Inhibiting autophagy enhanced mitotic catastrophe-mediated anticancer immune responses by regulating the cGAS-STING pathway.

Given the limitations of the response rate and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in clinical applications, exploring new therapeutic strategies for cancer immunotherapy is necessary. We found that 5-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)-4-methyl-2-(p-tolyl)imidazole (BZML), a microtubule-targeting agent, exhibited potent anticancer activity by inducing mitotic catastrophe in A549/Taxol and L929 cells. Nuclear membrane disruption and nuclease reduction provided favorable conditions for cGAS-STING pathway activation in cells with mitotic catastrophe. Similar results were obtained in paclitaxel-, docetaxel- and doxorubicin-induced mitotic catastrophe in various cancer cells. Notably, the surface localization of CALR and MHC-I and the release of HMGB1 were also significantly increased in cells with mitotic catastrophe, but not in apoptotic cells, suggesting that mitotic catastrophe is an immunogenic cell death. Furthermore, activated CD8+T cells enhanced the anticancer effects originating from mitotic catastrophe induced by BZML. Inhibiting the cGAS-STING pathway failed to affect BZML-induced mitotic catastrophe but could inhibit mitotic catastrophe-mediated anticancer immune effects. Interestingly, the expression of p-TBK1 first increased and then declined; however, autophagy inhibition reversed the decrease in p-TBK1 expression and enhanced mitotic catastrophe-mediated anticancer immune effects. Collectively, the inhibition of autophagy can potentiate mitotic catastrophe-mediated anticancer immune effects by regulating the cGAS-STING pathway, which explains why the anticancer immune effects induced by chemotherapeutics have not fully exerted their therapeutic efficacy in some patients and opens a new area of research in cancer immunotherapy.

Real world experience with camrelizumab in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective multicenter cohort study (NOAH-LC-101).

Background: Camrelizumab has shown promising survival benefits in treatment-naïve advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients when used in combination with chemotherapy. However, its effectiveness and safety outside the clinical trial setting are largely unknown. Therefore, we conducted NOAH-LC-101, a prospective multicenter cohort study, to investigate the real-world effectiveness and safety of camrelizumab on a large cohort of advanced NSCLC patients in daily clinical practice. Methods: All consecutive patients aged ≥18 years with confirmed advanced NSCLC scheduled for camrelizumab treatment were screened for inclusion at 43 hospitals in China. The primary outcome was progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary outcomes included overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety. Results: Between August 2019 and February 2021, 403 patients were included. The median age of participants was 65 years (range, 27-87 years). There were 57 (14.1%) participants with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of ≥2. Most participants received camrelizumab in the second or later lines (68.7%) and plus chemotherapy (64.8%). The median PFS was 12.6 [95% confidence interval (CI): 10.7-17.0] months and median OS was 22.3 months [95% CI: 19.3-not reached (NR)]. The ORR was 28.8% (95% CI: 24.4-33.5%) and DCR was 79.9% (95% CI: 75.7-83.7%). Adverse events of any grade occurred in 348 (86.4%) participants. No new safety signals were identified. Reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation was observed in 75 (18.6%) patients, all of which were grade 1-2. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of camrelizumab in a large sample of real-world NSCLC patients. The results are generally consistent with those previously reported in pivotal clinical trials. This study supports the clinical use of camrelizumab in a broader patient population (ChiCTR1900026089).

Myriophyllum spicatum Leaves: Aerophily for Gas Collection and Transportation in Water.

The unique living environment of aquatic plants makes them produce many fantastic properties different from land ones. For instance, the leaves of Myriophyllum spicatum show excellent hydrophobicity and aerophily characteristics. In this paper, the abundant morphological structure, composition, and aerophily properties of Myriophyllum spicatum leaves are revealed. The contact angle of the leaf surface can reach 122° in air, exhibiting wonderful gas collection ability under water. The results showed that the aerophily of the leaves is attributed to the multistage micro-nanostructure and waxy layer on the surface. The gas transportation toward the tips of leaves is based on the void gradient formed by the nanoscale morphology at different growth stages and the buoyancy as well. These features provide bionic experience for gas collection, bubble transportation, and liquid resistance reduction in water environments.

