SAIF plays anti-angiogenesis via blocking VEGF-VEGFR2-ERK signal in tumor treatment.

Shark cartilage was created as a cancer-fighting diet because it was believed to have an element that may suppress tumor growth. Due to overfishing, sharks have become endangered recently, making it impossible to harvest natural components from shark cartilage for therapeutic development research. Previously, we identified a peptide SAIF from shark cartilage with an-tiangiogenic and anti-tumor effects, successfully expressed it in Escherichia coli by using genetic engineering techniques. However, we did not elucidate the specific target of SAIF and its antiangiogenic molecular mechanism, which hindered its further drug development. Therefore, in this work, the exact mechanism of action was studied using various techniques, including cellular and in vivo animal models, computer-aided simulation, molecular target capture, and transcriptome sequencing analysis. With VEGF-VEGFR2 interaction and preventing the activation of VEGFR2/ERK signaling pathways, SAIF was discovered to decrease angiogenesis and hence significantly limit tumor development. The findings further demonstrated SAIF's strong safety and pharmaceutically potential. The evidence showed that SAIF, which is expressed by, is a potent and safe angiogenesis inhibitor and might be developed as a candidate peptide drug for the treatment of solid tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma and other conditions linked with angiogenic overgrowth.

CH02 peptide promotes ex vivo expansion of umbilical cord blood-derived CD34 + hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an advantageous source for hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) transplantation, yet the current strategies for large-scale and cost-effective UCB-HSPC preparation are still unavailable. To overcome these obstacles, we systematically evaluate the feasibility of our newly identified CH02 peptide for ex vivo expansion of CD34 + UCB-HSPCs. We herein report that the CH02 peptide is specifically enriched in HSPC proliferation via activating the FLT3 signaling. Notably, the CH02-based cocktails are adequate for boosting 12-fold ex vivo expansion of UCB-HSPCs. Meanwhile, CH02-preconditioned UCB-HSPCs manifest preferable efficacy upon wound healing in diabetic mice via bidirectional orchestration of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors. Together, our data indicate the advantages of the CH02-based strategy for ex vivo expansion of CD34 + UCB-HSPCs, which will provide new strategies for further development of large-scale HSPC preparation for clinical purposes.

Robust Self-Supported SnO2-Mn2O3@CC Electrode for Efficient Electrochemical Degradation of Cationic Blue X-GRRL Dye.

Exploration of highly efficient and robust catalyst is pivotal for electrocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater, but it still is a challenge. Here, we develop a three-dimensional self-supported SnO2-Mn2O3 hybrid nanosheets grown on carbon cloth (noted by SnO2-Mn2O3@CC) electrode via a simple hydrothermal method and annealing treatment. Benefitting from the interlaced nanosheets architecture that enlarges the surface area and the synergetic component effect that accelerates the interfacial electronic transfer, SnO2-Mn2O3@CC electrode exhibits a superior electrocatalytic degradation efficiency for cationic blue X-GRRL dye in comparison with the single metal oxide electrode containing SnO2@CC and Mn2O3@CC. The degradation efficiency of cationic blue X-GRRL on SnO2-Mn2O3@CC electrode can reach up to 97.55% within 50 min. Furthermore, self-supported architecture of nanosheets on carbon cloth framework contributes to a robust stability compared with the traditional electrode via the multiple dip/brush coating accompanied by the thermal decomposition method. SnO2-Mn2O3@CC electrode exhibits excellent recyclability, which can still retain a degradation efficiency of 94.12% after six cycles. This work may provide a new pathway for the design and exploration of highly efficient and robust electrooxidation catalysts for dye degradation.

