LncRNA-HEIH suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and metastasis by up-regulating miR-199a-3p.

The article "LncRNA-HEIH suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and metastasis by up-regulating miR-199a-3p, by M.-M. Wu, W.-D. Shen, C.-W. Zou, H.-J. Chen, H.-M. Guo, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (11): 6031-6038-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202006_21497-PMID: 32572917" has been withdrawn from the authors due to some technical issues in the data retrieval. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/21497.

LncRNA-HEIH suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and metastasis by up-regulating miR-199a-3p.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the functional changes of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA)-HEIH on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) Huh7 and Hep3B cells. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression changes of HEIH in 18 pairs of HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues were detected by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). According to its expression changes in HCC cells silenced by short hairpin ribonucleic acid (shRNA) transfection in vitro, these cells were divided into sh-HEIH group and sh-NC group. The effects of lowly expressed HEIH on the proliferation, migration and apoptosis of HCC cells were examined through functional assays. Western blotting was adopted to determine the expression changes of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) proteins, vimentin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-3. In addition, the role of HEIH downstream effector micro RNA (miR)-199a-3p in HCC was explored. RESULTS: Compared with adjacent normal tissues, HEIH was highly expressed in HCC tissues (p<0.01). HEIH silencing significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration, but induced the apoptosis of Huh7 cells (p<0.05). The expressions of vimentin and MMP-2 in sh-HEIH group were remarkably lower than those in sh-NC group (p<0.05). Furthermore, miR-199a-3p was identified as the downstream effector of HEIH. The expression of miR-199a-3p increased markedly in Huh7 and Hep3B cells with silenced HEIH expression (p<0.01). Moreover, when miR-199a-3p expression was inhibited, the effects of HEIH on Huh7 and Hep3B cells were weakened, manifested as notably enhanced cell proliferation and migration capabilities (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA-HEIH suppresses HCC cell growth and metastasis by up-regulating miR-199a-3p. Our findings suggest that HEIH may be a promising target for HCC treatment.

Synthesis and enhanced NO2 gas sensing properties of ZnO nanorods/TiO2 nanoparticles heterojunction composites.

ZnO nanorods/TiO2 nanoparticles composites were synthesized and the effects of TiO2 concentrations on the NO2 sensing properties were studied in detail. The as-prepared composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, PL, I-V and gas sensing measurements. The gas sensing results demonstrated that all the sensors based on ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposites exhibited much higher response than that of sensors based on pure ZnO nanorods. At the optimum operating temperature of 180°C, the response values of the sensors based on ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposites decorated with TiO2 concentrations of 0, 3, 5, 8 and 10wt% were 50, 140, 310, 350 and 258, respectively. The PL and I-V results indicated that the increased charge transfer between the ZnO nanorods mediated by TiO2 nanoparticles enhanced the conductivity of the ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposites. The gas sensing mechanism was also carefully analyzed. The attachment of TiO2 nanoparticles onto ZnO nanorods induced more active sites for the adsorption of oxygen molecules (O(2)) and O(2) which can be more easily adsorbed on the surface of ZnO nanorods. Furthermore, the conduction channel of ZnO/TiO2 was much narrower as a result of the formation of heterojunction which may further contribute to the enhanced NO2 sensing properties.

Comprehensive studies of interfacial strain and oxygen vacancy on metal-insulator transition of VO2 film.

As a typical strong correlation material, vanadium dioxide (VO2) has attracted wide interest due to its particular metal-insulator transition (MIT) property. However, the relatively high critical temperature (T c) of ~68 °C seriously hinders its practical applications. Thus modulating the phase transition process and decreasing the T c close to room temperature have been hot topics for VO2 study. In the current work, we conducted a multi-approach strategy to control the phase transition of VO2 films, including the interfacial tensile/compressive strain and oxygen vacancies. A synchrotron radiation reciprocal space mapping technique was used to directly record the interfacial strain evolution and variations of lattice parameters. The effects of interfacial strain and oxygen vacancies in the MIT process were systematically investigated based on band structure and d-orbital electron occupation. It was suggested that the MIT behavior can be modulated through the combined effects of the interfacial strain and oxygen vacancies, achieving the distinct phase transition close to room temperature. The current findings not only provide better understanding for strain engineering and oxygen vacancies controlling phase transition behavior, but also supply a combined way to control the phase transition of VO2 film, which is essential for VO2 film based device applications in the future.

Control of the metal-insulator transition in VO2 epitaxial film by modifying carrier density.

