Enhancing Specific Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization with Quantum Dots for Single-Molecule RNA Imaging in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Tissues.

Single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH) represents a promising approach for the quantitative analysis of nucleic acid biomarkers in clinical tissue samples. However, low signal intensity and high background noise are complications that arise from diagnostic pathology when performed with smFISH-based RNA imaging in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens. Moreover, the associated complex procedures can produce uncertain results and poor image quality. Herein, by combining the high specificity of split DNA probes with the high signal readout of ZnCdSe/ZnS quantum dot (QD) labeling, we introduce QD split-FISH, a high-brightness smFISH technology, to quantify the expression of mRNA in both cell lines and clinical FFPE tissue samples of breast cancer and lung squamous carcinoma. Owing to its high signal-to-noise ratio, QD split-FISH is a fast, inexpensive, and sensitive method for quantifying mRNA expression in FFPE tumor tissues, making it suitable for biomarker imaging and diagnostic pathology.

A contact-electro-catalysis process for producing reactive oxygen species by ball milling of triboelectric materials.

Ball milling is a representative mechanochemical strategy that uses the mechanical agitation-induced effects, defects, or extreme conditions to activate substrates. Here, we demonstrate that ball grinding could bring about contact-electro-catalysis (CEC) by using inert and conventional triboelectric materials. Exemplified by a liquid-assisted-grinding setup involving polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced, despite PTFE being generally considered as catalytically inert. The formation of ROS occurs with various polymers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polypropylene (PP), and the amount of generated ROS aligns well with the polymers' contact-electrification abilities. It is suggested that mechanical collision not only maximizes the overlap in electron wave functions across the interface, but also excites phonons that provide the energy for electron transition. We expect the utilization of triboelectric materials and their derived CEC could lead to a field of ball milling-assisted mechanochemistry using any universal triboelectric materials under mild conditions.

[Corrigendum] Propofol­induced HOXA11­AS promotes proliferation, migration and invasion, but inhibits apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting miR­4458.

Following the publication of the above article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that the western blots for the PCNA and cyclin D1 bands appeared to be strikingly similar. The authors were able to re­examine their original data, and recognize how the error was made with respect to the compilation of this figure (they were also able to demonstrate to the Editorial Office how the error occurred). The revised version of Fig. 3, now incorporating the correct data for the PCNA bands in Fig. 3A, is shown on the next page. The authors can confirm that the errors associated with this figure did not have a significant impact on either the results or the conclusions reported in this study, and all the authors agree with the publication of this Corrigendum. The authors are grateful to the Editor of International Journal of Molecular Medicine for allowing them the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum; furthermore, they apologize to the readership of the Journal for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Molecular Medicine 46: 1135­1145, 2020; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2020.4667].

Recent advances in genetic etiology of non-syndromic deafness in children.

Congenital auditory impairment is a prevalent anomaly observed in approximately 2-3 per 1,000 infants. The consequences associated with hearing loss among children encompass the decline of verbal communication, linguistic skills, educational progress, social integration, cognitive aptitude, and overall well-being. Approaches to reversing or preventing genetic hearing loss are limited. Patients with mild and moderate hearing loss can only use hearing aids, while those with severe hearing loss can only acquire speech and language through cochlear implants. Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to the occurrence of congenital hearing loss, and advancements in our understanding of the pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms underlying hearing loss, coupled with recent progress in genetic testing techniques, will facilitate the development of innovative approaches for treatment and screening. In this paper, the latest research progress in genetic etiology of non-syndromic deafness in children with the highest incidence is summarized in order to provide help for personalized diagnosis and treatment of deafness in children.

Spatial transcriptomics reveals heterogeneity of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment of granulomatous slack skin.

Granulomatous slack skin (GSS) is an extremely rare subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma accompanied by an abundant number of macrophages and is clinically characterized by the development of pendulous skin folds. However, the characteristics of these macrophages in GSS remain unclear. Here, we conducted a spatial transcriptomic study on one frozen GSS sample and drew transcriptomic maps of GSS for the first time. Gene expression analysis revealed the enrichment of three clusters with macrophage transcripts, each exhibiting distinct characteristics suggesting that their primary composition consists of different subpopulations of macrophages. The CD163+ /CD206+ cluster showed a tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) M2-like phenotype and highly expressed ZFP36, CCL2, TNFAIP6, and KLF2, which are known to be involved in T-cell interaction and tumor progression. The APOC1+ /APOE+ cluster presented a non-M1 or -M2 phenotype and may be related to lipid metabolism. The CD11c+ /LYZ+ cluster exhibited an M1-like phenotype. Notably, these cells strongly expressed MMP9, MMP12, CHI3L1, CHIT1, COL1A1, TIMP1, and SPP1, which are responsible for extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and tissue remodeling. This may partially explain the symptoms of cutaneous relaxation in GSS. Further immunohistochemistry on four GSS cases demonstrated that CD11c predominantly marked granulomas and multinucleated giant cells, whereas CD163 was mainly expressed on scattered macrophages, appearing as a mutually exclusive pattern. The expression pattern of MMP9 overlapped with that of CD11c, implying that CD11c+ macrophages may be a source of MMP9. Our data shed light on the characteristics of macrophages in the GSS microenvironment and provide a theoretical basis for the application of MMP9 inhibitors to prevent cutaneous relaxation of GSS. © 2023 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Achieving Extreme Pressure Resistance to Liquids on a Super-Omniphobic Surface with Armored Reentrants.

