Search

Metal-organic frameworks constructed from Zr usually possess excellent chemical and physical stability. Therefore, they have become attractive platforms in various fields. In this work, two families of hybrid materials based on ZrSQU have been designed and synthesized, named Im@ZrSQU and Cu@ZrSQU, respectively. Im@ZrSQU was prepared through the impregnation method and employed for proton conduction. Im@ZrSQU exhibited terrific proton conduction performance in an anhydrous environment, with the highest proton conduction value of 3.6 × 10 -2 S cm -1 at 110 °C. In addition, Cu@ZrSQU was synthesized via the photoinduction method for the photoreduction of CO 2 , which successfully promoted the conversion of CO 2 into CO and achieved the CO generation rate of up to 12.4 μmol g -1 h -1 . The photocatalytic performance of Cu@ZrSQU is derived from the synergistic effect of Cu NPs and ZrSQU. Based on an in-depth study and discussion toward ZrSQU, we provide a versatile platform with applications in the field of proton conduction and photocatalysis, which will guide researchers in their further studies.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Danggui Buxue decoction (DBD) is a classic herbal decoction consisting of Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelica Sinensis Radix (ASR) with a 5:1 wt ratio, which can supplement 'blood' and 'qi' (vital energy) for the treatment of clinical diseases. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, dementia is induced by Blood deficiency and Qi weakness, which causes a decline in cognition. However, the underlying mechanisms of DBD improving cognition deficits in neurodegenerative disease are no clear., Aim of the Study: This study aims at revealing the underlying mechanisms of DBD plays a protective role in the cognitive deficits and pathology process of Alzheimer's disease (AD)., Materials and Methods: The APP/PS1 (Mo/HuAPP695swe/PS1-dE9) double transgenic mice were adopted as an experimental model of AD. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of 3 compounds in DBT was analyzed by HPLC. Morris water maze test, Golgi staining and electrophysiology assays were used to evaluate the effects of DBD on cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in APP/PS1 mice. Western blot, immunofluorescence and Thioflavin S staining were used for the pathological evaluation of AD. Monitoring the level of ATP, mitochondrial membrane potential, SOD and MDA to evaluate the mitochondrial function, and with the usage of qPCR and CHIP for the changes of histone post-translational modification., Results: In the current study, we found that DBD could effectively attenuate memory impairments and enhance long-term potentiation (LTP) with concurrent increased expression of memory-associated proteins. DBD markedly decreased Aβ accumulation in APP/PS1 mice by decreasing the phosphorylation of APP at the Thr668 level but not APP, PS1 or BACE1. Further studies demonstrated that DBD restored mitochondrial biogenesis deficits and mitochondrial dysfunction. Finally, the restored mitochondrial biogenesis and cognitive deficits are under HADC2-mediated histone H4 lysine 12 (H4K12) acetylation at the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor type 2B (GluN2B) promoters., Conclusions: These findings reveal that DBD could ameliorate mitochondrial biogenesis and cognitive deficits by improving H4K12 acetylation. DBD might be a promising complementary drug candidate for AD treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The anhydrous proton conductivity of Im@IEF-11 resulting from the integration of imidazole and porous IEF-11 has been investigated, and the highest proton conductive value can reach up to 7.64 × 10 -2 S cm -1 . Furthermore, IEF-11 is also developed to reduce CO 2 due to its reasonable structure and suitable energy band, and its CO formation rate is 31.86 μmol g -1 h -1 .

The photoreduction deposition method is employed to fabricate a family of silver nanoparticle (Ag NP)-modified polyoxometalate-based metal-organic framework ( NENU-5 ) photocatalysts, named Ag/NENU-5 . The title photocatalysts, Ag/NENU-5 , can be used for the photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 and are observed to efficiently reduce CO 2 into CO, in which the highest reduction rate is 22.28 μmol g -1 h -1 , 3 times greater than that of NENU-5 . Photocatalytic reduction performances of CO 2 have been extremely improved after the incorporation of Ag NPs as the cocatalyst. The enhancement of the photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 has been attributed to the synergistic effects of Ag NPs and NENU-5 , inhibiting the charge recombination during the photocatalytic process and increasing the reaction active sites. Furthermore, the influence of Ag NPs on the photocatalytic activity has also been investigated. The experimental results clearly reveal that the size of Ag NPs could exert a main effect on the photocatalytic activity, and the reasonable size of Ag NPs is able to enhance the photocatalytic reduction activity toward CO 2 significantly.

