LINC00673 exerts oncogenic function in cervical cancer by negatively regulating miR-126-5p expression and activates PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have indicated the crucial regulator roles of a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) LINC00673 in cancer pathogenesis and development. However, the clinical significance and functional effects of LINC00673 in cervical cancer remains unknown. METHODS: LINC00673 mRNA expression in cervical cancer tissues was measured by quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and the association between LINC00673 expression and the overall survival (OS) time of patients was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival plot. Cell proliferation was assessed using CCK8 assay, Flow cytometry analysis and cell colony formation assay. The association between miR-126-5p and LINC00673 was clarified by Luciferase activity assay. Furthermore, xenografts model in mice in vivo were used to evaluate the effects of LINC00673 expression on tumor growth of cervical cancer. RESULTS: It was confirmed that the relative mRNA expression of LINC00673 was promoted in cervical cancer tissues and cancer cell lines compared with its corresponding normal tissues and cells (P < 0.05). Higher LINC00673 expression was associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (P < 0.05). Survival analysis showed higher LINC00673 expression predicted poor OS of cervical cancer patients, and Multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that higher LINC00673 expression was identified as an independent risk factor for OS. LINC00673 overexpression promoted cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, but LINC00673 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and cell cycle progression significantly (P < 0.05). Besides, overexpression of LINC00673 was negatively correlated with lower miR-126-5p expression in cervical cancer tissues. In vivo xenograft tumor assay indicated that LINC00673 silencing reduced the tumor volume and weight. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that miR-126-5p targeted 3'-UTR of LINC00673, and LINC00673 promoted cell proliferation by sponging to miR-126-5p in cervical cancer cells. Additionally, it was demonstrated that LINC00673 significantly activated the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in cervical cancer cells. CONCLUSION: These results provide the evidence that LINC00673 overexpression promotes cervical cancer cells progression through regulating miR-126-5p and activating the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, indicating that LINC00673 may be a potential therapeutic target for cervical cancer treatment.

Oral Curcumin via Hydrophobic Porous Silicon Carrier: Preparation, Characterization, and Toxicological Evaluation In Vivo.

Curcumin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticarcinogenic activities. However, the clinical application of curcumin has been restricted by the poor water solubility and low bioavailability of this molecule. In this work, hydrophobic porous silicon (pSi) particles were prepared by electrochemical etching method and grafted with the different hydrophobic groups on their surfaces. The loading efficiency of curcumin in pSi has been investigated. The properties of pSi particles have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The highest loading efficiency of curcumin can be obtained with pSi surface modified with the octadecyl silane group. The release properties of curcumin in hydrophobic pSi have been researched in vitro and in vivo. The curcumin in the hydrophobic pSi surface keeps a high antioxidant bioactivity. The toxicological evaluation of the hydrophobic pSi particles indicates they have a high in vivo biocompatibility within the observed dose ranges. The hydrophobic pSi particles could provide an effective and controlled release delivery carrier for curcumin, which may provide a new tool platform for the further development of curcumin.

Preparation and Analyses of the Multifunctional Properties of 2D and 3D MOFs Constructed from Copper(I) Halides and Hexamethylenetetramine.

In this article, two two-dimensional and three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks are synthesized by the self-assembly of copper(I) halide and the hexamethylenetetramine (hmt) ligand. Compound 1 is a two-dimensional metal-organic framework composed of a pyramidal Cu4I5 cluster and hexamethylenetetramine, in which hmt-bridged Cu clusters form a two-dimensional (4,4)-connected net with a point symbol of (44·62) (44·62). Compound 2 is a homochiral three-dimensional metal-organic framework material generated through an unusual spontaneous crystallization from achiral precursors. The two compounds were characterized by a series of analyses such as infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. Both of them exhibit unexpected stability under a wide range of conditions of acid and base. In addition, the fluorescence intensity changes regularly under acid-base conditions. Stokes shift shows a good linear relationship with -log [H+], which makes them become promising acid-base sensors. Compounds 1 and 2 also display selective adsorption and a significant degradation effect on the organic dye methylene blue. In addition, the fluorescence study indicated that compound 2 could be used as a sensor to detect Cr3+.

Robust closed-loop control of spike-and-wave discharges in a thalamocortical computational model of absence epilepsy.

In this paper, we investigate the abatement of spike-and-wave discharges in a thalamocortical model using a closed-loop brain stimulation method. We first explore the complex states and various transitions in the thalamocortical computational model of absence epilepsy by using bifurcation analysis. We demonstrate that the Hopf and double cycle bifurcations are the key dynamical mechanisms of the experimental observed bidirectional communications during absence seizures through top-down cortical excitation and thalamic feedforward inhibition. Then, we formulate the abatement of epileptic seizures to a closed-loop tracking control problem. Finally, we propose a neural network based sliding mode feedback control system to drive the dynamics of pathological cortical area to track the desired normal background activities. The control system is robust to uncertainties and disturbances, and its stability is guaranteed by Lyapunov stability theorem. Our results suggest that the seizure abatement can be modeled as a tracking control problem and solved by a robust closed-loop control method, which provides a promising brain stimulation strategy.

Color tuning and white light emission by codoping in isostructural homochiral lanthanide metal-organic frameworks.

Four lanthanide-based homochiral metal-organic frameworks (Ln-HMOFs), {[Ln2(HL)2(H2O)4]·2Cl·5H2O} n [Ln = Gd (1), Eu (2), Tb (3) and Dy (4)], have been synthesized through solvothermal reactions of chiral ligand (S)-5-(((1-carboxyethyl)amino)methyl)isophthalic acid (H3L) with corresponding LnCl3·6H2O. They are binodal (3,6)-connected frameworks with kgd nets based on binuclear cluster units and zwitterionic (HL)2- linkers. Considering the isostructuralism of these Ln-HMOFs as well as the blue emission of compound 1 and the strong typical Eu3+ and Tb3+ emissions of compounds 2 and 3, single-phase mixed-lanthanide HMOFs have been prepared by doping of Ln3+ into the Ln-HMOFs to modulate light-emitting color. Interestingly, the bimetallic doped Eu/Tb-HMOFs [(Eu x Tb1-x )2(HL)2(H2O)4]·2Cl·5H2O display a fluent change of light-emitting color among green, yellow, orange, orange-red, and red by adjusting the doping concentration of Eu3+ ions into the Tb-HMOF. Very importantly, the trimetallic doped Eu/Gd/Tb-HMOF [(Eu0.1388Gd0.6108Tb0.2504)2(HL)2(H2O)4]·2Cl·5H2O emits white light upon excitation at 355 nm, whose emission can also be switched between different colors when excited with different ultraviolet light. Furthermore, the fluorescence response of Tb-HMOF to various usual metal ions, and especially fluorescent sensing behaviours to Fe3+, Cr3+ and Al3+ have been preliminarily investigated.