LncRNA XIST upregulates TRIM25 via negatively regulating miR-192 in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) XIST has been implicated in the progression of a variety of tumor diseases. The purpose of this study was to explore the molecular role of lncRNA XIST in human hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: The expression levels of lncRNA XIST, miR-192 and TRIM25 in HBV-related HCC tissues and HepG2.2.15 cells were detected by qRT-PCR. Biological information and luciferin gene reporter assay were performed to detect the interaction among lncRNA XIST, miR-192 and TRIM25. CCk-8 assay, wound healing assay and colony formation assay were conducted to detect the proliferation and migration ability of HepG2.2.15 cells. RESULTS: qRT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of lncRNA XIST were remarkably increased in HBV-related HCC tissues and HepG2.2.15 cells. In addition, miR-192 was a direct target gene of lncRNA XIST, and the expression of miR-192 and lncRNA XIST were negatively correlated. Moreover, overexpression of miR-192 observably inhibited the proliferation and migration of HCC cells, while overexpression of lncRNA XIST showed an opposite effect. Furthermore, TRIM25 was a direct target of miR-192, and lncRNA XIST could up-regulate the expression of TRIM25 by targeting miR-192. CONCLUSION: LncRNA XIST could up-regulate the expression of TRIM25 by targeting and binding to miR-192, thus accelerating the occurrence and development of HCC.

Influence of electrode configuration on electrokinetic-enhanced persulfate oxidation remediation of PAH-contaminated soil.

Electrokinetic (EK) remediation combined with in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) can be applied to low permeability organic contaminated soil. However, the effects of electrode configuration on EK-oxidation remediation remain unclear. In this study, EK-ISCO remediation of real polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soil under different electrode configurations was conducted. The results showed that increasing the number of anodes and electrode pairs in one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) electrode configuration was conducive to migration of oxidants into the system. The change in soil pH after remediation in 2D electrode configuration was not obvious, but the increase of soil electrical conductivity (EC) was higher than that of the 1D electrode configuration. The removal rates of PAHs in 2D electrode configurations (35.9-40.9%) were relatively higher than those of the 1D electrode configurations (0.54-31.6%), and the hexagonal electrode configuration yielded the highest pollutant removal efficiency, reaching 40.9%. The energy consumption under 2D electrode configuration was smaller than that under 1D electrode configuration, and the energy consumption of per gram removed PAHs in the hexagon configuration (66.74 kWh (g PAHs)-1) was lowest in all electrode configurations. Overall, the results of this study suggest that 2D electrode configuration is better than 1D and hexagonal electrode configuration is an optimal electrode configuration.

EDTA-enhanced electrokinetic remediation of aged electroplating contaminated soil assisted by combining dual cation-exchange membranes and circulation methods.

This paper introduces a novel method for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-enhanced electrokinetic (EK) remediation by combining dual cation-exchange membranes and circulation methods for an aged electroplating soil contaminated by chrome (Cr), copper (Cu), and nickel (Ni). Three laboratory-scale EK experiments were carried out, including T1, the traditional EK process; T2, the traditional EDTA-enhanced EK process; and T3, the assisted EDTA-enhanced EK process. The results obtained show that removal of Cu and Ni in T3 was 3-10 times higher than after T1 and T2. However, the removal of Cr (total) was small in all experiments because of the high content of Cr(III). T3 eliminated the metal accumulation problem that existed for T1 and T2. Simultaneously, the highly acidified area (pH < 4) was reduced from 80% in T1 and T2 to only 20% in T3. The results obtained in T3 indicate that the chelating effect of EDTA has a greater ability to dissolve oxidizable Cu and Ni in the soil than the acidification effect. Toxicity evaluation confirmed that the soil treated by T3 presented a lower effect on a luminescent bacterium (Photobacterium phosphoreum T3) because soil pH tended to be more neutral after this treatment. This research provides a novel method for removing heavy metals from soil in a more environmentally friendly way and clarifies the cause of the existing problems of low removal efficiency and high accumulation in the traditional EK process.

