Investigating the Influence of Diverse Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes as Conductive Fibers on Paper-Based Sulfur Cathodes in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are expected to be one of the next generations of high-energy-density battery systems due to their high theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg-1. Embracing the trends toward flexibility, lightweight design, and cost-effectiveness, paper-based electrodes offer a promising alternative to traditional coated cathodes in Li-S batteries. Within paper-based electrodes, conductive fibers such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) play a crucial role. They help to form a three-dimensional network within the paper matrix to ensure structural integrity over extended cycling while mitigating the shuttle effect by confining sulfur within the cathode. Herein, we explore how variously functionalized CNTs, serving as conductive fibers, impact the physical and electrochemical characteristics of paper-based sulfur cathodes in Li-S batteries. Specifically, graphitized hydroxylated carbon nanotubes (G-CNTs) exhibit remarkable capacity at low currents owing to their excellent conductivity and interaction with lithium polysulfide (LiPS), achieving the highest initial specific capacity of 1033 mAh g-1 at 0.25 C (1.1 mA cm-2). Aminated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NH2-CNTs) demonstrate an enhanced affinity for LiPS due to the -NH2 groups. However, the uneven distribution of these fibers may induce electrode surface passivation during charge-discharge cycles. Notably, hydroxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (OH-CNTs) can establish a uniform and stable 3D network with plant fibers, showcasing superior mechanical properties and helping to mitigate Li2S agglomeration while preserving the electrode porosity. The paper-based electrode integrated with OH-CNTs even retains a specific capacity of approximately 800 mAh g-1 at about 1.25 C (5 mA cm-2), demonstrating good sulfur utilization and rate capacity compared to other CNT variants.

In Situ Construction of Zinc-Mediated Fe, N-Codoped Hollow Carbon Nanocages with Boosted Oxygen Reduction for Zn-Air Batteries.

The rational design of bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts with unique morphology and luxuriant porous structure is significant but challenging for accelerating the reaction kinetics of rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZABs). Herein, zinc-mediated Fe, N-codoped carbon nanocages (Zn-FeNCNs) are synthesized by pyrolyzing the polymerized iron-doped polydopamine on the surface of the ZIF-8 crystal polyhedron. The formation of the chelate between polydopamine and Fe serves as the covering layer to prevent the porous carbon nanocages from collapsing and boosts enough exposure and utilization of metal-based active species during carbonization. Furthermore, both the theoretical calculation and experimental results show that the strong interaction between polyhedron and polydopamine facilitates the evolution of high-activity zinc-modulated FeNx sites and electron transportation and then stimulates the excellent bifunctional catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). As expected, the Zn-air battery with Zn-FeNCNs as an air cathode displays a superior power density (256 mW cm-2) and a high specific capacity (813.3 mA h gZn-1), as well as long-term stability over 1000 h. Besides, when this catalyst is applied to the solid-state battery, the device exhibited outstanding mechanical stability and a high round-trip efficiency under different bending angles.

Integrated Ink Printing Paper Based Self-Powered Electrochemical Multimodal Biosensing (IFP-Multi ) with ChatGPT-Bioelectronic Interface for Personalized Healthcare Management.

Personalized healthcare management is an emerging field that requires the development of environment-friendly, integrated, and electrochemical multimodal devices. In this study, the concept of integrated paper-based biosensors (IFP-Multi ) for personalized healthcare management is introduced. By leveraging ink printing technology and a ChatGPT-bioelectronic interface, these biosensors offer ultrahigh areal-specific capacitance (74633 mF cm-2 ), excellent mechanical properties, and multifunctional sensing and humidity power generation capabilities. More importantly, the IFP-Multi devices have the potential to simulate deaf-mute vocalization and can be integrated into wearable sensors to detect muscle contractions and bending motions. Moreover, they also enable monitoring of physiological signals from various body parts, such as the throat, nape, elbow, wrist, and knee, and successfully record sharp and repeatable signals generated by muscle contractions. In addition, the IFP-Multi devices demonstrate self-powered handwriting sensing and moisture power generation for sweat-sensing applications. As a proof-of-concept, a GPT 3.5 model-based fine-tuning and prediction pipeline that utilizes recorded physiological signals through IFP-Multi is showcased, enabling artificial intelligence with multimodal sensing capabilities for personalized healthcare management. This work presents a promising and ecofriendly approach to developing paper-based electrochemical multimodal devices, paving the way for a new era of healthcare advancements.

