Oxygen‐Deficient Blue TiO2 for Ultrastable and Fast Lithium Storage

Developing a titanium dioxide (TiO₂)‐based anode with superior high‐rate capability and long‐term cycling stability is important for efficient energy storage. Herein, a simple one‐step approach for fabricating blue TiO₂ nanoparticles with oxygen vacancies is reported. Oxygen vacancies can enlarge lattice spaces, lower charge transfer resistance, and provide more active sites in TiO₂ lattices. As a result, this blue TiO₂ electrode exhibits a highly reversible capacity of 50 mAh g^?1 at 100 C (16 800 mA g^?1) even after 10 000 cycles, which is attributable to the combination of surface capacitive process and remarkable diffusion‐controlled insertion revealed by the kinetic analysis. The strategy of employing oxygen‐deficient nanoparticles may be extended to the design of other robust semiconductor materials as electrodes for energy storage.     

Overexpression of polo-like kinase 1 and its clinical significance in human non-small cell lung cancer

Polo-like kinase 1 is a serine/threonine kinase which plays an essential role in mitosis and malignant transformation. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of polo-like kinase 1 expression and determine its possibility as a therapeutic target in non-small cell lung cancer. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay was performed to detect polo-like kinase 1 mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells or tissues. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect polo-like kinase 1 protein expression in 100 non-small cell lung cancer tissue samples, and the associations of polo-like kinase 1 expression with clinicopathological factors or prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer patients were evaluated. RNA interference was employed to inhibit endogenous polo-like kinase 1 expression and analyzed the effects of polo-like kinase 1 inhibition on the malignant phenotypes of non-small cell lung cancer cells including growth, apoptosis, radio- or chemoresistance. Also, the possible molecular mechanisms were also investigated. The levels of polo-like kinase 1 mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines or tissues were significantly higher than those in normal human bronchial epithelial cell line or corresponding non-tumor tissues. High polo-like kinase 1 expression was significantly correlated with advanced clinical stage, higher tumor classification and lymph node metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer patients (P = 0.001, 0.004 and 0.001, respectively). Meanwhile, high polo-like kinase 1 protein expression was also an independent prognostic molecular marker for non-small cell lung cancer patients (hazard ratio: 2.113; 95% confidence interval: 1.326-3.557; P = 0.017). Polo-like kinase 1 inhibition could significantly inhibit in vitro and in vivo proliferation, induce cell arrest of G₂/M phase and apoptosis enhancement in non-small cell lung cancer cells, which might be activation of the p53 pathway and the Cdc25C/cdc2/cyclin B1 feedback loop. Further, inhibition of polo-like kinase 1 could enhance the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells to taxanes or irradiation. Thus, polo-like kinase 1 might be a prognostic marker and a chemo- or radiotherapeutic target for non-small cell lung cancer.     

An ITS-based phylogenetic framework for the genus Vorticella: finding the molecular and morphological gaps in a taxonomically difficult group

Vorticella includes more than 100 currently recognized species and represents one of the most taxonomically challenging genera of ciliates. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Vorticella has been performed so far with only sequences coding for small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA); only a few of its species have been investigated using other genetic markers owing to a lack of similar sequences for comparison. Consequently, phylogenetic relationships within the genus remain unclear, and molecular discrimination between morphospecies is often difficult because most regions of the SSU rRNA gene are too highly conserved to be helpful. In this paper, we move molecular systematics for this group of ciliates to the infrageneric level by sequencing additional molecular markers—fast-evolving internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions—in a broad sample of 66 individual samples of 28 morphospecies of Vorticella collected from Asia, North America and Europe. Our phylogenies all featured two strongly supported, highly divergent, paraphyletic clades (I, II) comprising the morphologically defined genus Vorticella. Three major lineages made up clade I, with a relatively well-resolved branching order in each one. The marked divergence of clade II from clade I confirms that the former should be recognized as a separate taxonomic unit as indicated by SSU rRNA phylogenies. We made the first attempt to elucidate relationships between species in clade II using both morphological and multi-gene approaches, and our data supported a close relationship between some morphospecies of Vorticella and Opisthonecta, indicating that relationships between species in the clade are far more complex than would be expected from their morphology. Different patterns of helix III of ITS2 secondary structure were clearly specific to clades and subclades of Vorticella and, therefore, may prove useful for resolving phylogenetic relationships in other groups of ciliates.     

