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LiB alloy is promising lithium (Li) metal anode material because the continuous internal LiB fiber skeleton can effectively suppress Li dendrites and structural pulverization. However, the unvalued surface states limit the practical application of LiB alloy anodes. Herein, the study examined the influence of the different exposure manners of the internal LiB fiber skeleton owing to the various surface states of the LiB alloy anode on electrochemical performance and targetedly proposed a scalable friction coating strategy to construct a lithiated fumed silica (LFS) functional layer with abundant electrochemically active sites on the surface of the LiB alloy anode. The LFS significantly suppresses the inhomogeneous interfacial electrochemical behavior of the LiB alloy anode and enables the exposure of the internal LiB fiber skeleton in a homogeneously planar manner (LFS-LiB). Thus, a 0.5 Ah LFS-LiB||LiCoO 2 (LCO) pouch cell exhibits a discharge capacity retention rate of 80% after 388 cycles. Moreover, a 6.15 Ah LFS-LiB||S pouch cell with 409.3 Wh kg -1 exhibits a discharge capacity retention rate of 80% after 30 cycles. In conclusion, the study findings provide a new research perspective for Li alloy anodes., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) is a leading threat to cancer patients with few effective treatment strategies. OPN is found to be an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with potential as a treating target for PHC. Fenofibrate is a lipid-lowering drug with potential anti-tumor properties, which is claimed with suppressive effects on OPN expression. Our study proposes to explore the molecular mechanism of fenofibrate in inhibiting HCC. OPN was found extremely upregulated in 6 HCC cell lines, especially Hep3B cells. Hep3B and Huh7 cells were treated with 75 and 100 μM fenofibrate, while OPN-overexpressed Hep3B cells were treated with 100 μM fenofibrate. Decreased clone number, elevated apoptotic rate, reduced number of migrated cells, and shortened migration distance were observed in fenofibrate-treated Hep3B and Huh7 cells, which were markedly abolished by the overexpression of OPN. Furthermore, the facilitating effect against apoptosis and the inhibitory effect against migration of fenofibrate in Hep3B cells were abolished by 740 Y-P, an agonist of PI3K. Hep3B xenograft model was established, followed by treated with 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg fenofibrate, while OPN-overexpressed Hep3B xenograft was treated with 200 mg/kg fenofibrate. The tumor growth was repressed by fenofibrate, which was notably abolished by OPN overexpression. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of fenofibrate on the PI3K/AKT/Twist pathway in Hep3B cells and Hep3B xenograft model was abrogated by OPN overexpression. Collectively, fenofibrate suppressed progression of hepatoma downregulating OPN through inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/Twist pathway., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent malignant tumor worldwide. Within HCC's tumor microenvironment, focal adhesion kinase (FAK) plays a critical role. Regulatory T cells (Treg) modulate the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages , but the relationship between FAK, Treg cells, and macrophages remains underexplored. Phellinus linteus (PL) shows promise as a treatment for HCC due to its pharmacological effects. This study aimed to explore the relationship between FAK and Treg-macrophages and to assess whether PL could exert a protective effect through the FAK process in HCC. Initially, C57BL/6-FAK -/- tumor-bearing mice were utilized to demonstrate that FAK stimulates HCC tumor development. High dosages (200 μM) of FAK and the FAK activator ZINC40099027 led to an increase in Treg (CD4 + CD25 + ) cells, a decrease in M1 macrophages (F4/80 + CD16/32 + , IL-12, IL-2, iNOS), and an increase in M2 macrophages (F4/80 + CD206 + , IL-4, IL-10, Arg1, TGF-β1). Additionally, FAK was found to encourage cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition while inhibiting apoptosis in HepG2 and SMMC7721 cells. These effects were mediated by the PI3K/AKT1/Janus Kinase (JAK)/ signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK)/Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) signaling pathways. Furthermore, PL exhibited a potent antitumor effect in vivo in a dose-dependent manner, reducing FAK, Treg cells, and M2 macrophages, while increasing M1 macrophages. This effect was achieved through the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/JAK/STAT3, and p38/JNK pathways. Overall, our findings suggest that FAK promotes HCC via Treg cells that polarize macrophages toward the M2 type through specific signaling pathways. PL, acting through FAK, could be a protective therapy against HCC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is a promising candidate for an electrochemical energy-storage system. However, for a long time, it suffered from the "shuttle effect" of the intermediate products of soluble polysulfides and safety issues concerning the combustible liquid electrolyte and lithium anode. In this work, sulfide polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) is employed as a solid cycled cathode to resolve the "shuttle effect" fundamentally, a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) based on poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) is matched to the SPAN cathode to minimize the safety concerns, and finally, a quasi-solid-state Li-SPAN battery is combined by an in situ thermal polymerization strategy to improve its adaptability to the existing battery assembly processes. The PEGDA-based GPE achieved at 60 °C for 40 min ensures little damage to the in situ battery, a good electrode-electrolyte interface, a high ionic conductivity of 6.87 × 10 -3 S cm -1 at 30 °C, and a wide electrochemical window of 4.53 V. Ultimately, the as-prepared SPAN composite exerts a specific capacity of 1217.3 mAh g -1 after 250 cycles at 0.2 C with a high capacity retention rate of 89.9%. The combination of the SPAN cathode and in situ thermally polymerized PEGDA-based GPE provides a new inspiration for the design of Li-SPAN batteries with both high specific energy and high safety.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are candidates for next-generation energy storage systems because of their low cost, high theoretical specific capacity and safety. However, the serious lithium polysulfide (LiPS) shuttle effect leads to a loss of reactive active substances and reduction of coulombic efficiency. In the current work, iron oxide (IO-700)-prepared by calcining a mixture of carbon spheres and ferric nitrate under an air atmosphere at 700 °C-was designed as a separator modifier to effectively adsorb LiPSs and accelerate the kinetics of the transformation of the intermediates, thereby inhibiting the shuttle effect. Li-S batteries including IO-700 showed long-term stability for 1000 cycles at 1C, with a capacity decay rate per cycle of only 0.0487%. A theoretical calculation indicated that, due to strongly polar active sites, Fe 2 O 3 adsorbed LiPSs effectively to suppress the shuttle effect. This work has highlighted the importance for Li-S batteries of strongly polar active sites for anchoring LiPSs to inhibit the shuttle effect.

