Synchronous removal of gaseous toluene and benzene and degradation process shifts in microbial fuel cell-biotrickling filter system.

Illustrating the biodegradation processes of multi-component volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will expedite the implication of biotechnology in purifying industrial exhaust. Here, performance shifts of microbial fuel cell and biotrickling filter combined system (MFC-BTF) are investigated for removing single and dual components of toluene and benzene. Synchronous removal of toluene (95 %) and benzene (97 %) are achieved by MFC-BTF accompanied with the output current of 0.41 mA. Elevated content of extracellular polymeric substance facilitates the mass transfer of benzene with the presence of toluene. Strains of Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi contribute to the removal of dual components VOCs. Empty bed reaction time and the VOCs concentration are the important factors influencing their dissolution in the system. The biodegradation of toluene and benzene proceeds with 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde and o-hydroxybenzoic acid as the main intermediates. These results provide a comprehensive understanding of multi-component VOCs removal by MFC-BTF and guide the system design, optimization, and scale-up.

Intensive Microalgal Cultivation and Tertiary Phosphorus Recovery from Wastewaters via the EcoRecover Process.

Mixed community microalgal wastewater treatment technologies have the potential to advance the limits of technology for biological nutrient recovery while producing a renewable carbon feedstock, but a deeper understanding of their performance is required for system optimization and control. In this study, we characterized the performance of a 568 m3·day-1 Clearas EcoRecover system for tertiary phosphorus removal (and recovery as biomass) at an operating water resource recovery facility (WRRF). The process consists of a (dark) mix tank, photobioreactors (PBRs), and a membrane tank with ultrafiltration membranes for the separation of hydraulic and solids residence times. Through continuous online monitoring, long-term on-site monitoring, and on-site batch experiments, we demonstrate (i) the importance of carbohydrate storage in PBRs to support phosphorus uptake under dark conditions in the mix tank and (ii) the potential for polyphosphate accumulation in the mixed algal communities. Over a 3-month winter period with limited outside influences (e.g., no major upstream process changes), the effluent total phosphorus (TP) concentration was 0.03 ± 0.03 mg-P·L-1 (0.01 ± 0.02 mg-P·L-1 orthophosphate). Core microbial community taxa included Chlorella spp., Scenedesmus spp., and Monoraphidium spp., and key indicators of stable performance included near-neutral pH, sufficient alkalinity, and a diel rhythm in dissolved oxygen.

Germacrone, A Novel and Safe Anticancer Agent from Genus Curcuma: A Review of its Mechanism.

Germacrone, a kind of natural sesquiterpenoid compound, has been reported to exhibit many pharmacological properties, especially the anticancer effect. Many in vitro experiments have been performed on various cancer cell lines, trying to explore their anticancer mechanism. Aiming at investigating the anticancer effect of germacrone, this article reviews the extant information on existing literature about germacrone-related studies. The anticancer mechanisms and clinical usages of germacrone are summarized. Literature databases (such as PubMed and CNKI) are used to search the current studies and experimental research about the anticancer effect information of germacrone. Anticancer mechanism of germacrone includes cell cycle arrest inducing, programmed cell death (apoptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis and ferroptosis) inducing, and estrogen-related genes mediating. Structural modification and analogue design are worthy of further study in the future.

Tractable Method for Rapid Quality Assessment of Therapeutic Antibodies in Harvested Cell Culture Fluid based on FcγRIIIa-Immobilized Magnetic Microspheres.

FcγRIIIa-binding affinity is one of the key factors to ensure the efficacy of many antitumor therapeutic antibodies, which should be monitored along with the titer, protein aggregation, and other critical quality attributes. The conventional workflow for the quality assessment of therapeutic antibodies in harvested cell culture fluid (HCCF) is time-consuming and costly nevertheless. In this study, a tractable method was established for rapid quality assessment of a HCCF sample through differentially extracting IgG with different FcγRIIIa affinity levels using FcγRIIIa-immobilized magnetic microspheres, followed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to determine the amount and monomer percentage of IgGs in the preceding eluate. FcγRIIIa-immobilized magnetic microspheres with polydopamine (PDA) and hydrophilic dendrimer (PAMAM) coating (denoted as Fe3O4@PDA@PAMAM-FcγRIIIa) were synthesized for the first time as magnetic adsorbents. The PDA cladding endowed the composites with good chemical stability in acidic elution buffer, and the PAMAM dendrimer empowered the composites of high ligand immobilization capacity and hydrophilic surface. The labile FcγRIIIa was immobilized under mild conditions. By directly applying a simple magnetic solid phase extraction procedure to treat HCCF, favored IgG species with high FcγRIIIa affinity would be selectively captured by Fe3O4@PDA@PAMAM-FcγRIIIa composites for subsequent SEC analysis. The monomer peak area value in SEC, which was set as the read-out of the proposed method, correlated directly with the theoretical overall quality of standard-spiked HCCF samples.

