Detection Limit of Defect-Induced Strain in GaN Evaluated by Valence EELS and Correlated Structural Analysis.

Crystal defects are intrinsically linked to the electrical and optical properties of semiconductor materials, making their nanoscale detection essential across all phases (from research and development to manufacturing). Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has emerged as a promising technique for detecting even point defects due to the shape modulation in valence-loss spectra induced by defects. However, previous studies have primarily focused on qualitative detection, leaving the detection limit, ie, the minimum detectable concentration, insufficiently explored.

Engineered hybrid cell membrane nanosystems for treating cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continue to represent a major challenge to global health, highlighting the urgent need for innovative treatment approaches. As a growing interdisciplinary field, nanotechnology has demonstrated significant potential for clinical applications. Nanomedicine development primarily focuses on improving the disease diagnosis and treatment through leveraging the distinct characteristics of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) to detect disease markers or deliver therapeutics to specific targets.

Design, Synthesis, and Protective Effect Evaluation on Myocardial Ischemia of New Triazole Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 Activators.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a serious human health problem, with high mortality and unfavorable prognosis. In this study, new triazole aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) activators with improved water solubility and activity were discovered with the aid of molecular simulation. The ALDH2 maximum activation fold of representative compound reached 5.

Bioinformatics analysis and experimental studies reveal KPNA2 as a novel biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma progression and telomere maintenance.

Background: Telomere maintenance mechanisms (TMMs) play a distinct role in the initiation and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the prognostic relevance of telomere maintenance (TM)-related genes in HCC remains largely unclear.

Methods: We integrated expression profiles of TM-related genes and corresponding clinicopathological data from public databases.

Monoallelic mutations in MMD2 cause autosomal dominant aggressive periodontitis.

Aggressive periodontitis causes rapid destruction of periodontal tissue. It occurs at a young age with familial clustering. We report on the first time on molecular and cellular basis of a Mendelian form of autosomal dominant aggressive periodontitis.

Frustration-Induced Many-Body Degeneracy in Spin -1/2 Molecular Quantum Rings.

Frustrated spin systems, where competing interactions prevent conventional magnetic ordering, provide a platform for uncovering emergent quantum phases and exotic many-body phenomena. Particularly, low-dimensional and symmetric geometries without boundary conditions allow us to study unconventional spin states. Here, we present = 1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg cyclic pentamer and hexamer via homocoupling of air-stable phenalenyl derivatives on Au(111).

Resveratrol-loaded engineered microcapsules with dual antimicrobial and ROS-scavenging for programmed wound healing.

Hydrogel microparticles have been proved effective for the skin wound repair. Attempts in this area focus on how to enrich the structures and encapsulate bioactive substances to achieve the spatially controllable release for accelerated wound healing. Here, we propose a novel core-shell microcapsule delivery system with the spatial encapsulation and release of resveratrol (RSV) and chitosan (CS) to treat infected wounds.

Pellitorine protects chronic restraint stress-induced cognitive deficits via inhibiting neural inflammation and ferroptosis.

Background: It has not been known that pellitorine, an active ingredient of Piper sarmentosum Roxb. with therapeutic effects against epilepsy and anxiety disorders, has the neurological effects. Our study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of pellitorine in addressing chronic restraint stress (CRS)-associated cognitive deficits.

Sum rules for X-ray circular and linear dichroism based on complete magnetic multipole basis.

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) are powerful spectroscopic techniques for probing magnetic properties in solids. In this study, we revisit the XMCD and XMLD sum rules within a complete magnetic multipole basis that incorporates both spinless and spinful multipoles. We demonstrate that these multipoles can be clearly distinguished and individually detected through the sum-rule formalism.

Unique Function in Cancer Stemness and Prognostic Significance of in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The Empty Spiracles Homeobox 2 (EMX2) gene is a homeobox transcription factor that is critical for the development of the central nervous system and genitourinary system during embryogenesis. EMX2 has been shown to regulate cellular differentiation, migration, and proliferation through its involvement in transcriptional control. Dysregulation of EMX2 expression has been implicated in various pathological conditions, including cancer, but the precise molecular mechanisms underlying EMX2 functions in cancer remain incompletely understood.

