Weakening warming on spring freeze-thaw cycle caused greening Earth's third pole.

The Tibetan Plateau, recognized as Earth's third pole and among the most responsive regions to climate shifts, profoundly influences regional and even global hydrological processes. Here, we discerned a significant weakening in the influence of temperature on the initiation of surface freeze-thaw cycle (the Start of Thawing, SOT), which can be ascribed to a multitude of climatic variables, with radiation emerging as the most pivotal factor. Additionally, we showed that the diminishing impact of warming on SOT yields amplified soil moisture within the root zone. This, in turn, fosters a greening third pole with increased leaf area index and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. We further showed that current Earth system models failed to reproduce the linkage between weakened sensitivity and productivity under various shared socioeconomic pathways. Our findings highlight the dynamic shifts characterizing the influence of climate warming on spring freeze-thaw process and underscore the profound ecological implications of these changes in the context of future climate scenarios.

Hydrogel-based molecular tension fluorescence microscopy for investigating receptor-mediated rigidity sensing.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) rigidity serves as a crucial mechanical cue impacting diverse biological processes. However, understanding the molecular mechanisms of rigidity sensing has been limited by the spatial resolution and force sensitivity of current cellular force measurement techniques. Here we developed a method to functionalize DNA tension probes on soft hydrogel surfaces in a controllable and reliable manner, enabling molecular tension fluorescence microscopy for rigidity sensing studies. Our findings showed that fibroblasts respond to substrate rigidity by recruiting more force-bearing integrins and modulating integrin sampling frequency of the ECM, rather than simply overloading the existing integrin-ligand bonds, to promote focal adhesion maturation. We also demonstrated that ECM rigidity positively regulates the pN force of T cell receptor-ligand bond and T cell receptor mechanical sampling frequency, promoting T cell activation. Thus, hydrogel-based molecular tension fluorescence microscopy implemented on a standard confocal microscope provides a simple and effective means to explore detailed molecular force information for rigidity-dependent biological processes.

Critical role of water conditions in the responses of autumn phenology of marsh wetlands to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau.

The Tibetan Plateau, housing 20% of China's wetlands, plays a vital role in the regional carbon cycle. Examining the phenological dynamics of wetland vegetation in response to climate change is crucial for understanding its impact on the ecosystem. Despite this importance, the specific effects of climate change on wetland vegetation phenology in this region remain uncertain. In this study, we investigated the influence of climate change on the end of the growing season (EOS) of marsh wetland vegetation across the Tibetan Plateau, utilizing satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data and observational climate data. We observed that the regionally averaged EOS of marsh vegetation across the Tibetan Plateau was significantly (p < .05) delayed by 4.10 days/decade from 2001 to 2020. Warming preseason temperatures were found to be the primary driver behind the delay in the EOS of marsh vegetation, whereas preseason cumulative precipitation showed no significant impact. Interestingly, the responses of EOS to climate change varied spatially across the plateau, indicating a regulatory role for hydrological conditions in marsh phenology. In the humid and cold central regions, preseason daytime warming significantly delayed the EOS. However, areas with lower soil moisture exhibited a weaker or reversed delay effect, suggesting complex interplays between temperature, soil moisture, and EOS. Notably, in the arid southwestern regions of the plateau, increased preseason rainfall directly delayed the EOS, while higher daytime temperatures advanced it. Our results emphasize the critical role of hydrological conditions, specifically soil moisture, in shaping marsh EOS responses in different regions. Our findings underscore the need to incorporate hydrological factors into terrestrial ecosystem models, particularly in cold and dry regions, for accurate predictions of marsh vegetation phenological responses to climate change. This understanding is vital for informed conservation and management strategies in the face of current and future climate challenges.

Dominant role of the non-forest woody vegetation in the post 2015/16 El Niño tropical carbon recovery.

The extreme dry and hot 2015/16 El Niño episode caused large losses in tropical live aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. Followed by climatic conditions conducive to high vegetation productivity since 2016, tropical AGC are expected to recover from large losses during the El Niño episode; however, the recovery rate and its spatial distribution remain unknown. Here, we used low-frequency microwave satellite data to track AGC changes, and showed that tropical AGC stocks returned to pre-El Niño levels by the end of 2020, resulting in an AGC sink of 0.18 0.14 0.26 $$ {0.18}_{0.14}^{0.26} $$ Pg C year-1 during 2014-2020. This sink was dominated by strong AGC increases ( 0.61 0.49 0.84 $$ {0.61}_{0.49}^{0.84} $$ Pg C year-1) in non-forest woody vegetation during 2016-2020, compensating the forest AGC losses attributed to the El Niño event, forest loss, and degradation. Our findings highlight that non-forest woody vegetation is an increasingly important contributor to interannual to decadal variability in the global carbon cycle.

