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5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is widely used in the treatment of gastric cancer, and the emergence of drug resistance and toxic effects has limited its application. Therefore, there is an urgent need for safe and effective novel drugs or new therapies. β-Ionone (BI) is found in vegetables and fruits and possesses an inhibitory proliferation of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we investigated whether BI could enhance the inhibitory effects of 5-FU on the proliferation of gastric adenocarcinoma cells and the growth of gastric cancer cell xenografts in a mouse model. The effects of BI and 5-FU alone or their combination on the cell viability, apoptosis, and mitochondrial membrane potential, the cell cycle, and its related proteins—Cyclin D1, and CDK4 as well as PCNA and GSK-3β were evaluated in SGC-7901 cells and MKN45 cells by MTT, MB, flow cytometry and Western blot. In addition, the effects of BI and 5-FU alone or their combination on the growth of SGC-7901 cell xenografts in nude mice were investigated. The results showed that BI significantly enhanced the sensitivity of gastric adenocarcinoma cells to 5-FU in vitro and in vivo, i.e. proliferation inhibited, apoptosis induced and GSK-3β protein activated. Therefore, our results suggest that BI increases the antitumor effect of 5-FU on gastric adenocarcinoma cells, at least partly from an activated GSK-3β signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates a five-layer InAs/InP quantum-dash semiconductor optical amplifier (QDash-SOA), which will be integrated into microwave-photonic on-chip devices for millimeter-wave (mmWave) over fibre wireless networking systems. A thorough investigation of the QDash-SOA is conducted regarding its communication performance at different temperatures, bias currents, and input powers. The investigation shows a fibre-to-fibre (FtF) small-signal gain of 18.79 dB and a noise figure of 6.3 dB. In a common application with a 300 mA bias current and 25 °C temperature, the peak FtF gain is located at 1507.8 nm, which is 17.68 dB, with 3 dB gain bandwidth of 56.6 nm. Furthermore, the QDash-SOA is verified in a mmWave radio-over-fibre link with QAM (32 Gb/s 64-QAM 4-GBaud) and OFDM (250 MHz 64-QAM) signals. The average error vector magnitude of the QAM and OFDM signals after a 2 m wireless link could be as low as 8.29% and 6.78%, respectively. These findings highlight the QDash-SOA's potential as a key amplifying component in future integrated microwave-photonic on-chip devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) has greater infiltration of M2‐like macrophages (TAMs), which enhances cancer cell invasion and leads to a poor prognosis. TNBC progression is mediated by both tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we elucidate the mechanism of the interaction between TNBC cells and TAMs. In this study, we confirmed that CD44v5 is highly expressed in TNBC, which drives TNBC cell metastasis and promotes TAM polarization by co‐localizing with IL4Rα and inhibiting its internalization and degradation, thereby promoting activation of the STAT3/IL6 signaling axis. At the same time, TAMs also facilitate TNBC cell metastasis by secreting IL‐4, IL‐6, and other cytokines, in which the IL‐4/IL‐4R/STAT3/IL‐6 signaling axis plays the same role for TNBC cells responding to TAMs. Moreover, we found that the above progress could be suppressed when the CD44v5 domain was blocked. We demonstrated that the CD44v5/IL‐4R/STAT3/IL‐6 signaling pathway plays a key role in TNBC cell metastasis, and in TNBC cells inducing TAM polarization and responding to TAMs, promoting metastasis. Collectively, we suggest that the CD44v5 domain may be a promising target for regulating the TME of TNBC as well as treating TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium alloys have been used to manufacture biodegradable implants, bone graft substitutes, and cardiovascular stents. WE43 was the most widely used magnesium alloy. The degradation process begins when the magnesium alloy stent is implanted in the body and comes into contact with body fluid. The degradation products include hydrogen, Mg2+, local alkaline environment, and unsoluble products. A large number of studies focused on Mg2+ and pH in vitro, and in vivo of magnesium alloys, but few studies on unsoluble corrosion products (UCPs). In this study, UCPs of WE43 alloy were prepared by immersion in vitro, and their effects on macrophages were investigated. The results showed that the unsoluble corrosion products were Mg24Y5, Mg12YNd, and MgCO3·3H2O, which were dose‐dependent on the apoptosis and necrosis of macrophages. After phagocytosis of UCPs, macrophages mainly metabolize in lysosome, and autophagy also participates in the metabolism of UCPs. It also decreases mitochondrial membrane potential and increases lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and P2X7 receptor activation. These will increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells, activating NLRP3 inflammatory corpuscles, activating the downstream pro‐IL18 and pro‐IL1β, and converting it to IL‐18, and IL‐1β. However, its pro‐inflammatory effect is far lower than that of the classical Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) pro‐inflammatory pathway. This work has increased our understanding of magnesium alloy metabolism and provides new ideas for the clinical application of magnesium alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]