Potentially functional genetic variants in interferon regulatory factor family genes are associated with colorectal cancer survival.

Interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family genes play a critical role in colorectal cancer (CRC) development and impact patient survival. This study evaluated the influence of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IRF genes on CRC survival, including functional predictions and experimental validations. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified three linked SNPs as significant survival predictors, with the rs141112353 T/T genotype in the 3'UTR region of IRF6 significantly associated with decreased survival (HR = 1.60, P = 6E-04). Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis indicated that the rs141112353 TA > T alteration reduced IRF6 expression. Dual luciferase assays showed lower activity for the T allele in the presence of hsa-miR-548ap-3p. Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and other databases confirmed lower IRF6 levels in CRC tissues, correlating with worse survival and inversely with M2 macrophage infiltration. In vitro, IRF6 overexpression inhibited CRC cell proliferation and M2 macrophage polarization by downregulating MIF expression. These findings suggest that the IRF6 rs141112353 TA > T variant significantly affects CRC survival, potentially by enhancing miR-548-ap-3p binding affinity.

Fast measurement of coherence-orbital angular momentum matrices of random light beams using off-axis holography and coordinate transformation.

We propose an effective protocol to measure the coherence-orbital angular momentum (COAM) matrix of an arbitrary partially coherent beam. The method is based on an off-axis holography scheme and the Cartesian-polar coordinate transformation, which enables to simultaneously deal with all the COAM matrix elements of interest. The working principle is presented and discussed in detail. A proof-of-principle experiment is carried out to reconstruct the COAM matrices of partially coherent beams with spatially uniform and non-uniform coherence states. We find an excellent agreement between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions. In addition, we show that the OAM spectrum of a partially coherent beam can also be directly acquired from the measured COAM matrix.

An Underwater Source Location Privacy Protection Scheme Based on Game Theory in a Multi-Attacker Cooperation Scenario.

Ensuring source location privacy is crucial for the security of underwater acoustic sensor networks amid the growing use of marine environmental monitoring. However, the traditional source location privacy scheme overlooks multi-attacker cooperation strategies and also has the problem of high communication overhead. This paper addresses the aforementioned limitations by proposing an underwater source location privacy protection scheme based on game theory under the scenario of multiple cooperating attackers (SLP-MACGT). First, a transformation method of a virtual coordinate system is proposed to conceal the real position of nodes to a certain extent. Second, through using the relay node selection strategy, the diversity of transmission paths is increased, passive attacks by adversaries are resisted, and the privacy of source nodes is protected. Additionally, a secure data transmission technique utilizing fountain codes is employed to resist active attacks by adversaries, ensuring data integrity and enhancing data transmission stability. Finally, Nash equilibrium could be achieved after the multi-round evolutionary game theory of source node and multiple attackers adopting their respective strategies. Simulation experiments and performance evaluation verify the effectiveness and reliability of SLP-MACGT regarding aspects of the packet forwarding success rate, security time, delay and energy consumption: the packet delivery rate average increases by 30%, security time is extended by at least 85%, and the delay is reduced by at least 90% compared with SSLP, PP-LSPP, and MRGSLP.

A "Win-Win" Strategy to Modify Co/C Foam with Carbon Microspheres for Enhanced Dielectric Loss and Microwave Absorption Characteristics.

3D carbon foams have demonstrated their superiority in the field of microwave absorption recently, but the preparation processes of traditional graphene foams are complicated, while some novel carbon foams usually suffer from inadequate dielectric property. Herein, a simple "win-win" strategy is demonstrated to synchronously realize the construction of 3D Co/C foam and its surface decoration with carbon microspheres. Therein, the host Co/C foams and guest carbon microspheres interact with each other, resulting in the improvement of the dispersity of carbon microspheres and Co nanoparticles. The bilaterally synergistic effect can effectively enhance the interfacial polarization and conductive loss of these obtained samples. Electromagnetic analysis reveals that the optimized sample with moderate carbon microsphere content (about 33.5 wt%) displays a widened maximum effective absorption bandwidth of 5.2 GHz and a consolidated reflection loss intensity of -67.6 dB. Besides, the microwave absorption enhancement mechanisms are investigated and discussed in detail. It is believed that this work provides valuable ideas for the development of 3D-foam-based microwave absorbing materials for practical applications.