Widespread decline in winds delayed autumn foliar senescence over high latitudes.

The high northern latitudes (>50°) experienced a pronounced surface stilling (i.e., decline in winds) with climate change. As a drying factor, the influences of changes in winds on the date of autumn foliar senescence (DFS) remain largely unknown and are potentially important as a mechanism explaining the interannual variability of autumn phenology. Using 183,448 phenological observations at 2,405 sites, long-term site-scale water vapor and carbon dioxide flux measurements, and 34 y of satellite greenness data, here we show that the decline in winds is significantly associated with extended DFS and could have a relative importance comparable with temperature and precipitation effects in contributing to the DFS trends. We further demonstrate that decline in winds reduces evapotranspiration, which results in less soil water losses and consequently more favorable growth conditions in late autumn. In addition, declining winds also lead to less leaf abscission damage which could delay leaf senescence and to a decreased cooling effect and therefore less frost damage. Our results are potentially useful for carbon flux modeling because an improved algorithm based on these findings projected overall widespread earlier DFS than currently expected by the end of this century, contributing potentially to a positive feedback to climate.

Signal Denoising of Traffic Speed Deflectometer Measurement Based on Partial Swarm Optimization-Variational Mode Decomposition Method.

To accurately identify the deflection data collected by a traffic speed deflectometer (TSD) and eliminate the noise in the measured signals, a TSD signal denoising method based on the partial swarm optimization-variational mode decomposition (PSO-VMD) method is proposed. Initially, the VMD algorithm is used for modal decomposition, calculating the correlation coefficients between each decomposed mode and the original signal for modal selection and signal reconstruction; Then, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is utilized to optimize the number of modes K and the value α for the VMD algorithm, adopting fuzzy entropy as the affinity function to circumvent effects from sequence decomposition and forecasting accuracy, thus identifying the optimal combination of hyperparameters. Finally, the analysis on simulated signals indicates that the PSO-VMD method secures the best parameters, showing a clear advantage in denoising. Denoising real TSD data validates that the approach proposed herein achieves commendable outcomes in TSD deflection noise reduction, offering a feasible strategy for TSD signal denoising.

Molecular Force Imaging Reveals That Integrin-Dependent Mechanical Checkpoint Regulates Fcγ-Receptor-Mediated Phagocytosis in Macrophages.

Macrophages are a type of immune cell that helps eliminate pathogens and diseased cells. Recent research has shown that macrophages can sense mechanical cues from potential targets to perform effective phagocytosis, but the mechanisms behind it remain unclear. In this study, we used DNA-based tension probes to study the role of integrin-mediated forces in FcγR-mediated phagocytosis. The results showed that when the phagocytic receptor FcγR is activated, the force-bearing integrins create a "mechanical barrier" that physically excludes the phosphatase CD45 and facilitates phagocytosis. However, if the integrin-mediated forces are physically restricted at lower levels or if the macrophage is on a soft matrix, CD45 exclusion is significantly reduced. Moreover, CD47-SIRPα "don't eat me" signaling can reduce CD45 segregation by inhibiting the mechanical stability of the integrin barrier. These findings demonstrate how macrophages use molecular forces to identify physical properties and combine them with biochemical signals from phagocytic receptors to guide phagocytosis.

Optimizing the detection of emerging infections using mobility-based spatial sampling.

Timely and precise detection of emerging infections is imperative for effective outbreak management and disease control. Human mobility significantly influences the spatial transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. Spatial sampling, integrating the spatial structure of the target, holds promise as an approach for testing allocation in detecting infections, and leveraging information on individuals' movement and contact behavior can enhance targeting precision. This study introduces a spatial sampling framework informed by spatiotemporal analysis of human mobility data, aiming to optimize the allocation of testing resources for detecting emerging infections. Mobility patterns, derived from clustering point-of-interest and travel data, are integrated into four spatial sampling approaches at the community level. We evaluate the proposed mobility-based spatial sampling by analyzing both actual and simulated outbreaks, considering scenarios of transmissibility, intervention timing, and population density in cities. Results indicate that leveraging inter-community movement data and initial case locations, the proposed Case Flow Intensity (CFI) and Case Transmission Intensity (CTI)-informed spatial sampling enhances community-level testing efficiency by reducing the number of individuals screened while maintaining a high accuracy rate in infection identification. Furthermore, the prompt application of CFI and CTI within cities is crucial for effective detection, especially in highly contagious infections within densely populated areas. With the widespread use of human mobility data for infectious disease responses, the proposed theoretical framework extends spatiotemporal data analysis of mobility patterns into spatial sampling, providing a cost-effective solution to optimize testing resource deployment for containing emerging infectious diseases.

