Interpenetrated Multinetwork Hybrid Aerogels by Layered Montmorillonite and One-Dimensional Hydroxyapatite Fibers for Heat and Fire Insulation.

It is of practical significance to develop aerogels with effective thermal insulation characteristics together with fireproof properties as well as high mechanical strength. Here, an interpenetrated multinetwork hybrid aerogel realizing thermal insulation, flame retardancy, and high compression modulus is demonstrated. Specifically, one-dimensional hydroxyapatite nanowires (HAP) played dual roles as the aerogel support skeleton to entangle with layered montmorillonite (MMT) each other to form a three-dimensional interpenetrated multinetwork structure and to optimize the thermal conductivity by adjusting the pore space in current HAP/MMT/PVA hybrid aerogels. Therefore, the interpenetrated multinetwork hybrid aerogels exhibit superior thermal insulation performance in room temperature (0.033 W m-1 K-1, 298 K, air conditions) and largely enhanced ultrahigh compression modulus (80 MPa). Moreover, the obtained hybrid aerogels also exhibit excellent flame retardancy and self-extinguishing smoke suppression properties (peak heat release rate and total smoke production as low as 92.44 kW m-2 and 0.1 m2, respectively), which is the outstanding interpenetrated multinetwork hybrid aerogel that has achieved synergistic improvement in heat and fire insulation and mechanical performance. Therefore, the interpenetrated multinetwork hybrid aerogels are promising candidates for efficient heat insulation, fire prevention, and mechanically robust applications.

Multifunctional Laser-Induced Graphene-Based Microfluidic Chip for High-Performance Oocyte Cryopreservation with Low Concentration of Cryoprotectants.

Oocyte cryopreservation is essential in the field of assisted reproduction, but due to the large size and poor environmental tolerance of oocytes, cell freezing technology needs further improvement. Here, a Y-shaped microfluidic chip based on 3D graphene is ingeniously devised by combining laser-induced graphene (LIG) technology and fiber etching technology. The prepared LIG/PDMS microfluidic chip can effectively suppress ice crystal size and delay ice crystal freezing time by adjusting surface hydrophobicity. In addition, LIG endows the microfluidic chip with an outstanding photothermal effect, which allows to sharply increase its surface temperature from 25 to 71.8 °C with 10 s of low-power 808 nm laser irradiation (0.4 W cm-2). Notably, the LIG/PDMS microfluidic chip not only replaces the traditional cryopreservation carriers, but also effectively reduces the dosage of cryoprotectants (CPAs) needed in mouse oocyte cryopreservation. Even when the concentration of CPAs is cut in half (final concentration of 7.5% ethylene glycol (EG) and 7.5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)), the survival rate of oocytes is still as high as 92.4%, significantly higher than the control group's 85.8%. Therefore, this work provides a novel design strategy to construct multifunctional microfluidic chips for high-performance oocytes cryopreservation.

Probing the Size Effect of Graphene Oxide Nanosheets on Ice Crystal Regulation and Laser-Assisted Rapid Rewarming.

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have attracted many researchers to explore the effect of ice control and rapid deicing due to their functional groups, large specific surface area, and excellent photothermal properties. However, the impact of size effects on ice crystal formation, growth, and photothermal performance has been rarely explored. Here, graphene oxide nanosheets (GO NSs) with controllable sizes were used as a representative of 2D nanomaterials to probe the effect of size on ice crystal regulation and rapid rewarming in cell cryopreservation. All sizes of GO NSs exhibited notable inhibitory effects on ice crystal size during the recrystallization process. Significantly, when the size of GO NSs was smaller than a certain size (<150 nm), they showed a more significant ice recrystallization suppression effects, which could reduce the ice crystal size to about 17% of that of pure water. Meanwhile, the photothermal experiments also indicated that smaller-sized GO NSs exhibited better photothermal behavior, with 90 nm GO NSs (GO-90) heating to 70 °C in just 1 min induced by an 808 nm laser (2 W/cm2). Furthermore, applying GO-90 (200 µg/mL) to cell cryopreservation, cell viability could reach 95.2% and 93% with a low amount of traditional cryoprotectant (2% v/v DMSO) for A549 cells and HeLa cells after recovery, respectively. With the assistance of a 808 nm laser, the rewarming time was also shortened to 20 s, greatly improving the rewarming rate. Our work associated specific sizes of 2D nanomaterials with their ice growth inhibition behaviors during recrystallization and photothermal properties to synergistically improve cell cryopreservation efficiency, providing guidance for effectively designing novel 2D nanomaterials for collaborative control of ice crystals in cell cryopreservation.