JMJD3-mediated senescence is required to overcome stress-induced hematopoietic defects.

Cellular senescence in stem cells compromises regenerative capacity, promotes chronic inflammation, and is implicated in aging. Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are responsible for producing mature blood cells, however, how cellular senescence influences their function is largely unknown. Here, we show that JMJD3, a histone demethylase, activates cellular senescence by upregulating p16 in competition with Polycomb group proteins, and reprograms HSPC integrity to overcome hematopoietic defects induced by replicative and oncogenic stresses.

Caged-hypocrellin mediated photodynamic therapy induces chromatin remodeling and disrupts mitochondrial energy metabolism in multidrug-resistant Candida auris.

Candida auris is a fungal pathogen with frequent development of multidrug-resistance or pan-drug resistance. Currently, the treatment options for Candida auris are limited. Therefore, there is an urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies.

T cell-mediated immune surveillance conferred by latent Epstein-Barr virus genes suppresses a broad spectrum of tumor formation through NKG2D-NKG2DL interactions.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected B cells effectively induce T cell-mediated immune surveillance that suppresses the proliferation of EBV B cells and development of lymphomas. However, it remains unclear whether EBV-specific T cells are involved in the surveillance of EBV-negative general tumors. To address this issue, we induced immune surveillance by expressing key EBV antigens, LMP1 and LMP2A, in germinal center B cells and investigated the formation of non-B cell tumors.

PXMP2 inhibits tumor stemness and immune infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma based on stemness risk.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a complex and heterogeneous disease wherein cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a pivotal role in driving tumorigenesis, metastasis, and resistance to therapy. This study sought to map the stemness landscape of HCC and identify patients who may benefit from immunotherapy.

Methods: A total of 26 stem cell gene sets were obtained from the StemChecker database.

Record-Breaking Far-Red Silicon Quantum Dots LEDs Enabled by Solvent Engineering: Toward Superseding Perovskite Quantum Dots.

Most quantum dots (QDs) contain either toxic elements, which are health and environmental hazards, or costly precious metals. In contrast, as nanocrystals consisting mainly of an earth-abundant, light element, silicon QDs (SiQDs) have attracted attention as cost-effective biomedical, display, and solid-state lighting materials. However, unlike heavy-metal or perovskite QDs, SiQDs have not yet been used to create high-performance optoelectronics or long-lifetime light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

A Structure-Preserving, Dimensionality-Increasing Strategy for the Stepwise Synthesis of Microporous α-MoO with a Broad (100) Surface.

Metal oxides with diverse structures and dimensionalities are typically synthesized via solid-state or hydrothermal reactions. However, it is quite difficult to retain the structures of the starting materials when 0D metal salts or molecular clusters are used as precursors because higher-dimensional structures form by structural reorganization through isomerization and decomposition/condensation reactions. In this study, we demonstrated a structure-preserving, dimensionality-increasing strategy for the synthesis of 2D α-MoO from 0D [MoO(HO)] species via a 1D [MoO{(CH)NCHO}] intermediate while maintaining the structures of the precursors.

NNMT-mediated N-methyladenosine modification of NR4A3 mRNA facilitates lymphatic metastasis of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Lymph node (LN) metastasis is a common feature of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) and is closely associated with a poor prognosis. Our previous study highlighted the pivotal role of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) in driving GAC carcinogenesis and malignant progression, primarily through its regulation of histone methylation. However, the mechanisms by which NNMT contributes to LN metastasis in GAC remain poorly understood.

Design of spiro-heterocyclic substituted diaminonaphthalene Keap1-Nrf2 protein-protein interaction inhibitors as novel anti-depressant agents.

