Ammonia decomposition to hydrogen technique is an effectively way to solve the problems associated with the storage and transportation of hydrogen, but the development of a high-performance catalyst ...for ammonia decomposition is a great challenge. Ni species supported on activated attapulgite clay (AATP) is prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method for ammonia decomposition to COx-free H2. The structural properties of the Ni/AATP catalysts are characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, H2 temperature-programmed reduction, and N2 sorption technique. It is revealed that the porous structure and high surface area of rod-like symmetric AATP results in highly dispersed NiO particles because the presence of a strong interaction between AATP and NiO particles. In particular, the Si-OH in AATP can react with Ni species, forming Si-O-Ni species at the interface between Ni and AATP. The Ni/AAPT catalysts are used for ammonia decomposition, the 20%-Ni/ATTP catalyst shows a 95.3% NH3 conversion with 31.9 mmol min−1 gcat−1 H2 formation rate at 650 °C. This study opens a new way to utilize natural minerals as an efficient support of catalysts towards ammonia decomposition reaction.
Senescence and altered differentiation potential of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) lead to age‐related bone loss. As an important posttranscriptional regulatory pathway, alternative splicing (AS) ...regulates the diversity of gene expression and has been linked to induction of cellular senescence. However, the role of splicing factors in BMSCs during aging remains poorly defined. Herein, we found that the expression of the splicing factor Y‐box binding protein 1 (YBX1) in BMSCs decreased with aging in mice and humans. YBX1 deficiency resulted in mis‐splicing in genes linked to BMSC osteogenic differentiation and senescence, such as Fn1, Nrp2, Sirt2, Sp7, and Spp1, thus contributing to BMSC senescence and differentiation shift during aging. Deletion of Ybx1 in BMSCs accelerated bone loss in mice, while its overexpression stimulated bone formation. Finally, we identified a small compound, sciadopitysin, which attenuated the degradation of YBX1 and bone loss in old mice. Our study demonstrated that YBX1 governs cell fate of BMSCs via fine control of RNA splicing and provides a potential therapeutic target for age‐related osteoporosis.
Synopsis
Alternative splicing has been shown to regulate cellular senescence and differentiation. This study links the reduced expression of the splicing regulator YBX1 in aging bone marrow stromal cells to senescence and aging‐related bone loss.
The expression level of YBX1 in BMSCs decreases during aging.
Ybx1 overexpression in BMSCs stimulates bone formation, while its deletion accelerates bone loss.
YBX1 suppresses BMSC senescence and modulates BMSC differentiation by controlling RNA splicing.
The small compound sciadopitysin attenuates YBX1 degradation and bone loss in old mice.
Reduced expression of YBX1 in aging bone marrow stromal cells induces their senescence and bone loss due to mRNA mis‐splicing.
Extraction and characterization of antioxidative compositions from the extracts of fermented Xisha Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) juice were studied. The antioxidative constituents of 184.6 g ...freeze-dried extracts of naturally fermented Xisha Noni juice were isolated successfully by petroleum ether, EtOAc and n-BuOH solvents, and the antioxidative effects were measured according to scavenging activity against hydroxyl generated in Fenton reaction system and superoxide anion radicals in pyrogallol autoxidation system. The EtOAc extract exhibited most significantly higher (P 〈 0.01) antioxidative activity than mannitol or vitamin C, while the petroleum ether and n-BuOH extracts showed lower activities compared to mannitol. Three antioxidant phenolic compounds, isoscopoletin, aesculetin and 3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone (quercetin) were isolated from the EtOAc extract by several chromatography techniques for the first time. The results suggest that several compounds, in particular, the phenolic compounds, contribute separately or synergistically to the antioxidative activity of fermented Noni fruit juice.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology has shown its power in preventing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Two mRNA vaccines targeting the full-length S protein of SARS-CoV-2 have been authorized for ...emergency use. Recently, we have developed a lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated mRNA (mRNA-LNP) encoding the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 (termed ARCoV), which confers complete protection in mouse model. Herein, we further characterized the protection efficacy of ARCoV in nonhuman primates and the long-term stability under normal refrigerator temperature. Intramuscular immunization of two doses of ARCoV elicited robust neutralizing antibodies as well as cellular response against SARS-CoV-2 in cynomolgus macaques. More importantly, ARCoV vaccination in macaques significantly protected animals from acute lung lesions caused by SARS-CoV-2, and viral replication in lungs and secretion in nasal swabs were completely cleared in all animals immunized with low or high doses of ARCoV. No evidence of antibody-dependent enhancement of infection was observed throughout the study. Finally, extensive stability assays showed that ARCoV can be stored at 2-8 °C for at least 6 months without decrease of immunogenicity. All these promising results strongly support the ongoing clinical trial.