Interference of microplastics on autotrophic microbiome in paddy soils: Shifts in carbon fixation rate, structure, abundance, co-occurrence, and assembly process.

Autotrophic microorganisms play a crucial role in soil CO2 assimilation. Although microplastic pollution is recognized as a significant global concern, its precise impact on carbon sequestration by autotrophic microorganisms in agroecosystem soil remains poorly understood. This study conducted microcosm experiments to explore how conventional polystyrene (PS) and biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) microplastics affect carbon fixation rates (CFRs) and the community characteristics of soil autotrophic microorganisms in paddy agroecosystems. The results showed that compared with the control groups, 0.5 % and 1 % microplastic treatments significantly reduced soil CFRs by 11.8 - 24.5 % and 18.7 - 32.3 %, respectively. PS microplastics exerted a stronger inhibition effect on CFRs than PHBV microplastics in bulk soil. However, no significant difference was observed in the inhibition of CFRs by both types of microplastics in rhizosphere soils. Additionally, PS and PHBV microplastics altered the structure of autotrophic microbial communities, resulting in more stochastically dominated assembly and looser, more fragile coexistence networks compared to control groups. Moreover, microplastics drove the changes in autotrophic microbial carbon fixation primarily through their direct interference and the indirect effect by increasing soil organic carbon levels. Our findings enhance the understanding and predictive capabilities regarding the impacts of microplastic pollution on carbon sinks in agricultural soils.

Serum S1P level in interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a potential biomarker reflecting the severity of pulmonary function.

BACKGROUND: sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a naturally occurring sphingolipid, has been involved in pulmonary interstitial remodeling signaling. However, no study has examined its clinical merits for interstitial lung disease (ILD). This study aimed to investigate the serum level of S1P in ILD patients and its clinical correlation with the severity of disease in the two main types of ILDs: the IPF and the CTD-ILD patients. METHODS: This retrospective observational pilot study included 67 ILD patients and 26 healthy controls. These patients were stratified into the IPF group (35) and the CTD-ILD group (32). The severity of ILD was evaluated through pulmonary function indicators and the length of hospital stay. RESULTS: Serum S1P level was statistically higher in ILD patients than in health control (p = 0.002), while the Serum S1P levels in CTD-ILD and IPF patients were comparable. Serum S1P level further showed statistically negative correlation with pulmonary function indexes (TLC% pred, FVC% pred and FEV1% pred) and positive correlation with length of hospital stay (r = -0.38, p = 0.04; r = -0.41, p = 0.02, r = -0.37, p = 0.04; r = 0.42, p = 0.02, respectively) in CTD-ILD patients, although serum S1P level was not significantly correlated with inflammatory indexes. The IPF patients failed to exhibit a significant correlation of serum S1P level with pulmonary function and length of hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: Serum S1P level might be a clinically useful biomarker in evaluating the severity of CTD-ILD patients rather than IPF patients.

Dipole-multipole plasmonic coupling between gold nanorods and titanium nitride nanoparticles for enhanced photothermal conversion.

The plasmonic photothermal conversion efficiency can be enhanced by coupling among plasmonic atoms or plasmonic molecules due to the amplified local electric field and extinction cross-section. Recently, it has been theoretically proved that hybridization between dipolar modes and higher order modes can provide higher enhancement than that among dipolar modes in terms of both near- and far-field, which may lead to a higher photothermal conversion rate. In this work, we systematically investigated the photothermal conversion enhancement of plasmonic coupling between a dipolar mode of a titanium nitride nanoparticle (TiN NP) and a higher order mode of a gold nanorod (Au NR), which was compared to that of coupling among TiN NPs' dipolar modes. We evaluated the photothermal conversion efficiency of dipole-dipole coupling and dipole-multipole coupling in the nanocluster under the illumination of a monochromatic laser of 808 nm wavelength and simulated solar light, respectively. Both experimental tests and numerical simulations suggested that the plasmonic dipole-multipole coupling exhibited higher enhancement in photothermal conversion than dipole-dipole plasmonic coupling.