Contrasting responses of peak vegetation growth to asymmetric warming: Evidences from FLUXNET and satellite observations.

The peak growth of plant in summer is an important indicator of the capacity of terrestrial ecosystem productivity, and ongoing studies have shown its responses to climate warming as represented in the mean temperature. However, the impacts from the asymmetrical warming, that is, different rates in the changes of daytime (Tmax ) and nighttime (Tmin ) warming were mostly ignored. Using 60 flux sites (674 site-year in total) measurements and satellite observations from two independent satellite platforms (Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling Studies [1982-2015]; MODIS [2000-2020]) over the Northern Hemisphere (≥30°N), here we show that the peak growth, as represented by both flux-based maximum primary productivity and the maximum greenness indices (maximum normalized difference vegetation index and enhanced vegetation index), responded oppositely to daytime and nighttime warming. T max - T min + (peak growth showed negative responses to Tmax , but positive responses to Tmin ) dominated in most ecosystems and climate types, especially in water-limited ecosystems, while T max + T min - (peak growth showed positive responses to Tmax , but negative responses to Tmin ) was primarily observed in high latitude regions. These contrasting responses could be explained by the strong association between asymmetric warming and water conditions, including soil moisture, evapotranspiration/potential evapotranspiration, and the vapor pressure deficit. Our results are therefore important to the understanding of the responses of peak growth to climate change, and consequently a better representation of asymmetrical warming in future ecosystem models by differentiating the contributions between daytime and nighttime warming.

Earlier leaf senescence dates are constrained by soil moisture.

The unprecedented warming that has occurred in recent decades has led to later autumn leaf senescence dates (LSD) throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Yet, great uncertainties still exist regarding the strength of these delaying trends, especially in terms of how soil moisture affects them. Here we show that changes in soil moisture in 1982-2015 had a substantial impact on autumn LSD in one-fifth of the vegetated areas in the Northern Hemisphere (>30° N), and how it contributed more to LSD variability than either temperature, precipitation or radiation. We developed a new model based on soil-moisture-constrained cooling degree days (CDDSM ) to characterize the effects of soil moisture on LSD and compared its performance with the CDD, Delpierre and spring-influenced autumn models. We show that the CDDSM model with inputs of temperature and soil moisture outperformed the three other models for LSD modelling and had an overall higher correlation coefficient (R), a lower root mean square error and lower Akaike information criterion (AIC) between observations and model predictions. These improvements were particularly evident in arid and semi-arid regions. We studied future LSD using the CDDSM model under two scenarios (SSP126 and SSP585) and found that predicted LSD was 4.1 ± 1.4 days and 5.8 ± 2.8 days earlier under SSP126 and SSP585, respectively, than other models for the end of this century. Our study therefore reveals the importance of soil moisture in regulating autumn LSD and, in particular, highlights how coupling this effect with LSD models can improve simulations of the response of vegetation phenology to future climate change.

The start of frozen dates over northern permafrost regions with the changing climate.

The soil freeze-thaw cycle in the permafrost regions has a significant impact on regional surface energy and water balance. Although increasing efforts have been made to understand the responses of spring thawing to climate change, the mechanisms controlling the global interannual variability of the start date of permafrost frozen (SOF) remain unclear. Using long-term SOF from the combinations of multiple satellite microwave sensors between 1979 and 2020, and analytical techniques, including partial correlation, ridge regression, path analysis, and machine learning, we explored the responses of SOF to multiple climate change factors, including warming (surface and air temperature), start date of permafrost thawing (SOT), soil properties (soil temperature and volume of water), and the snow depth water equivalent (SDWE). Overall, climate warming exhibited the maximum control on SOF, but SOT in spring was also an important driver of SOF variability; among the 65.9% significant SOT and SOF correlations, 79.3% were positive, indicating an overall earlier thawing would contribute to an earlier frozen in winter. The machine learning analysis also suggested that apart from warming, SOT ranked as the second most important determinant of SOF. Therefore, we identified the mechanism responsible for the SOT-SOF relationship using the SEM analysis, which revealed that soil temperature change exhibited the maximum effect on this relationship, irrespective of the permafrost type. Finally, we analyzed the temporal changes in these responses using the moving window approach and found increased effect of soil warming on SOF. In conclusion, these results provide important insights into understanding and predicting SOF variations with future climate change.

