Tumor-repopulating cells evade ferroptosis via PCK2-dependent phospholipid remodeling.

Whether stem-cell-like cancer cells avert ferroptosis to mediate therapy resistance remains unclear. In this study, using a soft fibrin gel culture system, we found that tumor-repopulating cells (TRCs) with stem-cell-like cancer cell characteristics resist chemotherapy and radiotherapy by decreasing ferroptosis sensitivity. Mechanistically, through quantitative mass spectrometry and lipidomic analysis, we determined that mitochondria metabolic kinase PCK2 phosphorylates and activates ACSL4 to drive ferroptosis-associated phospholipid remodeling. TRCs downregulate the PCK2 expression to confer themselves on a structural ferroptosis-resistant state. Notably, in addition to confirming the role of PCK2-pACSL4(T679) in multiple preclinical models, we discovered that higher PCK2 and pACSL4(T679) levels are correlated with better response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as lower distant metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cohorts.

Electron heating in kinetic-Alfvén-wave turbulence.

We report analytical and numerical investigations of subion-scale turbulence in low-beta plasmas using a rigorous reduced kinetic model. We show that efficient electron heating occurs and is primarily due to Landau damping of kinetic Alfvén waves, as opposed to Ohmic dissipation. This collisionless damping is facilitated by the local weakening of advective nonlinearities and the ensuing unimpeded phase mixing near intermittent current sheets, where free energy concentrates. The linearly damped energy of electromagnetic fluctuations at each scale explains the steepening of their energy spectrum with respect to a fluid model where such damping is excluded (i.e., a model that imposes an isothermal electron closure). The use of a Hermite polynomial representation to express the velocity-space dependence of the electron distribution function enables us to obtain an analytical, lowest-order solution for the Hermite moments of the distribution, which is borne out by numerical simulations.

Amentoflavone reverses epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting p53 signalling pathway axis.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reversal process are important potential mechanisms in the development of HCC. Selaginella doederleinii Hieron is widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of various tumours and Amentoflavone is its main active ingredient. This study investigates the mechanism of action of Amentoflavone on EMT in hepatocellular carcinoma from the perspective of bioinformatics and network pharmacology. Bioinformatics was used to screen Amentoflavone-regulated EMT genes that are closely related to the prognosis of HCC, and a molecular prediction model was established to assess the prognosis of HCC. The network pharmacology was used to predict the pathway axis regulated by Amentoflavone. Molecular docking of Amentoflavone with corresponding targets was performed. Detection and evaluation of the effects of Amentoflavone on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis by CCK-8 kit, wound healing assay, Transwell assay and annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining. Eventually three core genes were screened, inculding NR1I2, CDK1 and CHEK1. A total of 590 GO enrichment entries were obtained, and five enrichment results were obtained by KEGG pathway analysis. Genes were mainly enriched in the p53 signalling pathway. The outcomes derived from both the wound healing assay and Transwell assay demonstrated significant inhibition of migration and invasion in HCC cells upon exposure to different concentrations of Amentoflavone. The results of Annexin V-FITC/PI staining assay showed that different concentrations of Amentoflavone induces apoptosis in HCC cells. This study revealed that the mechanism of Amentoflavone reverses EMT in hepatocellular carcinoma, possibly by inhibiting the expression of core genes and blocking the p53 signalling pathway axis to inhibit the migration and invasion of HCC cells.

LR-GNN: a graph neural network based on link representation for predicting molecular associations.

In biomedical networks, molecular associations are important to understand biological processes and functions. Many computational methods, such as link prediction methods based on graph neural networks (GNNs), have been successfully applied in discovering molecular relationships with biological significance. However, it remains a challenge to explore a method that relies on representation learning of links for accurately predicting molecular associations. In this paper, we present a novel GNN based on link representation (LR-GNN) to identify potential molecular associations. LR-GNN applies a graph convolutional network (GCN)-encoder to obtain node embedding. To represent associations between molecules, we design a propagation rule that captures the node embedding of each GCN-encoder layer to construct the LR. Furthermore, the LRs of all layers are fused in output by a designed layer-wise fusing rule, which enables LR-GNN to output more accurate results. Experiments on four biomedical network data, including lncRNA-disease association, miRNA-disease association, protein-protein interaction and drug-drug interaction, show that LR-GNN outperforms state-of-the-art methods and achieves robust performance. Case studies are also presented on two datasets to verify the ability to predict unknown associations. Finally, we validate the effectiveness of the LR by visualization.

