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Inexpensive cocatalysts are promising materials to improve the performance of photocatalytic systems. However, a cocatalyst can be anchored onto a photosensitizer in certain amount and further loading can hinder the visible light by blocking the active sites of the photosensitizer. Herein, we introduce the utilization of a cobalt based homogenous cocatalyst with composite photocatalyst CdS/Ni3C. The homogenous cocatalyst did not occupy the physical space on the photosensitizer and the performance of CdS/Ni3C was significantly enhanced from 263 μmol h−1 to 750 μmol h−1. The present study showed that homogenous cocatalysts paved a way to further capture the electrons from photoexcited composite photocatalysts and have great potential to enhance the photocatalytic performance for low cost H2 evolution under visible light.

Exposure to PM2.5 is associated with an increased risk of lung diseases, and oxidative damage is the main reason for PM2.5-mediated lung injuries. However, little is known about the early molecular events in PM2.5-induced lung toxicity. In the present study, the metabolites in PM2.5-treated A549 cells were examined via a robust and nondestructive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolic approach to clarify the molecular mechanism of PM2.5-induced toxicity. NMR analysis revealed that 12 metabolites were significantly altered in PM2.5-treated A549 cells, including up-regulation of alanine, valine, lactate, ω-6 fatty acids, and citrate and decreased levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid, acetate, leucine, isoleucine, D-glucose, lysine, and dimethylglycine. Pathway analysis demonstrated that seven metabolic pathways which included alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, and tricarboxylic acid cycle were mostly influenced. Our results indicate that NMR technique turns out to be a simple and reliable method for exploring the toxicity mechanism of air pollutant.

A chiral porous 3D metal-organic framework (MOF) is constructed from an enantiopure carboxylate ligand of 1,1'-biphenol, which can be utilized as adsorbent for the separation of aromatic alcohols and sulfoxides with enantioselectivity of up to 99.4%. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals the binding sites and host-guest interactions clearly, providing microscopic insight into the origin of the enantiosorption in the framework.

Lactic acid (LA), a versatile platform molecule, can be fermented from organic wastes, such as food waste and waste activated sludge. In this study, an efficient approach using salt, a component of food waste as an additive, was proposed to increase LA production. The LA productivity was increased at 10 g NaCl/L and optical pure L-lactate was obtained at 30 g NaCl/L. The enhancement of LA was in accordance with the increased solubilization and the critical hydrolase activities under saline conditions. Moreover, high salinity (30–50 g NaCl/L) changed the common conversion of LA to volatile fatty acids. In addition, the key LA bacteria genera (Bacillus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus) were selectively enriched under saline conditions. Strong correlations between salinity and functional genes for L-LA production were also observed. This study provides a practical way for the enrichment of L-LA with high optical activity from organic wastes.

Parthenolide (a sesquiterpene lactone), a bioactive compound of Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz Bip. (Asteraceae) herb, has been reported for antioxidant and anticancer activities.The present study evaluated the effect of parthenolide on growth and apoptosis-regulatory genes of human cervical cancer (SiHa) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines.The cytotoxic activity of parthenolide (3.5-21 µM) was examined by MTT and LDH assays at 24 and 48 h time intervals. Apoptotic activity was evaluated by expression analysis of multiple apoptosis-regulatory genes (i.e., p53, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, -6, and -9) by reverse transcriptase-PCR and DNA fragmentation assay.Parthenolide inhibited the growth of SiHa and MCF-7 cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner at 24 and 48 h time intervals (p 0.001). The IC50 value of parthenolide against SiHa and MCF-7 cells were 8.42 ± 0.76 and 9.54 ± 0.82 μM, respectively. Parthenolide-treated cells showed up-regulation of p53, Bax, caspase-3, -6, and -3 genes and down-regulation of Bcl-2 gene (p ≤ 0.008). At IC50, the p53 gene was up-regulated by 9.67- and 3.15-fold in SiHa and MCF-7 cells, respectively. The Bax to Bcl-2 ratio was 3.4 and 2.3 for SiHa and MCF-7 cells, respectively. Also, the fragmented genomic DNA in parthenolide-treated cells showed the signs of apoptosis.Our study endorsed the biological activity of parthenolide and demonstrated the parthenolide-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in SiHa and MCF-7 cells by modulating the expression of apoptosis-regulatory genes.

Phytic acid (PA) has been reported to have positive nutritional benefits and prevent cancer formation. This study investigated the anticancer activity of rice bran PA against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. Cytotoxicty of PA (0.5 to 4mM) was examined by MTT and LDH assays after 24 and 48 h treatment. Apoptotic activity was evaluated by expression analysis of apoptosis-regulatory genes [i.e. p53, Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3 and -9] by reverse transcriptase-PCR and DNA fragmentation assay. The results showed antioxidant activity of PA in Fe3+ reducing power assay (p ≤ 0.03). PA inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells in a concentration dependent manner (p ≤ 0.04). After 48h treatment, cell viability was recorded 84.7, 74.4, 65.6, 49.6, 36.0 and 23.8% in MTT assay and 92.6, 77.0%, 66.8%, 51.2, 40.3 and 32.3% in LDH assay at concentrations of 1, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5mM, respectively. Hence, treatment of PA for 24h, recorded viability of cells 93.5, 88.6, 55.5, 34.6 and 24.4% in MTT assay and 94.2, 86.1%, 59.7%, 42.3 and 31.6%, in LDH assay at concentrations of 1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.6 and 4.0mM, respectively. PA treated HepG2 cells showed up-regulation of p53, Bax, Caspase-3 and -9, and down- regulation of Bcl-2 gene (p ≤ 0.01). At the IC50 (2.49 mM) of PA, the p53, Bax, Caspase-3 and-9 genes were up- regulated by 6.03, 7.37, 19.7 and 14.5 fold respectively. Also, the fragmented genomic DNA in PA treated cells provided evidence of apoptosis. Our study confirmed the biological activity of PA and demonstrated growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in HepG2 cells with modulation of the expression of apoptosis-regulatory genes.