No abstract

Our results provide new mechanistic insight into the possible role for L-type Ca channels in HO-1/CO-induced angiogenesis. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 21-36.

Among various CO2 capture processes, the aqueous amine-based absorption process is considered the most promising for near-term deployment. However, the performance evaluation of newly developed solvents still requires complex and time-consuming procedures, such as pilot plant tests or the development of a rigorous simulator. Absence of accurate and simple calculation methods for the energy performance at an early stage of process development has lengthened and increased expense of the development of economically feasible CO2 capture processes. In this paper, a novel but simple method to reliably calculate the regeneration energy in a standard amine-based carbon capture process is proposed. Careful examination of stripper behaviors and exploitation of energy balance equations around the stripper allowed for calculation of the regeneration energy using only vapor-liquid equilibrium and caloric data. Reliability of the proposed method was confirmed by comparing to rigorous simulations for two well-known solvents, monoethanolamine (MEA) and piperazine (PZ). The proposed method can predict the regeneration energy at various operating conditions with greater simplicity, greater speed, and higher accuracy than those proposed in previous studies. This enables faster and more precise screening of various solvents and faster optimization of process variables and can eventually accelerate the development of economically deployable CO2 capture processes.

The effect of ionic liquids on photoinduced electron-transfer reactions in a donor−bridge−acceptor system is examined for two ionic liquid solvents, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide and tributylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide. The results are compared with those for the same system in methanol and acetonitrile solution. Electron-transfer rates were measured using time-resolved fluorescence quenching for the donor− bridge−acceptor system comprising a 1-N,1-N-dimethylbenzene-1,4-diamine donor, a proline bridge, and a coumarin 343 acceptor. The photoinduced electron-transfer processes are in the inverted regime (−ΔG > λ) in all four solvents, with driving forces of −1.6 to −1.9 eV and estimated reorganization energies of about 1.0 eV. The observed electron-transfer kinetics have broadly distributed rates that are generally slower in the ionic liquids compared to the neutral solvents, which also have narrower rate distributions. To describe the broad distributions of electron-transfer kinetics, we use two different models: a distribution of exponential lifetimes and a discrete sum of exponential lifetimes. Analysis of the donor−acceptor electronic coupling shows that for ionic liquids this intramolecular electron-transfer reaction should be treated using a solvent-controlled electron-transfer model.

Aims: Hypoxia induces expression of various genes and microRNAs (miRs) that regulate angiogenesis and vascular function. In this study, we investigated a new functional role of new hypoxia-responsive miR-101 in angiogenesis and its underlying mechanism for regulating heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Results: We found that hypoxia induced miR-101, which binds to the 3¢untranslated region of cullin 3 (Cul3) and stabilizes nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) via inhibition of the proteasomal degradation pathway. miR-101 overexpression promoted Nrf2 nuclear accumulation, which was accompanied with increases in HO-1 induction, VEGF expression, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-derived nitric oxide (NO) production. The elevated NO-induced S-nitrosylation of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 and subsequent induction of Nrf2-dependent HO-1 lead to further elevation of VEGF production via a positive feedback loop between the Nrf2/HO-1 and VEGF/eNOS axes. Moreover, miR-101 promoted angiogenic signals and angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, and these events were attenuated by inhibiting the biological activity of HO-1, VEGF, or eNOS. Moreover, these effects were also observed in aortic rings from HO-1 +/ -and eNOS -/ -mice. Local overexpression of miR-101 improved therapeutic angiogenesis and perfusion recovery in the ischemic mouse hindlimb, whereas antagomiR-101 diminished regional blood flow. Innovation: Hypoxia-responsive miR-101 stimulates angiogenesis by activating the HO-1/VEGF/eNOS axis via Cul3 targeting. Thus, miR-101 is a novel angiomir. Conclusion: Our results provide new mechanistic insights into a functional role of miR-101 as a potential therapeutic target in angiogenesis and vascular remodeling. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 21, 2469-2482.