Generation of a higher-order Poincaré sphere beam array with spatial coherence engineering.

We propose a protocol to synthesize a class of vector beam array in the far field with periodic higher-order Poincaré sphere (HOPS) polarization states by engineering the second-order spatial coherence structure of a partially coherent light source. We show that the polarization state of a single HOPS beam at the source plane can be mapped into a beam array in the far field when the spatial coherence of the beam source is engineered to have a lattice-like distribution. We demonstrate that the degree of polarization of the generated HOPS beam array can be conveniently controlled by modulating the transverse spatial coherence width of the source. Our method provides an additional way to construct the structured beam array and may find applications, e.g., in multiparticle manipulations.

Differential Expression of miR-381-3p in Alzheimer's Disease Patients and Its Role in Beta-Amyloid-Induced Neurotoxicity and Inflammation.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to explore the diagnostic value and effect of miR-381-3p on Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: RT-qPCR was used for the measurement of miR-381-3p levels. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for the correlation analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to assess the distinct ability of miR-381-3p for AD. SH-SY5Y cells were treated with Aß25-35 to establish an AD cell model. The role of miR-381-3p on cell proliferation and apoptosis was detected. ELISA was applied to detect the protein levels of inflammatory cytokine expression. The target relationship of miR-381-3p with PTGS2 was verified by luciferase reporter gene assay. RESULTS: Low expression of miR-381-3p was detected in the serum of AD patients and cell models. There was a negative association of serum miR-381-3p with the serum inflammatory cytokines. The ROC curve demonstrated the distinct ability of serum miR-381-3p for AD, with the AUC value of 0.898, with a sensitivity of 87.5%, and a specificity of 77.7%. Overexpression of miR-381-3p reversed the influence of Aß25-35 on cell proliferation and apoptosis, but miR-381-3p downregulation exacerbated the influence. miR-381-3p overexpression inhibited the release of IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α induced by Aß25-35 treatment, whereas miR-381-3p downregulation further promoted the release of inflammatory cytokines. PTGS2 was the target gene of miR-381-3p and was upregulated in AD cell models. CONCLUSION: miR-381-3p is less expressed in the serum of AD patients and has potential diagnostic values for AD. Overexpression of miR-381-3p may attenuate Aß25-35-induced neurotoxicity and inflammatory responses via targeting PTGS2 in SH-SY5Y cells.

Measuring refractive indices of a uniaxial crystal by structured light with non-uniform correlation.

We introduce an effective method for measuring the refractive indices of a uniaxial crystal based on the independent self-focusing property of non-uniformly correlated beams along the $x$ and $y$ directions. We demonstrate how the positions of the independent foci can be changed by adjusting coherence lengths to determine the characteristic coherence lengths of the beams in a uniaxial crystal, and how this information can be used to determine the refractive indices by relating the propagation characteristics of the beam in free space and in the crystal. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that, by choosing a high beam order, one can reduce the measuring error caused by CCD detection precision. These results present an example of how non-uniformly correlated beams can be used for applications in anisotropic materials.

MiR-3613-3p from carcinoma-associated fibroblasts exosomes promoted breast cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by regulating SOCS2 expression.

Exosomes carrying microRNAs (miRNAs) mediate cell-to-cell communication, which play important roles in cancer growth and progression. However, the roles and molecular mechanisms of the miRNAs in the exosomes from carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are still not clear. The miRNA array showed that miR-3613-3p was an upregulated miRNA in CAFs exosomes. It was verified that miR-3613-3p was upregulated in exosomes from fibroblasts educated by TGF-ß1 and the fibroblasts from breast cancer tissues. Exosomal miR-3613-3p promoted breast cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. The cellular functions showed that miR-3613-3p downregulation in the CAFs exosomes suppressed cell proliferation and metastasis in breast cancer by targeting SOCS2 expression. The clinical data showed that miR-3613-3p levels were negatively related to SOCS2 expression in breast cancer tissues. In a conclusion, the study demonstrated that activated fibroblasts exosomes with high levels of miR-3613-3p played an oncogenic role in breast cancer cell survival and metastasis, which suggested that miR-3613-3p function as a therapeutic target.

