Anodic Electrodepositing Bioinspired Cu-BDC-NH2@Graphene Oxide Membrane for Efficient Uranium Extraction.

The challenge of removing trace levels of heavy metal ions, particularly uranium, from wastewater is a critical concern in environmental management. Uranium, a key element in long-term nuclear power generation, often poses significant extraction difficulties in wastewater due to its low concentration, interference from other ions, and the complexity of aquatic ecosystems. This study introduces an anodic electrodeposited hierarchical porous 2D metal-organic framework (MOF) Cu-BDC-NH2@graphene oxide (GO) membrane for effective uranium extraction by mimicking the function of the superb-uranyl-binding protein. This membrane is characterized by its hierarchical pillared-layer structures resulting from the controlled orientation of Cu-BDC-NH2 MOFs within the laminated GO layers during the electrodeposition process. The integration of amino groups from 2D Cu-BDC-NH2 and carboxylate groups from GO enables a high affinity to uranyl ions, achieving an unprecedented uranium adsorption capacity of 1078.4 mg/g and outstanding selectivity. Our findings not only demonstrate a breakthrough in uranium extraction technology but also pave the way for advancements in water purification and sustainable energy development, proposing a practical and efficient strategy for creating orientation-tunable 2D MOFs@GO membranes tailored for high-efficiency uranium extraction.

Electrodeposited MOFs Membrane with In Situ Incorporation of Charged Molecules for Osmotic Energy Harvesting.

Ion-selective membranes are considered as the promising candidates for osmotic energy harvesting. However, the fabrication of highly perm-selective membrane is the major challenge. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with well-defined nanochannels along functional charged groups show great importance to tackle this problem. Here, a series of dense sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) incorporated MOFs composite membranes (PSS@MOFs) on a porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane via in situ anodic electrodeposition process are developed. Benefiting to the novel structural design of the confined Ag layer, PSS@MOFs dense composite membrane with less defects formed. The sulfonated nanochannels of the PSS@MOFs composite membrane provided rapid and selective transport of cations due to the enhanced electrostatic interaction between the permeating ions and MOFs. While osmotic energy conversion, 860 nm thick negatively charged PSS@MOFs composite membrane achieves an ultrahigh cation transfer number of 0.993 and energy conversion efficiency of 48.8% at a 100-fold salinity gradient. Moreover, a large output power of 2.90 µW has been achieved with an ultra-low internal resistance of 999 Ω, employing an effective area of 12.56 mm2 . This work presents a promising strategy to construct a high-performance MOFs-based osmotic energy harvesting system for practical applications.

Stable Two-dimensional Nanoconfined Ionic Liquids with Highly Efficient Ionic Conductivity.

Amid the burgeoning environmental concerns, electrochemical energy storage is of great demand, inspiring the rapid development of electrolytes. Quasi-liquid solid electrolytes (QLSEs) demonstrate exciting properties that combine high ionic conductivity and safety. Herein, a QLSE system is constructed by confining ionic liquids (ILs) into 2D materials-based membranes, which creates a subtle platform for the investigation of the nanoconfined ion transport process. The highest ionic conductivity increment of 506% can be observed when ILs are under nanoconfinement. Correlation of experimental results and simulation evidently prove the diffusion behaviors of ILs are remarkably accelerated when confined in nanochannels, ascribing from the promoted dissociation of ILs. Concurrently, nanoconfined ILs demonstrate a highly ordered distribution, lower interplay, and higher free volume compared against bulk systems. This work reveals and analyzes the phenomenon of ionic conductivity elevation in nanoconfined ILs, and offers inspiring opportunities to fabricate the highly stable and efficient QLSEs based on layered nanomaterials for energy storage applications.

Patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy exhibit neurophysiological improvement upon extension and flexion: a retrospective cohort study with a minimum 1-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Cervical extension and flexion are presumably harmful to patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) because they worsen medullary compression visible on dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dynamic somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) are an objective tool to measure the electrophysiological function of the spinal cord at different neck positions. In contrast to previous hypotheses, a considerable proportion of patients with DCM present improved SSEPs upon extension and flexion compared to a neutral position. METHODS: Patients with DCM who underwent preoperative dynamic SSEP examinations and subsequent decompression surgeries between 2015 and 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. We compared extension and flexion SSEPs with neutral SSEPs in each patient and classified them into extension-improved (EI) or extension-nonimproved (EN) and flexion-improved (FI) or flexion-nonimproved (FN) groups. Preoperative clinical evaluations, decompression surgical methods and one-year follow-up clinical data were recorded. Cervical spondylolisthesis and cervical alignment types were evaluated on plain cervical lateral radiographs. The number of stenotic segments, Mühle stenosis grade and disc degeneration stage of the most severe segment, and presence of ligamentum flavum hypertrophy and intramedullary T2 weighted imaging (T2WI) hyperintensity were evaluated on lateral and axial MRI. Data were compared between the EN and EN groups or FI and FN groups with T-tests, chi-square tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests. Prediction criteria were determined with logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients were included, and 9 (18.4%) and 11 (22.4%) showed improved extension and flexion SSEPs compared to their own neutral SSEPs, respectively. Interestingly, EI or FI patients had significantly better one-year postoperative mJOA recoveries than EN or FN patients (T-test, P < 0.001). Moreover, the disease duration (T-test, P = 0.024), involved segment number (Kruskal-Wallis test, P < 0.001), and cervical alignment type (chi-square test, P = 0.005) varied significantly between the EI and EN groups. The FI group presented a significantly higher Mühle stenosis grade than the FN group (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0.038). Furthermore, ≤ 2 involved segments and straight or sigmoid cervical alignment were significant criteria predicting improved extension SSEPs (probability: 85.7%), while Mühle stenosis Grade 3 and disease duration ≤6 months were significant criteria predicting improved flexion SSEPs (probability: 85.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide evidence for neurophysiological improvement in patients with DCM at extension and flexion and its significance in predicting prognoses. Moreover, certain clinical and radiographic criteria may help predict neurophysiological improvement upon extension or flexion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: " [2020]151 ". Retrospectively registered on April 30, 2020.

Metallic phase enabling MoS2 nanosheets as an efficient sonosensitizer for photothermal-enhanced sonodynamic antibacterial therapy.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets (e.g., MoS2) with metallic phase (1T or 1T´ phase) have been proven to exhibit superior performances in various applications as compared to their semiconducting 2H-phase counterparts. However, it remains unclear how the crystal phase of 2D TMD nanosheets affects their sonodynamic property. In this work, we report the preparation of MoS2 nanosheets with different phases (metallic 1T/1T´ or semiconducting 2H) and exploration of its crystal-phase effect on photothermal-enhanced sonodynamic antibacterial therapy. Interestingly, the defective 2D MoS2 nanosheets with high-percentage metallic 1T/1T´ phase (denoted as M-MoS2) present much higher activity towards the ultrasound-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as compared to the semiconducting 2H-phase MoS2 nanosheets. More interestingly, owing to its metallic phase-enabled strong absorption in the near-infrared-II (NIR-II) regime, the ultrasound-induced ROS generation performance of the M-MoS2 nanosheets can be further enhanced by the photothermal effect under a 1064 nm laser irradiation. Thus, after modifying with polyvinylpyrrolidone, the M-MoS2 nanosheets can be used as an efficient sonosensitizer for photothermal-enhanced sonodynamic bacterial elimination under ultrasound treatment combining with NIR-II laser irradiation. This study demonstrates that metallic MoS2 nanosheets can be used as a promising sonosensitizer for antibacterial therapy, which might be also promising for cancer therapies.

In situ vertical alignment of 2D MoS2 layers on GO film: enhanced electrochemical properties for PD-L1 sensing.

