Subject classification: 68.55.Jk; 68.55.Nq; 78.66.Li; S8.12 Copper indium diselenide thin films of different thicknesses were prepared by the chemical bath deposition technique onto well-cleaned glass substrates at room temperature. The thickness of the deposited films has been determined by gravimetry. The structural characterization was carried out by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic studies. These studies confirm the polycrystalline nature of the films with chalcopyrite structure. The structural parameters such as lattice constants, axial ratio, tetragonal distortion, crystallite size, dislocation density and number of crystallites per unit area have been evaluated. The composition of the various constituents in CuInSe 2 films has been determined by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The optical properties have been studied in detail in the wavelength range 4000-14500 A and the optical band gap has been found to be direct and allowed.

Cervical Cancer (CC) is a highly aggressive tumor and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in women. miR-375 was shown to be significantly down-regulated in cervical cancer cells. However, the precise biological functions of miR-375 and the molecular mechanisms underlying its action in CC are largely unknown. miR-375 targets were predicted by bioinformatics target prediction tools and validated using luciferase reporter assay. Herein, we investigated the functional significance of miR-375 and its target gene in CC to identify potential new therapeutic targets. We found that miR-375 expression was significantly downregulated in CC, and astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) was identified as a target of miR-375. Our results also showed that ectopic expression of miR-375 suppressed CC cell proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenesis, and increased the 5-fluorouracil-induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in vitro. In contrast, inhibition of miR-375 expression significantly enhanced these functions. Furthermore, HPV - 16 E6/E7 and HPV - 18 E6/E7 significantly down-regulates miR-375 expression in CC. HPV 16/18-E6/E7/miR-375/AEG-1 axis plays an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in CC. Therefore, targeting miR-375/AEG-1 mediated axis could serve as a potential therapeutic target for CC.

No abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading malignancy worldwide, causing mortality in children and adults. AEG-1 is functioned as a scaffold protein for the proper assembly of RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to optimize or increase its activity. The increased activity of oncogenic miRNAs leads to the degradation of target tumor suppressor genes. miR-221 is an oncogenic miRNA, that plays a seminal role in carcinogenesis regulation of HCC. However, the molecular mechanism and biological functions of the miR-221/AEG-1 axis have not been investigated extensively in HCC. Here, the expression of miR-221/AEG-1 and their target/associate genes was analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot. The role of the miR-221/AEG-1 axis in HCC was evaluated by proliferation assay, migration assay, invasion assay, and flow cytometry analysis. The expression level of miR-221 decreased in AEG-1 siRNA transfected HCC cells. On the other hand, there were no significant expression changes of AEG-1 in miR-221 mimic and miR-221 inhibitor transfected HCC cells and inhibition of miR-221/AEG-1 axis decreased cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis and induced apoptosis, cell cycle arrest by upregulating p57, p53, PTEN, and RB and downregulating LSF, MMP9, OPN, Bcl-2, PI3K, AKT, and LC3A in HCC cells. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the miR-221/AEG-1 axis plays a seminal oncogenic role by modulating PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in HCC. In conclusion, the miR-221/AEG-1 axis may serve as a potential target for therapeutics, diagnostics, and prognostics of HCC.

Magnetization measurements have been used to determine the effect of magnetic impurities (Fe) on the Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) 3D collective pinning model in NbSe single crystals. Upon increasing the concentration of Fe impurities, the superconducting critical current density enhances appreciably compared to pure NbSe reflecting the fact that the addition of magnetic impurities assists in improving the practical applicability of NbSe. The random pinning potential that is introduced by the Fe impurities also shows a considerable change in the interaction between the vortices and the core region, resulting in a competitive nature of single vortex, small bundle and large bundle pinning regimes in the H-T phase diagram. The intrinsic disorder in pure NbSe single crystals shows δT flux pinning; however, the extrinsic disorder created by Fe atoms in NbSe shows δl flux pinning. Furthermore, the field dependence of the pinning force on both NbSe and Fe-incorporated NbSe represents the existence of point pinning and the surface pinning mechanism with a broadening of the f curves in the Fe-incorporated single crystals.