No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

At present, a large number of exciting results have been found regarding energy metabolism within the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) field. Apart from aerobic glycolysis, a number of other catabolic pathways have also been demonstrated to participate in energy generation. However, the prognostic value of energy metabolism for TNBC currently remains unclear. In the present study, the association between gene expression profiles of energy metabolism and outcomes in patients with TNBC was examined using datasets obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas. In total, four robust TNBC subtypes were identified on the basis of negative matrix factorization clustering and gene expression patterns, which exhibited distinct immunological, molecular and prognostic (disease-free survival) features. The differentially expressed genes were subsequently identified from the subgroup that demonstrated the poorest prognosis compared with the remaining 3 subgroups, where their biological functions were assessed further by means of gene ontology enrichment analysis. Any signatures found to be associated with energy metabolism were then established using the Cox proportional hazards model to assess patient prognosis. According to results of Kaplan-Meier analysis, the constructed signature consisting of eight genes that were associated with energy metabolism distinguished patient outcomes into low-and high-risk groups. In addition, this signature, which was found to be markedly associated with the clinical characteristics of the patients, served as an independent factor in predicting TNBC patient prognosis. According to gene set enrichment analysis, the gene sets related to the high-risk group participated in the MAPK signal transduction pathway, focal adhesion and extracellular matrix receptor interaction, whilst those related to the low-risk group were revealed to be mainly associated with mismatch repair and propanoate metabolism. Findings from the present study shed new light on the role of energy metabolism within TNBC, where the eight-gene signature associated with energy metabolism constructed can be utilized as a new prognostic marker for predicting survival in patients with TNBC.

Tendon adhesions are one of the most concerning complications after surgical repair of flexor tendon injury. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 2 plays crucial roles in fibroblast proliferation and collagen expression which contributes to the formation of tendon adhesions after flexor tendon surgery. Using a chicken model, we have examined the effects of a small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting ERK2 delivered by a lentiviral system on tendon adhesion formation with an adhesion scoring system, histological assessment, and biomechanical evaluation. It was found that ERK2 siRNA effectively suppressed the increase of fibroblasts and the formation of tendon adhesions (p < 0.05 compared with the control group). Moreover, no statistically significant reduction in breaking force was detected between the ERK2 siRNA group and the control group. These results show that the lentiviral-mediated siRNA system is effective in preventing tendon adhesion formation but not to tendon healing, and may be used for tendon repair after confirmation and improvement by future detailed studies.

The photoelectric properties and catalytic activities of substituted triphenylphosphine and sulfur/selenium ligands supported aromatic triangular tri-palladium complexes 1-4, abbreviated as [Pd3]+, were investigated. The cyclic voltammogram of [Pd3]+ in CH3CN-nBu4NPF6...

Based on the blends of chlorinated butyl rubber (CIIR), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and chloroprene rubber (CR), a kind of high damping elastomer with broad temperature and frequency ranges is prepared. CIIR/NBR binary blend is prepared to take advantage of the immiscibility and the large difference in cross‐link density of the different phases caused by the curatives and accelerators migration. The dynamic mechanical analysis reveals that the binary blend was immiscible and its loss factor (tanδ) versus temperature curves show two separated and expanded loss peaks when compared with those of pure cured CIIR and NBR. In order to improve its damping properties at room temperature, the third component CR with the polarity between CIIR and NBR was blended into the binary blend. The resulted CIIR/NBR/CR ternary blend has gained effective damping properties (tanδ > 0.3) in the temperature range of −86.4 to 74.6°C and the frequency range of 10−2 to more than 109 Hz. Other effects on the damping properties of the ternary rubber were also studied. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

No abstract