Ionic Liquid Bridge Assisting Bifacial Defect Passivation for Efficient All-Inorganic Perovskite Cells with High Open-Circuit Voltage.

Serious open-circuit voltage (Voc) loss originating from nonradiative recombination and mismatch energy level at TiO2/perovskite buried interface dramatically limits the photovoltaic performance of all-inorganic CsPbIxBr3-x (x = 1, 2) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) fabricated through low-temperature methods. Here, an ionic liquid (IL) bridge is constructed by introducing 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (BMIMAc) IL to treat the TiO2/perovskite buried interface, bilaterally passivate defects and modulate energy alignment. Therefore, the Voc of all-inorganic CsPbIBr2 PSCs modified by BMIMAc (Target-1) significantly increases by 148 mV (from 1.213 to 1.361 V), resulting in the efficiency increasing to 10.30% from 7.87%. Unsealed Target-1 PSCs show outstanding long-term and thermal stability. During the accelerated degradation process (85 °C, RH: 50∼60%), the Target-1 PSCs achieve a champion PCE of 11.94% with a remarkable Voc of 1.403 V, while the control PSC yields a promising PCE of 10.18% with a Voc of 1.319 V. In particular, the Voc of 1.403 V is the highest Voc reported so far in carbon-electrode-based CsPbIBr2 PSCs. Moreover, this strategy enables the modified all-inorganic CsPbI2Br PSCs to achieve a Voc of 1.295 V and a champion efficiency of 15.20%, which is close to the reported highest PCE of 15.48% for all-inorganic CsPbI2Br PSCs prepared by a low-temperature process. This study provides a simple BMIMAc IL bridge to assist bifacial defect passivation and elevate the photovoltaic performance of all-inorganic CsPbIxBr3-x (x = 1, 2) PSCs.

Elucidating the Associated Biological Function and Clinical Significance of RHOJ Expression in Urothelial Carcinoma.

Urothelial cancer, a common urinary system malignancy, often presents treatment challenges due to metastasis and chemotherapy side effects. Angiogenesis, crucial for tumor growth, has become a target for drug development. This study explores the expression, prognostic value, and clinical correlation of RHOJ in the TCGA BLCA, GSE31684, and GSE32894 datasets. We identify common differentially expressed genes across these databases and utilize g:Profiler and Cytoscape ClueGO for functional assessment. Further, we perform a gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) using Hallmark gene sets and use the imsig package for immune cell infiltration analysis. Our analysis indicates that RHOJ expression levels significantly impact survival rates, tumor progression, and immune response in urothelial tumors. High RHOJ expression correlated with poor prognosis, advanced disease stages, and an increase in monocyte population within the tumor microenvironment. This aligns with current literature indicating a key role of immune infiltration in bladder cancer progression and treatment response. Moreover, the GSEA and imsig results further suggest a potential mechanistic link between RHOJ expression and immune-related pathways. Considering the increasing emphasis on immunotherapeutic strategies in bladder cancer management, our findings on RHOJ's potential as a diagnostic biomarker and its association with immune response open new avenues for therapeutic interventions.

Profiling of miRNAs and their interfering targets in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Introduction: MicroRNAs may be implicated in the acquisition of drug resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia as they regulate the expression of not only BCR-ABL1 but also genes associated with the activation of drug transfer proteins or essential signaling pathways. Methods: To understand the impact of specifically expressed miRNAs in chronic myeloid leukemia and their target genes, we collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and healthy donors to determine whole miRNA expression by small RNA sequencing and screened out 31 differentially expressed microRNAs (DE-miRNAs) with high expression. With the utilization of miRNA set enrichment analysis tools, we present here a comprehensive analysis of the relevance of DE-miRNAs to disease and biological function. Furthermore, the literature-based miRNA-target gene database was used to analyze the overall target genes of the DE-miRNAs and to define their associated biological responses. We further integrated DE-miRNA target genes to identify CML miRNA targeted gene signature singscore (CMTGSS) and used gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to analyze the correlation between CMTGSS and Hallmark gene-sets in PBMC samples from clinical CML patients. Finally, the association of CMTGSS stratification with multiple CML cell lineage gene sets was validated in PBMC samples from CML patients using GSEA. Results: Although individual miRNAs have been reported to have varying degrees of impact on CML, overall, our results show that abnormally upregulated miRNAs are associated with apoptosis and aberrantly downregulated miRNAs are associated with cell cycle. The clinical database shows that our defined DE-miRNAs are associated with the prognosis of CML patients. CMTGSS-based stratification analysis presented a tendency for miRNAs to affect cell differentiation in the blood microenvironment. Conclusion: Collectively, this study defined differentially expressed miRNAs by miRNA sequencing from clinical samples and comprehensively analyzed the biological functions of the differential miRNAs in association with the target genes. The analysis of the enrichment of specific myeloid differentiated cells and immune cells also suggests the magnitude and potential targets of differentially expressed miRNAs in the clinical setting. It helps us to make links between the different results obtained from the multi-faceted studies to provide more potential research directions.