Modeling autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa by using patient-specific retinal organoids with a class-3 RHO mutation.

Rhodopsin-mediated autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RHO-adRP) causes progressive vision loss and is potentially incurable, accounting for 25% of adRP cases. Studies on RHO-adRP mechanism were at large based on the biochemical and cellular properties, especially class-3. Nonetheless, the absence of an appropriate model for class-3 RHO-adRP has impeded comprehensive exploration. Here, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated from a healthy control and two sibling RP patients with the same point mutation, c.403C>T (p.R135W). The first three-dimensional (3D) retinal organoid model of a class-3 RHO point mutation from patient-derived iPSCs was generated. Significant defects were observed in rod photoreceptors in terms of localization, morphology, transcriptional profiling and single cell resolution, to better understand the human disease resulting from RHO mutations from a developmental perspective. This first human model of class-3 RHO-adRP provides a representation of patient's retina in vitro and displays features of RHO-adRP retinal organoids relevant for therapeutic development.

Long Noncoding RNA PSMB8-AS1 Mediates the Tobacco-Carcinogen-Induced Transformation of a Human Bronchial Epithelial Cell Line by Regulating Cell Cycle.

Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer deaths around the world. Nitrosamine 4-(methyl nitrosamine)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a tobacco-specific carcinogen of lung cancer. Abundant evidence implicates long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in tumorigenesis. Yet, the effects and mechanisms of lncRNAs in NNK-induced carcinogenesis are still unclear. In this study, we discovered that NNK-induced transformed Beas-2B cells (Beas-2B-NNK) showed increased cell migration and proliferation while decreasing rates of apoptosis. RNA sequencing and differentially expressed lncRNAs analyses showed that lncRNA PSMB8-AS1 was obviously upregulated. Interestingly, silencing the lncRNA PSMB8-AS1 in Beas-2B-NNK cells reduced cell proliferation and migration and produced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase along with a decrease in CDK1 expression. Conclusively, our results demonstrate that lncRNA PSMB8-AS1 could promote the malignant characteristics of Beas-2B-NNK cells by regulating CDK1 and affecting the cell cycle, suggesting that it may supply a new prospective epigenetic mechanism for lung cancer.

Investigation of the Stability Mechanism of Stimulus-Responsive Wormlike Micelle-CO2 Foams in the Oil Phase.

Foam flooding is an important tool for reservoir development. This study aims to further investigate the interaction between stimulus-responsive wormlike micelle (WLM)-CO2 foams and crude oil. We performed micromorphology experiments as our major studies and used molecular dynamics simulations as an auxiliary tool for interfacial analysis. We utilized foam generation, liquid separation, and defoaming as the entry points of experimental research and energy as the quantitative assessment index to investigate the dynamic process of the action of different oil contents and oil phase types in a DOAPA@NaSal-H+ foam system. We also examined the role of NaSal in the generation and development of the foam system. Results indicated that the law of crude oil's effect on foam could be summarized as "low contents are beneficial and high contents are harmful." In addition, although the DOAPA@NaSal-H+ foam system has high compatibility for saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons, it is highly suitable for application in reservoir environments with relatively high asphaltene and resin contents. Through combined experimental and simulation approaches, we clarified the law governing the stability of the DOAPA@NaSal-H+ foam system in different oil-containing environments, identified the key role of NaSal, and provided a reference for the targeted application of the DOAPA@NaSal-H+ foam system in different oil reservoirs.

Newly graphene/polypyrrole (rGO/PPy) modified carbon felt as bio-cathode in bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) achieving complete denitrification.

Nitrate reduction in bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) has attracted wide attention due to its low sludge yields and cost-efficiency advantages. However, the high resistance of traditional electrodes is considered to limit the denitrification performance of BESs. Herein, a new graphene/polypyrrole (rGO/PPy) modified electrode is fabricated via one-step electrodeposition and used as cathode in BES for improving nitrate removal from wastewater. The formation and morphological results support the successful formation of rGO/PPy nanohybrids and confirm the part covalent bonding of Py into GO honeycomb lattices to form a three-dimensional cross-linked spatial structure. The electrochemical tests indicate that the rGO/PPy electrode outperforms the unmodified electrode due to the 3.9-fold increase in electrochemical active surface area and 6.9-fold decrease in the charge transfer resistance (Rct). Batch denitrification activity tests demonstrate that the BES equipped with modified rGO/PPy biocathode could not only achieve the full denitrification efficiency of 100% with energy recovery (15.9 × 10-2 ± 0.14 A/m2), but also favor microbial attach and growth with improved biocompatible surface. This work provides a feasible electrochemical route to fabricate and design a high-performance bioelectrode to enhance denitrification in BESs.

