Scintillator‐based X‐ray imaging has attracted great attention from industrial quality inspection and security to medical diagnostics. Herein, a series of lanthanide(III)‐Cu4I4 heterometallic organic frameworks (Ln‐Cu4I4 MOFs)‐based X‐ray scintillators are developed by rationally assembling X‐ray absorption centers ([Cu4I4] clusters) and luminescent chromophores (Ln(III) ions) in a specific manner. Under X‐ray irradiation, the heavy inorganic units ([Cu4I4] clusters) absorb the X‐ray energy to populate triplet excitons via halide‐to‐ligand charge transfer (XLCT) combined with the metal‐to‐ligand charge‐transfer (MLCT) state (defined as the X/MLCT state), and then the 3X/MLCT excited state sensitizes Tb3+ for intense X‐ray‐excited luminescence via excitation energy transfer. The obtained Tb‐Cu4I4 MOF scintillators exhibit high resistance to humidity and radiation, excellent linear response to X‐ray dose rate, and high X‐ray relative light yield of 29 379 ± 3000 photons MeV−1. The relative light yield of Tb‐Cu4I4 MOFs is ≈3 times higher than that of the control Tb(III) complex. X‐ray imaging tests show that the Tb‐Cu4I4 MOFs‐based flexible scintillator film exhibits a high spatial resolution of 12.6 lp mm−1. These findings not only provide a promising design strategy to develop lanthanide‐MOF‐based scintillators with excellent scintillation performance, but also exhibit high‐resolution X‐ray imaging for biological specimens and electronic chips.

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The amount of transcription factor OCT4 is strictly regulated. A tight regulation of OCT4 levels is crucial for mammalian embryonic development and oncogenesis. However, the mechanisms underlying regulation of OCT4 protein expression and nuclear distribution are largely unknown. Here, we report that DPF2, a plant homeodomain (PHD) finger protein, is upregulated during H9 cell differentiation induced by retinoic acid. Endogenous interaction between DPF2 and OCT4 in P19 cells was revealed by an immunoprecipitation assay. GST-pull down assay proved that OCT4 protein in H9 cells and recombinant OCT4 can precipitate with DPF2 in vitro. In vitro ubiquitination assay demonstrated DPF2 might serve as an E3 ligase. Knock down of dpf2 using siRNA increased OCT4 protein level and stability in P19 cells. DPF2 siRNAs also up-regulates OCT4 but not NANOG in H9 cells. However, RA fails to downregulates OCT4 protein level in cells infected by lenitviruses containing DPF2 siRNA. Moreover, overexpression of both DPF2 and OCT4 in 293 cells proved the DPF2-OCT4 interaction. DPF2 but not PHD2 mutant DPF2 enhanced ubiquitination and degradation of OCT4 in 293 cells co-expressed DPF2 and OCT4. Both wild type DPF2 and PHD2 mutant DPF2 redistributes nuclear OCT4 without affecting DPF2-OCT4 interaction. Further analysis indicated that DPF2 decreases monomeric and mono-ubiquitinated OCT4, assembles poly-ubiquitin chains on OCT4 mainly through Ub-K48 linkage. These findings contribute to an understanding of how OCT4 protein level and nuclear distribution is regulated by its associated protein.

Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) proteins participate in a post-translational modification called SUMOylation and regulate a variety of intracellular processes, such as targeting proteins for nuclear import. The nuclear transport of p65 results in the activation of NF-κB, and p65 contains several SUMO interacting motifs (SIMs). However, the relationship between p65 and SUMO1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated the potential roles of SUMO1 in HCC via the regulation of p65 subcellular localization. We found that either SUMO1- or p65-positive immunoreactivity was remarkably increased in the nuclei of tumor tissues in HCC patients compared with non-tumor tissues, and further analysis suggested a correlation between SUMO1- and nuclear p65-positive immunoreactivities (R = 0.851, P = 0.002). We also verified the interaction between p65 and SUMO1 in HCC by co-immunoprecipitation. TNF-α and hypoxia increased SUMO1 protein levels and enhanced SUMO1-modified p65 SUMOylation. Moreover, the knockdown of SUMO1 decreased p65 nuclear translocation and inhibited NF-κB transcriptional activity. Further the results of this study revealed that the knockdown of SUMO1 suppressed the proliferation and migration of hepatoma cells. These results suggest that SUMO1 contributes to HCC progression by promoting p65 nuclear translocation and regulating NF-κB activity.

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