Static repellency and pressure resistance to liquids are essential for high-performance super-omniphobic surfaces. However, these two merits appear mutually exclusive in conventional designs because of their conflicting structural demands: Static liquid repellency necessitates minimal solid-liquid contact, which in turn inevitably undercuts the surface's ability to resist liquid invasion exerted by the elevated pressure. Here, inspired by the Springtail, these two merits can be simultaneously realized by structuring surfaces at two size scales, with a micrometric reentrant structure providing static liquid repellency and a nanometric reentrant structure providing pressure resistance, which dexterously avoids the dilemma of their structural conflicts. The nanometric reentrants are densely packed on the micrometric ones, serving as "armor" that prevents liquids invasion by generating multilevel energy barriers, thus naming the surface as the armored reentrants (AR) surface. The AR surface could repel liquids with very low surface tensions, such as silicone oil (21 mN m-1 ), and simultaneously resist great pressure from the liquids, exemplified by enduring the impact of low-surface-tension liquids under a high weber number (>400), the highest-pressure resistance ever reported. With its scalable fabrication and enhanced performance, our design could extend the application scope of liquid-repellent surfaces toward ultimate industrial settings.

Development and validation of a practical machine learning model to predict sepsis after liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative sepsis is one of the main causes of mortality after liver transplantation (LT). Our study aimed to develop and validate a predictive model for postoperative sepsis within 7 d in LT recipients using machine learning (ML) technology. METHODS: Data of 786 patients received LT from January 2015 to January 2020 was retrospectively extracted from the big data platform of Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. Seven ML models were developed to predict postoperative sepsis. The area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and f1-score were evaluated as the model performances. The model with the best performance was validated in an independent dataset involving 118 adult LT cases from February 2020 to April 2021. The postoperative sepsis-associated outcomes were also explored in the study. RESULTS: After excluding 109 patients according to the exclusion criteria, 677 patients underwent LT were finally included in the analysis. Among them, 216 (31.9%) were diagnosed with sepsis after LT, which were related to more perioperative complications, increased postoperative hospital stay and mortality after LT (all p < .05). Our results revealed that a larger volume of red blood cell infusion, ascitic removal, blood loss and gastric drainage, less volume of crystalloid infusion and urine, longer anesthesia time, higher level of preoperative TBIL were the top 8 important variables contributing to the prediction of post-LT sepsis. The Random Forest Classifier (RF) model showed the best overall performance to predict sepsis after LT among the seven ML models developed in the study, with an AUC of 0.731, an accuracy of 71.6%, the sensitivity of 62.1%, and specificity of 76.1% in the internal validation set, and a comparable AUC of 0.755 in the external validation set. CONCLUSIONS: Our study enrolled eight pre- and intra-operative variables to develop an RF-based predictive model of post-LT sepsis to assist clinical decision-making procedure.

Postoperative sepsis is one of the main causes of mortality after liver transplantation (LT).Our results revealed that a larger volume of red blood cell infusion, ascitic removal, blood loss and gastric drainage, less volume of crystalloid infusion and urine, longer anesthesia time, higher level of preoperative TBIL were the top 8 important variables contributing to the prediction of post-LT sepsis.The Random Forest Classifier (RF) model showed the best overall performance to predict sepsis after LT in our study, which could assist in the clinical decision-making procedure.

Multi-parameter Inputted Logic-Gating on Aptamer-Encoded Extracellular Vesicles for Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as a potential biomarker in liquid biopsy. However, cancer heterogeneity poses significant challenge to precise molecular diagnosis based on single-parameter input. Hence, strategies for analyzing multiple inputs with molecular computing were developed with the aim of improving diagnostic accuracy in liquid biopsy. In the present study, based on the surface of aptamer-encoded EVs, three toe-hold extended DNA aptamers served as specific inputs to perform AND-logic-gating to distinguish between healthy and cancerous EVs. In addition, this strategy has been successfully employed to analyze circulating EVs in clinical samples from colorectal cancer patients and healthy donors. The developed method has a promising future in the analysis of multiplex EV membrane proteins and the identification of early cancer.

