Solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 4A1 promotes colorectal cancer progression and is regulated by miR-1224-5p.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors, and pharmacological treatments of CRC are unsatisfactory. Increasing evidence shows that solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 4A1 (SLCO4A1) is abnormally expressed in numerous cancer types and may be correlated with cancer development and metastasis. However, the roles of SLCO4A1 in CRC are incompletely understood. This study utilized the GSE110224 dataset and other databases to analyze SLCO4A1 expression levels in CRC tissues. The expression levels of SLCO4A1 in CRC cell lines were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The roles of SLCO4A1 in CRC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition were assessed. The interaction between SLCO4A1 and microRNA-1224-5p was verified using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. The effect of SLCO4A1 in vivo was investigated using a BALB/c mouse model. The level of SLCO4A1 expression was increased in CRC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, high SLCO4A1 expression was positively associated with a poor prognosis. The results of gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that SLCO4A1 knockdown suppressed CRC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition while SLCO4A1 overexpression had opposite effects in vitro. Furthermore, SLCO4A1 knockdown could suppress tumor growth in vivo. Further analyses showed that SLCO4A1 was downregulated by miR-1224-5p. Rescue experiments confirmed that SLCO4A1 reversed the effect of miR-1224-5p on cell function. These results suggested that SLCO4A1 acted as an oncogene to regulate CRC development and was a potential target for CRC treatment.

Ecological risk and pollution history of heavy metals in Nansha mangrove, South China.

Owing to the Industrial Revolution in the late 1970s, heavy metal pollution has been regarded as a serious threat to mangrove ecosystems in the region of the Pearl River Estuary, potentially affecting human health. The present study attempted to characterize the ecological risk of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in Nansha mangrove, South China, by estimating their concentrations in the surface sediment. In addition, the pollution history of heavy metals was examined by determining the concentrations of heavy metals along the depth gradient. The phytoremediation potential of heavy metals by the dominant plants in Nansha mangrove, namely Sonneratia apetala and Cyperus malaccensis, was also studied. Results found that the surface sediment was severely contaminated with heavy metals, probably due to the discharge of industrial sewage into the Pearl River Estuary. Spatial variation of heavy metals was generally unobvious. The ecological risk of heavy metals was very high, largely due to Cd contamination. All heavy metals, except Mn, decreased with depth, indicating that heavy metal pollution has been deteriorating since 1979. Worse still, the dominant plants in Nansha mangrove had limited capability to remove the heavy metals from sediment. Therefore, we propose that immediate actions, such as regulation of discharge standards of industrial sewage, should be taken by the authorities concerned to mitigate the ecological risk posed by heavy metals.

Evaluation of an Exclusive Spur Dike U-Turn Design with Radar-Collected Data and Simulation.

Traditional U-turn designs can improve operational features obviously, while U-turn diversions and merge segments still cause traffic congestion, conflicts, and delays. An exclusive spur dike U-turn lane design (ESUL) is proposed here to solve the disadvantages of traditional U-turn designs. To evaluate the operation performance of ESUL, a traffic simulation protocol is needed. The whole simulation process includes five steps: data collection, data analysis, simulation model build, simulation calibration, and sensitive analysis. Data collection and simulation model build are two critical steps and are described later in greater detail. Three indexes (travel time, delay, and number of stops) are commonly used in the evaluation, and other parameters can be measured from the simulation according to experimental needs. The results show that the ESUL significantly diminishes the disadvantages of traditional U-turn designs. The simulation can be applied to solve microscopic traffic problems, such as in single or several adjacent intersections or short segments. This method is not suitable for larger scale road networks or evaluations without data collection.

Biological risk and pollution history of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Nansha mangrove, South China.

Chinese government has taken various measures to alleviate pollution caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the region of Pearl River Delta since the economic reform in 1978, but the effectiveness of these measures remains largely unknown. This study aimed to elucidate the biological risk and pollution history of PAHs by measuring the concentrations of 28 PAHs in the surface and core sediments, respectively, in Nansha mangrove. Results found that the biological risk of PAHs was low without obvious spatial variation. The PAH concentration along the depth gradient indicated that PAH pollution was stabilized since the early 1990s while the source of PAHs has gradually changed from combustion of coal to petroleum products. This implied that the mitigation measures taken by the Chinese government were effective. Compared to marine bottom sediment, we propose that using mangrove sediment can provide a more accurate and precise estimate of pollution history of PAHs.

Induction of neutralizing antibodies against four serotypes of dengue viruses by MixBiEDIII, a tetravalent dengue vaccine.

The worldwide expansion of four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV) poses great risk to global public health. Several vaccine candidates are under development. However, none is yet available for humans. In the present study, a novel strategy to produce tetravalent DENV vaccine based on envelope protein domain III (EDIII) was proposed. Tandem EDIIIs of two serotypes (type 1-2 and type 3-4) of DENV connected by a Gly-Ser linker ((Gly4Ser)3) were expressed in E. coli, respectively. Then, the two bivalent recombinant EDIIIs were equally mixed to form the tetravalent vaccine candidate MixBiEDIII, and used to immunize BALB/c mice. The results showed that specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies against all four serotypes of DENV were successfully induced in the MixBiEDIII employing Freund adjuvant immunized mice. Furthermore, in the suckling mouse model, sera from mice immunized with MixBiEDIII provided significant protection against four serotypes of DENV challenge. Our data demonstrated that MixBiEDIII, as a novel form of subunit vaccine candidates, might have the potential to be further developed as a tetravalent dengue vaccine in the near future.