Prediction of the Mechanism of Action of Fusaricidin on Bacillus subtilis

Long-term use of antibiotics has engendered a large number of resistant pathogens, which pose a serious threat to human health. Here, we investigated the mechanism of fusaricidin antibacterial activity toward Bacillus subtilis and characterized the pathways responsible for drug resistance. We found that σ^w, an extracytoplasmic function sigma factor, plays an important role in the resistance to fusaricidins during the initial 5 minutes of drug addition. Approximately 18 genes were induced more than 3-fold, of which 66.7% are known to be regulated by σ^w. Over the following 3 h, fusaricidins induced 194 genes more than three-fold, and most were associated with classes of antibiotic-responsive stimulons. Moreover, the fusaricidin treatment increased the catabolism of fatty and amino acids but strongly repressed glucose decomposition and gluconeogenesis. In summary, our data provide insight into the mechanism of fusaricidin activity, on which we based our suggested strategies for the development of novel antibiotic agents.     

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of a complement component 3 in the sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus)

The complement system has been discovered in invertebrates and vertebrates, and plays a crucial role in the innate defense against common pathogens. As a central component in the complement system, complement component 3 (C3) is an intermediary between innate and adaptive immune system. In this study, a new isoform of C3 in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, termed AjC3-2 was identified. Its open reading frame (ORF) is 5085?bp and encodes for 1695 amino acids with a putative signal peptide of 20 amino acid residues. The mature protein molecular weight of AjC3-2 was 187.72?kDa. It has a conserved thioester site and a linker R(689)RRR(692) where AjC3-2 is splitted into β and α chain during posttranslational modification. The expression patterns of two distinct sea cucumber C3 genes, AjC3-2 and AjC3, were similar. During the different development stages from unfertilized egg to juvenile of the sea cucumber, the highest expression levels of AjC3-2 and AjC3 genes were both found in late auricularia. In the adult, the highest expression of these two genes was observed in the coelomocytes and followed by the body wall. AjC3-2 and AjC3 genes expression increased significantly at 6?h after the LPS challenge. These results indicated that these two C3 genes play a pivotal role in immune responses to the bacterial infection in sea cucumber.     

Oncogenic Fibulin-5 Promotes Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cell Metastasis through the FLJ10540/AKT Pathway and Correlates with Poor Prognosis

Background

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is known for its high metastatic potential and locoregional recurrence, although the molecular alterations that are driving NPC metastasis remain unclear at this time. This study aimed to examine the expression of fibulin-5 in NPC, correlate the results with clinicopathological variables and survival, and to investigate the role of fibulin-5 in human NPC cell lines.

Material and Methods

Standard semi-quantitative-RT-PCR, quantitative-RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate the mRNA and protein expression profiles of fibulin-5 in normal and NPC tissues. Immunohistochemistry of fibulin-5 was correlated with clinicopathological characteristics by univariate analyses. NPC cells overexpressing fibulin-5 or fibulin-5-siRNA cells were generated by stable transfection to characterize the molecular mechanisms of fibulin-5-elicited cell growth and metastasis.

Results

Our results demonstrated that fibulin-5 overexpression in NPC specimens and significantly correlated with advanced tumor metastasis indicating a poor 5-year overall survival. Fibulin-5 was mainly expressed in the nucleus in human NPC specimens and cell lines. Functionally, fibulin-5 overexpression yielded fast growth in NPC cells. In addition, fibulin-5 promotes cell metastasis in NPC cells through increased FLJ10540 and phosphor-AKT activity. In contrast, siRNA depletion of fibulin-5 suppressed FLJ10540 expression and phosphor-AKT activity. Suppression of either fibulin-5 or FLJ10540 can cause significant inhibition with regards to cell motility in NPC cells. Finally, immunohistochemical analysis of human aggressive NPC specimens showed a significant and positive correlation between fibulin-5 and FLJ10540 expression.

Conclusion

Higher fibulin-5 expression is not only an important indicator of poor survival, but also contributes to the development of new therapeutic strategies in the FLJ10540/AKT pathway for NPC treatment.     

Folding studies on muscle type of creatine kinase from Pelodiscus sinensis

A folding study of creatine kinase from Pelodiscus sinensis has not yet been reported. To gain more insight into structural and folding mechanisms of P. sinensis CK (PSCK), denaturants such as SDS, guanidine HCl, and urea were applied in this study. We purified PSCK from the muscle of P. sinensis and conducted inhibition kinetics with structural unfolding studies under various conditions. The results revealed that PSCK was completely inactivated at 1.8 mM SDS, 1.05 M guanidine HCl, and 7.5 M urea. The kinetics via time-interval measurements showed that the inactivation by SDS, guanidine HCl, and urea were all first-order reactions with kinetic processes shifting from monophase to biphase at increasing concentrations. With respect to tertiary structural changes, PSCK was unfolded in different ways; SDS increased the hydrophobicity but retained the most tertiary structural conformation, while guanidine HCl and urea induced conspicuous changes in tertiary structures and initiated kinetic unfolding mechanisms. Our study provides information regarding PSCK and enhances our knowledge of the reptile-derived enzyme folding.