Cry64Ba and Cry64Ca, Two ETX/MTX2-Type Bacillus thuringiensis Insecticidal Proteins Active against Hemipteran Pests.

Genetically modified crops that express insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins have become a primary approach for control of lepidopteran (moth) and coleopteran (beetle) pests that feed by chewing the plants. However, the sap-sucking insects (Hemiptera) are not particularly susceptible to Bt toxins. In this study, we describe two Cry toxins (Cry64Ba and Cry64Ca) from Bt strain 1012 that showed toxicity against two important hemipteran rice pests, Laodelphax striatellus and Sogatella furcifera Both of these proteins contain an ETX/MTX2 domain and share common sequence features with the ß-pore-forming toxins. Coexpression of cry64Ba and cry64Ca genes in the acrystalliferous Bt strain HD73- resulted in high insecticidal activity against both hemipteran pests. No toxicity was observed on other pests such as Ostrinia furnacalis, Plutella xylostella, or Colaphellus bowringi Also, no hemolytic activity or toxicity against cancer cells was detected. Binding assays showed specific binding of the Cry64Ba/Cry64Ca toxin complex to brush border membrane vesicles isolated from L. striatellus Cry64Ba and Cry64Ca are Bt Cry toxins highly effective against hemipteran pests and could provide a novel strategy for the environmentally friendly biological control of rice planthoppers in transgenic plants.IMPORTANCE In Asia, rice is an important staple food, whose production is threatened by rice planthoppers. To date, no effective Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) protein has been shown to have activity against rice planthoppers. We cloned two Bt toxin genes from Bt strain 1012 that showed toxicity against small brown planthoppers (Laodelphax striatellus) and white-backed planthoppers (Sogatella furcifera). To our knowledge, the proteins encoded by the cry64Ba and cry64Ca genes are the most efficient insecticidal Bt Cry proteins with activity against hemipteran insects reported so far. Cry64Ba and Cry64Ca showed no toxicity against some lepidopteran or coleopteran pests. These two proteins should be able to be used for integrated hemipteran pest management.

Cry78Aa, a novel Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein with activity against Laodelphax striatellus and Nilaparvata lugens.

Transgenic plants expressing insecticidal proteins originating from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have successfully been used to control lepidopteran and coleopteran pests with chewing mouthparts. However, only a handful of Bt proteins have been identified that have bioactivity against sap sucking pests (Hemiptera), including aphids, whiteflies, plant bugs and planthoppers. A novel Bt insecticidal protein with significant toxicity against a hemipteran insect pest is described here. The gene encoding the 359 amino acid, 40.7 kDa protein was cloned from strain C9F1. After expression and purification of the toxin, its median lethal concentration (LC50) values against Laodelphax striatellus and Nilaparvata lugens were determined as 6.89 µg/mL and 15.78 µg/mL respectively. Analysis of the toxin sequence revealed the presence of both Toxin_10 and Ricin_B_Lectin domains.

CD44+ fibroblasts increases breast cancer cell survival and drug resistance via IGF2BP3-CD44-IGF2 signalling.

CD44, a cell adhesion protein, involves in various process in cancer such as cell survival and metastasis. Most researches on CD44 in cancer focus on cancer cells. Recently, it is found that CD44 expression is high in fibroblasts of tumour microenvironment. However, its role in communication between fibroblasts and breast cancer cells is seldom known. In this study, CD44-positive (CD44+ Fbs) and CD44-negative carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CD44- Fbs) were isolated and cocultured with breast cancer cells for analysis of cell survival and drug resistance. We found that CD44+ Fbs promoted breast cancer cell survival and paclitaxel resistance and inhibited paclitaxel-induced apoptosis. Our further research for the molecular mechanism showed that IGF2BP3 bound to CD44 mRNA and enhanced CD44 expression, which increased IGF2 levels of fibroblasts and then stimulated breast cancer cell proliferation and drug resistance. IGF2 was found to activate Hedgehog signal pathway in breast cancer cells. In conclusion, the results illustrated that in CD44+ Fbs, binding of IGF2BP3 and CD44 promotes IGF2 expression and then accelerates breast cancer cell proliferation, survival and induced chemotherapy resistance likely by activating Hedgehog signal pathways.