MAPKK2/4/5/7-MAPK3-JAZs modulate phenolic acid biosynthesis in Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Phenolic acids are the major bioactive metabolites produced in Salvia miltiorrhiza, a traditional Chinese medicine called Danshen. Many phytohormone elicitor treatments induce phenolic acid biosynthesis, even though the underlying mechanism remains obscure. Expression pattern analysis showed that SmMAPK3 was highly expressed in leaves, and SmMAPK3 was significantly induced by salicylic acid (SA) and methyl jasmonate (JA). Bioinformatics analysis revealed that SmMAPK3 belongs to group A and contains a TEY motif in the activation loop together with three conserved regions (P-loop, C-loop and CD-domain). A previous study speculated that SmMAPK3 is likely a positive regulator in the biosynthesis of phenolic acids in S. miltiorrhiza. In this study, overexpression of SmMAPK3 increased phenolic acid biosynthetic gene expression and enhanced the accumulation of phenolic acids in S. miltiorrhiza plantlets. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) analysis and firefly luciferase complementation imaging (LCI) assays revealed that SmMAPKK2/4/5/7-SmMAPK3-SmJAZs form a cascade that regulates the accumulation of phenolic acids. In summary, this work deepens our understanding of the posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms of phenolic acid biosynthesis and sheds new light on metabolic engineering in S. miltiorrhiza.

Correlation between L3 skeletal muscle index and prognosis of patients with stage IV gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: To explore the relationship between L3 skeletal muscle index (SMI) and the prognosis of patients with stage IV gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: A total of 27 patients with stage IV GC requiring chemotherapy admitted to our hospital from 1 April 2015 to 20 May 2019 were selected as participants. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to describe the survival time of all participants. By evaluating the L3 plane CT images, the mass index (cm2/m2) of L3 skeletal muscle (including psoas major, erector spinae, quadratus psoas, transversus abdominis, external oblique abdominis, and internal oblique abdominis) was calculated to study the changes of L3 SMI during treatment and the correlation between L3 SMI and clinical features. The log-rank method was used to analyze the correlativity between the survival time of patients and their general data, L3 SMI, or other indicators. RESULTS: The survival time of 27 patients with stage IV GC was 7.4-49.9 months, with a mean survival time of 19.72 months and a median survival time of 16.17 months. The 1-year survival rate was 77.78%, and the 3-year survival rate was 7.41%. During treatment, L3 SMI continued to decline in 20 of the 27 participants (74.07%). After the first chemotherapy, 17 participants (62.96%) met the criteria of sarcopenia syndrome, and after the fourth chemotherapy, 19 participants (70.37%) met the criteria of sarcopenia syndrome. The L3 SMI was shown to be significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI) and Onodera's prognostic nutritional index (OPNI) (both P<0.05), but not with age, gender, dietary intake, and primary site (all P>0.05). Log-rank test showed that there was a correlation between L3 SMI and survival time of patients (P<0.05). The average survival time of participants with sarcopenia syndrome (16.78 months) was significantly lower than that of those without sarcopenia syndrome (25.58 months) (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant correlation between L3 SMI and survival time, and L3 SMI can be used as a potential index to evaluate the prognosis of patients with stage IV GC.

Down-regulation of estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα) inhibits gastric cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between estrogen-related receptor a (ERRα) expression level and gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: We collected GC and adjacent normal tissues from 50 patients. The parameters of the patients were summarized, and correlation with the expression level of ERRα was calculated. Downregulated ERRα using lentivirus was designed and transfected to SGC-7901 and MGC-803 cells. Cell migration, invasion and wound assays were conducted to determine the correlation between ERRα and capacity for cell migration and invasion. The expression level of the genes involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition, including E-cadherin, γ-catenin, N-cadherin and vimentin, was determined via real-time or quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR) and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: The expression of ERRα tends to be higher in GC tissues than in adjacent normal tissues. Analyses ofthe expression level of ERRα and patient parameters show that the ERRα level is significantly correlated with TNM staging and patient survival (P<0.05). The downregulation of ERRα can inhibit cell invasion and migration, which was proven by Transwell and cell wound assays. The levels of E-cadherin and γ-catenin increased by conducting qPCR and Western blot analysis. Meanwhile, the levels of N-cadherin and vimentin decreased when ERRα expression was reduced. CONCLUSION: ERRα is highly expressed in GC tissues and can promote the migration and invasion of cancer cells. It can be a potential marker for GC diagnosis.

