DUSP22 suppresses tumor progression by directly dephosphorylating AKT in non-small cell lung cancer.

Protein kinase B (AKT) plays a pivotal in regulating cell migration, proliferation, apoptosis, and survival, making it a prominent target for anticancer therapy. While the kinase activity of AKT has been extensively explored, its dephosphorylation have largely remained uncharted. Herein, we aimed to unravel the molecular mechanisms governing AKT dephosphorylation, with a specific emphasis on dual-specificity phosphatases DUSP22. Our investigation sought to shed light on the potential of DUSP22 as a potential therapeutic target for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To determine the expression level of DUSP22 in NSCLC cell lines, the gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) and Oncomine database were searched. Additionally, the effect of DUSP22 on patient survival was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier database. Antitumor effects of DUSP22 were tested in A549 and H1299 cell lines. Experiments are based on: (1) cell viability determined by the cell counting kit-8 assay and colony-formation assay; (2) cell migratory ability assessed through the scratch assay and the transwell migration assay; (3) the mechanism behind the antitumor effects of DUSP22 dissected with co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and in vitro kinase assays. Our study revealed a significant downregulation of DUSP22 in both NSCLC cell lines and tissues. Meanwhile, survival rate analysis results demonstrated that reduced DUSP22 expression was correlated with poorer overall survival in lung cancer patients. Moreover, DUSP22 exhibited an inhibitory effect on the cell viability and migratory capacity of A549 and H1299 cells. This inhibition was accompanied by the decrease in the phosphorylation of AKT and p38. Mechanistically, the phosphatase domain of DUSP22 interacted with AKT, resulting in the inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. This inhibitory effect was contingent upon the phosphatase activity of DUSP22. These findings provide compelling evidence that DUSP22 directly interacted with AKT, leading to the dephosphorylation of AKT at S473 and T308 residues, ultimately curbing the proliferation and migration of lung cancer cells. Additionally, our results also highlight a preclinical rationale for utilizing DUSP22 as a prognostic marker in NSCLC.

A novel flow-through dual-system electro-Fenton for boosting PAEs removal efficiency in natural waters.

In a conventional electro-Fenton system with a single cathode, it is difficult to attain both high H2O2 generation by oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and efficient iron reduction reaction (FRR). For this study, a flow-through dual-system electro-Fenton (FT-DEF) reactor was designed to overcome this shortcoming and promote mass transfer to effectively remove dimethyl phthalate (DMP) from water. By comparing the ORR and FRR performances of four different commercial carbon electrodes, the graphite felt with the highest amount of H2O2 generation was selected as the cathode of the ORR system, and the activated carbon fiber with the best Fe (III) reduction effect was selected as another cathode of the FRR system. The ORR system and FRR system operate simultaneously to form the DEF system. The FT-DEF system displayed many advantages compared with the conventional electro-Fenton (CI-ORR), presenting an improved efficiency and low energy consumption in phthalates removal. Under optimal reaction conditions, the FT-DEF system is capable to degrade 100% DMP in 20 min, which is 25% higher than the CI-ORR, while the reaction rate constant (0.271 min-1) is 16 times that of CI-ORR system (0.017min-1). In addition, the TOC removal of FT-DEF achieving 72.3% within 2 h with energy consumption of 2.35 kW h·m-3 is much better than CI-ORR that only achieves 18.3% TOC removal within 2 h with energy consumption of 8.13 kW h·m-3. Furthermore, control parameters and mechanism of FT-DEF were investigated in detail. The main intermediate products of DMP were analyzed by UPLC-ESI-HRMS, and the possible degradation path of DMP was speculated. In addition, application of FT-DEF in three types of natural water demonstrated its universal applicability of the system.

Heteroatom-Doped Hierarchically Porous Biochar for Supercapacitor Application and Phenol Pollutant Remediation.

Biochars are considered as promising materials in energy storage and environmental remediation because of their unique physicochemical properties and low cost. However, the fabrication of multifunctional biochar materials with a well-developed hierarchical porous structure as well as self-doped functionalities via a facile strategy remains a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a heteroatom-doped porous biochar, prepared by a hydrothermal pretreatment followed by a molten salt activation route. With the creation of a high specific surface area (1501.9 m2/g), a hierarchical porous structure, and the incorporation of oxygen-/nitrogen-functional groups, the as-prepared biochar (BC-24) exhibits great potential for supercapacitor application and organic pollutant elimination. The assembled biochar electrode delivers a specific capacitance of 378 F/g at 0.2 A/g with a good rate capability of 198 F/g at 10 A/g, and excellent cycling stability with 94.5% capacitance retention after 10,000 recycles. Moreover, BC-24 also exhibits superior catalytic activity for phenol degradation through peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation. The phenol (0.2 mM) can be effectively absorbed and then completely degraded within only 25 min over a wide pH range with low catalyst and PDS dosages. More importantly, TOC analysis indicates 81.7% of the phenol is mineralized within 60 min, confirming the effectiveness of the BC-24/PDS system. Quenching experiments and EPR measurements reveal that SO4·- and ·OH as well as 1O2 are involved in the phenol degradation, while the non-radical pathway plays the dominant role. This study provides valuable insights into the preparation of cost-effective carbon materials for supercapacitor application and organic contaminant remediation.

