha-1) for two sweetpotato cultivars of 'Shang 19' and 'Yan 25'. Plant dry matter first increased and then decreased and the K concentration increased continuously with an increase in K application rate. The required amount of K fertilizer to achieve maximum sweetpotato yield under high N conditions was greater than that under low nitrogen conditions. A new CKDC based on dry matter and K concentration was created to assess K nutrition in sweetpotato. At two N levels, CKDC was expressed by the negative power function equation, aboveground: Kc(N0)=5.30W-0.463, R2 = 0.79, and Kc(N1)=4.23W-0.298, R2 = 0.78, under-ground: Kc(N0)=1.38W-0.125, R2 = 0.81, and Kc(N1)=1.32W-0.132, R2 = 0.72;whole-plant: Kc(N0)=4.31W-0.421, R2 = 0.80; Kc(N1)=3.89W-0.415, R2 = 0.79. There is no significantly different for CKDC of whole-plant and underground between N0 and N1 levels, while there is significantly different for CKDC of aboveground between N0 and N1 levels. N fertilizer can strengthen the dilution effect of K concentration, and its effect on the aboveground is greater than that on the underground and whole-plant. Then, potassium nutrition indexes were constructed to identify K nutrition status and could be used as a reliable indicator for K nutrition diagnosis of sweetpotato. The results provide a theoretical basis to improve K fertilization management and sustainability of sweetpotato.

New insights into KLFs and SOXs in cancer pathogenesis, stemness, and therapy.

Despite the development of cancer therapies, the success of most treatments has been impeded by drug resistance. The crucial role of tumor cell plasticity has emerged recently in cancer progression, cancer stemness and eventually drug resistance. Cell plasticity drives tumor cells to reversibly convert their cell identity, analogous to differentiation and dedifferentiation, to adapt to drug treatment. This phenotypical switch is driven by alteration of the transcriptome. Several pluripotent factors from the KLF and SOX families are closely associated with cancer pathogenesis and have been revealed to regulate tumor cell plasticity. In this review, we particularly summarize recent studies about KLF4, KLF5 and SOX factors in cancer development and evolution, focusing on their roles in cancer initiation, invasion, tumor hierarchy and heterogeneity, and lineage plasticity. In addition, we discuss the various regulation of these transcription factors and related cutting-edge drug development approaches that could be used to drug "undruggable" transcription factors, such as PROTAC and PPI targeting, for targeted cancer therapy. Advanced knowledge could pave the way for the development of novel drugs that target transcriptional regulation and could improve the outcome of cancer therapy.

Proteolytic regulation of CD73 by TRIM21 orchestrates tumor immunogenicity.

Despite the rapid utilization of immunotherapy, emerging challenges to the current immune checkpoint blockade need to be resolved. Here, we report that elevation of CD73 levels due to its aberrant turnover is correlated with poor prognosis in immune-cold triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs). We have identified TRIM21 as an E3 ligase that governs CD73 destruction. Disruption of TRIM21 stabilizes CD73 that in turn enhances CD73-catalyzed production of adenosine, resulting in the suppression of CD8+ T cell function. Replacement of lysine 133, 208, 262, and 321 residues by arginine on CD73 attenuated CD73 ubiquitylation and degradation. Diminishing of CD73 ubiquitylation remarkably promotes tumor growth and impedes antitumor immunity. In addition, a TRIM21high/CD73low signature in a subgroup of human breast malignancies was associated with a favorable immune profile. Collectively, our findings uncover a mechanism that governs CD73 proteolysis and point to a new therapeutic strategy by modulating CD73 ubiquitylation.

Glycosyltransferase engineering and multi-glycosylation routes development facilitating synthesis of high-intensity sweetener mogrosides.

Mogrosides are widely served as natural zero-calorie sweeteners. To date, the biosynthesis of high-intensity sweetness mogrosides V from mogrol has not been achieved because of inefficient and uncontrollable multi-glycosylation process. To address this challenge, we reported three UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyzing the primary and branched glycosylation of mogrosides and increased the catalytic efficiency by 74-400-folds toward branched glycosylation using an activity-based sequence conservative analysis engineering strategy. The computational studies provided insights into the origin of improved catalytic activity. By virtue of UGT mutants, we provided regio- and bond-controllable multi-glycosylation routes, successfully facilitating sequential glycosylation of mogrol to three kinds of mogroside V in excellent yield of 91-99%. Meanwhile, the feasibility of the routes was confirmed in engineered yeasts. It suggested that the multi-glycosylation routes would be combined with mogrol synthetic pathway to de novo produce mogrosides from glucose by aid of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology strategies in the future.