Many animal and plant pathogenic bacteria employ a type three secretion system (T3SS) to deliver type three effector proteins (T3Es) into host cells. Efficient secretion of many T3Es in the plant ...pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) relies on the global chaperone HpaB. However, how the domain of HpaB itself affects effector translocation/secretion is poorly understood. Here, we used genetic and biochemical approaches to identify a novel domain at the C-terminal end of HpaB (amino acid residues 137-160) that contributes to virulence and hypersensitive response (HR). Both in vitro secretion assay and in planta translocation assay showed that the secretion and translocation of T3E proteins depend on the C-terminal region of HpaB. Deletion of the C-terminal region of HpaB did not affect binding to T3Es, self-association or interaction with T3SS components. However, the deletion of C-terminal region sharply reduced the mounts of free T3Es liberated from the complex of HpaB with the T3Es, a reaction catalyzed in an ATP-dependent manner by the T3SS-associated ATPase HrcN. Our findings demonstrate the C-terminal domain of HpaB contributes to disassembly of chaperone-effector complex and reveal a potential molecular mechanism underpinning the involvement of HpaB in secretion of T3Es in Xcc.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Derived from our original nomogram study by using the risk variables from multivariable analyses in the derivation cohort of 1383 patients with extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal-type (ENKTCL) who ...were mostly treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy, we propose an easily used nomogram-revised risk index (NRI), validated it and compared with Ann Arbor staging, the International Prognostic Index (IPI), Korean Prognostic Index (KPI), and prognostic index of natural killer lymphoma (PINK) for overall survival (OS) prediction by examining calibration, discrimination, and decision curve analysis in a validation cohort of 1582 patients primarily treated with non-anthracycline-based chemotherapy. The calibration of the NRI showed satisfactory for predicting 3- and 5-year OS in the validation cohort. The Harrell's C-index and integrated Brier score (IBS) of the NRI for OS prediction demonstrated a better performance than that of the Ann Arbor staging system, IPI, KPI, and PINK. Decision curve analysis of the NRI also showed a superior outcome. The NRI is a promising tool for stratifying patients with ENKTCL into risk groups for designing clinical trials and for selecting appropriate individualized treatment.
Virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) is a new quantitative technique to measure tissue stiffness. The study was aimed to assess the usefulness of VTQ ...in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules.
173 pathologically proven thyroid nodules in 142 patients were included and all were examined by conventional ultrasound (US), conventional elasticity imaging (EI) and VTQ of ARFI. The tissue stiffness for VTQ was expressed as shear wave velocity (SWV) (m/s). Receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance. Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of VTQ measurement was assessed.
