ETV5 facilitates tumor progression in head-neck squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: E26 transformation-specific (ETS) factors have emerged as key mediators underlying human tumorigenesis. Here, we sought to characterize the expression pattern, biological roles, and clinical significance of ETS Variant Transcription Factor 5 (ETV5) in head neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: ETV5 expression pattern in HNSCC was determined by bioinformatics interrogations and immunohistochemical staining in primary samples. The associations between its abundance with clinicopathological parameters, and patient survival were evaluated. Colony formation, CCK-8, flow cytometry, wound healing, and Transwell invasion assays, as well as xenograft models, were utilized to determine the phenotypic changes after ETV5 silencing in vitro and vivo. The potential binding of ETV5 in the Slug promoter was determined by ChIP-qPCR. RESULTS: ETV5 was significantly overexpressed in HNSCC samples. Its overexpression is significantly associated with aggressiveness features and reduced survival. ETV5 knockdown significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and induced apoptosis in vitro, and impaired tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, ETV5-activated Slug transcription by binding its promoter region in HNSCC cells. Patients with ETV5high Slughigh had the worst survival across multiple HNSCC cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that ETV5 serves as a novel prognostic biomarker and putative oncogene for HNSCC progression likely by activating Slug transcription.

HMGA2-Snai2 axis regulates tumorigenicity and stemness of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a tumorigenic cell subpopulation, which contributes to treatment resistance, tumor recurrence, and metastasis. This study aimed to investigate the role and underlying molecular targets of high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) in the progression and CSCs regulation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). HMGA2 mRNA and protein expression levels were examined in HNSCC specimens and cells by qRT-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. The roles of HMGA2 were validated via loss-of-function and exogenous overexpression experiments in vitro and in vivo, and CSCs properties were assessed by tumorsphere formation assay. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and luciferase reporter assays provided further insight into the molecular mechanisms by which HMGA2 regulates stemness. HMGA2 was abnormally overexpressed in HNSCC, and it promoted the expression of the CSCs markers including SOX2, CD133, CD44, ALDH1A1, and Bmi1. HMGA2 was correlated with stemness, malignant progression, and reduced survival in HNSCC. Luciferase reporter assay indicated that Snai2 was a direct downstream target gene of HMGA2. Mechanistically, ChIP-qPCR assay showed that HMGA2 was recruited to three binding sites on the Snai2 promoter, directly facilitating the transcription of Snai2 in HNSCC. Snai2 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of HMGA2 interference on the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of HNSCC and CSC marker expression in vitro and in vivo. HMGA2 promoted the malignant progression of HNSCC and acquired CSCs properties through direct regulation of Snai2, thereby suggesting that targeting the HMGA2-Snai2 axis might be a promising therapeutic strategy for HNSCC.

Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Filled with Foundry Waste Derived Fillers.

The main aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of applying foundry dust (FD) derived filler for the preparation of natural rubber (NR) based composites by characterizing the mechanical properties. The as-received FD was processed via a simple and low-cost procedure, including sieving, deironing and milling using a variety of industrial equipment. FD powders before and after silane coupling agent (Si 69) modification were used as fillers for NR. NR composites inserted with different content of modified and unmodified FD up to 50 phr were prepared via dry-mixing method. Then, comprehensive mechanical performances were performed on the corresponding vulcanizates. It was demonstrated that NR composite filled with 50 phr of modified FD exhibited optimized comprehensive mechanical performance. Tear strength and hardness is increased by 21.3% and 12.8% than pure NR, respectively. Tensile strength is reduced by 21% and elongation at break remained nearly unchanged. Additionally, the composite showed a large increment of 50.9% for its wet grip property, while exhibited an increment of only 11.9% for its rolling resistance in comparison with the composite containing 10 phr of FD. The findings of this study may provide a new application area for the large amounts of utilization of foundry waste with a high level of value being added.

Effect of different phosphorus concentrations on biodiesel production from Isochrysis zhangjiangensis under nitrogen sufficiency or deprivation condition.

The effects of two nitrogen (N) concentrations combining with three phosphorus (P) concentrations on Isochrysis zhangjiangensis growth and formation of fatty acid (FA) were investigated in this study. Biomass concentration, mass fraction, and productivity of FA in I. zhangjiangensis were low in N-deprived media. Under both N and P sufficiency conditions, the intake of P and N was 40 times and 4.7 times of the normal algal growth condition, respectively, indicating I. zhangjiangensis had the potential for removing P and N from high concentrated N and P salinity wastewater. This study also showed that P deficiency in N sufficient medium increased the FA content, however, the difference between P limitation and P deprivation was not significant (P > 0.05). In N sufficient and P limitation medium, FA productivity was the highest, with a composition suitable for biofuel, so, this condition was the optimal condition for biodiesel production from I. zhangjiangensis.

Enhancement of acetate productivity in a thermophilic (55 °C) hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactor with mixed culture syngas (H2/CO2) fermentation.

Conversion of organic wastes to syngas is an attractive way to utilize wastes. The produced syngas can be further used to produce a variety of chemicals. In this study, a hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactor with mix cultures was operated at 55 °C to convert syngas (H2/CO2) into acetate. A high concentration of acetate (42.4 g/L) was reached in batch experiment while a maximum acetate production rate of 10.5 g/L/day was achieved in the continuous-flow mode at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day. Acetate was the main product in both batch and continuous-flow experiments. n-Butyrate was the other byproduct in the reactor. Acetate accounted for more than 98.5 and 99.1% of total volatile fatty acids in batch and continuous modes, respectively. Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing results showed that microorganisms were highly purified and enriched in the reactor. The main genus was Thermoanaerobacterium (66% of relative abundance), which was usually considered as H2 producer in the literature, however, likely played a role as a H2 consumer in this study. This study provides a new method to generate the high producing rate and purity of acetate from syngas.

Role of sufficient phosphorus in biodiesel production from diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

In order to study the role of sufficient phosphorus (P) in biodiesel production by microalgae, Phaeodactylum tricornutum were cultivated in six different media treatments with combination of nitrogen (N) sufficiency/deprivation and phosphorus sufficiency/limitation/deprivation. Profiles of N and P, biomass, and fatty acids (FAs) content and compositions were measured during a 7-day cultivation period. The results showed that the FA content in microalgae biomass was promoted by P deprivation. However, statistical analysis showed that FA productivity had no significant difference (p = 0.63, >0.05) under the treatments of N deprivation with P sufficiency (N-P) and N deprivation with P deprivation (N-P-), indicating P sufficiency in N deprivation medium has little effect on increasing biodiesel productivity from P. triornutum. It was also found that the P absorption in N-P medium was 1.41 times higher than that in N sufficiency and P sufficiency (NP) medium. N deprivation with P limitation (N-P-l) was the optimal treatment for producing biodiesel from P. triornutum because of both the highest FA productivity and good biodiesel quality.