Significant regional disparities in riverine microplastics.

Research on riverine microplastics has gradually increased, highlighting an area for further exploration: the lack of extensive, large-scale regional variations analysis due to methodological and spatiotemporal limitations. Herein, we constructed and applied a comprehensive framework for synthesizing and analyzing literature data on riverine microplastics to enable comparative research on the regional variations on a large scale. Research results showed that in 76 rivers primarily located in Asia, Europe, and North America, the microplastic abundance of surface water in Asian rivers was three times higher than that in Euro-America rivers, while sediment in Euro-American rivers was five times more microplastics than Asia rivers, indicating significant regional variations (p < 0.001). Additionally, based on the income levels of countries, rivers in lower-middle and upper-middle income countries had significantly (p < 0.001) higher abundance of microplastics in surface water compared to high-income countries, while the opposite was true for sediment. This phenomenon was preliminarily attributed to varying levels of urbanization across countries. Our proposed framework for synthesizing and analyzing microplastic literature data provides a holistic understanding of microplastic disparities in the environment, and can facilitate broader discussions on management and mitigation strategies.

Copper-decorated strategy based on defect-rich NH2-MIL-125(Ti) boosts efficient photocatalytic degradation of methyl mercaptan under sunlight.

Photocatalysis has received significant attention as a technology that can solve environmental problems. Metal-organic frameworks are currently being used as novel photocatalysts but are still limited by the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers, low photogenerated electron migration efficiency and poor solar light utilization rate. In this work, a novel photocatalyst was successfully constructed by introducing Cu species into thermal activated mixed-ligand NH2-MIL-125 (Ti) via defect engineering strategy. The constructed defect structure not only provided 3D-interconnected gas transfer channels, but also offered suitable space to accommodate introduced Cu species. For the most effective photocatalyst 0.2Cu/80%NH2-MIL-125 (300 °C) with optimized Cu content, the photocatalytic degradation rate of CH3SH achieved 4.65 times higher than that of pristine NH2-MIL-125 under visible light (λ > 420 nm). At the same time, it showed great degradation efficiency under natural sunlight, 100 ppm CH3SH was completely removed within 25 min in full solar light illumination. The improved catalytic efficiency is mainly due to the synergistic effect of the integrated Schottky junction and rich-defective NH2-MIL-125, which improved the bandgap and band position, and thus facilitated the separation and transfer of the photo-generated carriers. This work provided a facile way to integrate Schottky junctions and rich-defective MOFs with high stability. Due to its excellent degradation performance under sunlight, it also offered a prospective strategy for rational design of high-efficiency catalysts applied in environmental technologies.

Potential Environmental Contaminants: Exploring Hydrolyzed Dyes in Household Washing Sources and Electrochemical Degradation.

Reactive dyes are often released into the environment during the washing process due to their susceptibility to hydrolysis. The hydrolysis experiment of a pure reactive dye, red 195 (RR 195), and the washing experiment of RR 195-colored fabrics (CFSCs) were carried out successively to explore the sources of hydrolyzed dyes in the washing microenvironment. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was used for the analysis of hydrolysis intermediates and final products of reactive red 195. The experimental results indicated that the structure of the dye washing shed is consistent with the final hydrolysate of reactive red 195, which is the main colored contaminant in washing wastewater. To eliminate the hydrolyzed dyes from the source, an electrochemical degradation device was designed. The degradation parameters, including voltage, electrolyte concentration, and dye shedding concentration are discussed in the electrochemical degradation experiment. The electrochemical degradation device was also successfully implemented and verified in a home washing machine.

Roles of host SUMOylation in bacterial pathogenesis.

Bacteria frequently interfere with the post-translational modifications of host cells to facilitate their survival and growth after invasion. SUMOylation, a reversible post-translational modification process, plays an important role in biological life activities. In addition to being critical to host cell metabolism and survival, SUMOylation also regulates gene expression and cell signal transmission. Moreover, SUMOylation in eukaryotic cells can be used by a variety of bacterial pathogens to advance bacterial invasion. In this minireview, we focused on the role and mechanism of host SUMOylation in the pathogenesis of six important clinical bacterial pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella Typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli). Taken together, this review provided new insights for understanding the unique pathogen-host interaction based on host SUMOylation and provided a novel perspective on the development of new strategies to combat bacterial infections in the future.

Atmospheric microfibers dominated by natural and regenerated cellulosic fibers: Explanations from the textile engineering perspective.

