Long non‐coding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been recently found to be pervasively transcribed in the genome and critical regulators of the epigenome. HOTAIR, as a well‐known LncRNA, has been found to play important roles in several tumors. Herein, the clinical application value and biological functions of HOTAIR were focused and explored in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). It was found that there was a great upregulation of HOTAIR in ESCC compared to their adjacent normal esophageal tissues. Meanwhile, patients with high HOTAIR expression have a significantly poorer prognosis than those with low expression. Moreover, HOTAIR was further validated to promote migration and invasion of ESCC cells in vitro. Then some specific molecules with great significance were investigated after HOTAIR overexpression using microarray and quantitative real time‐polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). WIF‐1 playing an important role in Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway was selected and further tested by immunehistochemistry. Generally, inverse correlation between HOTAIR and WIF‐1 expression was demonstrated both in ESCC cells and tissues. Mechanistically, HOTAIR directly decreased WIF‐1 expression by promoting its histone H3K27 methylation in the promoter region and then activated the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. This newly identified HOTAIR/WIF‐1 axis clarified the molecular mechanism of ESCC cell metastasis and represented a novel therapeutic target in patients with ESCC.

The genetic mechanisms underlying the poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are not well understood. Here, we report somatic mutations found in ESCC from sequencing 10 whole-genome and 57 whole-exome matched tumor-normal sample pairs. Among the identified genes, we characterized mutations in VANGL1 and showed that they accelerated cell growth in vitro. We also found that five other genes, including three coding genes (SHANK2, MYBL2, FADD) and two non-coding genes (miR-4707-5p, PCAT1), were involved in somatic copy-number alterations (SCNAs) or structural variants (SVs). A survival analysis based on the expression profiles of 321 individuals with ESCC indicated that these genes were significantly associated with poorer survival. Subsequently, we performed functional studies, which showed that miR-4707-5p and MYBL2 promoted proliferation and metastasis. Together, our results shed light on somatic mutations and genomic events that contribute to ESCC tumorigenesis and prognosis and might suggest therapeutic targets.

In this work, we have successfully prepared sandwich-like structured N-doped porous carbon@graphene composites (N-PC@G) derived from sandwich-like structured zeolitic imidazolate framework@graphene oxide (ZIF-8@GO). ZIF-8@GO was obtained by in situ controllable growth of ZIF-8 nanocrystals on both surfaces of graphene oxide (GO) sheets with different contents. Experimental results demonstrate that N-PC@G-0.02 (representing GO amount of 0.02 g in reaction precursors) obtained at 900 °C possesses high surface area (1094.3 m 2 g-1), bimodal-pore structure (micropores and mesopores) and high graphitization degree, exhibiting great potential as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for both ORR and OER. Compared to

3D graphene/δ-MnO2 aerogels demonstrated high removal efficiency, fast adsorption kinetics, excellent regeneration towards heavy metal ions based on the perfect integration of surface adsorption and in-depth bulk uptake.

Arsenic pollution in waters has become a worldwide issue, constituting a severe hazard to whole ecosystems and public health worldwide. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to design high-performance adsorbents for arsenic decontamination. Herein, a feasible strategy is developed for in situ growth of β-FeOOH nanorods (NRs) on a three-dimensional (3D) carbon foam (CF) skeleton via a simple calcination process and subsequent hydrothermal treatment. The as-fabricated 3D β-FeOOH NRs/CF monolith can be innovatively utilized for arsenic remediation from contaminated aqueous systems, accompanied by remarkably high uptake capacity of 103.4 mg/g for arsenite and 172.9 mg/g for arsenate. The superior arsenic uptake performance can be ascribed to abundant active sites and hydroxyl functional groups available as well as efficient mass transfer associated with interconnected hierarchical porous networks. In addition, the as-obtained material exhibits exceptional sorption selectivity toward arsenic over other coexisting anions at high levels, which can be ascribed to strong affinity between active sites and arsenic. More importantly, the free-standing 3D porous monolith not only makes it easy for separation and collection after treatment but also efficiently prevents the undesirable potential release of nanoparticles into aquatic environments while maintaining the outstanding properties of nanometer-scale building blocks. Furthermore, the monolith absorbent is able to be effectively regenerated and reused for five cycles with negligible decrease in arsenic removal. In view of extremely high adsorption capacities, preferable sorption selectivity, satisfactory recyclability, as well as facile separation nature, the obtained 3D β-FeOOH NRs/CF monolith holds a great potential for arsenic decontamination in practical applications.

Development of cheap, abundant and metal-free N-doped carbon materials as high efficiency oxygen reduction electrocatalysts is crucial for their practical applications in future fuel cell devices. Here, three-dimensional (3D) N-doped porous carbon (NPC) materials have been successfully developed by a simple template-assisted (e.g., SiO2 spheres) high temperature pyrolysis approach using shrimp-shell derived N-doped carbon nanodots (N-CNs) as carbon and nitrogen sources obtained through a facile hydrothermal method. The shrimp-shell derived N-CNs with a product yield of ∼ 5% possess rich surface O- and N-containing functional groups and small nanodot sizes of 1.5-5.0 nm, which are mixed with surface acidification treated SiO2 spheres with an average diameter of ∼ 200 nm in aqueous solution to form a N-CNs@SiO2 composite subjected to a thermal evaporation treatment. The resultant N-CNs@SiO2 composite is further thermally treated in a N2 atmosphere at different pyrolysis temperatures, followed by acid etching, to obtain 3D N-doped porous carbon (NPC) materials. As electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media, the experimental results demonstrate that 3D NPC obtained at 800 °C (NPC-800) with a surface area of 360.2 m(2) g(-1) exhibits the best ORR catalytic activity with an onset potential of -0.06 V, a half wave potential of -0.21 V and a large limiting current density of 5.3 mA cm(-2) (at -0.4 V, vs. Ag/AgCl) among all NPC materials investigated, comparable to that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst with an onset potential of -0.03 V, a half wave potential of -0.17 V and a limiting current density of 5.5 mA cm(-2) at -0.4 V. Such a 3D porous carbon ORR electrocatalyst also displays superior durability and high methanol tolerance in alkaline media, apparently better than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The findings of this work would be valuable for the development of low-cost and abundant N-doped carbon materials from biomass as high performance metal-free electrocatalysts.

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Uniform europium-based infinite coordination polymer nanospheres have been successfully fabricated as an effective fluorescence probe for phosphate sensing.