Anticancer bioactive peptide (ACBP) inhibits gastric cancer cells by upregulating growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible gene 45A (GADD45A).

Recently, we reported that anticancer bioactive peptide (ACBP), purified from goat spleens immunized with human gastric cancer extracts, significantly inhibited gastric cancer cells in vitro and gastric tumors in vivo via repressing cell growth and promoting apoptosis, making it a promising potential biological anticancer drug. However, it is not known what genes are functionally required for the ACBP effects. Here, we first found that two tumor suppressor genes, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2B (CDKN2B) and growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible alpha (GADD45A), were upregulated significantly in the cells with ACBP treatment by microarray screening and the findings were validated by real-time RT-PCR. Next, GADD45A mRNA and protein expressions were downregulated in the gastric cancer cells by lentivirus-mediated RNAi; then, cell viability, cell cycle, and apoptosis were assayed by MTT and flow cytometry. Interestingly, our results indicated that cell viability was not dependent on GADD45A without ACBP treatment; however, cell sensitivity to ACBP was significantly decreased in ACBP-treated gastric cancer cells with GADD45A downregulation. Therefore, we demonstrate that GADD45A was functionally required for ACBP to inhibit gastric cancer cells, suggesting that GADD45A may become a biomarker for ACBP sensitivity. Our findings have significant implications on the molecular mechanism understanding, biomarker development, and anticancer drug development of ACBP.

A Self-foaming Strategy to Construct Small Mo2C Nanoparticles Decorated 3D Carbon Foams as Superior Electromagnetic Wave Absorbing Materials with Strong Corrosion Resistance.

3D macroporous carbon-based foams are always considered as promising candidates for high-performance electromagnetic (EM) wave absorbing materials due to the collaborative EM contribution and salutary structure effect. However, the uneven distribution of heterogeneous EM components and the cumbersome preparation process have become key issues to hinder their performance improvement and practical popularity. Herein, the fabrication of 3D carbon foam decorated with small and highly dispersed Mo2C nanoparticles is realized by an innovative self-foaming strategy. The foaming mechanism can be attributed to the decomposition of nitrate during the softening process of organic polymers. The good dispersion of Mo2C nanoparticles boosts interfacial polarization significantly. After regulating the content of Mo2C nanoparticles, the optimal Mo2C/CF-x exhibits good EM absorption performance, whose minimum reflection loss intensity value can reach up to -72.2 dB, and effective absorption bandwidth covers 6.7 GHz with a thickness of 2.30 mm. Very importantly, the resultant Mo2C/CF-x exhibits hydrophobicity and strong acidic anticorrosion, and a long-time treatment in HCl solution (6.0 mol L-1) produces negligible impacts on their EM functions. It is believed that this extraordinary feature may render Mo2C/C foams as qualified and durable EM wave absorbing materials (EWAMs) under rigorous conditions.

Amplifying long transcripts of ryanodine receptors of five agricultural pests by transcriptome analysis and gap filling.

Ryanodine receptor (RyR) is an intracellular calcium release channel that plays a key role in excitation contraction coupling. Insect RyR is the target of diamide insecticides. Better understanding of insect RyR is necessary for studying the molecular mode of action and potential resistance mechanism of diamide insecticides. However, molecular manipulation of the full RyR gene is difficult because of its length (approximately 15 kb). At present, RyR genes have been reported only in a limited number of insects. Here, we developed an efficient strategy to amplify full-length transcripts of insect RyR genes. First, we searched the transcriptomes of five insects, Bemisia tabaci, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, Chilo suppressalis, Laodelphgax striatellus, and Plutella xylostella, yielding 85 RyR contigs in total. Second, the relative positions of these contigs in RyR transcripts were determined by aligning them with 12 well-annotated RyRs. Third, we designed primers to fill gaps between contigs and used rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) to amplify both 5'- and 3'-ends. Last, we assembled all fragments into long transcripts. As a result, full-length transcripts of three insects, C. suppressalis, L. striatellus, and P. xylostella, were obtained. The RyR transcript of B. tabaci was near full length, containing an intact ORF. Northern blot analysis indicated that RyR genes were expressed in all five insects. Sequence analyses showed that the amplified insect segments contained typical RyRs characteristics, such as EF-hand, motif GVRAGGGIGD, and six transmembrane domains. Seven lepidopteran-specific amino acid residues were found to be located in the C-terminal region of RyR proteins, which might be associated with the specificity of RyRs to diamide insecticides.