Serum levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in children with Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease (KD) has replaced rheumatic fever as the main cause of acquired heart disease in Japanese, American, and Chinese children. Polymorphisms in angiotensin-converting enzyme may be associated with susceptibility to KD, but the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) with vascular endothelial injury in KD and the possibility for prognosis of vascular injury in KD by evaluating changes in serum ACE2 have not yet been assessed. Thus, this study aimed to investigate ACE2 levels in patients with KD to further explore the relationship between ACE2 and vascular injury in KD. Blood samples were collected from 49 children with KD before intravenous immunoglobulin treatment and 28 healthy children in the same period as the control group. Clinical data were collected from the patients and serum ACE2 levels of all participants were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum ACE2 levels were significantly higher in the KD group than in the control group, and were negatively correlated with platelet levels in patients with KD. Serum ACE2 levels are related to the pathogenesis of KD and may be used as a potential serum marker for KD diagnosis.

Turbo-Synergistic Oily Wastewater Remediation in Bio-Inspired Cone Array Barrel.

Oily wastewater discharge causes not only the pollution of environment but also the waste of resources. Existing technologies for wastewater remediation, such as membrane and particle methods, are variable and effective, but are difficult for achieving continuous and rapid oil-water separation. Here, with the synergy of turbo stirring, a strategy for emulsion separation is demonstrated based on the bio-inspired cone array barrel. Under the centrifugal force, oil droplets in emulsion are thrown onto the cones arrayed on inner wall due to the Coriolis effect, captured by microstructures on cone surface and then penetrate out through the superhydrophobic pores, while only the remediated water remains. The separation technique maintains a high efficiency of above 99.5% for over 30 times of use, as well as for emulsions with variable ingredients. This structure-dynamics synergistic separation strategy evolves the future technologies on water purification in industrial and daily processes.

The Role of TAMs in Tumor Microenvironment and New Research Progress.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are an important part of tumor microenvironment (TME) and play a key role in TME, participating in the process of tumor occurrence, growth, invasion, and metastasis. Among them, metastasis to tumor tissue is the key step of malignant development of tumor. In this paper, the latest progress in the role of TAMs in the formation of tumor microenvironment is summarized. It is particularly noteworthy that cell and animal experiments show that TAMs can provide a favorable microenvironment for the occurrence and development of tumors. At the same time, clinical pathological experiments show that the accumulation of TAMs in tumor is related to poor clinical efficacy. Finally, this paper discusses the feasibility of TAMs-targeted therapy as a new indirect cancer therapy. This paper provides a theoretical basis for finding a potentially effective macrophage-targeted tumor therapy.

Enhanced degradation of amiloride over Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite process: Key factors and mechanism.

Construction of Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite system for abatement of pharmaceutical residue was achieved. An attempt to synthesize Bi2FeNbO7 through hydrothermal technique was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The magnetic field experiment revealed that Bi2FeNbO7 possessed a saturation magnetization of 6.99 emu/g, indicating magnetic attributes of Bi2FeNbO7. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that Bi2FeNbO7 exhibited regular octahedra in the size of 200-300 nm. In a self-made device, the activation of sodium bisulfite using Bi2FeNbO7 for the disposal of amiloride has been carefully explored. The effects of solution pH, sodium bisulfite concentration, Bi2FeNbO7 dosage, amiloride concentration, coexisting ions, and water matrix on the performance of Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite system was investigated. The catalytic performance of Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite to degrade amiloride was considerably higher than that of traditional iron oxides. The maximum removal efficiency of amiloride was 97.9% in Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite process. The involvement of Fe might be crucial for activating bisulfite to create active species. The dominating radical in Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite process was identified as SO3•‒. With the help of UHPLC/MS/MS, three new degradation products of amiloride were found. Dehalogenation and deamination of amiloride might account for the formation of these transformation products. This work provides a highly efficient Bi2FeNbO7/bisulfite process for the disposal of pharmaceutical pollutants in water treatment.

Contact-electro-catalysis for the degradation of organic pollutants using pristine dielectric powders.

