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Herein, MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) are constructed to serve as electrolyte additives for lithium-sulfur batteries, which can 'solidify' soluble polysulfides by chemisorption and promote sulfur conversion chemistry by electrocatalysis. The Li-S cell with MoS2 QDs shows high retained capacity and high-rate capability, much better than the counterpart without MoS2 QDs.

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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to design and evaluate the efficacy of pyrrolidone derivatives as potential therapeutic agents against diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a common and heterogeneous malignancy of the adult lymphohematopoietic system. Given the limitations of current therapies, there is a pressing need to develop new and effective drugs for DLBCL treatment. METHODS: A series of pyrrolidone derivatives were synthesized, and their antitumor activities were assessed, particularly against DLBCL cell lines. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis was conducted to identify key structural components essential for activity. The most promising compound, referred to as compound 7, was selected for further mechanistic studies. The expression levels of relevant mRNA and protein were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blotting, and the expression of mitochondrial membrane potential and ROS was detected using flow cytometry for further assessment of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. RESULTS: The compound 7 exhibited good antitumor activity among the synthesized derivatives, specifically in DLBCL cell lines. SAR analysis highlighted the critical role of α, ß-unsaturated ketones in the antitumor efficacy of these compounds. Mechanistically, compound 7 was found to induce significant DNA damage, trigger an inflammatory response, cause mitochondrial dysfunction, and disrupt cell cycle progression, ultimately leading to apoptosis of DLBCL cells. CONCLUSION: The compound 7 has good antitumor activity and can induce multiple cellular mechanisms leading to cancer cell death. These findings warrant further investigation of the compound 7 as a potential therapeutic agent for DLBCL.

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Ovarian cancer (OC) is the deadliest malignancy of the female reproductive system. The standard first-line therapy for OC involves cytoreductive surgical debulking followed by chemotherapy based on platinum and paclitaxel. Despite these treatments, there remains a high rate of tumor recurrence and resistance to platinum. Recent studies have highlighted the potential anti-tumor properties of metformin (met), a traditional diabetes drug. In our study, we investigated the impact of met on the anticancer activities of cisplatin (cDDP) both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings revealed that combining met with cisplatin significantly reduced apoptosis in OC cells, decreased DNA damage, and induced resistance to cDDP. Furthermore, our mechanistic study indicated that the resistance induced by met is primarily driven by the inhibition of the ATM/CHK2 pathway and the upregulation of the Rad51 protein. Using an ATM inhibitor, KU55933, effectively reversed the cisplatin resistance phenotype. In conclusion, our results suggest that met can antagonize the effects of cDDP in specific types of OC cells, leading to a reduction in the chemotherapeutic efficacy of cDDP.

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Previous studies in small samples have identified inconsistent cortical abnormalities in major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite genetic influences on MDD and the brain, it is unclear how genetic risk for MDD is translated into spatially patterned cortical vulnerability. Here, we initially examined voxel-wise differences in cortical function and structure using the largest multi-modal MRI data from 1660 MDD patients and 1341 controls. Combined with the Allen Human Brain Atlas, we then adopted transcription-neuroimaging spatial correlation and the newly developed ensemble-based gene category enrichment analysis to identify gene categories with expression related to cortical changes in MDD. Results showed that patients had relatively circumscribed impairments in local functional properties and broadly distributed disruptions in global functional connectivity, consistently characterized by hyper-function in associative areas and hypo-function in primary regions. Moreover, the local functional alterations were correlated with genes enriched for biological functions related to MDD in general (e.g., endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitogen-activated protein kinase, histone acetylation, and DNA methylation); and the global functional connectivity changes were associated with not only MDD-general, but also brain-relevant genes (e.g., neuron, synapse, axon, glial cell, and neurotransmitters). Our findings may provide important insights into the transcriptomic signatures of regional cortical vulnerability to MDD.

