Confined-Coordination Induced Intergrowth of Metal-Organic Frameworks into Precise Molecular Sieving Membranes.

Metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes with rich functionality and tunable pore system are promising for precise molecular separation; however, it remains a challenge to develop defect-free high-connectivity MOF membrane with high water stability owing to uncontrollable nucleation and growth rate during fabrication process. Herein, we report on a confined-coordination induced intergrowth strategy to fabricate lattice-defect-free Zr-MOF membrane towards precise molecular separation. The confined-coordination space properties (size and shape) and environment (water or DMF) were regulated to slow down the coordination reaction rate via controlling the counter-diffusion of MOF precursors (metal cluster and ligand), thereby inter-growing MOF crystals into integrated membrane. The resulting Zr-MOF membrane with angstrom-sized lattice apertures exhibits excellent separation performance both for gas separation and water desalination process. It was achieved H2 permeance of ~1200 GPU and H2/CO2 selectivity of ~67; water permeance of ~8 L ⋅ m-2 ⋅ h-1 ⋅ bar-1 and MgCl2 rejection of ~95 %, which are one to two orders of magnitude higher than those of state-of-the-art membranes. The molecular transport mechanism related to size-sieving effect and transition energy barrier differential of molecules and ions was revealed by density functional theory calculations. Our work provides a facile approach and fundamental insights towards developing precise molecular sieving membranes.

A novel long non-coding RNA XLOC_004787, is associated with migration and promotes cancer cell proliferation by downregulating mir-203a-3p in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as important regulatory factors implicated in a wide array of diseases, including various forms of cancer. However, the roles of most lncRNAs in the progression of gastric cancer (GC) remain largely unexplored. This study investigates the biological function and underlying mechanism of a novel lncRNA, XLOC_004787 in GC. METHODS: The location of XLOC_004787 in GES-1 cells and HGC-27 cells were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay. The expression levels of XLOC_004787 were assessed using quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR (qRT-PCR) in various cell lines, including GES-1, MGC-803, MKN-45, BGC-823, SGC-7901, and HGC-27 cells. Functional assays such as Transwell migration, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), and colony formation experiments were employed to analyze the effects of XLOC_004787 and miR-203a-3p on cell migration and proliferation. Protein levels associated with GC in these cell lines were examined by Western blotting. The intracellular localization of ß-catenin and P-Smad2/3 was assessed using immunofluorescence (IF) assay. Additionally, the interaction between XLOC_004787 and miR-203a-3p was investigated using a dual luciferase assay. RESULTS: XLOC_004787 was localized at both the cytoplasm and nucleus of GES-1 cells and HGC-27 cells. Compared to normal tissues and GES-1 cells, XLOC_004787 expression was significantly upregulated in GC tissues and cells, with the highest and lowest expression observed in SGC-7901 and HGC-27 cells, respectively. Furthermore, a reduced expression of XLOC_004787 was seen to inhibit migration and proliferation in SGC-7901 cells. Western blotting analysis revealed that a decrease in XLOC_004787 expression correspondingly decreased the expression of N-cadherin, mmp2, mmp9, Snail, Vimentin, ß-catenin, C-myc, Cyclin D1, and TGF-ß, while concurrently increasing E-cadherin expression. This was also associated with diminished expression of P-Smad2/3 in relation to Smad2/3, and reduced P-Gsk3ß expression in comparison to Gsk3ß. Additionally, the nuclear entry of P-Smad2/3 and ß-catenin was reduced by lower XLOC_004787 expression. Amplifying XLOC_004787 expression via pcDNA_XLOC_004787 suggested a potential for cancer promotion. Notably, XLOC_004787 was found to negatively regulate mir-203a-3p expression, with potential binding sites identified between the two. Higher mir-203a-3p expression was observed to decrease migration and proliferation, and enhance E-cadherin expression. Conversely, suppression of mir-203a-3p expression suggested a potential promotion of proliferation and migration in GC cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that XLOC_004787, found to be upregulated in GC tissues, potentially promotes proliferation and migration in GC cells. This occurs through the activation of TGF-ß and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathways and the expression of EMT-related proteins. Additionally, XLOC_004787 may influence cell migration and proliferation by modulating the signaling pathway via the adsorption and inhibition of mir-203a-3p.

Tailoring Defects Regulation in Air-Fabricated CsPbI3 for Efficient Inverted All-Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells with Voc of 1.225 V.

