Efficient removal of low density lipoprotein (LDL) is a key challenge due to its high level in plasma as a primary risk factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In this work, a facile synthesis strategy based on host-guest interactions was developed to prepare multilayer cucurbit[6]uril-based magnetic nanoparticles, MNPs-(HA-DAH /HA-CB[6] ). The compound was employed as a blood purification material for the removal of LDL from plasma because it had good blood compatibility and could be easily separated with an external magnet. The efficient removal of LDL was attributed to the electrostatic interactions between the positive charged apoB-100 domain of LDL and the negative charged adsorbent. Moreover, the prepared material exhibited high recyclability and could release LDL in physiological saline for recyclable use. MNPs-(HA-DAH /HA-CB[6] ) offered promising perspectives and broad applications in extracorporeal treatment for the removal of LDL.

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Objective Application of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) for thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) is controversial. Therefore, ROSE has not been universally applied. This study aimed to evaluate the value of ROSE for ultrasound-guided thyroid FNA. Methods A total of 997 patients with 1103 suspicious thyroid nodules had ultrasound-guided FNA performed from January 2016 to February 2018. There were 513 nodules with ROSE and 590 nodules without ROSE. The cytological nondiagnostic rate, needle passes, and procedural times of thyroid FNA with or without ROSE were compared. The nondiagnostic rates of subsets of suspicious thyroid nodules were further compared. Results There was no significant effect of ROSE on the nondiagnostic rate of FNA. However, FNA with ROSE significantly reduced the numbers of sub-centimeter, mixed solid-cystic, macrocalcified, and hypervascular nodules. There was a significantly smaller number of needle passes and less procedural times with ROSE than without ROSE. There was no significant difference in the complication rate of FNA with and without ROSE. Conclusion ROSE for thyroid FNA reduces the number of needle passes and procedural times. ROSE has a higher clinical application value in subsets of thyroid nodules, which tend to be difficult to diagnose with FNA.

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most deadly cancer worldwide. Multiple long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are recently identified as crucial oncogenic factors or tumor suppressors. In this study, we explored the functon and mechanism of lncRNA double homeobox A pseudogene 8 (DUXAP8) in the progression of HCC. Methods Expression levels of DUXAP8 in HCC tissue samples were measured using qRT‐PCR. The association between pathological indexes and the expression of DUXAP8 was also analyzed. Human HCC cell lines SMMC‐7721 and QSG‐7701 were used in in vitro studies. CCK‐8 assay was used to assess the effect of DUXAP8 on HCC cell line proliferation. Scratch healing assay and Transwell assay were conducted to detect the effect of DUXAP8 on migration and invasion. Furthermore, dual‐luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm targeting relationship between miR‐422a and DUXAP8. Additionally, Western blot was used to detect the regulatory function of DUXAP8 on pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 2 (PDK2). Results DUXAP8 expression HCC clinical samples was significantly increased and this was correlated with unfavorable pathological indexes. High expression of DUXAP8 was associated with shorter overall survival time of patients. Its overexpression remarkably facilitated the proliferation, metastasis, and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition of HCC cells. Accordingly, knockdown of it suppressed the malignant phenotypes of HCC cells. Overexpression of DUXAP8 significantly reduced the expression of miR‐422a by sponging it, but enhanced the expression of PDK2. Conclusions DUXAP8 was a sponge of tumor suppressor miR‐422a in HCC, enhanced the expression of PDK2 indirectly, and functioned as an oncogenic lncRNA.

Compound K (CK; 20-O-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol), a major metabolite of ginsenoside, has been shown to possess several biological activities such as potent antitumor properties. However, the effect of CK on the apoptosis of bladder cancer cells and its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the effect of CK on the apoptosis of bladder cancer T 24 cells. Cell counts showed that treatment of T24 cells with CK decreased the cell number in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that CK could significantly induce apoptosis of T24 cells in vitro. Further, cellular glutathione reduction, accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also observed in CK-treated T24 cells. Western blot demonstrated the release of cytochrome c, activation of procaspases-3, procaspases-9, and the change of Bax/Bcl-2 proteins ratio. We also found that the phosphorylation of p38MAPK was increased by CK, while treatment with SB203580 inhibited CK-induced cell apoptosis in T24 cells. The blockage of ROS generation by N-acetylcysteine effectively prevented the apoptosis induction in T24 cells with CK treatment, accompanied by the decrease of activation of p38MAPK. These results suggested that CK induced the apoptosis of bladder cancer T24 cells, which is partially due to ROS generation and p38MAPK activation.