Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are a new class of green solvents analogous to ionic liquids due to their biodegradable capacity and low cost. However, the direct extractive desulfurization of diesel oil by DESs cannot meet the government's standard. In this work, amphiphilic polyoxometalates were synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and mass spectrometry. The oxidative desulfurization results showed that benzothiophene (BT) could be completely removed by employing a [(C 6 H 13) 3 P(C 14 H 29)] 3 PMo 12 O 40 , DES (ChCl/2Ac) and H 2 O 2 system. It was also found that the organic cation of catalysts played a positive role in oxidative desulfurization. The reaction conditions, such as reaction temperature and time, the amount of catalyst and DES and H 2 O 2 /S (O/S) molar ratio, were optimized. Different sulfides were tested to determine the desulfurization selectivity of the optimal reaction system, and it was found that 97.2% of dibenzothiophene (DBT) could be removed followed by 80.7% of 4-MDBT and 76.0% of 4,6-DMDBT. After reaction, the IR spectra showed that the catalyst [(C 6 H 13) 3 P(C 14 H 29)] 3 PMo 12 O 40 was stable during the reaction process and the oxidative product was dibenzothiophene sulfone (DBTO 2). Furthermore, the catalyst can be regenerated and recycled for four runs with little loss of activity.

Background Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have good osteogenic differentiation potential and have become ideal seed cells in bone tissue engineering. However, the osteogenic differentiation ability of BMSCs gradually weakens with age, and the regulatory mechanism is unclear. Method We conducted a bioinformatics analysis, dual-luciferase reporter (DLR) experiment, and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) to explore the hub genes that may affect BMSC functions. Results The expression level of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (Malat1) was significantly higher in the BMSCs from elderly than younger mice, while miR-129-5p showed the opposite trend. The results of alkaline phosphatase staining, quantitative reverse transcription PCR and western blot experiments indicated that inhibiting the expression of Malat1 inhibits the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. This effect can be reversed by reducing the expression of miR-129-5p. Additionally, DLR and RIP experiments confirmed that Malat1 acts as a sponge for miR-129-5p. Conclusion Overall, our study findings indicated that lncRNA Malat1 may play a critical role in maintaining the osteoblast differentiation potential of BMSCs by sponging miR-129-5p.

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Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a life-threatening disease that emerged as a major international health concern, associated with poor prognosis and the absence of specific biomarkers. Studies have shown that the ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) can be used as tumor prognostic markers. However, FRGs’ prognostic value in OSCC needs further exploration. Our aim was to construct a novel FRG signature for overall survival (OS) prediction in OSCC patients and explore its role in immunotherapy.Methods: In our study, gene expression profile and clinical data of OSCC patients were collected from a public domain. FRGs were available from the FerrDb database. We performed univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to construct a multigene signature. The Kaplan-Meier (K-M) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methods were utilized to test the effectiveness of the FRG signature. A differential gene expression analysis was performed by the limma R package, followed by functional enrichment analyses. CIBERSORT was applied to analyze the tumor microenvironment (TME). Finally, the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and immune checkpoint molecules were analyzed to confirm the sensitivity of immunotherapy.Results: A total of 103 FRGs, expressed in OSCC (FRGs-OSCC), were identified from the two datasets by the Venn analysis. The Cox regression analysis identified 5 FRGs-OSCC that were associated with overall survival (all P < 0.01). The FRGs-OSCC risk model was established to classify patients into high risk and low risk groups. Compared with the low risk group, the survival time of the high-risk group was significantly reduced (P < 0.001). According to the multivariate Cox regression analyses, the risk score acted as an independent predictor for OS (HR > 1, P < 0.001). The accuracy of the FRGs-OSCC risk predictive model was confirmed by ROC curve analysis. The results of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) showed significant enrichment of immune-related pathways, and a difference in tumor microenvironment between the two groups. The low risk group had the characteristics of higher expression of HLA and immune checkpoints (IDO1, LAG3, PDCD1 and TIGHT), a lower tumor purity and a higher infiltration of immune cells, indicating a more sensitive response to immunotherapy.Conclusions: The novel FRGs-OSCC risk score system can be used to predict OSCC prognosis. Ferroptosis targeting may be a therapeutic option for OSCC.

Introduction: Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by exocrine gland dysfunction, leading to loss of salivary function. Histological analysis of salivary glands from SS patients reveals a high infiltration of immune cells, particularly activated CD4+ T cells. Thus, interventions targeting abnormal activation of CD4+ T cells may provide promising therapeutic strategies for SS. Here, we demonstrate that Hect, uba, and wwe domain containing 1 (HUWE1), a member of the eukaryotic Hect E3 ubiquitin ligase family, plays a critical role in CD4+ T-cell activation and SS pathophysiology.Methods: In the context of HUWE1 inhibition, we investigated the impact of the HUWE1 inhibitor BI8626 and sh-Huwe1 on CD4+ T cells in mice, focusing on the assessment of activation levels, proliferation capacity, and cholesterol abundance. Furthermore, we examined the therapeutic potential of BI8626 in NOD/ShiLtj mice and evaluated its efficacy as a treatment strategy.Results: Inhibition of HUWE1 reduces ABCA1 ubiquitination and promotes cholesterol efflux, decreasing intracellular cholesterol and reducing the expression of phosphorylated ZAP-70, CD25, and other activation markers, culminating in the suppressed proliferation of CD4+ T cells. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of HUWE1 significantly reduces CD4+ T-cell infiltration in the submandibular glands and improves salivary flow rate in NOD/ShiLtj mice.Conclusion: These findings suggest that HUWE1 may regulate CD4+ T-cell activation and SS development by modulating ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux and presents a promising target for SS treatment.

Growing evidence suggests that N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant RNA internal modification, plays a critical role in immune regulation and thereby potentially contributes to the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders. However, the role of m6A modification of the immune microenvironment of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) remains unknown. In this study, we used data from public databases and our sequencing efforts to evaluate the expression levels of m6A regulators by profiling the data of whole peripheral blood of 220 SS patients and 62 healthy controls. We found that SS was associated with the expression of several m6A regulators, and this difference was correlated with activated CD4+T cells. We screened key genes with a random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm and constructed a diagnostic model of SS using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Two distinct m6A modification patterns were determined by unsupervised clustering, with significant differences in immunocyte infiltration, immune reactivity, and enriched biological functions. Key m6A regulators, gene modules, and co-expression networks of m6A-related genes were identified by conventional bioinformatics methods. This identified three key m6A regulators (METTL3, ALKBH5, and YTHDF1) and two m6A-related hub genes (COMMD8 and SRP9) which may play an essential role in the diagnosis and treatment of SS. This study demonstrates the close relationship between m6A modification and the immune microenvironment in SS and provides a basis for an improved understanding of m6A modification patterns and the exploration of new therapeutic options for SS.