Programmable Dynamic Information Storage Composite Film with Highly Sensitive Thermochromism and Gradually Adjustable Fluorescence.

The development of an integrated material system capable of effectively organizing and combining multisource information, such as dynamic pigmentary, structural, and fluorescent colors, is significant and challenging. Achieving such programmable dynamic information storage can considerably enhance the diversity and security of information deliveries. Here, a polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal system with highly temperature-sensitive structural color and light-sensitive pigmentary and fluorescence colors is presented. The prepared cholesteric liquid crystals (clcs) can reversibly change their structural color from red to blue within variational 3 °C near room temperature, and exhibit a gradually adjustable fluorescence which can transform from blue to pink and finally to bright red. All this dynamic information is programmable and tailored, hundreds of thousands of (>540 000) pattern combinations can easily be achieved by optical writing with a "bagua" pattern photomask. Therefore, if the corresponding code combinations to the pattern are assigned particular meanings, encrypted transmission of information with very high security can be achieved by utilizing applicable information encoding tables and decryption rules.

Hsa_circ_0014784-induced YAP1 promoted the progression of pancreatic cancer by sponging miR-214-3p.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal tumors globally. Former investigations discovered that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play an important role in PC development. circRNAs belong to a new class of endogenous noncoding RNAs, which have been found to mediate the progression of diverse types of tumors. Nevertheless, the roles of circRNAs and the underlying regulatory mechanisms in PC remain unknown. METHODS: In this study, our team employed next-generation sequencing (NGS) to examine the abnormal circRNA expression in PC tissues. The circRNA expression in PC cell lines and tissues was detected. Then, regulatory mechanism and targets were examined with bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporting analysis, Transwell migration, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine, and CCK-8 analysis. An in vivo experiment was employed to elucidate hsa_circ_0014784 roles in PC tumor growth and metastasis. RESULTS: The results showcased abnormal circRNA expression in PC tissues. Our lab also found that hsa_circ_0014784 expression incremented in PC tissues and cell lines, implying that hsa_circ_0014784 functioned in PC progression. hsa_circ_0014784 downregulation inhibited PC proliferation and invasion in vivo and in vitro. The bioinformatics and luciferase report data validated that both miR-214-3p and YAP1 were hsa_circ_0014784 binding partners. The overexpression of YAP1 reversed the migration, proliferation, and epithelial - mesenchymal transition (EMT) of PC cells and the angiogenic differentiation of HUVECs after miR-214-3p overexpression. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our study found that hsa_circ_0014784 downregulation decremented invasion, proliferation, EMT, and angiogenesis of PC by regulating miR-214-3p/YAP1 signaling.

Force-Induced Synergetic Pigmentary and Structural Color Change of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer with Nanoparticle-Enhanced Mechanosensitivity.

The ability of some animals to rapidly change their colors can greatly improve their chances of escaping predators or hunting prey. A classic example is cephalopods, which can rapidly shift through a wide range of colors. This ability is based on the synergetic effect of the change of pigmentary and structural colors exhibited by their own two categories of color-changing cells: supernatant chromatophores offer various pigmentary colors and lower iridophores or leucophores reflect the different structural colors by adjusting their periodicities. Here, a mechanochromic liquid crystalline elastomer with force-induced synergetic pigmentary and structural color change, whose mechanosensitivity is enhanced by the stress-concentration induced by the doped nanoparticle, is presented. The materials have a large color-changing gamut and high mechanochromic sensitivity, which exhibit great potential in the field of mechanical detectors, sensors, and anti-counterfeiting materials.

Structure and optical properties of twist-bend nematic liquid crystals doped with chiral dopants.

Twist-bend nematic liquid crystals (N_{TB} LCs), although consisting of achiral molecules, possess a spontaneous conic helix. They have been intensively studied and utilized in many applications in recent years. Herein we add chiral molecules to N_{TB} LCs and study their effects on the structure of the conic helix. We observe that the system is in the regular chiral nematic phase at high temperature and is still in the twist-bend nematic phase at low temperature. The addition of the chiral molecules does not induce a twist of the conic helical axis. The main effect of the chiral molecules is increasing the cone angle of the conic helix. We show that the structural chirality parameters in the chiral nematic phase and the twist-bend chiral nematic phase can be calculated from the same intrinsic chirality parameter, which only depends on the molecular structure and concentrations of the chiral molecule. We also observe a pretransitional phenomenon that the helical pitch of the chiral nematic phase increases dramatically when temperature is decreased toward the chiral nematic to twist-bend nematic phase transition temperature.