Active dry yeast supplementation improves the growth performance, rumen fermentation, and immune response of weaned beef calves.

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the potential benefits of active dry yeast (ADY) on the growth performance, rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, and serum parameters of weaned beef calves. Thirty Simmental crossbred male calves (body weight = 86.47 ± 4.41 kg and 70 ± 4 d of age) were randomly divided into 2 groups: control (CON) (fed basal ration) and ADY (fed basal ration and 5 g/d ADY per calf). The dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratio was 35:65. All the calves were regularly provided rations 3 times a day at 07:00, 13:00, and 19:00 and had free access to water. The experiment lasted for 60 d. The average daily gain of ADY group was higher (P = 0.007) than that of the CON group, and the ratio of feed intake to average daily gain in the ADY group was reduced (P = 0.022) as compared to the CON group. The concentration of ruminal ammonia-N was higher (P = 0.023) in the CON group than that in the ADY group, but an opposite trend of microbial protein was found between the 2 groups. Also, the ruminal concentrations of propionate and butyrate were higher (P < 0.05) in the ADY group than those in the CON group. Calves fed ADY exhibited higher (P < 0.05) crude protein and neutral detergent fiber digestibility. Supplementation of ADY increased (P < 0.05) the contents of glucose, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin M, and interleukin 10 in the serum of calves, but an opposite trend was observed in malondialdehyde, interleukin 1 beta, and tumor necrosis factor alpha contents between the 2 groups. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with ADY could improve the growth performance, rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant ability, and immune response of weaned beef calves.

Supercritical Fluid CO2 Extraction and Microcapsule Preparation of Lycium barbarum Residue Oil Rich in Zeaxanthin Dipalmitate.

The scope of this investigation aimed at obtaining and stabilizing bioactive products derived from Lycium barbarum seeds and peels, which were the byproducts in the processing of fruit juice. Zeaxanthin dipalmitate is a major carotenoid, comprising approximately 80% of the total carotenoid content in the seeds and peels. The method of obtainment was supercritical fluid CO2 extraction, studying different parameters that affect the oil yield and content of zeaxanthin dipalmitate. The optimized protocol to enact successful supercritical fluid CO2 extraction included optimum extraction pressure of 250 bar, temperature at 60 °C over a time span of 2.0 h, and a CO2 flow of 30 g/min, together with the use of a cosolvent (2% ethanol). The yields of oil and zeaxanthin dipalmitate under these optimal conditions were 17 g/100 g and 0.08 g/100 g, respectively. The unsaturated fatty acids were primarily linoleic acid (C18:2), oleic acid (C18:1), and γ-linolenic acid (C18:3), with their contents being as high as 91.85 ± 0.27% of the total fatty acids. The extract was a red-colored oil that was consequently microencapsulated through spray-drying with octenylsuccinate starch, gum arabic, and maltodextrin (13.5:7.5:3, w/w) as wall materials to circumvent lipid disintegration during storage and add to fruit juice in a dissolved form. The mass ratio of core material and wall material was 4:1. These materials exhibited the highest microencapsulation efficiency (92.83 ± 0.13%), with a moisture content of 1.98 ± 0.05% and solubility of 66.22 ± 0.24%. The peroxide content level within the microencapsulated zeaxanthin dipalmitate-rich oil remained at one part per eight in comparison to the unencapsulated oil, following fast-tracked oxidation at 60 °C for 6 weeks. This indicated the potential oxidation stability properties of microcapsule powders. Consequently, this microencapsulated powder has good prospects for development, and can be utilized for a vast spectrum of consumer health and beauty products.

MnSOD Lysine 68 acetylation leads to cisplatin and doxorubicin resistance due to aberrant mitochondrial metabolism.

Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) acetylation (Ac) has been shown to be a key post-translational modification important in the regulation of detoxification activity in various disease models. We have previously demonstrated that MnSOD lysine-68 (K68) acetylation (K68-Ac) leads to a change in function from a superoxide-scavenging homotetramer to a peroxidase-directed monomer. Here, we found that estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and T47D), selected for continuous growth in cisplatin (CDDP) and doxorubicin (DXR), exhibited an increase in MnSOD-K68-Ac. In addition, MnSOD-K68-Ac, as modeled by the expression of a validated acetylation mimic mutant gene (MnSODK68Q ), also led to therapy resistance to CDDP and DXR, altered mitochondrial structure and morphology, and aberrant cellular metabolism. MnSODK68Q expression in mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) induced an in vitro transformation permissive phenotype. Computerized molecular protein dynamics analysis of both MnSOD-K68-Ac and MnSOD-K68Q exhibited a significant change in charge distribution along the α1 and α2 helices, directly adjacent to the Mn2+ binding site, implying that this decrease in surface charge destabilizes tetrameric MnSOD, leading to an enrichment of the monomer. Finally, monomeric MnSOD, as modeled by amber codon substitution to generate MnSOD-K68-Ac or MnSOD-K68Q expression in mammalian cells, appeared to incorporate Fe to maximally induce its peroxidase activity. In summary, these findings may explain the mechanism behind the observed structural and functional change of MnSOD-K68-Ac.

Optimization of 3D Point Clouds of Oilseed Rape Plants Based on Time-of-Flight Cameras.

Three-dimensional (3D) structure is an important morphological trait of plants for describing their growth and biotic/abiotic stress responses. Various methods have been developed for obtaining 3D plant data, but the data quality and equipment costs are the main factors limiting their development. Here, we propose a method to improve the quality of 3D plant data using the time-of-flight (TOF) camera Kinect V2. A K-dimension (k-d) tree was applied to spatial topological relationships for searching points. Background noise points were then removed with a minimum oriented bounding box (MOBB) with a pass-through filter, while outliers and flying pixel points were removed based on viewpoints and surface normals. After being smoothed with the bilateral filter, the 3D plant data were registered and meshed. We adjusted the mesh patches to eliminate layered points. The results showed that the patches were closer. The average distance between the patches was 1.88 × 10-3 m, and the average angle was 17.64°, which were 54.97% and 48.33% of those values before optimization. The proposed method performed better in reducing noise and the local layered-points phenomenon, and it could help to more accurately determine 3D structure parameters from point clouds and mesh models.

Response Characteristics of Nitrifying Bacteria and Archaea Community Involved in Nitrogen Removal and Bioelectricity Generation in Integrated Tidal Flow Constructed Wetland-Microbial Fuel Cell.

This study explores nitrogen removal performance, bioelectricity generation, and the response of microbial community in two novel tidal flow constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells (TFCW-MFCs) when treating synthetic wastewater under two different chemical oxygen demand/total nitrogen (COD/TN, or simplified as C/N) ratios (10:1 and 5:1). The results showed that they achieved high and stable COD, NH4 +-N, and TN removal efficiencies. Besides, TN removal rate of TFCW-MFC was increased by 5-10% compared with that of traditional CW-MFC. Molecular biological analysis revealed that during the stabilization period, a low C/N ratio remarkably promoted diversities of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in the cathode layer, whereas a high one enhanced the richness of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in each medium; the dominant genera in AOA, AOB, and NOB were Candidatus Nitrosotenuis, Nitrosomonas, and Nitrobacter. Moreover, a high C/N ratio facilitated the growth of Nitrosomonas, while it inhibited the growth of Candidatus Nitrosotenuis. The distribution of microbial community structures in NOB was separated by space rather than time or C/N ratio, except for Nitrobacter. This is caused by the differences of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and nitrogen concentration. The response of microbial community characteristics to nitrogen transformations and bioelectricity generation demonstrated that TN concentration is significantly negatively correlated with AOA-shannon, AOA-chao, 16S rRNA V4-V5-shannon, and 16S rRNA V4-V5-chao, particularly due to the crucial functions of Nitrosopumilus, Planctomyces, and Aquicella. Additionally, voltage output was primarily influenced by microorganisms in the genera of Nitrosopumilus, Nitrosospira, Altererythrobacter, Gemmata, and Aquicella. This study not only presents an applicable tool to treat high nitrogen-containing wastewater, but also provides a theoretical basis for the use of TFCW-MFC and the regulation of microbial community in nitrogen removal and electricity production.

