Comprehensive profiling of RNA modification-related genes identifies RNA mG binding protein CBP20 as a therapeutic target for tumor growth inhibition.

RNA modifications add a crucial layer to gene expression regulation, though the roles of many RNA modification-related genes in cancer remain largely unexplored. Here we profile 76 RNA modification-associated genes across nine distinct types of modification (N-methyladenosine, 5-methylcytosine, N,2'-O-dimethyladenosine, 2'-O-dimethyladenosine, N-methylguanosine, pseudouridine, uridylation, 2'-O-methylation, N-acetylcytidine and adenosine-to-inosine editing) in four cancer types-breast, colon, liver and lung-through a comprehensive analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas data. Our analysis identified three candidate genes with increased expression in cancer tissues, with elevated levels associated with poor survival across multiple cancer types: the 5-methylcytosine methyltransferases NSUN2 and DNMT3B and CBP20, an N-methylguanosine binding protein.

Patients' perceptions of service quality in mobile health apps: the role of Need-for-Touch and physician characteristics in the post-COVID-19 era.

Purpose: This study explores how doctors' characteristics, including effort, listening, expertise, and credibility, influence patients' perceptions of service quality in mobile health (mHealth) applications in the post-COVID-19 era. It also investigates whether the Need-for-Touch moderates the relationship between doctor-patient rapport and perceived service quality in non-face-to-face consultations.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted among Korean college students who used mHealth applications after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluation of clinical application of Korean medicine standard clinical pathway in a public hospital.

Background: Clinical pathways (CPs) are structured guidelines introduced to improve healthcare quality and efficiency. In South Korea, CPs for Korean medicine have been developed since 2016 under the 3 Comprehensive Plan for Korean Medicine Promotion, with limited studies on their clinical application. Neck and shoulder pain are common conditions frequently treated at Korean medicine clinics, often by patients dissatisfied with conventional treatments.

DFT-CES2: Quantum Mechanics Based Embedding for Mean-Field QM/MM of Solid-Liquid Interfaces.

The solid-liquid interface plays a crucial role in governing complex chemical phenomena, such as heterogeneous catalysis and (photo)electrochemical processes. Despite its importance, acquiring atom-scale information about these buried interfaces remains highly challenging, which has led to an increasing demand for reliable atomic simulations of solid-liquid interfaces. Here, we introduce an innovative first-principles-based multiscale simulation approach called DFT-CES2, a mean-field QM/MM method.

Space Charge, Modulating the Catalytic Activity of Single-Atom Metal Catalysts.

Potential-induced electrode charging is a prerequisite to initiate electrochemical reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface. The 'interface space charge' could dramatically alter the reaction environment and the charge density of the active site, both of which potentially affect the electrochemical activity. However, our understanding of the electrocatalytic role of space charge has been limited.

Cation Effect on the Electrochemical Platinum Dissolution.

Ensuring the stability of electrocatalysts is paramount to the success of electrochemical energy conversion devices. Degradation is a fundamental process involving the release of positively charged metal ions into the electric double layer (EDL) and their subsequent diffusion into the bulk electrolyte. However, despite its vital importance in achieving prolonged electrocatalysis, the underlying causality of catalyst dissolution with the EDL structure remains largely unknown.

Revealing Ion Adsorption and Charging Mechanisms in Layered Metal-Organic Framework Supercapacitors with Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

Conductive layered metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated promising electrochemical performances as supercapacitor electrode materials. The well-defined chemical structures of these crystalline porous electrodes facilitate structure-performance studies; however, there is a fundamental lack in the molecular-level understanding of charge storage mechanisms in conductive layered MOFs. To address this, we employ solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to study ion adsorption in nickel 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaiminotriphenylene, Ni(HITP).

Genome-wide CRISPR screening identifies tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-2 as a target for augmenting anti-PD1 efficacy.

Background: Immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) provides durable responses in select cancer patients, yet resistance remains a significant challenge, prompting the exploration of underlying molecular mechanisms. Tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-2 (TPST2), known for its role in protein tyrosine O-sulfation, has been suggested to modulate the extracellular protein-protein interactions, but its specific role in cancer immunity remains largely unexplored.

