Gliding is a distinctive locomotion type that has been identified in only three mammal species from the Mesozoic era. Here we describe another Jurassic glider that belongs to the euharamiyidan mammals and shows hair details on its gliding membrane that are highly similar to those of extant gliding mammals. This species possesses a five-boned auditory apparatus consisting of the stapes, incus, malleus, ectotympanic and surangular, representing, to our knowledge, the earliest known definitive mammalian middle ear. The surangular has not been previously identified in any mammalian middle ear, and the morphology of each auditory bone differs from those of known mammals and their kin. We conclude that gliding locomotion was probably common in euharamiyidans, which lends support to idea that there was a major adaptive radiation of mammals in the mid-Jurassic period. The acquisition of the auditory bones in euharamiyidans was related to the formation of the dentary-squamosal jaw joint, which allows a posterior chewing movement, and must have evolved independently from the middle ear structures of monotremes and therian mammals.

Microraptorines are a group of predatory dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs with aerodynamic capacity. These close relatives of birds are essential for testing hypotheses explaining the origin and early evolution of avian flight. Here we describe a new 'four-winged' microraptorine, Changyuraptor yangi, from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China. With tail feathers that are nearly 30 cm long, roughly 30% the length of the skeleton, the new fossil possesses the longest known feathers for any non-avian dinosaur. Furthermore, it is the largest theropod with long, pennaceous feathers attached to the lower hind limbs (that is, 'hindwings'). The lengthy feathered tail of the new fossil provides insight into the flight performance of microraptorines and how they may have maintained aerial competency at larger body sizes. We demonstrate how the low-aspect-ratio tail of the new fossil would have acted as a pitch control structure reducing descent speed and thus playing a key role in landing.

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Recent studies demonstrated that metformin exerts anti-neoplastic effect in a spectrum of malignancies. However, the mechanism whereby metformin affects various cancers, including gastric cancer, is poorly elucidated. Considering apoptosis plays critical role in tumorigenesis, we, in the present study, investigated the in vitro apoptotic effect of metformin on human gastric cancer cell and the underlying mechanism. Three differently-differentiated gastric cancer cell lines, MKN-28, SGC-7901 and BGC-823, along with one noncancerous gastric cell line GES-1 were used. We found that metformin treatment selectively induces apoptosis in the 3 cancer cell lines, but not the noncancerous one, as confirmed by flow cytometry, Caspase-Glo assay and western blotting against PARP and cleaved caspase 3. Moreover, the apoptotic effect of metformin seems to correlate negatively with the differentiation degree of gastric cancer. Metformin-induced apoptosis may be partially mediated through inhibition of anti-apoptotic survivin. Additionally, AMPK and mTOR, 2 important regulatory molecules responsible for metformin action, were investigated for their possible involvements in metformin-induced apoptosis of gastric cancer cell. AMPK knockdown by siRNA restores metformin-inhibited survivin expression and partially abolishes metformin-induced apoptosis. Similarly, forced overexpression of mTOR downstream effector p70S6K1 relieves metformin-induced inhibition of survivin and partly attenuates metformin-induced apoptosis. More importantly, survivin overexpression alleviates metformin-induced apoptosis. Xenograft nude mouse experiment also confirmed that AMPK/mTOR-mediated decrease of suvivin is in vivo implicated in metformin-induced apoptosis. Taken together, these evidences suggest that AMPK/mTOR-mediated inhibition of survivin may partly contribute to metformin-induced apoptosis of gastric cancer cell.

Osteosarcoma is a highly metastatic malignancy often with poor prognosis. c-Myc amplification is implicated in osteosarcoma pathogenesis. However, the role of c-myc overexpression in osteosarcoma cell invasion remains unexplored. This study showed that c-myc overexpression enhanced MG-63 and SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cell invasion. Treatment of MEK inhibitor PD98059 or PI3K inhibitor LY294002 decreased cell invasion along with downregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. c-Myc overexpression stimulated MEK-ERK pathway whereas inhibited the activity of PI3K-AKT pathway. Specifically, inhibition of MEK-ERK pathway by PD98509 blocked the enhancement effect on cell invasion as well as MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. The present study demonstrates that c-myc overexpression promotes osteosarcoma cell invasion, probably via activation of MEK-ERK pathway.

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Carbohydrate-based infusion solutions are widely used in the clinic. Here we show that co-administration of phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) with glucose enhances exon-skipping activity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) mdx mice. We identify a glucose–fructose (GF) formulation that potentiates PMO activity, completely corrects aberrant Dmd transcripts, restores dystrophin levels in skeletal muscles and achieves functional rescue without detectable toxicity. This activity is attributed to enhancement of GF-mediated PMO uptake in the muscle. We demonstrate that PMO cellular uptake is energy dependent, and that ATP from GF metabolism contributes to enhanced cellular uptake of PMO in the muscle. Collectively, we show that GF potentiates PMO activity by replenishing cellular energy stores under energy-deficient conditions in mdx mice. Our findings provide mechanistic insight into hexose-mediated oligonucleotide delivery and have important implications for the development of DMD exon-skipping therapy.