FGFR4 and EZH2 inhibitors synergistically induce hepatocellular carcinoma apoptosis via repressing YAP signaling.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and lethal cancers worldwide, but current treatment options remain limited and cause serious life-threatening side effects. Aberrant FGFR4 signaling has been validated as an oncogenic driver of HCC, and EZH2, the catalytic subunit of the PRC2 complex, is a potential factor that contributes to acquired drug resistance in many tumors, including HCC. However, the functional relationship between these two carcinogenic factors, especially their significance for HCC treatment, remains unclear. In this study, we systematically evaluated the feasibility of a combination therapy targeting FGFR4 and EZH2 for HCC. METHODS: RNA sequencing data of patients with Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed to determine FGFR4 and EZH2 expression and their interaction with prognosis. Moreover, the HCC cell lines, zebrafish/mouse HCC xenografts and zebrafish HCC primary tumors were treated with FGFR4 inhibitor (Roblitinib) and/or EZH2 inhibitor (CPI-169) and then subjected to cell proliferation, viability, apoptosis, and tumor growth analyses to evaluate the feasibility of combination therapy for HCC both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, RNA-Seq was performed in combination with ChIP-Seq data analysis to investigate the critical mechanism underlying the combination treatment with Roblitinib and CPI-169. RESULTS: EZH2 accumulated through the non-canonical NF-kB signaling in response to FGFR4 inhibitor treatment, and the elevated EZH2 levels led to the antagonism of HCC against Roblitinib (FGFR4 inhibitor). Notably, knockdown of EZH2 sensitized HCC cells to Roblitinib, while the combination treatment of Roblitinib and CPI-169 (EZH2 inhibitor) synergistically induced the HCC cell apoptosis in vitro and suppressed the zebrafish/mouse HCC xenografts and zebrafish HCC primary tumors development in vivo. Moreover, Roblitinib and CPI-169 synergistically inhibited HCC development via repressing YAP signaling. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our study highlighted the potential of the therapeutic combination of FGFR4 and EZH2 inhibitors, which would provide new references for the further development of clinical treatment strategies for HCC.

The Scalable Solid-State Synthesis of a Ni5P4/Ni2P-FeNi Alloy Encapsulated into a Hierarchical Porous Carbon Framework for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reactions.

The exploration of high-performance and low-cost electrocatalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for large-scale water/seawater splitting. Herein, we develop a strategy involving the in situ generation of a template and pore-former to encapsulate a Ni5P4/Ni2P heterojunction and dispersive FeNi alloy hybrid particles into a three-dimensional hierarchical porous graphitic carbon framework (labeled as Ni5P4/Ni2P-FeNi@C) via a room-temperature solid-state grinding and sodium-carbonate-assisted pyrolysis method. The synergistic effect of the components and the architecture provides a large surface area with a sufficient number of active sites and a hierarchical porous pathway for efficient electron transfer and mass diffusion. Furthermore, a graphitic carbon coating layer restrains the corrosion of alloy particles to boost the long-term durability of the catalyst. Consequently, the Ni5P4/Ni2P-FeNi@C catalyst exhibits extraordinary OER activity with a low overpotential of 242 mV (10 mA cm-2), outperforming the commercial RuO2 catalyst in 1 M KOH. Meanwhile, a scale-up of the Ni5P4/Ni2P-FeNi@C catalyst created by a ball-milling method displays a similar level of activity to the above grinding method. In 1 M KOH + seawater electrolyte, Ni5P4/Ni2P-FeNi@C also displays excellent stability; it can continuously operate for 160 h with a negligible potential increase of 2 mV. This work may provide a new avenue for facile mass production of an efficient electrocatalyst for water/seawater splitting and diverse other applications.

Effect of mixing ratio and total solids content on temperature-phased anaerobic codigestion of rice straw and pig manure: Biohythane production and microbial structure.

Long-term semi-continuous experiments were carried out under three feedstock conditions to study the effects of mixing ratio and total solids (TS) content on temperature-phased anaerobic codigestion of rice straw (RS) and pig manure (PM). The results showed that biohythane only produced from the mixture with 6% TS content and its average content were 12.83 ± 1.19% (hydrogen) and 23.68 ± 1.12% (methane). Increasing mixture TS content and decreasing its RS ratio increased biohythane production and organic matter removal by creating a suitable process pH and increasing the anaerobic reaction rates. The highest biohythane production of the mixture reached 73.09 ± 3.03 ml/g VS (hydrogen) and 235.81 ± 9.30 ml/g VS (methane) at a mixing ratio of 5:1 and TS content of 6%. A variety of hydrogen-producing bacteria were found in the thermophilic reactor and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 played an important role. Butyric acid fermentation is the main hydrogen-producing pathway. Methanobacterium and Methanosaeta were dominant archaea in the mesophilic reactor.

Effects of substrate organic composition on mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and paper waste.

