Essential oils with anti-breast cancer activities from Aralia chinensis L. (roots, stems, and leaves) via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses and molecular docking.

Aralia chinensis L. is a traditional Miao ethnic medicine known for its pain and inflammation relief and its ability to dispel wind and dampness. This study aimed to assess its antitumour activity and identify the chemical constituents of A. chinensis essential oils. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyse the volatile oil composition, which identified 35, 35, and 24 constituents in essential oils from roots, stems, and leaves, respectively. Network pharmacology predicted the possible key targets of common components in breast-cancer treatment, which revealed AKT1, SRC, EGFR, STAT3, and MAPK3 as high-priority targets with high active-constituent affinity. CCK-8 assay confirmed the inhibitory effect of the essential oils on MCF-7 breast-cancer cells, with oils from Aralia rhizomes, stems, and leaves inhibiting cell viability by 77%, 64%, and 62%, respectively. The active components of Aralia essential oils show promise for breast-cancer treatment by targeting AKT1, SRC, EGFR, and other key factors.

Development and Characterization of Bio-Based Formaldehyde Free Sucrose-Based Adhesive for Fabrication of Plywood.

In order to solve the problem of excessive consumption of petrochemical resources and the harm of free formaldehyde release to human health, biomass raw materials, such as sucrose (S) and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) can be chemically condensed in a simple route under acidic conditions to produce a formaldehyde free wood adhesive (S-ADP), characterized by good storage stability and water resistance, and higher wet shear strength with respect to petroleum based phenolic resin adhesive. The dry and boiling shear strength of the plywood based on S-ADP adhesive are as high as 1.05 MPa and 1.19 MPa, respectively. Moreover, is Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) is as high as 4910 MPa. Interestingly, the plywood based on the developed S-ADP adhesive exhibited good flame retardancy. After burning for 90 s, its shape remains unchanged. Meanwhile, it can be concluded from thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) that the S-ADP acquired excellent modulus of elasticity (MOE) and good thermal stability. It is thus thought promisingly that the use of S-ADP adhesive as a substitute for PF resin adhesive seems feasible in the near future.

TCP10L negatively regulates alpha-fetoprotein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is one of the most commonly used and reliable biomarkers for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the underlying mechanism of AFP expression in HCC is poorly understood. In this study, we found that TCP10L, a gene specifically expressed in the liver, is down-regulated in HCC and that its expression inversely correlates with AFP expression. Moreover, overexpression of TCP10L suppresses AFP expression whereas knockdown of TCP10L increases AFP expression, suggesting that TCP10L might be a negative regulator of AFP. We found that TCP10L is associated with the AFP promoter and inhibits AFP promoter-driven transcriptional activity. Taken together, these results indicate that TCP10L negatively regulates AFP expression in HCC and that it could be a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for HCC. [BMB Reports 2020; 53(8): 431-436].

Double-passage ground-state cooling induced by quantum interference in the hybrid optomechanical system.

We propose a quantum interference cooling scheme for a nano-mechanical resonator (NAMR) in a hybrid optomechanical system. In our scheme, atoms are trapped in an optomechanical cavity, and this optomechanical cavity interacts both atoms and an optical cavity. Therefore, the absorption of the optomechanical resonator can be modified by quantum interference effects induced by the atom-cavity and cavity-cavity couplings. With the modification of the quantum interference, the desired transition for cooling is enhanced, while the undesired transition for heating can be suppressed. As a result, the NAMR vibration can be cooled down to its ground state. Particularly, with the assistance of the atoms, the experimental difficulty can be reduced since the effective decay rate of the cavity can be decreased via the quantum interference for the atom-cavity coupling.