A GRIP-1-EZH2 switch binding to GATA-4 is linked to the genesis of rhabdomyosarcoma through miR-29a.

Terminal differentiation failure is an important cause of rhabdomyosarcoma genesis, however, little is known about the epigenetic regulation of aberrant myogenic differentiation. Here, we show that GATA-4 recruits polycomb group proteins such as EZH2 to negatively regulate miR-29a in undifferentiated C2C12 myoblast cells, whereas recruitment of GRIP-1 to GATA-4 proteins displaces EZH2, resulting in the activation of miR-29a during myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells. Moreover, in poorly differentiated rhabdomyosarcoma cells, EZH2 still binds to the miR-29a promoter with GATA-4 to mediate transcriptional repression of miR-29a. Interestingly, once re-differentiation of rhabdomyosarcoma cells toward skeletal muscle, EZH2 was dispelled from miR-29a promoter which is similar to that in myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells. Eventually, this expression of miR-29a results in limited rhabdomyosarcoma cell proliferation and promotes myogenic differentiation. We thus establish that GATA-4 can function as a molecular switch in the up- and downregulation of miR-29a expression. We also demonstrate that GATA-4 acts as a tumor suppressor in rhabdomyosarcoma partly via miR-29a, which thus provides a potential therapeutic target for rhabdomyosarcoma.

Fabrication of PEBA/HZIF-8 Pervaporation Membranes for High Efficiency Phenol Recovery.

Phenol and its chemical derivatives serve as essential chemical materials are indispensable for the synthesis of many kinds of polymers. However, they are highly toxic, carcinogenic, difficult to be degraded biologically, and often found in aqueous effluents. Recovery of hazardous phenol from wastewater remains a daunting challenge. Herein, we prepared a hybrid membrane containing polyether block amide (PEBA) matrix and HZIF-8 fillers. To improve the compatibility between ZIF-8 and PEBA, ZIF-8 was modified by using polystyrene (PS) as a template to prepare porous HZIF-8. ZIF-8, composed of zinc nodes linked by the imidazole ring skeleton, is a kind of inorganic material with high hydrothermal stability, ordered pores, and hydrophobic microporous surfaces, which has a wide range of applications in membrane separation. The separation performance of the PEBA/HZIF-8 based membranes for phenol/water is improved due to the presence of PS on the surface of HZIF-8 and the imidazole ring skeleton in ZIF-8, which enhance the π-π interaction between HZIF-8 and phenol molecules. The effects of HZIF-8 content, feed phenol concentration, and feed temperature on the pervaporation performance of PEBA/HZIF-8 membranes were further investigated. The results showed that the pervaporation performance of the PEBA/HZIF-8-10 membrane was promising with a separation factor of 80.89 and permeate flux of 247.70 g/m2·h under the feed phenol concentration of 0.2 wt % at 80 °C. In addition, the PEBA/HZIF-8-10 membrane presented excellent stability, which has great prospect for practical application in phenol recovery from waste water.