Revealing the Polaron State at the MoS2/TiO2 Interface.

Interfacial polarons determine the distribution of free charges at the interface and thus play important roles in manipulating the physicochemical properties of hybridized polaronic materials. In this work, we investigated the electronic structures at the atomically flat interface of the single-layer MoS2 (SL-MoS2) on the rutile TiO2 surface using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our experiments directly visualized both the valence band maximum and the conduction band minimum (CBM) of SL-MoS2 at the K point, which clearly defines a direct bandgap of ∼2.0 eV. Detailed analyses corroborated by density functional theory calculations demonstrated that the CBM of MoS2 is formed by the trapped electrons at the MoS2/TiO2 interface that couple with the longitudinal optical phonons in the TiO2 substrate through an interfacial Fröhlich polaron state. Such an interfacial coupling effect may register a new route for tuning the free charges in the hybridized systems of two-dimensional materials and functional metal oxides.

Dual-Channel Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Peroxynitrite and Glutathione in Mitochondria: Accurate Discrimination of Inflammatory and Progressing Tumor Cells.

Distinguishing between normal, inflammatory, and progressing tumor cells plays a vital role in early diagnoses and clinical studies. The simultaneous quantification of multiple biomarkers in cells can reveal cellular heterogeneity, which contributes to the discrimination of different types of cells. Herein, a dual-channel fluorescent probe has been developed for monitoring peroxynitrite (ONOO-) and glutathione (GSH) to accurately discriminate normal cells, inflammatory cells, and progressing cancer cells. The probe can monitor exogenous and endogenous mitochondrial GSH and ONOO- in living cells and zebrafish by green (530 nm, G530) and red (630 nm, R630) emission based on its good selectivity and low biotoxicity. GSH and ONOO- are visualized via fluorescence imaging, and the corresponding output signals can be employed to differentiate nontumorigenic, malignant, and metastatic breast cells in cocultured cells. Furthermore, the accurate discrimination among normal, inflammatory, and cancerous cells is achieved through the changes in the dual-channel fluorescence signal, which shows great potential for the diagnosis of inflammation and cancer diseases.

Overexpression of TRIM3 protects against LPS-induced acute kidney injury via repressing IRF3 pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome.

PURPOSE: The pathological process of sepsis involves multiple system organs, including kidney. Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) has high morbidity and high mortality. Overproduced inflammatory factors contribute to the occurrence and evolvement of AKI. Here, the role and underlying mechanism of tripartite motif containing 3 (TRIM3) and in AKI was explored. METHODS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used for constructing AKI model both in vitro and in vivo. RT-PCR and western blot were performed to detect TRIM3, Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and NLRP3-ASC-Caspase1 inflammasome. Upon selectively regulating the TRIM3 or IRF3 expression, the proliferation, apoptosis and inflammatory response were detected. The interaction between TRIM3 and IRF3 was verified by Immunoprecipitation (IP). RESULTS: TRIM3 was down-regulated in mediated injury renal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 treated with LPS. Overexpression of TRIM3 promoted cell viability and reduced apoptosis. In addition, overexpression of TRIM3 inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors (IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-18), dampened the phosphorylation of IRF3 and repressed NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Furthermore, TRIM3 overexpression significantly eased the LPS-induced damage on AKI rat model and decreased the serum creatinine and urea nitrogen levels in rat kidney tissues. The results of immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot manifested that TRIM3 was increased dramatically after TRIM3 was overexpressed in the rat kidney tissues, while IRF3 and NLRP3-ASC-Caspase1 inflammasome were significantly repressed following TRIM3 upregulation in the kidney tissues. Mechanistically, TRIM3 interacted with IRF3 and inhibited its phosphorylation. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of TRIM3 protected against LPS-induced AKI by inhibiting the IRF3 pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Single-Layer MoS2 Grown on Atomically Flat SrTiO3 Single Crystal for Enhanced Trionic Luminescence.

The elaborate interface interactions can be critical in determining the achievable functionality of a semiconductor heterojunction (SH), particularly when two-dimensional material is enclosed in the system and its thickness is at an atomic extreme. In this work, we have successfully constructed a SH model system composed of typical transition-metal chalcogenide (TMDs) and transition metal oxides (TMO) by directly growing molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) nanosheets on atomically flat strontium titanate (SrTiO3) single crystal substrates through a conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthetic method. Multiple measurements have demonstrated the uniform monolayer thickness and single crystallinity of the MoS2 nanosheets as well as the atomic flatness of the heterojunction surface, both characterizing an extremely high quality of the interface. Clear evidence have been obtained for the electron transfer from the MoS2 adlayer to the SrTiO3 substrate which varies against the interface conditions. More importantly, the photoluminescence of MoS2 is significantly tailored, which is correlated with both the cleanness of the interface and the crystal orientation of the SrTiO3 substrate. These results not only shed fresh lights on the structure-property relationship of the TMDs/TMO heterostructures but also manifest the importance of the ideal interface structure for a hybridized system.

Mo Doping Assisting the CVD Synthesis of Size-Controlled, Uniformly Distributed Single-Layer MoS2 on Rutile TiO2(110).

