Maternally Expressed Gene 3 (MEG3) is an imprinted gene that encodes a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) associated with tumorigenesis. Autophagy is activated in cancer cells and contributes to tumor cell survival. However, little is known about whether MEG3 regulates bladder cancer development by controlling autophagy. In the study, we found that MEG3 levels were significantly reduced in bladder cancer tissues compared with normal controls, and autophagy activity was increased in bladder cancer tissues. A significant negative correlation was observed between MEG3 levels and LC3-II (autophagy marker) levels in vivo. We further demonstrated that MEG3 markedly suppressed autophagy activation, whereas MEG3 knockdown activated autophagy in human bladder cancer cell lines. Downregulated expression of MEG3 inhibited cell apoptosis, whereas autophagy inhibition increased MEG3-knockdown cell apoptosis. MEG3 knockdown also increased cell proliferation. More importantly, autophagy inhibition abrogated MEG3 knockdown-induced cell proliferation. These data demonstrated that downregulated MEG3 activates autophagy and increases cell proliferation in bladder cancer.

Ethylene, a key phytohormone involved in plant-pathogen interaction, plays a positive role in plant resistance against fungal pathogens. However, its function in plant bacterial resistance remains unclear. Here, we report a detailed analysis of ethylene induction in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 (Pst). Ethylene biosynthesis is highly induced in both pathogen/microbe-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity and effector-triggered immunity (ETI), and the induction is potentiated by salicylic acid (SA) pretreatment. In addition, Pst actively suppresses PAMPtriggered ethylene induction in a type III secretion system-dependent manner. SA potentiation of ethylene induction is dependent mostly on MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE6 (MPK6) and MPK3 and their downstream ACS2 and ACS6, two type I isoforms of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthases (ACSs). ACS7, a type III ACS whose expression is enhanced by SA pretreatment, is also involved. Pst expressing the avrRpt2 effector gene (Pst-avrRpt2), which is capable of triggering ETI, induces a higher level of ethylene production, and the elevated portion is dependent on SALICYLIC ACID INDUCTION DEFICIENT2 and NONEXPRESSER OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE1, two key players in SA biosynthesis and signaling. High-order ACS mutants with reduced ethylene induction are more susceptible to both Pst and Pst-avrRpt2, demonstrating a positive role of ethylene in plant bacterial resistance mediated by both PAMP-triggered immunity and ETI.

Background: GALNT, the initial enzyme in mucin-type O-glycosylation, plays critical roles in cancer etiology. Results: GALNT10-induced cellular proliferation was associated with EGFR activation mediated by down-regulation of miR-122 in HBV-associated HCC. Conclusion: A regulatory pathway of Hnf4␣/miR-122/GALNT10/EGFR may represent a possible mechanism underlying HBV-associated hepatocarcinogenesis. Significance: This finding provides a novel role for O-glycosylation in HCC pathogenesis.

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The past decades have witnessed the rapid development of organic and polymeric semiconductors with high charge mobilities, [1][2][3][4] thanks to the design and synthesis of various conjugated molecules and macromolecules along with the manipulation of self-assembly and interfacial structures. Performances for both p-channel and n-channel field-effect transistors (FETs) are now comparable to and even higher than those of traditional amorphous silicon FETs. Moreover, the promising applications of organic and polymeric semiconductors in low-cost logic circuits (e.g., radio frequency identification tags) and flexible electronics have been successfully demonstrated. [5] New conjugated molecules and macromolecules are being continuously explored for boosting the performances of FETs. Meanwhile, stimuli-responsive organic semiconducting materials, for which the semiconducting properties can be tuned by external stimuli other than electrical fields such as light irradiation and heating, have received increasing attentions in recent years. [6][7][8][9][10][11] This is because multifunctional devices can be constructed with such stimuli-responsive organic semiconducting materials. For instances, Samori and co-workers reported the reversible modulation of device currents for FETs with photoresponsive semiconducting layers by blending of photochromic diarylethenes with organic semiconductors. [8a-c] Photochromic molecules were also inserted into the dielectric layer and the electrode-semiconductor interface to fabricate FETs with photoregulation functions. [10] We have just devised a new approach to photoresponsive polymeric semiconductor by incorporating azobenzene units into the side chains. [11a] Furthermore, these photoresponsive FETs were successfully utilized to fabricate memory devices for which the programming, reading and erasing signals are different without mutual interferences. [10b] It is noted that FETs with organic and polymeric semiconductors have also been investigated for nonvolatile memory It is shown that the semiconducting performance of field-effect transistors (FETs) with PDPP4T (poly(diketopyrrolopyrrolequaterthiophene)) can be reversibly tuned by UV light irradiation and thermal heating after blending with the photochromic hexaarylbiimidazole compound (p-NO 2 -HABI). A photo-/thermal-responsive FET with a blend thin film of PDPP4T and p-NO2 -HABI is successfully fabricated. The transfer characteristics are altered significantly with current enhanced up to 10 6 -fold at V G = 0 V after UV light irradiation. However, further heating results in the recovery of the transfer curve. This approach can be extended to other semiconducting polymers such as P3HT (poly(3-hexyl thiophene)), PBTTT (poly(2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b] thiophene)) and PDPPDTT (poly(diketopyrrolopyrrole-dithienothiophene)). It is hypothesized that TPIRs (2,4,5-triphenylimidazolyl radicals) formed from p-NO 2 -HABI after UV light irradiation can interact with charge defects at the gate dielectric-semiconducto...

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We reported a simple and effective way of fabricating one-dimensional (1D) graphene oxide nanoscrolls (GONS) from graphene oxide (GO) sheets through shock cooling by liquid nitrogen. The corresponding mechanism of rolling was proposed. One possibility is the formation of ice crystals during the shock cooling process in liquid nitrogen to be the driving force. The other might be due to the uneven stress of the sheets inside or outside ice during the lyophilization. After reducing, graphene nanoscrolls (GNS) exhibited good structural stability, high specific surface area, and high specific capacitance. The capacitance properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrical impedance spectroscopy. A specific capacity of 156 F/g for the GNS at the current density of 1.0 A/g was obtained comparing with the specific capacity of 108 F/g for graphene sheets. Those results indicated that GNS-based rolling structure could be a kind of promising electrode material for supercapacitors and batteries.