Controlled synthesis of M doped NiVS (M = Co, Ce and Cr) as a robust electrocatalyst for urea electrolysis.

Urea electrolysis can be used to treat wastewater containing urea and alleviate the energy crisis, so it is one of the best ways to solve environmental and energy problems. This paper reports the synthesis of M doped NiVS (M = Co, Ce and Cr) composites by a simple hydrothermal process for the first time. What is noteworthy is that the Ce-NiVS material as a catalytic electrode requires only 141 mV overpotential for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 1.291 V potential for the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH and 0.5 M urea mixed alkaline solution. Using Ce-NiVS/NF as both the anode and cathode for urea electrolysis, a current density of 10 mA cm-2 is driven by a voltage of only 1.55 V, which is better than most previous catalysts. Experimental results demonstrate that the excellent catalytic activity of Ce-NiVS materials is due to the formation of a large number of active sites and the improvement of conductivity due to doping with Ce. Density functional theory calculation shows that the VS4 material has a small Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption, which plays a major role in the hydrogen production process, and Ce-NiS has a higher density of states (DOS) near the Fermi level, indicating that Ce-NiS has better electronic conductivity. The synergistic catalysis of VS4 and Ce-NiS promoted the hydrogen production performance of the Ce-NiVS material. This work provides guidance for the optimization and design of low-cost electrocatalysts to replace expensive precious metal-based electrocatalysts for overall urea electrolysis.

Depletion of microglia with PLX3397 attenuates MK-801-induced hyperactivity associated with regulating inflammation-related genes in the brain.

Acute administration of MK-801 (dizocilpine), an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, can establish animal models of psychiatric disorders. However, the roles of microglia and inflammation-related genes in these animal models of psychiatric disorders remain unknown. Here, we found rapid elimination of microglia in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HPC) of mice following administration of the dual colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R)/c-Kit kinase inhibitor PLX3397 (pexidartinib) in drinking water. Single administration of MK-801 induced hyperactivity in the open-field test (OFT). Importantly, PLX3397-induced depletion of microglia prevented the hyperactivity and schizophrenia-like behaviors induced by MK-801. However, neither repopulation of microglia nor inhibition of microglial activation by minocycline affected MK-801-induced hyperactivity. Importantly, microglial density in the PFC and HPC was significantly correlated with behavioral changes. In addition, common and distinct glutamate-, GABA-, and inflammation-related gene (116 genes) expression patterns were observed in the brains of PLX3397- and/or MK-801-treated mice. Moreover, 10 common inflammation-related genes ( CD68, CD163, CD206, TMEM119, CSF3R, CX3CR1, TREM2, CD11b, CSF1R, and F4/80) with very strong correlations were identified in the brain using hierarchical clustering analysis. Further correlation analysis demonstrated that the behavioral changes in the OFT were most significantly associated with the expression of inflammation-related genes ( NLRP3, CD163, CD206, F4/80, TMEM119, and TMEM176a), but not glutamate- or GABA-related genes in PLX3397- and MK-801-treated mice. Thus, our results suggest that microglial depletion via a CSF1R/c-Kit kinase inhibitor can ameliorate the hyperactivity induced by an NMDAR antagonist, which is associated with modulation of immune-related genes in the brain.

Dynamic changes in microglia in the mouse hippocampus during administration and withdrawal of the CSF1R inhibitor PLX3397.