Gene expression profiling identifies the role of Zac1 in cervical cancer metastasis.

The zinc-finger protein which regulates apoptosis and cell cycle arrest 1 (Zac1), encoded by Plagl1 gene, is a seven-zinc-finger containing transcription factor belonging to the imprinted genome and is expressed in diverse types of embryonic and adult human tissues. Zac1 is postulated to be a tumor suppressor by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through interacting and modulating transcriptional activity of p53 as it was named. Correspondingly, the reduction or loss of Zac1 expression is associated with the incidence and progression of several human tumors, including cervical cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, pituitary tumors, and basal cell carcinoma, implying the rationality of utilizing Zac1 expression as novel a biomarker for the evaluation of cervical cancer prognosis. However, to date, it has not been elucidated whether Zac1 expression is related to the prognosis of patients in clinical cervical cancer tumor samples. To address the questions outlined above, we report here a comprehensive investigation of Zac1 expression in biopsies of clinical cervical carcinoma. By analyzing Zac1 expression in various gene expression profiling of cervical cancer databases, we show the association between high Zac1 expression and poor prognosis of cervical cancer. Functional enrichment analysis showed that high Zac1 expression was associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which was further observed in clinical characteristics and metastatic carcinoma samples using immunohistochemical staining. Correspondingly, hypomethylation of CpG island on Zac1 promoter was observed in samples with high Zac1 expression in cervical carcinoma. Finally, overexpression of Zac1 in a variety of cervical cancer cell lines increase their mesenchymal biomarker expression and migration, strengthening the correlation between cervical cancers with high Zac1 expression and metastasis in clinical. In summary, this research firstly revealed that identifying Zac1 expression or the methylation status of CpG site on Zac1 promoter may provide us with novel indicators for the evaluation of cervical cancer metastasis.

Up-conversion luminescence, thermometry, and optical heating properties of Er3+- and Yb3+-doped K2LaNb5O15 submicro-particles synthesized by a simple molten salt method.

A series of Er3+- and Yb3+-doped K2LaNb5O15 (KLN:xEr3+/Yb3+) up-conversion (UC) submicro-particles have been synthesized for the first time by a simple and low-cost molten salt (MS) approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed to analyze the phase and structure, and the prepared KLN:xEr3+/Yb3+ samples exhibited a single phase tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) structure. The morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and submicro-rod-like particles were obtained for all samples. Under 980 nm excitation, KLN:xEr3+/Yb3+ emitted bright green and weak red emissions which arose from the intra-4f transitions of Er3+ ions. The UC emission intensities and RR/G (the intensity ratio between red and green emissions) were disclosed to be tightly dependent on the Yb3+ ion concentration, and the involved UC luminescence mechanism was studied. Meanwhile, the slope of log I-log P plots displayed an evident reduction with a Ts (sintering temperature) increase, which was ascribed to the saturation effect coming from the competition between UC processes and linear decay. Furthermore, temperature-dependent UC behavior and temperature sensing properties of KLN:xEr3+/Yb3+ were probed based on the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) technique of UC green emission. The maximum sensor sensitivity (S) of KLN:0.04Er3+/Yb3+ (Ts = 900 °C) and KLN:0.16Er3+/Yb3+ (Ts = 900 °C) was determined to be as high as 10.90 × 10-3 and 12.27 × 10-3 K-1, respectively. We also showed that the particle size has an evident influence on S, which can be qualitatively interpreted by J-O theory. Thermal-cycling measurements were conducted at different temperatures, and good reliability and repeatability were confirmed. In addition, an obvious optical heating effect was also realized and the variation of temperature induced with a laser was about 32 K. These results reveal that KLN:xEr3+/Yb3+ submicroparticles with high sensor sensitivity and an obvious laser-induced thermal effect are suitable for future optical thermometers and optical heaters.

