Cancer immunotherapy has achieved promising clinical responses in recent years owing to the potential of controlling metastatic disease. However, there is a limited research to prove the superior therapeutic efficacy of immunotherapy on breast cancer compared with melanoma and non‐small‐cell lung cancer because of its limited expression of PD‐L1, low infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), and high level of myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Herein, a multifunctional nanoplatform (FA‐CuS/DTX@PEI‐PpIX‐CpG nanocomposites, denoted as FA‐CD@PP‐CpG) for synergistic phototherapy (photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT) included) and docetaxel (DTX)‐enhanced immunotherapy is successfully developed. The nanocomposites exhibit excellent PDT efficacy and photothermal conversion capability under 650 and 808 nm irradiation, respectively. More significantly, FA‐CD@PP‐CpG with no obvious side effects can remarkably inhibit the tumor growth in vivo based on a 4T1‐tumor‐bearing mice modal. A low dosage of loaded DTX in FA‐CD@PP‐CpG can promote infiltration of CTLs to improve efficacy of anti‐PD‐L1 antibody (aPD‐L1), suppress MDSCs, and effectively polarize MDSCs toward M1 phenotype to reduce tumor burden, further to enhance the antitumor efficacy. Taken together, FA‐CD@PP‐CpG nanocomposites offer an efficient synergistic therapeutic modality in docetaxel‐enhanced immunotherapy for clinical application of breast cancer.

Owing to their unique optical, electronic, and catalytic properties, metal nitrides nanostructures are widely used in optoelectronics, clean energy, and catalysis fields. Despite great progress has been achieved, synthesis of defect-rich (DR) bimetallic nitride nanocrystals or related nanohybrids remains a challenge, and their electrocatalytic application for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has not been fully studied. Herein, the DR-Ni 3 FeN nanocrystals and N-doped graphene (N-G) nanohybrids (DR-Ni 3 FeN/N-G) are fabricated through temperature-programmed annealing and nitridation treatment of NiFe-layered double hydroxides/graphene oxide precursors by controlling annealing atmosphere. In the nanohybrids, the DR-Ni 3 FeN nanocrystals are anchored on N-G, and mainly show twin crystal defects besides ≈10% of stacking faults. Such nanohybrids can efficiently catalyze OER in alkaline media with a small overpotential (0.25 V) to attain the current density of 10 mA cm −2 and a high turnover frequency (0.46 s −1 ), superior to their counterparts (the nearly defect-free Ni 3 FeN/N-G), commercial IrO 2 , and the-state-of-art reported OER catalysts. Except for the superior activity, they show better durability than their counterparts yet. As revealed by microstructural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical analyses, the enhanced OER performance of DR-Ni 3 FeN/N-G nanohybrids originates from the abundant twin crystal defects in Ni 3 FeN active phase and the strong interplay between

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is a set of catalytic processes that can be used to produce fuels and chemicals from synthesis gas (mixture of CO and H 2 ), which can be derived from natural gas, coal, or biomass. Biomass to Liquid via Fischer-Tropsch (BTL-FT) synthesis is gaining increasing interests from academia and industry because of its ability to produce carbon neutral and environmentally friendly clean fuels; such kinds of fuels can help to meet the globally increasing energy demand and to meet the stricter environmental regulations in the future. In the BTL-FT process, biomass, such as woodchips and straw stalk, is firstly converted into biomass-derived syngas (bio-syngas) by gasification. Then, a cleaning process is applied to remove impurities from the bio-syngas to produce clean bio-syngas which meets the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis requirements. Cleaned bio-syngas is then conducted into a Fischer-Tropsch catalytic reactor to produce green gasoline, diesel and other clean biofuels. This review will analyze the three main steps of BTL-FT process, and discuss the issues related to biomass gasification, bio-syngas cleaning methods and conversion of bio-syngas into liquid hydrocarbons via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Some features in regard to increasing carbon utilization, enhancing catalyst activity, maximizing selectivity and avoiding catalyst deactivation in bio-syngas conversion process are also discussed.