Chinese herbal medicine Jia Wei Jing Xie Yin (JWJXY) ameliorates psoriasis via suppressing the Th17 cell response.

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disease. At present, it is very difficult to treat; however, clinical trials have shown that the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment of psoriasis has certain advantages. The Chinese herbal medicine Jia Wei Jing Xie Yin (JWJXY) has its origins in Jing Xie Yin, a medicine created by the TCM doctor Wu Jun. Previous studies have shown that JWJXY has good clinical efficacy for patients with blood-heat type psoriasis, but its mechanism is unknown. Methods: This paper aimed to further study the therapeutic effect and mechanism of JWJXY on an imiquimod (IMQ)-induced, psoriasis-like mouse model (0.4 mL, i.g., 6 days). The histopathological skin changes were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, the infiltration of cluster of differentiation 11B (CD11b) and cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) cells was observed by immunohistochemistry, lymphocyte subsets were detected by flow cytometry, T helper (Th)17 cell expression was perceived by flow cytometry, and Th17 cell-related gene expression was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results: JWJXY significantly reduced the skin thickness of the IMQ-induced model mouse. Compared with that in the vehicle group, the skin tissue of the mice in the JWJXY group showed significantly reduced infiltration of CD11b+ and CD4+ T cells. Flow cytometry results showed that JWJXY decreased the proportion of B220 and Th17 cells in the spleen tissue of the mice. There was no significant effect on the proportion of Th1 or regulatory T cells (Treg) cells. Compared with that in the vehicle group, the skin tissue of the mice in the JWJXY group showed significantly decreased expression of interleukin-17A (IL-17A), IL-17F, retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt), IL-1ß, interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) messenger RNA (mRNA). Conclusions: The study confirmed the therapeutic effect of JWJXY on psoriasis. Its mechanism of action might be to inhibit the Th17 cell response but not the Th1 and Treg response.

Ningmitai capsule promotes calculi expulsion after RIRS for 10-20-mm upper urinary stones: a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the use of Ningmitai capsule as an adjunctive stone expulsion therapy after RIRS. All patients were diagnosed with upper urinary tract calculi measuring 10-20 mm. The patients who successfully underwent RIRS were randomly assigned to the NMT capsule group (Ningmitai capsule, 1.52 g, three times daily) or the control group for 4 weeks based on the random number table method. The primary endpoints were the stone expulsion rate (SER) and stone-free rate (SFR). The average stone expulsion time (SET), average stone-free time (SFT) and complications were recorded. Between July 2, 2019, and December 17, 2020, 220 participants successfully underwent RIRS across 6 centers; 123 of them were randomized according to the exclusion criteria, and 102 (83%) were included in the primary analysis. The SERs on the 3rd, 7th, 14th and 28th days were significantly increased in the NMT capsule group compared with the control group (78.95% vs. 31.11%, 92.98% vs. 55.56%, 94.74% vs. 64.44%, 100% vs. 82.22%, respectively, p < 0.05). The SFRs on the 3rd and 7th days were not different (p > 0.05), while those on the 14th and 28th days were higher in the NMT capsule group (63.16% vs. 24.44% and 92.98% vs. 68.89%, p < 0.05). The average SET and average SFT of the NMT capsule group were remarkably shorter than those of the control group (p < 0.001). During the follow-up period, there were no significant differences in urine RBC counts between the two groups (p > 0.05). The urine WBC counts of the NMT capsule group were significantly lower than those of the control group on the 14th day (p = 0.011), but there was no difference on the 3rd, 7th or 28th day (p > 0.05). The analgesic aggregate of the NMT capsule group was also much lower (p = 0.037). There were no significant differences in adverse events (p > 0.05), and they improved significantly without sequelae. This study indicated that NMT capsules can significantly promote stone clearance and are more effective and safer for upper urinary calculi after RIRS.Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registration No. ChiCTR1900024151.Date of registration June 28, 2019.

Programmable Chromism and Photoluminescence of Spiropyran-Based Liquid Crystalline Polymer with Tunable Glass Transition Temperature.

Spiropyran-based materials (SPBMs) can give responses to the stimulations induced by the light, heat, force, or pH, which have been used as triggers for many smart materials. Here, a cross-linkable SPBM containing mesogenic-units is synthesized, which is pale-colored, non-photoluminescent and non-mesogenic at a spiro form, but dark-colored, photoluminescent, and mesogenic at a merocyanine form. Moreover, the dynamic interconversion behavior of the form in the different chemical environments are distinct. Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) containing the SPBMs cross-linked via visible light, own a photoswitchable glass transition temperature (Tg ) and retain the switchable property; however, the SPBMs cross-linked via UV light will be locked at the MC state, because the molecular movement was frozen at the room temperature lower than the given Tg of the LCP. Thus, programmable chromism and photoluminescence based on the tunable Tg can be endowed to the functional materials prepared from the SPBMs.