Pulp waste extracted reinforced powder incorporated biodegradable chitosan composite film for enhancing red grape shelf-life.

Chitosan (CS) is widely used as a natural biopolymer due to its semi-crystalline structure, good film-forming properties, and easy availability. CS-based composite films are widely used in industry, particularly in the food sector as active food packaging. Despite all of these advantages, their wide range of applications are constrained by poor mechanical properties. Therefore, this work introduced refined bamboo cellulose powder (RBCP), a reinforcing material that is extracted from waste bamboo pulp and applied to CS composite films to enhance their mechanical and physicochemical properties. The chemical composition and crystallinity properties of CS composite films with RBCP addition were observed by ATR-FTIR and XRD. The homogeneous and heterogeneous surfaces of the RBCP incorporated films before biodegradation and after biodegradation (20 days) were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The increase in reinforcing RBCP materials from 0.00 to 5.00 % resulted in an increase in tensile strength for CS/RBCP films from 2.9 to 8.3 MPa. The application of the CS/RBCP/5 composite film as red grapefruit storage was also investigated, which performed much better than commercial plastic and control CS films with 92.8 and 88.6 % viability of S. aureus and E. coli bacteria. Overall achieved properties demonstrated strong potential for usage as active packaging materials to preserve and lengthen the shelf life of red grapefruits.

Design optimization and experiment of corn U-shaped fertilization device.

Aiming at the problems of low utilization rate of corn fertilizer, low precision of fertilization ratio, and time-consuming and laborious topdressing in the later stage, an U-shaped fertilization device with uniform fertilizer mechanism was designed. The device was mainly composed of uniform fertilizer mixing mechanism, fertilizer guide plate and fertilization plate. Compound fertilizer was applied on both sides and slow/controlled release fertilizer was applied at the bottom to form an U-shaped distribution of fertilizer around corn seeds. Through theoretical analysis and calculation, the structural parameters of the fertilization device were determined. Through the simulated soil tank test, the quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combination design was carried out on the main factors affecting the spatial stratification effect of fertilizer. The optimal parameters were obtained as follows: the stirring speed of the stirring structure was 300 r/min, the bending angle of the fertilization tube was 165°, and the operating speed of the fertilization device was 3 km/h. The results of bench verification test showed that under the optimized stirring speed and bending angle, the fertilizer particles were stirred evenly, and the average values of fertilizer flowing out of the fertilization tubes on both sides were 299.5 g and 297.4 g, respectively. The average fertilizer amounts of the three fertilizer outlets were 200.4 g, 203.2 g and 197.7 g, respectively, which met the agronomic requirements of 1:1:1 fertilization, and the variation coefficients of fertilizer amounts on both sides of the fertilizer pipe and each layer were less than 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. The simulation results of the optimized U-shaped fertilization device can achieve the expected U-shaped fertilization effect around corn seeds. The results of field experiment showed that the U-shaped fertilization device could realize the U-shaped proportional application of fertilizer in soil. The distance between the upper end of fertilization on both sides and the distance between the base fertilizer and the surface were 87.3-95.2 mm and 197.8-206.0 mm, respectively. The transverse distance between the fertilizers on both sides was 84.3-99.4 mm, and the error with the designed theoretical fertilization was within 10 mm. Compared with the traditional side fertilization method, the number of corn roots increased by 5-6, the root length increased by 30-40 mm, and the yield increased by 9.9-14.8%.

High-performance electrode of ZIF-67 metal-organic framework (MOF) loaded laser-induced graphene (LIG) composite for all-solid-state supercapacitor.

