PRG4 mitigates hemorrhagic shock-induced cardiac injury by inhibiting mitochondrial dysregulation, oxidative stress and NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis.

Hemorrhagic shock (HS) is one of the main causes of morbidity and death in patients with trauma or major surgery. Cardiac dysfunction is a well-known complication of HS. PRG4, also known as lubricin, is a mucin-like glycoprotein that plays anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic roles in a variety of diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore the cardioprotective efficacy of PRG4 in HS-induced cardiac injury. Employing the HS model and RNA-seq, we found that PRG4 was increased in the myocardial tissue of rats after HS. In vivo studies suggested that HS led to abnormal hemodynamic parameters and increased cTnI levels, and PRG4 overexpression effectively reversed these changes. PRG4 also suppressed HS-induced mitochondrial disorders, as reflected by increased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), ATP and mitochondria cytochrome c, COXIV and TOM20, as well as decreased BNIP3L and cytoplasmic cytochrome c. Furthermore, HS led to enhanced oxidative stress, as evidenced by upregulated ROS and MDA contents, and downregulated SOD and CAT activities, and these alterations were negated by PRG4 overexpression. Notably, PRG4 repressed the NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis pathway, as illustrated by decreased NLRP3 levels, caspase-1 activity and GSDMD-NT levels. In summary, these observations indicate that PRG4 overexpression protects against HS-induced cardiac dysfunction by inhibiting mitochondrial dysregulation, oxidative stress and NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis.

Facilitating alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction on the hetero-interfaced Ru/RuO2 through Pt single atoms doping.

Exploring an active and cost-effective electrocatalyst alternative to carbon-supported platinum nanoparticles for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) have remained elusive to date. Here, we report a catalyst based on platinum single atoms (SAs) doped into the hetero-interfaced Ru/RuO2 support (referred to as Pt-Ru/RuO2), which features a low HER overpotential, an excellent stability and a distinctly enhanced cost-based activity compared to commercial Pt/C and Ru/C in 1 M KOH. Advanced physico-chemical characterizations disclose that the sluggish water dissociation is accelerated by RuO2 while Pt SAs and the metallic Ru facilitate the subsequent H* combination. Theoretical calculations correlate with the experimental findings. Furthermore, Pt-Ru/RuO2 only requires 1.90 V to reach 1 A cm-2 and delivers a high price activity in the anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer, outperforming the benchmark Pt/C. This research offers a feasible guidance for developing the noble metal-based catalysts with high performance and low cost toward practical H2 production.

Insights into Reversible Sodium Intercalation in a Novel Sodium-Deficient NASICON-Type Structure:Na3.40 □0.60 Co0.5 Fe0.5 V(PO4 )3.

The rational design of novel high-performance cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries is a challenge for the development of the renewable energy sector. Here, a new sodium-deficient NASICON phosphate, namely Na3.40 □0.60 Co0.5 Fe0.5 V(PO4 )3 , demonstrating the excellent electrochemical performance is reported. The presence of Co allows a third Na+ to participate in the reaction thus exhibiting a high reversible capacity of ≈155 mAh g-1 in the voltage range of 2.0-4.0 V versus Na+ /Na with a reversible single-phase mechanism and a small volume shrinkage of ≈5.97% at 4.0 V. 23 Na solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) combined with ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) refinements provide evidence for a preferential Na+ insertion within the Na2 site. Furthermore, the enhanced sodium kinetics ascribed to Co-substitution is also confirmed in combination with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT), and theoretical calculation.

HSF1 enhances the attenuation of exosomes from mesenchymal stem cells to hemorrhagic shock induced lung injury by altering the protein profile of exosomes.

Severe hemorrhagic shock (HS) leads to lung injury, resulting in respiratory insufficiency. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived exosomes have therapeutic effects on the organ injury. HSF1 has been reported to protect the lung against injury. In this study, the role of exosomes from HSF1-overexpressed MSCs (HSF1-EVs) in HS-induced lung injury was investigated. We constructed a mouse model of lung injury by induction with HS and pre-treated it with HSF1-EVs. It was clarified that HSF1-EVs manifested better protective effects on HS-induced lung injury compared with the exosomes derived from control MSCs. Inhalation of HSF1-EVs declined the ratio of wet to dry and total protein concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. Besides, HSF1-EVs greatly inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, MCP-1 and HMGB1), and constrained the pulmonary neutrophilic infiltration induced by HS. A reduction of oxidative stress was observed in HSF1-EV-treated mice. HSF1-EVs suppressed the HS-induced apoptosis of lung cell and downregulated Bcl-2 expression, while promoting Bax expression. The key proteins of pulmonary epithelial barrier, E-cadherin, ZO-1 and Occludin, were all upregulated in HS-treated mice after HSF1-EV inhalation, suggesting that HSF1-EVs played a protective role in the epithelial barrier of lung. Additionally, the results of proteomics showed that HSF1 overexpression altered the protein profile of MSC-derived exosomes, which might explain the more significant relief effect of HSF1-EVs on lung injury compared with that of Plasmid-EVs. These new findings demonstrated that the exosomes secreted by HSF1-overexpressed MSCs can be an effective precautionary measure for lung injury induced by HS.