There is an urgent need for a flexible and simple programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) dynamic measurement method enabling real-time monitoring of cancer progression and assessment of immunotherapy efficacy. In the current study, we show facile in situ synthesis of vertical alignment two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (2D MoS2) layers on graphene-oxide-modified ITO (MoS2┴GO-ITO) using a hydrothermal approach and demonstrate the importance of the alignment of 2D in achieving high-probe capturing, enhanced electrochemical properties and target selectivity during sensing. After modification of designed PD-L1 binding peptides on the MoS2┴GO-ITO, a sensitive PD-L1 electrochemical sensor was designed using vertical alignment MoS2 to capture more probes for PD-L1 recognition and excellent in plane electron transport to accelerate electrochemical signals. The fabricated electrochemical sensor could sensitively determine PD-L1 in a wide linear range of 25-500 ng/mL and exhibit desirable accuracy and reliability in clinical samples application. This simple and sensitive method is likely to investigate further research into the exploration of the perpendicular alignment of 2D surfaces for diverse applications.

Superhydrophilic and Photothermal Fe-TCPP Nanofibrous Membrane for Efficient Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsion Separation.

Separation and purification of surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water nanoemulsions is a great environmental challenge. Membrane-based separation strategies are more effective over conventional methods in the treatment of nanoemulsion waste water. In this paper, we construct a superhydrophilic membrane by coating a thin photothermal-responsive iron tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (Fe-TCPP) nanofibrous metal organic framework (MOF) selective layer on a macroporous polyethersulfone membrane. The as-prepared membrane exhibits high separation performance of oil-in-water nanoemulsions with permeance of 46.4 L·m-2·h-1·bar-1 and separation efficiency of 99%. It also demonstrates nice anti-oil/ionic-fouling property, good recyclability, and desirable stability. The high separation performance is accredited to the superhydrophilicity, highly charged surface, and nanometer pore sizes of the Fe-TCPP nanofibrous membrane. Due to the unique photothermal property of Fe-TCPP nanofibers, the permeance can be enhanced more than 50% by visible light without deteriorating the rejection. This photo-stimuli MOF-based thin-layer membrane offers great potential for the generation of point-of-use water treatment devices.

Early surgery with antibiotic medication was effective and efficient in treating pyogenic spondylodiscitis.

BACKGROUND: Pyogenic spondylodiscitis (PSD) is challenging to the orthopedist with regards to diagnosis and treatment. The present study was designed to assess and suggest the most indicative diagnostic method and evaluate the effect of surgery comprising of debridement, instrumentation and fusion in treating PSD. METHODS: Seventy-six patients with PSD who underwent surgical intervention were retrospectively enrolled. Their medical documents, corrections of spinal alignment and improvements in neurological function were assessed. Surgical approaches were compared in lumbar surgeries regarding the improvements in lordotic angle and neurological function. RESULTS: Elevated c-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were found in 77.6 and 71.1% patients respectively. Infectious lesions were found at lumbar (85.5%), cervical (10.5%) and thoracic (3.9%), ascertained with contrast-enhanced MRI. For lumbar patients, surgery was performed through the anterior (26.2%), posterior (49.2%) or combined approach (24.6%), and differences in improvement of lordosis and neurological function between each approach were insignificant. The pathogen was identified in 22.4% of the patients. Postoperative antibiotic therapy was managed against the result of susceptibility test, or empirically given to patients with negative cultures. All antibiotic therapy was initiated intravenously for 4-6 weeks and orally for 6 weeks. CONCLUSION: Elevated CRP and/or ESR, with focal hyper-intensity on contrast-enhanced MRI are suggestive of possible PSD. Surgical intervention comprising of debridement, short-segment instrumentation and fusion that early applied to the PSD patients followed by postoperative antibiotic therapy have demonstrated preferable outcomes, but require further study. THE TRANSLATIONAL POTENTIAL OF THIS ARTICLE: This article advocates early surgery to enable prompt diagnosis and treatment of PSD, and thus guarantee favorable outcomes for patients, as is shown in our study. In addition, different surgical approaches to the lesions were compared and discussed in this manuscript, but no differences in outcome between approaches were found. This suggests that thorough debridement should be prioritized over selection of surgical approach. In summary, this article has large translational potential to be applied clinically.