Mechanochemistry has been studied for some time, but research on the reactivity of charges exchanged by contact-electrification (CE) during mechanical stimulation remains scarce. Here, we demonstrate that electrons transferred during the CE between pristine dielectric powders and water can be utilized to directly catalyze reactions without the use of conventional catalysts. Specifically, frequent CE at Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) - water interface induces electron-exchanges, thus forming reactive oxygen species for the degradation of an aqueous methyl orange solution. Contact-electro-catalysis, by conjunction of CE, mechanochemistry and catalysis, has been proposed as a general mechanism, which has been demonstrated to be effective for various dielectric materials, such as Teflon, Nylon-6,6 and rubber. This original catalytic principle not only expands the range of catalytic materials, but also enables us to envisage catalytic processes through mechano-induced contact-electrification.

Self-powered ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via N2 discharge driven by Tesla turbine triboelectric nanogenerators.

Ammonia synthesis using low-power consumption and eco-friendly methods has attracted increasing attention. Here, based on the Tesla turbine triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), we designed a simple and effective self-powered ammonia synthesis system by N2 discharge. Under the driving of the simulated waste gas, the Tesla turbine TENG showed high rotation speed and high output. In addition, the performance of two Tesla turbine TENGs with different gas path connections was systematically investigated and discussed. A controllable series-parallel connection with the control of gas supply time was also proposed. Taking advantage of the intrinsic high voltage, corona discharge in a N2 atmosphere was simply realized by a Tesla turbine TENG. With the flow of N2, the generated high-energy plasma can immediately react with water molecules to directly produce ammonia. The self-powered system achieved a yield of 2.14 µg h-1 (0.126 µmol h-1) under ambient conditions, showing great potential for large-scale synthesis.

Power Management and Reaction Optimization for a Self-Powered Electrochemical System Driven by a Triboelectric Nanogenerator.

Harvesting distributed and low-quality mechanical energies by triboelectric nanogenerators to power electrochemical reactions is beneficial to electric energy saving and certain applications. However, the conventional self-powered electrochemical process is awkward about the reaction rate, energy conversion efficiency, high-operation frequency, and mismatched impedance. Here we demonstrate an advanced self-powered electrochemical system. In comparison with the conventional system that is inert in activity, the superior power management and electrochemical reaction regulation in tandem make the novel system outstanding for hydrogen peroxide production. In addition to the visible product, an internal current efficiency of 24.6% in the system was achieved. The developed system provides an optimization strategy toward electric energy saving for electrochemical reactions as well as enabling their applications in remote areas by converting environmental mechanical vibrational energy for ecological improvement or recyclable chemical fuel generation.

A novel circular RNA (hsa_circ_0059930)-mediated miRNA-mRNA axis in the lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury model of MRC-5 cells.

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a class of newly discovered endogenous non-coding RNA with closed circular structure. Some circRNAs have been reported to be closely associated with acute lung injury (ALI). While the expression profile of circRNAs in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI and the underlying roles are still not completely clear. The LPS-induced ALI model of MRC-5 cells was first established, and the expression profiles of circRNAs and mRNAs in LPS-induced MRC-5 cells were confirmed through RNA sequencing analysis. Gene Ontologyanalysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis were also applied to predict the latent functions and pathways of the differential mRNAs. After hsa_circ_0059930 knockdown, the proliferation and apoptosis of MRC-5 cells were identified by CCK-8, flow cytometer, and western blot assays. And we predicted the network analysis of hsa_circ_0059930. We testified that LPS could markedly prevent proliferation and induce apoptosis of MRC-5 cells. We discovered a total of 820 differential circRNAs (560 upregulated and 260 downregulated circRNAs) and 484 differential mRNAs (240 upregulated and 244 downregulated mRNAs) in LPS-induced MRC-5 cells. Besides, hsa_circ_0059930 was identified to be significantly upregulated in LPS-induced MRC-5 cells, and knockdown of hsa_circ-0059930 could notably accelerate proliferation and suppress apoptosis of LPS-mediated MRC-5 cells. Moreover, through the network analysis of hsa_circ_0059930, we preliminarily screened the potential regulatory axis hsa_circ_0059930/hsa-miR-382-5p/Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) in LPS-induced ALI. Our data contribute to understand the importance of circRNAs and mRNAs in LPS-induced ALI. We also provided many hsa_circ_0059930-mediated microRNA (miRNA)-mRNA axis, especially hsa_circ_0059930/hsa-miR-382-5p/TOP1 in LPS-induced ALI.

Long non-coding RNA review and implications in acute lung inflammation.

Acute lung inflammatory diseases severely affect the patients' recovery and outcomes worldwide. Unregulated acute inflammatory response is fundamentally central to acute lung inflammation including acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). To limit the potentially deleterious effects of acute lung inflammation, complex transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulatory networks have been explored, which often involves long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA). LncRNAs are RNAs that longer than 200 nucleotides, functioning as scaffolds or decoys in the cytoplasm or nucleus. By now, lncRNAs have been found to join in all major cellular processes including cell proliferation, metabolism, stress response or death. Extensive advance over the last decade furthermore indicated a fundamental role of lncRNAs in acute lung inflammation. This article reviews and summarizes the current knowledge on lncRNA in acute lung inflammatory response.