Mutual Self-Regulation of d-Electrons of Single Atoms and Adjacent Nanoparticles for Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis and Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries.

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are a promising energy conversion device, which rely critically on electrocatalysts to accelerate their rate-determining reactions such as oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER). Herein, we fabricate a range of bifunctional M-N-C (metal-nitrogen-carbon) catalysts containing M-Nx coordination sites and M/MxC nanoparticles (M = Co, Fe, and Cu) using a new class of γ-cyclodextrin (CD) based metal-organic framework as the precursor. With the two types of active sites interacting with each other in the catalysts, the obtained Fe@C-FeNC and Co@C-CoNC display superior alkaline ORR activity in terms of low half-wave (E1/2) potential (~ 0.917 and 0.906 V, respectively), which are higher than Cu@C-CuNC (~ 0.829 V) and the commercial Pt/C (~ 0.861 V). As a bifunctional electrocatalyst, the Co@C-CoNC exhibits the best performance, showing a bifunctional ORR/OER overpotential (ΔE) of ~ 0.732 V, which is much lower than that of Fe@C-FeNC (~ 0.831 V) and Cu@C-CuNC (~ 1.411 V), as well as most of the robust bifunctional electrocatalysts reported to date. Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory simulations reveal that the strong electronic correlation between metallic Co nanoparticles and the atomic Co-N4 sites in the Co@C-CoNC catalyst can increase the d-electron density near the Fermi level and thus effectively optimize the adsorption/desorption of intermediates in ORR/OER, resulting in an enhanced bifunctional electrocatalytic performance. The Co@C-CoNC-based rechargeable ZAB exhibited a maximum power density of 162.80 mW cm-2 at 270.30 mA cm-2, higher than the combination of commercial Pt/C + RuO2 (~ 158.90 mW cm-2 at 265.80 mA cm-2) catalysts. During the galvanostatic discharge at 10 mA cm-2, the ZAB delivered an almost stable discharge voltage of 1.2 V for ~ 140 h, signifying the virtue of excellent bifunctional ORR/OER electrocatalytic activity.

Mo-Incorporated Magnetite Fe3 O4 Featuring Cationic Vacancies Enabling Fast Lithium Intercalation for Batteries.

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) as high-capacity electrodes have several drawbacks owing to their inherent poor electronic conductivity and structural instability during the multi-electron conversion reaction process. In this study, the authors use an intrinsic high-valent cation substitution approach to stabilize cation-deficient magnetite (Fe3 O4 ) and overcome the abovementioned issues. Herein, 5 at% of Mo4+ -ions are incorporated into the spinel structure to substitute octahedral Fe3+ -ions, featuring ≈1.7 at% cationic vacancies in the octahedral sites. This defective Fe2.93 ▫0.017 Mo0.053 O4 electrode shows significant improvements in the mitigation of capacity fade and the promotion of rate performance as compared to the pristine Fe3 O4 . Furthermore, physical-electrochemical analyses and theoretical calculations are performed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. In Fe2.93 ▫0.017 Mo0.053 O4 , the cationic vacancies provide active sites for storing Li+ and vacancy-mediated Li+ migration paths with lower energy barriers. The enlarged lattice and improved electronic conductivity induced by larger doped-Mo4+ yield this defective oxide capable of fast lithium intercalation. This is confirmed by a combined characterization including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. This study provides a valuable strategy of vacancy-mediated reaction to intrinsically modulate the defective structure in TMOs for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

NiMn2O4 spinel binary nanostructure decorated on three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide hydrogel for bifunctional materials in non-enzymatic glucose sensor.

Nickel-manganese spinel oxide (NiMn2O4) was hybridized with reduced graphene oxide hydrogel (rGOH) via a facile solvothermal process and a highly porous three-dimensional (3D) structure was constructed. NiMn2O4/rGOH exhibited excellent electrochemical performance due to the high specific surface area, excellent electrocatalytic activity, and enhanced electrical conductivity due to the synergetic effects between the two components. The NiMn2O4/rGOH exhibited excellent glucose sensing performance with high sensitivity (1310.8 µA mM-1 cm-2), a wide linear range (2 µM-20 mM), rapid response time (<3.5 s), and anti-interference properties. Furthermore, it also showed excellent supercapacitor performance with a high capacitance (396.85 F g-1) and excellent energy and power density on account of the large surface area and pseudo-capacitor behavior of NiMn2O4. A self-powered glucose sensor can be fabricated with NiMn2O4/rGOH as both supercapacitor and glucose sensing electrodes.