Photothermal-Responsive Microporous Nanosheets Confined Ionic Liquid for Efficient CO2 Separation.

2D materials hold promising potential for novel gas separation. However, a lack of in-plane pores and the randomly stacked interplane channels of these membranes still hinder their separation performance. In this work, ferrocene based-MOFs (Zr-Fc MOF) nanosheets, which contain abundant of in-plane micropores, are synthesized as porous supports to fabricate Zr-Fc MOF supported ionic liquid membrane (Zr-Fc-SILM) for highly efficient CO2 separation. The micropores of Zr-Fc MOF nanosheets not only provide extra paths for CO2 transportation, and thus increase its permeance up to 145.15 GPU, but also endow the Zr-Fc-SILM with high selectivity (216.9) of CO2 /N2 through the nanoconfinement effect, which is almost ten times higher than common porous polymer SILM. Furthermore, based on the photothermal-responsive properties of Zr-Fc MOF, the performance is further enhanced (35%) by light irradiation through a photothermal heating process. This provides a brand new way to design light facilitating gas separation membranes.

Facilitate Gas Transport through Metal-Organic Polyhedra Constructed Porous Liquid Membrane.

Type II porous liquids are demonstrated to be promise porous materials. However, the category of porous hosts is very limited. Here, a porous host metal-organic polyhedra (MOP-18) is reported to construct type II porous liquids. MOP-18 is dissolved into 15-crown-5 as an individual cage (5 nm). Both the molecular dynamics simulations and experimental gravimetric CO2 solubility test indicate that the inner cavity of MOP-18 in porous liquids is unoccupied by 15-crown-5 and is accessible to CO2 . Thus, the prepared porous liquids show enhanced gas solubility. Furthermore, the prepared porous liquid is encapsulated into graphene oxide (GO) nanoslits to form a GO-supported porous liquid membrane (GO-SPLM). Owing to the empty cavity of MOP-18 unit cages in porous liquids that reduces the gas diffusion barrier, GO-SPLM significantly enhances the permeability of gas.

Magnetic resonance imaging and dynamic X-ray's correlations with dynamic electrophysiological findings in cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Dynamic somatosensory evoked potentials (DSSEP) can be used to disclose abnormalities of ascending sensory pathways at dynamic positions and diagnose cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). However, radiographic tests including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and dynamic X-ray are used much more widely in the management of CSM. Our study aims to clarify the correlations between several radiographic parameters and the DSSEP results, and further determine their reliability with clinical data. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 38 CSM patients with surgical intervention. DSSEP tests were performed before surgery. Amplitude ratios of DSSEP N13 and N20 waves at extension and flexion were calculated and recorded as N13_E, N20_E, N13_F, N20_F, respectively. Baseline severity was evaluated with the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) score and the Nurick grades. Prognosis was evaluated based on the 2-year recovery rate. Sagittal diameter and transverse areas of the cord and canal were measured and the the compressive ratios at the compressed site (Compression_Ratio), central (Central_Ratio), and 1/4-lateral points (1/4-Lateral_Compression_Ratio), and spinal cord/Canal Area Ratio were calculated. The intramedullary T2 hyperintensity patterns (Ax-CCM types) were also collected from MRI axial images. Dynamic X-rays were used to test for segmental instability of the cervical spine. The correlations between radiologic findings, DSSEP data, and clinical assessments were investigated. RESULTS: We found that DSSEP N13_E and N13_F correlated with the Compression_Ratio, Central_Ratio, 1/4-Lateral_Compression_Ratio (Pearson, p < 0.05) and Ax-CCM types (ANOVA, p < 0.05) in MRI axial images and cervical segmental instability in dynamic X-ray (t-test, p < 0.05). Apart from the 1/4-Lateral_Compression_Ratio, these radiographic parameters above also correlated with the baseline clinical assessments (Spearman or ANOVA or t-test, p < 0.05) and postoperative recovery rate (Pearson or ANOVA or t-test, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We found that the preoperative Compression_Ratio, Central_Ratio and 1/4-Lateral_Compression_Ratio in MRI and cervical segmental instability in dynamic X-ray could reflect the dynamic neural dysfunction of the spinal cord. Different Ax-CCM types corresponded to different DSSEP results at extension and flexion, suggesting divergent pathophysiology. These radiographic parameters could help evaluate disease severity and predict postoperative prognosis.

