2 research outputs found
Detection of Lung Cancer: Concomitant Volatile Organic Compounds and Metabolomic Profiling of Six Cancer Cell Lines of Different Histological Origins
In recent years,
there has been an extensive search for a non-invasive
screening technique for early detection of lung cancer. Volatile organic
compound (VOC) analysis in exhaled breath is one such promising technique.
This approach is based on the fact that tumor growth is accompanied
by unique oncogenesis, leading to detectable changes in VOC emitting
profile. Here, we conducted a comprehensive profiling of VOCs and
metabolites from six different lung cancer cell lines and one normal
lung cell line using mass spectrometry. The concomitant VOCs and metabolite
profiling allowed significant discrimination between lung cancer and
normal cell, nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung
cancer (SCLC), as well as between different subtypes of NSCLC. It
was found that a combination of benzaldehyde, 2-ethylhexanol, and
2,4-decadien-1-ol could serve as potential volatile biomarkers for
lung cancer. A detailed correlation between nonvolatile metabolites
and VOCs can demonstrate possible biochemical pathways for VOC production
by the cancer cells, thus enabling further optimization of VOCs as
biomarkers. These findings could eventually lead to noninvasive early
detection of lung cancer and differential diagnosis of lung cancer
subtypes, thus revolutionizing lung cancer treatment
Investigating the Role of Copper Oxide in Electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction in Real Time
Copper oxides have
been of considerable interest as electrocatalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> reduction (CO2R) in aqueous electrolytes. However, their role as
an active catalyst in reducing the required overpotential and improving
the selectivity of reaction compared with that of polycrystalline
copper remains controversial. Here, we introduce the use of selected-ion
flow tube mass spectrometry, in concert with chronopotentiometry,
in situ Raman spectroscopy, and computational modeling, to investigate
CO2R on Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanoneedles, Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanocrystals,
and Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanoparticles. We show experimentally that the
selective formation of gaseous C<sub>2</sub> products (i.e., ethylene)
in CO2R is preceded by the reduction of the copper oxide (Cu<sub>2</sub>OR) surface to metallic copper. On the basis of density functional
theory modeling, CO2R products are not formed as long as Cu<sub>2</sub>O is present at the surface because Cu<sub>2</sub>OR is kinetically
and energetically more favorable than CO2R