The Effect of Pore Structure on Impact Behavior of Concrete Hollow Brick, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete and Foamed Concrete.

Porous concrete is an energy absorption material, which has been widely used in civil engineering, traffic engineering and disaster reduction engineering. However, the effect of pore structure on the impact behavior of the porous concrete is lacked. In this study, a series of drop-weight impact tests were carried out on three typical types of porous concrete, i.e., concrete hollow brick (CHB), autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and foamed concrete (FC), to investigate the effect of pore structures on their impact behavior. For comparison, static load tests were also conducted as references. According to the damage to the samples, the developments of impact force, strain, contact stress-strain relationship and absorbed energy during drop-weight during the impact test were measured and analyzed. The results show that the ratio between the peak impact stress and compressive strength of CHB was 0.44, while that of AAC and FC increased to about 0.6, indicating that the small and uniform pore structure in AAC and FC had a higher resistance against impact load than the hollow cavity of CHB. In addition, the elastic recovery strain in AAC increased by about 0.2% and its strain at peak contact stress increased by about 160% for a comparison of CHB, implying that a small open pore structure could enhance ductility. Besides, the peak contact stress of FC was close to that of AAC during impact loading, while the strain at peak contact stress of FC increased by about 36% compared with AAC, revealing that the closed-pore structure could further enhance the deformation potential. Correspondingly, the energy absorption rates of CHB, AAC and FC were 85.9 kJ/s, 54.4 kJ/s and 49.7 kJ/s, respectively, where AAC decreased by about 58% compared with CHB, and FC decreased by about 10% compared with AAC.

Ferric iron reduction reaction electro-Fenton with gas diffusion device: A novel strategy for improvement of comprehensive efficiency in electro-Fenton.

Applying the optimal 2-electron oxygen reduction reaction potential in electro-Fenton (2e-ORR-EF) for degradation has become a common strategy because of the highest H2O2 generation rate in such condition. However, in 2e-ORR-EF system, the Fe(III) ions crystallize on the surface of cathode and form a layer of film according to SEM, XPS, XRD and Mössbauer spectrum resulting in poor reaction rate of EF. Hence, we propose FRR-EF, which is operated by applying the optimal potential of ferric iron reduction reaction (FRR) rather than that of 2e-ORR on cathode for EF. Gas diffusion device was also carried out to ensure the H2O2 generation rate. In this novel strategy, only - 0.1 V was applied on cathode. High H2O2 production rate (0.021 ± 0.002 mmol L-1 min-1 cm-2), and slow Fe(II) consumption rate (0.03 min-1) were achieved. The EIS result showed that at this potential, the formation of the Fe film was effectively alleviated, thus prolonging the degradation life of the cathode. This new strategy can balance both 2e-ORR and FRR, thus improving the comprehensive efficiency of EF, which provides essential references to the EF not only in potential operation but also in the design of reaction device.

Fe-oxide mineralogy of the Jiujiang red earth sediments and implications for Quaternary climate change, southern China.

Diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (DRS) is a new, fast, and reliable method to characterize Fe-oxides in soils. The Fe-oxide mineralogy of the Jiujiang red earth sediments was investigated using DRS to investigate the climate evolution of southern China since the mid-Pleistocene. The DRS results show that hematite/(hematite + goethite) ratios [Hm/(Hm + Gt)] exhibit an upward decreasing trend within the Jiujiang section, suggesting a gradual climate change from warm and humid in the middle Pleistocene to cooler and drier in the late Pleistocene. Upsection trends toward higher (orthoclase + plagioclase)/quartz ratios [(Or + Pl)/Q] and magnetic susceptibility values (χlf) support this inference, which accords with global climate trends at that time. However, higher-frequency climatic subcycles observed in loess sections of northern China are not evident in the Jiujiang records, indicating a relatively lower climate sensitivity of the red earth sediments in southern China.