Xu (2021) YKT6, as a potential predictor of prognosis and immunotherapy response for oral squamous cell carcinoma, is related to cell invasion,

Transcriptional co-activator Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a key oncogene in mammalian cells. The present understanding of YAP in oral squamous cells carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of YAP on proliferation and apoptosis in OSCC and the molecular mechanism. The results showed the expression level of YAP was higher in OSCC tissues than that in adjacent normal tissues. Knockdown of YAP in CAL27 cell lines prohibited cell proliferation while augmented apoptosis. Conversely, overexpression of YAP protected cells from apoptosis and promoted cell proliferation. Moreover, C-MYC and BCL-2 mRNA and protein levels were altered due to the differential expression of YAP. Subsequent Verteporfin treatment in CAL27 cells revealed that the transcription and translation of BCL-2 and C-MYC both decreased. In a tumor xenograft model, knockdown of YAP suppressed tumor growth of CAL27 in vivo, while YAP overexpression promoted the tumor growth. These results suggest that YAP is a crucial regulator that exerts pro-proliferation and anti-apoptosis effects in OSCC through actions affecting the cell cycle and intrinsic apoptotic signaling. Thus YAP could potentially serve as a valuable molecular biomarker or therapeutic target in the treatment of OSCC.

To deal with energy crisis and environmental issues, higher fuel economy standards and more stringent limitations on greenhouse gas emissions for ground vehicles have been made. Ecological cooperative adaptive cruise control (Eco-CACC) has been considered as an effective solution to decrease the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of a platoon of vehicles, and this paper proposes an Eco-CACC strategy for a heterogeneous platoon of heavy-duty vehicles with time delays. The proposed Eco-CACC strategy consists of distributed control protocols for the following vehicles and a new model predictive controller for the leading one. Firstly, after the distributed control protocols are designed based on the neighboring vehicle information, the sufficient conditions that guarantee the internal stability and string stability are derived, and the upper bound of the time delays under controller parameters is also obtained. Secondly, assuming the vehicle platoon as a rigid body with followers staying at desired positions, the new model predictive controller is designed in order to further improve the overall fuel economy of vehicle platoon. Simulations are conducted to validate the sufficient conditions of internal stability and string stability, and to explore the fuel saving performance of the proposed control strategy. The simulation results demonstrate that, compared with the benchmark, the proposed Eco-CACC strategy can significantly improve the fuel economy of heterogeneous platoon.

No abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide an insight into the biological effects of knockdown Yes-associated protein (YAP) on the proliferation and apoptosis of human periodontal ligament stem cells (h-PDLSCs). Methods: Immunofluorescence and Western blot were used to evaluate Hippo-YAP signaling expression level. Enhanced green fluorescence protein lentiviral vector was constructed to down-regulate YAP in h-PDLSCs. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the interfering efficiency of YAP expression. The proliferation activity was detected by EdU staining. Analysis of apoptosis in h-PDLSCs was done through Annexin V-APC staining, while cell cycle analysis was detected by flow cytometry. Cellular senescence was analyzed by β-galactosidase activity detection. The expression of elements in signaling pathways related with proliferation and apoptosis was detected by Western blot. Results: YAP was located in nucleus and cytoplasm. After the lentivirus transfection, the expression of YAP mRNA and protein was significantly reduced (P<0.001). When YAP was knocked down, the proliferation activity of h-PDLSCs was inhibited; the early & late apoptosis rates increased; the proportion of cells in G1 phases increased (P<0.05), while that in G2 and S phase decreased (P<0.05); cellular senescence was accelerated (P<0.01); ERK and its target proteins P-P90RSK and P-MEK were reduced while Bcl-2 family members increased. Conclusion: Knockdown of YAP inhibits the proliferation activity and induces apoptosis of h-PDLSCs with the involvement of Hippo pathway and has a crosstalk between Erk and Bcl-2 signaling pathways.