Facing the huge output of food waste (FW) and paper waste (PW), long-term semi-continuous experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of the substrate organic composition on mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestions (Co-ADs) of their mixtures. The experimental results showed that the organic composition of the substrate affected the biogas and methane production and yield of the two Co-ADs of the FW and PW mixtures, and its effect on thermophilic Co-AD (Co-TAD) was lower than that on mesophilic Co-AD (Co-MAD). The two Co-ADs had similar biogas (2.158 ± 0.136 L/L/d and 2.183 ± 0.142 L/L/d) and methane production (1.245 ± 0.082 L/L/d and 1.279 ± 0.088 L/L/d), and organic matter degradation (81.79 ± 1.07% and 83.81 ± 1.09%) when the substrate organic composition was carbohydrates:proteins:lipids = 6.8:1.8:1 (low carbohydrate composition, FW:PW = 4:1). When the substrate organic composition was carbohydrates:proteins:lipids = 13.5:2:1 (high carbohydrate composition, FW:PW = 1:1), the thermophilic temperature was more favorable than the mesophilic temperature for the Co-AD of FW and PW mixtures. The characteristics (pH, total ammonia, total volatile fatty acids, and total alkalinity) of the Co-TAD digestate were more sensitive to changes in the organic composition of the substrate than those of the Co-MAD digestate. Increasing the carbohydrate content of the FW:PW mixture lowered the production of biogas and methane, and degradation of organic matter in both Co-ADs.

Improving two-stage thermophilic-mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of swine manure and rice straw by digestate recirculation.

The anaerobic co-digestion (coAD) of swine manure (SM) and rice straw (RS) is appealing for renewable energy recovery and waste treatment worldwidely. Improving its performance is very important for its application. In this study, long-term semi-continuous experiments were conducted to evaluate the improving effects of digestate recirculation on the performance, energy recovery, and microbial community of two-stage thermophilic-mesophilic coAD of swine manure (SM) and rice straw (RS). The experimental results indicated that the coAD systems of SM and RS (mixing ratio of 3:1) with or without digestate recirculation could not realize phase separation. The reactors of both coAD systems were characterized by pH values ranging from 7.74 to 7.85, methane production as 0.41 ± 0.02 and 0.44 ± 0.03 L/L/d, and stable operation. Notably, digestate recirculation increased total methane production, organic matter removal, and reaction rate of the coAD system by 9.92 ± 5.08, 5.22 ± 1.94, and 9.73-12.60%, respectively. Digestate recirculation improved the performance of the coAD by significantly increasing the abundance of Methanosarcina (from 4.1% to 7.5%-10.7% and 35.7%) and decreasing that of Methanothermobacter (from 94.2% to 87.3%-83.6% and 56.8%). Thus, the main methanogenesis pathway of the coAD system was changed by digestate recirculation and the methane production was effectively improved. Although the energy input of the coAD system increased by 30.26%, digestate recirculation improved the energy balance of the total system by 6.83%.

Adsorption and photocatalytic activity of Cu-doped cellulose nanofibers/nano-titanium dioxide for different types of dyes.

Cu-doped cellulose nanofibers/nano-titanium dioxide (Cu-TOCN/TiO2) photocatalysts were prepared by the hydrolysis-precipitation method using TiCl4 as the source of titanium and cellulose nanofibers suspension as a reaction medium. The prepared photocatalysts were used to decolorize organic dyes (reactive brilliant red K-2BP and cationic red X-GRL) efficiently under the synergistic effect of simultaneous adsorption and photocatalysis. The combination of TOCN inhibited the growth of TiO2 crystals, reduced agglomeration and increased the specific surface area. When compared with TiO2, TOCN/TiO2 improved the decolorization efficiency of the two dyes by 14.82% and 22.87%, respectively, under UV-light irradiation. The absorption edge exhibited red-shift from 380 to 410 nm after Cu doping. An excellent photocatalytic activity was recorded by 0.5 mol % Cu-TOCN/TiO2 and the decolorization efficiency of the two dyes was further improved by 34.76% and 10.44% respectively, compared with no Cu doping. After 2 hours of irradiation, the decolorization efficiency reached 96.57% and 99.73% respectively, while under dark conditions, it was 47.64% and 91.56% for the two dyes. The degradation mechanism of the dyes was verified as the destruction of the azo chromophore and benzene ring. This work provides a potential method for the development of a novel adsorptive photocatalyst with excellent recyclability.

New insights into the effect of thermal treatment on sludge dewaterability.

