基于自组装修饰银纳米线透明电极的柔性有机太阳能电池

银纳米线(AgNWs)透明电极具有出色的挠曲性和高电导率,是一类非常有潜力的柔性透明电极材料.然而AgNWs透明电极还存在表面粗糙度大、与衬底的附着力差、表面功函数与活性层能级不匹配等问题.针对上述问题,采用刮涂方法将AgNWs嵌入聚酰亚胺薄膜中,获得表面平整的AgNWs柔性透明电极,并通过Ag与巯基基团相互作用将五氟苯硫酚自组装到AgNWs电极表面,使AgNWs电极表面功函数从未处理的−4.88 eV提高到−5.06 eV,从而使其与活性层能级更加匹配.利用该电极作为柔性透明电极,在不采用任何阳极界面层的情况下制备的柔性有机太阳能电池最佳能量转换效率达到11.77%.本工作为AgNWs柔性电极的制备及功函数调控提供了新的研究思路,并为发展基于AgNWs柔性电极的高效柔性有机太阳能电池提供了一种简单有效的解决方案.

Residual circulating tumor DNA after adjuvant chemotherapy effectively predicts recurrence of stage II-III gastric cancer

Background Circulating tumor DNA(ctDNA)is a promising biomarker for predicting relapse in multiple solid cancers.However,the predictive value of ctDNA for disease recurrence remains indefinite in locoregional gastric cancer(GC).Here,we aimed to evaluate the predictive value of ctDNA in this context.Methods From 2016 to 2019,100 patients with stage II/III resectable GC were recruited in this prospective cohort study(NCT02887612).Primary tumors were collected during surgical resection,and plasma samples were collected perioperatively and within 3 months after adjuvant chemotherapy(ACT).Somatic variants were captured via a targeted sequencing panel of 425 cancer-related genes.The plasma was defined as ctDNA-positive only if one or more variants detected in the plasma were presented in at least 2%of the primary tumors.Results Compared with ctDNA-negative patients,patients with positive postoperative ctDNA had moderately higher risk of recurrence[hazard ratio(HR)=2.74,95%confidence interval(CI)=1.37–5.48;P=0.003],while patients with positive post-ACT ctDNA showed remarkably higher risk(HR=14.99,95%CI=3.08-72.96;P<0.001).Multivariate analyses indicated that both postoperative and post-ACT ctDNA positivity were independent predictors of recurrence-free survival(RFS).Moreover,post-ACT ctDNA achieved better predictive performance(sensitivity,77.8%;specificity,90.6%)than both postoperative ctDNA and serial cancer antigen.A comprehensive model incorporating ctDNA for recurrence risk prediction showed a higher C-index(0.78;95%CI=0.71–0.84)than the model without ctDNA(0.71;95%CI=0.64–0.79;P=0.009).Conclusions Residual ctDNA after ACT effectively predicts high recurrence risk in stage II/III GC,and the combination of tissue-based and circulating tumor features could achieve better risk prediction.

HMMR alleviates endoplasmic reticulum stress by promoting autophagolysosomal activity during endoplasmic reticulum stress-driven hepatocellular carcinoma progression