This work demonstrates a facile and efficient methodology to synthesize a composite material of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) and laser-induced graphene (LIG). This ZIF-67 loaded LIG composite (ZIF-67/LIG) has been adequately characterized for its morphology and structure, and its electrochemical performance has been specifically examined. As supercapacitors (SCs) electrode material, the ZIF-67/LIG composite exhibits superb electrochemical performance, owing to the inherent high porosity, abundant active sites, large specific surface area of ZIF-67, and the excellent conductive three-dimensional hierarchical porous network structure provided by LIG. In three-electrode system, ZIF-67/LIG composite electrode displays outstanding areal specific capacitance (CA) of 135.6 mF cm-2at a current density of 1 mA cm-2with 1 M Na2SO4aqueous electrolyte, which is far greater than that of pristine LIG (7.7 mF cm-2). Furthermore, the ZIF-67/LIG composite has been fabricated into an all-solid-state planar micro-supercapacitor (MSC). This ZIF-67/LIG MSC exhibits an impressiveCAof 38.1 mF cm-2at a current density of 0.20 mA cm-2, a good cycling stability of 80.3% capacitance retention after 3000 cycles, and a high energy density of 5.29µWh cm-2at a power density of 0.1 mW cm-2. All electrochemical results clearly manifest that as-prepared ZIF-67/LIG composite can be a candidate in energy storage field with exciting possibilities.

Durable Rapid Self-Disinfection, Reusable Protective Clothing Based on the Ag-Pd@MoS2 Nanozyme with Enhanced Triple-Mode Synergistic Antibacterial Effect.

Personal protective clothing plays an important role in isolating microorganisms and harmful ultrafine dust, but it cannot quickly inactivate bacteria intercepted on the surface, making it a potential source of infection. However, spontaneous and durable rapid sterilization is a major challenge for commercial protective clothing. Herein, we exquisitely engineered a visible light-enhanced Ag-Pd@MoS2 nanozyme-based fabric, named PVDF/Ag-Pd@MoS2/PAN fabric (PAPMP fabric), with prominent triple-mode synergistic antibacterial effect through the replacement reaction, electrospinning technique, and vacuum filtration method. The modification of Ag-Pd greatly strengthened the absorption of MoS2 nanosheets to the visible light spectrum (390-780 nm) and its corresponding catalytic performance. Meanwhile, the combination of MoS2 nanosheets significantly enhanced the oxidase-like characteristics of Ag-Pd under sunlight irradiation, increasing the yield of surface-bound 1O2 ∼4.54 times in 5 min. In addition, the obtained Ag-Pd@MoS2 nanozyme showed an excellent photo-to-thermal conversion property (36.12%), which enabled the sharp increase in the surface temperature of the PAPMP fabric to 62.8 °C in 1 min under a solar simulator (1 W/cm2). Correspondingly, the obtained PAPMP fabric exhibited excellent intrinsic antibacterial effect and greatly shortened the sterilization time from 4 h to only 5 min under sunlight stimulation. The rapid antibacterial effect of the fabric was attributable to the enhanced production rate of surface-bound reactive oxygen species and the increased temperature by solar irradiation. Notably, the fabric still maintained the efficient germicidal effect even after 30 washing cycles. In addition to high reusability, the fabric also had outstanding biological compatibility and water resistance. Our work provides a novel strategy to improve the inherent timely sterilization and heat preservation efficiency of protective clothing.

A Synergistic Combination of AuNRs and C Dots as a Multifunctional Material for Ice Recrystallization Inhibition and Rapid Rewarming.

Robust platforms and advanced biocompatible materials having diverse performances are in tremendous demand for cryopreservation of biocells, which are greatly limited by the crystallization, formation, and growth of ice crystals. The fickle structure and the arduous extraction process of modern attainable antifreezing proteins cause fatal cryoinjury of the cells making it challenging to develop anti-icing materials. Thus, designing Au colloids is an effective way to combat cell-damaging concerns during the ice freezing-thawing process. Herein, we propose an emerging biomimetic hybrid nanomaterial (AuNR@SiO2-CDs) prepared by combining the photoheating and rewarming controlling characteristics of carbon dots (CDs) and gold nanorods (AuNRs), respectively, via a SiO2 scaffold that has an optimal aspect ratio of ∼4.4. The performance of the material is applied in the freezing and resuscitation of Hela cells. The typical linkage between the AuNR and CDs not only retains the stable structure but also possesses the symmetric functional characteristics of affirmative cryoprotectant materials and sustained low cytotoxicity of cell viability >90%. The cell recovery rate of the Hela cell is significantly improved to ∼60%, which is propped up to >4% higher by the laser irradiation dose. The above hybrid material is paving a path toward novel bionic antifreezing proteins and is envisioned for ice recrystallization inhibition and rapid rewarming.