External controlling the phase transition behavior of vanadium dioxide is important to realize its practical applications as energy-efficient electronic devices. Because of its relatively high phase transition temperature of 68 °C, the central challenge for VO2-based electronics, lies in finding an energy efficient way, to modulate the phase transition in a reversible and reproducible manner. In this work, we report an experimental realization of p-n heterojunctions by growing VO2 film on p-type GaN substrate. By adding the bias voltage on the p-n junction, the metal-insulator transition behavior of VO2 film can be changed continuously. It is demonstrated that the phase transition of VO2 film is closely associated with the carrier distribution within the space charge region, which can be directly controlled by the bias voltage. Our findings offer novel opportunities for modulating the phase transition of VO2 film in a reversible way as well as extending the concept of electric-field modulation on other phase transition materials.

Strain dynamics of ultrathin VO2 film grown on TiO2 (001) and the associated phase transition modulation.

Tuning the metal insulator transition (MIT) behavior of VO2 film through the interfacial strain is effective for practical applications. However, the mechanism for strain-modulated MIT is still under debate. Here we directly record the strain dynamics of ultrathin VO2 film on TiO2 substrate and reveal the intrinsic modulation process by means of synchrotron radiation and first-principles calculations. It is observed that the MIT process of the obtained VO2 films can be modulated continuously via the interfacial strain. The relationship between the phase transition temperature and the strain evolution is established from the initial film growth. From the interfacial strain dynamics and theoretical calculations, we claim that the electronic orbital occupancy is strongly affected by the interfacial strain, which changes also the electron-electron correlation and controls the phase transition temperature. These findings open the possibility of an active tuning of phase transition for the thin VO2 film through the interfacial lattice engineering.

First Report of a Tospovirus in Mulberry.

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an economically important crop grown widely throughout Asia. Various virus-like symptoms including mosaics, vein banding, and chlorotic ringspots have been observed and reported on mulberry trees in China and Japan for decades. However, the etiology of mulberry viral diseases is generally understudied, although two mulberry-infecting viruses, Mulberry latent virus (genus Carlavirus) (2) and Mulberry ringspot virus (genus Nepovirus) (3), have been partially characterized. In a recent (2010 to 2011) field survey in Guangxi Province, China, supported by the local government, the incidence of virus-like diseases of mulberry ranged between 40 and 80%. To identify the viruses infecting mulberry, deep sequencing of small RNAs (4) was conducted using an Illumina Genome Analyzer. Small RNAs were isolated from five samples of mulberry leaves showing various virus-like symptoms and sequenced. Among the contigs assembled, a 445-bp contig (GenBank Accession No. JX268597) was found to share 76.6% nucleotide identity and 83.0% amino acid identity to Groundnut bud necrosis virus (genus Tospovirus, family Bunyaviridae; Accession Nos. U42555 and AAC55521). To obtain a longer cDNA fragment of this virus, a reverse transcription (RT)-PCR was done with primers MV-N-F (5'-AAGCCATCAATGTGCCTCCGGA-3') and MV-N-R (5'-AACACCATGTCTACCGTCCGTC-3') that align to the S-RNA sequence encompassing the nucleocapsid (N) gene and a portion of the intergenic region (IGR) of the Tospovirus. PCR products of about 1,000 bp were successfully amplified from the total RNA of the three mulberry samples (sl-1, xcsy-1, and xcsy-4) showing vein banding symptoms, but not from asymptomatic mulberry (jk-1). These PCR products were cloned and sequenced. The lengths of the amplicons were 1,027 bp (isolate sl-1, JX173786), 987 bp (isolate xcsy-1, JX173787), and 979 bp (isolate xcsy-4, JX173788) and the partial IGRs of the sl-1, xcsy-1, and xcsy-4 isolates were 187 bp, 147 bp, and 139 bp, respectively. The coding regions for the N protein were 831 bp and the deduced proteins of 277 amino acid residues were 100% identical for all three isolates. Since the N protein of this virus shared up to only 74.4% identity to other tospoviruses (74.4% to Capsicum chlorosis virus, ABB83818; and 71.5% to Watermelon bud necrosis virus, ABY79095), it may represent a new member of the Tospovirus genus, temporarily named Mulberry vein banding virus (MuVBV), according to the species demarcation criteria for the Bunyaviridae (1). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a Tospovirus infecting M. alba. In an RT-PCR screening of 48 randomly selected mulberry samples suspected to be virus-infected, 32 were MuVBV-positive. Giving the high incidence and the high yield loss associated with Tospovirus and the presence of thrips, suspected vectors for the virus, MuVBV may represent a substantial threat to the silkworm industry in China. References: (1) M. Q. K. Andrew et al. Virus Taxonomy: 9th Report of the ICTV. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, 2012. (2) T. Tsuchizaki. Annu. Phytopath. Soc. Japan 42:304, 1976. (3) T. Tsuchizaki et al. Annu. Phytopath. Soc. Japan 37:266, 1971. (4) Q. Wu et al. PNAS. 107:1606, 2010.