Tumor mutation burden determined by a 645-cancer gene panel and compared with microsatellite instability and mismatch repair genes in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Tumor mutation burden (TMB) assessed by tumor-related gene panels (CRGP), microsatellite instability (MSI), and mismatch repair (MMR) has been proven to be associated with prognosis, and these factors are prognostic indicators in predicting the benefits of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in solid tumors. However, whether the TMB calculated by CRGPs, MSI, and MMR is associated with overall survival (OS) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) remains to be explored. METHODS: The prognostic threshold of the panel-TMB was explored by a panel of 645 genes (GP645) from 41 CRC patients in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital (JCH dataset). The results were further validated using 531 CRC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. RESULTS: Mutations of the GP645 genes were distributed on 21 chromosomes. Spearman correlation analysis showed that the panel-TMB was positively correlated with TMB measured by whole-exome sequencing (WES) (wTMB) in the TCGA dataset (R=0.75, P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that higher panel-TMB in CRC patients was significantly associated with a poor OS (P=0.0062). MSI and MMR status were determined using the GP645 by next-generation sequencing (NGS). The proportions of MSI-H and dMMR accounted for less than 10% in CRC, the vast majority of MSI-H/dMMR samples also had high TMB [positive predictive value (PPV) =66.6%], and only 13.3% of samples with high TMB were classified as MSI-high/dMMR. In addition, patients with low-TMB were associated with MSS/pMMR (96.2%), and these results are consistent with earlier studies. CONCLUSIONS: GP645 was constructed to evaluate OS in Chinese CRC patients. Panel-TMB and MSI/MMR might be potential prognostic predictors of CRC patients using the GP645.

Efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and its incidence seriously affects human health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with advanced NSCLC. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 150 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with anlotinib and discontinued treatment after disease progression or intolerance due to adverse events. Progression-free survival (PFS) of advanced NSCLC patients served as an endpoint. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were applied to evaluate the short-term efficacy of anlotinib treatment in advanced NSCLC patients. RESULTS: The median PFS of the whole 150-patient cohort was 5.0 months in (95% CI: 4.00-5.95), 5.0 months (95% CI: 3.0-6.00) in 90 patients with adenocarcinoma, and 4.5 months (95% CI: 4.00-7.00) in 60 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (P=0.676). The PFS was 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.00-8.80) and 4.5 months (95% CI: 4.00-5.60) in the first-/second-line and ≥ third-line patients, respectively (P=0.315). Following the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) score, the median PFS of 95 patients with a PS score 0-1 was 5.5 months (95% CI: 4.50-6.50), and the median PFS of 55 patients with a PS score ntswas 4.0 months (95% CI: 3.00-5.00) (P=0.221). For the 49 patients in the combination group the median PFS was 7.0 months (95% CI: 4.00-9.00), while that of the 101 patients in the anlotinib-alone group was 4.0 months in (95% CI: 2.80-5.50) (P=0.010). In a separate analysis of the combination group, the median PFS of anlotinib combined with chemotherapy, epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), and immunotherapy was 5.5 months (95% CI: 4.00-9.00), 12.0 months (95% CI: 6.00-12.00), and 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.00-9.80), respectively (P=0.036). CONCLUSIONS: Anlotinib exhibits good tolerance and performance in prolonging the PFS of patients and has considerable potential as a treatment for advanced NSCLC.

Tumor mutation burden in Chinese cancer patients and the underlying driving pathways of high tumor mutation burden across different cancer types.