A large number of synthetic fibers found in the environment have aroused public conern about microfiber pollution. However, more studies have found that the number of natural fibers and regenerated cellulose fibers in the environment is much higher than that of synthetic fibers. If humans are exposed to excessive amounts of these two types of fibers for a long time, they may also suffer physiological injury. However, this is often ignored by previous research on microfiber pollution. Recently, some publications attributed the dominating amounts of natural fiber and regenerated cellulosic fibers in the environment to the past yield advantage and low durability compared to synthetic fibers. This correspondence supports that view and further discusses the main reasons for the domination of natural and regenerated cellulosic fibers: their physicochemical properties, material sources, manufacturing processes (staple yarn and filament) and applications. This correspondence aims to arouse attention to the potential impact of natural fibers and regenerated cellulose fibers.

Prospect of bacteria for tumor diagnosis and treatment.

In recent decades, the comprehensive cancer treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy have improved the overall survival rate and quality of life of many cancer patients. However, we are still facing many difficult problems in the cancer treatment, such as unpredictable side effects, high recurrence rate, and poor curative effect. Therefore, the better intervention strategies are needed in this field. In recent years, the role and importance of microbiota in a variety of diseases were focused on as a hot research topic, and the role of some intracellular bacteria of cancer cells in carcinogenesis has recently been discovered. The impact of bacteria on cancer is not limited to their contribution to tumorigenesis, but the overall susceptibility of bacteria to subsequent tumor progression, the development of concurrent infections, and the response to anti-cancer therapy have also been found to be affected. Concerns about the contribution of bacteria in the anti-cancer response have inspired researchers to develop bacteria-based anti-cancer treatments. In this paper, we reviewed the main roles of bacteria in the occurrence and development of tumors, and summarized the mechanism of bacteria in the occurrence, development, and clinical anti-tumor treatment of tumors, providing new insights for the in-depth study of the role of bacteria in tumor diagnosis and treatment. This review aims to provide a new perspective for the development of new technologies based on bacteria to enhance anti-tumor immunotherapy.

Widespread occurrence of microplastics in marine bays with diverse drivers and environmental risk.

Microplastic contamination in the sediment of marine bays has attracted widespread attention, whereas the distribution, sedimentation, morphology and risk of microplastics at regional scale remain poorly understood. By introducing a data mining framework into microplastic research, we compiled a microplastic dataset of 649 samples from 24 bays to enhance the understanding of geographical difference and drivers, transfer, composition profile and environmental risk of sedimental microplastics. Microplastic abundance varied from 0.72 to 1963.96 items/kg dry weight, with higher concentrations mainly occurring in East Asian bays. The spatial pattern in abundance was driven by the river plastic emissions, aquaculture production and hydrodynamic condition. A significantly positive correlation between microplastic abundance in water and sediment was found, and microplastic sedimentation was related to polymer density, hydrodynamic conditions and sediment properties. The dominant shape and polymer of sedimental microplastics were fiber and polypropylene, respectively, and the similarity of microplastic composition decreased with increasing geographical distance. The environmental risks of microplastics were partitioned into three classes (Rank II-Rank IV) with a two-dimensional assessment system considering the bioavailability and toxicity of microplastics, and Asian bays were identified as potential high-risk areas. To reduce the environmental risk of sedimental microplastics in bays, priority should be given to the removal of microfibers, and control measures depend on the risk classes and dominant polymers. Microplastic abundance and composition were significantly affected by methodological choices regarding sampling, pretreatment and identification, suggesting a unified methodology is essential to further enhance our knowledge on the distribution and risk of microplastics in marine bays.

Synthesis of dominant plastic microfibre prevalence and pollution control feasibility in Chinese freshwater environments.

Microplastic pollution of freshwaters is known to be a great concern in China and these pollutants can be discharged into the coastal environment through fluvial processes, posing threats to the global marine ecosystem. This paper reviewed the literature measuring microplastic pollution in the Chinese freshwater environment and found that microfibres dominate other plastic morphologies in more than 65% of samples collected in surface water, sediments and effluents of wastewater treatment plants and domestic sewers. Current potential sources of microfibre pollution are identified including fishery activities, laundry sewage, and waste textiles according to previous research. Recommendations are offered using the circular economy management framework, such as textile waste reuse and recycling systems in China, for improving current control measures for microplastics in freshwaters.

Epiberberine, a natural protoberberine alkaloid, inhibits urease of Helicobacter pylori and jack bean: Susceptibility and mechanism.