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INTRODUCTION: CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology has significantly advanced gene therapy, with gene vectors being one of the key factors for its success. Poly (beta-amino ester) (PBAE), a distinguished non-viral cationic gene vector, is known to elevate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, which may cause cytotoxicity and, consequently, impact gene transfection efficacy (T.E.). OBJECTIVES: To develop a simple but efficient strategy to improve the gene delivery ability and biosafety of PBAE both in vivo and in vitro. METHODS: We used glutathione (GSH), a clinically utilized drug with capability to modulating intracellular ROS level, to prepare a hybrid system with PBAE-plasmid nanoparticles (NPs). This system was characterized by flow cytometry, RNA-seq, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing in vitro, and its safety and efficacy in vivo was evaluated by imaging, PCR, Sanger sequencing and histology analysis. RESULTS: The particle size of GSH-PBAE-plasmid NPs were 168.31 nm with a ζ-potential of 15.21 mV. An enhancement in T.E. and gene editing efficiency, ranging from 10 % to 100 %, was observed compared to GSH-free PBAE-plasmid NPs in various cell lines. In vitro results proved that GSH-PBAE-plasmid NPs reduced intracellular ROS levels by 25 %-40 %, decreased the total number of upregulated/downregulated genes from 4,952 to 789, and significantly avoided the disturbance in gene expression related to cellular oxidative stress-response and cell growth regulation signaling pathway compared to PBAE-plasmid NPs. They also demonstrated lower impact on the cell cycle, slighter hemolysis, and higher cell viability after gene transfection. Furthermore, GSH hybrid PBAE-plasmid NPs exhibited superior safety and improved tumor suppression ability in an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected murine tumor model, via targeting cleavage the EBV related oncogene by delivering CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system and down-regulating the expression levels. This simple but effective strategy is expected to promote clinical applications of non-viral vector gene delivery.

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Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) manifests as an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by defects in the enzymes responsible for steroid synthesis. This work aims to perform metabolic profiling of patients with CAH, screen key differential metabolites compared to the control group, and discover the associated metabolic pathways implicated in CAH. Serum samples obtained from 32 pediatric male patients with CAH and 31 healthy control group candidates were subjected to analysis using non-targeted metabolomics strategy using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). A total of 278 differential metabolites were identified and annotated in KEGG. Operating characteristic curves (ROC) measurement exhibited 9 metabolites exhibiting high efficacy in differential diagnosis, as evidenced by an area under ROC curve (AUC) exceeding 0.85. Pathway analysis uncovered notable disruptions in steroid hormone biosynthesis (p <0.0001), purine metabolism and irregularities in lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism, including tyrosine and alanine, in CAH patients. These findings demonstrate that metabolic pathways of purine, amino acid and lipid metabolism, apart from steroid hormone biosynthesis, may be disrupted and associated with CAH. This study helps provide insight into the metabolic profile of CAH patients and offers a new perspective for monitoring and administering follow-up care to CAH patients.

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BACKGROUND: Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are a class of widely manufactured and used emerging persistent pollutants. The recent discovered new class of macrocycles pillararenes have garnered significant attention for the applications in environmental pollutant adsorption, with abundant π electron cavities, a symmetrical rigid structure, and host-guest recognition capabilities. RESULTS: In this work, we designed and synthesized novel cationic pillar [n]arenes magnetic nanoparticles (CWPA5@MNPs), and investigated its adsorption performance and mechanism as a type of new adsorbent for the enrichment of PFCs. The results indicate that CWPA5@MNPs exhibits selectively strong affinity for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and long-chain (C9-C14) perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), with the adsorption efficiency exceeding 80 % within 12 min. The maximum adsorption capacity of CWPA5@MNPs for PFOS was measured to be 29.02 mg/g. CWPA5@MNPs can be rapidly isolated from the solution using external magnets, offering a quick and easy separation. Consequently, this study established a CWPA5@MNPs-assisted magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (CWPA5@MNPs-MSPE-HPLC-MS/MS) method for the rapid detection of trace levels of PFCs in environmental water samples. The analysis of 7 PFCs yielded recovery rates ranging from 86.1 % to 107.5 %, with intraday and interday relative standard deviations (RSD) of 3.6-6.4 % and 1.3-7.0 %, respectively. SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY: The study reveals the synthesis and application of novel cationic pillar [n]arenes magnetic nanoparticles (CWPA5@MNPs) as highly efficient adsorbents for selective perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in water samples. It demonstrates the potential of the newly developed CWPA5@MNPs-MSPE-HPLC-MS/MS method for the quantitative analysis of PFCs in environment, with high sensitivity, accuracy and stability.