BACKGROUND: Tumor mutation burden (TMB) has an important association with immunotherapy responses. TMB in the Chinese population has not been well established. Finding differences between the Chinese and Caucasian populations and elucidating the underlying biological mechanisms of high TMB might help develop more precise and effective means for TMB and immunotherapy response prediction. METHODS: Chinese cancer patients fresh tissue (n=2,177), formalin-fixed, paraffin-embed (FFPE) specimens (n=3,294), and pleural fluid (n=189) were profiled using a 295- or 520-gene next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel. The association of the TMB status with a series of molecular features and biological pathways was determined using bootstrapping. RESULTS: TMB, measured by 295- or 520-cancer-related gene panels, was correlated with whole-exome sequencing (WES) TMB based on the in silico simulation in The Cancer Genome Atlas cohort. The median TMB of our data was slightly higher than that from the Foundation Medicine Inc. (FMI) dataset. TMB was also slightly different within the same cancer type between the Chinese and Caucasian population. We discovered that the underlying pathways of TMB status varied greatly and sometimes had an opposite association with TMB across different cancer types. Moreover, we developed a 23-gene and a 16-gene signature to predict TMB prediction for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), respectively, indicating a histology-specific mechanism for driving high-TMB in lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS: TMB varies among different ethnic populations. Our findings extend the knowledge of the underlying biological mechanisms for high TMB and might be helpful for developing more precise and accessible TMB assessment panels and algorithms in more cancer types.

High-level gain of mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) copy number using next-generation sequencing as a predictive biomarker for MET inhibitor efficacy.

BACKGROUND: In clinical oncology, targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) has become an integral part of the routine molecular diagnostics repertoire. However, a consensus is yet to be agreed on the optimal mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) copy number (CN) cut-off value based on NGS data that could predict the MET-amplified non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who could benefit from MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. In this study, we aimed to identify the criteria to define MET amplification derived from NGS data. METHODS: Sequencing data from matched plasma and tissue samples from 40 MET-amplified NSCLC patients were used to derive a normalization method, referred to as adjusted copy number (adCN). Clinical outcomes from an additional 18 MET TKI-treated NSCLC patients with solely MET-amplified cancers were analyzed to validate the adCN cut-offs. RESULTS: AdCN, calculated as the absolute CN generated from NGS relative to the maximum mutant allele fraction (maxMAF) per sample, was demonstrated to have a high correlation with MET CN in tissue and plasma samples (R2=0.73). Using a cut-off value of 5.5 and 13, tertile stratification of adCN was able to distinguish patients with high-level MET amplification. The MET TKI-treated patients with adCN >13, categorized as high-level amplification, had significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) than those with adCN <13 (P=0.009), suggesting that adCN positively correlated with the response to MET TKI. CONCLUSIONS: We derived a normalization method that could reflect the relative CN and distinguish MET-amplified NSCLC patients with high-level gene amplification who were sensitive to crizotinib, suggesting adCN could potentially serve as a predictive biomarker for MET TKI response.

One-step controllable synthesis of amino-modification siloxene for enhanced solar water-splitting.

Novel two-dimensional silicon-based material siloxene has been synthesized handily by a one-step method, which utilizes the characteristics of the topological exfoliation to simplify the process of synthesis and modification. It is worth mentioning that for the first time amino-modified derivative has been investigated. Amino modification can promote the oxidation of siloxene, enlarge the bandgap and extend the carrier lifetime of siloxene. The application of siloxene before and after modification in water-splitting has been investigated. In addition, the superiority of the resultant two-dimensional materials was concisely elaborated, which revealed that owing to more effective photogenerated carriers' separation in amino modification siloxene, hydrogen production could be greatly promoted.

Cell-free DNA as a biomarker for colorectal cancer: a retrospective analysis in patients before and after surgery.

This study was aimed at investigating the potential of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a biomarker for colorectal cancer prognosis. Sixty patients with colorectal cancer who had not undergone surgery were enrolled as study group. Their peripheral blood samples were collected, and peripheral blood of 30 healthy volunteers (control) was collected. The cfDNA concentration and integrity were determined using q-PCR so as to ascertain if cfDNA was associated with clinical presentations of the disease. Then, the specificities and sensitivities of cfDNA, CFA and CA199 were determined with ROC curve. The level and integrity of cfDNA in patients with colorectal cancer before surgery were significantly higher than those in patients with colorectal cancer after surgery, and cfDNA concentration of colorectal cancer patients after surgery was also significantly higher than that in healthy control group. However, the integrity was not significantly different from that of control group. There was a significant correlation between cfDNA concentration and TNM stage, differentiation degree and CEA expression, while cfDNA integrity was significantly correlated with TNM stage and degree of differentiation. Moreover, specificity and sensitivity of cfDNA concentration and integrity were higher than those of CEA and CA199. The TNM stage and cfDNA concentration were independent risk factors for progression-free survival (PFS) in colorectal cancer patients. In conclusion, cfDNA concentration and integrity were more sensitive and specific than traditional tumor markers (CA199, CEA). Thus, changes in cfDNA changes can be effectively used to determine the prognosis of postoperative colorectal cancer patients.