Heterogeneous hydrochlorination of lipids mediated by fatty acids in an indoor environment.

Fatty acids from cooking fumes and hypochlorous acid (HOCl) released from indoor cleaning adversely affect respiratory health, but the molecular-level mechanism remains unclear. Here, the effect of cooking oil fumes [palmitic acid (PA), oleic acid (OA), and linoleic acid (LA)] on lung model phospholipid (POPG) hydrochlorination mediated by HOCl at the air-water interface of the hanged droplets was investigated. Interfacial hydrochlorination of POPG was impeded by OA and LA, while that of POPG was facilitated by PA. The effect on POPG hydrochlorination increased with the decrease in oil fume concentration. A potential mechanism with respect to the chain length of these oil fumes, regardless of their saturation, was proposed. PA with a short carbon chain looses the POPG packing and leads to the exposure of the C=C double bonds of POPG, whereas OA and LA with a long carbon chain hinder HOCl from reaching the C=C bonds of POPG. These results for short chain and low concentration dependence suggest that the decay of oil fumes or the conversion of short-chain species by indoor interfacial chemistry might be adverse to lung health. These results provide insights into the relationship between indoor multicomponent pollutants and the respiratory system.

Preparative separation of the constituents from Ginkgo biloba L. leaves by a combination of multi-stage solvent extraction and countercurrent chromatography.

In this study, we employed a combination approach for the preparative separation of constituents from Ginkgo biloba L. leaves. It involved multi-stage solvent extractions utilizing two-phase multi-solvent systems and countercurrent chromatography (CCC) separations using three different solvent systems. The n-heptane/ethyl acetate/water (1:1:2, v/v) and n-heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (HepEMWat, 7:3:7:3, v/v) solvent systems were screened out as extraction systems. The polarities of the upper and lower phases in the multi-solvent systems were adjustable, enabling the effectively segmented separation of complex constituents in G. biloba L. The segmented products were subsequently directly utilized as samples and separated using CCC with the solvent systems acetate/n-butanol/water (4:1:5, v/v), HepEMWat (5:5:5:5, v/v), and HepEMWat (9:1:9:1, v/v), respectively. As a result, a total of 11 compounds were successfully isolated and identified from a 2 g methanol extract of G. biloba L through two-stage extraction and three CCC separation processes; among them, nine compounds exhibited high-performance liquid chromatography purity exceeding 85%.

Neoadjuvant stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy combined with surgical treatment for renal cell carcinoma and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus: a prospective pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombus (TT) is difficult, and the postoperative complication rate is high. This study aimed to explore the safety and oncologic outcomes of neoadjuvant stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) combined with surgical treatment for RCC and IVC-TT. METHODS: Patients with RCC and IVC-TTs were enrolled in this study. All patients received neoadjuvant SABR focused on the IVC at a dose of 30 Gy in 5 fractions, followed by 2 ~ 4 weeks of rest. Then, radical nephrectomy and IVC tumor thrombectomy were performed for each patient. Adverse effects, perioperative outcomes, and long-term prognoses were recorded. RESULTS: From June 2018 to January 2019, 8 patients were enrolled-4 with Mayo grade II TT and 4 with Mayo grade III TT. Four (50%) patients had complicated IVC wall invasion according to CT/MRI. All patients received neoadjuvant SABR as planned. Short-term local control was observed in all 8 patients. Only Grade 1-2 adverse events were reported. In total, 3 (37.5%) laparoscopic surgeries and 5 (62.5%) open surgeries were performed. The median operation time was 359 (IQR: 279-446) min, with a median intraoperative bleeding volume of 750 (IQR: 275-2175) ml. The median postoperative hospital stay was 7 (5-10) days. With a 26-month (range: 5-41) follow-up period, the estimated mean overall survival was 30.67 ± 5.38 months. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first preoperative radiotherapy study in Asia that focused on patients with TT. This study revealed the considerable safety of neoadjuvant SABR for RCC with IVC-TT. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry on 2018-03-08 (ChiCTR1800015118). For more information, please see the direct link ( https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=25747 ).