Background The mechanism of hepatitis B virus(HBV)-induced carcinogenesis remains an area of interest.The accumulation of hepatitis B surface antigen in the endoplasmic reticulum(ER)of hepatocytes stimulates persistent ER stress.Activity of the unfolded protein response(UPR)pathway of ER stress may play an important role in inflammatory cancer transformation.How the protective UPR pathway is hijacked by cells as a tool for malignant transformation in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is still unclear.Here,we aimed to define the key molecule hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor(HMMR)in this process and explore its role under ER stress in HCC development.Methods An HBV-transgenic mouse model was used to characterize the pathological changes during the tumor progression.Proteomics and transcriptomics analyses were performed to identify the potential key molecule,screen the E3 ligase,and define the activation pathway.Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting were conducted to detect the expression of genes in tissues and cell lines.Luciferase reporter assay,chromatin immunoprecipitation,coimmunoprecipitation,immunoprecipitation,and immunofluorescence were employed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of HMMR under ER stress.Immunohistochemistry was used to clarify the expression patterns of HMMR and related molecules in human tissues.Results We found sustained activation of ER stress in the HBV-transgenic mouse model of hepatitis-fibrosis-HCC.HMMR was transcribed by c/EBP homologous protein(CHOP)and degraded by tripartite motif containing 29(TRIM29)after ubiquitination under ER stress,which caused the inconsistent expression of mRNA and protein.Dynamic expression of TRIM29 in the HCC progression regulated the dynamic expression of HMMR.HMMR could alleviate ER stress by increasing autophagic lysosome activity.The negative correlation between HMMR and ER stress,positive correlation between HMMR and autophagy,and negative correlation between ER stress and autophagy were verified in human tissues.Conclusions This study identified the complicated role of HMMR in autophagy and ER stress,that HMMR controls the intensity of ER stress by regulating autophagy in HCC progression,which could be a novel explanation for HBV-related carcinogenesis.

UBE2S interacting with TRIM28 in the nucleus accelerates cell cycle by ubiquitination of p27 to promote hepatocellular carcinoma development

Genomic sequencing analysis of tumors provides potential molecular therapeutic targets for precision medicine.However,identifying a key driver gene or mutation that can be used for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)treatment remains difficult.Here,we performed whole-exome sequencing on genomic DNA obtained from six pairs of HCC and adjacent tissues and identified two novel somatic mutations of UBE2S(p.Gly57Ala and p.Lys63Asn).Predictions of the functional effects of the mutations showed that two amino-acid substitutions were potentially deleterious.Further,we observed that wild-type UBE2S,especially in the nucleus,was significantly higher in HCC tissues than that in adjacent tissues and closely related to the clinicopathological features of patients with HCC.Functional assays revealed that overexpression of UBE2S promoted the proliferation,invasion,metastasis,and G1/S phase transition of HCC cells in vitro,and promoted the tumor growth significantly in vivo.Mechanistically,UBE2S interacted with TR1M28 in the nucleus,both together enhanced the ubiquitination of p27 to facilitate its degradation and cell cycle progression.Most importantly,the small-molecule cephalomannine was found by a luciferase-based sensitive high-throughput screen(HTS)to inhibit UBE2S expression and significantly attenuate HCC progression in vitro and in vivo,which may represent a promising strategy for HCC therapy.

Enhancement of β-Phase Crystal Content of Poly(vinylidene fluoride)Nanofiber Web by Graphene and Electrospinning Parameters

Electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)nanofiber web has been widely utilized as a functional material in various flexible sensors and generators due to its high piezoelectricity,ease processability,and low cost.Among all the crystalline phases of PVDF,β-phase is a key property for PVDF nano fiber web,because the con tent of β-phase is directly proporti onal to piezoelectric performa nee of PVDF nano fiber web.Herein,the impact of graphe ne con tent(GC),tip-to-collector dista nee(TCD),and rotational speed of collector(RSC),as well as their interactions on theβ-phase formation of PVDF nano fiber web is systematically investigated via design of experime ntal method.The fraction of each crystalline phase of PVDF nano fiber web is calculated by FTIR spectra,and the crystallinity is determined by XRD patterns.The influences of GC,TCD,and RSC on both β-phase fraction and crystallinity of PVDF nanofiber are analyzed using Minitab program.The results show that GC,TCD,and RSC all have significa nt effect on the β-phase content of PVDF nano fiber web,and GC is the most significant one.In addition,an optimal electrospinning condition(GC=1 wt%,TCD=4 cm,and RSC=2000 r·min^-1)to fabricate high 0-phase crystallinity of PVDF nanofiber web is drawn,under which the crystallinity can reach 41.7%.The contributions in this study could provide guidanee for future research on fabricating high performance PVDF nanofiber web based sensors or generators.