Analysis of serum cfDNA concentration and integrity before and after surgery in patients with lung cancer.

The content and integrity of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) before and after surgery in patients with lung cancer were determined to investigate its clinical significance.   Peripheral blood was collected from 120 patients with lung cancer who were treated in our hospital from March 2016 to November 2018, including 50 cases before operation and 70 cases after operation. 60   healthy subjects served as controls. Quantitative PCR was used to determine the cfDNA level of each group. The relationship between cfDNA levels and the clinical features of lung cancer patients was determined. Receiver Operating Curves were used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of cfDNA, CEA, NSE and CYFRA21-1 in lung cancer.  The concentration and integrity of cfDNA before surgery in patients with lung cancer were significantly higher than those after surgery and those in healthy control group. The cfDNA concentration in patients with lung cancer after surgery was significantly higher than that in the control group, but there was no statistical difference in cfDNA integrity between the two groups. There was no significant correlation between cfDNA concentration/integrity and gender, age, tumor type, tumor stage, and expressions of CA199, CA125, and CA153 in patients with lung cancer before or after surgery. However, there were significant correlations between the expression levels of CEA, NSE, and CYFRA21-1 and cfDNA concentration. The expression levels of CEA and CYFRA21-1 were significantly correlated with cfDNA integrity before surgery, while the correlations were not significant after surgery.  The concentration and integrity of cfDNA increased significantly in serum of lung cancer patients. The concentration and integrity of cfDNA in patients with lung cancer after surgery were significantly lower than those before surgery. Thus, cfDNA has high application value in the diagnosis and evaluation of lung cancer.

Embedded Two-Dimensional Perovskite Nanoplatelets with Air-Stable Luminescence.

Two-dimensional (2D) perovskites represent a class of promising nanostructures for optoelectronic applications owing to their giant oscillator strength transition of excitons and high luminescence. However, major challenges lie in the surface ligand engineering and ambient stability. Here, we show that air-stable quasi-2D CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets can be formed in the matrix of Cs4PbBr6 nanosheets by reducing the thickness of Cs4PbBr6 to ∼7.6 nm, the scale comparable to the exciton Bohr radius of CsPbBr3. The 2D behavior of excitons is evidenced by the linear increase of the radiative lifetime with increasing temperature. Moreover, the wide-bandgap Cs4PbBr6 plays roles of surface passivation and protection, which leads to good photoluminescence properties without the photobleaching effect and with ambient stability for over 1 month. Our work demonstrates a unique quasi-2D heterostructure of perovskite nanomaterials, which may either serve as a workbench for studying the exciton recombination dynamics or find application in high-performance optoelectronic devices.

Integrated System of Solar Cells with Hierarchical NiCo2O4 Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Devices for Self-Driving Light-Emitting Diodes.

An integrated system has been provided with a-Si/H solar cells as energy conversion device, NiCo2O4 battery-supercapacitor hybrid (BSH) as energy storage device, and light emitting diodes (LEDs) as energy utilization device. By designing three-dimensional hierarchical NiCo2O4 arrays as faradic electrode, with capacitive electrode of active carbon (AC), BSHs were assembled with energy density of 16.6 Wh kg-1, power density of 7285 W kg-1, long-term stability with 100% retention after 15,000 cycles, and rather low self-discharge. The NiCo2O4//AC BSH was charged to 1.6 V in 1 s by solar cells and acted as reliable sources for powering LEDs. The integrated system is rational for operation, having an overall efficiency of 8.1% with storage efficiency of 74.24%. The integrated system demonstrates a stable solar power conversion, outstanding energy storage behavior, and reliable light emitting. Our study offers a precious strategy to design a self-driven integrated system for highly efficient energy utilization.