MPLC-based low-modal-crosstalk nine-mode-group demultiplexer for DSP-free IM/DD MDM transmission over MMF.

Weakly coupled mode-division multiplexing (MDM) transmission over legacy laid multimode fiber (MMF) has great economic efficiency and can enormously enhance the capacity of short-reach optical interconnections. In order to be compatible with cost-efficient intensity-modulation/direct-detection (IM/DD) transceivers, weakly coupled mode-group demultiplexers that can simultaneously receive each mode group of MMFs are highly desired. In this paper, we propose a scalable low-modal-crosstalk mode-group demultiplexer over MMF based on multiplane light conversion (MPLC). Multiple input Hermite-Gaussian (HG) modes of MMF are first converted to bridging modes that are composed of H G 00 modes distributed as a right-angle triangle in Cartesian coordinates, and then each H G 00 mode belonging to a degenerate mode group is mapped to different overlapped H G n0 modes with vertical orientation for simultaneous detection. With the help of bridging modes, the MPLC-based mode-group demultiplexer can efficiently demultiplex all mode groups in standard MMFs with less than 20 phase masks. A nine-mode-group demultiplexer is further designed for demonstration, and simulation results show that the MPLC-based demultiplexer achieves low modal crosstalk of lower than -22.3d B at 1550 nm and lower than -17.9d B over the C-band for all the nine mode groups with only 16 phase masks.

Loosely-packed dynamical structures with partially-melted surface being the key for thermophilic argonaute proteins achieving high DNA-cleavage activity.

Prokaryotic Argonaute proteins (pAgos) widely participate in hosts to defend against the invasion of nucleic acids. Compared with the CRISPR-Cas system, which requires a specific motif on the target and can only use RNA as guide, pAgos exhibit precise endonuclease activity on any arbitrary target sequence and can use both RNA and DNA as guide, thus rendering great potential for genome editing applications. Hitherto, most in-depth studies on the structure-function relationship of pAgos were conducted on thermophilic ones, functioning at ∼60 to 100°C, whose structures were, however, determined experimentally at much lower temperatures (20-33°C). It remains unclear whether these low-temperature structures can represent the true conformations of the thermophilic pAgos under their physiological conditions. The present work studied three pAgos, PfAgo, TtAgo and CbAgo, whose physiological temperatures differ significantly (95, 75 and 37°C). By conducting thorough experimental and simulation studies, we found that thermophilic pAgos (PfAgo and TtAgo) adopt a loosely-packed structure with a partially-melted surface at the physiological temperatures, largely different from the compact crystalline structures determined at moderate temperatures. In contrast, the mesophilic pAgo (CbAgo) assumes a compact crystalline structure at its optimal function temperature. Such a partially-disrupted structure endows thermophilic pAgos with great flexibility both globally and locally at the catalytic sites, which is crucial for them to achieve high DNA-cleavage activity. To further prove this, we incubated thermophilic pAgos with urea to purposely disrupt their structures, and the resulting cleavage activity was significantly enhanced below the physiological temperature, even at human body temperature. Further testing of many thermophilic Agos present in various thermophilic prokaryotes demonstrated that their structures are generally disrupted under physiological conditions. Therefore, our findings suggest that the highly dynamical structure with a partially-melted surface, distinct from the low-temperature crystalline structure, could be a general strategy assumed by thermophilic pAgos to achieve the high DNA-cleavage activity.

Both arthroscopic one-step Broström-Gould and Lasso-loop stitch techniques achieved favourable clinical outcomes for chronic lateral ankle instability.