Winter warming offsets one half of the spring warming effects on leaf unfolding.

Winter temperature-related chilling and spring temperature-related forcing are two major environmental cues shaping the leaf-out date of temperate species. To what degree insufficient chilling caused by winter warming would slow phenological responses to spring warming remains unclear. Using 27,071 time series of leaf-out dates for 16 tree species in Europe, we constructed a phenological model based on the linear or exponential function between the chilling accumulation (CA) and forcing requirements (FR) of leaf-out. We further used the phenological model to quantify the relative contributions of chilling and forcing on past and future spring phenological change. The results showed that the delaying effect of decreased chilling on the leaf-out date was prevalent in natural conditions, as more than 99% of time series exhibited a negative relationship between CA and FR. The reduction in chilling linked to winter warming from 1951 to 2014 could offset about one half of the spring phenological advance caused by the increase in forcing. In future warming scenarios, if the same model is used and a linear, stable correlation between CA and FR is assumed, declining chilling will continuously offset the advance of leaf-out to a similar degree. Our study stresses the importance of assessing the antagonistic effects of winter and spring warming on leaf-out phenology.

Satellite detection of cumulative and lagged effects of drought on autumn leaf senescence over the Northern Hemisphere.

Climate change has substantial influences on autumn leaf senescence, that is, the end of the growing season (EOS). Relative to the impacts of temperature and precipitation on EOS, the influence of drought is not well understood, especially considering that there are apparent cumulative and lagged effects of drought on plant growth. Here, we investigated the cumulative and lagged effects of drought (in terms of the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI) on EOS derived from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI3g) data over the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropical ecosystems (>30°N) during 1982-2015. The cumulative effect was determined by the number of antecedent months at which SPEI showed the maximum correlation with EOS (i.e., Rmax-cml ) while the lag effect was determined by a month during which the maximum correlation between 1-month SPEI and EOS occurred (i.e., Rmax-lag ). We found cumulative effect of drought on EOS for 27.2% and lagged effect for 46.2% of the vegetated land area. For the dominant time scales where the Rmax-cml and Rmax-lag occurred, we observed 1-4 accumulated months for the cumulative effect and 2-6 lagged months for the lagged effect. At the biome level, drought had stronger impacts on EOS in grasslands, savannas, and shrubs than in forests, which may be related to the different root functional traits among vegetation types. Considering hydrological conditions, the mean values of both Rmax-cml and Rmax-lag decreased along the gradients of annual SPEI and its slope, suggesting stronger cumulative and lagged effects in drier regions as well as in areas with decreasing water availability. Furthermore, the average accumulated and lagged months tended to decline along the annual SPEI gradient but increase with increasing annual SPEI. Our results revealed that drought has strong cumulative and lagged effects on autumn phenology, and considering these effects could provide valuable information on the vegetation response to a changing climate.

Clinicopathological and prognostic values of ErbB receptor family amplification in primary osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor with extremely high invasion, metastasis and mortality. The prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma remains poor. The ErbB receptor family was found to be overexpressed in human cancers and associated with poor prognosis. However, the role of ErbB receptor family in osteosarcoma has not been fully understood. The present study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic significances of ErbB receptors in primary osteosarcoma. Western blot (WB), reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used to detect the protein and gene expression of ErbB receptors in 60 primary osteosarcoma specimens and 30 non-neoplastic bone tissues. WB and RT-qPCR analyses showed that the protein and mRNA expression levels of EGFR, ErbB3 and ErbB4 in osteosarcoma specimens were significantly higher than those in non-neoplastic bone tissues. Seventeen (28.33%), 15 (25.00%) and 15 (25.00%) osteosarcoma specimens presented with amplification of EGFR, ErbB3 and ErbB4 gene, respectively, which were significantly higher compared with non-neoplastic bone tissues. The amplification of ErbB3 and ErbB4 in osteosarcoma was associated with advanced surgical stage. The amplification of EGFR, ErbB3, ErbB4 and the co-amplification of EGFR-ErbB3, EGFR-ErbB4, ErbB3-ErbB4 was linked with poor response to chemotherapy and distant metastasis. The amplification of EGFR, ErbB3 and ErbB4, as well as their co-amplification demonstrated independent prognostic values for reduced survival time of osteosarcoma patients and may serve as potential therapeutic targets for osteosarcoma patients in the future.