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Understanding single-molecule multivalent ligand-receptor interactions is crucial for comprehending molecular recognition at biological interfaces. However, label-free identifications of these transient interactions during multistep binding processes remains challenging. Herein, we introduce a ligand-receptor-anchored nanopore that allows the protein to maintain structural flexibility and favorable orientations in native states, mapping dynamic multivalent interactions. Using a four-state Markov chain model, we clarify two concentration-dependent binding pathways for the Omicron spike protein (Omicron S) and soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (sACE2): sequential and concurrent. Real-time kinetic analysis at the single-monomeric subunit level reveals that three S1 monomers of Omicron S exhibit a consistent and robust binding affinity toward sACE2 (-13.1 ± 0.2 kcal/mol). These results highlight the enhanced infectivity of Omicron S compared to other homologous spike proteins (WT S and Delta S). Notably, the preceding binding of sACE2 to Omicron S facilitates the subsequent binding steps, which was previously obscured in bulk measurements. Our single-molecule studies resolve the controversy over the disparity between the measured spike protein binding affinity with sACE2 and the viral infectivity, offering valuable insights for drug design and therapies.

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Immunogenicity testing and characterization is an important part of understanding the immune response to administration of a protein therapeutic. Neutralizing antibody (NAb) assays are used to characterize a positive anti-drug antibody (ADA) response. Harmonization of reporting of NAb assay performance and results enables efficient communication and expedient review by industry and health authorities. Herein, a cross-industry group of NAb assay experts have harmonized NAb assay reporting recommendations and provided a bioanalytical report (BAR) submission editable template developed to facilitate agency filings. This document addresses key bioanalytical reporting gaps and provides a report structure for documenting clinical NAb assay performance and results. This publication focuses on the content and presentation of the NAb sample analysis report including essential elements such as the method, critical reagents and equipment, data analysis, study samples, and results. The interpretation of immunogenicity data, including the evaluation of the impact of NAb on safety, exposure, and efficacy, is out of scope of this publication.

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BACKGROUND: Both apurinic/apyrimidinic endodeoxyribonuclease 1 (APE1) inhibition and melatonin suppress prostate cancer (PCa) growth. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the therapeutic efficiency of self-assembled and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted nanocarrier loading 125I radioactive particles and encapsulating siRNA targeting APE1 (siAPE1) and melatonin for PCa. METHODS: The linear polyarginine R12 polypeptide was prepared using Fmoc-Arg-Pbf-OH. The PSMA-targeted polymer was synthesized by conjugating azide-modified R12 peptide to PSMA monoclonal antibody (mAb). Before experiments, the PSMA-R12 nanocarrier was installed with melatonin and siAPE1, which were subsequently labeled by 125I radioactive particles. In vitro biocompatibility and cytotoxicity of nanocomposites were examined in LNCaP cells and in vivo biodistribution and pharmacokinetics were determined using PCa tumor-bearing mice. RESULTS: PSMA-R12 nanocarrier was ~120 nm in size and was increased to ~150 nm by melatonin encapsulation. PSMA-R12 nanoparticles had efficient loading capacities of siAPE1, melatonin, and 125I particles. The co-delivery of melatonin and siAPE1 by PSMA-R12-125I showed synergistic effects on suppressing LNCaP cell proliferation and Bcl-2 expression and promoting cell apoptosis and caspase-3 expression. Pharmacokinetics analysis showed that Mel@PSMA-R12-125I particles had high uptake activity in the liver, spleen, kidney, intestine, and tumor, and were accumulated in the tumor sites within the first 8 h p.i., but was rapidly cleared from all the tested organs at 24 h p.i. Administration of nanoparticles to PCa tumors in vivo showed that Mel@PSMA-R12- 125I/siAPE1 had high efficiency in suppressing PCa tumor growth. CONCLUSION: The PSMA-targeted nanocarrier encapsulating siAPE1 and melatonin is a promising therapeutic strategy for PCa and can provide a theoretical basis for patent applications.