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BackgroundThis study aimed to explore the effects of HMGA2 on cell proliferation and metastases in lung cancer and its underlying mechanism.Methods HMGA2 expression in lung cancer tissues and its association with overall survival were analyzed based on data from a public database. The roles of HMGA2 were validated via loss‐of‐function and gain‐of‐function experiments in vitro. HMGA2 regulation by microRNA‐195 (miR‐195) was validated by real time‐PCR, Western blotting, and luciferase reporter assays.Results HMGA2 was upregulated and associated with reduced overall survival in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. HMGA2 knockdown suppressed the proliferation and motility of H1299 cells, while HMGA2 ectopic expression in A549 cells increased cell proliferation and migration. HMGA2 affected cell apoptosis through caspase 3/9 and Bcl‐2, and regulated epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition by targeting Twist 1. Moreover, miR‐195 was found to directly target the 3′ untranslated region of HMGA2 messenger RNA and suppress its expression in lung cancer.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that HMGA2, regulated by miR‐195, played important roles in proliferation, metastases, and epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition in lung cancer. HMGA2 might serve as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target for lung cancer treatment.

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CO hydrogenation to higher alcohols (C2+OH) provides a promising route to convert coal, natural gas, shale gas, and biomass feedstocks into value-added chemicals and transportation fuels. However, the development of nonprecious metal catalysts with satisfactory activity and well-defined selectivity toward C2+OH remains challenging and impedes the commercialization of this process. Here, we show that the synergistic geometric and electronic interactions dictate the activity of Cu0–χ-Fe5C2 binary catalysts for selective CO hydrogenation to C2+OH, outperforming silica-supported precious Rh-based catalysts, by using a combination of experimental evidence from bulk, surface-sensitive, and imaging techniques collected on real and high-performance Cu–Fe binary catalytic systems coupled with density functional theory calculations. The closer is the d-band center to the Fermi level of Cu0–χ-Fe5C2(510) surface than those of χ-Fe5C2(510) and Rh(111) surface, and the electron-rich interface of Cu0–χ-Fe5C2(510) due to the delocalized electron transfer from Cu0 atoms, facilitates CO activation and CO insertion into alkyl species to C2-oxygenates at the interface of Cu0–χ-Fe5C2(510) and thus enhances C2H5OH selectivity. Starting from the CHCO intermediate, the proposed reaction pathway for CO hydrogenation to C2H5OH on Cu0–χ-Fe5C2(510) is CHCO + (H) → CH2CO + (H) → CH3CO + (H) → CH3CHO + (H) → CH3CH2O + (H) → C2H5OH. This study may guide the rational design of high-performance binary catalysts made from earth-abundant metals with synergistic interactions for tuning selectivity.

BackgroundIL-1α and IL-6 are associated with the prognosis of a wide range of cancers, but their value in cervical cancer remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of IL-1α and IL-6 in cervical cancer and their significance in clinical prognosis.Material/MethodsThe expression of IL-1α and IL-6 in 105 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cervical cancer tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry. The results were semi-quantitatively scored and analyzed by chi-square test. Patient overall survival (OS) data was collected by follow-up and analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analysis.ResultsThe expression level of both IL-1α and IL-6 in cervical cancer tissue was higher than in adjacent non-tumor tissues (p<0.05). IL-1α expression was shown to be correlated with tumor size, FIGO histology grade, lymph node metastasis, stromal invasion, and tumor differentiation (p<0.05). IL-6 expression was shown to be correlated with tumor size, FIGO histology grade, and tumor differentiation (p<0.05). Patients with positive expression of IL-1α or IL-6 tended to have much shorter survival times than patients with negative expression. In addition, a multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that IL-1α expression and lymph node metastasis were independent predictors of OS in cervical cancer patients.ConclusionsThe expression of IL-1α was significantly associated with tumor size, FIGO histology grade, lymph node metastasis, stromal invasion, and tumor differentiation. The expression of IL-6 was significantly associated with tumor size, FIGO histology grade, and tumor differentiation. Positive IL-1α and IL-6 expression was significantly correlated with poor prognosis. They may be considered valuable biomarkers for prognosis and potential therapeutic targets for cervical cancer.