Rational design of a Fe/S/N/C catalyst from ZIF-8 for efficient oxygen reduction reaction.

Fe/N/C catalysts have been regarded as prospective electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR). As reported, doping S into the Fe/N/C catalyst is an effective strategy to further enhance its ORR performance. Herein, a rational design is demonstrated to synthesize Fe/S/N/C catalysts with a flexible ratio of the doped Fe and S. Through atomic substitution and molecular confinement methods, Fe and S were incorporated into the ZIF-8 precursor, respectively. After further pyrolysis, the Fe/S/N/C catalyst was obtained with uniformly dispersed Fe-Nx, C-S-C active sites and high specific surface area. The Fe/S/N/C catalyst shows a high half-wave potential in alkaline medium, nearly 32 mV higher than the commercial Pt/C, owing to the strong synergistic effect from Fe-Nx and C-S-C active sites. Additionally, the Fe/S/N/C catalyst exhibits good long-term electrocatalytic durability and high endurance to methanol crossover, implying it is a suitable candidate to take the place of conventional Pt or Pt-based catalysts in electrochemical devices.

A Light-Responsive Metal-Organic Framework Hybrid Membrane with High On/Off Photoswitchable Proton Conductivity.

Mimicking biological proton pumps to achieve stimuli-responsive protonic solids has long been of great interest for their diverse applications in fuel cells, chemical sensors, and bio-electronic devices. Now, dynamic light-responsive metal-organic framework hybrid membranes can be obtained by in situ encapsulation of photoactive molecules (sulfonated spiropyran, SSP), as the molecular valve, into the cavities of the host ZIF-8. The configuration of SSP can be changed and switched reversibly in response to light, generating different mobile acidic protons and thus high on/off photoswitchable proton conductivity in the hybrid membranes and device. This device exhibits a high proton conductivity, fast response time, and extremely large on/off ratio upon visible-light irradiation. This approach might provide a platform for creating emerging smart protonic solids with potential applications in the remote-controllable chemical sensors or proton-conducting field-effect transistors.

CO2 -Philic Separation Membrane: Deep Eutectic Solvent Filled Graphene Oxide Nanoslits.

CO2 capture and sequestration is an energy-intensive industry to deal with the global greenhouse effect. Membrane separation is considered a cost-effective method to mitigate the emission of CO2 . Though good separation performance and stability have been reported, supported ionic liquid membranes are still not widely applied for CO2 separation due to the high cost. As a novel analogous solvent to ionic liquid, deep eutectic solvent retains the excellent merits of ionic liquid and is cheap with facile preparation. Herein, a highly CO2 -philic separation membrane is constructed by nanoconfining choline chloride/ethylene glycol (ChCl/EG) deep eutectic solvent into graphene oxide nanoslits. Molecular dynamic simulation results indicate that the confinement makes a difference to the structure of the nanoconfined ChCl/EG liquid from their bulk, which remarkably facilitates CO2 transport. By tuning the molar ratio of ChCl/EG and thickness of the membrane, the resultant membrane exhibits outstanding separation performance for CO2 with excellent selectivity over other light gases, good long-term durability, and thermal stability. This makes it a promising membrane for selective CO2 separation.

Hierarchical Porous SWCNT Stringed Carbon Polyhedrons and PSS Threaded MOF Bilayer Membrane for Efficient Solar Vapor Generation.