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BACKGROUND: Pig organ xenotransplantation is a potential solution for the severe organ shortage in clinic, while immunogenic genes need to be eliminated to improve the immune compatibility between humans and pigs. Current knockout strategies are mainly aimed at the genes causing hyperacute immune rejection (HAR) that occurs in the first few hours while adaptive immune reactions orchestrated by CD4 T cell thereafter also cause graft failure, in which process the MHC II molecule plays critical roles. METHODS: Thus, we generate a 4-gene (GGTA1, CMAH, ß4GalNT2, and CIITA) knockout pig by CRISPR/Cas9 and somatic cell nuclear transfer to compromise HAR and CD4 T cell reactions simultaneously. RESULTS: We successfully obtained 4KO piglets with deficiency in all alleles of genes, and at cellular and tissue levels. Additionally, the safety of our animals after gene editing was verified by using whole-genome sequencing and karyotyping. Piglets have survived for more than one year in the barrier, and also survived for more than 3 months in the conventional environment, suggesting that the piglets without MHC II can be raised in the barrier and then gradually mated in the conventional environment. CONCLUSIONS: 4KO piglets have lower immunogenicity, are safe in genomic level, and are easier to breed than the model with both MHC I and II deletion.

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OBJECTIVE: Spontaneous renal vessel rupture is a rare clinical emergency. However, pregnancy symptoms and signs are not obvious, and the limited examination methods obscure the observation. Thus, early renal rupture is challenging to detect, leading to misdiagnosis and poor prognosis. This paper aims to improve clinicians' understanding of this disease and reduce the rate of clinical misdiagnosis. PATIENT CONCERNS: The patient, aged 23 and 11 weeks pregnant, developed severe right lumbar and abdominal pain for 14 hours after severe nausea, vomiting, and paroxysmal intensification. Color ultrasound of the urinary system at another hospital revealed right kidney stones and right ureter dilation. Thus, the patient came to our hospital for treatment. DIAGNOSES: Spontaneous renal vessel rupture. INTERVENTIONS: In this case, the diagnosis of spontaneous renal vascular rupture and hemorrhage was confirmed. Following conservative treatment such as fluid replenishment, blood transfusion, and hemostasis, the patient was given an emergency renal artery embolization due to unstable hemodynamics during treatment and poor conservative treatment effect. OUTCOMES: Nephrectomy was performed after 1-week follow-up for renal necrosis. LESSONS: To avoid missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, patients with abdominal pain caused by severe vomiting during pregnancy must be closely monitored. Additionally, treatment should be considered individually to ensure the safety of both mother and child. Therefore, spontaneous renal vessel rupture should be considered as the differential diagnosis.

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The electrocatalytic nitrate/nitrite reduction reaction (eNOx-RR) to ammonia (NH3) is thermodynamically more favorable than the eye-catching nitrogen (N2) electroreduction. To date, the high eNOx-RR-to-NH3 activity is limited to strong alkaline electrolytes but cannot be achieved in economic and sustainable neutral/near-neutral electrolytes. Here, we construct a copper (Cu) catalyst encapsulated inside the hydrophilic hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages (Cu@hNCNC). During eNOx-RR, the hNCNC shell hinders the diffusion of generated OH- ions outward, thus creating a self-enhanced local high pH environment around the inside Cu nanoparticles. Consequently, the Cu@hNCNC catalyst exhibits an excellent eNOx-RR-to-NH3 activity in the neutral electrolyte, equivalent to the Cu catalyst immobilized on the outer surface of hNCNC (Cu/hNCNC) in strong alkaline electrolyte, with much better stability for the former. The optimal NH3 yield rate reaches 4.0 moles per hour per gram with a high Faradaic efficiency of 99.7%. The strong-alkalinity-free advantage facilitates the practicability of Cu@hNCNC catalyst as demonstrated in a coupled plasma-driven N2 oxidization with eNOx-RR-to-NH3.

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The exploitation of hierarchical carbon nanocages with superior light-to-heat conversion efficiency, together with their distinct structural, morphological, and electronic properties, in photothermal applications could provide effective solutions to long-standing challenges in diverse areas. Here, we demonstrate the discovery of pristine and nitrogen-doped hierarchical carbon nanocages as superior supports for highly loaded, small-sized Ru particles toward enhanced photothermal CO2 catalysis. A record CO production rate of 3.1 mol·gRu-1·h-1 with above 90% selectivity in flow reactors was reached for hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon-nanocage-supported Ru clusters under 2.4 W·cm-2 illumination without external heating. Detailed studies reveal that the enhanced performance originates from the strong broadband sunlight absorption and efficient light-to-heat conversion of nanocage supports as well as the excellent intrinsic catalytic reactivity of sub-2 nm Ru particles. Our study reveals the great potential of hierarchical carbon nanocages in photothermal catalysis to reduce the fossil fuel consumption of various industrial chemical processes and stimulates interest in their exploitation for other demanding photothermal applications.

