Exosomal MicroRNA as Biomarkers for Diagnosing or Monitoring the Progression of Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma: A Pilot Study

Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of gynecological malignancy-related mortality since early-stage disease is difficult to diagnose. Advanced clear cell carcinoma of the ovary (CCCO) has dismal prognosis, and its incidence has been increasing in Japan, emphasizing the need for highly sensitive diagnostic and prognostic CCCO biomarkers. Exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) secreted by tumor cells are known to play a role in carcinogenesis; however, their involvement in ovarian cancer is unclear. In this study, we performed expression profiling of miRNAs from exosomes released by five cell lines representing different histological types of ovarian cancer. Exosomes isolated from culture media of cancer and normal cells were compared for miRNA composition using human miRNA microarray. We detected 143 exosomal miRNAs, whose expression was ≥1.5-fold higher in ovarian cancer cells than in the control. Among them, 28 miRNAs were upregulated in cells of all histological ovarian cancer types compared to control, and three were upregulated in CCCO cells compared to other types. Functional analyses indicated that miR-21 overexpressed in CCCO cells targeted tumor suppressor genes PTEN, TPM1, PDCD4, and MASP1. The identified miRNAs could represent novel candidate biomarkers to diagnose or monitor progression of ovarian cancer, particularly CCCO.     

Robust Spirobifluorene Core Based Hole Transporters with High Mobility for Long-Life Green Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Devices

Using a tailored high triplet energy hole transport layer (HTL) is a suitable way to improve the efficiency and extend the lifetime of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs), which can use all molecular excitons of singlets and triplets. In this study, dibenzofuran (DBF)-end-capped and spirobifluorene (SBF) core-based HTLs referred as TDBFSBF1 and TDBFSBF2 were effectively developed. TDBFSBF1 exhibited a high glass transition temperature of 178 °C and triplet energy of 2.5 eV. Moreover, a high external quantum efficiency of 22.0 %, long operational lifetime at 50 % of the initial luminance of 89,000 h, and low driving voltage at 1000 cd m⁻² of 2.95 V were achieved in green phosphorescent OLEDs using TDBFSBF1 . Further, a high-hole mobility μ_h value of 1.9×10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ was recorded in TDBFSBF2 . A multiscale simulation successfully reproduced the experimental μ_h values and indicated that the reorganization energy was the primary factor in determining the mobility differences among these SBF core based HTLs.     

Chain-growth polycondensation of potassium 3-cyano-4-fluorophenolate derivatives for well-defined poly(arylene ether)s

Polycondensation normally proceeds in a step-growth reaction manner to give polymers with a wide range of molecular weights. However, the polycondensation of potassium 2-alkyl-5-cyano-4-fluorophenolate ( 1 ) proceeded at 150°C in a chain polymerization manner from initiator, 4-fluoro-4′-trifluoromethyl benzophenone ( 2 ), to give aromatic polyethers having controlled molecular weights and low polydispersities (M_w/M_n ⩽ 1.2). The resulting polycondensation of 1 had all of the characteristics of living polymerization and displayed a linear correlation between molecular weight and monomer conversion, maintaining low polydispersities. Sulfolane was a better solvent for chain-growth polycondensation of 1 than other aprotic solvents. The polyether from 1 with a low polydispersity showed higher crystallinity than that with a broad molecular weight distribution, obtained by the conventional polycondensation of 1 without 2 .     

Synthesis of Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) with a Narrower Polydispersity

Summary: The polymerization of 2‐bromo‐3‐hexyl‐5‐iodothiophene ( 1 ) with isopropylmagnesium chloride and Ni(dppp)Cl₂ was quenched with 5 M hydrochloric acid instead of water to yield head‐to‐tail poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (HT‐P3HT) with a very low polydispersity. The of the polymer was controlled by the feed ratio of 1 to Ni(dppp)Cl₂. Quenching with 5 M hydrochloric acid seemed to promote protonolysis of HT‐P3HT‐Ni complexes before the coupling reaction between HT‐P3HT.

GPC profiles of HT‐P3HT obtained after quenching with water and 5 M hydrochloric acid, respectively.     

Synthesis of C-nucleosides via coupling of ribosyl fluoride with typical aromatic heterocycles bearing a TMS group

The direct coupling reaction of D -ribosyl fluoride with typical π-excessive aromatic heterocycles such as furan, thiophene, pyrrole, benzofuran, benzothiophene, and indole and their trimethylsilyl derivatives was performed in the presence of boron trifluoride to afford the corresponding C-nucleosides in moderate to good yields.