Fabrication of Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite system for efficient degradation of chlortetracycline.

The design of eco-friendly Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite system for efficient degradation of chlortetracycline was achieved. The feasibility of synthesizing Bi1.81MnNbO6.72 by hydrothermal method was determined by X-ray diffraction. The magnetic test suggested that Bi1.81MnNbO6.72 possessed paramagnetic properties, indicating unpaired electrons were present. Scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy images revealed that Bi1.81MnNbO6.72 octahedra exhibited exposed [1,1,1] crystal plane containing high density of Bi, Mn and Nb metal atoms. Large numbers of metal atoms will facilitate heterogeneous catalytic process. In a batch system with aeration, Bi1.81MnNbO6.72 could be used as sulfite activator for the disposal of chlortetracycline. The reaction kinetics of the degradation process conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. In Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite process, initial pH, Bi1.81MnNbO6.72 dosage, sulfite and chlortetracycline concentrations, as well as inorganic salt ions had great effect on chlortetracycline degradation. Under optimal conditions, the efficiency of Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite system for degradation of chlortetracycline could reach 76.2%. Moreover, Mn (II) plays a key role in the initiation of the catalytic reaction in Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite process. Generated SO3●‒ could act as main reactive species in Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite process, while HO● was also involved. Three new degradation products were detected by UHPLC/MS/MS and the possible degradation pathways in this system were proposed. Based on this, we believe that Bi1.81MnNbO6.72/sulfite is a type of process for degradation of organic contaminants with research significance and application prospects.

NEAT1 aggravates sepsis-induced acute kidney injury by sponging miR-22-3p.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of sepsis. Long noncoding RNA nuclear-enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) plays a vital role in various diseases, including AKI. This study aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of NEAT1 in sepsis-induced AKI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A septic AKI model was established by treating HK-2 cells with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The levels of NEAT1 and miR-22-3p were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. The levels of apoptosis-related protein and autophagy-related factors were examined by the western blot assay. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to calculate the contents of inflammatory factors. The interaction between NEAT1 and miR-22-3p was validated by dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation assay, and RNA pull-down assay. The levels of nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway-related proteins were evaluated by the western blot assay. RESULTS: NEAT1 was upregulated, while miR-22-3p was downregulated in patients with sepsis and in LPS-stimulated HK-2 cells. LPS treatment triggered cell apoptosis, autophagy, and inflammatory response in HK-2 cells. NEAT1 knockdown attenuated LPS-induced cell injury. NEAT1 modulated LPS-triggered cell injury by targeting miR-22-3p. Furthermore, NEAT1 regulated the NF-κB pathway by modulating miR-22-3p. CONCLUSION: Depletion of NEAT1 alleviated sepsis-induced AKI via regulating the miR-22-3p/NF-κB pathway.

Propofol­induced HOXA11­AS promotes proliferation, migration and invasion, but inhibits apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting miR­4458.

Propofol is a commonly used drug for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia. Previous studies have reported that propofol is involved in the progression of numerous human cancer types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms in HCC are yet to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the potential mechanism of propofol in HCC development. MTT assay, flow cytometry analysis and Transwell assays were conducted to examine cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion, respectively. Western blotting was also performed to determine the protein expression levels of Bcl­2 and cleaved­caspase 3. An in vivo experiment was performed to assess the effect of propofol on tumor growth. Moreover, reverse transcription­quantitative PCR was conducted to measure the mRNA expression levels of HOMEOBOX A11 (HOXA11) antisense RNA (HOXA11­AS) and microRNA (miR)­4458. Dual­luciferase reporter and RNA pull­down assays were performed to evaluate the target relationship between HOXA11­AS and miR­4458. It was demonstrated that propofol inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, propofol could suppress tumor growth in vivo. Propofol suppressed the expression of HOXA11­AS in HCC cells, while HOXA11­AS overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of propofol treatment on cell progression in HCC. In addition, miR­4458 was identified as a target of HOXA11­AS, and miR­4458 inhibition reversed the effect of HOXA11­AS knockdown on HCC cell progression. The results also indicated that propofol promoted the expression of miR­4458, while HOXA11­AS restored this effect in HCC. Thus, it was suggested that propofol suppressed cell progression by modulating the HOXA11­AS/miR­4458 axis in HCC.