PURPOSE: Both the arthroscopic Broström-Gould and Lasso-loop stitch techniques are commonly used to treat chronic lateral ankle instability (CLAI). The purpose of this study is to introduce an arthroscopic one-step outside-in Broström-Gould (AOBG) technique and compare the mid-term outcomes of the AOBG technique and Lasso-loop stitch technique. METHODS: All CLAI patients who underwent arthroscopic lateral ankle stabilization surgery in our department from 2018 to 2019 were retrospectively enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups according to the surgical methods employed: the AOBG technique (Group A) and the Lasso-loop technique (Group B). The visual analogue scale pain score, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle hindfoot score, Tegner activity score and Karlsson-Peterson score were evaluated preoperatively and during the follow-up from June to December 2022. The surgical duration, return to sports, sprain recurrence and surgical complications were also recorded and compared. RESULTS: A total of 74 patients (Group A, n = 42; Group B, n = 32) were included in this study with a mean follow-up of 39 months. No statistically significant differences were observed in demographic parameters or follow-up time between the two groups. Postoperative clinical scores indicated a significant improvement (all with p < 0.001) with no significant difference between the two groups (not significant [n.s.]). There was no significant difference in the surgical duration (46.1 vs. 49.7 min, n.s.), return to sports (92.9% vs. 93.8%, n.s.), or sprain recurrence (4.8% vs. 6.3%, n.s.). Only two cases in Group A reported knot irritation (4.8% vs. 0, n.s.), and one case in Group A experienced local skin numbness (0 vs. 3.1%, n.s.), with no significant difference. CONCLUSION: Both the AOBG and Lasso-loop stitch techniques yielded comparable favourable mid-term outcomes and return to sports with a low rate of surgical complications. Both procedures could be feasible strategies for CLAI patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

Quantitative Analysis of Occipital Artery Bypass Donor Vessels by Ultrasonography and DSA.

BACKGROUND: Occipital artery (OA) acts as a vital donor vessel in intra-cranialand extra-cranial bypass. Ultrasonography and digital subtracted angiography (DSA) are becoming increasingly important in the assessment of vascular morphology and hemodynamically; however, quantitative analysis of occipital artery bypass donor vessels by Ultrasonography and DSA are seldom discussed. METHODS: A retrospective study involving 62 cases accepted occipital artery bypass to treat posterior circulation aneurysms or artery occlusion/stenosis. The characteristics of OA are collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Occipital artery bypasses were performed to treat posterior circulation aneurysms in 34 patients and to treat posterior circulation artery occlusion or stenosis in 28 patients. Compared with the ultrasonography group, the DSA group had a greater diameter of OA, and Bland Altman analysis indicated that the discrepancy between the 2 groups was about 0.555 mm. Ultrasonography showed the characteristics of OA: the mean Peak Systolic Velocity (PSV) was 42.98 cm/s, the mean End Diastolic Velocity (EDV) was 8.811 cm/s, and the mean Resistance Index (RI) was 1.46. There were no statistical differences in the diameter of OA, PSV, EDV, and RI between the male group and female group, the elderly group and younger adult group or the left occipital artery group and right occipital artery group. However, compared with patients with posterior circulation aneurysms, patients with artery occlusion or stenosis were older and had higher PSV, RI, and greater diameter in occipital arteries. The mean diameter of occipital arteries was increased in the first postoperative years but reduced in 3 patients during 1 year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Both ultrasonography and DSA were effective assessment methods of occipital artery bypasses, and the DSA group had a greater diameter of OA. Age, gender, and left or right sides had little effect on the diameter of OA, PSV, EDV, and RI. Posterior circulation occlusion or stenosis had higher PSV, RI, and greater diameter of the occipital artery when compared with posterior circulation aneurysms. Occipital artery bypasses could increase the diameter of OA in most cases.

A Semantic Segmentation Method Based on AS-Unet++ for Power Remote Sensing of Images.

In order to achieve the automatic planning of power transmission lines, a key step is to precisely recognize the feature information of remote sensing images. Considering that the feature information has different depths and the feature distribution is not uniform, a semantic segmentation method based on a new AS-Unet++ is proposed in this paper. First, the atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ASPP) and the squeeze-and-excitation (SE) module are added to traditional Unet, such that the sensing field can be expanded and the important features can be enhanced, which is called AS-Unet. Second, an AS-Unet++ structure is built by using different layers of AS-Unet, such that the feature extraction parts of each layer of AS-Unet are stacked together. Compared with Unet, the proposed AS-Unet++ automatically learns features at different depths and determines a depth with optimal performance. Once the optimal number of network layers is determined, the excess layers can be pruned, which will greatly reduce the number of trained parameters. The experimental results show that the overall recognition accuracy of AS-Unet++ is significantly improved compared to Unet.

MFGAN: Multimodal Fusion for Industrial Anomaly Detection Using Attention-Based Autoencoder and Generative Adversarial Network.