Background: In recent years, a growing body of research has revealed that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in regulating genomic instability., Materials and Methods: We obtained RNA expression profiles, somatic mutation profiles, clinical information, and pathological features of colorectal cancer (CRC) from The Cancer Genome Atlas project. We divided the cohort into two groups based on mutation frequency and identified genomic instability-related lncRNAs (GI-lncRNAs) using R software. We further analyzed the function of identified GI-lncRNAs and established a prognostic model through Cox regression. Using the established prognostic model, we divided the cohort into the high- and low-risk groups and further verified the prognostic differences between the two groups as well as the predictive power of prognosis-related lncRNAs in the genomic instability of CRC., Results: We identified a total of 143 GI-lncRNAs that were differentially expressed between the higher mutation frequency group and the lower mutation frequency group. According to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway and Gene Ontology analyses, a series of cancer-associated terms were enriched. We further constructed a prognostic model that included five GI-lncRNAs (lncRNA PTPRD-AS1, lncRNA AC009237.14, lncRNA LINC00543, lncRNA AP003555.1, and lncRNA AL109615.3). We confirmed that the expression of the five GI-lncRNAs was associated with prognosis and the mutation of critical genes in the CRC patient cohort., Conclusions: The present research further confirmed the vital function of GI-lncRNAs in the genomic instability of CRC. The five GI-lncRNAs identified in our study are potential biomarkers and need to be studied in more depth., Competing Interests: All authors declare no conflicts of interest in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Yu Liang et al.)

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide an ideal platform for loading various guests owing to their available space, and can be developed as a class of multifunctional materials. Herein, we cover the design and synthesis of two kinds of exchanged frameworks with multifunctional applications based on H 3 ImDC and In(NO 3 ) 3 ·2H 2 O through guest exchange inside the framework. The guest ammonium ion (NH 4 + ) and [Ru(2,2'-bipyridine) 3 ] 2+ (Rubpy) are selected to exchange the dimethylammonium cation (Me 2 NH 2 + ) encapsulated within In-MOF , giving birth to two kinds of new MOFs, named NH 4 + @In-MOF and Rubpy@In-MOF respectively. The proton conduction of NH 4 + @In-MOF and the CO 2 photoreduction of Rubpy@In-MOF are investigated. Under different test conditions, the proton conductive behaviors of NH 4 + @In-MOF are evaluated and the best proton conductive value can reach up to 9.81 × 10 -3 S cm -1 . Compared to the original In-MOF , Rubpy@In-MOF exhibits a significantly enhanced CO 2 photoreduction performance under a pure CO 2 atmosphere. Furthermore, its photocatalytic activity is retained even under a 10% CO 2 gas atmosphere, displaying a synergistic effect between Rubpy and In-MOF24 within Rubpy@In-MOF .

It is a promising strategy to prepare composite photocatalysts based on MOFs and semiconductors for enhancing photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). A family of binary composite photocatalysts ( CdS@UiO-66-NH 2 ) with different CdS contents have been designed and synthesized, which have been explored for photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 . CdS@UiO-66-NH 2 can efficiently convert CO 2 into CO under visible light irradiation via the solid-gas mode in the absence of sacrificial agents and photosensitizers. The generation rate of CO can reach up to 280.5 μmol g -1 h -1 , which is 2.13-fold and 2.9-fold improvements over the pristine CdS and UiO-66-NH 2 , respectively, and the selectivity for CO is very high. Furthermore, this kind of photocatalysts can still maintain great photocatalytic activity in CO 2 /N 2 mixed atmosphere with different CO 2 concentrations. The outstanding performances of CdS@UiO-66-NH 2 may be attributed to the existence of the direct Z-scheme heterojunction, which possesses the enhanced separation and migration of photo-generated charge carriers between UiO-66-NH 2 and CdS, available specific surface areas and improved visible light absorption ability as well as abundant reaction active sites. This case reveals that MOF-based composite photocatalysts exhibit promising potential applications in the field of CO 2 conversion.

Photoreduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) provides an effective perspective for solving the energy crisis and environmental problems. Herein, two types of composite photocatalysts (TiO 2 /ZIF-8) based on ZIF-8 and TiO 2 have been designed and synthesized with the help of the grinding method and the solid-synthesis method. Both composite photocatalysts are employed for the photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 . In composite photocatalysts prepared by the grinding method, ZIF-8 particles are distributed on the surface of TiO 2 , and provide extra available spaces for storing CO 2 , which is beneficial for improving their photoreduction performances. As a result, an enhanced CO formation rate of 21.74 μmol g -1 h -1 with a high selectivity of 99% is obtained for this family of composite photocatalysts via the solid-gas mode without photosensitizers and sacrificial agents. For comparison, the other family of composite photocatalysts synthesized via the solid-synthesis method possesses structures similar to ZIF-8, where TiO 2 is encapsulated inside the framework of ZIF-8. This structural feature obstructs the contact between the active sites of TiO 2 and CO 2 , and leads to lower activities. The best CO formation rate of this family is only 10.67 μmol g -1 h -1 with 90% selectivity. Both the structural features of the two families of photocatalysts are described to explain their differences in photoreduction performances. The experimental finding reveals that different synthetic approaches indeed result in diversified structures and varied photocatalytic performances. This work affords a new scalable and efficient approach for the rational design of efficient photocatalysts in the area of artificial photosynthesis., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Sophoricoside (SOP), an isoflavone glycoside isolated from seed of Sophora japonica L., has been reported to have various pharmacological activities, including anti-cancer, anti-allergy and anti-inflammation. However, the effect of SOP on lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-acute lung injury (ALI) is completely unclear. Here, we found that SOP pretreatment significantly ameliorated LPS-induced pathological damage, tissue permeability, neutrophil infiltration and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) in a murine model of ALI. Besides, SOP reduced the production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as iNOS, NO and inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and bone marrow derived macrophages. Interestingly, treatment with SOP exhibited no effect on the activation of NF-κB and MAPKs in macrophages but prominently accelerated the expression and nuclear translocation of Nrf2. By using ML385, a specific Nrf2 inhibitor, we found that inhibition of Nrf2 abolished the inhibitory effect of SOP on LPS-induced iNOS expression, NO production as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine generation. SOP also activated AMPK, an upstream protein of Nrf2, under LPS stimuli. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the accelerated expression of Nrf2 induced by SOP was reversed by interference with the AMPK inhibitor Compound C. Taken together, our results suggested that SOP attenuated LPS-induced ALI in AMPK/Nrf2 dependent manner and indicated that SOP might be a potential therapeutic candidate for treating ALI/ARDS., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) selectively cleaves synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) and results in inhibition of the fusion of synaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitters with the presynaptic membrane to undergo exocytosis and release. The aim of this study was to investigate whether BTX-A inhibited the pyloric smooth muscle contractility induced by acetylcholine (ACh) after BTX-A-mediated cleavage of SNAP-25 antagonized by toosendanin (TSN). Three groups of rat pyloric muscle strips were studied in vitro. All strips were allowed to equilibrate for 52 min under a basal loading tension of 1 g in Krebs solution and spontaneous contractile waves were recorded as their own controls before adding each drug. According to experimental protocols, 100 μM ACh, 1 μM atropine, 29.6 μM TSN and 10 U/ml BTX-A was added, respectively. BTX-A directly inhibited pyloric spontaneous contraction and ACh-induced contractile response. Addition of 10 U/ml BTX-A still inhibited pyloric smooth muscle contractility following incubation of TSN, while subsequent administration of 100 μM ACh had no effect. BTX-A inhibits pyloric smooth muscle contractility in our study suggesting BTX-A inhibits not only ACh release from cholinergic nerves but also muscarinic cholinergic muscular transmission.