Genome-Wide Identification of DUF668 Gene Family and Expression Analysis under Drought and Salt Stresses in Sweet Potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam].

The domain of unknown function 668 (DUF668) is a gene family that plays a vital role in responses to adversity coercion stresses in plant. However, the function of the DUF668 gene family is not fully understood in sweet potato. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the number, physicochemical properties, evolution, structure, and promoter cis-acting elements of the IbDUF668 family genes, and RNA-seq and qRT-PCR were performed to detect gene expression and their regulation under hormonal and abiotic stress. A total of 14 IbDUF668 proteins were identified in sweet potato, distributed on nine chromosomes. By phylogenetic analysis, IbDUF668 proteins can be divided into two subfamilies. Transcriptome expression profiling revealed that many genes from DUF668 in sweet potato showed specificity and differential expression under cold, heat, drought, salt and hormones (ABA, GA3 and IAA). Four genes (IbDUF668-6, 7, 11 and 13) of sweet potato were significantly upregulated by qRT-PCR under ABA, drought and NaCl stress. Results suggest that the DUF668 gene family is involved in drought and salt tolerance in sweet potato, and it will further provide the basic information of DUF668 gene mechanisms in plants.

A highly transparent and photothermal composite coating for effective anti-/de-icing of glass surfaces.

Anti-/de-icing of glass surfaces is of great importance in present daily life. The long-standing challenge in this field is largely due to the lack of stable multifunctional coatings that can be conveniently and economically constructed on the glass surface, and more importantly, are capable of retaining the original transparency of glass ranging from the visible to the near infrared spectrum. Herein, a direct spraying sol method on the glass surface to prepare a highly transparent and photothermal composite coating is reported. Such multifunctional coating of Cu7S4 nanoparticles/organo-silicone sols has displayed a good photothermal conversion property and hydrophobic property and therefore yields excellent anti-icing and self-melting ice properties. The condensation time of water droplets can be extended to 86 s even at -10 °C, which is 3.42 times delayed relative to ordinary blank glass. And the adhesion strength of ice is largely reduced to 72 KPa, which is as low as ∼1/3 that of ordinary glass. Meanwhile, the subcooling of adhering droplets is reduced to -12 °C under one solar illumination condition and exhibits a rapid de-icing capability. More impressively, the prepared functional coating glass shows an outstanding transmittance of more than 75% in the visible region, while it is over the minimum glass transmittance limit allowed by Safety Standards for Glass (GB9656-2016, China). In addition, the multifunctional photothermal glass coating exhibits good physical/chemical stability, which facilitates the long-term application of the coating in different environments.

Micelle Dynamic Reconstruction to Effectively Modulate the Transmission of Smart Windows.

Micelles are extremely dynamic equilibrium aggregates. The size and shape of micelles are subject to appreciable structural fluctuations with the introduction of foreign ions, temperature, etc. The highly dynamic character has for a long time hugely attracted the interest of researchers to investigate the mechanism of micellar structure change and the dependence of their optical properties on the structure change. Herein, taking the most common sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an example, the aggregation behavior of SDS with excess K+ and the effect of temperature on the K+/SDS mixed system were detailed and systematically investigated by combining with molecular dynamics simulations and experiments. The addition of K+ leads to a reconfiguration of the original micelle structure, resulting in a significant change in micelle size from the nanoscale up to the microscale. And simultaneously, temperature can induce a dynamic process of conjugation/deconjugation of K+/SDS micelles in the mixed solution, which is manifested macroscopically by the change of transmittance. Finally, a temperature-responsive smart gel was prepared by introducing K+/SDS into a polyacrylamide (PAM) gel, which showed an excellent tunable performance in transmittance (ΔT550 nm = 60.1%, ΔT808 nm = 42.72%). The designed smart window shows potential applications in room temperature control (Δt = 4.1 °C) and excellent stability over the course of 50 cycles.

