Cloning and identification of an Ubiquitinconjugating enzyme E2 D2 gene from Japanese lamprey Lampetra japonica

The modification of proteins with ubiquitin is an important cellular mechanism for targeting abnormal or short-lived proteins for degradation.Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 D2 is a protein that is encoded by the UBE2D2 gene.Here,we report a lamprey(La UBE2D2)gene which contained 441-bp open reading frame(ORF)encoding 147 amino acids with a typical UBC domain.Real-time PCR assay showed that the highest expression of the protein in adult lamprey was in the leukocytes,the lowest expression was in the skin,kidney and liver.The high conservation in amino acid sequence of the La UBE2D2protein with the UBE2D2s from Homo sapiens,Danio rerio,Oreochromis niloticus and Takifugu rubripes,implied that it had similar function with UBE2D2proteins from other species.

Hyaluronidase-triggered anticancer drug and siRNA delivery from cascaded targeting nanoparticles for drug- resistant breast cancer therapy

Drug resistance renders standard chemotherapy ineffective in the treatment of connective tissue growth factor （CTGF）-overexpressing breast cancer. By co-embedding the breast tumor cell-penetrating peptide （PEGA-pVEC） and hyaluronic acid （HA） as a targeting media, novel cascaded targeting nanoparficles （HACT NPs） were created on a rattle mesoporous silica （rmSiO2） scaffold for the pinpoint delivery of siRNAs along with an anticancer drug, aiming at overcoming the drug resistance of CTGF-overexpressing breast cancer in vivo. The targeting nanoparticles selectively accumulated in the vasculature under the guidance of the PEGA-pVEC peptide, cascaded by receptor-mediated endocytosis with the aid of another targeting agent, HA, presenting a greater in vivo tumor targeting ability than single targeting ligand vectors. In addition, an HA shell prevented the leakage of therapeutic drugs during the cargo transport process, until the hyaluronidase （HAase）-triggered degradation upon lysosomes entering, guaranteeing a controllable drug release inside the target cells. When the protective shell disintegrates, the released siRNA took charge to silence the gene associated with drug resistance, CTGF, thus facilitating doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. The cascaded targeting media （PEGA-pVEC and HA） advances precision-guided therapy in vivo, while the encapsulation of siRNAs into a chemotherapy drug delivery system provides an efficient strategy for the treatment of drug resistance cancers.

Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Protein Post-translational Modifications in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is a common malignant tumor with high incidence and cancer mortality worldwide.Post-translational modifications(PTMs)of proteins have a great impact on protein function.Almost all proteins can undergo PTMs,including phosphorylation,acetylation,methylation,glycosylation,ubiquitination,and so on.Many studies have shown that PTMs are related to the occurrence and development of cancers.The findings provide novel therapeutic targets for cancers,such as glypican-3 and mucin-1.Other clinical implications are also found in the studies of PTMs.Diagnostic or prognostic value,and response to therapy have been identified.In HCC,it has been shown that glycosylated alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)has a higher detection rate for early liver cancer than conventional AFP.In this review,we mainly focused on the diagnostic and prognostic value of PTM,in order to provide new insights into the clinical implication of PTM in HCC.

Enhancement of Hydrogen Sorption on Metal（Ni, Rh, Pd） Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes： a DFT Study

Hydrogen interacted with pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes（SWNTs） and single/dimer metal doped ones（M-CNTs） was investigated via density functional theory（DFT） simulations. The most stable configurations of Ni, Rh, Pd on SWNTs were identified. The interaction of H2 molecules with pristine SWNTs and M-CNTs was investigated. The results show that H2 molecules can be adsorbed on the pristine SWNTs via a weak physical interaction, which is much weaker than those of H2 molecules with M-CNTs by chemisorption. Each Ni, Rh and Pd doped SWNTs can respectively chemisorb three, two, or one H2 molecules and the H-H bond of H2 molecule is elongated. Furthermore, the H2 molecule could be dissociated owing to the presence of the Ni-Ni bond for Ni dimer doped SWNT, forming new Ni-H bonds. While such a dissociation could not be observed on RhJPd2-CNT samples. Density of state（DOS） results show that the s orbital of hydrogen can hybridize with the d orbital of metal atom, re- sulting in the stronger inteaction between H2 and M-CNTs, impying that the hydrogen storage capacity could be en- hanced in the presence of M-CNTs. The comparison of the interaction mechanism among different metals doped CNTs can screen out the most effective hydrogen-adsorption materials and the design of the related materials by computational approaches.

Facile one-pot synthesis of superfine palladium nanoparticles on polydopamine-functionalized carbon nanotubes as a nanocatalyst for the Heck reaction

Heterogeneous Pd nanocatalysts are efficient catalysts for the Heck reaction but require multi-step,sophisticated procedures and harsh reaction conditions.In this work,a green and facile strategy has been developed to decorate Pd nanoparticles on polydopamine(PDA)-coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes(Pd/CNTs-PDA)via a one-pot method.The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by various techniques including transmission electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction,and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,which proved that Pd NPs are well-dispersed on the PDA and between the surfaces of the PDA and CNTs.The resultant Pd/CNTs-PDA catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic reactivity toward the Heck reaction at low temperatures.Moreover,by DFT simulation,we found that during the PDA polymerization process,a large number of unsaturated—N=and C=O species are more active than the groups on the PDA end product to anchor Pd NPs.The results provide evidence that the catalyst synthesized by the onepot method exhibited good activity because sufficient active sites could be created to effectively promote Pd NPs dispersion during the dopamine polymerization process.Additionally,the Pd/CNTs-PDA catalyst was successfully employed in Heck cross-coupling reactions with various functionalized substrates.This method opens a window for the fabrication of high-performance nanocomposite catalysts under mild conditions using simple methods and has several potential applications.

Decoration of CNTs' surface by Fe3O4 nanoparticles：Influence of ultrasonication time on the magnetic and structural properties

The decoration of CNTs surface by magnetic nanoparticles was achieved by an ultrasonication-assisted hydrothermal method（UAHM）.The effect of ultrasonication time on the crystal structure,magnetic performance,and chemical composition of the magnetic CNT composite material was determined.X-ray diffraction（XRD）,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,and vibrating sample magnetometry were used to characterize the physical,chemical,and magnetic properties of the composites.The composites synthesized via the UAHM exhibited superparamagnetic properties.The ultrasonication time was a critical factor that affected the structure and magnetic performance of the composites.By simply controlling the ultrasonication time,the crystal phase structure of Fe oxide could be selectively modulated and the magnetic performance of the MCs could be effectively tuned.