Graphitic carbon nitride (C3N4) was hybridized by Bi2WO6 via a hydrothermal method. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) results reveal that an intimate interface between C3N4 and Bi2WO6 forms in the heterojunctions. The UV-vis diffuse reflection spectra show that the resulting C3N4-Bi2WO6 heterojunctions possess more intensive absorption within the visible light range in comparison with pure Bi2WO6. These excellent structural and spectral properties endowed the C3N4-Bi2WO6 heterojunctions with enhanced photocatalytic activities. Significantly, the optimum photocatalytic activity of the 0.5C3N4-0.5Bi2WO6 heterojunction for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) was almost 3 and 155 times higher than those of either individual C3N4 or Bi2WO6. The possible photocatalytic mechanism with superoxide radical species as the main active species in photocatalysis is proposed on the basis of experimental results. Moreover, the heterojunction depicted high stability and durability during six successive cycles.

The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) plays an important role in penile squamous cell carcinoma (peSCC) pathogenesis. Here, the immunophenotype of the TIME in peSCC was determined by integrating the expression patterns of immune checkpoints (programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), and Siglec-15) and the components of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, including CD8+ or Granzyme B+ T cells, FOXP3+ regulatory T cells, and CD68+ or CD206+ macrophages, in 178 patients. A high density of Granzyme B, FOXP3, CD68, CD206, PD-1, and CTLA-4 was associated with better disease-specific survival (DSS). The patients with diffuse PD-L1 tumor cell expression had worse prognoses than those with marginal or negative PD-L1 expression. Four immunophenotypes were identified by unsupervised clustering analysis, based on certain immune markers, which were associated with DSS and lymph node metastasis (LNM) in peSCC. There was no significant relationship between the immunophenotypes and high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection. However, the hrHPV–positive peSCC exhibited a higher density of stromal Granzyme B and intratumoral PD-1 than the hrHPV–negative tumors (p = 0.049 and 0.002, respectively). In conclusion, the immunophenotypes of peSCC were of great value in predicting LNM and prognosis, and may provide support for clinical stratification management and immunotherapy intervention.

Ginsenoside Rg1 (GRg1) has neuroprotective effects on Alzheimer's disease (AD). The occurrence and progression of AD are closely related to gut microbiota. Few studies have learned the direct relationship between GRg1 and gut microbiota. In this study, we found an original way to research this relationship by using GRg1 in the AD model of tree shrews. Morris water maze and immunohistochemistry were performed to test the cognition repairing function of GRg1 by tree shrews and 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing was used to explore the composition and abundance of gut microbiota. After GRg1 treatment, the result of Morris water maze showed an improvement in cognitive function, and immunohistochemistry revealed a decrease in tau protein. Moreover, 16SrRNA sequencing results showed the abundances of Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia were significantly different, and Lactobacillaceae was significantly increased in the GRg1 treatment group. It also showed that the gut microbiome with middle and high doses of GRg1 was close to the normal group. In conclusion, this study suggests that GRg1 at middle and high doses may change the abundance of gut microbiota to improve AD, and thatProteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia are key microbiota. This is the first report that has ever studied the relationship between GRg1 and gut microbiota in tree shrews.

Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) is traditional Chinese medicine with neuroprotective activity. Previous studies have demonstrated that Rg1 improves Alzheimer's disease (AD) and alters gut microbiology, but its mechanism remains to be elucidated, and thus far, its use in the treatment of AD has not been satisfactory. The present study investigated the improvement effects of Rg1 and its association with the microbiota of the large intestine. Following treatment with Rg1 in AD tree shrews, the treatment group demonstrated significantly shorter escape latency and crossed a platform more frequently in a water maze test. Western blotting demonstrated that Rg1 inhibited the expression of β-secretase 1, while increasing microtubule-associated protein 2 and Fox-3 in the hippocampus. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that Rg1 decreased the expression of amyloid β, tau phosphorylated at serine 404 and pro-apoptotic factor Bax, while increasing the expression of Bcl-2 in the hippocampus and cortex. High throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA demonstrated that Rg1 altered the microbiota abundance of the large intestine. In conclusion, Rg1 affected the expression of apoptosis proteins, possessed a neuroprotective effect and may have a close association with the microbiota of large intestine by significantly reducing the abundance of Bacteroidetes and increasing the energy requirement of tree shrews.

Objective To explore the immunohistochemistry-based molecular subtypes of bladder cancer, and their impact on the prognosis and the chemotherapy response between gemcitabine plus cisplatin intra-arterial chemotherapy and epirubicin-inducted intravesical chemotherapy, in patients with T1 stage bladder cancer after bladder-preserving treatment. Methods One hundred and seventy-six patients with T1 stage bladder cancer were selected for this study. Thirty-three patients underwent radical cystectomy, 43 received gemcitabine plus cisplatin intra-arterial chemotherapy and 100 received intravesical chemotherapy. The markers labeled with luminal (GATA3, Uroplakin II, CK20) and basal (CK5/6, CK14, CD44) phenotypes were chosen as candidate markers. Results One hundred and seventy-six patients were divided into 76 patients as basal/squamous (BASQ), 45 as the luminal A and 55 as the luminal B. Compared with the luminal B and BASQ tumors, the luminal A tumors showed a trend for better recurrence-free survival (P = 0.105) and progression-free survival (P = 0.093). The combination of CK20 and GATA3 was practical to identify the molecular phenotypes with total 84.9% accuracy and significantly associated with recurrence-free survival (P = 0.025) and progression-free survival (P = 0.004). The patient with BASQ tumors who received intravesical chemotherapy showed a trend for worse progression-free survival than the patient who received gemcitabine plus cisplatin intra-arterial chemotherapy or radical cystectomy. Furthermore, the patients with BASQ tumors experienced a significant improvement in progression-free survival after gemcitabine plus cisplatin intra-arterial chemotherapy compared with the patients who received intravesical chemotherapy (P = 0.011). Conclusions The immunohistochemistry-based molecular subtypes could predict the patient’s prognosis and clinically different chemotherapeutic survival outcomes in patients with T1 stage bladder cancer after bladder-preserving treatment.