Circular RNA circTTBK2 facilitates non-small-cell lung cancer malignancy through the miR-873-5p/TEAD1/DERL1 axis.

Aim: The underlying mechanisms by which circular RNAs (circRNAs) regulate non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression remain elusive. This study investigated the role of circRNA circTTBK2 in NSCLC tumorigenesis. Materials & methods: Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis of circTTBK2 in NSCLC tissues and cell lines was performed. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumorigenesis were confirmed in vitro and in vivo using CCK-8, EdU incorporation, Transwell assays and xenograft technique. The circTTBK2/miR-873-5p/TEAD1/DERL1 axis was verified by RNA immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays. Results: Overexpressed circTTBK2 in NSCLC tissues indicates poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. circTTBK2 harbors miR-873-5p, and miR-873-5p directly targets TEAD1. TEAD1 transcriptionally activates DERL1. Conclusion: This study revealed a novel machinery of circTTBK2/miR-873-5p/TEAD1/DERL1 for NSCLC tumorigenesis.

Direct Access to Bowl-Like Nanostructures with Block Copolymer Anisotropic Truncated Microspheres.

Bowl-like nanostructures have attracted significant scientific and technological interest due to their favorable characteristics, such as high specific surface area, interconnected porous channels, and conductivity. However, tailored synthesis of bowl-like nanostructures with well-defined and uniform morphology is still a challenge. Herein, we report a versatile microemulsion assembly approach to prepare bowl-like nanostructures of three different materials: polymer, carbon, and platinum. To this end, polystyrene-block-poly(4vinylpyridine), PS-b-P4VP, block copolymer (BCP) microparticles with truncated-sphere shape and composed of stacks of parallel lamellae were used because those anisotropic microparticles play an important role in the design of bowl-like nanostructures. To form nanolamellae-within-microparticle morphology, a designed PS-b-P4VP/chloroform/CTAB microemulsion can be facilely obtained in the aqueous medium, where the morphology can be tailored by the interplay between macro-phase separations, BCP self-assembly, and interfacial energies of three phases in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Finally, protonation or combination of cross-linking and pyrolysis of those truncated microparticles enables formation of polymer or carbon bowl-like nanostructures, respectively. Upon selective adsorption of Pt precursor salt ions with the pyridyl moieties followed by chemical reduction, subsequent calcination permits the synthesis of Pt bowl-like nanostructures. The microemulsion assembly approach opens up new ways to direct and template bowl-like nanostructures.

Ochratoxin A mimotope from second-generation peptide library and its application in immunoassay.

With the advantage of replacing mycotoxins and their conjugates, mimotopes have been applied to immunoassays, the most common of which were seleted from random phage displayed peptide libraries. However, these mimotopes were limited by the diversities of the peptide libraries. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that a variety of mimotopes can be obtained by constructing a second-generation peptide library. Using mycotoxin ochratoxin A as a model system, a dodecapeptide mimotope was isolated after panning the second-generation peptide library. The half inhibition concentration of the chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay setup with this mimotope was 0.04 ng/mL, and the linear range was 0.006-0.245 ng/mL. The mimotope was also used to develop a qualitative dipstick assay with a cutoff level of 1 ng/mL. The method not only presents a high sensitivity but also contributes to the development of mimotope-based assays for mycotoxins avoiding the need of synthesizing toxic mycotoxin conjugates.