Anomaly detection plays a critical role in ensuring safe, smooth, and efficient operation of machinery and equipment in industrial environments. With the wide deployment of multimodal sensors and the rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT), the data generated in modern industrial production has become increasingly diverse and complex. However, traditional methods for anomaly detection based on a single data source cannot fully utilize multimodal data to capture anomalies in industrial systems. To address this challenge, we propose a new model for anomaly detection in industrial environments using multimodal temporal data. This model integrates an attention-based autoencoder (AAE) and a generative adversarial network (GAN) to capture and fuse rich information from different data sources. Specifically, the AAE captures time-series dependencies and relevant features in each modality, and the GAN introduces adversarial regularization to enhance the model's ability to reconstruct normal time-series data. We conduct extensive experiments on real industrial data containing both measurements from a distributed control system (DCS) and acoustic signals, and the results demonstrate the performance superiority of the proposed model over the state-of-the-art TimesNet for anomaly detection, with an improvement of 5.6% in F1 score.

Crosstalk between bone and brain in Alzheimer's disease: Mechanisms, applications, and perspectives.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that involves multiple systems in the body. Numerous recent studies have revealed bidirectional crosstalk between the brain and bone, but the interaction between bone and brain in AD remains unclear. In this review, we summarize human studies of the association between bone and brain and provide an overview of their interactions and the underlying mechanisms in AD. We review the effects of AD on bone from the aspects of AD pathogenic proteins, AD risk genes, neurohormones, neuropeptides, neurotransmitters, brain-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), and the autonomic nervous system. Correspondingly, we elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the involvement of bone in the pathogenesis of AD, including bone-derived hormones, bone marrow-derived cells, bone-derived EVs, and inflammation. On the basis of the crosstalk between bone and the brain, we propose potential strategies for the management of AD with the hope of offering novel perspectives on its prevention and treatment. HIGHLIGHTS: The pathogenesis of AD, along with its consequent changes in the brain, may involve disturbing bone homeostasis. Degenerative bone disorders may influence the progression of AD through a series of pathophysiological mechanisms. Therefore, relevant bone intervention strategies may be beneficial for the comprehensive management of AD.

Enhanced Sampling Molecular Dynamics Simulations Reveal Transport Mechanism of Glycoconjugate Drugs through GLUT1.

Glucose transporters GLUT1 belong to the major facilitator superfamily and are essential to human glucose uptake. The overexpression of GLUT1 in tumor cells designates it as a pivotal target for glycoconjugate anticancer drugs. However, the interaction mechanism of glycoconjugate drugs with GLUT1 remains largely unknown. Here, we employed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, coupled to steered and umbrella sampling techniques, to examine the thermodynamics governing the transport of glucose and two glycoconjugate drugs (i.e., 6-D-glucose-conjugated methane sulfonate and 6-D-glucose chlorambucil) by GLUT1. We characterized the specific interactions between GLUT1 and substrates at different transport stages, including substrate recognition, transport, and releasing, and identified the key residues involved in these procedures. Importantly, our results described, for the first time, the free energy profiles of GLUT1-transporting glycoconjugate drugs, and demonstrated that H160 and W388 served as important gates to regulate their transport via GLUT1. These findings provide novel atomic-scale insights for understanding the transport mechanism of GLUT1, facilitating the discovery and rational design of GLUT1-targeted anticancer drugs.

Physical conditioning methods for sludge deep dewatering: A critical review.

Sludge is an inevitable waste product of sewage treatment with a high water content and large volume, it poses a significant threat of secondary pollution to both water and the atmosphere without proper disposal. In this regard, dewatering has emerged as an attractive method in sludge treatment, as it can reduce the sludge volume, enhance its transportability and calorific value, and even decrease the production of landfill leachate. In recent years, physical conditioning methods including non-chemical conditioners or energy input alone, have been extensively researched for their potential to enhance sludge dewatering efficiency, such as thermal treatment, freeze-thaw, microwave, ultrasonic, skeleton builders addition, and electro-dewatering, as well as combined methods. The main objective of this paper is to comprehensively evaluate the dewatering capacity of various physical conditioning methods, and identify key factors affecting sludge dewatering efficiency. In addition, future research anticipated directions and outlooks are proposed. This work is expected to provide valuable insights for developing efficient, eco-friendly, and low-energy consumption techniques for deep sludge dewatering.