[Distributions and air-sea fluxes of dissolved nitrous oxide in the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent marine area in spring and summer].

Distributions and air-sea fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) in the seawaters of the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent marine area were investigated during two cruises in March and July 2012. Dissolved N2O concentrations in surface waters ranged from 9.34 to 49.08 nmol x L(-1) with an average of (13.27 ± 6.40) nmol x L(-1) in spring and ranged from 7.27 to 27.81 nmol x L(-1) with an average of (10.62 ± 5.03) nmol x L(-1) in summer. There was no obvious difference between surface and bottom N2O concentrations. N2O concentrations in both surface and bottom waters decreased along the freshwater plume from the river mouth to the open sea. High values of dissolved N2O were found in turbidity maximum zone, which suggests that maximal turbidity enhances nitrification. Temperature had dual effects on dissolved N2O concentrations. N2O saturations in surface waters ranged from 86.9% to 351.3% with an average of (111.5 ± 41.4)% in spring and ranged from 111.7% to 396.0% with an average of (155.9 ± 68.4)% in summer. N2O were over-saturated at most stations. The sea-to-air fluxes of N2O were estimated to be (3.2 ± 10.9), (5.5 ± 19.3) and (12.2 ±52.3) µmol x (m2 x d)(-1) in spring and (7.3 ± 12.4), (12.7 ± 20.4) and (20.4 ± 35.9) µmol x (m2 x d)(-1) in summer using the LM86, W92 and RC01 relationships, respectively. The annual emissions of N2O from the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent marine area were estimated to be 0.6 x 10(-2) Tg x a(-1) (LM86), 1.1 x 10(-2) Tg x a(-1) (W92) and 2.0 x 10(-2) Tg x a(-1) (RC01). Although the area of the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent marine area only accounts for 0.02% of the total area of the world's oceans, their emission of N2O accounts for 0.06% of global oceanic N2O emission, indicating that the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent marine area is an active area to produce and emit N2O.

A novel small peptide as an epidermal growth factor receptor targeting ligand for nanodelivery in vitro.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) serves an important function in the proliferation of tumors in humans and is an effective target for the treatment of cancer. In this paper, we studied the targeting characteristics of small peptides (AEYLR, EYINQ, and PDYQQD) that were derived from three major autophosphorylation sites of the EGFR C-terminus domain in vitro. These small peptides were labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and used the peptide LARLLT as a positive control, which bound to putative EGFR selected from a virtual peptide library by computer-aided design, and the independent peptide RALEL as a negative control. Analyses with flow cytometry and an internalization assay using NCI-H1299 and K562 with high EGFR and no EGFR expression, respectively, indicated that FITC-AEYLR had high EGFR targeting activity. Biotin-AEYLR that was specifically bound to human EGFR proteins demonstrated a high affinity for human non-small-cell lung tumors. We found that AEYLR peptide-conjugated, nanostructured lipid carriers enhanced specific cellular uptake in vitro during a process that was apparently mediated by tumor cells with high-expression EGFR. Analysis of the MTT assay indicated that the AEYLR peptide did not significantly stimulate or inhibit the growth activity of the cells. These findings suggest that, when mediated by EGFR, AEYLR may be a potentially safe and efficient delivery ligand for targeted chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and gene therapy.