Because of their high energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are one of the potential candidates for the next-generation energy-storage devices. However, they have been troubled by sluggish reaction kinetics for the insoluble Li 2 S product and capacity degradation because of the severe shuttle effect of polysulfides. These problems have been overcome by introducing transition metal compounds (TMCs) as catalysts into the interlayer of modified separator or sulfur host. This review first introduces the mechanism of sulfur redox reactions. The methods for studying TMC catalysts in Li-S batteries are provided. Then, the recent advances of TMCs (such as metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal selenides, metal nitrides, metal phosphides, metal carbides, metal borides, and heterostructures) as catalysts and some helpful design and modulation strategies in Li-S batteries are highlighted and summarized. At last, future opportunities toward TMC catalysts in Li-S batteries are presented.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high-burden cancer. The molecular mechanism of HCC has not been fully elucidated. Notably, current research has revealed a significant function for long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the prognosis of patients with HCC. Here, this study aims to construct a regulated lncRNA-mediated ceRNA network and find biological targets for the treatment of HCC., Methods: Based on the RNA expression patterns from the TCGA, we did an analysis to determine which genes were expressed differently between liver tumor tissues and noncancerous tissues. Then, using bioinformatic tools, we built a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network and used GO and KEGG functional analyses on the DEmRNAs connected to ceRNA networks. The main lncRNAs in the subnetwork were chosen, and we next looked at the relationships between these lncRNAs and the clinical characteristics of patients with HCC. The prognosis-related genes and immune cells were identified using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard analyses, and CIBERSORT was utilized to separate the 22 immune cell types. CCK8 assay was performed to measure cell viability in HCC cells after lncRNA HOTTIP modulation., Results: Differentially expressed mRNA and lncRNAs in HCC and paracancerous tissues were identified. There are 245 lncRNAs, 126 miRNAs, and 1980 mRNAs that are expressed differently in liver tumour tissues than in noncancerous cells. Function analysis showed that mRNAs in ceRNA network were significantly enriched in G1/S transition of mototiv cell cycle, positive regulation of cell cycle process, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cancer related pathways. CD8 T cells and T follicular helper cells had a favourable link with a 0.65 correlation coefficient. Additionally, there was a strong correlation between Eosinophils, activated NK cells, and B memory cells. Strikingly, depletion of lncRNA HOTTIP inhibited viability of HCC cells. In addition, miR-205 upregulation suppressed viability of HCC cells, while miR-205 downregulation repressed viability of HCC cells. Notably, miR-205 depletion rescued HOTTIP depletion-mediated suppression of cell viability in HCC., Conclusion: A ceRNA network was created by examining the lncRNA, miRNA, and mRNA expression profiles of liver tumours from the TCGA database. LncRNA HOTTIP promoted cell viability via inhibition of miR-205 in HCC cells., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Chen, Chen, Gong, Jin, Shu, Wang and Wang.)

