Identification of an immune-related long noncoding RNA signature that predicts prognosis in breast cancer patients.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify an immune-related long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) signature that predicts the prognosis of breast cancer. Materials & methods: The expression profiles of breast cancer were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Cox regression analysis was used to identify an immune-related lncRNA signature. Results: The five immune-related lncRNAs could be used to construct a breast cancer survival prognosis model. The receiver operating characteristic curve evaluation found that the accuracy of the model for predicting the 1-, 3- and 5-year prognosis of breast cancer was 0.688, 0.708 and 0.686. Conclusion: This signature may have an important clinical significance for improving predictive results and guiding the treatment of breast cancer patients.

Ginkgoic acid impedes gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration and EMT through inhibiting the SUMOylation of IGF-1R.

The imbalance of SUMOylation is related to different cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). Ginkgolic acid (GA) inhibits the growth and invasion of many cancer cells, and it has been reported to restrain SUMOylation. However, the role of GA in GC and whether it functions through SUMOylation remains to be clarified. Our research revealed that GA (15:1) inhibited cell proliferation, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and overall protein SUMOylation in BGC823 and HGC27 cells. In addition, knockdown of SUMO1 (small ubiquitin-like modifier) instead of SUMO2/3 played a similar role to GA in cell behaviors. Besides, nuclear IGF-1R (insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor) expression was markedly upregulated in GC cells compared to normal gastric epithelial cells. GA prevented IGF-1R from binding to SUMO1, thereby suppressing its nuclear accumulation. Further research found that IGF-1R directly bound to SNAI2 (snail family zinc finger 2) promoter. The interference of IGF-1R downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of SNAI2, while the overexpression of SUMO1, IGF-1R and UBC9 (SUMO-conjugating enzyme) played the opposite role. Furthermore, the co-transfection of SUMO1, UBC9 and IGF-1R vectors or the overexpression of SNAI2 reversed the inhibitory effects of GA on cell proliferation, migration and EMT. Finally, GA impeded the growth of GC xenografts and decreased the expression of nuclear IGF-1R and SNAI2 in vivo. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that GA hindered the progression of GC by inhibiting the SUMOylation of IGF-1R. Thus, GA might be a promising therapeutic for GC.

Fucosyltransferase 8 expression in breast cancer patients: A high throughput tissue microarray analysis.

The aim of this study was to compare the expression of fucosyltransferase 8 (FUT8) in breast cancer tissue and to investigate the relationship between this marker with tumor progression and its applicability to differential diagnosis. An immunohistochemical study was performed for FUT8 using the tissue microarray technique. In addition, the mRNA and protein levels of FUT8 in the tissue were also tested by real-time PCR and Western blot. There was a significant difference in cytoplasmic expression of FUT8 between breast cancer tissue and matched normal tissue (p<0.001). The percent of FUT8 staining in breast cancer tissues ranging from negative, weak positive, positive and strong positive were 2.7%, 40.2%, 54% and 3.2%, respectively. High FUT8 protein expression correlated with lymphatic metastasis (p=0.008) and with stage status (p=0.039). We detected that reduced FUT8 expression correlated with disease-free survival (p=0.02) and overall survival (p=0.04) of breast cancer patients. Expression of FUT8 can stratify breast cancer tissue and may be considered a prognostic marker for breast cancer patients.

Tunable Fabrication and Optical Properties of Metal Nano Hole Arrays.

Large area polystyrene sphere (PS) arrays with different diameters were prepared by an interface self-assembly method. The inter-particle spacing of PSs was reduced by O2-plasma treatment. When O2-plasma treatment time was long enough, the space of PS arrays could be relatively large. After deposition of Au film and removing the PS masks, we obtained the Au holes arrays instead of Au triangle arrays as normal. The period and the diameter of the hole arrays can be adjusted by the PS with different size and by the O2-plasma treatment time. Then their optical property can be tuned effectively due to the surface plasmon resonance on these structures.

Graphene Plasmonic Metasurfaces to Steer Infrared Light.

Metasurfaces utilizing engineered metallic nanostructures have recently emerged as an important means to manipulate the propagation of light waves in a prescribed manner. However, conventional metallic metasurfaces mainly efficiently work in the visible and near-infrared regime, and lack sufficient tunability. In this work, combining the pronounced plasmonic resonance of patterned graphene structures with a subwavelength-thick optical cavity, we propose and demonstrate novel graphene metasurfaces that manifest the potential to dynamically control the phase and amplitude of infrared light with very high efficiency. It is shown that the phase of the infrared light reflected from a simple graphene ribbon metasurface can span over almost the entire 2π range by changing the width of the graphene ribbons, while the amplitude of the reflection can be maintained at high values without significant variations. We successfully realize anomalous reflection, reflective focusing lenses, and non-diffracting Airy beams based on graphene metasurfaces. Our results open up a new paradigm of highly integrated photonic platforms for dynamic beam shaping and adaptive optics in the crucial infrared wavelength range.

Nanostructure fabricated by nanosphere lithography assisted with O2 plasma treatment.