Ultrastable liquid crystalline blue phase from molecular synergistic self-assembly.

Fabricating functional materials via molecular self-assembly is a promising approach, and precisely controlling the molecular building blocks of nanostructures in the self-assembly process is an essential and challenging task. Blue phase liquid crystals are fascinating self-assembled three-dimensional nanomaterials because of their potential information displays and tuneable photonic applications. However, one of the main obstacles to their applications is their narrow temperature range of a few degrees centigrade, although many prior studies have broadened it to tens via molecular design. In this work, a series of tailored uniaxial rodlike mesogens disfavouring the formation of blue phases are introduced into a blue phase system comprising biaxial dimeric mesogens, a blue phase is observed continuously over a temperature range of 280 °C, and the range remains over 132.0 °C after excluding the frozen glassy state. The findings show that the molecular synergistic self-assembly behavior of biaxial and uniaxial mesogens may play a crucial role in achieving the ultrastable three-dimensional nanostructure of blue phases.

LncRNA LEF1-AS1 promotes metastasis of prostatic carcinoma via the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important functional regulators of many biological processes of cancers. However, the mechanisms by which lncRNAs modulate androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) development remain largely unknown. METHODS: Next-generation sequencing technology and RT-qPCR were used to assess LEF1-AS1 expression level in AIPC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. Functional in vitro experiments, including colony formation, EDU and transwell assays were performed to assess the role of LEF1-AS1 in AIPC. Xenograft assays were conducted to assess the effect of LEF1-AS1 on cell proliferation in vivo. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays were performed to elucidate the regulatory network of LEF1-AS1. RESULTS: The next-generation sequencing results showed that LEF1-AS1 is significantly overexpressed in AIPC. Furthermore, our RT-qPCR assay data showed that LEF1-AS1 is overexpressed in AIPC tissues. Functional experiments showed that LEF1-AS1 promotes the proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenic ability of AIPC cells in vitro and tumour growth in vivo by recruiting the transcription factor C-myb to the promoter of FZD2, inducing its transcription. Furthermore, LEF1-AS1 was shown to function as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) that sponges miR-328 to activate CD44. CONCLUSION: In summary, the results of our present study revealed that LEF1-AS1 acts as a tumour promoter in the progression of AIPC. Furthermore, the results revealed that LEF1-AS1 functions as a ceRNA and regulates Wnt/ß-catenin pathway activity via FZD2 and CD44. Our results provide new insights into the mechanism that links the function of LEF1-AS1 with AIPC and suggests that LEF1-AS1 may serve as a novel potential target for the improvement of AIPC therapy.

Long non­coding RNA PLK1S1 was associated with renal cell carcinoma progression by interacting with microRNA­653 and altering C­X­C chemokine receptor 5 expression.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of renal cancer. Long non­coding RNA (lncRNA) has been reported to play a vital role in the development and progression of various types of cancer type. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of PLK1S1 in regulating RCC progression remain unclear. In the present study, PLK1S1 was upregulated in RCC tissues and cells, and PLK1S1 expression was also significantly elevated in stage IV RCC tissues. Kaplan­Meier analysis showed that patients with high PLK1S1 expression had a shorter overall survival time compared with those with low PLK1S1 expression. Moreover, bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that PLK1S1 inhibited microRNA (miR)­653 expression by direct interaction. Functional analyses demonstrated that a miR­653 inhibitor promoted short hairpin PLK1S1­attenuated cell proliferation, invasion and sorafenib resistance of RCC cells. In addition, C­X­C motif chemokine receptors 5 (CXCR5) was identified as an effector of PLK1S1/miR­653­mediated tumorigenesis and drug resistance in RCC cells. Lastly, xenograft experiments demonstrated that PLK1S1 knockdown inhibited tumor growth in vivo. Reverse transcription­quantitative PCR and western blot analysis revealed that PLK1S1 knockdown upregulated the expression level of miR­653, whilst downregulating the expression level of CXCR5. In conclusion, the present study revealed that PLK1S1 promoted tumor progression and sorafenib resistance in RCC through regulation of the miR­653/CXCR5 axis, which may offer a novel treatment strategy for patients with RCC.

Chiral differentiation of limonene in chiral nematic liquid crystals.