Multifunctional Conductive Material Based on Intelligent Porous Paper Used in Conjunction with a Vitrimer for Electromagnetic Shielding, Sensing, Joule Heating, and Antibacterial Properties.

With the continuous improvement of living standards and advancements in science and technology, composite materials with multiple functionalities are gaining high practical value in modern society. In this paper, we present a multifunctional conductive paper-based composite with electromagnetic (EMI) shielding, sensing, Joule heating, and antimicrobial properties. The composite is prepared by growing metallic silver nanoparticles inside the cellulose paper (CP) modified with polydopamine (PDA). The resulting CP@PDA@Ag (CPPA) composite has high conductivity and EMI shielding properties. Furthermore, CPPA composites demonstrate exceptional sensing, Joule heating, and antimicrobial properties. In addition, Vitrimer, a polymer with excellent cross-linked network structure, is introduced into CPPA composites to obtain CPPA-V intelligent electromagnetic shielding materials with shape memory function. These excellent properties show that the prepared multifunctional intelligent composite has exceptional EMI shielding, sensing, Joule heating, and antibacterial and shape memory properties. In short, this multifunctional intelligent composite material has great application prospects in flexible wearable electronics.

[Terpinen-4-ol inhibits proliferation of VSMCs exposed to high glucose via regulating KLF4/NF-κB signaling pathway].

This study aimed to observe the effect of terpinen-4-ol(T4O) on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) exposed to high glucose(HG) and reveal the mechanism via the Krüppel-like factor 4(KLF4)/nuclear factor kappaB(NF-κB) signaling pathway. The VSMCs were first incubated with T4O for 2 h and then cultured with HG for 48 h to establish the model of inflammatory injury. The proliferation, cell cycle, and migration rate of VSMCs were examined by MTT method, flow cytometry, and wound healing assay, respectively. The content of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α) in the supernatant of VSMCs was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA), Cyclin D1, KLF4, NF-κB p-p65/NF-κB p65, IL-1ß, and IL-18. The KLF4 expression in VSMCs was silenced by the siRNA technology, and then the effects of T4O on the cell cycle and protein expression of the HG-induced VSMCs were observed. The results showed that different doses of T4O inhibited the HG-induced proliferation and migration of VSMCs, increased the percentage of cells in G_1 phase, and decreased the percentage of cells in S phase, and down-regulated the protein levels of PCNA and Cyclin D1. In addition, T4O reduced the HG-induced secretion and release of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α and down-regulated the expression of KLF4, NF-κB p-p65/NF-κB p65, IL-1ß, and IL-18. Compared with si-NC+HG, siKLF4+HG increased the percentage of cells in G_1 phase, decreased the percentage of cells in S phase, down-regulated the expression of PCNA, Cyclin D1, and KLF4, and inhibited the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. Notably, the combination of silencing KLF4 with T4O treatment further promoted the changes in the above indicators. The results indicate that T4O may inhibit the HG-induced proliferation and migration of VSMCs by down-regulating the level of KLF4 and inhibiting the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway.

TiO2-Coated Silicon Nanoparticle Core-Shell Structure for High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery Anode Materials.

Silicon-based anode materials are considered one of the highly promising anode materials due to their high theoretical energy density; however, problems such as volume effects and solid electrolyte interface film (SEI) instability limit the practical applications. Herein, silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) are used as the nucleus and anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) is used as the buffer layer to form a core-shell structure to adapt to the volume change of the silicon-based material and improve the overall interfacial stability of the electrode. In addition, silver nanowires (AgNWs) doping makes it possible to form a conductive network structure to improve the conductivity of the material. We used the core-shell structure SiNPs@TiO2/AgNWs composite as an anode material for high-efficiency Li-ion batteries. Compared with the pure SiNPs electrode, the SiNPs@TiO2/AgNWs electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical performance with a first discharge specific capacity of 3524.2 mAh·g-1 at a current density of 400 mA·g-1, which provides a new idea for the preparation of silicon-based anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

Molten salt induced formation of chitosan based carbon nanosheets decorated with CoNx for boosting rechargeable Zn-air batteries.