The SWVs of benign and malignant thyroid nodules were 2.34±1.17 m/s (range: 0.61-9.00 m/s) and 4.82±2.53 m/s (range: 2.32-9.00 m/s) respectively (P<0.001). The mean SWV ratios between each nodule and the adjacent thyroid tissue were 1.19±0.67 (range: 0.31-6.87) for benign and 2.50±1.54 (range: 0.85-6.69) for malignant nodules (P<0.001). ROC analyses indicated that the area under the curve was 0.861 (95% CI : 0.804, 0.918) (P<0.001) for SWV and 0.831(95% CI : 0.761, 0.900)(P<0.001) for the SWV ratio. The cutoff points for the differential diagnosis were 2.87 m/s for SWV and 1.59 for SWV ratio. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for EI were 65.9%, 66.7%, 66.5%, 40.3%, and 85.1%, respectively, and were 63.6%-75%, 82.2%-88.4%, 80.3%-82.1%, 58.9%-65.1%, and 87.7%-90.5%, respectively, for VTQ. The diagnostic value of VTQ is the highest for nodules >20 mm and lowest for those ≤10 mm. The correlation coefficients were 0.904 for intraobserver measurement and 0.864 for interobserver measurement.
VTQ of ARFI provides quantitative and reproducible information about the tissue stiffness, which is useful for the differentiation between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The diagnostic performance of VTQ is higher than that of conventional EI.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Current research has widely applied heteroatom doping for the promotion of catalyst activity in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) systems; however, the relationship between heteroatom doping and stimulated ...activation mechanism transformation is not fully understood. Herein, we introduce nitrogen and sulfur doping into a Co@rGO material for PMS activation to degrade tetracycline (TC) and systematically investigate how heteroatom doping transformed the activation mechanism of the original Co@rGO/PMS system. N was homogeneously inserted into the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) matrix of Co@rGO, inducing a significant increase in the degradation efficiency without affecting the activation mechanism transformation. Additionally, S doping converted Co3O4 to Co4S3 in Co@rGO and transformed the cooperative oxidation pathway into a single non-radical pathway with stronger intensity, which led to a higher stability against environmental interferences. Notably, based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we demonstrated that Co4S3 had a higher energy barrier for PMS adsorption and cleavage than Co3O4, and therefore, the radical pathway was not easily stimulated by Co4S3. Overall, this study not only illustrated the improvement due to the heteroatom doping of Co@rGO for TC degradation in a PMS system but also bridged the knowledge gap between the catalyst structure and degradation performance through activation mechanism transformation drawn from theoretical and experimental analyses.
ortho-Aminated vinylarene derivatives were obtained via a reaction of aryl iodides, N-benzoyloxyamines, and N-tosylhydrazones. This approach involves a palladium-catalyzed, norbornene-mediated ...ortho-amination/N-tosylhydrazone insertion reaction. In this transformation, one C–N bond and one C–C bond are formed and an amine group is introduced at the ortho position successfully.
The process of using solar energy to split water to produce hydrogen assisted by an inorganic semiconductor is crucial for solving our energy crisis and environmental problems in the future. However, ...most semiconductor photocatalysts would not exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity without loading suitable co‐catalysts. Generally, the noble metals have been widely applied as co‐catalysts, but always agglomerate during the loading process or photocatalytic reaction. Therefore, the utilization efficiency of the noble co‐catalysts is still very low on a per metal atom basis if no obvious size effect exists, because heterogeneous catalytic reactions occur on the surface active atoms. Here, for the first time, we have synthesized isolated metal atoms (Pt, Pd, Rh, or Ru) stably by anchoring on TiO2, a model photocatalystic system, by a facile one‐step method. The isolated metal atom based photocatalysts show excellent stability for H2 evolution and can lead to a 6–13‐fold increase in photocatalytic activity over the metal clusters loaded on TiO2 by the traditional method. Furthermore, the configurations of isolated atoms as well as the originality of their unusual stability were analyzed by a collaborative work from both experiments and theoretical calculations.
Single‐atom photocatalysis: Isolated noble metal atoms stably anchored on TiO2 have been synthesized by a facile one‐step method. The isolated metal atom based photocatalysts show excellent stability for H2 evolution and can lead to a 6–13‐fold increase in photocatalytic activity over metal clusters.