Chirality is of great importance in physical and biological systems. It helps differentiate chemical reactions and physical processes. It was reported that the diffusion of mesogenic chiral guests in chiral nematic liquid crystal hosts profoundly depends on the chirality of the guest and host molecules. When the guest and host molecules have the same handedness, the diffusion is much faster than that when the guest and host molecules have the opposite handedness. In this paper, we report the discovery that chiral differentiation also exists in the diffusion of limonene, which is non-mesogenic in chiral nematic liquid crystals. The diffusion of l-limonene (right-handed) in chiral nematic liquid crystals with a right handed helical structure is faster than that of d-limonene (left-handed). This result might be important in understanding the effects of chirality on physical processes that take place in biological systems. In addition, this effect could be utilized for enantiomer separation in the pharmaceutical industry.

Patterned waveguide liquid crystal displays.

We report a novel polymer stabilized liquid crystal based light waveguide display whose performance is significantly improved by using patterned photo-polymerization or an electrode. The waveguide display is edge-lit and operates on the light scattering of the polymer stabilized liquid crystal. When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal is uniformly aligned and is transparent. The incident light is waveguided through the display by total internal reflection and no light comes out of the viewing side of the display. When a voltage is applied, the liquid crystal is switched to a micron-sized poly-domain structure and becomes scattering. The incident light is scattered out of the viewing side of the display. We demonstrated that by using patterned photo-polymerization or an ITO electrode, the scattering efficiency of the liquid crystal in the voltage-on state is significantly enhanced. We have achieved high brightness, low driving voltage, sub-millisecond switching time and high contrast ratio. This new display is suitable for transparent and augmented display applications.

Silencing circular RNA VANGL1 inhibits progression of bladder cancer by regulating miR-1184/IGFBP2 axis.

Circular RNA VANGL1 (circVANGL1) is generated from two exons of the Van Gogh-like 1 (VANGL1) gene and serves as a tumor promoter by sponging certain microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the role of circVANGL1 in bladder cancer (BC) is still unclear. So, in order to investigate the role of circVANGL1 in BC, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was employed to evaluate the circVANGL1 expression in tumor tissues from BC patients and in BC cell lines. Small interfering RNA against circVANGL1 was constructed and stably transfected into human bladder epithelium immortalized cells (SV-HUC). Cell invasion and migration were detected in Transwell chambers, cell proliferation was determined by CCK8 assays, and tumorigenesis in nude mice was examined to assess the effect of circVANGL1 in BC. Subcellular localization of circVANGL1 was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The interactive relationships among circVANGL1, miRNA, and relative proteins were confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. The results showed that circVANGL1 was upregulated in both BC tissues and cell lines. Silencing the expression of circVANGL1 suppressed cell invasion, migration, and proliferation during in vitro experiments. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that circVANGL1 upregulated the expression of miR-1184 target gene insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) by sponging miR-1184, which promoted the aggressive biological behaviors of BC. Taken together, our results indicate that circVANGL1 acts as a tumor promoter through the novel circVANGL1/miR-1184/IGFBP2 axis. Hopefully, our study will provide new ideas for the clinical treatment of BC.

Relationship Between SLC22A1 and SLC22A4 Gene Polymorphisms and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Chinese Han Population.

BACKGROUND: This study was to investigate the relationship between SLC22A1 and SLC22A4 gene polymorphisms and genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in Chinese Han population. METHODS: The research group comprised 110 Chinese Han patients with type 2 diabetes, and the control group included 110 healthy volunteers. The polymorphisms of SLC22A1 gene rs628031 and rs2282143 loci and SLC22A4 gene rs2073838 and rs272893 loci were detected in the two groups. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were identified in the genotype distributions of SLC22A1 gene rs628031 and rs2282143 loci between the two groups (p < 0.05). The A allele frequency of SLC22A1 gene rs628031 locus and the T allele frequency of rs2282143 locus were higher in the research group than in the control group (p < 0.05). The genotype distributions of rs272893 locus showed a significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.05), but not SLC22A4 gene rs2073838 locus (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The polymorphisms of SLC22A1 gene rs628031 and rs2282143 loci and SLC22A4 gene rs272893 locus of patients with type 2 diabetes indicated a significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that these genetic locus mutations increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in Chinese Han patients.

Effect of biaxiality on chirality in chiral nematic liquid crystals.

Biaxiality and chirality are two of the most interesting topics in materials and biological science, particularly in liquid crystals. What is even more interesting is that these two properties are related. It was theoretically predicted that morphological chirality is impossible without morphological biaxiality in chiral nematic liquid crystals. We experimentally study the effect of biaxiality on chirality. We show that when achiral liquid crystal dimers with large molecular biaxiality are doped into chiral nematic liquid crystals, their helical pitch is significantly decreased. We have also observed an abnormal fingerprint texture of the chiral nematic liquid crystal doped dimers, which suggests morphological biaxiality. Our experimental results support the biaxial theory of chiral nematic liquid crystals.

