UV and pulsed electron beam radiation for effective bisphenol A degradation.

The paper presents the results of studying the efficiency of the bisphenol A transformation in water exposed to ultraviolet radiation and a high-energy-pulse-electron beam (e-beam). It has been shown that in both cases, degradation of dissolved bisphenol A occurs, accompanied by an increase in the absorption coefficient in the wavelength region of more than 300 nm. After exposure, products were recorded that fluoresced in the region of more than λ = 400 nm. The fluorescent transformation product of bisphenol A in water (λ = 425 nm) was maximum formatted after an KrCl excilamp irradiated, and under the action of an e-beam, the accumulation of this product was minimal. Under e-beam radiation (170 keV) the efficiency of bisphenol A (1 mM) removal reached 97%. The data obtained allow us to develop ideas about photolysis and radiolysis in natural water systems when knowledge about targeted and optimal conditions for the degradation of bisphenol A is needed.

Transcriptomic Signatures in Colorectal Cancer Progression.

AIMS: Due to a large number of identified hub-genes encoding key molecular regulators, which are involved in signal transduction and metabolic pathways in cancers, it is relevant to systemize and update these findings. BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in the world, with high metastatic potential. Elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms and selection of novel biomarkers in CRC is of great clinical significance. OBJECTIVE: This analytical review aims at the systematization of bioinformatics and experimental identification of hub-genes associated with CRC for a more consolidated understanding of common features in networks and pathways in CRC progression as well as hub-genes selection. RESULTS: In total, 301 hub-genes were derived from 40 articles. The "core" consisted of 28 hub-genes (CCNB1, LPAR1, BGN, CXCL3, COL1A2, UBE2C, NMU, COL1A1, CXCL2, CXCL11, CDK1, TOP2A, AURKA, SST, CXCL5, MMP3, CCND1, TIMP1, CXCL8, CXCL1, CXCL12, MYC, CCNA2, GCG, GUCA2A, PAICS, PYY and THBS2) mentioned in not less than three articles and having clinical significance in cancerassociated pathways. Of them, there were two discrete clusters enriched in chemokine signaling and cell cycle regulatory genes. High expression levels of BGN and TIMP1 and low expression levels of CCNB1, CXCL3, CXCL2, CXCL2 and PAICS were associated with unfavorable overall survival of patients with CRC. Differently expressed genes such as LPAR1, SST, CXCL12, GUCA2A, and PYY were shown as down regulated, whereas BGN, CXCL3, UBE2C, NMU, CXCL11, CDK1, TOP2A, AURKA, MMP3, CCND1, CXCL1, MYC, CCNA2, PAICS were up regulated genes in CRC. It was also found that MMP3, THBS2, TIMP1 and CXCL12 genes were associated with metastatic CRC. Network analysis in ONCO.IO showed that upstream master regulators RELA, STAT3, SOX2, FOXM1, SMAD3 and NF-kB were connected with "core" hub-genes. Conclusión: Results obtained are of useful fundamental information on revealing the mechanism of pathogenicity, cellular target selection for optimization of therapeutic interventions, as well as transcriptomics prognostic and predictive biomarkers development.

Photolysis of Fluorinated Graphites with Embedded Acetonitrile Using a White-Beam Synchrotron Radiation.

Fluorinated graphitic layers with good mechanical and chemical stability, polar C-F bonds, and tunable bandgap are attractive for a variety of applications. In this work, we investigated the photolysis of fluorinated graphites with interlayer embedded acetonitrile, which is the simplest representative of the acetonitrile-containing photosensitizing family. The samples were continuously illuminated in situ with high-brightness non-monochromatized synchrotron radiation. Changes in the compositions of the samples were monitored using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The NEXAFS N K-edge spectra showed that acetonitrile dissociates to form HCN and N2 molecules after exposure to the white beam for 2 s, and the latter molecules completely disappear after exposure for 200 s. The original composition of fluorinated matrices CF0.3 and CF0.5 is changed to CF0.10 and GF0.17, respectively. The highly fluorinated layers lose fluorine atoms together with carbon neighbors, creating atomic vacancies. The edges of vacancies are terminated with the nitrogen atoms and form pyridinic and pyrrolic units. Our in situ studies show that the photolysis products of acetonitrile depend on the photon irradiation duration and composition of the initial CFx matrix. The obtained results evaluate the radiation damage of the acetonitrile-intercalated fluorinated graphites and the opportunities to synthesize nitrogen-doped graphene materials.

Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy in COVID-19.

Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) is a method that produces microscopic imaging of a lung tissue during bronchoscopy. We report a case ot a patient with negative nasopharyngeal swabs and suspected lung cancer who underwent pCLE. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by PCR analyses of lavage fluid and transbrohial biopsy. The pCLE image shows density of alveolar thickened fibres, disorganization of elastin network, and multiple large drops of intraalveolar secretions. As far as we know, this is the first pCLE image discribed in patient with COVID-19 at that moment.

Laser Patterning of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes Arrays: Morphology, Surface Structure, and Interaction with Terahertz Radiation.