Highly enhanced visible light water splitting of CdS by green to blue upconversion.

This paper reports a new class of visible light water splitting photocatalysts based on a triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) upconversion (UC) process. The TTA-UC core composed of platinum-octaethyl-porphyrin (Pt(OEP)) and 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) can upconvert low energy green light to high energy blue light with a high quantum yield. Using a silica nanocapsule (SNC), the quenching caused by oxygen can be avoided, even in aqueous solutions. The enhancement factor of the photocatalytic activity induced by the UC was estimated to be approximately 3, which indicates that the green to blue UC by the encapsulated Pt(OEP)/DPA can enhance the water splitting activity of CdS significantly. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) attached to the CdS photocatalyst further enhances the water splitting activity via effective charge separation and suppressed recombination.

MiR-22 may Suppress Fibrogenesis by Targeting TGFßR I in Cardiac Fibroblasts.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Cardiac fibrosis after myocardial infarction (MI) has been identified as a key factor in the development of heart failure, but the mechanisms undelying cardiac fibrosis remained unknown. microRNAs (miRNAs) are novel mechanisms leading to fibrotic diseases, including cardiac fibrosis. Previous studies revealed that miR-22 might be a potential target. However, the roles and mechanisms of miR-22 in cardiac fibrosis remained ill defined. The present study thus addressed the impact of miR-22 in cardiac fibrosis. METHODS: After seven days following coronary artery occlusion in mice, tissues used for histology were collected and processed for Masson's Trichrome staining. In addition, cardiac fibroblasts were transfected with mimics and inhibitors of miR-22 using Lipofectamin 2000, and luciferase activity was measured in cell lysates using a luciferase assay kit. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of collagen1, α-SMA and TGFßRI proteins levels, and real time-PCR was employed to measure the Col1α1, Col3α1, miR-22 and TGFßRI mRNA levels. RESULTS: In this study, we found that miR-22 was dynamically downregulated following MI induced by permanent ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 7 days, an effect paralleled by significant collagen deposition. Inhibition of miR-22 with AMO-22 resulted in increased expression of Col1α1, Col3α1 and fibrogenesis in cultured cardiac fibroblasts. Conversely, overexpression of miR-22 in cultured cardiac fibroblasts significantly abrogated angiotensin II-induced collagen formation and fibrogenesis. Furthermore, we found that TGFßRI is a direct target for miR-22, and downregulation of TGFßR may have mediated the antifibrotic effect of miR-22. CONCLUSION: Our data clearly demonstrate that miR-22 acts as a novel negative regulator of angiotensin II-induced cardiac fibrosis by suppressing the expression of TGFßRI in the heart and may represent a new potential therapeutic target for treating cardiac fibrosis.

A selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase in the Japanese scallop, Mizuhopecten yessoensis: cDNA cloning, promoter sequence analysis and mRNA expression.

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) is an antioxidant enzyme that protects cells from oxidative damage in the innate immune responses against bacterial infections. GPx is also involved in immune defenses. In this study, we report cloning and characterization of a GPx (designated as MyGPx) coding sequences and promoter from Japanese scallop, Mizuhopecten yessoensis. The full-length 1081 nt MyGPx mRNA contained a 28 nt 5' untranslated region (UTR), a 603 nt open reading frame and a 450 nt 3' UTR containing a polyadenylation signal (AATAAA). Multiple sequence alignment revealed that amino acids essential to enzymatic function of MyGPx proteins were highly conserved. A 1628 nt 5'-flanking sequence of MyGPx was identified by genome walking. Here, several potential transcription factor binding sites were detected in the putative promoter region, and nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found in the 5' sequence flanking the promoter region. Quantitative Real time PCR (qRT-PCR) was employed to measure GPx mRNA expression in adult tissues and monitor mRNA expression patterns during embryonic development and following stimulation by the bacteria Vibrillo anguillarum. Collectively, the results suggest that MyGPx fulfills an important function during M. yessoensis development and may be an important immune effector in adult molluscs.

Sixteen polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers from expressed sequence tags of the Chinese Mitten Crab Eriocheir sinensis.

The Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is an economically important aquaculture species in China. In this study, we developed and evaluated simple sequence repeat markers from expressed sequence tags of E. sinensis. Among the 40 wild E. sinensis individuals tested, 16 loci were polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to ten. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.0667 to 0.9667, whereas the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.0661 to 0.9051. These markers have the potential for use in genetic studies of population structure and intraspecific variation in E. sinensis.