Harnessing Ultrasound-Derived Hydroxyl Radicals for the Selective Oxidation of Aldehyde Functions.

Ultrasonic irradiation holds potential for the selective oxidation of non-volatile organic substrates in the aqueous phase by harnessing hydroxyl radicals as chemical initiators. Here, a mechanistic description of hydroxyl radical-initiated glyoxal oxidation is constructed by gleaning insights from photolysis and radiation chemistry to explain the yields and kinetic trends for oxidation products. The mechanistic description and kinetic measurements reported herein reveal that increasing the formation rate of hydroxyl radicals by changing the ultrasound frequency increases both the rates of glyoxal consumption and the selectivity towards C acid products over those from C-C cleavage.

Elucidating the Strain-Vacancy-Activity Relationship on Structurally Deformed Co@CoO Nanosheets for Aqueous Phase Reforming of Formaldehyde.

Lattice strain modulation and vacancy engineering are both effective approaches to control the catalytic properties of heterogeneous catalysts. Here, Co@CoO heterointerface catalysts are prepared via the controlled reduction of CoO nanosheets. The experimental quantifications of lattice strain and oxygen vacancy concentration on CoO, as well as the charge transfer across the Co-CoO interface are all linearly correlated to the catalytic activity toward the aqueous phase reforming of formaldehyde to produce hydrogen.

Strong Metal-Support Interaction for 2D Materials: Application in Noble Metal/TiB Heterointerfaces and their Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Formic Acid Dehydrogenation.

Strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is a phenomenon commonly observed on heterogeneous catalysts. Here, direct evidence of SMSI between noble metal and 2D TiB supports is reported. The temperature-induced TiB overlayers encapsulate the metal nanoparticles, resulting in core-shell nanostructures that are sintering-resistant with metal loadings as high as 12.

[Establishment of A Novel Method to Activate and Expand Human NK Cells Ex Vivo].

Objective: To develop a new method to activate and expand human NK cells ex vivo by using sodium hyaluronate as a major activating agent and to explore its related mechanism.

Methods: Mononuclear cells were isolated from 3 samples of peripheral blood from three healthy donors. New NK cell culture method and the control method were used to culture NK cells from each samples separately for 14 days.

Challenges and Research in Managing Blood Supply in China.

Although considerable progress has been made in improving the blood service system in China over the last 2 decades, many challenges remain. A number of issues have received public attentions; however, others continue to be underacknowledged and controversial. This article describes 3 of these important and less emphasized issues: first, the ambiguity of the definition of voluntary nonremunerated blood donation and its relationship to an adequate blood supply; second, the current inadequacies of cost recovery from the blood service system; and third, the lack of a universally implemented program of hemovigilance.

Biochemical characterization of a thermostable HNH endonuclease from deep-sea thermophilic bacteriophage GVE2.

His-Asn-His (HNH) proteins are a very common family of small nucleic acid-binding proteins that are generally associated with endonuclease activity and are found in all kingdoms of life. Although HNH endonucleases from mesophiles have been widely investigated, the biochemical functions of HNH endonucleases from thermophilic bacteriophages remain unknown. Here, we characterized the biochemical properties of a thermostable HNH endonuclease from deep-sea thermophilic bacteriophage GVE2.

[The role of third-party tolerogenic dendritic cells in the prevention of acute graft-versus-host-disease following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice].

Objective: To explore the biological characteristic of third-party-derived tolerogenic DC(tDC) and the influence of third-party-derived tDC on acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD) following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) in mice.

Methods: tDC from bone marrow cells of D1 mice was cultured with low doses of GM-CSF, IL-10 and TGF-β1D1. The phenotype, expression of cytokines and function associated molecules were identified with FACS and RT-PCR.

Photochemically inactivated hepatitis B virus promotes upregulation of Th1-type cytokines.

Photochemical virus inactivation technology is widely used to improve the safety of blood products. However, the process by which this inactivation occurs and the resulting immunogenicity of treated viruses remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to explore the effects of two photochemical inactivation methods (methylene and riboflavin, MP and RP) on hepatitis B virus (HBV) immunogenicity.

