Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) are efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) pre‐electrocatalysts, and will in situ transform into metal (oxy)hydroxides under OER condition. However, the role of chalcogen is not fully elucidated after oxidation and severe leaching. Here we present the vital promotion of surface‐adsorbed chalcogenates on the OER activity. Taking NiSe2 as an example, in situ Raman spectroscopy revealed the oxidation of Se‐Se to selenites (SeO32−) then to selenates (SeO42−). Combining the severe Se leaching and the strong signal of selenates, it is assumed that the selenates are rich on the surface and play significant roles. As expected, adding selenites to the electrolyte of Ni(OH)2 dramatically enhance its OER activity. And sulfates also exhibit the similar effect, suggesting the promotion of surface‐adsorbed chalcogenates on OER is universal. Our findings offer unique insight into the transformation mechanism of materials during electrolysis.

It is well accepted that HBx plays the major role in hepatocarcinogenesis associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. However, little was known about its role in regulating long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a large group of transcripts regulating a variety of biological processes including carcinogenesis in mammalian cells. Here we report that HBx upregulates UCA1 genes and downregulates p27 genes in hepatic LO2 cells. Further studies show that the upregulated UCA1 promotes cell growth by facilitating G1/S transition through CDK2 in both hepatic and hepatoma cells. Knock down of UCA1 in HBx-expressing hepatic and hepatoma cells resulted in markedly increased apoptotic cells by elevating the cleaved caspase-3 and caspase-8. More importantly, UCA1 is found to be physically associated with enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), which suppresses p27Kip1 through histone methylation (H3K27me3) on p27Kip1 promoter. We also show that knockdown of UCA1 in hepatoma cells inhibits tumorigenesis in nude mice. In a clinic study, UCA1 is found to be frequently up-regulated in HBx positive group tissues in comparison with the HBx negative group, and exhibits an inverse correlation between UCA1 and p27Kip1 levels. Our findings demonstrate an important mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis through the signaling of HBx-UCA1/EZH2-p27Kip1 axis, and a potential target of HCC.

Methodological comparisons demonstrate the superiority of NGS for both sensitivity and specificity, provide a comprehensive assessment of thalassemia screening strategies, and indicate that NGS is a competitive screening method, especially among populations with a high prevalence of disease.Genet Med advance online publication 26 January 2017.

GYY4137, a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donor, exhibits anticancer activity by a combination of cell cycle arrest and promoting apoptosis, and inhibits tumor growth, however, the precise mechanisms involved remain unclear. In this study, we discovered that GYY4137-mediated suppression of cell proliferation in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and tumor growth in a subcutaneous HepG2 xenograft model may be due to directly targeting the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway. We found that GYY4137 suppressed STAT3 activation by reducing p-STAT3 (Y705) levels effectively in HepG2 and Bel7402 cells. Altered expression levels of STAT3-regulated downstream proteins including Bcl-2, cyclin D1, Mcl-1, survivin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) may contribute to the inhibition of G1/S cell cycle transition and angiogenesis. Increased cleaved caspase-9, caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage may induce cell apoptosis in HepG2 and Bel7402 cells. In vivo, GYY4137 significantly inhibited tumor growth in the subcutaneous HepG2 xenograft model by inhibiting STAT3 activation and its target gene expression. These results suggest that GYY4137-mediated suppression of HCC growth may be due to the inhibition of the STAT3 pathway.

The aberrant expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been involved in various human tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our study aimed to investigate the potential molecular mechanism of lncRNA myocardial infarction-associated transcript (MIAT) in HCC. The expression of MIAT and micro-RNA (miR)-214 in HCC tissues and cells was examined by quantitative real-time PCR, and the levels of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and β-catenin were detected by Western blot assay. Immunoprecipitation analysis was used to detect the level of H3/H4 histone acetylation. RNA pull-down assay was performed to confirm the targeting regulatory relationship between miR-214 and MIAT. Cell viability, proliferation, and invasion were analyzed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), [H]thymidine incorporation, and Transwell assays, respectively. BALB/c nude mice were used to establish a hepatocellular carcinoma animal model with subcutaneous injection of SK-HEP-1 cells. Upregulation of MIAT is related to the proliferation and invasion of HCC, and downregulating MIAT expression inhibited HCC cell proliferation and invasion. The H3/H4 histone acetylation level of MIAT promoter in HCC tissues was higher than that in normal tissues. MIAT negatively regulated miR-214 in HCC cells. Inhibition of miR-214 reversed the influence of MIAT downregulation on HCC cell proliferation and invasion. In nude mouse xenograft models, downregulation of MIAT markedly suppressed the tumor growth of HCC via releasing miR-214. In conclusion, lncRNA MIAT promotes the proliferation and invasion of HCC cells through sponging miR-214, which brings a novel target for the therapy and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first research showing long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) myocardial infarction-associated transcript (MIAT) to have a regulatory effect on hepatocellular carcinoma. Micro-RNA (miR)-214 could be sponged by MIAT to promote the proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The lncRNA MIAT/miR-214 axis brings a novel insight for the therapy and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The design of electrocatalysts including precious and nonprecious metals for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media remains challenging due to the sluggish reaction kinetics caused by the additional water dissociation step.

The poor outcome of cancer gene therapy in clinical trials relates in part to insufficient gene delivery to tumor sites. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a new tool for the delivery of therapeutic agents to tumor cells. This study used an orthotopic nude mice model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to evaluate the potential of genetically modified human MSCs (hMSCs), to function as an effective delivery vehicle for therapeutic genes. hMSCs derived from the bone marrow were efficiently engineered to express human pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) by lentiviral transduction, then tested in vitro for high-level expression and bioactivity of the transgenic protein. The preferential homing of hMSCs toward HCC was confirmed by in vitro and in vivo migration assays. in vivo efficacy experiments showed that intravenous (i.v.) injection of PEDF-expressing hMSCs significantly suppressed both the growth of primary liver tumors and the development of pulmonary metastases. Moreover, hMSCs-based PEDF gene delivery moderately increased the systemic levels of human PEDF. Immunohistochemistry of primary liver tumors demonstrated lower microvessel density in mice treated with hMSCs-PEDF than in control mice. This is the first study to show the potential of hMSCs as an effective delivery vehicle for therapeutic genes in the treatment of HCC.

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