Changes in vegetation phenology are not reflected in atmospheric CO2 and 13 C/12 C seasonality.

Northern terrestrial ecosystems have shown global warming-induced advances in start, delays in end, and thus increased lengths of growing season and gross photosynthesis in recent decades. The tradeoffs between seasonal dynamics of two opposing fluxes, CO2 uptake through photosynthesis and release through respiration, determine the influence of the terrestrial ecosystem on the atmospheric CO2 and 13 C/12 C seasonality. Here, we use four CO2 observation stations in the Northern Hemisphere, namely Alert, La Jolla, Point Barrow, and Mauna Loa Observatory, to determine how changes in vegetation productivity and phenology, respiration, and air temperature affect both the atmospheric CO2 and 13 C/12 C seasonality. Since the 1960s, the only significant long-term trend of CO2 and 13 C/12 C seasonality was observed at the northern most station, Alert, where the spring CO2 drawdown dates advanced by 0.65 ± 0.55 days yr-1 , contributing to a nonsignificant increase in length of the CO2 uptake period (0.74 ± 0.67 days yr-1 ). For Point Barrow station, vegetation phenology changes in well-watered ecosystems such as the Canadian and western Siberian wetlands contributed the most to 13 C/12 C seasonality while the CO2 seasonality was primarily linked to nontree vegetation. Our results indicate significant increase in the Northern Hemisphere soil respiration. This means, increased respiration of 13 C depleted plant materials cancels out the 12 C gain from enhanced vegetation activities during the start and end of growing season. These findings suggest therefore that parallel warming-induced increases both in photosynthesis and respiration contribute to the long-term stability of CO2 and 13 C/12 C seasonality under changing climate and vegetation activity. The summer photosynthesis and the soil respiration in the dormant seasons have become more vigorous which lead to increased peak-to-through CO2 amplitude. As the relative magnitude of the increased photosynthesis in summer months is more than the increased respiration in dormant months, we have the increased overall carbon uptake rates in the northern ecosystems.

Distinctive microRNA expression in early stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.

The goal of this study was to investigate microRNAs (miRs) expression at different stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). MiR expression profiling at various stages of NPC was performed by miR array and further verified using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Pathway enrichment analysis was carried out to identify the functional pathways regulated by the miRs. The expression of a selected group of identified miRs was verified in stage I NPC by in situ hybridization (ISH). A total of 449 miRs were identified with significantly different expressions between NPC tissues and normal pharyngeal tissues. Eighty-four miRs were dysregulated only in stage I NPC, among which 45 miRs were up-regulated and the other 39 were down-regulated. Pathway enrichment assay revleaed that three significantly down-regulated and three significantly up-regulated miRs involved in 12 pathways associating with tumour formation and progression. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the miR array result. In addition, the low expression levels of hsa-miR-4324, hsa-miR-203a and hsa-miR-199b-5p were further validated in stage I NPC by ISH. This present study identifed the miR signature in stage I NPC, providing the basis for early detection and treatment of NPC.

Aging alters histone H3 lysine 4 methylation in mouse germinal vesicle stage oocytes.