Experimental study on inhibition of rat ventricular Ik1 by RNA interference targeting the KCNJ2 gene.

The dominant-negative inhibition of KCNJ2-encoded inward rectifier potassium channels (Kir2) is currently considered the best approach to biological pacemakers. We hypothesized that inhibition of the inward rectifier potassium current (IK1) in ventricular myocytes by RNA interference (RNAi) would convert ventricular myocytes into pacemaker cells. Five pieces of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) were designed to target the KCNJ2 gene and then plasmids incorporating shRNA and green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a marker were constructed for transfection into rat ventricular myocytes. The levels of KCNJ2 mRNA were analyzed with real-time quantitative RT-PCR to screen for pieces of shRNA that were effective at inhibiting the expression of the KCNJ2 gene. The activity of potassium ionic channels was then studied in the transfected ventricular myocytes. In the recombinant plasmids, LYS2 transfection significantly inhibited the mRNA of the KCNJ2 gene in comparison to other groups (p < 0.05), and the beating frequency of ventricular myocytes increased after LYS2 transfection. The open probability of IK1 potassium ion channels of cardiac myocytes transfected with the LYS2 plasmid was significantly downregulated (p < 0.05) and the IK1 of ventricular myocytes was also significantly suppressed compared to the negative group (p < 0.05). Our study demonstrated that IK1 was clearly inhibited after the inhibition of KCNJ2 gene expression by RNAi, and this may represent a new approach to the study of biological pacemakers.

Establishing a new electrical conduction pathway by anastomosis of the right auricle and right ventricle assisted by mesenchymal stem cells in a canine model.

BACKGROUND: Electronic pacemakers are the primary treatment of complete atrioventricular (AV) block, but their use is associated with many complications. The aim of the present study was to create an alternative treatment for these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from the bone marrow of a 3-month-old dog were cultured in vitro. The MSCs were labeled with 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) before transplantation. We anastomosed the right auricle and right ventricle in 24 dogs, and transplanted labelled MSCs into the anastomotic area of 8 dog hearts. Using immunostaining we assessed survival and differentiation of the implanted cells at 8 weeks posttransplantation. Electrocardiography confirmed the secondary electrical conduction pathway. RESULTS: The ventricular current was captured by the electronic pacemaker in 21 dogs. Compared with the control group (surgery alone), pacemaker stimulus current was significantly less in the MSC group (surgery+MSCs). CONCLUSIONS: Anastomosis of the right auricle and right ventricle assisted by MSCs may be a new treatment for patients with complete AV block in the future.

Heterogeneous lollipop-like V2O5/ZnO array: a promising composite nanostructure for visible light photocatalysis.

ZnO/V(2)O(5) core-shell nanostructures have been prepared by a two-step synthesis route through combined hydrothermal growth and magnetron sputtering. After annealing under oxygen ambience, a ZnO/V(2)O(5) heterogeneous lollipop-like nanoarray formed. The microstructure and crystal orientation of those nanolollipops were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), which show single crystal structure. The optical properties were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy and showed quite different absorption curves for the as-deposited and annealed samples. The ZnO/V(2)O(5) nanolollipops demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activity in terms of decomposing 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP) under visible light, indicating their promising potential as catalysts for industrial wastewater and soil pollution treatments.

Enhanced visible photoluminescence of V(2)O(5) via coupling ZnO/V(2)O(5) composite nanostructures.

V(2)O(5) films capped by a thin ZnO layer had been prepared by sputtering method at room temperature. The initial smooth films transferred to porous composite nanocrystals and nanorods after annealed at 500 degrees C, and enhanced visible light emission was observed. This tremendous enhancement was attributed to the coupling between V(2)O(5) nanorods and ZnO nanoparticles as well as the improved V(2)O(5) crystallinity. Prominent vibrational fine structures of the photoluminescence spectra were also observed.