The anti-inflammatory effects of Yunnan Baiyao are involved in regulation of the phospholipase A2/arachidonic acid metabolites pathways in acute inflammation rat model.

The traditional Chinese medicine Yunnan Baiyao (YNB) has been reported to possess anti­inflammatory properties, however its mechanism of action remains unclear. It was previously reported that YNB ameliorated depression of arachidonic acid (AA) levels in a rat model of collagen-induced arthritis. In the current study, the capacity of YNB to ameliorate inflammation was compared in carrageenan­induced and AA­induced acute inflammation of the rat paw with celecoxib and mizolastine, respectively (n=24 per group). The capacity of YNB to affect the phospholipase A2 (PLA2)/AA pathway (using reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction) and release of inflammatory lipid mediators (by ELISA) were investigated. Celecoxib ameliorated carrageenan­induced paw edema, and mizolastine ameliorated AA­induced rat paw edema. YNB alleviated paw edema and inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration in the two models. YNB inhibited production of 5­LOX AA metabolite leukotriene B4 (LTB4), and suppressed expression of 5­LOX, cytosolic PLA2 (cPLA2), 5­LOX­activating protein, and LTB4 receptor mRNA in the AA­induced inflammation model (P<0.05). YNB Inhibited the production of the COX­2 AA metabolite prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and suppressed expression of COX­2, cPLA2, PGE2 mRNA in the carrageenan­induced inflammation mode (P<0.05). Taken together, the data suggest that modulation of COX and LOX pathways in AA metabolism represent a novel anti-inflammatory mechanism of YNB.

Pin1 is overexpressed and correlates with poor prognosis in gastric cancer.

The prolyl isomerase Pin1, which isomerizes the p-Ser/Thr-Pro peptide bonds and effects conformational and functional changes of the bound proteins, has been identified as a regulator of phosphorylation signaling in several diseases including cancer. The aim of this study is to determine the expression status of Pin1 in gastric cancer, its relationship between clinicopathologic features and patients' outcome. The mRNA levels of Pin1 in human normal and gastric cancer tissues were analyzed using the datasets from the publicly available Oncomine database ( www.oncomine.org ). Pin1 protein levels in human gastric cancer cells and tissues were analyzed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry staining, respectively. The Pin1 protein expression levels and its clinicopathologic correlations were investigated using tumor tissue microarray including 182 cases of human gastric cancer samples with survival information. Pin1 mRNA expression was found to be overexpressed in gastric cancer by using several datasets of Oncomine database analyzing. Pin1 protein expression is higher in 10 gastric cancer cell lines than that in normal gastric epithelial cell line GES-1. Pin1 positive expression was observed in 109 of 182 (59.9 %) gastric cancer samples and in 55 of 182 (30.2 %) normal gastric tissues (P < 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that high expression of Pin1 was significantly associated with pT (P = 0.017), pN (P = 0.043), TNM staging (P = 0.027), Lauren's classification (P < 0.001), as well as shorter overall survival in gastric cancer patients (29 mos vs. 47 mos. P = 0.048). Moreover, Pin1 expression, pT, and differentiation were independent prognostic factors of gastric cancer in Cox regression analysis. Pin1 is overexpressed in gastric cancer and correlates with clinicopathologic features, which might predict poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

Violet emission in ZnO nanorods treated with high-energy hydrogen plasma.

Violet photoluminescence was observed in high-energy hydrogen-plasma-treated ZnO nanorods at 13 K. The photoluminescence spectrum is dominated by a strong violet emission and a shoulder attributed to excitonic emission. The violet emission shows normal thermal behavior with an average lifetime of about 1 µs at 13 K. According to the time-resolved and excitation density-dependent photoluminescence, it was found that the violet emission is determined by at least two emitting channels, which was confirmed by annealing experiments. Evidence was also given that the violet emission is related to hydrogen. We suggested that the hydrogen-related complex defects formed under high-energy hydrogen plasma treatment are responsible for this violet emission.