Path planning for mobile robots in complex environments based on improved ant colony algorithm.

Aiming at the problems of the basic ant colony algorithm in path planning, such as long convergence time, poor global path quality and not being suitable for dynamic environments and unknown environments, this paper proposes a path planning method for mobile robots in complex environments based on an improved ant colony (CBIACO) algorithm. First, a new probability transfer function is designed for an ant colony algorithm, the weights of each component in the function are adaptively adjusted to optimize the convergence speed of the algorithm, and the global path is re-optimized by using the detection and optimization mechanism of diagonal obstacles. Second, a new unknown environment path exploration strategy (UPES) is designed to solve the problem of poor path exploration ability of the ant colony algorithm in unknown environment. Finally, a collision classification model is proposed for a dynamic environment, and the corresponding dynamic obstacle avoidance strategy is given. The experimental results show that CBIACO algorithm can not only rapidly generate high-quality global paths in known environments but also enable mobile robots to reach the specified target points safely and quickly in a variety of unknown environments. The new dynamic obstacle avoidance strategy enables the mobile robot to avoid dynamic obstacles in different directions at a lower cost.

Mechanism of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba in the treatment of ischemic stroke based on network pharmacology and molecular docking.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the mechanism of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba in the treatment of ischemic stroke based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. METHODS: We used various databases and software, including Cytoscape, Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform, Pubchem, Swiss Target Prediction, GenCards, String, and WebGestalt to identify the active components and targets of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba, as well as the targets associated with ischemic stroke. The mechanism of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba in treating ischemic stroke was analyzed from the perspective of protein-protein interaction (PPI) co-expression, Gene Ontology, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, and AutoDock was used for molecular docking. RESULTS: A total of 12 active components were identified, and 276 potential targets of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba were obtained. There were 3151 disease targets associated with ischemic stroke. The top 5 active components of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba were Ruvoside_qt, quercetin, 3'-methyleriodictyol, Spinasterol, and Cholesterin (CLR) according to the node degree value. There were 186 common targets between the disease targets of cerebral ischemic stroke and drug targets of Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba, with 21 key targets obtained by PPI network analysis. KEGG analysis revealed enrichment in 45 signaling pathways. Biological process increased 139 biological processes. Molecular function enriched 17 cell functions. Cellular component enriched 20 cell components. Molecular docking found that the binding energy of other protein molecules to ligand small molecules was less than -5 kal·mol-1, except that the binding energy of AKT1 to 3'-methyleriodictyol was greater than -5 kal·mol-1. CONCLUSIONS: Gynostemmae Pentaphylli Herba may play a role in treating ischemic stroke by affecting various pathways through its active ingredients such as Ruvoside_qt, quercetin, 3'-methyleriodictyol, Spinasterol and CLR.

State-of-the-art in carbides/carbon composites for electromagnetic wave absorption.

Electromagnetic wave absorbing materials (EWAMs) have made great progress in the past decades, and are playing an increasingly important role in radiation prevention and antiradar detection due to their essential attenuation toward incident EM wave. With the flourish of nanotechnology, the design of high-performance EWAMs is not just dependent on the intrinsic characteristics of single-component medium, but pays more attention to the synergistic effects from different components to generate rich loss mechanisms. Among various candidates, carbides and carbon materials are usually labeled with the features of chemical stability, low density, tunable dielectric property, and diversified morphology/microstructure, and thus the combination of carbides and carbon materials will be a promising way to acquire new EWAMs with good practical application prospects. In this review, we introduce EM loss mechanisms related to dielectric composites, and then highlight the state-of-the-art progress in carbides/carbon composites as high-performance EWAMs, including silicon carbide/carbon, MXene/carbon, molybdenum carbide/carbon, as well as some uncommon carbides/carbon composites and multicomponent composites. The critical information regarding composition optimization, structural engineering, performance reinforcement, and structure-function relationship are discussed in detail. In addition, some challenges and perspectives for the development of carbides/carbon composites are also proposed after comparing the performance of some representative composites.