The earth-abundant, low-cost, and efficient oxygen electrode materials offer a potential opportunity to satisfy the large-scale production and application of metal-air batteries. Herein, a molten salt-assisted strategy is developed to anchor transition metal-based active sites via in-situ confining into porous carbon nanosheet. As a result, a chitosan-based porous nitrogen-doped nanosheet decorated with the well-defined CoNx (CoNx/CPCN) was reported. Both structural characterization and electrocatalytic mechanisms demonstrate a prominent synergetic effect between CoNx and porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets forcefully accelerates the sluggish reaction kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Interestingly, the Zn-air batteries (ZABs) equipped with CoNx/CPCN-900 as an air electrode shows outstanding durability for 750 discharge/charge cycles, a high power density of 189.9 mW cm-2, and a high gravimetric energy density of 1018.7 mWh g-1 at 10 mA cm-2. Furthermore, the assembled all-solid cell displays exceptional flexibility and power density (122.2 mW cm-2).

MicroRNA-146 attenuates lipopolysaccharide induced ovarian dysfunction by inhibiting the TLR4/NF- κB signaling pathway.

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a disease that seriously affects women's reproductive function and even leads to lifelong infertility. Little is known about the mechanism of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ovarian dysfunction. Thus, we aimed to identify the role of the up-regulation of microRNA (miRNA)-146 expression offered protection against ovarian dysfunction by inhibiting the toll-like receptor (TLR) 4, TLR4/phosphorylated (p)-nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathway and inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and Interleukin (IL)-6. In an in vivo study, we established an LPS-induced ovarian dysfunction mouse model. The mouse ovarian granulosa cells were transfected with miR-146 mimic or negative controls or inhibitor and then treated with LPS. Therefore, cell viability, cells apoptosis, IL-6 and TNF-a, TLR4, NF- κB were assessed, respectively. These results demonstrated that the up-regulation of miRNA-146 expression may protect against LPS-induced ovarian dysfunction and markedly increased the cell viability, and significantly reduced the ovarian granulosa cells apoptotic rate, and down-regulated IL-6 and TNF-a expression. In addition, miRNA-146 exerted protective ovarian functions might be via inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. In summary, we reveal the up-regulation of miRNA-146 expression mitigated ovarian dysfunction by negatively regulating expression of the IL-6 and TNF-a, which may shed light on the potential molecular mechanisms of overexpression of miRNA-146 may reversed the ovarian dysfunction by inhibiting the TLR4/ NF-κB signaling pathway.

High-Density Oxygen Doping of Conductive Metal Sulfides for Better Polysulfide Trapping and Li2 S-S8 Redox Kinetics in High Areal Capacity Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Exploring new materials and methods to achieve high utilization of sulfur with lean electrolyte is still a common concern in lithium-sulfur batteries. Here, high-density oxygen doping chemistry is introduced for making highly conducting, chemically stable sulfides with a much higher affinity to lithium polysulfides. It is found that doping large amounts of oxygen into NiCo2 S4 is feasible and can make it outperform the pristine oxides and natively oxidized sulfides. Taking the advantages of high conductivity, chemical stability, the introduced large Li-O interactions, and activated Co (Ni) facets for catalyzing Sn 2- , the NiCo2 (O-S)4 is able to accelerate the Li2 S-S8 redox kinetics. Specifically, lithium-sulfur batteries using free-standing NiCo2 (O-S)4 paper and interlayer exhibit the highest capacity of 8.68 mAh cm-2 at 1.0 mA cm-2 even with a sulfur loading of 8.75 mg cm-2 and lean electrolyte of 3.8 µL g-1 . The high-density oxygen doping chemistry can be also applied to other metal compounds, suggesting a potential way for developing more powerful catalysts towards high performance of Li-S batteries.

Role of nanocellulose in colored paper preparation.

