A self-assembled 2-hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid protective layer enables dendrite-free Zn anodes.

A stable self-assembled 2-hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid (HPAA) layer was constructed on the Zn surface via chelation. This HPAA protective layer significantly inhibits the water-related side reactions and suppresses Zn dendrite growth. Consequently, the Zn-HPAA-1h anode shows a long cycling lifetime of 650 h in a symmetric cell at 30.0 mA cm-2. Also, the Zn-HPAA-1h//V2O5 full cell demonstrates a high capacity of 154.1 mA h g-1 after 1000 cycles at 2 A g-1. This study provides a new strategy for developing dendrite-free Zn anodes.

Oncogenic RAS Regulates Long Noncoding RNA Orilnc1 in Human Cancer.

RAS and its downstream cascades transmit cellular signals, resulting in increased transcription of genes involved in cell growth and division. Protein-coding gene targets of RAS signaling have been characterized extensively, but long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) regulated by these processes have not. Using a custom-designed lncRNA microarray, we identified the lncRNA Orilnc1 as a genetic target of RAS that is critical for RAS oncogenicity. Orilnc1 expression was regulated by RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling via the transcription factor AP1. Orilnc1 was highly expressed in BRAF-mutant cancers, such as melanoma. Silencing of Orilnc1 blocked tumor cell proliferation and growth in vitro and in vivo In addition, Orilnc1 blockade reduced expression of cyclin E1 and induced G1-S cell-cycle arrest in tumor cells. Taken together, our results identify Orilnc1 as a novel, nonprotein mediator of RAS/RAF activation that may serve as a therapeutic target in RAS/RAF-driven cancers. Cancer Res; 77(14); 3745-57. ©2017 AACR.

Miscoding of Melanoma Thickness in SEER: Research and Clinical Implications.

Melanoma-related deaths and metastases among patients with thin (≤1 mm) and ultrathin (≤0.25 mm) melanomas have been reported. These observations might reflect adverse biology and/or errors in administrative data. Cumulative melanoma-related death rates for thickness groups of patients with thin melanomas were compared among five cohorts including the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry. Thickness in one SEER region was reexamined in pathology reports. The 5-year cumulative melanoma-related death rate of patients with ultrathin melanomas was higher in SEER (2.8%) compared with other registries (0.6-0.9%). The rates across the 16 SEER regions were 0.25% to 8.4%. In SEER, 21% of thin melanomas were ultrathin; in other registries, they comprised 5.8-15%. A reexamination of thickness in one SEER site revealed that 114 of 447 ultrathin melanomas had errors; after correction, only 17 of the 114 remained ultrathin. The majority of errors were related to decimal point placement. The 86 thin melanomas reclassified to >1.00 mm included 96% of the original ultrathin-associated deaths and 100% of the original positive lymph nodes. Significant miscoding of thickness that is concentrated in ultrathin lesions is present in SEER and results in mischaracterization of patient outcomes. When using administrative data, validation of results can identify critical data issues.