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Developing efficient electrocatalysts for selective formate production via the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is challenged by high overpotential, a narrow potential window of high Faradaic efficiency (FEformate), and limited current density (Jformate). Herein, we report a hierarchical BiOBr (CT/h-BiOBr) with surface-anchored cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for formate-selective large-scale CO2RR electrocatalysis. CT/h-BiOBr achieves over 90% FEformate across a wide potential range (-0.5 to -1.1 V) and an industrial-level Jformate surpassing 100 mA·cm-2 at -0.7 V. In situ investigations uncover the reconstructed Bi(110) surface as the active phase, with CTAB playing a dual role: its hydrophobic alkyl chains create a CO2-enriching microenvironment, while its polar head groups fine-tune the electronic structure, fostering a highly active phase. This work provides valuable insights into the role of surfactants in electrocatalysis and guides the design of electrocatalysts for the large-scale CO2RR.

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Redox mediators (RMs) are widely utilized in the electrolytes of Li-O2 batteries to catalyze the formation/decomposition of Li2O2, which significantly enhances the cycling performance and reduces the charge overpotential. However, RMs have a shuttle effect by migrating to the Li anode side and inducing Li metal degradation through a parasitic reaction. Herein, a metal-organic framework gel (MOF-gel) separator is proposed to restrain the shuttling of RMs. Compared to traditional MOF nanoparticles, MOF gels form uniform and dense films on the separators. When using Ru(acac)3 (ruthenium acetylacetonate) as an RM, the MOF-gel separator suppresses the shuttling of Ru(acac)3 toward the Li anode side and significantly enhances the performance of Li-O2 batteries. Specifically, Li-O2 batteries exhibit an ultralong cycling life (410 cycles) at a current density of 0.5 A g-1. Moreover, the batteries using the MOF-gel/celgard separator exhibit significantly improved cycling performance (increase by ≈1.6 times) at a high current density of 1.0 A g-1 and a decreased charge/discharge overpotential. This result is expected to guide future development of battery separators and the exploration of redox mediators.

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Cancer is an evolutionary process shaped by selective pressure from the microenvironments. However, recent studies reveal that certain tumors undergo neutral evolution where there is no detectable fitness difference amongst the cells following malignant transformation. Here, through computational modeling, we demonstrate that negative frequency-dependent selection (or NFDS), where the immune response against cancer cells depends on the clonality of neoantigens, can lead to an immunogenic landscape that is highly similar to neutral evolution. Crucially, NFDS promotes high antigenic heterogeneity and early immune evasion in hypermutable tumors, leading to poor responses to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Our model also reveals that NFDS is characterized by a negative association between average clonality and total burden of neoantigens. Indeed, this unique feature of NFDS is common in the whole-exome sequencing (WES) datasets (357 tumor samples from 275 patients) from four melanoma cohorts with ICB therapy and a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) WES dataset (327 tumor samples from 100 patients). Altogether, our study provides quantitative evidence supporting the theory of NFDS in cancer, explaining the high prevalence of neutral-looking tumors. These findings also highlight the critical role of frequency-dependent selection in devising more efficient and predictive immunotherapies.

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Compared to horizontal transmission, the oceanic dissipation rate and temperature-salinity distribution ratio are no longer constant but vary with depth, imposing greater complexity on oceanic turbulence when beams propagate through a slant path and resulting in more limitations on the performance of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) links. This study focuses on investigating the performance, especially the auto-focusing characteristic, of auto-focusing hypergeometric Gaussian (AHGG) beams propagating along slant paths in oceanic turbulence. We theoretically derive the spatial coherence radius and the relative probability of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode for AHGG beams passing through such links. Numerical simulations reveal that AHGG beams exhibit superior propagation performance compared to hypergeometric Gaussian beams. Lower beam orders and OAM numbers contribute to improved performance, while careful selection of auto-focusing length can tangibly enhance detection performance as well. Additionally, tidal velocities and wind speeds have nonnegligible effects on OAM signal probability. Our results further demonstrate that surface buoyancy flux, temperature gradients, and waterside friction velocity significantly affect beam transmission under varying wind conditions. These findings, particularly controlling the auto-focusing length of AHGG beams to match the transmission distance, provide valuable insights for enhancing the quality of UWOC links.