The shuttle effects of polysulfide intermediates (LiPSs) and sluggish kinetics during sulfur reduction reaction (SRR) process severely exacerbate the electrochemical performances of Li-S batteries. Herein, a unique nanocatalyst comprising β-NiOOH nanosheets uniformly implanted on the surface of carbon nanotubes (CNT@NiOOH) was designed and synthesized for sulfur cathodes. The β-NiOOH nanosheets have great capability of adsorbing LiPSs as well as superior catalytic activity for accelerating LiPS conversion, providing a more efficient method to restrain shuttle effects and improve the kinetics of SRR. Moreover, the nanometer-scale epitaxial growth and uniform distribution of β-NiOOH on CNTs provide a multidimensional catalytic skeleton with sufficient accessible active surfaces, unimpeded LiPS diffusion pathways, and resultant high utilization of active sites. Simultaneously, stable electron transportation pathways are also obtained by being synthesized on CNTs to avoid the faultiness of poor electron conductivity of β-NiOOH. These conspicuous advantages contribute to fully exert the catalytic and LiPS anchoring potential of CNT@NiOOH, bringing about the ultralong cycle performance and excellent capacity reversibility at a high discharge rate. Reticular CNT@NiOOH frameworks are assembled with the sulfur composite materials (SCMs) by a self-assembly method, and a super-high capacity of 813.3 mA h g -1 after 400 cycles at 0.5 C with a small capacity degradation of 0.07% per cycle is achieved. Furthermore, the 3 A h pouch-type cell with the SCM/CNT@NiOOH cathode attains a super-high energy density of about 320 W h kg -1 and shows a superior capacity retention as high as 75.9% after 50 cycles at 0.2 C. This work provides a promising method to accelerate the SRR process and restrain the shuttle effects for practical long-life and high-capacity Li-sulfur batteries.

In the leather industry, considerable amounts of non-recyclable solid leather wastes (SLWs) are produced and accumulated in factories. In this work, the non-isothermal thermochemical analysis (TGA) test was used to analyse the thermal degradation behaviour of chromium-tanned leather shaving, which is one of the main SLWs. The pyrolysis experiments were carried out under nitrogen atmosphere from 30 to 800 °C at different heating rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 °C/min. Three different kinetic models, including the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and Kissinger methods, were used to calculate the kinetic parameters. The activation energy values calculated by FWO and KAS methods were 391.79 and 348.77 kJ/mol, respectively. In consideration of the high HHV (14.15 MJ/kg) and carbon productivity (10.15%), SLWs could represent a potential candidate material for bioenergy production and carbon preparation. These results could be used for the design of thermochemical conversion processes utilizing SLWs as feedstock., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Because of the disadvantages of commercial graphite anodes for high-power lithium-ion batteries, a kind of spinel nanolithium titanate (Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 )/graphene microsphere composite [denoted as LTO/reduced graphene oxide (rGO)] is successfully synthesized. The as-prepared composite is made up of curled graphene sheets which are anchored with nano-Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 particles. These nano-Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 particles are uniformly decorated on the conductive graphene framework and their sizes range from just 15 to 20 nm. In the as-prepared composite, the curled graphene sheets form a unique mesopore-oriented structure which provides plenty of three-dimensional channels for ion transportation. These structure characters greatly improve both the electron conductivity and Li + diffusion ability. The ratio of pseudocapacitive capacity dramatically increases in the obtained LTO/rGO composite and generates excellent ultrahigh rate performances. The as-prepared LTO/rGO composite delivers a reversible capacity of 70.3 mA h g -1 at 200 C and a capacity retention of 84.7% after 1000 cycles at 50 C. As the current density varies from 30 to 100 C, the special capacity remains unchanged (about 112 mA h g -1 ). These results show that the graphene framework-supported nano-Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 composite has potential application in high-power lithium-ion batteries.