Oxidative stress, inflammation and the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway are validated to be related to depression. Theoretically, modulating Keap1 and Nrf2 protein-protein interaction (PPI) should be an effective method to activate Nrf2 for the treatment of major depressive disorders. We previously reported NXPZ-2, a 1,4-diaminonaphthalene, as a Keap1-Nrf2 PPI inhibitor that exhibited promising effects in an Alzheimer's disease (AD) mouse model.

Overexpression of GDE1 decreases glycerophosphoinositol in intestinal epithelial cells in vivo.

Glycerophosphoinositol (GPI), a product of phospholipases acting on membrane phosphoinositides, is increasingly being recognized as an important bioactive molecule. However, its cellular functions in vivo remain unexplored. Recently, several mammalian glycerophosphodiesterases (GDEs) have shown to be involved in the catabolism of GPI, possibly regulating its intracellular levels.

Accessing Single-Molecule Properties of Heptacene Using a Metal-Organic Framework.

Acenes, classic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons composed of linearly fused benzene rings, represent a model system for exploring the physical properties of 1D π-conjugated structures. Isolating individual molecules at the single-molecule level provides a means to investigate their intrinsic properties, which is typically done by dissolving in solutions. However, this approach becomes increasingly difficult to apply for higher acenes owing to their high insolubility and instability.

ADAM32 Oncogene in Hepatoblastoma Is Regulated by IGF2BP2.

: The membrane protein a disintegrin and metalloproteases (ADAMs) are highly expressed in various human carcinomas and play an important role in cancer characteristics. And among these, ADAM32 is highly expressed in hepatoblastoma (HBL) and plays an important role in oncogenic properties. However, the regulatory mechanism has not been determined.

Rare distribution of butenolide-type signaling molecules among Streptomyces strains and functional importance as inducing factors for secondary metabolite production in Streptomyces rochei 7434AN4.

Streptomyces rochei 7434AN4 produces two structurally unrelated polyketide antibiotics, lankacidin (LC) and lankamycin (LM), and their biosynthesis is tightly controlled by 2,3-disubstituted butenolide-type signaling molecules SRB1 and SRB2. We here investigated the distribution of 2,3-disubstituted butenolides (SRB-type butenolides) among randomly selected 122 Streptomyces strains using two approaches; (1) feeding of their culture extracts into an srrX-deficient strain KA20 of S. rochei, and (2) co-fermentation with strain KA20.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals shared deregulated neutrophil responses in COVID-19 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease linked with deregulated immune responses, leading to hyperinflammation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and pulmonary fibrosis, often with fatal outcomes. Neutrophils play a central role in COVID-19 pathogenesis, with elevated peripheral blood neutrophil counts correlating with disease severity. Despite extensive research, the molecular processes associated with neutrophil hyperactivation in COVID-19 remain elusive.

Probing Field Cancerization in the Gastrointestinal Tract Using a Hybrid Raman and Partial Wave Spectroscopy Microscope.

Field cancerization (FC) refers to spatially distributed premalignant tissue changes that lead to the appearance of local malignancy, and its detection can improve cancer screening. In this work, we employ combined Raman and partial wave spectroscopy (RS-PWS) to detect FC in gastroesophageal (L2-IL1B) and intestinal (Villin-Cre, Apc) tumor mouse models. Using a hybrid RS-PWS microscope, we acquire both molecular and morphological information from macroscopically normal tumor-adjacent tissue and investigate the individual and combined performance of each modality.

A one-dimensional edge state induced by strain in a copper nitride monolayer on Cu(001).

One-dimensional (1D) states at the step edges of solid surfaces have attracted considerable attention in a wide range of materials properties, including nanomagnetism and heterogeneous catalysis. Here, lattice strain-induced 1D electronic states at the step edges of the nitrogen (N)-saturated Cu(001) surface are reported on the basis of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy observations and theoretical calculations. The 1D state appears along the step edge of the upper nanoterrace, where the surface CuN lattice is locally expanded.