The changes of the sludge dewaterability in different thermal treatments and the factors influencing these changes were examined in this study. The experimental results showed that the sludge dewaterability deteriorated by the thermal pretreatment with temperature range from 20 to 170 °C, but the deterioration decreased above a certain temperature threshold (120-150 °C). The factors which affected the dewaterability of thermal-treated sludge in two temperature ranges (20-105 °C and 105-170 °C) were different. The dewaterability of thermal-treated sludge was influenced by the protein, humic acid, and polysaccharide contents of different extracellular polymeric substance fractions and the molecular distribution and fluorescence intensity of tightly bound extracellular polymeric substance in the range from 20 to 105 °C. From 105 to 170 °C, while, the thermal-treated sludge dewaterability was influenced mainly by the α-helix of protein in soluble extracellular polymeric substance. These experimental results provide a new insight into the effect of thermal treatment on sludge dewaterability, which will help guide subsequent research.

Effects of sludge thermal-alkaline pretreatment on cationic red X-GRL adsorption onto pyrolysis biochar of sewage sludge.

Thermal-alkaline pretreatment has traditionally been used to enhance anaerobic sludge digestion. In this study, after removing the supernatant, which could be used in anaerobic digestion, the Residual Solids of Thermal-Alkaline pretreated sewage Sludge (RSTAS) were used to prepare biochar via pyrolysis, which could then adsorb Cationic Red X-GRL(X-GRL). The experimental results showed that the RSTAS-biochar had a higher BET surface area and total pore volume than the biochar prepared from raw sludge (RS) (43.5% and 33.3%, respectively). The pretreatment enhanced the X-GRL adsorption capacity of the biochar by 1.5-49.2% at dosages between 12.5-100.0g/g, and the highest adsorption capacity increased from 39.1mg/g to 47.6mg/g. The biochar from RSTAS had a wider application pH range for X-GRL adsorption. The kinetics and isotherms for X-GRL adsorption onto the two biochars were well fitted to the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models, respectively, which suggested that thermal-alkaline pretreatment had little effect on the adsorption mechanisms of X-GRL onto biochar.

Ultrasound-assisted adsorption of anionic nanoscale pigment on cationised cotton fabrics.

Application of pigments in textile coloring has many advantages such as less water and energy consumption, less effluent load and higher efficiency, so the pigments are perfect alternatives to dyes for eco-friendly coloring. In this work, a stable anionic nanoscale pigment suspension was prepared using a polymeric dispersant to color the cationised cotton with the exhaust method. Meanwhile, ultrasound was carried out during the adsorption to evaluate the ultrasonic influences on the uptake of pigment, adsorption efficiency and final product quality. The uptake of pigment is found to be higher with ultrasonic method than that with conventional technique because of the good dispersing capacity of ultrasound to pigment particles. Besides, it is found that nanoscale pigment has higher adsorption rate when using ultrasonic method because the ultrasound promotes the diffusion of pigment through the fiber-liquid boundary layer. Lastly, the color difference (ΔE) reveals the nanoscale pigment can be deposited on cotton surface more uniformly under ultrasonic condition, improving the product quality obviously.

Biocomposite fiber of calcium alginate/multi-walled carbon nanotubes with enhanced adsorption properties for ionic dyes.

A bioadsorbent of calcium alginate/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CA/MWCNTs) composite fiber was fabricated by wet spinning and was characterized. Adsorptions of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) ionic dyes onto CA/MWCNT composite fibers were investigated with different MWCNTs content and pH values. The results showed that introduction of MWCNTs of CA/MWCNTs composite fiber could not only sharply increase the adsorption capacity of MO onto bioadsorbent by 3 times, but enhanced the adsorption rate for MB compared to that of native CA fiber. Adsorption kinetics was determined by fitting pseudo-first, second-order and the intra-particle diffusion models to the experimental data, with the second-order model providing the best description of MB and MO adsorption onto CA/MWCNT fibers. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by two widely applied isotherms: Langmuir and Freundlich. The desorption experiments showed the percentage of desorption were found to be 79.7% and 80.2% for MB and MO, respectively.

The adsorptive and hydrolytic performance of cellulase on cationised cotton.

In this research, the cotton fabrics were cationised by a cationic agent to change their surface electric properties. The cationised cotton fabrics were then bio-polished by cellulase to explore the influence of cationisation on the adsorptive and hydrolytic performance of cellulase. The experimental results from cellulase adsorption reveal the cationisation of cotton can obviously improve the binding efficiency of cellulase protein mainly by the improved electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged cellulase and cationised cotton. The adsorption parameters calculated can further prove this improvement trend. Through measuring the concentration of reducing sugars released and weight loss of cotton during the bio-polishing, it is found the hydrolytic activity toward cotton is partially damaged by the cationisation. The reason can be attributed to the movement restriction and dysfunction of cellulase protein by the cationisation.