Facile and Efficient Synthesis of Nitrogen-Functionalized Graphene Oxide as a Copper Adsorbent and Its Application

In this work, we report a room-temperature approach to synthesizing nitrogen-functionalized graphene oxide (GO). The chemical structure of GO- triethylenetetramine-methacrylate (GO-TETA-MA) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance, respectively. The GO-TETA-MA demonstrated extremely efficient removal of copper from wastewater. The adsorption capacity was found to be 34.4 mg/g for Cu­(II) (at pH = 5 and 25 °C). The final concentration of Cu­(II) was lower than the quality standard for groundwater and even lower than the allowable level of copper contaminant in drinking water in China. The effects of several parameters on adsorption, including pH value, contact time, adsorption temperature, initial concentration, acid stability, and thermal stability, were investigated. Kinetic data were well-described by a pseudo-first-order model. Both Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were applied to the experimental data analysis, and the former proved to be a better fit. The underlying mechanism of synergistic adsorption of heavy metal ions was considered. Then, the removal efficiency for four copper fungicides was studied and was found to reach 100%. These results suggest that GO-TETA-MA has the potential to be applied in environmental management

Predicting Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Target Genes by Level-2 Protein-Protein Interaction

<div><p>Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is frequently lethal and has no effective pharmaceutical treatment, posing a great threat to human health. Previous bioinformatics studies of the mechanisms underlying AAA relied largely on the detection of direct protein-protein interactions (level-1 PPI) between the products of reported AAA-related genes. Thus, some proteins not suspected to be directly linked to previously reported genes of pivotal importance to AAA might have been missed. In this study, we constructed an indirect protein-protein interaction (level-2 PPI) network based on common interacting proteins encoded by known AAA-related genes and successfully predicted previously unreported AAA-related genes using this network. We used four methods to test and verify the performance of this level-2 PPI network: cross validation, human AAA mRNA chip array comparison, literature mining, and verification in a mouse CaPO₄ AAA model. We confirmed that the new level-2 PPI network is superior to the original level-1 PPI network and proved that the top 100 candidate genes predicted by the level-2 PPI network shared similar GO functions and KEGG pathways compared with positive genes.</p></div

Probability distributions of level-1 and level-2 neighbors for positive and candidate genes.

<p>Probability distributions of level-1 and level-2 neighbors for positive and candidate genes.</p

Image_4_Pathological mechanisms of type 1 diabetes in children: investigation of the exosomal protein expression profile.jpeg

IntroductionType 1 diabetes (T1D) is a serious autoimmune disease with high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and treatment remain unsatisfactory. While the potential for development of T1D biomarkers in circulating exosomes has attracted interest, progress has been limited. This study endeavors to explore the molecular dynamics of plasma exosome proteins in pediatric T1D patients and potential mechanisms correlated with T1D progressionMethodsLiquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with tandem mass tag (TMT)6 labeling was used to quantify exosomal protein expression profiles in 12 healthy controls and 24 T1D patients stratified by age (≤ 6 years old and > 6 years old) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (> 7% or > 7%). Integrated bioinformatics analysis was employed to decipher the functions of differentially expressed proteins, and Western blotting was used for validation of selected proteins' expression levels. ResultsWe identified 1035 differentially expressed proteins (fold change > 1.3) between the T1D patients and healthy controls: 558 in those ≤ 6-year-old and 588 in those > 6-year-old. In those who reached an HbA1c level DiscussionThis study delivers valuable insights into the fundamental molecular mechanisms contributing to T1D pathology. Moreover, it proposes potential therapeutic targets for improved T1D management.</p

Image_1_Pathological mechanisms of type 1 diabetes in children: investigation of the exosomal protein expression profile.jpeg

IntroductionType 1 diabetes (T1D) is a serious autoimmune disease with high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and treatment remain unsatisfactory. While the potential for development of T1D biomarkers in circulating exosomes has attracted interest, progress has been limited. This study endeavors to explore the molecular dynamics of plasma exosome proteins in pediatric T1D patients and potential mechanisms correlated with T1D progressionMethodsLiquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with tandem mass tag (TMT)6 labeling was used to quantify exosomal protein expression profiles in 12 healthy controls and 24 T1D patients stratified by age (≤ 6 years old and > 6 years old) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (> 7% or > 7%). Integrated bioinformatics analysis was employed to decipher the functions of differentially expressed proteins, and Western blotting was used for validation of selected proteins' expression levels. ResultsWe identified 1035 differentially expressed proteins (fold change > 1.3) between the T1D patients and healthy controls: 558 in those ≤ 6-year-old and 588 in those > 6-year-old. In those who reached an HbA1c level DiscussionThis study delivers valuable insights into the fundamental molecular mechanisms contributing to T1D pathology. Moreover, it proposes potential therapeutic targets for improved T1D management.</p

An illustration of the workflow: construction of the PPI network (A) and validation using various methods (B).