Methods: To explore tumor cell-intrinsic factors influencing anti-PD1 responsiveness, we conducted a pooled loss-of-function genetic screen in humanized mice engrafted with human immune cells.

Hierarchically Superstructured Anisotropic Carbon Particles by Multiscale Assembly Driven by Spinodal Decomposition.

Hierarchical superstructures have novel shape-dependent properties, but well-defined anisotropic carbon superstructures with controllable size, shape, and building block dimensionality have rarely been accomplished thus far. Here, a hierarchical assembly technique is presented that uses spinodal decomposition (SD) to synthesize anisotropic oblate particles of mesoporous carbon superstructure (o-MCS) with nanorod arrays by integrating block-copolymer (BCP) self-assembly and polymer-polymer interface behaviors in binary blends. The interaction of major and minor phases in binary polymer blends leads to the formation of an anisotropic oblate particle, and the BCP-rich phase enables ordered packing and unidirectional alignment of carbon nanorods.

Microscopic Origin of Electrochemical Capacitance in Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Electroconductive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors, but the fundamental understanding of the underlying chemical processes is limited. Here, the electrochemical interface of Cu(HHTP) (HHTP = 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene) with an organic electrolyte is investigated using a multiscale quantum-mechanics/molecular-mechanics (QM/MM) procedure and experimental electrochemical measurements. Our simulations reproduce the observed capacitance values and reveals the polarization phenomena of the nanoporous framework.

Anion-Induced Interfacial Liquid Layers on LiCoO in Salt-in-Water Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The incompatibility of lithium intercalation electrodes with water has impeded the development of aqueous Li-ion batteries. The key challenge is protons which are generated by water dissociation and deform the electrode structures through intercalation. Distinct from previous approaches utilizing large amounts of electrolyte salts or artificial solid-protective films, we developed liquid-phase protective layers on LiCoO (LCO) using a moderate concentration of 0.

METTL3 regulates alternative splicing of cell cycle-related genes via crosstalk between mRNA mA modifications and splicing factors.

N-methyladenosine (mA) modification in RNA affects various aspects of RNA metabolism and regulates gene expression. This modification is modulated by many regulatory proteins, such as mA methyltransferases (writers), mA demethylases (erasers), and mA-binding proteins (readers). Previous studies have suggested that alterations in mA regulatory proteins induce genome-wide alternative splicing in many cancer cells.

Room-temperature stacking disorder in layered covalent-organic frameworks from machine-learning force fields.

The local structures of layered covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) deviate from the average crystal structures assigned from X-ray diffraction experiments. For two prototype COFs of Tp-Azo and DAAQ-TFP, density functional theory calculations have shown that the eclipsed structure is not an energy minimum and that the internal energy is lowered for an inclined stacking arrangement. Here we explore the structural disorder of these frameworks at 300 K through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using an on-the-fly machine learning force field (MLFF).

Gut bacteria-derived 3-phenylpropionylglycine mitigates adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells by inhibiting adiponectin-PPAR pathway.

Background: Gut microbiota provide numerous types of metabolites that humans cannot produce and have a huge influence on the host metabolism. Accordingly, gut bacteria-derived metabolites can be employed as a resource to develop anti-obesity and metabolism-modulating drugs.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the anti-adipogenic effect of 3-phenylpropionylglycine (PPG), which is a glycine conjugate of bacteria-derived 3-phenylpropionic acid (PPA).

Cationic Additive with a Rigid Solvation Shell for High-Performance Zinc Ion Batteries.

Despite substantial progresses, in aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs), developing zinc metal anodes with long-term reliable cycling capabilities is nontrivial because of dendritic growth and related parasitic reactions on the zinc surface. Here, we exploit the tip-blocking effect of a scandium (Sc ) additive in the electrolyte to induce uniform zinc deposition. Additional to the tri-valency of Sc , the rigidity of its hydration shell effectively prevents zinc ions from concentrating at the surface tips, enabling highly stable cycling under challenging conditions.

