Capacitive Desalination and Disinfection of Water Using UiO-66 Metal-Organic Framework/Bamboo Carbon with Chitosan.

The zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) (UiO-66)/bamboo carbon (BC) composite with chitosan was prepared using hydrothermal and impregnation methods and used for capacitive desalination (CDI) and disinfection of water. The results showed that these composites had fast ion exchange and charge transfer properties. During the CDI process, these composites' electrodes exhibited good cycle stability, electrosorption capacity (4.25 mg/g) and excellent bactericidal effect. These carbon-based composites electrodes' bactericidal rate for Escherichia coli could reach 99.99% within 20 minutes; therefore, they had good performance and were a good choice for high-performance deionization applications.

Ordered Mesoporous Carbon with Chitosan for Disinfection of Water via Capacitive Deionization.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) with water disinfection materials is a potential method to produce fresh water from aqueous solutions. Therefore, an ordered mesoporous carbon with chitosan (OMC-CS) was coated on the active carbon (AC) electrode as a capacitive deionization disinfection (CDI) electrode. Comparing with OMC-CS-4,6,8 as CDI electrodes, it was found that OMC-CS-6 as a CDI electrode had an excellent disinfection efficiency, killing about 99.99% Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the CDI process at an applied 1.2 V. The OMC-CS material was did not pollute the water and will not contaminate to the environment in comparison with other chemical antibacterial agents. This CDI electrode could play a huge role in biocontaminated water in the future.

Three-dimensional cubic ordered mesoporous carbon with chitosan for capacitive deionization disinfection of water.

Three-dimensional cubic ordered mesoporous carbon with chitosan (Ia3d-CS), which was synthesized via exothermic reaction between liquid potassium and carbon monoxide gas, was coated on the active carbon (AC) electrode as a capacitive deionization (CDI) disinfection electrode. The results showed that Ia3d-CS-2 as CDI electrode exhibited the quick ion diffusion and strong charge transfer performance, due to the three-dimensional pore structure and specific surface area. The electrode of Ia3d-CS-2 displayed a specific capacity of 191.22 F/g at a scan rate of 100 mV·s-1 in 0.5 M NaCl aqueous solution. In a CDI recycling system, Ia3d-CS-x electrode showed good cyclic stability, and the electrosorption capacity of Ia3d-CS-2 electrode can achieve 1.31 mg/g at 1.2 V in 100 mg/l NaCl aqueous solutions. Subsequently, Ia3d-CS-2 electrode had an excellent disinfection efficiency of killing about 99.99% Escherichia coli within 30 min during the CDI process at applied 1.2 V. Considering those excellent properties of the fabricated Ia3d-CS-x electrode, which should be a better candidate for high-performance deionization application.

Differential proteomic analysis of respiratory failure in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using iTRAQ technology.

Respiratory failure (RF) is a state in which the respiratory system fails by its gas exchange functions. Failure of the lung, which is caused by all types of lung diseases, leads to hypoxaemia with type I respiratory failure. Failure of the pump leads to hypercapnia or type II respiratory failure. Using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technology to identify and quantify the total proteins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of RF patients and identify the differentially expressed proteome. The present study analyzed the total proteins in the PBMCs of RF patients and healthy controls using the eight-plex iTRAQ added with strong cation-exchange chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The differentially expressed proteins were identified by MASCOT. A total of 4,795 differentially expressed proteins were identified, and 403 proteins were upregulated and 421 were downregulated. Among them, 4 proteins were significantly differentially expressed, which were upregulated KIAA1520 protein and γ fibrinogen type B (AA at 202) and downregulated chain A, crystal structure of recombinant human platelet factor 4 and myosin regulatory light polypeptide 9. iTRAQ technology is suitable for identifying and quantifying the proteome in the PBMCs of RF patients. The differentially expressed proteins of RF patients have been identified in the present study, and further research of the molecular mechanism of the differentially expressed proteins is required to clarify the pathogenesis and identify novel biomarkers of RF.

