The influence of aggressive exercise on responses to self-perceived and others' pain.

Previous studies have reported relationships between exercise and pain. However, little is known about how aggressive exercise modulates individuals' responses to their own and others' pain. This present study addresses this question by conducting 2 studies employing event-related potential (ERP). Study 1 included 38 participants whose self-perceived pain was assessed after intervention with aggressive or nonaggressive exercises. Study 2 recruited 36 participants whose responses to others' pain were assessed after intervention with aggressive or nonaggressive exercise. Study 1's results showed that P2 amplitudes were smaller, reaction times were longer, and participants' judgments were less accurate in response to self-perceived pain stimuli, especially to high-pain stimuli, after intervention with aggressive exercise compared to nonaggressive exercise. Results of study 2 showed that both P3 and LPP amplitudes to others' pain were larger after intervention with aggressive exercise than with nonaggressive exercise. These results suggest that aggressive exercise decreases individuals' self-perceived pain and increases their empathic responses to others' pain.

Decoding subject's own name in the primary auditory cortex.

Current studies have shown that perception of subject's own name (SON) involves multiple multimodal brain regions, while activities in unimodal sensory regions (i.e., primary auditory cortex) and their interaction with multimodal regions during the self-processing remain unclear. To answer this, we combined multivariate pattern analysis and dynamic causal modelling analysis to explore the regional activation pattern and inter-region effective connection during the perception of SON. We found that SON and other names could be decoded from the activation pattern in the primary auditory cortex. In addition, we found an excitatory effect of SON on connections from the anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus to the primary auditory cortex, and to the temporoparietal junction. Our findings extended the current knowledge of self-processing by showing that primary auditory cortex could discriminate SON from other names. Furthermore, our findings highlighted the importance of influence of the insula on the primary auditory cortex during self-processing.

Effect of Butylphthalide Capsules on Smac and XIAP Expression in Rats after Ischemia Reperfusion.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the protective effects of butylphthalide on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. This study aims to investigate the impact on the second mitochondrial-derived activator of Caspases (Smac) and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) expression in the ischemic semidark area using a rat model of carotid artery stenosis. METHODS: Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the sham-operated group, carotid stenosis model controls, low-dose (20 mg/kg), medium-dose (40 mg/kg), and high-dose (80 mg/kg) butylphthalide groups. The neurological function was scored by the balance beam test (BBT). The morphological changes of brain tissue were detected by Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, with apoptosis detected by Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) staining. Smac and XIAP protein expression were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The expressions of Smac and XIAP mRNA were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: HE showed that neuronal loss, nuclear consolidation, and vacuolar degeneration were significantly reduced in the medium and high-dose butylphthalide groups compared with the model controls. The BBT scores and apoptotic index were significantly lower in the medium and high doses of butylphthalide compared with the model controls. RT-qPCR and IHC showed that Smac, XIAP mRNA and protein expressions in the ischemic hemispheric region were significantly reduced in low, medium, and high doses of butylphthalide compared with the model controls (P < 0.05), showing some concentration effect. CONCLUSIONS: Butylphthalide can significantly reduce Smac and XIAP mRNA and protein expression, inhibit neuronal apoptosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats with carotid stenosis, and exert neuroprotective effects.

Cancer Therapy Empowered by Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Targeted Delivery.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a class of nanoparticles that mediate signaling molecules delivery between donor and recipient cells. Heterogeneity in the content of EVs and their membrane surface proteins determines their unique targetability. Their low immunogenicity, capability to cross various biological barriers, and superior biocompatibility enable engineering-modified EVs to be ideal drug delivery carriers. In addition, the engineered EVs that emerge in recent years have become a powerful tool for cancer treatment through the selective delivery of bioactive molecules to therapeutic targets, such as tumor cells and stroma. Our review focuses on the various types of EV modifications and their promoting therapeutic capabilities, which provide an innovative means for cancer precision therapy.

The miRNA-185-5p/STIM1 Axis Regulates the Invasiveness of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cell Lines by Modulating EGFR Activation-Stimulated Switch from E- to N-Cadherin.