Colored paper is an important industrial paper grade that has applications in various industrial sectors. The increase in coloring efficiency is a key in decreasing the use of dyes, thus can be considered as a "green" process concept; the coloring efficiency depends on the dye retention and dispersion. This work explores the use of nanocellulose, specifically, TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNF), on the coloring efficiency of the preparation of colored paper. Two dyes (i.e. direct blue GL and reactive red 195 (RR195)) were used. Thanks to the large specific surface area and abundant active sites of TOCNF, its use largely improves the direct blue GL retention during the process. The coloring difference (∆E*ab) reached 5.334 with the addition of 13.6 wt% TOCNF and 1.8 wt% direct blue GL in the pulp furnish. The functional group in the dye is a vital factor in determining the dye retention when one chooses TOCNF to enhance the coloring efficiency in the production of colored paper. Furthermore, TOCNF significantly improved the strength properties of both direct blue GL and RR 195 dyed papers. This work demonstrates the potential of nanocellulose in the production of colored paper in improving the coloring efficiency, thus decreasing the environmental impact of the manufacturing process.

New Kind of Lignin/Polyhydroxyurethane Composite: Green Synthesis, Smart Properties, Promising Applications, and Good Reprocessability and Recyclability.

A new kind of biobased material named lignin-containing polyhydroxyurethane (LPHU) is prepared from bis(6-membered cyclic carbonate) (BCC), dimer fatty diamine, and lignin for the first time. The preparation strategy is isocyanate-free, solvent-free, and catalyst-free, representing a green and environmentally friendly method to access polyurethane (PU)/lignin composites. The resultant LPHUs possess dual networks: a dynamic covalent network and a hydrogen bonding network, exhibiting superior mechanical strength, high thermal stability, excellent reprocessability/recyclability, and smart properties such as shape memory and self-healing. Potential application investigations indicate that the resultant LPHUs can be not only used for smart packaging label fabrication for heat-sensitive commodities but also further combined with natural cellulose paper to prepare paper-based electromagnetic shielding materials with high mechanical performance.

Ultra-high thermal-conductive, reduced graphene oxide welded cellulose nanofibrils network for efficient thermal management.

Cellulosic materials are especially suitable for use in flexible electronic products because of their light weight, good tolerance, flexibility, and biodegradability. In this work, cellulose nanofibril/reduced graphene oxide (CNF/rGO) nanocomposites are prepared and the thermal properties of the nanocomposites are analyzed. A supporting column and 2D layered structure porous paper is obtained with CNF/rGO as the heat conduction skeleton, which shows excellent thermal conductivity. The results show that this novel CNF/rGO porous paper has an ultrahigh in-plane thermal conductivity of up to 16.30 W/m K when only 1 wt.% rGO is added in, demonstrating efficient thermal management performance of the CNF-based nanocomposites with low rGO loading. We believe that the development of thermal management techniques using CNFs and rGO for emergent energy storage devices will lead to efficient technologies, further easing our daily lives.

A multifunctional self-crosslinked chitosan/cationic guar gum composite hydrogel and its versatile uses in phosphate-containing water treatment and energy storage.

A new self-crosslinked composite hydrogel is prepared with chitosan (CS) and cationic guar gum (CGG), based on the imine and acetal chemistry for gelation. The CS/CGG hydrogel exhibits thermal/pH responsiveness, injectability, adhesiveness and good compressive strength. The hydrogel is effective in removing phosphate from wastewater through an adsorption process, during which KH2PO4 is used as a phosphate model. The adsorption complies with the Freundlich model, indicating that it is a multilayered process with complex adsorption mechanisms. Considering their porous structure and nitrogen/phosphorus heteroatoms doping, the phosphate-adsorbed hydrogels are made into porous N,P doped carbon aerogels that can be potentially used as electrodes for a supercapacitor. The results indicate that these carbon aerogels possess excellent capacitive performance (best specific capacitance of 302.2 ± 4.9 F/g), as well as good cycling stability after 5000 times of charging/discharging.

A New Kind of Nonconventional Luminogen Based on Aliphatic Polyhydroxyurethane and Its Potential Application in Ink-Free Anticounterfeiting Printing.

