Fluorescent (Au@SiO2)SiC Nanohybrids: Influence of Gold Nanoparticle Diameter and SiC Nanoparticle Surface Density

Gold@silica core–shell nanoparticles were prepared with various gold core diameters (ranging from 20 to 150 nm) and silica thicknesses (ranging from 10 to 30 nm). When the gold diameter is increased, the size dispersion became larger, leading to a broader plasmon band. Then, silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles were covalently immobilized onto silica to obtain hybrid (Au@SiO₂) SiC nanoparticles. The absorption properties of these hybrid nanoparticles showed that an excess of SiC nanoparticles in the dispersion can be identified by a strong absorption in the UV region. Compared to SiC reference samples, a blue shift of the fluorescence emission, from 582 to 523 nm, was observed, which was previously attributed to the strong surface modification of SiC when immobilized onto silica. Finally, the influence of several elaboration parameters (gold diameter, silica thickness, SiC concentration) on fluorescence enhancement was investigated. It showed that the highest enhancements were obtained with 10 nm silica thickness, low concentration of SiC nanoparticles, and surprisingly, with a 20-nm gold core diameter. This last result could be attributed to the broad plasmon band of big gold colloids. In this case, SiC emission strongly overlapped gold absorption, leading to possible quenching of SiC fluorescence by energy transfer.     

The Joint Effect of hOGG1, APE1, and ADPRT Polymorphisms and Cooking Oil Fumes on the Risk of Lung Adenocarcinoma in Chinese Non-Smoking Females

Background

The human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (hOGG1), apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1), and adenosine diphosphate ribosyl transferase (ADPRT) genes play an important role in the DNA base excision repair pathway. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in critical genes are suspected to be associated with the risk of lung cancer. This study aimed to identify the association between the polymorphisms of hOGG1 Ser326Cys, APE1 Asp148Glu, and ADPRT Val762Ala, and the risk of lung adenocarcinoma in the non-smoking female population, and investigated the interaction between genetic polymorphisms and environmental exposure in lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods

We performed a hospital-based case-control study, including 410 lung adenocarcinoma patients and 410 cancer-free hospital control subjects who were matched for age. Each case and control was interviewed to collect information by well-trained interviewers. A total of 10 ml of venous blood was collected for genotype testing. Three polymorphisms were analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique.

Results

We found that individuals who were homozygous for the variant hOGG1 326Cys/Cys showed a significantly increased risk of lung adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.54; 95% CI: 1.01–2.36; P = 0.045). When the combined effect of variant alleles was analyzed, we found an increased OR of 1.89 (95% CI: 1.24–2.88, P = 0.003) for lung adenocarcinoma individuals with more than one homozygous variant allele. In stratified analyses, we found that the OR for the gene-environment interaction between Ser/Cys and Cys/Cys genotypes of hOGG1 codon 326 and cooking oil fumes for the risk of lung adenocarcinoma was 1.37 (95% CI: 0.77–2.44; P = 0.279) and 2.79 (95% CI: 1.50–5.18; P = 0.001), respectively.

Conclusions

The hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism might be associated with the risk of lung adenocarcinoma in Chinese non-smoking females. Furthermore, there is a significant gene-environment association between cooking oil fumes and hOGG1 326 Cys/Cys genotype in lung adenocarcinoma among female non-smokers.     

A Bayesian Meta-Analysis on Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Chinese Volunteer Blood Donors

Background

Although transfusion-transmitted infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) threatens the blood safety of China, the nationwide circumstance of HBV infection among blood donors is still unclear.

Objectives

To comprehensively estimate the prevalence of HBsAg positive and HBV occult infection (OBI) among Chinese volunteer blood donors through bayesian meta-analysis.

Methods

We performed an electronic search in Pub-Med, Web of Knowledge, Medline, Wanfang Data and CNKI, complemented by a hand search of relevant reference lists. Two authors independently extracted data from the eligible studies. Then two bayesian random-effect meta-analyses were performed, followed by bayesian meta-regressions.

Results

5957412 and 571227 donors were identified in HBsAg group and OBI group, respectively. The pooled prevalence of HBsAg group and OBI group among donors is 1.085% (95% credible interval [CI] 0.859%∼1.398%) and 0.094% (95% CI 0.0578%∼0.1655%). For HBsAg group, subgroup analysis shows the more developed area has a lower prevalence than the less developed area; meta-regression indicates there is a significant decreasing trend in HBsAg positive prevalence with sampling year (beta = −0.1202, 95% −0.2081∼−0.0312).

Conclusion

Blood safety against HBV infection in China is suffering serious threats and the government should take effective measures to improve this situation.     

Polymorphisms of LAP3 gene and their association with the growth traits in the razor clam Sinonovacula constricta

Molecular Biology Reports - Leucine aminopeptidase 3 (LAP3) is an important proteolytic enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of leucine residues from the amino termini of protein or peptide...     

The razor clam Sinonovacula constricta uses the strategy of conversion of toxic ammonia to glutamine in response to high environmental ammonia exposure

Molecular Biology Reports - High ammonia can inhibit the survival and growth, and even cause mortality of razor clam (S. constricta). The accumulation of ammonia to lethal concentrations in some...     

Circular RNA circABCC4 regulates lung adenocarcinoma progression via miR-3186-3p/TNRC6B axis

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), a general kind of bronchogenic malignancy globally, is depicted as one of the most critical factors affecting human health severely. Featured with loop structure, circular RNA (circRNA) has been described as an essential regulator of multiple human malignancies. Nevertheless, knowledge concerning the regulatory function of circRNA in LUAD progression remains limited. Identified as a novel circRNA, circABCC4 has not been studied in LUAD as yet. This is the first time to probe into the underlying role of circABCC4 in LUAD. In this study, a notably elevated expression of circABCC4 was found in LUAD tissues and cells. Besides, circABCC4 is verified to be characterized with a circular structure in LUAD. Functional assays elucidated that knockdown of circABCC4 significantly impaired LUAD cell proliferation, migration as well as accelerated cell apoptosis. Molecular mechanism experiments later revealed that circABCC4 could bind with miR-3186-3p and miR-3186-3p was a tumor suppressor in LUAD. Moreover, TNRC6B was validated to combine with miR-3186-3p, and its expression was respectively negatively and positively regulated by miR-3186-3p and circABCC4 in LUAD. Final rescue experiments further delineated that TNRC6B upregulation partially restored circABCC4 downregulation-mediated effect on LUAD progression. In sum, circABCC4 regulates LUAD progression via miR-3186-3p/TNRC6B axis.     

HRAS: a webserver for early warning of human health risk brought by aflatoxin

Most people are aware that outdoor air pollution can damage their health, but many do not know that indoor air pollution can also exhibit significant negative health effects. Fungi parasitizing in air conditioning and ventilation systems can be one of indoor air pollution sources. Aflatoxin produced by Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) became a central focus of indoor air pollution, especially in farmer markets. Therefore we developed an early warning system, Health Risk Assessment System, to estimate the growth rate of A. flavus, predict the amount of aflatoxin and provide early warning information. Firstly, the growth of A. flavus and the production of aflatoxin under different conditions were widely obtained through a comprehensive literature review. Secondly, three mathematical models were established to predict the A. flavus colony growth rate, lag phase duration and aflatoxin content, as functions of temperature and water activity based on present studies. Finally, all the results were evaluated by the user-supplied data using PHP programming language. We utilized the web page to show the results and display warning information. The JpGraph library was used to create a dynamic line chart, refreshing the warning information dynamically in real-time. The HARS provides accurate information for early warning purposes to let us take timely steps to protect ourselves.