Integrated analyses of a major histocompatibility complex, methylation and transcribed ultra-conserved regions in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease which affects different organs and systems that, has a complex genetic inheritance, and is affected by both epigenetic and environmental risk factors. Previous studies on SLE have lacked the statistical power and genetic resolution to fully determine the influence of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on SLE. In this study, in order to determine this influence, a total of 15 patients with SLE and 15 healthy controls were enrolled. MHC region capture technology, hMeDIP-chip, transcribed ultra-conserved region (T-UCR) microarray and bioinformatics analysis were utilized for both groups. The results revealed methylated CpG enrichment at 6 loci in the MHC segment of SLE. We found 4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CpG promoter of human leukocyte antigen-B (HLA-B) and 2 SNPs in chr6:29521110­29521833. No significant GO term or KEGG pathway enrichment was noted for an immune-correlated process in the SLE patients for the corresponding CpG-methylated genes. In this study, T-UCR was not discovered in the MHC segment. The analysis of SNPs (rs1050683, rs12697943, rs17881210, rs1065378, rs17184255 and rs16895070) and gene expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes indicated that these SNPs were associated with the occurrence of SLE. Further studies are warranted to examine the roles of these SNPs in the pathogenesis of SLE. Integrative analysis technology provided a view of the molecular signaling pathways in SLE.

Genome-wide analysis of 5-hmC in the peripheral blood of systemic lupus erythematosus patients using an hMeDIP-chip.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, potentially fatal systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies against a wide range of self-antigens. To investigate the role of the 5-hmC DNA modification with regard to the onset of SLE, we compared the levels 5-hmC between SLE patients and normal controls. Whole blood was obtained from patients, and genomic DNA was extracted. Using the hMeDIP-chip analysis and validation by quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR), we identified the differentially hydroxymethylated regions that are associated with SLE. There were 1,701 genes with significantly different 5-hmC levels at the promoter region in the SLE patients compared with the normal controls. The CpG islands of 3,826 genes showed significantly different 5-hmC levels in the SLE patients compared with the normal controls. Out of the differentially hydroxymethylated genes, three were selected for validation, including TREX1, CDKN1A and CDKN1B. The hydroxymethylation levels of the three genes were confirmed by RT-qPCR. The results suggested that there were significant alterations of 5-hmC in SLE patients. Thus, these differentially hydroxymethylated genes may contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE. These findings show the significance of 5-hmC as a potential biomarker or promising target for epigenetic-based SLE therapies.

Genome-wide analysis of DNA 5-hmC in peripheral blood of uremia by hMeDIP-chip.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of uremia is now dominated by dialysis; in some cases, patients are treated with dialysis for decades, but overall outcomes are disappointing. A number of studies have confirmed the relevance of several experimental insights to the pathogenesis of uremia, but the specific biomarkers of uremia have not been fully elucidated. To date, our knowledge about the alterations in DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in uremia is unclear, to investigate the role of DNA 5-hmC in the onset of uremia, we performed hMeDIP-chip between the uremia patients and the normal controls from the experiment to identify differentially expressed 5-hmC in uremia-associated samples. METHODS: Extract genomic DNA, using hMeDIP-chip technology of Active Motif companies for the analysis of genome-wide DNA 5-hmC, and quantitative real-time PCR confirmation to identify differentially expressed 5-hmC level in uremia-associated samples. RESULTS: There were 1875 genes in gene Promoter, which displayed significant 5-hmC differences in uremia patients compared with normal controls. Among these genes, 960 genes displayed increased 5-hmC and 915 genes decreased 5-hmC. 4063 genes in CpG Islands displayed significant 5-hmC differences in uremia patients compared with normal controls. Among these genes, 1780 genes displayed increased 5-hmC and 2283 genes decreased 5-hmC. Three positive genes, HMGCR, THBD, and STAT3 were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. CONCLUSION: Our studies indicate the significant alterations of 5-hmC. There is a correlation of gene modification 5-hmC in uremia patients. Such novel findings show the significance of 5-hmC as a potential biomarker or promising target for epigenetic-based uremia therapies.