Air fabrication of CsPbI3 perovskite photovoltaics has been attractive and fast-moving owing to its compatibility to low-cost and up-scalable fabrication. However, due to the inevitable erosions, undesirable traps are formed in air-fabricated CsPbI3 crystals and seriously hinder photovoltaic performance with poor reproduction. Here, 3, 5-difluorobenzoic acid hydrazide (FBJ) is incorporated as trap regulation against external erosions in air-fabricated CsPbI3. Theoretical simulations reveal that FBJ molecules feature stronger absorbance on CsPbI3 than water, which can regulate trap formations for water erosions. In addition, FBJ with solid bonding interaction to CsPbI3 can enlarge formation energy of various defects during crystallization and further suppress traps. Moreover, profiling to reductive hydrazine groups, FBJ inhibits traps for oxidation erosions. Consequently, a champion efficiency of 19.27% with an impressive Voc of 1.225 V is realized with the inverted CsPbI3 devices. Moreover, the optimized devices present superior stability and contain 97.4% after operating at 60 °C for 600 h.

Reversible antibiotic loading and pH-responsive release from polymer brushes on contact lenses for therapy and prevention of corneal infections.

Corneal infection is an important cause of corneal damage and vision loss. In this work, polyhydroxy antibiotics were grafted onto polymer brush-modified contact lenses through dynamic chemical bonds between polyphenolic hydroxyls and phenylboronic acid. Both in vitro and in vivo antibacterial tests demonstrated great promise in the prevention of bacterial keratitis, which could be attributed to the enhanced retention time and drug bioavailability.

An Evaluation Approach of Cell Viability Based on Cell Detachment Assay in a Single-Channel Integrated Microfluidic Chip.

Due to the heterogeneity of cancer cell populations, the traditional evaluation approach of cell viability based on the cell counting assay is quite inaccurate for the dose-response test of anticancer drugs, cell toxicology assays, and other biochemical stimulations. In this paper, an evaluation approach of cell viability based on the cell detachment assay in a single-channel integrated microfluidic chip is proposed to improve the accuracy of cell viability assessment. The electrodes are coated by fibronectin for specific cell adhesion, and it is biologically significant to study the cell detachment assay in vitro. The maximum number of cells that can be detected by this sensor is about 105 cells (overgrowing), while the minimum is about 100 cells. This method is calibrated with the half-maximal inhibitory concentration assay, and the results show that the cell viability calculated by adhesion strength is more accurate than that evaluated using the cell counting assay. Meanwhile, the shear rate is transformed into shear stress for the comparability among the results in other papers. The most sensitive frequency is also determined as 1 kHz according to normalized impedance. Besides, the impedance of cell adhesion affected by different shear stresses is monitored to study the optimized plan for long-term culture of cells in the integrated microfluidic chip prepared for the cell detachment assay. Adhesion strength τ25, which is the magnitude of shear stress needed to detach 75% of cell population, is introduced to describe the cell adhesion forces. It is calculated and normalized based on the cell detachment assay to evaluate cell viability. The relative errors of the cell detachment method compared with those of the cell counting method decrease by 0.637 (0% FBS), 0.586 (0.5% FBS), and 0.342 (2% FBS).

The significant prognostic value of ZEB1-AS1 up-regulation in patients with cancer.

Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 antisense 1 (ZEB1-AS1) is a long non-coding RNA, which has found to unregulated in various kinds of cancer. This meta-analysis was conducted to demonstrate the association between ZEB1-AS1 expression levels and clinical outcome or prognosis of cancer patients.10 studies with 783 cancer patients were included in this meta-analysis by retrieving 5 databases (PubMed Central, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wiley Online Library and Medline).The result showed that overexpression of ZEB1-AS1 is significantly correlated with poor OS (Hazard ratio, HR=2.45, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.89-3.16). ZEB1-AS1 expression levels were also associated with clinicopathological parameters including lymph node metastasis (Yes vs. No; OR=4.00, 95%CI: 2.23-7.17, P<0.00001), histologic differentiation (Moderate + poor vs. Well; OR=2.72, 95% CI: 1.69-4.37, p<0.0001), tumor metastasis and invasion (Yes vs. No; OR =2.52, 95%CI: 1.12-5.68, P=0.03) and TNM stage (III+IV vs. I+II; OR=2.76, 95 %CI 1.46-5.21, P=0.002). However, ZEB1-AS1 expression was not significantly associated with patients' gender (Male vs. Female; OR=1.20, 95% CI: 0.87-1.66; P=0.27).This meta-analysis indicated the potential value of ZEB1-AS1 as a biomarker for predicting a poor prognosis in patients with cancer.