Distant metastasis remains the primary cause of treatment failure and suggests a poor prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical cellular process for initiating a tumor invasion and remote metastasis. Our previous study showed that the blockage of the stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1)-mediated Ca2+ signaling blunts the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-promoted cell migration and inhibits the dissemination and lymphatic metastasis of NPC cells. However, the upstream signaling pathway that regulates the STIM1 expression remains unknown. In this follow-up study, we demonstrated that the miRNA-185-5p/STIM1 axis is implicated in the regulation of the metastatic potential of 5-8F cells, a highly invasive NPC cell line. We demonstrate that the knockdown of STIM1 attenuates the migration ability of 5-8F cells by inhibiting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation-induced switch from E- to N-cadherin in vitro. In addition, the STIM1 knockdown inhibited the locoregional lymphatic invasion of the 5-8F cells in mice. Furthermore, we identified miRNA-185-5p as an upstream regulator that negatively regulates the expression of STIM1. Our findings suggest that the miRNA-185-5p/STIM1 axis regulates the invasiveness of NPC cell lines by affecting the EGFR activation-modulated cell adhesiveness. The miRNA-185-5p/STIM1 axis may serve as a potentially effective therapeutic target for the treatment of NPC.

Why ultrafast charge separation occurs in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells: a multichain tight binding model study.

Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) exhibit ultrafast charge separation (UCS) which enables lower geminate charge recombination and high internal quantum efficiency. Unravelling why UCS occurs in BHJ-OSCs is important for the exploration of devices in future, however it is still far from clear. In this work, we build a multichain tight-binding model to study the conditions for realizing UCS. We propose that two conditions are important: (i) the BHJ-OSC has a morphology with donor and acceptor molecules being individually aggregated; (ii) the ratio of the donor/acceptor interfacial coupling to the internal donor/donor and acceptor/acceptor coupling should be smaller than a threshold. In addition, we suggest that increasing the donor/acceptor energetic offset will boost the UCS efficiency. As a fundamental theoretical analysis on the underlying mechanism of UCS, our work provides design rules for optimizing high-performance BHJ OSCs.

Effects of Different Degrees of Carotid Artery Stenosis on the Expression of XIAP and Smac in the Ischemic Penumbra of Rats with Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of different degrees of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) on the expression of XIAP and Smac in ischemic penumbra of rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples were collected at 12 h and 24 h after reperfusion, and then the treated groups were divided into the NC-12 group, NC-24 group, MIS-12 group, MIS-24 group, MOS-12 group, MOS-24 group, SES-12 group and SES-24 group. HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the brain tissue. TUNEL assay was used to detect the apoptosis in the ischemic penumbra. IHC and RT-qPCR were used to detect the expression of XIAP and Smac in the brain tissue. RESULTS: By observing the pathological sections of brain tissue, the rats in MIS, MOS and SES groups showed loose brain tissue on the infarcted side and neuronal pyknosis in the ischemic penumbra. And with the aggravation and prolongation of the degree of stenosis, the degree of brain injury deepened. It was further found that the TUNEL positive rate was significantly increased in the ischemic penumbra in the SES and MOS groups compared with that in the normal control (NC) group. The results of IHC and RT-qPCR showed that the mRNA expression of XIAP and Smac in the ischemic penumbra was significantly up-regulated in the MIS, MOS and SES groups compared with that in the NC group. CONCLUSIONS: CAS may activate XIAP/Smac signaling pathway to induce neuronal apoptosis and promote the injury in the ischemic penumbra caused by cerebral I/R.

The Potassium Transporter SlHAK10 Is Involved in Mycorrhizal Potassium Uptake.

