Paired-related homeobox 1 induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oesophageal squamous cancer

BACKGROUND It is unclear that paired-related homeobox 1(PRRX1)induces epithelialmesenchymal transition(EMT)in oesophageal cancer and the specific function of PRRX1 in oesophageal cancer metastasis.AIM To assess the signicance of PRRX1 expression and investigate the mechanism of EMT in oesophageal cancer metastasis.METHODS Detect the expression of PRRX1 by immunohistochemistry in oesophageal tumour tissues and adjacent normal oesophageal tissues;the PRRX1 short hairpin RNA(shRNA)or blank vector lentiviral gene delivery system was transfected into cells;cell proliferation assay,soft agar colony formation assays,cell invasion and migration assays and animal studies were used to observe cells biological characteristics In vitro and in vivo;XAV939 and LiCl were used to alter the activity of Wnt/β-catenin pathway.Immunofluorescence staining and western blot analysis were used to detect protein expression of EMT markers and Wnt/β-catenin pathway.RESULTS PRRX1 is expressed at high levels in oesophageal cancer specimens and is closely related to tumour metastasis in patients with oesophageal cancer.Regulation of PRRX1 expression might exert obvious effects on cell proliferation,especially the migration and invasion of oesophageal cancer cells.Moreover,silencing PRRX1 expression using a shRNA produced the opposite effects.In addition,when PRRX1 was overexpressed,inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway with XAV939 negated the effect of PRRX1 on EMT,whereas when PRRX1 was downregulated,activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway with LiCl impaired the effect on EMT.CONCLUSION PRRX1 is upregulated in oesophageal cancer is closely correlated with cancer metastasis.Additionally,PRRX1 induces EMT in oesophageal cancer metastasis through activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling.

A Luminescent Dicyanodistyrylbenzene-based Liquid Crystal Polymer Network for Photochemically Patterned Photonic Composite Film

A novel photonic composite film based on a luminescent dicyanodistyrylbenzene-based liquid crystal polymer network（LCN） was fabricated by using a silica colloidal crystal as a template. The upper part of inverse opal structure and the luminescence characteristics of dicyanodistyrylbenzene-based moiety endowed the resulting bilayer photonic film with structural color arising from coherent Bragg reflection and fluorescence properties, respectively. A fluorescence enhancement phenomenon was observed in the photonic film due to the overlap between the reflection band and emission band of the fluorescent LCN. More importantly, the photo-induced irreversible Z/E photoisomerization of dicyanodistyrylbenzene-based moiety in the photonic film led to both a reflection spectral shift and an observable fluorescence variation. On the basis of this effective phototuning process, microscopic patterning of photonic film was developed under both fluorescence mode and reflection mode. The work demonstrated here provides a new route to construct photo-responsive photonic film.