Lactylation, a Novel Metabolic Reprogramming Code: Current Status and Prospects.

Lactate is an end product of glycolysis. As a critical energy source for mitochondrial respiration, lactate also acts as a precursor of gluconeogenesis and a signaling molecule. We briefly summarize emerging concepts regarding lactate metabolism, such as the lactate shuttle, lactate homeostasis, and lactate-microenvironment interaction. Accumulating evidence indicates that lactate-mediated reprogramming of immune cells and enhancement of cellular plasticity contribute to establishing disease-specific immunity status. However, the mechanisms by which changes in lactate states influence the establishment of diverse functional adaptive states are largely uncharacterized. Posttranslational histone modifications create a code that functions as a key sensor of metabolism and are responsible for transducing metabolic changes into stable gene expression patterns. In this review, we describe the recent advances in a novel lactate-induced histone modification, histone lysine lactylation. These observations support the idea that epigenetic reprogramming-linked lactate input is related to disease state outputs, such as cancer progression and drug resistance.

Two-Dimensional Water-Coupled Metallic MoS2 with Nanochannels for Ultrafast Supercapacitors.

MoS2 is a promising electrode material for energy storage. However, the intrinsic multilayer pure metallic MoS2 (M-MoS2) has not been investigated for use in supercapacitors. Here, an ultrafast rate supercapacitor with extraordinary capacitance using a multilayer M-MoS2-H2O system is first investigated. Intrinsic M-MoS2 with a monolayer of water molecules covering both sides of nanosheets is obtained through a hydrothermal method with water as solvent. The super electrical conductivity of the as-prepared pure M-MoS2 is beneficial to electron transport for high power supercapacitor. Meanwhile, nanochannels between the layers of M-MoS2-H2O with a distance of ∼1.18 nm are favorable for increasing the specific space for ion diffusion and enlarging the surface area for ion adsorption. By virtue of this, M-MoS2-H2O reaches a high capacitance of 380 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s and still maintains 105 F/g at scan rate of 10 V/s. Furthermore, the specific capacitance of the symmetric supercapacitor based on M-MoS2-H2O electrodes retain a value as high as 249 F/g under 50 mV/s. These findings suggest that multilayered M-MoS2-H2O system with ion accessible large nanochannels and efficient charge transport provide an efficient energy storage strategy for ultrafast supercapacitors.

Pure and stable metallic phase molybdenum disulfide nanosheets for hydrogen evolution reaction.

Metallic-phase MoS2 (M-MoS2) is metastable and does not exist in nature. Pure and stable M-MoS2 has not been previously prepared by chemical synthesis, to the best of our knowledge. Here we report a hydrothermal process for synthesizing stable two-dimensional M-MoS2 nanosheets in water. The metal-metal Raman stretching mode at 146 cm(-1) in the M-MoS2 structure, as predicted by theoretical calculations, is experimentally observed. The stability of the M-MoS2 is associated with the adsorption of a monolayer of water molecules on both sides of the nanosheets, which reduce restacking and prevent aggregation in water. The obtained M-MoS2 exhibits excellent stability in water and superior activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction, with a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at a low potential of -175 mV and a Tafel slope of 41 mV per decade.

High-density three-dimension graphene macroscopic objects for high-capacity removal of heavy metal ions.

The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) fabrication of high-density three-dimension graphene macroscopic objects (3D-GMOs) with a relatively low porosity has not yet been realized, although they are desirable for applications in which high mechanical and electrical properties are required. Here, we explore a method to rapidly prepare the high-density 3D-GMOs using nickel chloride hexahydrate (NiCl2·6H2O) as a catalyst precursor by CVD process at atmospheric pressure. Further, the free-standing 3D-GMOs are employed as electrolytic electrodes to remove various heavy metal ions. The robust 3D structure, high conductivity (~12 S/cm) and large specific surface area (~560 m²/g) enable ultra-high electrical adsorption capacities (Cd²âº ~ 434 mg/g, Pb²âº~ 882 mg/g, Ni²âº ~ 1,683 mg/g, Cu²âº ~ 3,820 mg/g) from aqueous solutions and fast desorption. The current work has significance in the studies of both the fabrication of high-density 3D-GMOs and the removal of heavy metal ions.