Most terrestrial plants form a root symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which receive fixed carbon from the plant and enhance the plant's uptake of mineral nutrients. AM symbiosis improves the phosphorous and nitrogen nutrition of host plants; however, little is known about the role of AM symbiosis in potassium (K+) nutrition. Here, we report that inoculation with the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis improved tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plant growth and K+ acquisition and that K+ deficiency has a negative effect on root growth and AM colonization. Based on its homology to a Lotus japonicus AM-induced K+ transporter, we identified a mycorrhiza-specific tomato K+ transporter, SlHAK10 (Solanum lycopersicum High-affinity Potassium Transporter10), that was exclusively expressed in arbuscule-containing cells. SlHAK10 could restore a yeast K+ uptake-defective mutant in the low-affinity concentration range. Loss of function of SlHAK10 led to a significant decrease in mycorrhizal K+ uptake and AM colonization rate under low-K+ conditions but did not affect arbuscule development. Overexpressing SlHAK10 from the constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter or the AM-specific Solanum melongena Phosphate Transporter4 not only improved plant growth and K+ uptake but also increased AM colonization efficiency and soluble sugar content in roots supplied with low K+ Our results indicate that tomato plants have a SlHAK10-mediated mycorrhizal K+ uptake pathway and that improved plant K+ nutrition could increase carbohydrate accumulation in roots, which facilitates AM fungal colonization.

A mycorrhiza-specific H+ -ATPase is essential for arbuscule development and symbiotic phosphate and nitrogen uptake.

Most land plants can form symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to enhance uptake of mineral nutrients, particularly phosphate (Pi) and nitrogen (N), from the soil. It is established that transport of Pi from interfacial apoplast into plant cells depends on the H+ gradient generated by the H+ -ATPase located on the periarbuscular membrane (PAM); however, little evidence regarding the potential link between mycorrhizal N transport and H+ -ATPase activity is available to date. Here, we report that a PAM-localized tomato H+ -ATPase, SlHA8, is indispensable for arbuscule development and mycorrhizal P and N uptake. Knockout of SlHA8 resulted in truncated arbuscule morphology, reduced shoot P and N accumulation, and decreased H+ -ATPase activity and acidification of apoplastic spaces in arbusculated cells. Overexpression of SlHA8 in tomato promoted both P and N uptake, and increased total colonization level, but did not affect arbuscule morphology. Heterogeneous expression of SlHA8 in the rice osha1 mutant could fully complement its defects in arbuscule development and mycorrhizal P and N uptake. Our results propose a pivotal role of the SlHA8 in energizing both the symbiotic P and N transport, and highlight the evolutionary conservation of the AM-specific H+ -ATPase orthologs in maintaining AM symbiosis across different mycorrhizal plant species.

The Significance of Crochetage on the R wave of an Electrocardiogram for the Early Diagnosis of Pediatric Secundum Atrial Septal Defect.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the incidence of crochetage on the R wave in inferior limb leads can be used for the diagnosis of pediatric secundum atrial septal defect (ASD). Two hundred fifty-six children with secundum ASD (case cohort) and 256 age- and gender-matched children without heart disease (control cohort) were included in the study. Statistical analyses were performed to test the relationship between the ASD and the crochetage on the R wave with a single lead and three leads, respectively. The impact of incomplete right bundle branch block (IRBBB) and ASD diameter (≥ 5 and < 5 mm) on ASD diagnosis were also explored. Crochetage on the R wave was observed in all three inferior limb leads on 28.13% (72/256, 28 with IRBBB) of subjects with secundum ASD, while it was seen in only 2.73% (7/256, one with IRBBB) of control subjects (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that the incidence of R wave crochetage correlated with ASD size in both the single inferior limb lead (26.14%, 23/88 on ASD ≥ 5 mm vs. 10.71%, 18/168 on ASD < 5 mm; P = 0.001) and all three inferior limb leads (44.32%, 39/88 on ASD ≥ 5 mm vs. 19.64%, 33/168 on ASD < 5 mm; P < 0.001). Our findings suggest that crochetage on the R wave in inferior limb leads can serve as an independent marker for ASD diagnosis.

Alteration of gene expression profiling including GPR174 and GNG2 is associated with vasovagal syncope.

