Early detection and prognosis evaluation for hepatocellular carcinoma by circulating tumour DNA methylation: A multicentre cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can significantly improve patient survival. We aimed to develop a blood-based assay to aid in the diagnosis, detection and prognostic evaluation of HCC. METHODS: A three-phase multicentre study was conducted to screen, optimise and validate HCC-specific differentially methylated regions (DMRs) using next-generation sequencing and quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP). RESULTS: Genome-wide methylation profiling was conducted to identify DMRs distinguishing HCC tumours from peritumoural tissues and healthy plasmas. The twenty most effective DMRs were verified and incorporated into a multilocus qMSP assay (HepaAiQ). The HepaAiQ model was trained to separate 293 HCC patients (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0/A, 224) from 266 controls including chronic hepatitis B (CHB) or liver cirrhosis (LC) (CHB/LC, 96), benign hepatic lesions (BHL, 23), and healthy controls (HC, 147). The model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.944 with a sensitivity of 86.0% in HCC and a specificity of 92.1% in controls. Blind validation of the HepaAiQ model in a cohort of 523 participants resulted in an AUC of 0.940 with a sensitivity of 84.4% in 205 HCC cases (BCLC stage 0/A, 167) and a specificity of 90.3% in 318 controls (CHB/LC, 100; BHL, 102; HC, 116). When evaluated in an independent test set, the HepaAiQ model exhibited a sensitivity of 70.8% in 65 HCC patients at BCLC stage 0/A and a specificity of 89.5% in 124 patients with CHB/LC. Moreover, HepaAiQ model was assessed in paired pre- and postoperative plasma samples from 103 HCC patients and correlated with 2-year patient outcomes. Patients with high postoperative HepaAiQ score showed a higher recurrence risk (Hazard ratio, 3.33, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: HepaAiQ, a noninvasive qMSP assay, was developed to accurately measure HCC-specific DMRs and shows great potential for the diagnosis, detection and prognosis of HCC, benefiting at-risk populations.

Construction of Covalent Organic Frameworks via a Visible-Light-Activated Photocatalytic Multicomponent Reaction.

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs), as a powerful one-pot combinatorial synthesis tool, have been recently applied to the synthesis of covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Compared with the thermally driven MCRs, the photocatalytic MCR-based COF synthesis has not yet been investigated. Herein, we first report the construction of COFs by a photocatalytic multicomponent reaction. Upon visible-light irradiation, a series of COFs with excellent crystallinity, stability, and permanent porosity are successfully synthesized via photoredox-catalyzed multicomponent Petasis reaction under ambient conditions. Additionally, the obtained Cy-N3-COF exhibits excellent photoactivity and recyclability for the visible-light-driven oxidative hydroxylation of arylboronic acids. The concept of photocatalytic multicomponent polymerization not only enriches the methodology for COF synthesis but also opens a new avenue for the construction of COFs that might not be possible with the existing synthetic methods based on thermally driven MCRs.

In situ utilization of photogenerated hydrogen for hydrogenation reaction over a covalent organic framework.

A fully sp2-carbon conjugated COF (Py-FTP-COF) was designed and synthesized, exhibiting excellent hydrogen evolution rate of 5.22 mmol g-1 h-1. More importantly, in situ hydrogenation of nitroarenes under visible-light irradiation without any additional hydrogen source was successfully accomplished for the first time over COF-based materials.

Rational design of benzodifuran-functionalized donor-acceptor covalent organic frameworks for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water.

A benzodifuran-based donor-acceptor covalent organic framework was synthesized and employed for efficient simulated sunlight-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water, which exhibited a superior and steady hydrogen evolution rate of 1390 µmol g-1 h-1 and an outstanding apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 7.8% was obtained at 420 nm.

Structural determination of two new triterpenoid saponins acylated with monoterpenic acid from Gymnocladus chinensis Baill.

Two new triterpenoid saponins acylated with monoterpenic acid, 2ß,23-dihydroxy-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-21-O-{(6S)-2-trans-2,6-dimethyl-6-O-[3-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-4-O-(2-methylbutanoyl)-ß-L-arabinopyranosyl]-2,7-octadienoyl)-acacic acid 28-O-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 3)]-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)]-ß-D-glucopyranosyl ester and 2ß,23-dihydroxy-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-21-O-{(6S)-2-trans-2,6-dimethyl-6-O-[4-O-((6S)-2-trans-2,6-dimethyl-6-O-(ß-L-arabinopyranosyl)-2,7-octadienoyl)]-ß-L-arabinopyranosyl]-2,7-octadienoyl}-acacic acid 28-O-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 3)]-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)]-ß-D-glucopyranosyl ester were isolated from the fruit of Gymnocladus chinensis Baill. and the structural elucidation of both the compounds was accomplished by extensive studies of their spectroscopic (1D and 2D NMR, TOF-MS, QFT-MS) and chemical methods.

Three triterpenoid saponins acylated with monoterpenic acid from Gymnocladus chinensis.

A new triterpenoid saponin acylated with monoterpenic acid, together with two known triterpenoid saponins, has been isolated from the fruit of Gymnocladus chinensis Baill. Their structures were elucidated as 2ß,23-dihydroxy-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-21-O-{(6S)-2-trans-2,6-dimethyl-6-O-[3-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-4-O-((6S)-2-trans-2,6-dimethyl-6-hydroxy-2,7-octadienoyl)-ß-L-arabinopyranosyl]-2,7-octadienoyl}-acacic acid 28-O-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)]-ß-D-glucopyranosyl ester (1), gymnocladus saponin E (2), and gymnocladus saponin F(2) (3).