Organic luminogens have extensive applications due to their unique photophysical properties. In recent years, nonconjugated organic luminogens, in contrast to traditional conjugated luminogens, have gained much attention because of their facile preparation, environmental friendliness, and biocompatibility. In this study, a new kind of nonconventional luminogen based on dynamic covalent cross-linked polyhydroxyurethane is reported for the first time. The new luminogen not only exhibits intrinsic strong fluorescent emission in the solid state but also possesses high mechanical properties along with good shape memory and self-healing properties. In addition, the new luminogens are synthesized from aliphatic polyfunctional cyclic carbonate and amines via a much more straightforward method, avoiding the use of toxic isocyanates. Investigations indicated that the intrinsic luminescence of the resultant luminogens was induced by the cross-linking of polymer chains and could be well tuned by controlling the degree of cross-linking. By taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the resultant polymer luminogens, we further developed a facile method, named "light-mediated ink-free screen printing", for anticounterfeiting paper fabrication. Different from traditional ink-based printing technology, the new method used UV-light instead of expensive security ink to encode anticounterfeiting information on natural cellulose paper. The anticounterfeiting information is stable under various wet conditions, showing promising applications in the fast-growing counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals, packaging, and the food industry.

Facile synthesis of Ag NPs@ MIL-100(Fe)/ guar gum hybrid hydrogel as a versatile photocatalyst for wastewater remediation: Photocatalytic degradation, water/oil separation and bacterial inactivation.

3D Hydrogel is one of the most popular adsorbents for water remediation due to its excellent concentration/ adsorption capacity. However, it remains a challenge to use the hydrogel alone for treating complex wastewater. In this work, we designed and fabricated a versatile bio-based hybrid hydrogel consisting of Ag NPs@ MIL-100(Fe) photocatalysts and guar gum (GG) via facile blending and self-crosslinking. The hybrid hydrogel integrated with multifunctions of dye adsorption and degradation, oil/water separation and antibacterial properties, thus enabling its applications in complex wastewater remediation process. The presence of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) not only enhanced the photocatalytic activity of MIL-100(Fe), but also imparted the antibacterial activity of Ag NPs@MIL-100(Fe)/ GG hydrogel. Particularly, the bio-based GG hydrogel scaffold showed excellent injectable, remodeling, and self-healing properties, which enabled an effective oil/water separation ability (silicone oil, cyclohexane and canola oil) and facilitated the recyclability/sustainability of the nano-photocatalyst powders. This novel multifunctional 3D hybrid hydrogel provides new opportunities for wastewater remediation purpose.

A Facile Method to Prepare Silver Doped Graphene Combined with Polyaniline for High Performances of Filter Paper Based Flexible Electrode.

A flexible filter paper based composite electrode was prepared via the convenient one-step synthesis of silver doped graphene for the first time, followed by in-situ polymerization of aniline monomers. Using L-ascorbic acid for simultaneous reduction of grapheme oxide and silver nitrate, we provided a new and green method to prepare graphene hybrid sheets without toxicity. It was found that the as-fabricated hybrid electrode formed a three-dimensional porous architecture, which not only increased the specific surface area of composite, but also facilitated the ion diffusion of the electrolyte. In addition, according to the tests of electrochemical performances, the flexible hybrid electrode subsequently exhibited exceptional specific capacitance of 437.3 F/g, energy density of 1133.5 W·h/kg and power density of 88.8 kW/kg, respectively. Meanwhile, the as-prepared hybrid demonstrated a good cycling stability with only 10.99% specific capacitance deterioration after 5000 times of cycling. This preparation technology presented here shows great potential for the development and application of wearable and portable energy storage devices, particularly for flexible supercapacitors. Moreover, this study puts forward a general, simple and low-cost route of fabricating a novel flexible electrode on a large scale, eventually for environmental protection.

A Facile Method of Preparing the Asymmetric Supercapacitor with Two Electrodes Assembled on a Sheet of Filter Paper.

An asymmetric supercapacitor was prepared on a sheet of filter paper with two modified surfaces acting as electrodes in 1 M potassium hydroxide aqueous solution. By choosing carbon nanotubes and two different kinds of metal oxides (zinc oxide and ferro ferric oxide) as electrode materials, the asymmetric supercapacitor was successfully fabricated. The results showed that this device exhibited a wide potential window of 1.8 V and significantly improved electrochemical performances of its counterparts. Particularly, the one-sheet asymmetric supercapacitor demonstrated high energy density of 116.11 W h/kg and power density 27.48 kW/kg, which was attributed to the combined action and shortened distance between the two electrodes, respectively. Besides, it showed superior electrochemical cycling stability with 87.1% capacitance retention under room temperature. These outstanding results can not only give researchers new insights into compact energy storage systems, but they also provide a good prospect for flexible asymmetric supercapacitors.