Amelioration of acute graft-versus-host disease by adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded human cord blood CD4+CD25+ forkhead box protein 3+ regulatory T cells is associated with the polarization of Treg/Th17 balance in a mouse model.

Background: Human cord blood (CB) is a superior source of regulatory T cells (Tregs) compared with peripheral blood. Initial studies have shown that CB-derived Tregs can be effectively expanded ex vivo. However, in vitro suppressor activity of expanded CB-Tregs and their efficacy in the prevention of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in vivo are poorly understood.

Detection of nucleic acid lesions during photochemical inactivation of RNA viruses by treatment with methylene blue and light using real-time PCR.

The mechanism of bacteriophage photoinactivation by methylene blue and light (MB+L) involves genomic RNA damage. In this study, two RNA viruses, Sindbis virus (SINV) and hepatitis C virus were treated by MB+L and their nucleic acids were amplified to show that RNA lesions occurred during inactivation. During MB+L inactivation, the viral load of both viruses was significantly reduced as MB+L exposure increased.

Exosomal-like vesicles with immune-modulatory features are present in human plasma and can induce CD4+ T-cell apoptosis in vitro.

Background: Exosomes are small membrane vesicles that are secreted from many cell types into various body fluids. These vesicles are thought to play a role in cell-cell interactions.

Study Design And Methods: Vesicles were isolated from human plasma of healthy donors by differential ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration.

Adoptive therapy by transfusing expanded donor murine natural killer T cells can suppress acute graft-versus-host disease in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Background: Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) may suppress graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic transplantation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of iNKT cells from major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mismatched donors for preventing GVHD after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

Study Design And Methods: In vitro, mouse iNKT cells were expanded with alpha-galactosylceramide and interleukin (IL)-2 treatment.

[Using real-time PCR to evaluate the effect of viral inactivation by Methylene Blue with visible light].

To investigate the feasibility of using Real-Time PCR to evaluate the effectiveness of Sindbis virus inactivation by Methylene Blue with visible light. Sindbis virus was treated by Methylene Blue with different intensity of visible light and the transcribed cDNA was quantified by Real-Time PCR. Residual infectivity of treated virus was tested by cell infection method as parallel control at the same time.

TAP1 and TAP2 polymorphisms associated with ankylosing spondylitis in genetically homogenous Chinese Han population.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 is strongly associated with the autoimmune disease ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Other autoimmune disease-associated genes, such as transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) genes, could also influence AS susceptibility. In this study, we investigated the association of TAP1 and TAP2 polymorphisms in genetically homogenous Chinese AS patients.

Inactivation of lymphocytes in blood products using riboflavin photochemical treatment with visible light.

Immunocompetent lymphocytes present in blood products are an important cause of immune reactions following blood transfusion such as transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD). In this study the effects of riboflavin photochemical treatment (RPT) on lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production in vitro were measured to establish whether RPT of blood products can be used to prevent immune reactions resulting from transfused lymphocytes. Lymphocytes and riboflavin were added together in medical PVC transparent bags and then exposed to visible light.

HLA-A, -B, -DR haplotype frequencies from DNA typing data of 26,266 Chinese bone marrow donors.

HLA phenotypes of 26,266 Chinese individuals who were recruited as potential hematopoietic stem cell donors by the Shanghai Red Cross Marrow Donor Registry, part of the China Marrow Donor Program, were determined for HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 alleles at low to intermediate resolution using DNA-based typing methods. The large sample size of the study allowed accurate calculation of the Chinese HLA haplotype frequencies. The observed alleles correspond to 19 HLA-A, 44 -B, and 13 -DR split antigens.

Impact of transfection with total RNA of K562 cells upon antigen presenting, maturation, and function of human dendritic cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Background: Vaccination of dendritic cells (DCs) with tumor antigens is a potential strategy to induce tumor-specific immunity in tumor-bearing patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether human monocyte-derived DCs were able to present P210(Bcr-Ab1) protein and induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses in vitro after transfected with total RNA of K562 cells (K562-RNA).

Study Design And Methods: DCs derived from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were transfected with K562-RNA with electroporation or DOTAP lipofection.