Vasovagal syncope (VVS) causes accidental harm for susceptible patients. However, pathophysiology of this disorder remains largely unknown. In an effort to understanding of molecular mechanism for VVS, genome-wide gene expression profiling analyses were performed on VVS patients at syncope state. A total of 66 Type 1 VVS child patients and the same number healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Peripheral blood RNAs were isolated from all subjects, of which 10 RNA samples were randomly selected from each groups for gene expression profile analysis using Gene ST 1.0 arrays (Affymetrix). The results revealed that 103 genes were differently expressed between the patients and controls. Significantly, two G-proteins related genes, GPR174 and GNG2 that have not been related to VVS were among the differently expressed genes. The microarray results were confirmed by qRT-PCR in all the tested individuals. Ingenuity pathway analysis and gene ontology annotation study showed that the differently expressed genes are associated with stress response and apoptosis, suggesting that the alteration of some gene expression including G-proteins related genes is associated with VVS. This study provides new insight into the molecular mechanism of VVS and would be helpful to further identify new molecular biomarkers for the disease.

Effect of artificial natural light on the development of myopia among primary school-age children in China: a three-year longitudinal study.

AIM: To assess the efficacy of artificial natural light in preventing incident myopia in primary school-age children. METHODS: This is a prospective, randomized control, intervention study. A total of 1840 students from 39 classes in 4 primary schools in Foshan participated in this study. The whole randomization method was adopted to include classes as a group according to 1:1 randomized control. Classrooms in the control group were illuminated by usual light, and classrooms in the intervention group were illuminated by artificial natural light. All students received uncorrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity measurement, non-cycloplegic autorefraction, ocular biometric examination, slit lamp and strabismus examination. Three-year follow-up, the students underwent same procedures. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent refraction ≤ -0.50 D and uncorrected visual acuity <20/20. RESULTS: There were 894 students in the control group and 946 students in the intervention group with a mean±SD age of 7.50±0.53y. The three-year cumulative incidence rate of myopia was 26.4% (207 incident cases among 784 eligible participants at baseline) in the control group and 21.2% (164 incident cases among 774 eligible participants at baseline) in the intervention group [difference of 5.2% (95%CI, 3.7% to 10.1%); P=0.035]. There was also a significant difference in the three-year change in spherical equivalent refraction for the control group (-0.81 D) compared with the intervention group [-0.63 D; difference of 0.18 D (95%CI, 0.08 to 0.28 D); P<0.001]. Elongation of axial length was significantly different between in the control group (0.77 mm) and the intervention group [0.72 mm; difference of 0.05 mm (95%CI, 0.01 to 0.09 mm); P=0.003]. CONCLUSION: Artificial natural light in the classroom of primary schools can result in reducing incidence rate of myopia during a period of three years.

Water management affects arsenic and cadmium accumulation in different rice cultivars.

Paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food and one of the major sources of dietary arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) in Asia. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of four water management regimes (aerobic, intermittent irrigation, conventional irrigation and flooding) on As and Cd accumulation in seven major rice cultivars grown in Zhejiang province, east China. With increasing irrigation from aerobic to flooded conditions, the soil HCl-extractable As concentrations increased significantly and the HCl-extractable Cd concentrations decreased significantly. These trends were consistent with the As and Cd concentrations in the straw, husk and brown rice. Water management both before and after the full tillering stage affected As and Cd accumulation in the grains. The intermittent and conventional treatments produced higher grain yields than the aerobic and flooded treatments. Cd concentrations in brown rice varied 13.1-40.8 times and As varied 1.75-8.80 times among the four water management regimes. Cd and As accumulation in brown rice varied among the rice cultivars, with Guodao 6 (GD6) was a low Cd but high-As-accumulating cultivar while Indonesia (IR) and Yongyou 9 (YY9) were low As but high-Cd-accumulating cultivars. Brown rice Cd and As concentrations in the 7 cultivars were significantly negatively correlated. The results indicate that As and Cd accumulated in rice grains with opposite trends that were influenced by both water management and rice cultivar. Production of 'safe' rice with respect to As and Cd might be possible by balancing water management and rice cultivar according to the severity of soil pollution.

Adsorption and desorption characteristics of diphenylarsenicals in two contrasting soils.

