BACKGROUND: Primary liver cancer (PHC) stands as one of the most prevalent malignant diseases in clinical settings. Studies have indicated that transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment exhibits superior clinical outcomes, potentially increasing the complete necrosis rate in patients with PHC. A correlation exists between the clinical outcomes of TACE surgery and the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), yet the underlying mechanism remains a mystery. Hence, it is crucial to investigate the impact and mechanism of EMT on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Retrospectively, patients with advanced liver cancer who underwent TACE were selected and categorized into two groups based on the assessment of clinical efficacy: the effective group and the ineffective group. The expression levels of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), Ki-67, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X (Bax), Vimentin, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin in tumor tissues were evaluated using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In vitro, Huh7 cells were cultured, and lentivirus infections were utilized to inhibit the overexpression of NF-κB and MMP9. The determination of EMT and cell viability was conducted through Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, RT-PCR, and Western blot. RESULTS: Sixty patients diagnosed with advanced liver cancer were selected for the study. Based on their clinical outcomes, 30 patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma were categorized into the effective group, while the remaining 30 patients were categorized into the ineffective group. The results of the Western blot analysis indicated that, in comparison to the effective group, the expression levels of NF-κB, MMP9, Ki-67, Bcl-2, Vimentin, and N-cadherin were significantly higher in the tumor tissues of the ineffective group. Conversely, the expression of Bax and E-cadherin was notably lower in the effective group. Following the individual knockdown of NF-κB and MMP9, the cell experiments revealed a remarkable decrease in the expression levels of Ki-67, Bcl-2, Vimentin, and N-cadherin, whereas the expression of Bax and E-cadherin showed significant elevation (p < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant increase in cell viability and a decrease in cell apoptosis after the knockdown of NF-κB and MMP9. CONCLUSIONS: The NF-κB/MMP9 signaling axis serves as a pivotal regulator that fosters proliferation and impedes apoptosis in Huh7 cells by modulating the process of EMT.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular , Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition , Liver Neoplasms , Signal Transduction , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/therapy , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/genetics , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Proliferation , Disease Progression , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Liver Neoplasms/genetics , Liver Neoplasms/therapy , Matrix Metalloproteinase 9/metabolism , NF-kappa B/metabolism , Retrospective Studies
SnO2 is a candidate material for electron transport layers (ETLs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, a large number of defects at the SnO2/perovskite interface lead to notable non-radiative interfacial recombination. Moreover, the energy level arrangement between SnO2/perovskite does not match well. In this study, a SnO2/CsF-SnO2 double-layer ETL was prepared by doping CsF into SnO2, effectively passivating the defects of the SnO2 ETL and SnO2/perovskite interface. The formation of a good energy level arrangement with the perovskite layer reduces the interface non-radiative recombination and improves the performance of the interface charge extraction. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of the optimal CsF-modified PSC reached 22.18%, owing to the significant increase in the open-circuit voltage to 1.180 V.
Ion accumulation in perovskite solar cells can be highly suppressed by a mesoporous TiO2 layer. This is evidenced by the decrease of the ion-related electrostatic potential with increasing the thickness of the mesoporous layer, accounted for by the electron population in the shallow trap states of the TiO2 nanocrystals.
Polycrystalline perovskite films have many fatal defects; defect passivation can improve the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, the defects in perovskite films are passivated by introducing the pseudohalide salt CsPF6 into the films. Because the ionic radii of Cs+ and PF6- are close to those of FA+ and I-, respectively, they can be uniformly doped into perovskite films to passivate the bulk, surface, and grain boundary defects. The photovoltaic performance of the PSCs significantly improved after passivation. Moreover, the photoelectric conversion efficiency increased significantly from 21.36% to 23.15% after passivation. Because of defect passivation, PSCs also exhibit good environmental stability. This study introduces a scheme for improving the photovoltaic performance of PSCs via passivation.
Fluorine and indium elements in F-doped SnO2 (FTO) and Sn-doped In2 O3 (ITO), respectively, significantly contribute toward enhancing the electrical conductivity of these transparent conductive oxides. In this study, fluorine was combined with indium to modify the SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL) through InF3 . Consequently, the modified perovskite solar cells (PSCs) showe the favorable alignment of energy levels, improved absorption and utilization of light, enhanced interfacial charge extraction, and suppressed interfacial charge recombination. After InF3 modification, the open circuit voltage (Voc ) and fill factor (FF) of the PSC were significantly improved, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) reached 21.39 %, far exceeding that of the control PSC (19.62 %).
The electron transport layer (ETL) is a key component of regular perovskite solar cells to promote the overall charge extraction efficiency and tune the crystallinity of the perovskite layer for better device performance. The authors present a novel protocol of ETL engineering by incorporating a composition of the perovskite precursor, methylammonium chloride (MACl), or formamidine chloride (FACl), into SnO2 layers, which are then converted into the crystal nuclei of perovskites by reaction with PbI2 . The SnO2 -embedded nuclei remarkably improve the morphology and crystallinity of the optically active perovskite layers. The improved ETL-to-perovskite electrical contact and dense packing of large-grained perovskites enhance the carrier mobility and suppress charge recombination. The power conversion efficiency increases from 20.12% (blank device) to 21.87% (21.72%) for devices with MACl (FACl) as an ETL dopant. Moreover, all the precursor-engineered cells exhibit a record-high fill factor (82%).
Co-modification of an electron transport layer (ETL) with metal oxides and organic molecules can optimize the structure of the ETL and improve the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, a sandwich-structured ETL consisting of MgO/SnO2/EA was designed by co-modifying a SnO2 ETL with magnesium oxide (MgO) and ethanolamine (EA). The device with an ETL modified with MgO and EA has excellent performance in enhancing electron transport and blocking holes. It also inhibits the formation of deep defect states and improves the stability of the device. The introduction of MgO effectively improves the open-circuit voltage (VOC) of the device, while EA increases the short-circuit current density (JSC). The optimal efficiency of the PSC using the ETL co-modified with MgO and EA is 20.23%, which is much higher than that of the device with the unmodified SnO2 ETL (17.94%). The method described here provides an effective way to develop high performance ETLs co-modified with metal oxides and organic compounds for perovskite-based optoelectronic devices.
Two-dimensional (2D) perovskites, which have excellent stability compared with three-dimensional (3D) perovskites owing to the effective protection of the hydrophobic organic ligands, have become a research hotspot and have made great developmental progress in recent years. Herein, an n-butylammonium iodide (BAI) post-treatment process was developed to fabricate a 2D-3D hybrid perovskite with a thin layer of 2D perovskite covered on the surface of the 3D CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite. The growth process of 2D perovskite is formed through the chemical reaction between BAI and the residual PbI2, which improves stability and reduces the number of crystal defects of 3D perovskite by optimizing stoichiometry. Compared with the 3D counterpart, the 2D-3D hybrid perovskite shows outstanding light and air stability when exposed to external environments. Moreover, structure conversion from 3D to 2D-3D can induce the passivation of defects in the 3D films. The power conversion efficiency of the 2D-3D solar cell exceeds 18% and retains 80% of the initial value after more than 2000 h of storage without encapsulation.