Vitrimer-Cellulose Paper Composites: A New Class of Strong, Smart, Green, and Sustainable Materials.

Vitrimer, the third category of polymer materials, combines the properties of traditional thermosets and thermoplastics and has gained much interest from industry since the first report in 2011. Currently, many researchers focus on the exploration of new chemistry for novel vitrimer synthesis but pay less attention to the fabrication of vitrimer composites based on known vitrimer systems. The latter can not only largely decrease the cost of vitrimers but also provide a facile way to increase the variety of vitrimer-based materials and extend the applications of vitrimers in different fields. In this study, we developed a new class of vitrimer composite using polycarbonate as a matrix and natural cellulose paper as the reinforcing framework for the first time. The resultant materials possess exceptional mechanical properties and great thermal/chemical stability, simultaneously exhibiting a series of smart properties, such as shape-memory, reshaping, self-healing, and reprocessing. Noteworthily, the two main components of the resultant materials, polycarbonate and natural cellulose, can be easily recycled under mild conditions; thus, these new vitrimer composites qualify as novel green and sustainable materials.

Carbohydrates-rich corncobs supported metal-organic frameworks as versatile biosorbents for dye removal and microbial inactivation.

In this work, biodegradable cellulose-based biosorbents (MOFs/OCBs) with dual function of dye removal and microbial inactivation were fabricated by in situ anchoring metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on the TEMPO oxidized corncobs (OCBs). Results showed that delignification and oxidation can develop the OCBs with more cellulose content, carboxyl groups and specific surface area, thus facilitating the deposition of MOFs. The porous and carbohydrate-rich OCBs can serve as supports and stabilizers for MOFs, allowing for enhanced stability and recyclability of MOFs powders. The MOFs, namely HKUST-1 and ZIF-8, can endow the OCBs multiple functions of good adsorption capacity to methyl orange (from 8% of OCBs to 55% of HKUST-1/OCBs and 84% of ZIF-8/OCBs) and excellent antibacterial activity (from 0 of OCBs to 90.2% of HKUST-1/OCBs and 44.8% of ZIF-8/OCBs). Such a concept may offer a new pathway for preparing economical and efficient biosorbents for environmental remedy purposes.

The IL-2/Anti-IL-2 Complex Attenuates Cardiac Ischaemia-Reperfusion Injury Through Expansion of Regulatory T Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) can suppress immunologic damage in myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI), however, the isolation and ex vivo expansion of these cells for clinical application remains challenging. Here, we investigated whether the IL-2/anti-IL-2 complex (IL-2C), a mediator of Treg expansion, can attenuate MIRI in mice. METHODS: Myocardial I/R was surgically induced in male C57BL/6 mice, aged 8-10 weeks, that were randomly assigned to 1) sham group (Sham), 2) Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS), 3) IL-2-anti-IL-2 Ab complex (IL-2C), or 4) sham group, 5) PBS, 6) IL-2C after MIRI, or 7) IL-2C, 8) IL-2C+anti-CD25 mAbs, or 9) IL-2C; 10) IL-2C+anti-TGF-ß1 mAbs, 11) IL-2C+anti-IL-10 mAbs. The following parameters were measured at different time points: infarct area, myocardial apoptosis, splenocytes, the inhibitory function of Tregs, and presence of inflammatory factors. In addition, immunohistochemistry analysis was performed. RESULTS: We observed that Tregs were activated in response to MIRI. IL-2C administered before MIRI induced Treg expansion in both spleen and heart, attenuated Th1 and Th17 cell numbers, improved myocardial function, and attenuated both infiltration of inflammatory cells and apoptosis after MIRI. Furthermore, IL-2C administration reduced expression of inflammatory cytokines in the heart and attenuated proliferation of splenic cells. Depletion of Tregs with anti-CD25 mAb abrogated the beneficial effects of IL-2C. However, IL-2C-mediated myocardial protection was not dependent on either IL-10 or TGF-ß. In addition, IL-2C administration after MIRI did not reduce infarct area, but did improve myocardial function slightly and reduced myocardial fibrosis. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that IL-2C-induced Treg expansion attenuates MIRI and improves myocardial recovery in vivo, suggesting that IL-2C is a promising therapeutic target for myocardial IRI.