Investigation of Plasmonic-Enhanced Solar Photothermal Effect of Au NR@PVDF Micro-/Nanofilms.

Gold nanospheres (Au NSs) and gold nanorods (Au NRs) are traditional noble metal plasmonic nanomaterials. Particularly, Au NRs with tunable longitudinal plasmon resonance from the visible to the near-infrared (NIR) range were suitable for highly efficient photothermal applications due to the extended light-receiving range. In this work, we synthesized Au NRs and Au NSs of similar volumes and subsequently developed them into Au NR/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and Au NS/PVDF nanofilms, both of which exhibited excellent solar photothermal performance evaluated by solar photothermal experiments. We found that the Au NR/PVDF nanofilm showed a higher solar photothermal performance than the Au NS/PVDF nanofilm. Through detailed analysis, such as morphological characterization, optical measurement, and finite element method (FEM) modeling, we found that the plasmonic coupling effects inside the aggregated Au NR nanoclusters contributed to the spectral blue shifts and intensified the photothermal performance. As compared to Au NS/PVDF nanofilms, the Au NR/PVDF nanofilm exhibited a higher efficient light-to-heat conversion rate because of the extended light-receiving range and high absorbance, as a result of the strong plasmonic interactions inside nanoclusters, which was further validated by monochromatic laser photothermal experiments and FEM simulations. Our work proved that the Au NRs have huge potential for plasmonic solar photothermal applications and are envisioned for novel plasmonic applications.

Plasmonic CuxS Nanocages for Enhanced Solar Photothermal Cell Warming.

Highly efficient plasmonic photothermal nanomaterials are benefitial to the successful resuscitation of cells. Copper sulfide (CuxS) is a type of plasmonic solar photothermal semiconductor material that expands the light collecting range by altering its localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) to the near- to mid-infrared (IR) spectral region. Particularly, nanocages (or nanoshells) have hybridized plasmon resonances as the result of superpositioned nanospheres and nanocavities, which extend their receiving range for the solar spectrum and increase light-to-heat conversion rate. In this work, for the first time, we applied colloidal hollow CuxS nanocages to revive cryopreserved HeLa cells via photothermal warming, which showed improved cell warming rate and cell viability after cell resuscitation. Moreover, we tested the photothermal performance of CuxS nanocages with concentrated light illumination, which exhibited extraordinary photothermal performance due to localized and enhanced illumination. We further quantified each band's contribution during the cell warming process via evaluating the warming rate of cryopreserved cell solution with illumination by monochromatic UV, visible, and NIR lasers. We studied the biosafety and toxicity of CuxS nanocages by analyzing the generated copper ion residue during cell warming and cell incubation, respectively. Our study shows that CuxS nanocages have huge potential for cell warming and are promising for vast range of applications, such as nanomedicine, life science, biology, energy saving, etc.

TRPA1 promotes cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity through inflammation mediated by the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: The nephrotoxicity induced by cisplatin (DDP) has been a severe obstacle for its clinical use in anticancer treatment. The apoptosis and inflammation induced by DDP are the main causes of the nephrotoxicity. Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is a non-selective cation ligand-gated channel that is involved in the inflammation progress. METHODS: The apoptosis, inflammation, MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway, and TRPA1 expression were assessed after HEK293 cells had been induced by DDP, and the role of TRPA1 in apoptosis and inflammation of DDP-induced HEK293 cells treated with TRPA1 antagonist HC-030031 was also evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), flow cytometry, and western blot assays. RESULTS: The cell viability was reduced by DDP in both a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner with a minimal cytotoxic concentration of 10 µM. Moreover, DDP induced an enhancement of the apoptosis and inflammation in a dose-dependent manner, as indicated by the increase of the relative protein level of cleaved-caspase3 (cleaved-cas3), the cleavage product of caspase-3 substrate poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (cleaved-PARP) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression level of interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (INF-γ). Additionally, DDP treatment increased the protein phosphorylation expression of IKKß, JNK, ERK, and p38 in a dose-dependent manner, which was antagonized by the treatment of NF-κB-specific inhibitor BAY 11-7082 and pan-MAPK inhibitor U0126. It was also found that DDP upregulated the expression of TRPA1 at both the mRNA and protein levels in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, block of TRPA1 with HC-030031 relieved the apoptosis, diminished the level of IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α, and INF-γ, reduced the level of cleaved-cas3, cleaved-PARP, and iNOS, decreased the p-IKKß, p-JNK, p-ERK, and p-p38 expression, and enhanced the expression of IκBα. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results indicate that TRPA1 regulates DDP-induced nephrotoxicity via inflammation mediated by the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway in HEK293 cells.

