d-Carvone inhibits the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway and induced the apoptotic cell death in the human gastric cancer AGS cells.

Globally, gastric cancer is one of the leading cause of death. Surgical and chemotherapy constitute an important treatment regimen. Unfortunately, less than 20 persons out of 100 patients are live on almost 5 years. Hence, a nontoxic, effective and significantly enhancing novel therapeutic agent is required. d-Carvone is a natural terpenoid present in the essential oils and abundant in the seeds of caraway, as well as known folk medication for diarrhea, acidity, and other gastric disorders. Nevertheless, the role of d-carvone on gastric cancer and its underlying molecular mechanism resides enigmatic. Cells were treated with d-carvone to find out the IC50 by MTT assay. This study shows that 20 and 25 µM d-carvone has induced the reactive oxygen species production and mitochondrial membrane potential in gastric cancer AGS cells, which were evaluated by 2,7-dichlorofluoresceindiacetate and Rh123 staining methods, respectively. The effect of d-carvone against the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway was studied through immunoblotting. Then, we found that it effectively inhibited the proliferation of cell, and the induction of cell apoptosis was scrutinized by dual, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, and also propidium iodide staining methods. We also explored the fundamental molecular signaling mechanism of the d-carvone and our data depicts that d-carvone induced apoptosis cell death by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and downregulation of the and JAK and STAT3 signaling molecules. These overall findings support that the d-carvone inhibits the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway and induces cell death in the gastric cancer AGS cells.

Two-dimensional hexagonal boron-carbon-nitrogen atomic layers.

Two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron-carbon-nitrogen (h-BCN) atomic layers are expected to possess interesting properties complementary to those of graphene and h-BN, enabling a rich variety of electronic structures, properties and applications. Herein, we demonstrate a novel method to synthesize 2D h-BCN atomic layers with a full range of compositions by ion beam sputtering deposition under a mixed Ar/CH4 atmosphere. The h-BCN layers have been thoroughly characterized by various techniques, aiming at the determination of their structure evolution and properties. We find that homogeneous h-BCN layers consisting of graphene and h-BN nanodomains can be obtained at an appropriate C content, whereas too high or too low C contents result in the segregation of large-sized graphene or h-BN islands. Furthermore, the band gap of h-BCN layers slightly decreases with the increasing C content, while their electric properties can be tuned from insulating to highly conducting. This work provides a novel approach for synthesizing 2D h-BCN atomic layers and paves the way for the development of h-BCN-based devices.

Remote heteroepitaxy of atomic layered hafnium disulfide on sapphire through hexagonal boron nitride.

Two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures have attracted a great deal of attention due to their novel phenomena arising from the complementary properties of their constituent materials, and provide an ideal platform for exploring new fundamental research and realizing technological innovation. Here, for the first time, we report the formation of high quality HfS2/h-BN heterostructures by the remote heteroepitaxy technique, in which the large-area single-crystal HfS2 layers were epitaxially grown on c-plane sapphire through a polycrystalline h-BN layer via chemical vapor deposition. It is found that c-sapphire substrates can penetrate monolayer and bilayer h-BN to remotely handle the epitaxial growth of HfS2. Benefitting from the high crystal quality of HfS2 epilayers and the weak interface scattering of HfS2 on h-BN, the HfS2 photodetectors demonstrate excellent performance with a high on/off ratio exceeding 105, an excellent photoresponsivity up to 0.135 A W-1 and a high detectivity of over 1012 Jones. Furthermore, the HfS2/h-BN heterostructures prepared by the remote epitaxy can be rapidly released and transferred to a substrate of interest, which opens a new pathway for large-area advanced wearable electronics applications.

Halofuginone-induced autophagy suppresses the migration and invasion of MCF-7 cells via regulation of STMN1 and p53.

Traditional Chinese medicines have been recognized as especially promising anticancer agents in modern anticancer research. Halofuginone (HF), an analog of quinazolinone alkaloid extracted from Dichroa febrifuga, is widely used in traditional medicine. However, whether HF inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells and/or reduces the migration and invasion of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, as well as the underlying mechanisms in vitro, remains unclear. In this study, we report that an HF extract inhibits the growth of MCF-7 cells and reduces their migration and invasion, an important feature of potential anticancer agents. In addition, HF significantly increases the activation of autophagy, which is closely associated with tumor metastasis. As STMN1 and p53 have been closely implicated in breast cancer progression, we analyzed their expression in the context of HF extract treatment. Western blot analysis showed that HF suppresses STMN1 and p53 expression and activity in an autophagy-dependent manner. Collectively, these data indicate that activation of autophagy reduces expression of STMN1 and p53, and the migration and invasion of cancer cells contributes to the anti-cancer effects of the HF. These findings may provide new insight into breast cancer prevention and therapy.

Annotation of porcine milk oligosaccharides throughout lactation by hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled with quadruple time of flight tandem mass spectrometry.

Swine plays a significant role in livestock agriculture. As a linkage between sows and piglets, porcine milk is crucial for the health of newborn piglets. Free milk oligosaccharides (MOs) are kinds of important bioactive substance in mammalian milk. However, little is known about the component and function of the porcine MOs (PMOs). In this study, a hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-Q-TOF MS) system was utilized to profile the PMOs. Forty-one distinct PMOs were identified totally in three breeds of sows. The PMOs were highly sialylated (∼30%) and fucosylated PMOs (1-3%) were monitored at low levels. The most abundant oligosaccharide was a trisaccharide (Hex3 ) which contributed over 50% of the total PMOs abundance. Comparison of free MOs profiles revealed heterogeneity and variations among individuals and different breeds of sows, however, the MOs variation among breeds was limited even minor than that among individuals. Furthermore, most PMOs contents were higher in colostrum and decreased in the early lactation, but a few kinds increased at last. Different oligosaccharides had different patterns during lactation. Overall, these observations showed a more detailed PMOs library and would contribute to the exploration of influence of PMOs on piglets' health.