Production of neoagarobiose from agar through a dual-enzyme and two-stage hydrolysis strategy.

The oligosaccharides from agar hydrolysis have special biological activities, and exhibit application prospects in cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industry. In this study, two novel ß-agarases (AgaA and AgaB) were screened and characterized. It was found that the AgaA was an endo-type agarase which could efficiently hydrolyzed agar or agarose to form neoagarobiose (NA2), neoagarotetraose (NA4) and neoagarohexaose (NA6), while the AgaB was an exo-type and bifunctional enzyme that showed activities towards both agarose and porphyran. Based on the properties of the two enzymes, we developed modular strategy for enzymatic production of neoagarobiose through a two-stage hydrolysis reaction. The cheap substrate agar was first liquefied by AgaA at high temperature to form neoagaroligosaccharides, which together with the sulfated polysaccharides were homogenized by AgaB to form neoagarobiose as the final product. High concentration of agar (10 g/L) was almost completely converted into neoagarobiose with high purity.

Spatiotemporal distribution and interaction of denitrifying functional genes in a novel DAS-NUA biofilter used for groundwater nitrate treatment.

A newly combined dewatered alum sludge (DAS) and neutralized used acid (NUA) biofilter has been constructed and investigated recently, aiming for improving nitrate (NO3--N) removal in simulated groundwater and exploring the spatiotemporal distribution of nirS and nosZ. The biofilter achieved 81.54% and 13.6 g N/ (m3 d) removal efficiency of NO3--N during the stabilization period. Spatiotemporal distributions of diversity and composition of nirS and nosZ varied approximately in two media with depths and time. Both DAS and NUA played important roles in attenuating nitrate because of predominant denitrifying genera functions, and the core differences were Rhodanobacter and Rhodobacter in DAS while Halomonas, Pseudogulbenkiania, and Cupriavidus in NUA. Acting as the strongly correlated genera, Magnetospirillum and Halomonas had a significantly positive or negative correlation with other dominant genera. Positive correlations existed among COD, TN, NO3--N, NO2--N, and both nirS and nosZ in the DAS filter, whereas the correlations were negative in the NUA filter. Particularly, the effluent concentration of NO3--N had a significantly negative correlation with the relative abundance of Rubrivivax and Pseudomonas. These results could be useful in adjusting the denitrification of nitrogen contaminants at the genetic level, especially in mitigating the influence of discharge of NO3--N on the process of groundwater restoration.

Systemic application of honokiol prevents cisplatin ototoxicity without compromising its antitumor effect.

Cisplatin is a potent drug used in about 40% of cancer treatment but also leads to severe deafness in 60-80% of the cases. Although the mechanism is known to be related to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), no drug or FDA approved treatment is currently available to prevent cisplatin ototoxicity. With this study, we show for the first time that honokiol (HNK), a pleiotropic poly-phenol prevents cisplatin-induced hearing loss. HNK also improves the wellbeing of the mice during the treatment, determined by the increase in the number of surviving animals. In a transgenic tumor mouse model, HNK does not hinder cisplatin's antitumor effect. The mechanism is related to the activation of sirtuin 3, a deacetylase in mitochondria essential for ROS detoxification. We expect a paradigm shift in cisplatin chemotherapy based on the current study and future clinical trials, where honokiol is applied to reduce side effects including hearing loss.

SOD2 acetylation on lysine 68 promotes stem cell reprogramming in breast cancer.

Mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (SOD2) suppresses tumor initiation but promotes invasion and dissemination of tumor cells at later stages of the disease. The mechanism of this functional switch remains poorly defined. Our results indicate that as SOD2 expression increases acetylation of lysine 68 ensues. Acetylated SOD2 promotes hypoxic signaling via increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS). mtROS, in turn, stabilize hypoxia-induced factor 2α (HIF2α), a transcription factor upstream of "stemness" genes such as Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog. In this sense, our findings indicate that SOD2K68Ac and mtROS are linked to stemness reprogramming in breast cancer cells via HIF2α signaling. Based on these findings we propose that, as tumors evolve, the accumulation of SOD2K68Ac turns on a mitochondrial pathway to stemness that depends on HIF2α and may be relevant for the progression of breast cancer toward poor outcomes.