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The transcriptional regulation of olfactory receptors (ORs) plays a critical role in various biological processes, and has recently been considered a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment. Esophageal cancer (EC) is a highly invasive neoplasm with dismal prognosis, but the specific roles of ORs in EC remain largely unexplored. Here, we developed a comprehensive workflow to identify potential functional olfactory receptor family 51 subfamily B member 5 ( OR51B5 ) and demonstrated that OR51B5 locus acted as a key spatial element contributing to the progression of esophageal cancer. Moreover, we showed that the CTCF-EZH2 enhanced the trimethylation of lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3) and increased repressive and closed chromatin state at the OR51B5 promoter region. Subsequently we demonstrated that closed chromatin impaired the entry of RNA polymerase II and inhibited the transcription of OR51B5 , thereby causing N-Ras activation and promoting tumor cell proliferation and metastasis. Our study provides an alternative workflow for discovering critical regulatory sites for control tumorigenesis, and reveals a novel OR51B5 triggering mechanism underlying esophageal cancer progression.

The spatial co-presence of aberrant long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and abnormal coding genes contributes to malignancy development in various tumors. However, precise coordinated mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in tumorigenesis remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that Prohibitin 2 (PHB2) orchestrates the transcription of an oncogenic CASC15-New-Isoform 2 ( CANT2 ) lncRNA and the coding tumor-suppressor gene CCBE1 , thereby accelerating melanoma tumorigenesis. In melanoma cells, PHB2 initially accesses the open chromatin sites at the CANT2 promoter, recruiting MLL2 to augment H3K4 trimethylation and activate CANT2 transcription. Intriguingly, PHB2 further binds the activated CANT2 transcript, targeting the promoter of the tumor-suppressor gene CCBE1 . This interaction recruits histone deacetylase HDAC1 to decrease H3K27 acetylation at the CCBE1 promoter and inhibit its transcription, significantly promoting tumor cell growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Our study elucidates a PHB2-mediated mechanism that orchestrates the aberrant transcription of lncRNAs and coding genes, providing an intriguing epigenetic regulatory model in tumorigenesis. The functional role of the co-presence of aberrant long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and coding genes in cancer remains poorly understood. Here, the transcriptional regulator Prohibitin 2 (PHB2) is shown to co-regulate the transcription of an oncogenic CASC15- New-Isoform 2 ( CANT2 ) lncRNA and the tumour-suppressor gene CCBE1 accelerating tumorigenesis of melanoma.

The three-stranded DNA-RNA triplex hybridization is involved in various biological processes, including gene expression regulation, DNA repair, and chromosomal stability. However, the DNA-RNA triplex mediating mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we show that peptidylprolyl isomerase A (PPIA) serves as anchor to recruit GAU1 lncRNA by interacting with exon 4 of GAU1 and enhances the formation of SENP5/GAU1 DNA-lncRNA triplex. Intriguingly, TFR4 region of GAU1 exon 3 and TTS4 region of SENP5 promoter DNA constitute fragments forming the SENP5/GAU1 triplex. The SENP5/GAU1 triplex subsequently triggers the recruitment of the methyltransferase SET1A to exon 1 of GAU1 , leading to the enrichment of H3K4 trimethylation and the activation of SENP5 transcription for driving the tumorigenesis of gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo. Our study reveals a mechanism of PPIA-guided SENP5/GAU1 DNA-lncRNA triplex formation in tumorigenesis and providing a concept in the dynamics of isomerase assisted DNA-RNA hybridization. This study investigates the regulatory mechanisms of DNA-lncRNA triplexes, specifically their role in gastric cancer through the stable formation and precise oncogenic activity of the SENP5/GAU1 triplex. It shows how PPIA orchestrates the SENP5/GAU1 DNA-lncRNA triplex.

The change of conductance of single-molecule junction in response to various external stimuli is the fundamental mechanism for the single-molecule electronic devices with multiple functionalities. We propose the concept that the conductance of molecular systems can be tuned from inside. The conductance is varied in C 60 with encapsulated H 2 O, H 2 O@C 60 . The transport properties of the H 2 O@C 60 -based nanostructure sandwiched between electrodes are studied using first-principles calculations combined with the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism. Our results show that the conductance of the H 2 O@C 60 is sensitive to the position of the H 2 O and its dipole direction inside the cage with changes in conductance up to 20%. Our study paves a way for the H 2 O@C 60 molecule to be a new platform for novel molecule-based electronics and sensors.

Interferon-stimulated gene product 15 (ISG15), a ubiquitin-like molecule, can be conjugated to protein substrates through a reversible process known as ISGylation. ISG15 and ISGylation are both strongly upregulated by type I interferons and play putative key roles in host innate immunity against viral infection. However, the function of ISGylation and identities of ISGylation substrates are largely unknown. Here, a novel monoclonal antibody (Mab) that specifically recognizes porcine ISG15 (pISG15) was employed to capture ISG15-conjugated proteins from IFNs-stimulated porcine cell lysates. Next, Mab-captured conjugates were analyzed using proteomics-based tools to identify potential ISGylation protein targets in order to elucidate the roles of ISG15 and ISGylation in porcine cells. Subsequently, 190 putative ISGylation sites were detected within 98 identified ISGylation candidates; several candidates contained more than one ISGylation-modifiable lysine residue, including pISG15 itself. Motif enrichment analysis of confirmed ISGylation sites demonstrated a moderate bias towards certain sites with specific upstream amino acid residues. Meanwhile, results of Gene Ontology (GO)-based annotation and functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses of porcine ISG15-conjugated substrate proteins indicated that these substrates were mainly associated with the host metabolism, especially nucleotide metabolic pathways that ultimately may participate in cellular antiviral defenses. Notably, several ISGs (MX1, IFIT1, OAS1, ISG15 and putative ISG15 E3 ligase Herc6) were also identified as putative ISGylation substrates within a regulatory loop involving ISGylation of ISGs themselves. Taken together, proteomics analysis of porcine ISGylation substrates revealed putative functional roles of ISG15 and novel host ISGylation targets that may ultimately be involved in cellular antiviral responses.