Pexidartinib (PLX3397), a colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitor, is currently in phase 1-3 clinical trials as a treatment for a variety of tumours. CSF1R signalling regulates the development, survival and maintenance of microglia, the resident brain innate immune cells. In this study, we examined the effects of PLX3397 in the drinking water of mice on microglia in the hippocampus using ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba1, a microglial marker) immunocytochemistry. A high concentration of PLX3397 (1 mg/mL) significantly decreased the density of Iba1-immunoreactive cells after 7 days of exposure, but a low concentration of PLX3397 (0.5 mg/mL) did not. In addition, both low and high concentrations of PLX3397 significantly increased the intersection number, total length and maximum length of microglial processes in male mice. PLX3397 administered for 21 days eliminated microglia with 78% efficiency in males and 84% efficiency in females. Significant increases in microglial processes were found after both seven and 21 days of PLX3397 exposure in males, whereas decreases in microglial processes were observed after both 14 and 21 days of exposure in females. After PLX3397 withdrawal following its administration for 14 days in males, the soma size quickly returned to normal levels within a week. However, the microglial density, intersection number and total length of microglial processes after 3 days of recovery stabilized to untreated levels. In summary, these findings provide detailed insight into the dynamic changes in microglial number and morphology in the hippocampus in a dose- and time-dependent manner after PLX3397 treatment and withdrawal.

Environment-specificity and universality of the microbial growth law.

As the nutrient quality changes, the fractions of ribosomal proteins in the proteome are usually positively correlated with the growth rates due to the auto-catalytic nature of ribosomes. While this growth law is observed across multiple organisms, the relation between the ribosome fraction and growth rate is often more complex than linear, beyond models assuming a constant translation speed. Here, we propose a general framework of protein synthesis considering heterogeneous translation speeds and protein degradations. We demonstrate that the growth law curves are generally environment-specific, e.g., depending on the correlation between the translation speeds and ribosome allocations among proteins. Our predictions of ribosome fractions agree quantitatively with data of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Interestingly, we find that the growth law curve of Escherichia coli nevertheless appears universal, which we prove must exhibit an upward bending in slow-growth conditions, in agreement with experiments. Our work provides insights on the connection between the heterogeneity among genes and the environment-specificity of cell behaviors.

Heterogeneous recruitment abilities to RNA polymerases generate nonlinear scaling of gene expression with cell volume.

While most genes' expression levels are proportional to cell volumes, some genes exhibit nonlinear scaling between their expression levels and cell volume. Therefore, their mRNA and protein concentrations change as the cell volume increases, which often have crucial biological functions such as cell-cycle regulation. However, the biophysical mechanism underlying the nonlinear scaling between gene expression and cell volume is still unclear. In this work, we show that the nonlinear scaling is a direct consequence of the heterogeneous recruitment abilities of promoters to RNA polymerases based on a gene expression model at the whole-cell level. Those genes with weaker (stronger) recruitment abilities than the average ability spontaneously exhibit superlinear (sublinear) scaling with cell volume. Analysis of the promoter sequences and the nonlinear scaling of Saccharomyces cerevisiae's mRNA levels shows that motifs associated with transcription regulation are indeed enriched in genes exhibiting nonlinear scaling, in concert with our model.

Chronic lithium exposure attenuates ketamine-induced mania-like behavior and c-Fos expression in the forebrain of mice.

Ketamine, a dissociative anaesthetic, has been used in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) as a rapid acting antidepressant drug. Recent studies have shown that ketamine may increase the potential risk of treatment-induced mania in MDD patients. Lithium is a well-known mood stabilizer and has been widely used for the treatment of mania. It is not fully understood which forebrain regions are involved in ketamine- and lithium-induced expression of c-Fos. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the effect of chronic lithium treatment on mania-like behavior and c-Fos expression in the mouse forebrain activated by a single administration of ketamine. In the open field test, our results showed that ketamine significantly increased the total distance and total cumulative duration of movement in mice, while chronic lithium could attenuate these effects of ketamine. In addition, acute ketamine induced higher c-Fos expression in the lateral septal nucleus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus of mice in the treatment group compared to those in the control group. However, chronic lithium inhibited the significant increase in c-Fos-immunoreactive neurons following acute ketamine administration in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, field CA1 of the hippocampus, dorsal subiculum, ventral subiculum, ventral subiculum, central amygdaloid nucleus and basolateral amygdaloid nucleus. In summary, our research shows that pretreatment with lithium moderates the effects of acute ketamine administration on mania-like behavior and c-Fos expression in the forebrain. These findings could be helpful in better understanding the episodes of mania related to ketamine treatment for MDD and bipolar disorder.