A unifying mechanism for cation effect modulating C1 and C2 productions from CO electroreduction.

Electrocatalysis, whose reaction venue locates at the catalyst-electrolyte interface, is controlled by the electron transfer across the electric double layer, envisaging a mechanistic link between the electron transfer rate and the electric double layer structure. A fine example is in the CO reduction reaction, of which rate shows a strong dependence on the alkali metal cation (M) identity, but there is yet to be a unified molecular picture for that. Using quantum-mechanics-based atom-scale simulation, we herein scrutinize the M-coupling capability to possible intermediates, and establish H- and M-associated ET mechanisms for CH and CO/CH formations, respectively.

Augmentation of the RNA m6A reader signature is associated with poor survival by enhancing cell proliferation and EMT across cancer types.

N-Methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification plays a critical role in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. Alterations in cellular m6A levels and m6A-related genes have been reported in many cancers, but whether they play oncogenic or tumor-suppressive roles is inconsistent across cancer types. We investigated common features of alterations in m6A modification and m6A-related genes during carcinogenesis by analyzing transcriptome data of 11 solid tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and our in-house gastric cancer cohort.

On the importance of the electric double layer structure in aqueous electrocatalysis.

To design electrochemical interfaces for efficient electric-chemical energy interconversion, it is critical to reveal the electric double layer (EDL) structure and relate it with electrochemical activity; nonetheless, this has been a long-standing challenge. Of particular, no molecular-level theories have fully explained the characteristic two peaks arising in the potential-dependence of the EDL capacitance, which is sensitively dependent on the EDL structure. We herein demonstrate that our first-principles-based molecular simulation reproduces the experimental capacitance peaks.

CRISPR screens identify a novel combination treatment targeting BCL-X and WNT signaling for KRAS/BRAF-mutated colorectal cancers.

Metastatic or recurrent colorectal cancer (CRC) patients require systemic chemotherapy, but the therapeutic options of targeted agents remain limited. CRC patients with KRAS or BRAF gene mutations exhibit a worse prognosis and are resistant to anti-EGFR treatment. Previous studies have shown that the expression of anti-apoptotic protein BCL-X is increased in CRC patients with KRAS/BRAF mutations, suggesting BCL-X as a therapeutic target for this subgroup.

Tailoring a Dynamic Metal-Polymer Interaction to Improve Catalyst Selectivity and Longevity in Hydrogenation.

Controlling metal-support interactions is important for tuning the catalytic properties of supported metal catalysts. Here, premade Pd particles are supported on stable polymers containing different ligating functionalities to control the metal-polymer interactions and their catalytic properties in industrially relevant acetylene partial hydrogenation. The polymers containing strongly ligating groups (e.

Targeting antioxidant enzymes enhances the therapeutic efficacy of the BCL-X inhibitor ABT-263 in KRAS-mutant colorectal cancers.

Cancer chemotherapeutic drugs exert cytotoxic effects by modulating intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. However, whether ROS modulates the efficacy of targeted therapeutics remains poorly understood. Previously, we reported that upregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein, BCL-X, by KRAS activating mutations was a potential target for KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment.

Dynamic metal-polymer interaction for the design of chemoselective and long-lived hydrogenation catalysts.

Metal catalysts are generally supported on hard inorganic materials because of their high thermochemical stabilities. Here, we support Pd catalysts on a thermochemically stable but "soft" engineering plastic, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), for acetylene partial hydrogenation. Near the glass transition temperature (~353 K), the mobile PPS chains cover the entire surface of Pd particles via strong metal-polymer interactions.

Forecasting the Concentration of Particulate Matter in the Seoul Metropolitan Area Using a Gaussian Process Model.

Recently, the population of Seoul has been affected by particulate matter in the atmosphere. This problem can be addressed by developing an elaborate forecasting model to estimate the concentration of fine dust in the metropolitan area. We present a forecasting model of the fine dust concentration with an extended range of input variables, compared to existing models.