Search

The incidence of endometrial cancer (EC) increases annually and tends to occur in younger women. A particularly important relationship exists between EC and metabolic disorders. As one of the most important components of lipid metabolism, phospholipids play an indispensable role in metabolic balance. LPCAT1 is a key enzyme regulating phospholipid metabolism. In this study, we perform further investigations to seek mechanistic insight of LPCAT1 in EC. Our results demonstrate that silencing of LPCAT1 inhibits the growth of endometrial cancer, while overexpression of LPCAT1 results in enhanced stemness and metastasis in endometrial cancer cell lines. Meanwhile, the contents of various phospholipids including phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and triglyceride (TG) change significantly after overexpression of LPCAT1. In addition, through RNA-sequencing and western blot analysis, we observe that the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway is of great importance in the tumor-promoting function of LPCAT1. LPCAT1 promotes the expressions of stem cell-related transcription factors and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related proteins through the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway. Moreover, we find that TSI-01, which can inhibit the activity of LPCAT1, is able to restrain the proliferation of EC cell lines and promote cell apoptosis. Collectively, we demonstrate that LPCAT1 enhances the stemness and metastasis of EC by activating the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway and that TSI-01 may have potential use for the treatment of EC.

Aqueous ammonium ion hybrid supercapacitors (A-HSCs) have sparked significant interest due to their safety, sustainability, and low cost. However, the quest for superior electrode materials for storing ammonium ions still encounters many challenges. Since layered vanadium-based materials usually have a high theoretical capacity and open crystal structure, and the introduction of sodium ions can enhance ionic bonds and cycle stability, this work reports a Na+-doped NH4V4O10 nano-array grown in situ on carbon cloth through a hydrothermal approach (NaNVO@CC), which serves as a novel cathode material for A-HSCs. The irreversible deammoniation reaction of NH4V4O10 was effectively inhibited due to the growth on the carbon cloth and the synergistic effect of Na+. Thanks to these advantages, the NaNVO@CC cathode demonstrates outstanding electrochemical performance, achieving an ultra-high specific capacity of 712 F g−1 at 0.50 A g−1 and exceptional cycle stability, retaining 71.1% of its capacitance at 5.00 A g−1 over 20 000 cycles. The built A-HSC exhibits significant power density (8556.6 W kg−1), energy density (77.7 W h kg−1) and superior cycle life. This work proves the enormous potential of doping in enhancing electrode performance, which will offer insights for the creation of high-performance A-HSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: The prevalence and adverse outcomes of metabolic dysfunction associated with steatotic liver disease (MAFLD) are increasing. The changes in the gut microbiota and metabolites associated with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) are regarded as an essential part of the progression of MAFLD. This study aimed to identify the gut microbiota and metabolites involved in the development of MAFLD in patients. Method: This study enrolled 90 patients (healthy controls, HC: n = 30; MASH: n = 30; MASH-related cirrhosis, MC: n = 30), and their fecal samples were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing and non-targeted LC–MS/MS metabolomics analysis. Data preprocessing and statistical analyses were performed using QIIME2 software, Pynast, QIIME2 package, Progenesis QI, and R program. Results: The abundance of Prevotellaceae at the family level and Prevotella at the genus level was lower in the MASH and NC samples than in the HC samples. Both Prevotellaceae and Prevotella showed the strongest correlation with MASH progression via random forest analysis. Untargeted metabolomics was used to quantitatively screen for discrepant metabolites in the stool samples from the three groups. Linolenic acid (LA)-related metabolite levels were significantly lower in MASH and NC samples. Associations between Prevotella- or LA-related metabolites and liver function were discovered. A high abundance of Prevotella was associated with LA-related metabolites and MASH. Conclusion: This study identified that gut microbiota and metabolites are associated with MASH-related metabolic dysfunction. LA and Prevotella are depleted during MASH progression, and additional supplementation with Prevotella may be a potential strategy for the future treatment of MAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective was to estimate the 5-year cumulative risk of HCC in patients with HBC by utilizing an artificial neural network (ANN). Methods: We conducted this study with 1589 patients hospitalized at Beijing Ditan Hospital of Capital Medical University and People's Liberation Army Fifth Medical Center. The training cohort consisted of 913 subjects from Beijing Ditan Hospital of Capital Medical University, while the validation cohort comprised 676 subjects from People's Liberation Army Fifth Medical Center. Through univariate analysis, we identified factors that independently influenced the occurrence of HCC, which were then used to develop the ANN model. To evaluate the ANN model, we assessed its predictive accuracy, discriminative ability, and clinical net benefit using metrics such as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), concordance index (C-index), calibration curves. Results: In total, we included nine independent risk factors in the development of the ANN model. Remarkably, the AUC of the ANN model was 0.880, significantly outperforming the AUC values of other existing models including mPAGE-B (0.719) (95% CI 0.670– 0.768), PAGE-B (0. 710) (95% CI 0.660– 0.759), FIB-4 (0.693) (95% CI 0.640– 0.745), and Toronto hepatoma risk index (THRI) (0.705) (95% CI 0.654– 0.756) (p< 0.001 for all). The ANN model effectively stratified patients into low, medium, and high-risk groups based on their 5-year In the training cohort, the positive predictive value (PPV) for low-risk patients was 26.2% (95% CI 25.0– 27.4), and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 98.7% (95% CI 95.2– 99.7). For high-risk patients, the PPV was 54.7% (95% CI 48.6– 60.7), and the NPV was 91.6% (95% CI 89.4– 93.4). These findings were validated in the independent validation cohort. Conclusion: The ANNs model has good individualized prediction performance and may be helpful to evaluate the probability of the 5-year risk of HCC in patients with HBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aqueous micro batteries (AMBs) are expected to be one of the most promising micro energy storage devices for its safe operation and cost‐effectiveness. However, the performance of the AMBs is not satisfactory, which is attributed to strong interaction between metal ions and the electrode materials. Here, the first AMBs are developed with NH4+ as charge carrier. More importantly, to solve the low conductivity and the dissolution during the NH4+ intercalation/extraction problem of perylene material represented by perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), the Ti3C2Tx MXene with high conductivity and polar surface terminals is introduced as a conductive skeleton (PTCDA/Ti3C2Tx MXene). Benefitting from this, the PTCDA/Ti3C2Tx MXene electrodes exhibit ultra‐high cycle life and rate capability (74.31% after 10 000 galvanostatic chargedischarge (GCD) cycles, and 91.67 mAh g−1 at 15.0 A g−1, i.e., capacity retention of 45.2% for a 30‐fold increase in current density). More significantly, the AMBs with NH4+ as charge carrier and PTCDA/Ti3C2Tx MXene anode provide excellent energy density and power density, cycle life, and flexibility. This work will provide strategy for the development of NH4+ storage materials and the design of AMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]