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has attracted considerable interest due to its superior electronic and optical properties, which have seen promising applications in optoelectronics and catalysis. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been successfully applied in synthesizing MoS2 on various substrates. However, it remains a great challenge to fabricate high-quality MoS2 sheets with well-controlled micro/nano size and homogeneous distribution over the functional substrates such as active metal oxides. Herein, we have developed a two-step synthetic strategy via depositing MoO3 first followed by subsequent vulcanization, to grow single-layer MoS2 on an atomically flat rutile TiO2(110) (r-TiO2(110)) substrate. This method not only very well controls the size as well as the spatial distribution of MoS2 nanosheets over the TiO2 surface but also averts the formation of contaminative species at the heterojunction while maintaining the atomic structure of the substrate surface. The extensive characterizations reveal that the formation of MoS2 derives from the sulfurization of the singly dispersed Mo6+ and Mo5+ species in the surface/subsurface region instead of the aggregated MoO3 patches on top of the TiO2 surface. Such a mechanism may dictate a general way for synthesizing high-quality transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) over a variety of functional substrates.

Single-Layered MoS2 Directly Grown on Rutile TiO2(110) for Enhanced Interfacial Charge Transfer.

Interfacial charge transfer is critical for the photocatalytic activities of compositional photocatalysts. In this work, we have developed a strategy of growing single-layer MoS2 sheets on the rutile TiO2(110) single-crystal surface using a chemical vapor deposition method. Both on-site and off-site characterizations confirmed the monolayer thickness and single crystallinity of the MoS2 adlayer as well as the atomic flatness of the composite surface. Without the presence of contamination, the charge flow across the interface of MoS2 and TiO2 is greatly enhanced, which hence favors the charge separation under excitations and boots up the catalytic activity of the composite system. Moreover, we found the luminescing property of MoS2 is significantly tailored upon coupling with the TiO2 surface. Our work has established a method for revealing the interface properties of the transition-metal dichalcogenides and oxide semiconductors at the atomic level.

Clinical observation of the reduced glutathione in the treatment of diabetic chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become the main cause of death in diabetic patients, but its pathogenesis has not yet been clear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of reduced glutathione (GSH) on oxidative stress (OS), angiogenesis factors and lymphocyte subsets in diabetic CKD patients. METHODS: A total of 130 subjects were retrospectively studied. The subjects were divided into the control group (45 cases), treatment group (45 cases, treated with reduced GSH), and a healthy control group (40 cases). The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), malondialdehyde (MDA), endostatin (ES), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and the percentages of lymphocyte subsets were detected. RESULTS: After treatment, the indexes of OS and angiogenesis and the percentage of CD3- CD19+ B cells were obviously decreased, and the percentages of T cell subsets and natural killer (NK) cell subsets were markedly increased in the treatment group compared with the control group. AOPP was positively correlated with angiogenesis indexes, MDA and CD3- CD19+ B cells, and negatively correlated with SOD and other lymphocyte subsets. SOD was inversely associated with angiogenesis indexes and MDA, and positively associated with lymphocyte subsets. Moreover, MDA had a positive correlation with angiogenesis indexes, B and T cell subsets, and a negative correlation with NK cell subsets. AOPP, MDA, SOD, VEGF, CD3+ T cells, CD3+ CD8+ T cells, CD3- CDl6+ CD56+ NK cells, and CD3- CDl6+ CD56+ NK T cells were the risk factors of diabetic CKD. CONCLUSION: GSH could inhibit OS and abnormal angiogenesis, and improve cellular immune response in CKD patients.

Relationship between fatigue symptoms and subjective and objective indicators in hemodialysis patients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to investigate the major factors affecting fatigue symptoms and to examine the relationships between fatigue symptoms and subjective and objective indicators in patients on hemodialysis (HD). METHODS: Patients on HD who met the inclusion criteria were chosen from two grade A tertiary general hospitals by convenience sampling and cross-sectional survey methods. RESULTS: A total of 511 patients were included in the study. The morbidity rate of fatigue in patients on HD was 61.6%, and the median fatigue level was 3.91. Fatigue and subjective indicators showed a mild-moderate relationship (0.3 < all |r| < 0.6, all P < 0.001), whereas a weak correlation was found between fatigue and objective indicators (all |r| < 0.2, all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that subjective indicators, including employment, exercise time, appetite, the vitality of 36-item Short Form Health Survey, perceived social support, intrafamilial support, cramping, headache, chest tightness, and whole-body pain, as well objective indicator, such as serum intact parathyroid hormone levels, were the influence factors of fatigue in patients on HD. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of fatigue symptoms was high and the level of fatigue was moderate in patients on HD. Subjective and objective indicators can both affect fatigue symptoms in patients on HD.

Characteristics and factors associated with nosocomial pneumonia among patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT): A case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is a specialized type of dialysis. However, the characteristics and factors associated with nosocomial pneumonia in patients undergoing CRRT have received little attention to date. Therefore, this study investigated the characteristics of and factors contributing to nosocomial pneumonia in patients receiving CRRT. METHODS: The clinical data of 1160 patients undergoing CRRT during the period January 2008 to December 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Of these 1160 cases, 145 (12.5%) were included in the nosocomial pneumonia group, while 1015 were included in the control group. RESULTS: The primary pathogen in the 145 cases of nosocomial pneumonia in the CRRT patients was Staphylococcus aureus (58.57%); the morbidity rate was 12.5%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age (odds ratio (OR) 2.209), initial curative time (OR 1.960), underlying diseases (OR 1.820), consciousness disorder (OR 1.616), organ failure (OR 2.154), the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (APACHE II) (OR 1.186), and the Charlson Comorbidity Index score (CCI) (OR 1.278) were risk factors for nosocomial pneumonia (all p<0.05). Conversely, the serum white blood cell count (OR 0.585), albumin (OR 0.673), and hemoglobin (OR 0.712) levels were protective factors (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study indicate that by modifying risk factors, such as providing adequate nutrition, earlier treatment of underlying diseases, and controlling organ failure, the risks associated with nosocomial pneumonia may be reduced.