Diphenylarsinic acid (DPAA) is formed during the leakage of aromatic arsenic chemical weapons in soils, is persistent in nature, and results in arsenic contamination in the field. The adsorption and desorption characteristics of DPAA were investigated in two typical Chinese soils, an Acrisol (a variable-charge soil) and a Phaeozem (a constant-charge soil). Their thermodynamics and some of the factors influencing them (i.e., initial pH value, ionic strength and phosphate) were also evaluated using the batch method in order to understand the environmental fate of DPAA in soils. The results indicate that Acrisol had a stronger adsorption capacity for DPAA than Phaeozem. Soil DPAA adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process and the amount of DPAA adsorbed was affected significantly by variation in soil pH and phosphate. In contrast, soil organic matter and ionic strength had no significant effect on adsorption. This suggests that DPAA adsorption may be due to specific adsorption on soil mineral surfaces. Therefore, monitoring the fate of DPAA in soils is recommended in areas contaminated by leakage from chemical weapons.

Water-Soluble Cationic Eu3+-Metallopolymer with High Quantum Yield and Sensitivity for Intracellular Temperature Sensing.

Lanthanide-based (Ln3+) luminescent materials are ideal candidates for use in fluorescence intracellular temperature sensing. However, it remains a great challenge to obtain a Ln3+-ratiometric fluorescence thermometer with high sensitivity and quantum yield in an aqueous environment. Herein, a cationic Eu3+-metallopolymer was synthesized via the coordination of Eu(TTA)3·2H2O with an AIE active amphipathic polymer backbone that contains APTMA ((3-acrylamidopropyl) trimethylammonium) and NIPAM (N-isopropylacrylamide) units, which can self-assemble into nanoparticles in water solution with APTMA and NIPAM as the hydrophilic shell. This polymer exhibited highly efficient dual-emissive white-light emission (Φ = 34.3%). Particularly, when the temperature rises, the NIPAM units will transform from hydrophilic to hydrophobic in the spherical core of the nanoparticle, while the VTPE units are moved from inside the nanoparticle to the shell, activating its nonradiative transition channel and thereby decreasing its energy transfer to Eu3+ centers, endowing the Eu3+-metallopolymer with an extremely high temperature sensing sensitivity within the physiological temperature range. Finally, the real-time monitoring of the intracellular temperature variation is further conducted.

Development and validation of a predictive model for febrile seizures.

Febrile seizures (FS) are the most prevalent type of seizures in children. Existing predictive models for FS exhibit limited predictive ability. To build a better-performing predictive model, a retrospective analysis study was conducted on febrile children who visited the Children's Hospital of Shanghai from July 2020 to March 2021. These children were divided into training set (n = 1453), internal validation set (n = 623) and external validation set (n = 778). The variables included demographic data and complete blood counts (CBCs). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was used to select the predictors of FS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to develop a predictive model. The coefficients derived from the multivariate logistic regression were used to construct a nomogram that predicts the probability of FS. The calibration plot, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate model performance. Results showed that the AUC of the predictive model in the training set was 0.884 (95% CI 0.861 to 0.908, p < 0.001) and C-statistic of the nomogram was 0.884. The AUC of internal validation set was 0.883 (95% CI 0.844 to 0.922, p < 0.001), and the AUC of external validation set was 0.858 (95% CI 0.820 to 0.896, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the FS predictive model constructed based on CBCs in this study exhibits good predictive ability and has clinical application value.

Eyes-Open and Eyes-Closed Resting State Network Connectivity Differences.

Resting state networks comprise several brain regions that exhibit complex patterns of interaction. Switching from eyes closed (EC) to eyes open (EO) during the resting state modifies these patterns of connectivity, but precisely how these change remains unclear. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan healthy participants in two resting conditions (viz., EC and EO). Seven resting state networks were chosen for this study: salience network (SN), default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), dorsal attention network (DAN), visual network (VN), motor network (MN) and auditory network (AN). We performed functional connectivity (FC) analysis for each network, comparing the FC maps for both EC and EO. Our results show increased connectivity between most networks during EC relative to EO, thereby suggesting enhanced integration during EC and greater modularity or specialization during EO. Among these networks, SN is distinctive: during the transition from EO to EC it evinces increased connectivity with DMN and decreased connectivity with VN. This change might imply that SN functions in a manner analogous to a circuit switch, modulating resting state relations with DMN and VN, when transitioning between EO and EC.