Expression system for structural and functional studies of human glycosylation enzymes.

Vertebrate glycoproteins and glycolipids are synthesized in complex biosynthetic pathways localized predominantly within membrane compartments of the secretory pathway. The enzymes that catalyze these reactions are exquisitely specific, yet few have been extensively characterized because of challenges associated with their recombinant expression as functional products. We used a modular approach to create an expression vector library encoding all known human glycosyltransferases, glycoside hydrolases, and sulfotransferases, as well as other glycan-modifying enzymes. We then expressed the enzymes as secreted catalytic domain fusion proteins in mammalian and insect cell hosts, purified and characterized a subset of the enzymes, and determined the structure of one enzyme, the sialyltransferase ST6GalNAcII. Many enzymes were produced at high yields and at similar levels in both hosts, but individual protein expression levels varied widely. This expression vector library will be a transformative resource for recombinant enzyme production, broadly enabling structure-function studies and expanding applications of these enzymes in glycochemistry and glycobiology.

Unusual lower back pain with monocytosis: A case report.

There are numerous causes of lower back pain. In the oncological setting, spine metastasis from a solid tumor is the most common. However, hematological disorders should also be taken into consideration. The current study presents a case of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia with the initial presentation of chronic lower back pain, followed by symptoms that included urinary retention, stool incontinence and left gum swelling, in a patient who was eventually diagnosed with granulocytic sarcoma (GS) over the sacral region. GS is a rare presentation of a tumor consisting of extramedullary leukemic infiltrations, which develop at different sites and cause different symptoms. Prompt and correct diagnosis of this type of disease may be crucial to improve the survival outcome by the early initiation of adequate treatment.

Discrimination index of microcytic anemia in young soldiers: a single institutional analysis.

BACKGROUND: The common differential diagnosis of microcytic anemia in young Asian men includes iron deficiency anemia (IDA), α-thalassemia (αT) and ß-thalassemia (ßT). In this study, we aimed to distinguish between these diseases in a distinct population of young men using a specific index. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the laboratory data of young men with microcytic anemia. The clinical, characteristic and laboratory data, including complete blood cell counts, serum ferritin and hemoglobin electrophoresis results, were collected; genomic DNA mutations were also evaluated. Based on these data, ten discrimination indices were used to differentiate thalassemia from IDA. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, Youden's index and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were also calculated. RESULTS: A total of 877 patients (92 patients with IDA, 332 with αT and 453 with ßT) were enrolled; the Shine and Lal (S&L) formula was the best method with which to discriminate IDA from thalassemia (100% sensitivity, 91% specificity). The new cut-off values were evaluated, and the approaches used in our study cohort, particularly the Green & King (G&K) formula, significantly increased the accuracies of red cell distribution width-containing indices (cut-off value: 58.66; 89.62% sensitivity and 96.2% specificity; AUC: 0.9716). In addition, when applied properly, these indices could differentiate IDA patients from αT patients, especially Huber-Herklotz index (HH). CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity and specificity differed among ethnic and age groups. We concluded that when using the original cut-off value, the S&L formula was the best discriminating index for differentiating between IDA and thalassemia in young Asian men. However, when using the G&K formula, the newly obtained cut-off value must be applied to increase accuracy based on the results from our cohort.

ETMB-RBF: discrimination of metal-binding sites in electron transporters based on RBF networks with PSSM profiles and significant amino acid pairs.

BACKGROUND: Cellular respiration is the process by which cells obtain energy from glucose and is a very important biological process in living cell. As cells do cellular respiration, they need a pathway to store and transport electrons, the electron transport chain. The function of the electron transport chain is to produce a trans-membrane proton electrochemical gradient as a result of oxidation-reduction reactions. In these oxidation-reduction reactions in electron transport chains, metal ions play very important role as electron donor and acceptor. For example, Fe ions are in complex I and complex II, and Cu ions are in complex IV. Therefore, to identify metal-binding sites in electron transporters is an important issue in helping biologists better understand the workings of the electron transport chain. METHODS: We propose a method based on Position Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM) profiles and significant amino acid pairs to identify metal-binding residues in electron transport proteins. RESULTS: We have selected a non-redundant set of 55 metal-binding electron transport proteins as our dataset. The proposed method can predict metal-binding sites in electron transport proteins with an average 10-fold cross-validation accuracy of 93.2% and 93.1% for metal-binding cysteine and histidine, respectively. Compared with the general metal-binding predictor from A. Passerini et al., the proposed method can improve over 9% of sensitivity, and 14% specificity on the independent dataset in identifying metal-binding cysteines. The proposed method can also improve almost 76% sensitivity with same specificity in metal-binding histidine, and MCC is also improved from 0.28 to 0.88. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a novel approach based on PSSM profiles and significant amino acid pairs for identifying metal-binding sites from electron transport proteins. The proposed approach achieved a significant improvement with independent test set of metal-binding electron transport proteins.