By using the concept of negativity, we investigate the thermal entanglement of a two-spin (1/2, 3/2) mixed-spin Heisenberg XX chain with an inhomogeneous external magnetic field. We obtain the analytical results of entanglement of this model. For the case of uniform magnetic field, we find that the critical temperature is higher than the results of the spin-1/2 chain and (1/2,1) mixed-spin chain. And by adjusting the nonuniform parameter b , one is able to obtain more entanglement at a higher temperature.

To study the controlled effect of poly （lactic acid） （PLA）, poly lactic-coglycolic （PLGA） and ethylenediamine （EDA）-maleic anhydride （MAH） modified PLA （EMPLA） for in vitro release of nestorone, rods were prepared using the solvent evaporation method. Amount of drug release in vitro was determined by UV spectrophotometry. Effects of rods diameter, the molecular weight of PLA, the drug percentage and the hydrophilicity of polymers on the release of biodegradable nestorone rods in vitro were investigated. It is indicated that the controlled effect of the biodegradable rods for the release of nestorone in vitro is good. The amount of drug released every week from rods in different diameter is similar to one another. The amount of drug released every week and the accumulative drug released during 12 week were almost in direct proportion with the drug percentage of the rods. The amount of drug released every week is increased as the decreasing of PLA molecular weight. As the hydrophlicity of polymer is improved, the rate of drug release every week is accelerated. The studies show that the plausibility of controlled release of nestorone from PLA, PLGA and EMPLA rods imply the possibility of their application as a controlled delivery system for nestorone. The results show that the greater the molecular weight of PLA is, the slower its degradation is and the slower the drug released; the greater the percentage of nestorone is, the more quickly the drug release. An increase of the hydrophilicity of the polymers will increase their degradation rate and leads to a fast drug release. Anyhow, these rods systems should be further evaluated in vivo.

C60 fullerene has been studied extensively, as it is considered to be a good candidate for building single-molecule junctions. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that the conductance of single-molecule junctions based on a newly discovered molecule, borospherene (B40), is comparable to that for the C60-based junction with its more delocalized {\\pi} electrons. The charge injection efficiency in the B40-based junction is improved, as up to 7 atoms in direct contact with the electrode are possible in the Au-B40-Au junction. Interestingly, a higher number of atoms in direct contact with the electrode does not result in a higher number of conduction channels because of the unique chemical bonding in the B40 molecule, without two-center two- electron bonds. The transport properties of Au-B40-Au junctions can be proved by doping. With a Ca, Sr, or Y atom encapsulated into the B40 cage, the conductance at zero bias increases significantly. Moreover, our calculations show that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital dominates the low-bias transport, as the thermopower in these junctions is negative. Our study indicates that B40 is an attractive new platform for designing highly conductive single-molecule junctions for future molecular circuits.

The change of conductance of single molecule junctions in response to various external stimuli is the fundamental mechanism for single-molecule electronic devices with multiple functionalities. We propose a concept that the conductance of molecule systems can be tuned from its inside. The conductance is varied in C\\(_{60}\\) with encapsulated H\\(_{2}\\)O, H\\(_{2}\\)O@C\\(_{60}\\). The transport properties of the H\\(_{2}\\)O@C\\(_{60}\\)-based nanostructure sandwiched between electrodes are studied using first-principles calculations based on the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. Our results show that the conductance of the H\\(_{2}\\)O@C\\(_{60}\\) is sensitive to the position of the H\\(_{2}\\)O and its dipole direction inside the cage with changes in conductance up to 20%. Our study paves a way for the H\\(_{2}\\)O@C\\(_{60}\\) molecule to be a new platform for novel molecule based electronics and sensors.

Analyzing scattered wave to recognize object is of fundamental significance in wave physics. Recently-emerged deep learning technique achieved great success in interpreting wave field such as in ultrasound non-destructive testing and disease diagnosis, but conventionally need time-consuming computer postprocessing or bulky-sized diffractive elements. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a purely-passive and small-footprint meta-neural-network for real-time recognizing complicated objects by analyzing acoustic scattering. We prove meta-neural-network mimics a standard neural network despite its compactness, thanks to unique capability of its metamaterial unit-cells (dubbed meta-neurons) to produce deep-subwavelength phase shift as training parameters. The resulting device exhibits the “intelligence” to perform desired tasks with potential to overcome the current limitations, showcased by two distinctive examples of handwritten digit recognition and discerning misaligned orbital-angular-momentum vortices. Our mechanism opens the route to new metamaterial-based deep-learning paradigms and enable conceptual devices automatically analyzing signals, with far-reaching implications for acoustics and related fields. The authors present a passive meta-neural-network for real-time recognition of objects by analysis of acoustic scattering. It consists of unit cells termed meta-neurons, mimicking an analogous neural network for classical waves, and is shown to recognise handwritten digits and misaligned orbital-angular-momentum vortices.