Bioaccumulation and toxicity of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

The growing potential of quantum dots (QDs) in biomedical applications has raised considerable concerns regarding their toxicological impact. Consequently, there has been a need to understand the underlying toxicity mechanism of QDs. In this work, we comprehensively investigated the bioaccumulation and toxicity of three CdSe/ZnS QDs (COOH CdSe/ZnS 525, NH2 CdSe/ZnS 525, and NH2 CdSe/ZnS 625) in Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) using confocal laser scanning microscopy, reactive oxygen species (ROS) measurements, and cell viability assays. Confocal laser scanning microscopy analytical results indicated that all the CdSe/ZnS QDs, with the concentration ranging from 10 to 80nM, could accumulate largely in the hyphae and induce the generation of ROS, showing a direct toxicity to P. chrysosporium. And the bioaccumulation and toxicity of CdSe/ZnS QDs presented dose-dependent and time-dependent effects on P. chrysosporium. Furthermore, the CdSe/ZnS QDs-induced cytotoxicity was also related to their physicochemical properties, including particle size and surface charges: NH2 CdSe/ZnS 525 with small size was more cytotoxic as compared to NH2 CdSe/ZnS 625 with large size, and the smaller negative charged NH2 CdSe/ZnS 525 resulted in greater cytotoxicity than the larger negative charged COOH CdSe/ZnS 525. The obtained results provide valuable information for exploring and understanding of toxicity mechanism of QDs in living cells.

Crystallization and X-ray diffraction of an ectoine hydroxylase from Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4.

OBJECTIVE: To study crystallization and X-Ray diffraction of ectoine hydroxylase from Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4. METHODS: We cloned the gene BpectD from B. pseudofirmus OF4 with a His6 tag and overexpressed it in E. coli BL21 (DE3). Then, we purified protein BpEctD by Ni2 -chelating affinity and size-exclusion chromatography. After that, crystals were grown by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method at 289 K and diffracted at 100K using an in-house X-ray source. RESULTS: Protein BpEctD was expressed and purified successfully. We obtained well diffracting crystals of about 360 µm x 240 µm x 60 µm in size using a solution consisting of 0.2 mol/L magnesium chloride hexahydrate, 0.1 mol/L bis-tris pH6. 5, 25% (W/V) polyethylene glycol 3,350 at a protein concentration of 6. 5 mg/mL, and collected X-ray diffraction data to 2.40 Å resolution in the anorthic space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 45.18Å, b = 58.87Å, c = 68.81 Å, α = 77.48 degrees, ß = 86.03 degrees, γ = 66.97 degrees. The asymmetric unit contains two molecules of BpEctD with a Mattews coefficient of about 2.44 Å3/Da and a solvent content of 49.53%. CONCLUSION: According to the X-ray diffraction data, the three-dimensional structure of BpEctD from B. pseudofirmus OF4 soon will be analyzed, and it will provide insights into the biochemical properties of ectoine hydroxylase.

Hierarchical titania mesoporous sphere/graphene composite, synthesis and application as photoanode in dye sensitized solar cells.

Hierarchical TiO(2) mesoporous sphere/graphene composites (HTMS/Gs) were prepared by incorporation proper amounts of graphene oxide (GO) into the reaction system toward hierarchical TiO(2) mesoporous spheres (HTMSs). The HTMS/Gs inherit the merits of high specific surface area derived from both HTMS and graphene, as well as the well conductivity of graphene. Power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using HTMS/Gs as photoanode materials were also investigated. The graphene content in HTMS/G exhibited great influence on PCE. Lower graphene content in HTMS/G showed superior dye adsorption capacity, lower charge recombination and thus higher photocurrent density over bare HTMS. However, excessive graphene promoted the recombination of photo-generated electrons, which deteriorated the PCE. Due to the high dye adsorption capacity and the prolonged electron recombination lifetime, the HTMS/G contains 5.68 wt.% graphene, denoted as HTMS/G(5.68), boosted up the short circuit current density (J(sc)) to 16.17 mA/cm(2), and a PCE of 7.19% was achieved, which is 21.8% higher than that of bare HTMS.