Imaging and measuring single-molecule interaction between a carbohydrate-binding module and natural plant cell wall cellulose.

The affinitive interaction between a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM3a) and natural crystalline cellulose was visualized and measured at the single-molecule level. Noncontact high resolution imaging by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to follow the binding process, in real time, of CBM3a-functionalized 6 nm gold nanoparticles (GNPs) to the cell wall polymers on poplar stem sections. The GNP-CBM3a complexes were found to bind to the cellulose surface, closely aligning along the cellulose fibril axis. The binding details were further confirmed and studied by single-molecule recognition imaging and AFM single-molecule dynamic force spectroscopy (SMDFS) using a CBM3a-functionalized AFM tip. The unbinding force was measured to be 44.96 ± 18.80 pN under a loading rate of 67.2 nN/s. This research provides a radical method for the study of single-molecule affinity between CBM and cellulose that is critical to the engineering of novel cellulolytic enzymes.

A Cdc42 ortholog is required for penetration and virulence of Magnaporthe grisea.

Cdc42, a member of the Rho-family small GTP-binding proteins, is a pivotal signaling switch that cycles between active GTP-bound and inactive GDP-bound forms, controlling actin cytoskeleton organization and cell polarity. In this report, we show that MgCdc42, a Cdc42 ortholog in Magnaporthe grisea, is required for its plant penetration. Consequently, the deletion mutants show dramatically decreased virulence to rice due to the arrest of penetration and infectious growth, which may be attributed to the defect of turgor and superoxide generation during the appressorial development in Mgcdc42 deletion mutants. In addition, the mutants also exhibit pleotropic defects including gherkin-shaped conidia, delayed germination as well as decreased sporulation. Furthermore, dominant negative mutation leads to a similar phenotype to that of the deletion mutants, lending further support to the conclusion that MgCdc42 is required for the penetration and virulence of M. grisea.

Identification of an endo-beta-1,4-D-xylanase from Magnaporthe grisea by gene knockout analysis, purification, and heterologous expression.

Magnaporthe grisea, a destructive ascomycetous pathogen of rice, secretes cell wall-degrading enzymes into a culture medium containing purified rice cell walls as the sole carbon source. From M. grisea grown under the culture conditions described here, we have identified an expressed sequenced tag, XYL-6, a gene that is also expressed in M. grisea-infected rice leaves 24 h postinoculation with conidia. This gene encodes a protein about 65% similar to endo-beta-1,4-D-glycanases within glycoside hydrolase family GH10. A M. grisea knockout mutant for XYL-6 was created, and it was shown to be as virulent as the parent strain in infecting the rice host. The proteins secreted by the parent strain and by the xyl-6Delta mutant were each fractionated by liquid chromatography, and the collected fractions were assayed for endo-beta-1,4-D-glucanase or endo-beta-1,4-D-xylanase activities. Two protein-containing peaks with endo-beta-1,4-D-xylanase activity secreted by the parent strain are not detectable in the column eluant of the proteins secreted by the mutant. The two endoxylanases (XYL-6alpha and XYL-6beta) from the parent were each purified to homogeneity. N-terminal amino acid sequencing indicated that XYL-6alpha is a fragment of XYL-6beta and that XYL-6beta is identical to the deduced protein sequence encoded by the XYL-6 gene. Finally, XYL-6 was introduced into Pichia pastoris for heterologous expression, which resulted in the purification of a fusion protein, XYL-6H, from the Pichia pastoris culture filtrate. XYL-6H is active in cleaving arabinoxylan. These experiments unequivocally established that the XYL-6 gene encodes a secreted endo-beta-1,4-D-xylanase.