Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) plays a dual role in regulating cell survival and apoptosis, acting as a prosurvival factor in mitochondria via its NADH oxidoreductase activity and activating the caspase-independent apoptotic pathway (i.e., parthanatos) after nuclear translocation. However, whether one factor conjunctively controls the separated functions of AIF is not clear. Here, it is shown that OTU deubiquitinase 1 (OTUD1) acts as a link between the two functions of AIF via deubiquitination events. Deubiquitination of AIF at K244 disrupts the normal mitochondrial structure and compromises oxidative phosphorylation, and deubiquitination of AIF at K255 enhances its DNA-binding ability to promote parthanatos. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Nolvadex.html Moreover, OTUD1 stabilizes DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 10 (DCAF10) and recruits the cullin 4A (CUL4A)-damage specific DNA binding protein 1 (DDB1) complex to promote myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 (MCL1) degradation, thereby activating caspase-dependent apoptotic signaling. Collectively, these results reveal the central role of OTUD1 in activating both caspase-independent and caspase-dependent apoptotic signaling and propose decreased OTUD1 expression as a key event promoting chemoresistance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Enhancement of mechanical properties in self-assembled superstructures of magnetic nanoparticles is a new emerging aspect of their remarkable collective behavior. However, how magnetic interactions modulate mechanical properties is, to date, not fully understood. Through a comprehensive Monte Carlo investigation, this study demonstrates how the mechanical properties of self-assembled magnetic nanocubes can be controlled intrinsically by the nanoparticle magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MA), as well as by the superstructure shape anisotropy, without any need for changes in structural design (i.e., nanoparticle size, shape, and packing arrangement). A low MA-to-dipolar energy ratio, as found in iron oxide and permalloy systems, favors isotropic mechanical superstructure stabilization, whereas a high ratio yields magnetically blocked nanoparticle macrospins which can give rise to metastable superferromagnetism, as expected in cobalt ferrite simple cubic supercrystals. Such full parallel alignment of the particle moments is shown to induce mechanical anisotropy, where the superior high-strength axis can be remotely reconfigured by means of an applied magnetic field. The new concepts developed here pave the way for the experimental realization of smart magneto-micromechanical systems (based, e.g., on the permanent super-magnetostriction effect illustrated here) and inspire new design rules for applied functional materials.Over the past decades, considerable attention has been dedicated to the exploitation of diverse immune cells as therapeutic and/or diagnostic cell-based microrobots for hard-to-treat disorders. To date, a plethora of therapeutics based on alive immune cells, surface-engineered immune cells, immunocytes' cell membranes, leukocyte-derived extracellular vesicles or exosomes, and artificial immune cells have been investigated and a few have been introduced into the market. These systems take advantage of the unique characteristics and functions of immune cells, including their presence in circulating blood and various tissues, complex crosstalk properties, high affinity to different self and foreign markers, unique potential of their on-demand navigation and activity, production of a variety of chemokines/cytokines, as well as being cytotoxic in particular conditions. Here, the latest progress in the development of engineered therapeutics and diagnostics inspired by immune cells to ameliorate cancer, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular complications, and infectious diseases is reviewed, and finally, the perspective for their clinical application is delineated.Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common intraocular malignant tumor in adults and has a low survival rate following metastasis; it is derived from melanocytes susceptible to reactive oxygen species (ROS). Carbon dot (Cdot) nanoparticles are a promising tool in cancer detection and therapy due to their unique photophysical properties, low cytotoxicity, and efficient ROS productivity. However, the effects of Cdots on tumor metabolism and growth are not well characterized. Here, the effects of Cdots on UM cell metabolomics, growth, invasiveness, and tumorigenicity are investigated in vitro and in vivo zebrafish and nude mouse xenograft model. Cdots dose-dependently increase ROS levels in UM cells. At Cdots concentrations below 100 µg mL-1, Cdot-induced ROS promote UM cell growth, invasiveness, and tumorigenicity; at 200 µg mL-1, UM cells undergo apoptosis. The addition of antioxidants reverses the protumorigenic effects of Cdots. Cdots at 25-100 µg mL-1 activate Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and enhance glutamine metabolism, generating a cascade that promotes UM cell growth. These results demonstrate that moderate, subapoptotic doses of Cdots can promote UM cell tumorigenicity. This study lays the foundation for the rational application of ROS-producing nanoparticles in tumor imaging and therapy.Self-assembly, as a typical bottom-up strategy for the fabrication of functional materials, has been applied to fabricate chiral materials with subtle chiral nanostructures. The chiral nanostructures exhibit great potential in asymmetric catalysis, chiral sensing, chiral electronics, photonics, and even the realization of several biological functions. According to existing studies, the supramolecular chirality transfer process combined with hierarchical self-assembly plays a vital role in the fabrication of multiscale chiral structures. This progress report focuses on the hierarchical self-assembly of chiral or achiral molecules that aggregate with asymmetric spatial structures such as twisted bands, helices, and superhelices in different environments. Herein, recent studies on the chirality transfer induced self-assembly based on a variety of supramolecular interactions are summarized. In addition, the influence of different environments and the states of systems including solutions, condensed states, gel systems, interfaces on the asymmetric hierarchical self-assembly, and the expression of chirality are explored.