In our previous study, Rhizoma Coptidis extract was found to exert more potent inhibitory effect than its major component berberine towards urease from Helicobacter pylori (HPU) and jack bean (JBU). In continuation of our work, the present study was designed to further comparatively investigate the urease inhibitory activities of five major protoberberine alkaloids in Rhizoma Coptidis, namely berberine, palmatine, coptisine, epiberberine, jateorhizine to identify the bioactive constituent, and illuminate the potential mechanism of action. Results indicated that the five protoberberine alkaloids acted as concentration-dependent inactivators of urease with IC50 values ranging between 3.0 and 5087µM for HPU and 2.3->10,000µM for JBU, respectively. Notably, epiberberine (EB) was found to be the most potent inhibitor against both ureases with IC50 values of 3.0±0.01µM for HPU and 2.3±0.01µM for JBU, which was more effective than the standard urease inhibitor, acetohydroxamic acid (83±0.01µM for HPU and 22±0.01µM for JBU, respectively). Further kinetic analysis revealed that the type of EB inhibition against HPU was slow-binding and uncompetitive, with Ki of 10.6±0.01µM, while slow-binding and competitive against JBU with Ki of 4.6±0.01µM. Addition of thiol reagents, such as l-cysteine, glutathione and dithiothreitol, significantly abolished the inhibition, while Ni2+ competitive inhibitors, boric acid and sodium fluoride, synergetically inhibited urease with EB, indicating the obligatory role of the active site sulfhydryl group for the inhibition. In addition, binding of EB with the urease proved to be reversible, as about 65% and 90% enzymatic activity of HPU and JBU, respectively, could be restored by dithiothreitol application. These findings highlighted the potential role of Rhizoma Coptidis protoberberine alkaloids, especially EB, as a lead urease inhibitor in the treatment of diseases associated with ureolytic bacteria. Thus, EB had good potential for further development into a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of urease-related diseases.

LSD1 sustains estrogen-driven endometrial carcinoma cell proliferation through the PI3K/AKT pathway via di-demethylating H3K9 of cyclin D1.

A recent study reported that histone lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1, KDM1A) is overexpressed in endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC) and associated with tumor progression as well as poor prognosis. However, the physiological function and mechanism of LSD1 in endometrial cancer (EC) remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that ß-estradiol (E2) treatment increased LSD1 expression via the GPR30/PI3K/AKT pathway in endometrial cancer cells. Both siGPR30 and the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 block this effect. RNAi-mediated silencing of LSD1 abolished estrogen-driven endometrial cancer cell (ECC) proliferation, and induced G1 cell arrest and apoptosis. Mechanistically, we find that LSD1 silencing results in PI3K/AKT signal inactivation, but without the elevation of PTEN expression as expected. This is because the inhibition of LSD1 induces dimethylation of lysine 9 on histone H3 (H3K9m2) accumulation at the promoter region of cyclin D1. Interfering with cyclin D1 leads to PI3K/AKT signal suppression. Re-overexpression of cyclin D1 in LSD1-knockdown ECCs reverses the LSD1 inhibitory action. Our finding connects estrogen signaling with epigenetic regulation in EEC and provides novel experimental support for LSD1 as a potential target for endometrial cancer therapeutics.

TLR2 promotes human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cell migration and invasion by modulating NF-κB pathway-mediated inflammatory responses.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy that is often diagnosed at advanced stages, which limits treatment options. Despite its increasing incidence and mortality worldwide, the pathogenesis of ICC is not well understood. Here, we examined the effect of the dysregulation of innate immune responses on carcinogenesis by investigating the role of toll-like receptor (TLR)2 in the pathogenesis and invasiveness of ICC and explored the underlying mechanisms. Immunohistochemical analysis, real-time PCR, and western blotting showed higher TLR2 levels in ICC tissues and cell lines. Silencing and overexpression experiments indicated that TLR2 promotes ICC migration and invasion, induces the expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, and upregulates the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1ß concomitant with the activation of NF-κB signaling. Inhibition of NF-κB activity abolished the effect of TLR2 on EMT, invasion and migration, and the TLR2-induced upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines, and suppressed the effect of exogenous TNF-α and IL-6 on restoring EMT, migration and invasion in the presence of TLR2. Taken together, our results indicate that TLR2 has protumorigenic and prometastatic effects in ICC through the upregulation of inflammatory cytokines induced by the activation of NF-κB signaling, suggesting potential novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of ICC.