Pneumonia and sepsis are major risk factors for acute kidney injury (AKI). Patients with pneumonia and AKI are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Surfactant protein D (SP-D) expressed in lung and kidney plays important roles in innate immunity. However, little is known about the role of organ-specific SP-D in the sepsis. The current study uses wild type (WT), SP-D knockout (KO), and humanized SP-D transgenic (hTG, lung-specific SP-D expression) mice to study organ-specific role of SP-D in pneumonia-induced sepsis. Analyses demonstrated differential lung and kidney injury among three-type mice infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After infection, KO mice showed higher injurious scores in both lung and kidney, and decreased renal function than WT and hTG mice. hTG mice exhibited comparable lung injury but more severe kidney injury compared to WT mice. Increased renal tubular apoptosis, NF-κB activation and proinflammatory cytokines in the kidney of KO mice were found when compared with WT and hTG mice. Furthermore, in vitro primary proximal tubular epithelial cells from KO mice showed more apoptosis with higher level of activated caspase-3 than those from WT mice after LPS treatment. Collectively, SP-D attenuates AKI in the sepsis by modulating renal apoptosis, inflammation and NF-κB signaling.

Two types of rare sandwich-type germanomolybdates [Na(12)(H(2)O)(36)][Cu(2)(beta-Y-GeMo(9)O(33))(2)].3H(2)O (1), [N(CH(3))(4)](4) [Na(6)(H(2)O)(24)][Cr(2)(beta-Y-GeMo(9)O(33))(2)].7H(2)O (2), and [Na(11)(H(2)O)(25)]H[M(4)(H(2)O)(2)(alpha-B-GeMo(9)O(34))(2)].6H(2)O (M = Ni(II) for 3, M = Mn(II) for 4 and M = Co(II) for 5) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, ICP spectra, IR spectroscopy, UV spectroscopy, thermogravimetry (TG) analyses (for 1-3), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (for 1 and 3), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) (for 1 and 3) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. To our knowledge, 1-5 represent the first sandwich-type germanomolybdates containing both {beta-Y-GeMo(9)O(33)}/{alpha-B-GeMo(9)O(34)} fragments and transition-metal clusters. Interestingly, 1 and 2 display the rare dinuclear transition-metal substituted sandwich-type structures with unusual trivacant {beta-Y-GeMo(9)O(33)} germanomolybdate units whereas 3-5 exhibit the first tetranuclear transition-metal substituted sandwich-type structures with familiar trivacant {alpha-B-GeMo(9)O(34)} germanomolybdate units. Surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) and electric field induced surface photovoltage spectroscopy (EFISPS) measurements reveal that 1 and 3 bear the behavior of the n-type semiconductor. Magnetic measurements indicate 1 and 3 demonstrate antiferromagnetic exchange interactions and ferromagnetic exchange interactions, respectively.

The surface morphology of the substrate is one of the decisive factors for ion-desorption efficiency in surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS). Understanding the impacts on the surface morphology of the substrate during laser desorption/ionization is the premise for improving the performance of SALDI-MS. In this study, the correlations of ion-desorption efficiency and internal energy transfer with surface morphology, including the total surface area, optical absorption, and surface voidage, were systematically investigated on the basis of ordered silicon nanopillar arrays (NAPAs). The results suggest that the SALDI-MS substrate has enough optical absorption for effective ion desorption by enhancing internal energy transfer and promoting the restructuring of the silicon surface; the high surface voidage of NAPAs can increase the iondesorption intensity because it can increase the temperature of the substrate surface. This work reveals that with enough optical absorption, high surface voidage is vital for the design of a SALDI-MS substrate based on silicon.

Ultra-small-sized iron oxide nanoparticles with good biocompatibility are regarded as promising alternatives for the gadolinium-based contrast agents, which are widely used as a positive contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, the current preparation of the iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles with small sizes usually involves organic solvents, increasing the complexity of hydrophilic ligand replacement and reducing the synthesis efficiency. It remains a great challenge to explore new iron oxide nanoparticles with good biocompatibility and a high T 1 contrast effect. Here, we reported a cage-like protein architecture self-assembled by approximately 6−7 BSA (bovine serum albumin) subunits. The BSA nanocage was then used as a biotemplate to synthesize uniformed and monodispersed Fe 2 O 3 @BSA nanoparticles with ultra-small sizes (∼3.5 nm). The Fe 2 O 3 @BSA nanoparticle showed a high r 1 value of 6.8 mM −1 s −1 and a low r 2 /r 1 ratio of 10.6 at a 3 T magnetic field. Compared to Gd-DTPA, the brighter signal and prolonged angiographic effect of Fe 2 O 3 @BSA nanoparticles could greatly benefit steady-state and high-resolution imaging. The further in vivo and in vitro assessments of stability, toxicity, and renal clearance indicated a substantial potential as a T 1 contrast agent in preclinical MRI.

Background: Emodin is the main active component of rhubarb, which has demonstrated many beneficial effects against inflammation. Nanosilver is an effective antimicrobial agent. The present study was designed to observe the effects of Emodin combined with silver nanoparticles (E/S) on sepsis protection and related mechanism.Methods: E/S was prepared by loading different concentrations of Emodin on nanosilver and cytotoxicity of E/S were determined by suphorhodamine B assays. Anti-microbial activities of E/S were assayed by direct interaction with various common pathogens and anti-adhesive activites of E/S on leukocytes with endothelial cells were assayed by biochemical analysis. Next, inflammatory cell enumeration, inflammatory mediators in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and endothelial cell function were analyzed on a clinically relevant model of sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) after E/S administration. The effects of E/S on NF-κB and p38 were also examined by western blot.Results: E/S exhibited little cytotoxicity action on endothelial cells and significant inhibitory activities against all tested common microorganisms and adherence between leukocyte and endothelial cells. E/S induced anti-sepsis protection mainly mediated by inhibition of inflammatory cells infiltration, down-regulation of TNF-alpha, IL-8 and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and inhibition of NF-κB and p38 pathways in mice 24 h post-CLP.Conclusion: Our data suggest that E/S has strong anti-sepsis effects, which was related with anti-inflammatory protection and thereby promote survival following sepsis challenge.