Decreasing oocyte competence with maternal aging is a major factor in mammalian infertility. One of the factors contributing to this infertility is changes to chromatin modifications, such as histone acetylation in old MII stage oocytes. Recent studies indicate that changes in histone acetylation at MII arise at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage. We hypothesised that histone methylation could also change in old GV oocytes. To test this hypothesis, we examined mono-, di- and trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4 me1, me2 and me3, respectively) in young and older oocytes from 6-8- and 42-44-week-old mice, respectively. We found that H3K4 me2 and me3 decreased in older compared with young GV oocytes (100% vs. 81% and 100% vs. 87%, respectively; P<0.05). H3K4 me2 later increased in older MII oocytes (21% vs. 56%; P<0.05). We also examined the expression of genes encoding the H3K4 demethylases lysine (K)-specific demethylase 1A (Kdm1a) and retinol binding protein 2 (Rbp2). Expression of Kdm1a increased at both the mRNA and protein levels in older GV oocytes, but decreased in older MII oocytes (P<0.05), and was negatively correlated with H3K4 me2 levels. Conversely, expression of Rbp2 mRNA and protein decreased in older GV oocytes (P<0.05), and this was not correlated with H3K4 me3 levels. Finally, we showed that inhibition of Kdm1a of older oocytes at the GV stage restored levels of H3K4 me2 at the MII stage to those seen in 'young' oocytes (41% vs. 38%; P>0.05). These results suggest that changes in expression of H3K4 me2 and Kdm1a in older GV oocytes may represent a molecular mechanism underlying human infertility caused by aging.

Genetic instability in patients with pancreatic cancer analyzed by SCARs and electrochemical sensors.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease and the fourth most common cause of cancer death across the globe. It is often not diagnosed until it is advanced. It is necessary to establish a new technology to detect DNA instabilities during the progression of pancreatic cancer and to screen for new molecular markers coupled to putative unknown oncogenes. METHODS: A total of 25 pancreatic cancer tissue specimens were analyzed by sequence-characterized amplified regions (SCARs), including two pathological types (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine carcinoma). There were 41 random primers and eight long fragment primers used for PCR amplification, and the difference of dNTPs consumptions were detected by nano-electrochemical sensors. Once both dATP and dGTP are significantly different in oxidation current (reduce or increase simultaneously), separate the different genes by electrophoresis, then clone and sequence the genes, and carry out homology analysis. RESULTS: Both dGTP and dATP showed good oxidation behavior on the carbon nanotube modified glassy carbon electrode. There were 32 different fragments in malignant tissues compared with normal control, among them a SNP located in 5'UTR of the leucine zipper protein 4 gene which is significantly correlated with pancreatic cancer (OR = 9.50) and it was confirmed by direct sequencing. CONCLUSIONS: SCARs combined with the nanoelectrochemical sensor can be used for screening genetic instabilities in pancreatic cancer, and leucine zipper protein 4 was a novel pancreatic cancer-related gene.

Effect of Raltitrexed on ECA109 Cellular Radiosensitivity and Its Mechanism in Esophageal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the effect of raltitrexed + X-ray irradiation on esophageal cancer ECA109 cells and analyze the potential action mechanism. METHODS: The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to analyze the inhibitory effect of raltitrexed on cell proliferation. The effect of raltitrexed on radiosensitivity was studied through a clone-forming experiment. The scratch assay and invasion test were performed to understand the cell migration and invasion abilities. The apoptosis rate change was measured using a flow cytometer, and Western Blotting was used to determine the expression of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax) in each group. RESULTS: Raltitrexed significantly inhibited ECA109 proliferation in a time-dose-dependent manner; there were significant differences among different concentrations and times of action. The results of the clone-forming experiment showed a sensitization enhancement ratio of 1.65, and this demonstrated a radiosensitization effect. After the combination of raltitrexed with X-ray, the cell migration distance was shortened, and the number of cells penetrating the membrane was reduced. CONCLUSION: Raltitrexed can inhibit the growth of esophageal cancer ECA109 cells and has a radiosensitization effect.

Recent advances of silk fibroin materials: From molecular modification and matrix enhancement to possible encapsulation-related functional food applications.

Silk fibroin materials are emergingly explored for food applications due to their inherent properties including safe oral consumption, biocompatibility, gelatinization, antioxidant performance, and mechanical properties. However, silk fibroin possesses drawbacks like brittleness owing to its inherent specific composition and structure, which limit their applications in this field. This review discusses current progress about molecular modification methods on silk fibroin such as extraction, blending, self-assembly, enzymatic catalysis, etc., to address these limitations and improve their physical/chemical properties. It also summarizes matrix enhancement strategies including freeze drying, spray drying, electrospinning/electrospraying, microfluidic spinning/wheel spinning, desolvation and supercritical fluid, to generate nano-, submicron-, micron-, or bulk-scale materials. It finally highlights the food applications of silk fibroin materials, including nutraceutical improvement, emulsions, enzyme immobilization and 3D/4D printing. This review also provides insights on potential opportunities (like safe modification, toxicity risk evaluation, and digestion conditions) and possibilities (like digital additive manufacturing) in functional food industry.