Improved selectivity for partial oxidation of methane to methanol in the presence of nitrite ions and BiVO4 photocatalyst.

Nitrite ions are shown to have significant influence on the selectivity of the photocatalytic oxidation of methane to methanol. An almost complete inhibition of undesired CO2 has been achieved with BiVO4 in the presence of a low concentration of nitrite, which might act both as a UV filter and as a hydroxyl radical scavenger.

The effects of electron-hole separation on the photoconductivity of individual metal oxide nanowires.

The responses of individual ZnO nanowires to UV light demonstrate that the persistent photoconductivity (PPC) state is directly related to the electron-hole separation near the surface. Our results demonstrate that the electrical transport in these nanomaterials is influenced by the surface in two different ways. On the one hand, the effective mobility and the density of free carriers are determined by recombination mechanisms assisted by the oxidizing molecules in air. This phenomenon can also be blocked by surface passivation. On the other hand, the surface built-in potential separates the photogenerated electron-hole pairs and accumulates holes at the surface. After illumination, the charge separation makes the electron-hole recombination difficult and originates PPC. This effect is quickly reverted after increasing either the probing current (self-heating by Joule dissipation) or the oxygen content in air (favouring the surface recombination mechanisms). The model for PPC in individual nanowires presented here illustrates the intrinsic potential of metal oxide nanowires to develop optoelectronic devices or optochemical sensors with better and new performances.

Self-deleting suicide vectors (SDSV): selective killing of p53-deficient cancer cells.

A self-deleting retrovirus vector carrying a herpes simplex virus (HSV)-thymidine kinase suicide gene has been developed to selectively kill cancer cells expressing a dysfunctional p53 tumor suppressor protein. When cells containing functional p53 are infected with the virus, the integrated provirus and the HSV-thymidine kinase gene are deleted from the genome by site-specific recombination (Cre/loxP). In contrast, cells without p53 or cells expressing a DNA-binding mutant of p53 retain the provirus and become susceptible to killing by ganciclovir. This strategy provides a new concept for the selective killing of cancer cells that can be adapted to any other dysfunctional transcription factor expressed by different tumors.

Gene trapping identifies inhibitors of oncogenic transformation. The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TIMP3) and collagen type I alpha2 (COL1A2) are epidermal growth factor-regulated growth repressors.

A gene trap strategy has been used to identify genes that are repressed in cells transformed by an activated epidermal growth factor (EGF)/EGF receptor signal transduction pathway. EGF receptor-expressing NIH3T3 cells (HER1 cells) were infected with a retrovirus containing coding sequences for the human CD2 antigen and for secreted alkaline phosphatase in the U3 region. By selecting for and against CD2 expression, we obtained clones in which the gene trap had integrated into genes selectively repressed by EGF. Two of these clones encoded for the secreted extracellular matrix proteins TIMP3 and COL1A2. We show here that both genes are downstream targets of RAS and are specifically repressed by EGF-induced transformation. Moreover, this strategy tags tumor suppressor genes in their normal chromosomal location, thereby improving target-specific screens for antineoplastic drugs.

Fibrates influence the expression of genes involved in lipoprotein metabolism in a tissue-selective manner in the rat.

The influence of different fibrates on apolipoprotein metabolism was investigated. Administration of fenofibrate provoked a dose-dependent decrease in plasma cholesterol concentration that was already evident after 1 day. Intestinal apolipoprotein (apo) A-I and apo A-IV mRNA levels remained fairly constant. In contrast, liver apo A-I, apo A-II, and apo A-IV mRNA levels decreased in a dose-dependent fashion, which was associated with a lower transcription rate of the apo A-I but not the apo A-II gene. The decline in hepatic apo A-I, apo A-II, and apo A-IV mRNA had already started after 1 day and was associated with a drop in plasma apo A-I and apo A-IV concentrations. Plasma apo E had already decreased after 1 day of fenofibrate, whereas apo B initially remained constant and increased only after 14 days of fenofibrate at the highest dose. Hepatic and intestinal apo B mRNA contents and liver, heart, kidney, and testis apo E mRNA contents were only marginally affected after treatment with fenofibrate. Liver low density lipoprotein receptor mRNA levels rose slightly after a 3-day administration of the highest dose of fenofibrate. Both clofibrate and gemfibrozil had effects comparable to those of fenofibrate on liver and intestinal apolipoprotein mRNA levels except for liver apo A-II mRNA, which decreased only marginally. Compared with fenofibrate, clofibrate caused similar changes in plasma cholesterol, apo A-I, apo A-IV, and apo E concentrations, whereas gemfibrozil increased plasma cholesterol and apo E without changing apo A-I and apo A-IV concentrations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)