Interlayer catalytic exfoliation realizing scalable production of large-size pristine few-layer graphene.

Mass production of reduced graphene oxide and graphene nanoplatelets has recently been achieved. However, a great challenge still remains in realizing large-quantity and high-quality production of large-size thin few-layer graphene (FLG). Here, we create a novel route to solve the issue by employing one-time-only interlayer catalytic exfoliation (ICE) of salt-intercalated graphite. The typical FLG with a large lateral size of tens of microns and a thickness less than 2 nm have been obtained by a mild and durative ICE. The high-quality graphene layers preserve intact basal crystal planes owing to avoidance of the degradation reaction during both intercalation and ICE. Furthermore, we reveal that the high-quality FLG ensures a remarkable lithium-storage stability (>1,000 cycles) and a large reversible specific capacity (>600 mAh g(-1)). This simple and scalable technique acquiring high-quality FLG offers considerable potential for future realistic applications.

Reduced graphene oxide electrically contacted graphene sensor for highly sensitive nitric oxide detection.

We develop graphene-based devices fabricated by alternating current dielectrophoresis (ac-DEP) for highly sensitive nitric oxide (NO) gas detection. The novel device comprises the sensitive channels of palladium-decorated reduced graphene oxide (Pd-RGO) and the electrodes covered with chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene. The highly sensitive, recoverable, and reliable detection of NO gas ranging from 2 to 420 ppb with response time of several hundred seconds has been achieved at room temperature. The facile and scalable route for high performance suggests a promising application of graphene devices toward the human exhaled NO and environmental pollutant detections.

Determination of organic acids in the presence of inorganic anions by ion chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection.

Simultaneous separation of 19 organic acids and 10 inorganic anions has been demonstrated using ion chromatography with a high capacity anion exchange column and the suppressed conductivity detector under an auto-suppression external sulfuric acid mode. Quantitative merits of this method were examined for analysis of nine organic acids of potential significance in cell culture broth. External calibration curves for these analytes were linear with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999, and the relative standard derivations of observed analyte concentrations were less than 3.0% in both inter- and intra-day evaluations of aqueous standards. Developed methodology was subsequently applied to obtain organic acid profiles of Luria-Bertani liquid media, yeast extract, peptone, and the culture broth of a mutant Escherichia coli strain. Analytes recoveries observed for triplicate analysis of LB media spiked at two concentration levels ranged from 88% to 105% with less than 7% RSD. These data demonstrate quantitative accuracy for LB media and suggest that the report method may also be applicable to complex samples such as fermentation mixture and lignocellulose hydrolysate.

[Determination of amino acids in Isatis indigotica Fort by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography with pre-column derivatization].

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method with pre-column derivatization for the determination of amino acids, which were known as the characteristic constituents of Isatis indigotica Fort was established. The amino acids in alkalescence were derivatized with 2, 4-dinitro-fluorobenzene (DNFB). A reproducible method for simultaneous qualitative analysis of glutamic acid (Glu), argirine (Arg) and proline (Pro) and quantitative analysis of Arg and Pro in Isatis indigotica Fort has been established. NaAc buffer (pH 6.4) acetonitrile (85:15, v/v) as mobile phase and a Sinochrom ODS-BP column were used. The detector was operated at 360 nm. The linear regressions of the standard curves were determined for Arg and for Pro. The method was carried out over the range of 0. 627 - 5.016 microg for Arg and 0. 874 - 7.000 microg for Pro. The recoveries were 98.5% and 98.4% with the relative standard deviations of 2.5% and 2.3% for Arg and Pro respectively. The results indicate that among the three amino acids in Isatis indigotica Fort, Arg content was the highest, Pro the second and Glu the lowest. The method has good accuracy and repeatability and it can be used for the quality control of Isatis indigotica Fort.