Experimental evaluation of Pt/TiO2/rGO as an efficient HER catalyst via artificial photosynthesis under UVB & visible irradiation

The study investigated the synergistic effects of rGO and Pt over TiO₂ for the HER via artificial photosynthesis under UVB and visible light irradiation. The introduction of glycerol and industrial wastewater to the system as sacrificial reductants signifies that the major reaction pathway is photocatalytic partial water splitting. The material characterizations revealed successful heterojunction formation and provided insight into chemistry behind the activity of the photocatalysts. Amongst various combinations of rGO on TiO₂, 1GNT exhibited an HER yield five times that of bare TiO₂ under UVB light. Addition of Pt led to the formation of a strong Schottky barrier at the heterojunction and consequently boosted HER performance. 1P0.5 GT presented the highest of 28.5 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ with glycerol and 9.6 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ with wastewater under UVB light respectively. For both binary and ternary photocatalysts, the HER performances dwindled under visible light irradiation, accentuating the insufficient activation of the TiO₂. In addition, 1PT outperformed all the other photocatalysts thereby elucidating the impression that rGO and Pt does not work well together in enhancing HER despite quenching the exciton recombination rate of TiO₂ significantly. The role of pH in the synthesis and the experiments has been discussed. Finally, the underlying mechanisms in the photodeposition and photoreformation have been proposed.     

芽孢杆菌产胞外多糖对大肠杆菌的60Co、UVB、低能氮离子的辐射保护作用研究

该文研究了选自新疆罗布泊沙漠的一株芽孢杆菌所产的胞外多糖(EPS)对大肠杆菌(E.coli)的60Co、UVB、低能氮离子辐射保护作用。选用灰树花多糖和VC做对照,通过大肠杆菌的存活菌落数来计算抗辐射率,进而比较这3种物质对大肠杆菌的辐射保护作用。结果表明:与灰树花多糖和VC相比,EPS具有更加明显的辐射保护作用。低能氮离子注入的存活曲线与60Co、UVB辐射不同,前者呈"马鞍型"曲线,而后两者为指数曲线。     

杜仲预防UVB致人成纤维细胞光老化的作用及基因水平的机制探讨

以UVB辐射体外培养的人成纤维细胞,探讨了杜仲乙醇提取物乙酸乙酯萃取部分(简称杜仲提取物)预防人成纤维细胞光老化的作用,并利用基因芯片对其可能的作用机制进行了探索。实验结果表明,杜仲提取物可以减少UVB对人成纤维细胞活性的影响,具有较好的预防光老化的作用,且基因芯片结果提示这种防护作用可能与提高细胞的抗氧化、DNA修复、抗凋亡有关,同时可能还具有一定促进细胞增殖和预防黑素细胞瘤的作用。     

Ultraviolet B (UVB) Irradiation-Induced Apoptosis in Various Cell Lineages in Vitro

Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation acts as a strong apoptotic trigger in many cell types, in tumor and normal cells. Several studies have demonstrated that UVB-induced cell death occurs through the generation of reactive oxygen species. The consequent oxidative stress includes the impairment of cellular antioxidants, the induction of DNA damage and the occurrence of apoptosis. In this review, we investigated UVB apoptotic action in various cell models by using ultrastructural, molecular and cytofluorimetric techniques. Myeloid leukemia HL-60, T-lymphoblastoid Molt-4 and myelomonocytic U937 human cells, generally affected by apoptotic stimuli, were studied. Human chondrocytes and C2C12 skeletal muscle cells, known to be more resistant to damage, were also considered. All of them, when exposed to UVB radiation, revealed a number of characteristic apoptotic markers. Membrane blebbing, cytoplasm shrinkage and chromatin condensation were detected by means of electron microscopy. DNA cleavage, investigated by using agarose gel electrophoresis and TUNEL reaction, was observed in suspended cells. Differently, in chondrocytes and in skeletal muscle cells, oligonucleosomic DNA fragmentation did not appear, even if a certain TUNEL positivity was detected. These findings demonstrate that UVB radiation appears to be an ideal tool to study the apoptotic behavior.     

Apoptotic DNA fragmentation can be revealed in situ: An ultrastructural approach

A common pattern of apoptotic death is DNA cleavage, initially producing large fragments (50 kbp), followed by the production of nucleosomic/oligonucleosomic fragments. Nevertheless, apoptosis without DNA fragmentation, at least of the nucleosomic type, has been reported. To investigate the spatial relationship between DNA cleavage and chromatin condensation, we applied the TUNEL technique to the ultrastructural analysis of apoptotic cells. A modified method, utilizing a gold‐conjugated antidigoxigenin antibody, was carried out on U937 versus Molt‐4 cells, both exposed to UVB radiation or staurosporine treatment. Gold particle density in the different domains of apoptotic cells was evaluated by a four‐way ANOVA test. Gold labelling was more strongly localised in condensed chromatin than in the diffuse chromatin. U937 cells, which evidenced in vitro oligonucleosomic fragmentation after both UVB and staurosporine treatments, revealed a significantly higher gold particle density, when compared with Molt‐4, which did not show, on the other hand, oligonucleosomic cleavage even in the presence of ≤50 kbp cleavage. Thus, a correlation between DNA fragment sizes and gold particle density appears. TUNEL applied to electron microscopy is an effective approach to study the relationship between apoptotic chromatin condensation and DNA cleavage. Both these events indeed appear in the apoptotic nucleus, but their reciprocal correlation is still greatly unknown. Microsc. Res. Tech. 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Protective effect evaluation of free radical scavengers on UVB induced human cutaneous erythema by skin reflectance spectrophotometry