Interfacial solar vapor generation is considered to be an efficient and eco-friendly technology for harvesting solar energy and providing freshwater. However, the efficient and long-term steady evaporation of seawater under 1 sun becomes a critical issue when it comes to practical applications. Based on this issue, a special double-layer structure, which contains a metal-organic-framework-derived hierarchical porous carbon membrane (HPCM) for solar absorption and a polystyrene sulfonate (PSS)@Cu3 (BTC)3 •3H2 O (HKUST-1)/single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) (PHS) membrane for water supply and salt blocking, is designed in this work. The converted heat is utilized efficiently in situ to drive the evaporation of water-trapped HPCM. The PHS membrane with PSS modified channels successfully prevents the deposition of salt. Due to the synergistic combination of the HPCM and PHS membranes, the device exhibits a remarkably high water evaporation rate of 1.38 kg m-2 h-1 and solar-vapor generation efficiency of 90.8% under 1 sun.

R-phycoerythrin proteins@ZIF-8 composite thin films for mercury ion detection.

Mercury, as one of the most prevalent toxic metals released by various natural and anthropogenic processes, causes severe pollution of soil and groundwater. In this work, R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) proteins encapsulated into ZIF-8 composite thin films were prepared via a solid-confinement conversion process and applied as fluorescent sensors for mercury ion detection. The R-PE proteins encapsulated into ZIF-8 exhibit dual color emissions including green (518 nm) and red (602, 650 nm) fluorescence, while the original orange emission (578 nm) of pure R-PE is significantly suppressed. R-PE@ZIF-8 presents excellent selectivity and sensitivity for mercury detection in a large pH range without buffer solution. Under the optimal conditions, there is a good linear relationship between the fluorescence quenching efficiencies of R-PE@ZIF-8 and logarithmic concentrations of mercury ions in the range of 0.001-50 µM with the detection limit (LOD) of 6.7 nM much lower than the guideline value given by the World Health Organization. Furthermore, multi-peak detection of R-PE@ZIF-8 improves the detection accuracy of Hg2+ concentration.

Graphene oxide nanoslit-confined AgBF4/ionic liquid for efficiently separating olefin from paraffin.

Facilitated transport membrane for separating light olefins, using transition metals like silver and copper as carriers, is a promising way to replace traditional energy-consuming methods. Here, we construct ionic liquid (IL) to fill the nanoslits of laminated graphene oxide (GO) membrane with silver ions as a carrier to separate ethylene/ethane. The nanoslits of GO membrane efficiently prevent the loss of silver ion IL solution. The IL further slows down the reduction of silver ions. The membrane with silver concentration of 0.25 M shows the best performance with a selectivity of 54 for ethylene/ethane and ethylene permeance of 2.9 GPU. This performance is superior to other silver ion IL solution membranes and competitive among the reported facilitated transport membranes.

Laminated mica nanosheets supported ionic liquid membrane for CO2 separation.

Mica has attracted great attention due to its excellent photoelectric property and it is mainly used in the optics and electronics area. High-quality mica nanosheets exfoliated from natural ground mica have been successfully achieved recently. It improves the application potential of mica as well as extending the application field to gas separation as a new two-dimensional (2D) material. Herein, we firstly constructed a mica membrane by regularly stacking mica nanosheets and then immobilized ionic liquid (IL) into its 2D channels to separate CO2 from H2, CH4 and N2. Gas diffusion is changed from Knudsen diffusion in the mica membrane to a solution-diffusion mechanism after inserting IL. The resultant membrane, the mica supported IL membrane (M-SILM), has about 80 GPU for CO2 permeance, and selectivity for CO2/H2, CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 of 7.7, 28.6 and 87, respectively. It is the first time a mica nanosheet to construct a gas separation membrane has been used. As a cheap raw material with facile treating, mica shows promising potential for gas separation and competitiveness among 2D material supported IL membranes.