Key Message: The Arabidopsis seed coat-specific promoter fragment described is an important tool for basic and applied research in Brassicaceae species. During differentiation, the epidermal cells of the Arabidopsis seed coat produce and secrete large quantities of mucilage. On hydration of mature seeds, this mucilage becomes easily accessible as it is extruded to form a tightly attached halo at the seed surface. Mucilage is composed mainly of pectin, and also contains the key cell wall components cellulose, hemicellulose, and proteins, making it a valuable model for studying numerous aspects of cell wall biology. Seed coat-specific promoters are an important tool that can be used to assess the effects of expressing biosynthetic enzymes and diverse cell wall-modifying proteins on mucilage structure and function. Additionally, they can be used for production of easily accessible recombinant proteins of commercial interest. The MUCILAGE-MODIFIED4 (MUM4) gene is expressed in a wide variety of plant tissues and is strongly up-regulated in the seed coat during mucilage synthesis, implying the presence of a seed coat-specific region in its promoter. Promoter deletion analysis facilitated isolation of a 308 base pair sequence (MUM4 0.3Pro ) that directs reporter gene expression in the seed coat cells of both Arabidopsis and Camelina sativa, and is regulated by the same transcription factor cascade as endogenous MUM4. Therefore, MUM4 0.3Pro is a promoter fragment that serves as a new tool for seed coat biology research.

Although the lithium-sulfur battery has attracted significant attention because of its high theoretical energy density and low cost of elemental sulfur, its real application is still hindered by multiple challenges, especially the polysulfides shuttled between the cathode and anode electrodes. By originating from β-cyclodextrin and introducing a quaternary ammonium cation into β-cyclodextrin polymer, a new multifunctional aqueous polycation binder (β-CDp-N(+)) for the sulfur cathode is obtained. The unique hyperbranched network structure of the new binder β-CDp-N(+) as well as its multidimensional noncovalent interactions and the introduced cations endowed β-CDp-N(+) with some new abilities: a sulfur-electrode-stabilized ability, a polysulfides-immobilized ability, and a volume-accommodated ability, which help to ease the primary problems of the lithium-sulfur battery, i.e., the shuttle of polysulfides and the volume change of the sulfur during charge and discharge. It is demonstrated that cycling performance and rate capability of the cathodes can be the improved by using β-CDp-N(+) as the binder compared to other well-known binders. Even with high sulfur loading of 5.5 mg cm(-2), the cathode with β-CDp-N(+) still can deliver an areal capacity of 4.4 mAh cm(-2) at 50 mA g(-1) after 45 cycles, which is much higher than that achieved using the cathode with the conventional binder (0.9 mAh cm(-2)).