This paper assesses the suitability of UVB induced skin erythema measured by reflectance spectrophotometry in humans as a model for differentiating topical efficacy of free radical scavengers. Two different formulations (aqueous gels and O/W emulsions) of each active compound (tocopherol, tocopherol acetate, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione, ascorbyl palmitate) were tested on healthy human volunteers before and after skin exposure to UVB radiation. Skin erythema was monitored by calculating erythema index values from the skin spectral data obtained using a reflectance spectrophotometer. The free radical scavengers tested were not able to inhibit UVB induced skin erythema from both formulations when they were topically applied before UVB irradiation. Applying the free radical scavenger formulations after skin exposure to UVB radiation, glutathione and SOD showed the best ability in inhibiting the induced erythema (percentage inhibition 53.3 and 41.6%, respectively from gels). Tocopherol and tocopherol acetate inhibited UVB skin erythema by 27% while ascorbyl palmitate showed a poor efficacy. For all the active compounds tested, no significant difference was observed comparing the results obtained from gels to those from emulsions. Liposomal gel formulations containing the free radical scavengers which showed the best activity (SOD and glutathione) were prepared and topically applied after skin exposure to UVB radiation. SOD and glutathione liposomal formulations were more effective than the corresponding conventional gels. The proposed model, if validated by further studies, could be useful for differentiating the effectiveness of free radical scavengers in inhibiting photoaging due to long-term sunlight skin exposure.     

UVB Radiation and Selected Tryptophan-Derived AhR Ligands—Potential Biological Interactions in Melanoma Cells

Excessive UV exposure is considered the major environmental factor in melanoma progression. Human skin is constantly exposed to selected tryptophan-derived aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligands, including kynurenine (KYN) and kynurenic acid (KYNA), as they are endogenously produced and present in various tissues and body fluids. Importantly, recent studies confirmed the biological activity of KYN and KYNA toward melanoma cells in vitro. Thus, in this study, the potential biological interactions between UVB and tryptophan metabolites KYN and KYNA were studied in melanoma A375, SK-MEL-3, and RPMI-7951 cells. It was shown that UVB enhanced the antiproliferative activity of KYN and KYNA in melanoma cells. Importantly, selected tryptophan-derived AhR ligands did not affect the invasiveness of A375 and RPMI-7951 cells; however, the stimulatory effect was observed in SK-MEL-3 cells exposed to UVB. Thus, the effect of tryptophan metabolites on metabolic activity, cell cycle regulation, and cell death in SK-MEL-3 cells exposed to UVB was assessed. In conclusion, taking into account that both UVB radiation and tryptophan-derived AhR ligands may have a crucial effect on skin cancer formation and progression, these results may have a significant impact, revealing the potential biological interactions in melanoma cells in vitro.     

Lacticaseibacillus paracasei K71 Alleviates UVB-Induced Skin Barrier Dysfunction by Attenuating Inflammation via Increased IL-10 Production in Mice

Scope

Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation causes skin barrier dysfunction, leading to decreased water-holding capacity, impaired epidermal barrier function, and increased skin thickness. This study investigates the protective effects of oral administration of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei K71 against skin barrier dysfunction in UVB-irradiated mice.

Methods and results

Mice are fed diets with or without K71 and irradiated with UVB three times a week for 12 weeks. Oral administration of K71 suppresses UVB-induced decrease in stratum corneum water content, mitigates the increase of transepidermal water loss, and decreases epidermal thickness of the dorsal skin. Treatment with K71 reverses the upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and the activation of nuclear factor-κB induced by UVB irradiation and upregulates the expression of anti-inflammatory IL-10 in the dorsal skin. Notable upregulation of IL-10 is observed in the spleens of K71-treated mice. K71 treatment enhances IL-10 production in J774.1 macrophages; however, this enhancement is diminished by inhibiting K71 phagocytosis and TLR3. Furthermore, transfection using K71 RNAs significantly increases IL-10 production.

Conclusion

These results indicate that K71 may alleviate UVB-induced skin barrier dysfunction by attenuating inflammation via increasing IL-10 production and that K71 RNAs may induce IL-10 production in macrophages. Therefore, K71 may be beneficial for preventing skin barrier dysfunction.