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5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) is a common reaction product during heat processing and the preparation of many types of foods and Traditional Chinese Medicine formulations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of 5-HMF on endotoxin-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and the underlying mechanisms. Our findings indicate that 5-HMF attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in mice by mitigating alveolar destruction, neutrophil infiltration and the release of inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, the activation of macrophages and human monocytes in response to LPS was remarkably suppressed by 5-HMF in vitro through inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway, NLRP3 inflammasome activation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. The inhibitory effect of 5-HMF on NLRP3 inflammasome was reversed by overexpressing ATF4 or CHOP, indicating the involvement of ER stress in the negative regulation of 5-HMF on NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammation. Consistent with this, the ameliorative effect of 5-HMF on in vivo pulmonary dysfunction were reversed by the ER stress inducer tunicamycin. In conclusion, our findings elucidate the anti-inflammatory and protective efficacy of 5-HMF in LPS-induced acute lung injury, and also demonstrate the key mechanism of its action against NLRP3 inflammasome-related inflammatory disorders via the inhibition of ER stress.

Fluorite and scheelite are strategic calcium minerals and usually separated through froth flotation. However, the selective separation of fluorite and scheelite remains a great challenge because of their similar physiochemical surface properties. As a green, stable and low-cost surfactant with good biodegradability and foamability, sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate (SNLS) has been widely applied in cosmetics, biological medicine, electroplating and other fields. In this study, SNLS was used as a novel collector for the separation of fluorite from scheelite without any depressant. The flotation tests of binary mixed minerals showed that the selectivity of SNLS for fluorite was higher than that for scheelite at pH 9.0 and a low dosage of 1.1 × 10−5 mol/L. Zeta potential results revealed that SNLS was negatively charged at pH 9.0 and adsorbed on positively charged fluorite surfaces through electrostatic interactions. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that the chemical adsorption of the three active O atoms of SNLS on fluorite was stronger than that on scheelite. These O atoms could form a Ca–NLS complex because of the greater Ca density and the higher Ca reactivity on fluorite than on scheelite. Therefore, SNLS has great potential for industrial application in the separation of fluorite from scheelite.