STIM1-regulated exosomal EBV-LMP1 empowers endothelial cells with an aggressive phenotype by activating the Akt/ERK pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1)-mediated Ca2+ signaling regulates tumor angiogenesis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related human malignancy. However, the mechanism by which STIM1 modulates endothelial functional phenotypes contributing to tumor angiogenesis remains elusive. METHODS: NPC cell-derived exosomes were isolated via differential centrifugation and observed using transmission electron microscopy. Exosome particle sizes were assessed by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Uptake of exosomes by recipient ECs was detected by fluorescent labeling of the exosomes with PKH26. Tumor angiogenesis-associated profiles were characterized by determining cell proliferation, migration, tubulogenesis and permeability in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Activation of the Akt/ERK pathway was assessed by detecting the phosphorylation levels using Western blotting. A chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) xenograft model was employed to study tumor-associated neovascularization in vivo. RESULTS: We found that NPC cell-derived exosomes harboring EBV-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) promoted proliferation, migration, tubulogenesis and permeability by activating the Akt/ERK pathway in ECs. STIM1 silencing reduced LMP1 enrichment in NPC cell-derived exosomes, thereby reversing its pro-oncogenic effects in an Akt/ERK pathway-dependent manner. Furthermore, STIM1 knockdown in NPC cells blunted tumor-induced vascular network formation and inhibited intra-tumor neovascularization in the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) xenograft model. CONCLUSION: STIM1 regulates tumor angiogenesis by controlling exosomal EBV-LMP1 delivery to ECs in the NPC tumor microenvironment. Blocking exosome-mediated cell-to-cell horizontal transfer of EBV-associated oncogenic signaling molecules may be an effective therapeutic strategy for NPC.

Cadmium distribution in rice plants grown in three different soils after application of pig manure with added cadmium.

A glasshouse pot experiment was conducted to investigate Cd concentrations in the aboveground parts of two consecutive crops of rice and Cd availability in three different soils (loam, silt loam, and sandy loam) after application of pig manure with added Cd. Soil pH tended to increase with increasing application rate of pig manure from 1 to 3% (w/w, oven dry basis). Soil diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) extractable Cd showed a clear positive correlation with soil total Cd content and increased with increasing Cd amendment of the manure but showed no difference between the two manure application rates. Cd concentrations in the grain, husk, and straw were significantly and positively correlated with soil DTPA-extractable Cd (p < 0.001). Within each level of manure Cd, the higher rate (3%) of manure produced lower Cd concentrations in the grain, husk, and straw on all three soils than did the lower rate (1%) after the first crop, but this no longer occurred after the growth of the second crop. Grain Cd concentrations exceeded the Chinese National Food Quality Standard (0.2 mg kg(-1)) most often on the loam, with intermediate frequency on the silt loam, and least often on the sandy loam, the soil with the highest pH and lowest organic carbon content and cation exchange capacity.

Exosome-mediated remodeling of the tumor microenvironment: From local to distant intercellular communication.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-enveloped nanoscale particles that carry various bioactive signaling molecules secreted by cells. Their biological roles depend on the original cell type from which they are derived and their inclusions. Exosomes, a class of EVs, are released by almost all eukaryotic cell types, including tumor cells. Tumor cell-derived exosomes mediate signal transduction between tumor cells and surrounding non-tumor cells. This intercellular communication actively contributes to the remodeling of the tumor microenvironment (TME) to enable tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. This review summarizes the latest progress in the exploration of exosome-mediated cell-cell communication implicated in TME remodeling and underlying mechanisms. We focus on the role of cell-cell interactions mediated by tumor cell-derived exosomes in promoting invasion and metastasis, and their potential as a therapeutic intervention target against distant metastasis. We also discuss the clinical translational significance of tumor-derived exosomes for early diagnosis, efficacy and progression evaluations.