O-Trifluoromethylation of Carboxylic Acids via the Formation and Activation of Acyloxy(phenyl)trifluoromethyl-λ3-Iodanes.

Here we report the challenging O-trifluoromethylation of carboxylic acids via the formation and activation of acyloxy(phenyl)trifluoromethyl-λ3-iodanes. The method provides an easy access to various potentially valuable and hitherto elusive trifluoromethyl carboxylic esters. A remarkably wide range of substrates with commonly encountered functional groups are compatible with this reaction, including aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids, as well as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs and pharmaceutically relevant molecules. The reaction mechanism and the origins of the enhanced reactivity by zinc chloride (ZnCl2) were discussed from experimental evidence and density functional theory (DFT) calculation.

Contribution of Testing Strategies and Contact Tracing towards COVID-19 Outbreaks Control: A Mathematical Modeling Study.

This modeling study considers different screening strategies, contact tracing, and the severity of novel epidemic outbreaks for various population sizes, providing insight into multinational containment effectiveness of emerging infectious diseases, prior to vaccines development. During the period of the ancestral SARS-Cov-2 virus, contact tracing alone is insufficient to achieve outbreak control. Although universal testing is proposed in multiple nations, its effectiveness accompanied by other measures is rarely examined. Our research investigates the necessity of universal testing when contact tracing and symptomatic screening measures are implemented. We used a stochastic transmission model to simulate COVID-19 transmission, evaluating containment strategies via contact tracing, one-time high risk symptomatic testing, and universal testing. Despite universal testing having the potential to identify subclinical cases, which is crucial for non-pharmaceutical interventions, our model suggests that universal testing only reduces the total number of cases by 0.0009% for countries with low COVID-19 prevalence and 0.025% for countries with high COVID-19 prevalence when rigorous contact tracing and symptomatic screening are also implemented. These findings highlight the effectiveness of testing strategies and contact tracing in reducing COVID-19 cases by identifying subclinical cases.

Downregulation of MiR-1297 predicts poor prognosis and enhances gastric cancer cell growth by targeting CREB1.

Dysregulation of mircoRNAs (miRs) that act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes is participated in tumorigenesis and progression. The aim of the study is to investigate the role and mechanism of miR-1297 in gastric cancer (GC). Here, we demonstrated that miR-1297 expression was significantly lower in GC tissue samples compared to adjacent normal tissue samples in 62 cases GC patients. Lower miR-1297 expression positively associated with larger tumor size, lymph node metastasis, advanced TNM stage and poor survival time of patients. Upregulation of miR-1297 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and cell colony forming abilities in vitro. However, downregulation of miR-1297 can cause the reverse biological function changes. In vivo, miR-1297 overexpression suppressed tumor growth. Luciferase reporter assay showed that CREB1 was a direct target of miR-1297 in GC. MiR-1297 inhibited the expression of CREB1 by targeting the 3'UTR of CREB1. Additionally, we demonstrated that CREB1 overexpression rescued the effects on GC cell growth induced by miR-1297. Therefore, these results indicated that miR-1297 might be a prognostic predictor for GC and potential target of GC treatment.

Long noncoding RNA eosinophil granule ontogeny transcript inhibits cell proliferation and migration and promotes cell apoptosis in human glioma.

Glioma is the most common primary brain tumor and represents one of the most aggressive and lethal types of human cancer. Recent advances have implicated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as crucial mediators of cancer development and progression. The present study aimed to investigate the role of a newly-discovered lncRNA, termed eosinophil granule ontogeny transcript (EGOT), in the aggressive abilities of cells in human glioma. It was initially found that the relative transcription level of EGOT in glioma cancerous tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues. EGOT was differentially expressed in a series of glioma cell lines, with its lowest level in high aggressive U251 and U87 cells. When EGOT was overexpressed by an expression plasmid, cell viability was significantly inhibited in U251 and U87 cells. Furthermore, with EGOT overexpression, the cell cycle was arrested at G0/G1 phase and consequently, cell apoptosis was significantly promoted along with the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9. The migration abilities of EGOT-overexpressed cells were inhibited by 71.4% in U251 cells and by 69.5% in U87 cells. These data suggest that overexpression of EGOT inhibits cell proliferation and migration, and promotes cell apoptosis in glioma. Therefore, EGOT has potent anticancer activity and may function as a tumor suppressor in human glioma.