Nanosphere lithography is an efficient way to fabricate metallic nanostructures with large area. This paper presents the fabrication of metallic hexagonal nano-pyramid arrays by two dimensional nanospheres lithography assisted with O2 plasma treatment. By O2 plasma treatment, the gap and diameter of nanospheres can be modulated. After electron beam deposition, we can fabricate similar nanostructures with different pyramid gap distances. This method may be an easy way to modulate the geometric parameters of nanostructures.

Mode converter in metal-insulator-metal plasmonic waveguide designed by transformation optics.

A metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide can support two plasmonic modes. Efficient conversion between the two modes can be achieved by reshaping of both phase and power density distributions of the guided mode. The converters are designed with the assistance of transformation optics. We propose two practical configurations for mode conversion, which only consist of homogeneous materials yielded from linear coordinate transformations. The functionalities of the converters are demonstrated by full wave simulations. Without consideration of transmission loss, conversion efficiency of as high as 95% can be realized.

Optical properties of metal-multi-insulator-metal plasmonic waveguides.

We theoretically study the plasmonic modes in metal-multi-insulator-metal (MMIM) waveguides. Two types of symmetric MMIM structures consisting of three insulators are investigated thoroughly. The effective refractive index, energy confinement, propagation length, and figure of merit are given in terms of geometric parameters. Due to the step index modulation, these properties of MMIM structures differ from the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure. Compared with the corresponding MIM structures, MMIM structures can possess either better energy confinement or larger propagation length, which depends on the geometric parameters and the index distribution. Propagation length of up to 10(3) µm and a figure of merit of up to 10(4) are observed for MMIM structure with core thickness of several hundred nanometers.

Polarization dependence and independence of near-field enhancement through a subwavelength circle hole.

By setting a metal rod or tooth-type structures in a single subwavelength hole, its near-field can be strongly enhanced. The near-field enhancement has strong polarization dependence when the structure in hole is twofold symmetric. Only the polarization along the longitudinal side of the metal rod or tooth-type structure can lead to strongest enhancement, which is attributed to the resonance of the localized surface plasmon. However, if the structure in hole is fourfold symmetric, the near-field enhancement is free from the polarization.

Periodic dielectric bars assisted enhanced transmission and directional light emission from a single subwavelength slit.

The transmission from a single subwavelength slit in a metal film with periodic dielectric bars on its surfaces has been analyzed numerically by the finite-difference time-domain method. Results show that the role of the periodic dielectric bars is just the same as that of the periodic grooves directly on the surfaces. With the modulations of dielectric bars on the input and output surfaces of the metal film, light transmission through the subwavelength slit is enhanced extraordinarily and confined to directional emission. The CDEW model is employed to explain the mechanism of the transmission enhancement and directional emission caused by the periodic dielectric bars.

[Reconstruction of soft tissue defects in oral and maxillofacial regions after tumors surgery using cervical pedicle tissue flaps].

OBJECTIVE: To report 4 methods of reconstructing soft tissue defects in oral and maxillofacial regions after tumors resection using cervical pedicle tissue flaps. METHODS: One hundred seventy-two soft tissue defects were repaired with cervical myocutaneous flaps after resection of oral and facial cancer (165 cases of squamous cell carcinoma and 7 cases of salivary carcinoma). The clinical stage of the tumors was stage I in 21 cases, stage II in 116 cases and stage III in 35 cases. Primary sites of the lesions were the tongue (59 cases), buccal mucosa (55 cases), lower gingiva (26 cases), floor of the mouth (25 cases), parotid gland (4 cases) and oropharynx (3 cases). Infrahyoid myocutaneous flaps were used in 60 cases, platysma flaps in 45 cases, sternocleidomastoid flaps in 59 cases and submental island flaps in 8 cases. The sizes of skin paddle ranged from 2.5 cm x 5.0 cm to 5.0 cm x 8.0 cm. RESULTS: Among 153 survival flaps, there were 55 infrahyoid myocutaneous flaps, 40 platysma flaps, 52 sternocleidomastoid flaps and 6 submental island flaps. There were 11 cases of total flap necrosis and 8 cases of partial flap necrosis. The success rates were 91.67% (55/60) for infrahyoid myocutaneous flap, 88.89% (40/45) for platysma flap, 88.14% (52/59) for sternocleidomastoid flap and 75% (6/8) for submental island flap. After a follow-up of 3 11 years (5.7 years on average) among 101 cases local recurrence in 18 cases, cervical recurrence in 4 cases, distance metastasis in 2 cases. The survival rate at 3 years were 83.17% (84/101). CONCLUSION: Cervical pedicle tissue flaps have clinical value in reconstruction of small and medium-sized soft tissue defects after resection of oral and maxillofacial tumors.

Enhanced light transmission through a single subwavelength aperture in layered films consisting of metal and dielectric.

The light transmission through a single subwavelength aperture surrounded by periodic grooves in layered films consisting of Ag and transparent dielectric is analyzed numerically by finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. Results show that the transmission through the aperture in the composite films is strongly enhanced by the modulation of grooves on the transparent dielectric. Two models are employed to explain the mechanisms of transmission enhancement.