Identification of ITGA3 as an Oncogene in Human Tongue Cancer via Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis

Human tongue cancer （TC） is an aggressive malignancy with a very poor prognosis. There is an urgent need to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in TC progression, mRNA expression profiles play a vital role in the exploration of cancer-related genes. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to identify the progression associated candidate genes of TC by bioinformatics analysis. Five microarray datasets of TC samples were downloaded from the Gene Expression Onmibus （GEO） database and the data of 133 TC patients were screened from The Cancer Genome Atlas （TCGA） head and neck squamous cell carcinoma （HNSC） database. The integrated analysis of five microarray datasets and the RNA sequencing data of TC samples in TCGA-HNSC was performed to obtain 1023 overlapping differentially expressed genes （DEGs） in TC and adjacent normal tissue （ANT） samples. Next, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway analysis was conducted to enrich the significant pathways of the 1023 DEGs and PI3K- Akt signaling pathway （P=0.011） was selected to be the candidate pathway. A total of 23 DEGs with ｜log2 fold change （FC）｜ ≥1.0 in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-serine/threonine kinase （PI3K-Akt） signaling pathway were subjected to survival analysis of 125 eligible TC samples in TCGA database, indicating increased integrin-α3 gene （ITGA3） expression was significantly associated with poorer prognosis. Taken together, our study suggested ITGA3 may facilitate the development of TC via activating PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.

Influence of sigma phase on corrosion and mechanical properties of 2707 hyper-duplex stainless steel aged for short periods

2707 hyper-duplex stainless steels (HDSSs) contain high contents of alloying elements (Cr, Ni, Mo and N), which may shorten the incubation period and promote both nucleation and growth of sigma (σ) phase. 2707 HDSS was first aged at different temperatures and periods of time for drawing the time-temperature-transformation profiles. The results identified the main precipitates as σ phase, with nose temperature of about 950℃. Also, 2707 specimen was aged at 950℃ for a short time, and the morphology, distribution and amount of σ phase were examined through the scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction,σ phase was initially formed at the boundaries of ferrite and austenite and then transformed through the eutectoid reaction (α→σ+γ2). Finally, the precipitation and growth of σ phase in 2707 steels aged at nose temperature for a short period reduced the corrosion resistance and deteriorated the mechanical properties, and the corresponding reason was further analyzed.

Synthesis of α-Hydroxy-ω-Aminotelechelic Polypeptide from α-Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrides Catalyzed by Alkali-metal Borohydrides

It is reported that alkali-metal borohydrides （MBH4, M = Li, Na and K） are efficient catalysts for ring opening polymerization （ROP） of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides （NCAs）. Polypeptides are prepared in quantitative yields with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions （MWDs = 1.1-1.5） which depend on the reaction temperature. End groups of the produced polypeptide are studied in detail by MALDI-ToF MS, IH-NMR, 13C-NMR, IH-1H COSY and IH-13C HMQC analyses. The results indicate that α-hydroxy-ω-aminotelechelic polypeptides are formed which are suitable for post- polymerization functionalization.