Complement system-related genes in stomach adenocarcinoma: Prognostic signature, immune landscape, and drug resistance.

Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive tract, and its survival predictors are critical for precision medicine but have not been fully investigated. The complement system is a complex multistep cascade at the interface of innate and adaptive immunity, which augments the function of antibodies and phagocytes. This study aimed to construct and validate a CSRG signature based on TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) STAD dataset and revalidated it in an external GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) STAD cohort. Subsequently, we assessed the association of risk levels with the stromal and immune cell infiltration level in STAD using the ESTIMATE, single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA), and Microenvironment Cell Populations-counter (MCP-counter) algorithm. It was found that the CSRG signature, based on three genes (SERPINE1, PROC, and CFHR3), was significantly and independently associated with the OS in TCGA STAD patients (p < 0.001). Subsequently, we found that the high-risk STAD harbors more immune cell infiltration than the low-risk group, and the ESTIMATE results indicated that there exists a more stromal component in the tumor microenvironment of the high-risk groups. Compared to the low-risk group, the high-risk STAD patients had higher expressions of marker genes for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and showed higher sensitivity to the chemotherapy agents (rapamycin, nilotinib, 5-fluorouracil, axitinib, DMOG, and JNK inhibitor VIII). The prognostic value of the CSRGs was further validated by nomogram plots, which revealed that it was superior to tumor TNM and pathologic stage. Finally, the three expression levels were evaluated in GES-1, HGC27, and AGS cells by qRT-PCR.

In Situ Growth of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes Based on Hierarchical Ni@C Microspheres for High Efficiency Bisphenol A Removal through Peroxymonosulfate Activation.

N-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) are promising metal-free heterogeneous catalysts toward peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation in advanced oxidation processes for wastewater remediation. However, conventional CNTs always suffer from serious agglomeration and low N content, which renders their design synthesis as an important topic in the related field. With hierarchical Ni@C microspheres as a nutritious platform, we have successfully induced in situ growth of NCNTs on their surface by feeding melamine under high-temperature inert atmospheres. These as-grown NCNTs with a small diameter (ca. 20 nm) are firmly rooted in Ni@C microspheres and present loose accumulation on their surface, and their relative content can be tailored easily by manipulating the mass ratio of melamine to Ni@C microspheres. The investigation on bisphenol A (BPA) removal reveals that the loading amount of NCNTs affects the catalytic performance greatly, and the optimum ratio of melamine to Ni@C microspheres is 5.0 because the corresponding MNC-5.0 possesses sufficient surface N sites and moderate electron transfer, resulting in powerful PMS activation and sufficient utilization of reactive oxidative species (ROS). MNC-5.0 also addresses its advantages as compared with other NCNTs from post treatment and spontaneous growth strategies. The primary ROS responsible for BPA degradation are identified as hydroxyl radical, sulfate radical, superoxide radical, and singlet oxygen through quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance, and the corresponding catalytic mechanism is also put forward based on these results.

Exosomal circCARM1 from spheroids reprograms cell metabolism by regulating PFKFB2 in breast cancer.

Cancer stem cells (CSC) are the major obstacle for cancer therapy in clinic. Exosomes are one type of vesicles that containing circular RNA (circRNAs) involved in cell-cell communication. However, the roles of breast CSC (BCSC) exosomes are still unclear, and the purpose of the study was to investigate breast cancer cell metabolism reprogramming by circRNAs from BCSC exosomes. The circRNA array was performed in the exosomes secreted from spheroids of MDA-231 cells. circCARM1 was higher in BCSC exosomes than it in the parent breast cancer cells. Further investigation demonstrated that BCSC exosomes circCARM1 played an important role in breast cancer cell glycolysis by miR-1252-5p/PFKFB2. In a conclusion, BCSC exosome-derived circCARM1 played an important role in breast cancer cell glycolysis by sponging miR-1252-5p which regulated PFKFB2 expression.