d-Penicillamine@Ag/Cu Nanocluster-Based Fluorescent Nanoneuron for Logic Screening Phosphonate-Type Organophosphate Pesticides and Steganographically Encrypting Information.

Organophosphate pesticides are used in agriculture due to their high effectiveness and low persistence in eradicating insects and pests. However, conventional detection methods encounter the limitation of undesired detection specificity. Thus, screening phosphonate-type organophosphate pesticides (OOPs) from their analogues, phosphorothioate organophosphate pesticides (SOPs), remains a challenge. Here, we reported a d-penicillamine@Ag/Cu nanocluster (DPA@Ag/Cu NCs)-based fluorescence assay to screen OOPs from 21 kinds of organophosphate pesticides, which can be used for logic sensing and information encryption. Acetylthiocholine chloride was enzymatically split by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to produce thiocholine, which reduced the fluorescence of DPA@Ag/Cu NCs due to the transmission of electrons from DPA@Ag/Cu NCs donor to the thiol group acceptor. Impressively, OOPs acted as an AChE inhibitor and retained the high fluorescence of DPA@Ag/Cu NCs due to the stronger positive electricity of the phosphorus atom. Conversely, SOPs possessed weak toxicity to AChE, which led to low fluorescence intensity. By setting 21 kinds of organophosphate pesticides as the inputs and the fluorescence of the resulting products as the outputs, DPA@Ag/Cu NCs could serve as a fluorescent nanoneuron to construct Boolean logic tree and complex logic circuit for molecular computing. As a proof of concept, by converting the selective response patterns of DPA@Ag/Cu NCs into binary strings, molecular crypto-steganography for encoding, storing, and concealing information was successfully achieved. This study is expected to advance the progress and practical application of nanoclusters in the area of logic detection and information security while also enhancing the relationship between molecular sensors and the world of information.

Effects of NF-κB inhibitor on nerve injury in rats after intracerebral hemorrhage / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To investigate the regulatory effect of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibitor, pyrrolidine di-thiocarbamate (PDTC), on nerve function and neural cell apoptosis in rats after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).METH-ODS:SPF Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups with 6 rats in each group: sham group, ICH group, PDTC at low concentration (Plow) group and PDTC at high concentration (Phigh) group.Autologous blood injection was used to establish ICH model.After 2 h of surgery, the rats in Plow group and Phigh group were intraperitoneal injected with PDTC at 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively , while rats in sham group and ICH group were injected with the same volume of saline .The neurological function score was classified with modified Longa grading method .TUNEL assay was used to detected the neural cell apoptosis , and the content of malondialdehyde ( MDA) and the activity of superoxide dis-mutase (SOD) were measured.Furthermore, the protein levels of p-P65 and cleaved caspase-3 in brain tissues were deter-mined by Western blot .RESULTS: Compared with sham group , the rats in ICH group had higher neurological function score (P<0.05).After treatment with PDTC, the neurological function score was decreased (P<0.05), but no signifi-cant difference between P low group and P high group was observed .Compared with sham group , the number of apoptotic cells in ICH group was increased ( P<0.05 ) .After treatment with PDTC , the neural cell apoptosis was restrained , and the number of apoptotic cells in Phigh group was lower than that in Plow group (P<0.05).Compared with sham group, the con-tent of MDA was increased and the activity of SOD was decreased in ICH group (P<0.05).After treatment with PDTC, the content of MDA was decreased while the activity of SOD was increased , and the variation trend was more obvious in Phigh group (P<0.05).Compared with sham group, the protein levels of p-P65 and cleaved caspase-3 in ICH group were increased (P<0.05).After treatment with PDTC, the protein levels of p-P65 and cleaved caspase-3 were decreased, and those in Phigh group were lower than those in P low group.CONCLUSION: NF-κB inhibitor PDTC plays a role in the se-condary brain injury after ICH , and the protective effect increases at the higher dose .The mechanism may be related to re-ducing MDA content and increasing SOD activity , and further inhibiting neural cell apoptosis .

[Significance of carbonic anhydrase IX protein expression in molecular subtyping of breast cancers].

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of carbonic anhydrase (CA) IX and its significance in molecular subtyping of breast carcinomas. METHODL MaxVision immunohistochemical staining was used to examine the expression of ER, PR, HER2, CK5/6, EGFR, and CA IX in 117 cases of breast invasive ductal carcinomas. RESULTS: The patients' age ranged from 25 to 71 years (mean 49.6 years). All the 117 cases were subclassified into five subtypes, with 66 (56.4%) luminal A, 6(5.1%) luminal B, 10 (8.6%) HER2 positive, 20 (17.1%) basal-like, and 15 (12.8%) unclassified tumors. The expression of CA IX in luminal A and basal-like breast cancers was 13.6% (9/66) and 8/20, respectively, with a significant difference (P < 0.05). Among the luminal A cancers, the expression of CA IX in tumors > 2 cm (7/27, 25.9%) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of tumors ≤ 2 cm (2/39, 5.1%). The expression of CA IX in grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma (18/50, 36.0%) was significantly higher than that in grade 1 (2/21, 9.5%) and 2 (7/46, 15.2%) tumors (both P = 0.006). In CA IX-negative of invasive ductal carcinoma, the expression of ER and PR was 61.1% (55/90) and 55.6% (50/90), respectively; whereas in CA IX-positive cancers, the expression of ER and PR was 37.0% (10/27) and 29.6% (8/27), respectively. The expression of hormone receptors in CA IX-negative tumors was significantly higher than that in CA IX-positive tumors (for both ER and PR, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of CA IX correlates not only with molecular subtypes of breast cancer, but also with the grading, hormone receptors and diameter of mammary invasive ductal carcinoma. CA IX is a relative independent marker of poor prognosis in breast cancer.