Voltage-Stabilizer-Grafted SiO2 Increases the Breakdown Voltage of the Cycloaliphatic Epoxy Resin.

Cycloaliphatic epoxy (CE) resin plays a vital role in insulation equipment due to its excellent insulation and processability. However, the insufficient ability of CE to confine electrons under high voltage often leads to an electric breakdown, which limits its wide applications in high-voltage insulation equipment. In this work, the interface effect of inorganic nano-SiO2 introduces deep traps to capture electrons, which is synergistic with the inherent ability of the voltage stabilizer m-aminobenzoic acid (m-ABA) to capture high-energy electrons through collision. Therefore, the insulation failure rate is reduced owing to doping of the functionalized nanoparticles of the m-ABA-grafted nano-SiO2 (m-ABA-SiO2) into the CE. It is worth noting that the breakdown field strength of this m-ABA-SiO2/CE reaches 53 kV/mm, which is 40.8% higher than that of pure CE. In addition, the tensile strength and volume resistivity of m-ABA-SiO2/CE are increased by 29.1 and 140%, respectively. Meanwhile, the glass transition temperature was increased by about 25 °C and reached 213 °C. This work proves that the comprehensive performance of CE-based nanocomposites is effectively improved by m-ABA-SiO2 nanoparticles, showing great application potential in high-voltage insulated power equipment.

Co-immobilized recombinant glycosyltransferases efficiently convert rebaudioside A to M in cascade.

Rebaudioside M (Reb M), as a natural and healthy Stevia sweetener, is produced by two glycosyltransferases that catalyze the serial glycosylation of Rebaudioside A (Reb A) and Rebaudioside D (Reb D) in cascade. Meanwhile, it is of great importance in developing an immobilization strategy to improve the reusability of glycosyltransferases in reducing the production cost of Reb M. Here, the recombinant glycosyltransferases, i.e., OsEUGT11 (UGT1) and SrUGT76G1 (UGT2), were expressed in Escherichia coli and covalently immobilized onto chitosan beads. UGT1 and UGT2 were individually immobilized and co-immobilized onto the beads that catalyze Reb A to Reb M in one-pot. The co-immobilized enzymes system exhibited ∼3.2-fold higher activity than that of the mixed immobilized enzymes system. A fairly high Reb A conversion rate (97.3%) and a high Reb M yield of 72.2% (4.82 ± 0.11 g L-1) were obtained with a feeding Reb A concentration of 5 g L-1. Eventually, after 4 and 8 reused cycles, the co-immobilized enzymes retained 72.5% and 53.1% of their original activity, respectively, showing a high stability to minimize the total cost of enzymes and suggesting that the co-immobilized UGTs is of potentially signficant value for the production of Reb M.

Heterologous expression of EUGT11 from Oryza sativa in Pichia pastoris for highly efficient one-pot production of rebaudioside D from rebaudioside A.

Rebaudioside D is a promising sweetener due to its zero calorie and high sweetness. Here, a transglucosylase gene eugt11 from Oryza sativa was for the first time expressed in Pichia pastoris, and transformant XE-3 showed the highest expression levels in pH 5.5 BMMY media containing 0.75% methanol. The affinity-purified EUGT11 from XE-3 displayed the highest activity at pH 6.0-6.5 and 45 °C, compared to pH 8.5 and 35 °C for EUGT11 from Escherichia coli. One-pot synthesis with orthogonal design was employed to optimize the rebaudioside D production using XE-3, and the initial pH 7.0 of the medium appears to be a significant factor and delivers the highest conversion efficiency. A two-step temperature-control strategy was developed, and a conversion rate of 95.31% was achieved at 28/35 °C vs. 62.41% in a one-step process at 28 °C. This study provides a high-efficient whole-cell biocatalysts technology for the sweetener production.