Core-shell structured magnetic covalent-organic frameworks for rapid extraction and preconcentration of okadaic acid in seawater and shellfish followed with LC-MS/MS quantification.

Core-shell structured magnetic covalent-organic frameworks (Fe3O4@TaTp) were facilely synthesized based on one-step functionalization at room temperature and applied for magnetic solid-phase extraction of okadaic acid from seawater and shellfish prior to LC-MS/MS detection. Parameters, including adsorbent amount, extraction time, desorption solution, and desorption time which could affect the extraction efficiency, were respectively investigated. The developed methods demonstrated good linearity (R2 > 0.99), acceptable accuracy and good precision (<15%), and low limit of detection (0.5 pg·mL-1 for seawater and 0.04 µg·kg-1 for shellfish). The amount of the material used (1 mg for seawater and 5 mg for shellfish) and the time required (4 min for seawater and 15 min for shellfish) for extracting analyte from 5 mL of seawater and 2 g of shellfish are both greatly shortened compared with the previous reports. In addition, we successfully applied this method to real sample analysis.

Hydrogen sulfide alleviates uremic cardiomyopathy by regulating PI3K/PKB/mTOR-mediated overactive autophagy in 5/6 nephrectomy mice.

The gasotransmitter hydrogen sulfide (H2S) plays important physiological and pathological roles in the cardiovascular system. However, the involvement of H2S in recovery from uremic cardiomyopathy (UCM) remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the therapeutic efficacy and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of H2S in UCM. A UCM model was established by 5/6 nephrectomy in 10-week-old C57BL/6 mice. Mice were treated with sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, H2S donor), L-cysteine [L-Cys, cystathionine gamma-lyase (CSE) substrate], and propargylglycine (PPG, CSE inhibitor). Treatment of H9C2 cardiomyocytes utilized different concentrations of uremic serum, NaHS, PPG, and PI3K inhibitors (LY294002). Mouse heart function was assessed by echocardiography. Pathological changes in mouse myocardial tissue were identified using hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining. Cell viability was assessed using the Cell Counting Kit-8. The protein expressions of CSE, p-PI3K, PI3K, p-PKB, PKB, p-mTOR, mTOR, and autophagy-related markers (Beclin-1, P62, and LC3) were detected using Western blotting. We found that NaHS and L-Cys treatment attenuated myocardial disarray, fibrosis, and left ventricular dysfunction in UCM mice. These abnormalities were further aggravated by PPG supplementation. Enhanced autophagy and decreased phosphorylation of PI3K, PKB, and mTOR protein expression by UCM were altered by NaHS and L-Cys treatment. In vitro, uremic serum increased overactive autophagy and decreased the phosphorylation levels of PI3K, PKB, and mTOR in cardiomyocytes, which was substantially exacerbated by endogenous H2S deficiency and attenuated by pre-treatment with 100 µm NaHS. However, the protective effects of NaHS were completely inhibited by LY294002. These findings support a protective effect of H2S exerted against UCM by reducing overactive autophagy through activation of the PI3K/PKB/mTOR pathway.

Relationships of the Trace Elements Zinc and Magnesium With Diabetic Nephropathy-Associated Renal Functional Damage in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Zinc (Zn) and magnesium (Mg) are essential trace elements in humans. Their deficiency may be associated with inflammation and oxidative stress (OS) in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), but the mechanisms involved have not been fully characterized. We aimed to investigate the relationships between circulating concentrations of Zn and Mg and pro-inflammatory factors with DN-associated renal functional damage in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). To this end, we studied 20 healthy people, 24 patients with T2DM, and 59 patients with T2DM and T2DN. Serum and urine Zn and Mg concentrations were measured using the 2-(5-nitro-2-pyridylazo)-5-(N-propyl-N-sulfopropylamine) phenol (nitro-PAPS) chromogenic method and the xylidyl blue method, respectively, and the circulating concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)] were measured using flow cytometry. The serum concentrations of Zn and Mg were significantly lower in patients with T2DM and DN than in healthy controls. Serum Zn, urine Zn, and urine Mg concentrations decreased, while those of IL-6 and IL-8 increased with the progression of DN-associated renal functional damage. Furthermore, the serum and urine Zn concentrations negatively correlated with the serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations. Notably, the serum Zn concentration was found to independently protect against DN in patients with T2DM. Hypozincemia may be associated with the T2DN-associated renal functional damage because it exacerbates inflammation.