LanGui tea, an herbal medicine formula, protects against binge alcohol-induced acute liver injury by activating AMPK-NLRP3 signaling.

BACKGROUND: LanGui tea, a traditional Chinese medicine formulation comprising of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino, Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J. Presl, and Ampelopsis grossedentata (Hand-Mazz) W.T. Wang, has yet to have its potential contributions to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) fully elucidated. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate the protective properties of LanGui tea against binge alcohol-induced ALD and the mechanisms underlying its effects. METHODS: An experimental model of acute alcohol-induced liver disease was performed to assess the protective effects of extract of LanGui tea (ELG) at both 50 and 100 mg.kg-1 dosages on male C57BL/6 mice. Various parameters, including hepatic histological changes, inflammation, lipids content, as well as liver enzymes and interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) in the serum were measured. The pharmacological mechanisms of ELG, specifically its effects on adenosine monophosphate-(AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) signaling, were investigated through Western blotting, qRT-PCR, ELISA, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence analyses, and by blocking the AMPK activity. RESULTS: ELG demonstrated a mitigating effect on fatty liver, inflammation, and hepatic dysfunction within the mouse model. This effect was achieved by activating AMPK signaling and inhibitingNLRP3 signaling in the liver, causing a reduction in IL-1ß generation. In vitro studies further confirmed that ELG inhibited cell damage and IL-1ß production in ethanol-induced hepatocytes by enhancing AMPK-NLRP3 signaling. Conversely, the pharmacological inhibition of AMPK activity nearly abrogated such alteration. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, LanGui tea emerges as a promising herbal therapy for ALD management involving AMPK-NLRP3 signaling.

Optimized trimetallic benzotriazole-5-carboxylate MOFs with coordinately unsaturated active sites as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction.

Exploring efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with earth-abundant elements has been an urgent task in water splitting. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), possessing abundant active metal sites and tunable porous crystalline structures, are promising as OER catalysts. In this paper, a MOF based on benzotriazole-5-carboxylate (Co3-btca) that contains unsaturated coordinated metal centers and a 1D channel was selected to act as an OER catalyst. To optimize the OER performance, isostructural bimetallic and trimetallic frameworks were obtained by doping with Fe and/or Ni ions. The optimized Co2.36Fe0.19Ni0.45-btca possesses the lowest overpotential of 292 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a small Tafel slope of 72.6 mV dec-1. The enhanced catalytic performance could be attributed to the synergistic effect between the unsaturated coordinated Co, Fe and Ni sites, which are beneficial for the nucleophilic attack of OH- forming adsorption intermediates.

Precise and Wide-Ranged Band-Gap Tuning of Ti6-Core-Based Titanium Oxo Clusters by the Type and Number of Chromophore Ligands.

Sensitization with dyes is the most promising option to narrow the band gap and improve visible-light absorption of TiO2. As ideal structure and reaction models of TiO2, titanium oxo clusters (TOCs) with exact crystal structure are beneficial for further understanding the structure-property relationship of TiO2. Most reports mainly focus on the synthesis and properties of TOCs, but research on the band-gap tuning of TOCs at the large range of 3.7-2.0 eV by chromophore ligands (CLs) has been lacking. Herein, six new Ti6-core-based TOCs (Ti6-TOCs) were successfully synthesized by using CLs in a simple and general approach. Each Ti6-TOC structure contains two Ti3(µ3-O) units featuring a flat or pyramidal mode as building blocks. Five Ti6-core structure types were present among the six Ti6-TOCs, which enriched the family of hexanuclear TOCs. To be noted, the band-gap values were tuned at a wide range of 3.41-1.98 eV by controlling the type and number of the CLs 2-hydroxypyridine, salicylaldoxime, and catechol in the structure. Density functional theory calculation revealed that the lowest-energy bands of these Ti6-TOCs are attributed to the CL-to-TiO core charge-transfer bands. This work provides a precise and wide-ranged band-gap tuning method for TOCs. Additionally, the six Ti6-TOCs exhibit good photocurrent response.

A series of silver doped butterfly-like Ti8Ag2 clusters with two Ag ions panelled on a Ti8 surface.

Silver doped TiO2 (Ag-TiO2) materials show high activity and good stability in photocatalysis, but the mechanism could not be illustrated clearly due to their imprecise and inhomogeneous characteristics. Ag-doped titanium-oxo clusters (Ag-TOCs) with an exact crystal structure, which are rarely reported, are beneficial for further understanding structure-property relationships. Herein, six new Ag-TOCs with a butterfly-like Ti8Ag2 core have been synthesized through facile solvothermal reactions, in which two Ag ions are successfully linked to the surface of the Ti8 core. Of interest, the Ti6 unit of the Ti8Ag2 core is similar to that found in the anatase structure and may be a promising model for Ag-TiO2 materials. The band gaps of these Ag-TOCs show different values mainly affected by different ligands. DFT calculations revealed that the lowest energy bands of Ag-TOCs are attributed to the Ag-to-TiO core charge transfer bands. Additionally, all Ag-TOCs exhibit good photoelectric response and high photodegradation activity towards organic dyes.