N-linked glycoproteomic profiling in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND Mass spectrometry-based proteomics and glycomics reveal post-translational modifications providing significant biological insights beyond the scope of genomic sequencing.AIM To characterize the N-linked glycoproteomic profile in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)via two complementary approaches.METHODS Using tandem multilectin affinity chromatography for enrichment of N-linked glycoproteins,we performed N-linked glycoproteomic profiling in ESCC tissues by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis(2-DE)-based and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification(iTRAQ)labeling-based mass spectrometry quantitation in parallel,followed by validation of candidate glycoprotein biomarkers by Western blot.RESULTS 2-DE-based and iTRAQ labeling-based quantitation identified 24 and 402 differentially expressed N-linked glycoproteins,respectively,with 15 in common,demonstrating the outperformance of iTRAQ labeling-based quantitation over 2-DE and complementarity of these two approaches.Proteomaps showed the distinct compositions of functional categories between proteins and glycoproteins with differential expression associated with ESCC.Western blot analysis validated the up-regulation of total procathepsin D and high-mannose procathepsin D,and the downregulation of total haptoglobin,high-mannose clusterin,and GlcNAc/sialic acid-containing fraction of 14-3-3ζ in ESCC tissues.The serum levels of glycosylated fractions of clusterin,prolinearginine-rich end leucine-rich repeat protein,and haptoglobin in patients with ESCC were remarkably higher than those in healthy controls.CONCLUSION Our study provides insights into the aberrant N-linked glycoproteome associated with ESCC,which will be a valuable resource for future investigations.

Monotonic mechanical behaviour of compacted completely decomposed granite with various inclusion levels of incineration bottom ash

1 Introduction Completely decomposed granite(CDG)is widely distributed in South China(Xu et al.,2022;Wang et al.,2023).The parent granite rock mass gradually loses features during the weathering process,and thus needs to be reinforced when used(Lan et al.,2003;Dassekpo et al.,2017;Alamanis et al.,2021).On the other hand,considering the huge demand for construction materials and limited natural resources,it is increasingly important to fully utilize solid waste(Gruhler et al.,2019;Anagnostopoulos et al.,2020;Jiang et al.,2022,2023a,2023b).With high strength and environment-friendly characteristics,incineration bottom ash(IBA)seems to be a suitable reinforcement material for CDG(Ahmed and Khalid,2011;Alhassan and Tankó,2012;Toraldo et al.,2013;Lynn et al.,2017;Xuan et al.,2018;Tang et al.,2020).

CFD-DEM modelling of suffusion in multi-layer soils with different fines contents and impermeable zones

Suffusion in broadly graded granular soils is caused by fluid flow and is a typical cause of geo-hazards.Previous studies of it have mainly focused on suffusion in homogeneous soil specimens.In this study,the coupled discrete element method(DEM)and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)approach is adopted to model suffusion in multi-layered soils with different fines contents,and soils with one or more impermeable zones.The parameters of the CFD-DEM model are first calibrated with the classic Ergun test and a good match with experiment is obtained.Then suffusion in multi-layered soils with different fines contents and impermeable zones is simulated and discussed.The simulation results show that,for soils with multiple layers,the cumulative eroded mass is mainly determined by the fines content of the bottom layer.In general,the higher the fines content of the bottom soil layer,the higher the cumulative eroded mass.In addition,suffusion is more severe if the fines content of the layer above is decreased.Impermeable zones inside soil specimens can increase the flow velocity around those zones,facilitating the migration of fine particles and intensifying suffusion.