Cross-flow-assembled ultrathin and robust graphene oxide membranes for efficient molecule separation.

A graphene oxide (GO) membrane is promising for molecule separation. However, it is still a big challenge to achieve highly stable pristine GO membranes, especially in water. In this work, an ultrathin and robust GO membrane is assembled via the cross-flow method. The as-prepared 12 nm thick GO membrane (GOCF membrane) presents high stability with water permeance of 1505 ± 65 litres per hour per square meter per bar (LHM bar-1) and Evans Blue (EB) rejection of 98.7 ± 0.4%, 21-fold enhancement in water permeance compared with that of a pristine GO membrane (50-70 LHM bar-1) and 100 times higher than that of commercial ultrafiltration membranes (15 LHM.bar-1, GE2540F30, MWCO 1000, GE Co., Ltd) with similar rejection. Attributed to the surface cross-flow, the GO nanosheets will be refolded, crumpled, or wrinkled, resulting in a very strong inter-locking structure among the GO membrane, which significantly enhances the stability and facilitates their separation performance. This cross-flow assembling technique is also easily extended to assemble GO membranes onto other various backing filter supports. Based on the Donnan effect and size sieving mechanism, selective membrane separation of dyes with a similar molecular structure from their mixture (such as Rhodamine B (RhB) and Rose Bengal, and RhB and EB) are achieved with a selectivity of 133 ± 10 and 227 ± 15, respectively. Assembly of this ultrathin GO membrane with high stability and separation performance, via a simple cross-flow method, shows great potential for water purification.

Oncogenic miR-210-3p promotes prostate cancer cell EMT and bone metastasis via NF-κB signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: The primary issue arising from prostate cancer (PCa) is its high prevalence to metastasize to bone, which severely affects the quality of life and survival time of PCa patients. miR-210-3p is a well-documented oncogenic miRNA implicated in various aspects of cancer development, progression and metastasis. However, the clinical significance and biological roles of miR-210-3p in PCa bone metastasis remain obscure. METHODS: miR-210-3p expression was evaluated by real-time PCR in 68 bone metastatic and 81 non-bone metastatic PCa tissues. The biological roles of miR-210-3p in the bone metastasis of PCa were investigated both in vitro by EMT and Transwell assays, and in vivo using a mouse model of left cardiac ventricle inoculation. Bioinformatics analysis, real-time PCR, western blot and luciferase reporter analysis were applied to discern and examine the relationship between miR-210-3p and its potential targets. RT-PCR was performed to identify the underlying mechanism of miR-210-3p overexpression in bone metastasis of PCa. Clinical correlation of miR-210-3p with its targets was examined in human PCa and metastatic bone tissues. RESULTS: miR-210-3p expression is elevated in bone metastatic PCa tissues compared with non-bone metastatic PCa tissues. Overexpression of miR-210-3p positively correlates with serum PSA levels, Gleason grade and bone metastasis status in PCa patients. Upregulating miR-210-3p enhances, while silencing miR-210-3p represses the EMT, invasion and migration of PCa cells in vitro. Importantly, silencing miR-210-3p significantly inhibits bone metastasis of PC-3 cells in vivo. Our results further demonstrate that miR-210-3p maintains the sustained activation of NF-κB signaling via targeting negative regulators of NF-κB signaling (TNF-α Induced Protein 3 Interacting Protein 1) TNIP1 and (Suppressor Of Cytokine Signaling 1) SOCS1, resulting in EMT, invasion, migration and bone metastasis of PCa cells. Moreover, our results further indicate that recurrent gains (amplification) contribute to miR-210-3p overexpression in a small number of PCa patients. The clinical correlation of miR-210-3p with SOCS1, TNIP1 and NF-κB signaling activity is verified in PCa tissues. CONCLUSION: Our findings unravel a novel mechanism for constitutive activation of NF-κB signaling pathway in the bone metastasis of PCa, supporting a functional and clinical significance of epigenetic events in bone metastasis of PCa.