Differentiation of the Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) seed coat epidermal cells involves pronounced changes highlighted by the synthesis and secretion of copious amounts of dispensable, pectinaceous mucilage followed by a thick cellulosic secondary cell wall. This cell type, therefore, represents an excellent molecular-genetic model to study the biosynthesis and modification of cell wall components, particularly pectin. To support such research, we sought to identify a promoter that drives expression specifically in the Arabidopsis seed coat epidermis. Arabidopsis seed coat microarray data was analysed for genes expressed in the wild type seed coat but not the seed coat of the apetala2 mutant where the epidermal cells fail to differentiate. Of 14 candidate genes, 9 showed a seed-specific expression pattern by reverse transcriptase-PCR. Transcriptional regulatory region-β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene fusions introduced into Arabidopsis identified one promoter, that of the DIRIGENT PROTEIN1 (DP1) gene, as seed coat specific. The specificity of the expression was confirmed using a second reporter gene, Citrine YFP. Expression of both reporter genes was limited to the epidermal and palisade cell layers of the seed coat. Quantitative PCR data using wild type seed coat RNA suggested that the promoter is particularly active at 7 days post anthesis. The DP1 promoter was able to direct transcription of GUS in a similar pattern in the Brassica napus seed coat. Thus, in addition to its application in studying the plant cell wall, this promoter will provide an experimental tool for expressing high-valued recombinant proteins as well as modifying seed coat traits in economically important crops.

The heterotrimeric G-proteins form classical signal transduction complexes conserved in all eukaryotes. The repertoire of G-protein signaling complex is much simpler in plants than in metazoans. One of the best understood functions for the plant G-protein complex is its modulation of cell proliferation. A method is described here to quantify cell division and cell elongation in the Arabidopsis heterotrimeric G-protein mutants using the hypocotyl as a model system.

We recently identified Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) as one of the molecular links between abscisic acid (ABA) signaling and its regulation on protein translation. Moreover, we identified Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 6 (eIF6) as an interacting partner of RACK1. Because the interaction between RACK1 and eIF6 in mammalian cells is known to regulate the ribosome assembly step of protein translation initiation, it was hypothesized that the same process of protein translation in Arabidopsis is also regulated by RACK1 and eIF6. In this article, we analyzed the amino acid sequences of eIF6 in different species from different lineages and discovered some intriguing differences in protein phosphorylation sites that may contribute to its action in ribosome assembly and biogenesis. In addition, we discovered that, distinct from non-plant organisms in which eIF6 is encoded by a single gene, all sequenced plant genomes contain two or more copies of eIF6 genes. While one copy of plant eIF6 is expressed ubiquitously and might possess the conserved function in ribosome biogenesis and protein translation, the other copy seems to be only expressed in specific organs and therefore may have gained some new functions. We proposed some important studies that may help us better understand the function of eIF6 in plants.

The complete genome sequence of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand the biology of this model cereal. An essential and necessary step in this effort is the determination of the coding information and expression patterns of each sequenced chromosome. Here, we report an analysis of the transcriptional activity of rice chromosome 4 using a tiling path microarray based on PCR-generated genomic DNA fragments. Six representative rice organ types were examined using this microarray to catalog the transcribed regions of rice chromosome 4 and to reveal organ- and developmental stage-specific transcription patterns. This analysis provided expression support for 82% of the gene models in the chromosome. Transcriptional activities in 1643 nonannotated regions were also detected. Comparison with cytologically defined chromatin features indicated that in juvenile-stage rice the euchromatic region is more actively transcribed than is the transposon-rich heterochromatic portion of the chromosome. Interestingly, increased transcription of transposon-related gene models in certain heterochromatic regions was observed in mature-stage rice organs and in suspension-cultured cells. These results suggest a close correlation between transcriptional activity and chromosome organization and the developmental regulation of transcription activity at the chromosome level.

Rice is the principal food for over half of the population of the world. With its genome size of 430 megabase pairs (Mb), the cultivated rice species Oryza sativa is a model plant for genome research. Here we report the sequence analysis of chromosome 4 of O. sativa, one of the first two rice chromosomes to be sequenced completely. The finished sequence spans 34.6 Mb and represents 97.3% of the chromosome. In addition, we report the longest known sequence for a plant centromere, a completely sequenced contig of 1.16 Mb corresponding to the centromeric region of chromosome 4. We predict 4,658 protein coding genes and 70 transfer RNA genes. A total of 1,681 predicted genes match available unique rice expressed sequence tags. Transposable elements have a pronounced bias towards the euchromatic regions, indicating a close correlation of their distributions to genes along the chromosome. Comparative genome analysis between cultivated rice subspecies shows that there is an overall syntenic relationship between the chromosomes and divergence at the level of single-nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions and deletions. By contrast, there is little conservation in gene order between rice and Arabidopsis.