The patterning of arrays of aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) allows creating metastructures for terahertz (THz) applications. Here, the strips and columns from MWCNTs vertically grown on silicon substrates are prepared using CO2 laser treatment. The tops of the patterned arrays are flat when the laser power is between 15 and 22 W, and craters appear there with increasing power. Laser treatment does not destroy the alignment of MWCNTs while removing their poorly ordered external layers. The products of oxidative destruction of these layers deposit on the surfaces of newly produced arrays. The oxygen groups resulting from the CO2 laser treatment improve the wettability of nanotube arrays with an epoxy resin. We show that the patterned MWCNT arrays absorb the THz radiation more strongly than the as-synthesized arrays. Moreover, the pattern influences the frequency behavior of the absorbance.

Breast Cancer and COVID-19: The Effect of Fear on Patients' Decision-making Process.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak is currently having a huge impact on medical resource allocation. Breast Cancer (BC) patients are concerned both with BC treatment and COVID-19. This study aimed to estimate the impact of anxiety among patients, caused by the spreading of COVID-19. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between the 16th of January and the 20th of March 2020, we retrospectively enrolled 160 patients. Eighty-two patients with a suspected breast lesion (SBL) were divided into two groups: PRE-COVID-19-SBL and POST-COVID-19-SBL. Seventy-eight BC patients were divided into PRE-COVID-19-BC and POST-COVID-19-BC. Patient characteristics including age, marital status, SBL/BC diameter, personal and family history of BC, clinical stage and molecular subtype were recorded. Procedure Refusal (PR) and Surgical Refusal (SR) were also recorded with their reason. RESULTS: BC and SBL analysis showed no difference in pre-treatment characteristics (p>0.05). Both POST-COVID-19-SBL and POST-COVID-19-BC groups showed higher rates of PR and SR (p=0.0208, p=0.0065 respectively). Infection risk represented primary reason for refusal among POST-COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSION: COVID-19-related anxiety could affect patients' decision-making process.

Aberrant expression of alternative isoforms of transcription factors in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide and the second leading cause of death among all cancer types. Deregulation of the networks of tissue-specific transcription factors (TFs) observed in HCC leads to profound changes in the hepatic transcriptional program that facilitates tumor progression. In addition, recent reports suggest that substantial aberrations in the production of TF isoforms occur in HCC. In vitro experiments have identified distinct isoform-specific regulatory functions and related biological effects of liver-specific TFs that are implicated in carcinogenesis, which may be relevant for tumor progression and clinical outcome. This study reviews available data on the expression of isoforms of liver-specific and ubiquitous TFs in the liver and HCC and their effects, including HNF4α, C/EBPs, p73 and TCF7L2, and indicates that assessment of the ratio of isoforms and targeting specific TF variants may be beneficial for the prognosis and treatment of HCC.

Palmitoylated phosphodiester gapmer designs with albumin binding capacity and maintained in vitro gene silencing activity.

BACKGROUND: Antisense gapmer oligonucleotide drugs require delivery and biodistribution enabling technologies to increase in vivo efficacy. An attractive approach is their binding and consequent transport by the endogenous human serum albumin pool as mediated by fatty acid incorporation into the gapmer design. METHODS: The present study investigated the effect of palmitoyl modification and position on albumin-binding, cellular uptake and in vitro gene silencing of gapmers with either a phosphorothioate (PS) or phosphodiester (PO) backbone. RESULTS: Two palmitoyls positioned exclusively at the 5' end, or a single palmitoyl at both the 3' and 5' positions, showed similar binding to human serum albumin as demonstrated by a gel-shift assay. Decreased cellular uptake determined by flow cytometry (27% compared to nonpalmitoyl gapmers) was observed for palmitoylated Cy5.5 labelled gapmers. However, HER3 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 3) gene silencing was exhibited by the palmitoylated gapmers with transfection agent in PC-3 and Caco-2 cells (68% and 62%, respectively), which was comparable to nonpalmitoyl gapmers (68% and 82%, respectively). Importantly, PO gapmers with a single palmitoyl positioned at both the 3' and 5' positions showed high silencing efficiencies (68% and 66% in PC-3 and Caco-2 cells, respectively) similar to those of PS nonpalmitoylated gapmers (67% and 66% in PC-3 and Caco-2 cells, respectively) in the absence of a transfection agent. CONCLUSIONS: The present study defines phosphodiester gapmer design criteria exhibiting high gene silencing activity and albumin binding that may be utilized with potentially less in vivo toxicity that can be associated with phosphorothioate gapmer designs.

Insight into bio-metal interface formation in vacuo: interplay of S-layer protein with copper and iron.

The mechanisms of interaction between inorganic matter and biomolecules, as well as properties of resulting hybrids, are receiving growing interest due to the rapidly developing field of bionanotechnology. The majority of potential applications for metal-biohybrid structures require stability of these systems under vacuum conditions, where their chemistry is elusive, and may differ dramatically from the interaction between biomolecules and metal ions in vivo. Here we report for the first time a photoemission and X-ray absorption study of the formation of a hybrid metal-protein system, tracing step-by-step the chemical interactions between the protein and metals (Cu and Fe) in vacuo. Our experiments reveal stabilization of the enol form of peptide bonds as the result of protein-metal interactions for both metals. The resulting complex with copper appears to be rather stable. In contrast, the system with iron decomposes to form inorganic species like oxide, carbide, nitride, and cyanide.