Image flickering-free polymer stabilized fringe field switching liquid crystal display.

Liquid crystal displays are the leading technology for flat panel displays. Their energy efficiency is low, however, due to the light absorption caused by polarizers and color filters and power consumption by driving circuitries. In displaying static images, their energy efficiency can be improved if a low driving frequency is used. As the driving frequency is decreased, the transmittance of the displays may change with time, a phenomenon known as image flickering. In this research we demonstrated that polymer stabilization can significantly reduce the flickering in fringe field switching (FFS) liquid crystal display. Under the polymer stabilization, the driving voltage remains low and the response time becomes shorter. Through simulation study, we find that the polymer stabilization smooths the spatial variation of the liquid crystal orientation in the display, and thus reduce the flexoelectric effect which is responsible for image flickering. The polymer stabilization can be implemented in the current main stream manufacturing to produce displays that can show static images under low power consumption.

Expression of miR-149-3p inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer by targeting S100A4.

MicroRNAs play key roles during various crucial cell processes, such as proliferation, migration, and invasion. In addition, microRNAs have been shown to possess oncogenic and tumor suppressive functions in human cancers. Increasing evidence has clarified that miR-149-3p, a novel cancer-related microRNA, plays an important role in suppression of proliferation, migration, and invasion; however, the effect and mechanisms underlying the miR-149-3p effect in bladder cancer (BCa) remain unclear. In the current study we found that the increased expression of miR-149-3p significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion ability in BCa. The suppressive effect was related to S100A4. A further investigation showed that miR-149-3p negatively regulated S100A4, as verified by the luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, our study showed that S100A4 mediated the anti-metastatic effects of miR-149-3p on proliferation, migration, and invasion of BCa cells. Analysis of a xenograft mouse model showed that miR-149-3p expression significantly decreased tumor growth by targeting S100A4. Taken together, these data indicate that S100A4 promotes cell growth, migration, and invasion and can by reversed by miR-149-3p in BCa.

Stabilized electrically induced Helfrich deformation and enhanced color tuning in cholesteric liquid crystals.

When subjected to an AC electric field perpendicular to its layers, the cholesteric planar state may undergo a periodic layer undulation, known as the Helfrich deformation, which generates a color change of the reflected light. The Helfrich deformation of regular cholesteric liquid crystals is, however, unstable and easily taken over by the focal conic state, and thus the color tuning range is narrow. We demonstrated that the Helfrich deformation can be stabilized in a large electric field region by doping a bent dimer with an anomalously small bend elastic constant and dispersing a small amount of polymer network. By varying the dimer concentration, we were able to systematically change the bend elastic constant and thus verify the theoretical prediction of the undulation threshold electric field and periodicity. We also achieved reflectance tuning with electric field less than 2 V µm-1 and color tuning covering the entire visible light region with electric field as low as 4 V µm-1.

Full color waveguide liquid crystal display.

We developed a waveguide liquid crystal display from a liquid crystal (LC)/polymer composite. It does not need polarizers or color filters. It is illuminated by color LEDs installed on its edge. The light produced by the edge LEDs is coupled into the display and then waveguided through the display. When the LC is in the transparent state, the incident light is waveguided through and no light comes out of the viewing side of the display. When the LC is in the scattering state, the incident light is scattered and comes out of the display. It can be used either for transparent display or for direct view display. The composite has a submillisecond response time, and a field sequential scheme can be used to display full color images. Because the display does not need polarizers or color filters, its energy efficiency is much higher than current liquid crystal displays.

HOXA13 is associated with unfavorable survival and acts as a novel oncogene in prostate carcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the clinical relevance and functional role of HOXA13 in prostate cancer Methods: PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were performed to determine the expression. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression survival analyses investigated the clinical relevance. Cell viability, flow cytometry and transwell assays were used to determine the functional roles. RESULTS: HOXA13 expression is sharply increased in carcinoma tissues and is significantly associated with poor prognosis of prostate cancer patients. Interestingly, nucleus not cytoplasm HOXA13 expression is associated with unfavorable survival of the patients. Furthermore, nucleus HOXA13 expression represents an unfavorable and independent prognosis factor of histological grade 2 or Gleason grade <8 patients. Functionally, forced expression of HOXA13 obviously promotes tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion, whereas inhibits tumor cell apoptosis. CONCLUSION: HOXA13 is an unfavorable prognostic factor and a novel oncogene for prostate cancer.