Microrobots have attracted considerable attention due to their extensive applications in microobject manipulation and targeted drug delivery. To realize more complex micro-/nanocargo manipulation (e.g., encapsulation and release) in biological applications, it is highly desirable to endow microrobots with a shape-morphing adaptation to dynamic environments. Here, environmentally adaptive shape-morphing microrobots (SMMRs) have been developed by programmatically encoding different expansion rates in a pH-responsive hydrogel. Due to a combination with magnetic propulsion, a shape-morphing microcrab (SMMC) is able to perform targeted microparticle delivery, including gripping, transporting, and releasing by “opening–closing” of a claw. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a shape-morphing microfish (SMMF) is designed to encapsulate a drug (doxorubicin (DOX)) by closing its mouth in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH ∼ 7.4) and release the drug by opening its mouth in a slightly acidic solution (pH < 7). Furthermore, localized HeLa cell treatment in an artificial vascular network is realized by “opening–closing” of the SMMF mouth. With the continuous optimization of size, motion control, and imaging technology, these magnetic SMMRs will provide ideal platforms for complex microcargo operations and on-demand drug release.

The intrinsic hydrophilicity of conventional dressings cannot achieve effective management of excessive biofluid around the wound bed, which inevitably causes infection and hinders wound healing. In addition, present dressings such as medical gauze or band aids have a limited stretching capability, which does not comply well with the skin deformation during muscle movement, thus impacting patient comfort. Herein, a Janus wound dressing is reported by assembling an external hydrophobic (HP) adhesive tape, a filter paper, and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Janus film. The PDMS Janus film as the primary dressing can unidirectionally remove biofluid away from the wound bed. The mechanism of the unidirectional biofluid transport is investigated, demonstrating that the stretching or bending of the Janus dressing is beneficial for unidirectional biofluid draining. It indicates that the Janus PDMS film has potential for practical applications on stretched or bended skin surface. In addition, in order to prevent bacterial infection, amoxicillin powder is uniformly encapsulated on the HP layer of Janus film, resulting in faster wound healing. This study is valuable for designing and fabricating next-generation dressings with high performance for clinical applications.

No abstract

According to the 2018 global cancer statistics, lung cancer is the cancer with the highest morbidity (1.6 percent of total cases) and mortality (18.4 percent of total cancer deaths) in the world. 1 Unfortunately, despite the decline in lung cancer mortality, the majority of patients are still diagnosed with advanced or metastatic lung cancer, leading to poor outcomes. 2 Therefore, detection of lung cancer in the early stage before clinical symptoms, which may be an effective means to reduce cancer mortality. So it is worth our efforts to find effective and reliable biomarkers. Despite advances in the treatment of lung cancer, the prognosis of patients is not satisfactory. 3 At present, we urgently need to find biomarkers that may predict the recurrence of lung cancer after surgery to improve the prognosis of patients. Exosomes are vesicles with a diameter of 40-100 nm. They sprout to form early multivesicular bodies (MVB). When fused with the plasma membrane, they form an intracellular vesicle (ILV), which is released into the extracellular environment (Figure 1). 4,5 It is noteworthy that most cells can secrete exosomes. Therefore, exosomes are widely present in a variety of biological fluids, such as semen, 6 urine, 7 serum, 8 plasma, 9 saliva, 10 bile, 11 breast milk, 12 amniotic fluid, 13 cerebrospinal

Giardia synthesizes UDP-GalNAc during cyst wall formation (encystment) via a pathway of inducible enzymes similar to that used to synthesize chitin or peptidoglycan and that includes the UTP-requiring UDP-Nacetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase. Although it has never been reported as a regulatory enzyme in any system studied to date, kinetic data including Hill plots demonstrate clearly that UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase activity, purified from encysting Giardia, is allosterically activated anabolically by physiological levels of glucosamine 6-phosphate (3 M). Capillary electrophoresis demonstrates that within 24 h after trophozoites are induced to encyst, the level of glucosamine 6-phosphate increases 3-fold over that of non-encysting cells and that by 48 h into encystment the level of glucosamine 6-phosphate has decreased to non-encysting levels or below. UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase protein is present constitutively in encysting as well as non-encysting cells. UDP-Nacetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase immunoaffinity purified from encysting and non-encysting cells exhibited the same molecular weight, amino acid composition, and circular dichroism spectra. Moreover, regardless of whether the enzyme came from encysting or nonencysting cells, the change in its circular dichroism spectra and up to a 6-fold increase in its specific activity anabolically were due to its activation with glucosamine 6-phosphate. Thus, the data support the idea that UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase is a major regulatory point in amino sugar synthesis in encysting Giardia and that its allosteric anabolic activation may shift the equilibrium of this pathway toward UDP-GalNAc synthesis.

No abstract

hsa_circ_0062389 miR-103a-3p CCNE1 Non-small cell lung cancer a b s t r a c tRecently, increasing evidence showed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play critical roles in tumor progression. However, the roles of hsa_circ_0062389 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) development remain unclear. In the present study, hsa_circ_0062389 expression was significantly increased in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. High hsa_circ_0062389 expression was associated with advanced TNM stage and lymphnode metastasis. Function assays showed that hsa_circ_0062389 suppression reduced NSCLC cells proliferation and arrested cell cycle in G0/G1 phase. In mechanism, hsa_circ_0062389 directly interacted with miR-103a-3p in NSCLC, and CCNE1 acted as a target of miR-103a-3p. Furthermore, rescue assays showed that miR-103a-3p suppression or CCNE1 overexpression abolished the effects of hsa_circ_0062389 suppression on lung cancer cells progression. Therefore, our results showed that the hsa_circ_0062389/miR-103a-3p/CCNE1 axis might contribute to the tumorigenesis of NSCLC, which provided a new strategy for cancer treatment.

No abstract