<p>An illustration of the workflow: construction of the PPI network (A) and validation using various methods (B).</p

Image_3_Pathological mechanisms of type 1 diabetes in children: investigation of the exosomal protein expression profile.jpeg

IntroductionType 1 diabetes (T1D) is a serious autoimmune disease with high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and treatment remain unsatisfactory. While the potential for development of T1D biomarkers in circulating exosomes has attracted interest, progress has been limited. This study endeavors to explore the molecular dynamics of plasma exosome proteins in pediatric T1D patients and potential mechanisms correlated with T1D progressionMethodsLiquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with tandem mass tag (TMT)6 labeling was used to quantify exosomal protein expression profiles in 12 healthy controls and 24 T1D patients stratified by age (≤ 6 years old and > 6 years old) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (> 7% or > 7%). Integrated bioinformatics analysis was employed to decipher the functions of differentially expressed proteins, and Western blotting was used for validation of selected proteins' expression levels. ResultsWe identified 1035 differentially expressed proteins (fold change > 1.3) between the T1D patients and healthy controls: 558 in those ≤ 6-year-old and 588 in those > 6-year-old. In those who reached an HbA1c level DiscussionThis study delivers valuable insights into the fundamental molecular mechanisms contributing to T1D pathology. Moreover, it proposes potential therapeutic targets for improved T1D management.</p

Table_1_Pathological mechanisms of type 1 diabetes in children: investigation of the exosomal protein expression profile.xlsx

IntroductionType 1 diabetes (T1D) is a serious autoimmune disease with high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and treatment remain unsatisfactory. While the potential for development of T1D biomarkers in circulating exosomes has attracted interest, progress has been limited. This study endeavors to explore the molecular dynamics of plasma exosome proteins in pediatric T1D patients and potential mechanisms correlated with T1D progressionMethodsLiquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with tandem mass tag (TMT)6 labeling was used to quantify exosomal protein expression profiles in 12 healthy controls and 24 T1D patients stratified by age (≤ 6 years old and > 6 years old) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (> 7% or > 7%). Integrated bioinformatics analysis was employed to decipher the functions of differentially expressed proteins, and Western blotting was used for validation of selected proteins' expression levels. ResultsWe identified 1035 differentially expressed proteins (fold change > 1.3) between the T1D patients and healthy controls: 558 in those ≤ 6-year-old and 588 in those > 6-year-old. In those who reached an HbA1c level DiscussionThis study delivers valuable insights into the fundamental molecular mechanisms contributing to T1D pathology. Moreover, it proposes potential therapeutic targets for improved T1D management.</p

Image_2_Pathological mechanisms of type 1 diabetes in children: investigation of the exosomal protein expression profile.jpeg

IntroductionType 1 diabetes (T1D) is a serious autoimmune disease with high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and treatment remain unsatisfactory. While the potential for development of T1D biomarkers in circulating exosomes has attracted interest, progress has been limited. This study endeavors to explore the molecular dynamics of plasma exosome proteins in pediatric T1D patients and potential mechanisms correlated with T1D progressionMethodsLiquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with tandem mass tag (TMT)6 labeling was used to quantify exosomal protein expression profiles in 12 healthy controls and 24 T1D patients stratified by age (≤ 6 years old and > 6 years old) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (> 7% or > 7%). Integrated bioinformatics analysis was employed to decipher the functions of differentially expressed proteins, and Western blotting was used for validation of selected proteins' expression levels. ResultsWe identified 1035 differentially expressed proteins (fold change > 1.3) between the T1D patients and healthy controls: 558 in those ≤ 6-year-old and 588 in those > 6-year-old. In those who reached an HbA1c level DiscussionThis study delivers valuable insights into the fundamental molecular mechanisms contributing to T1D pathology. Moreover, it proposes potential therapeutic targets for improved T1D management.</p

An example of indirect interaction with AAA disease genes.

<p>The PRKCD gene (labeled in yellow) is present as a root of trees in which the level-1 (labeled in blue) and level-2 neighbors (labeled in red) correspond to the level-1 and level-2 child nodes.</p