PurposeSmall cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the malignant cancers with aggressive progression and poor prognosis. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) has been arising recently as a potential source of biomarkers for lung cancers. In this study, we performed quantitative BALF proteomic analysis to identify potential biomarkers for SCLC.Experimental designBALF were collected from tumor‐bearing lungs and non‐tumor lungs of five SCLC patients. Then, BALF proteomes were prepared for a TMT‐based quantitative mass spectrometry analysis. Differentially expressed proteins (DEP) were identified when considering individual variation. Potential SCLC biomarker candidates were validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). A public database of multiple SCLC cell lines was used to evaluate the correlation of these markers with SCLC subtypes and chemo‐drug responses.ResultsWe identified 460 BALF proteins in SCLC patients and observed considerable individual variation among the patients. Immunohistochemical analysis and bioinformatics resulted in the identification of CNDP2 and RNPEP as potential subtype markers for ASCL1 and NEUROD1, respectively. In addition, CNDP2 was found to be positively correlated with responses to etoposide, carboplatin, and irinotecan.Conclusions and clinical relevanceBALF is an emerging source of biomarkers, making it useful for the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancers. We characterized the proteomes of paired BALF samples collected from tumor‐bearing and non‐tumor lungs of SCLC patients. Several proteins were found elevated in tumor‐bearing BALF, and especially CNDP2 and RNPEP appeared to be potential indicators for ASLC1‐high and NEUROD1‐high subtypes of SCLC, respectively. The positive correlation of CNDP2 with chemo‐drug responses would help to make decisions for treatment of SCLC patients. These putative biomarkers could be comprehensively investigated for a clinical use towards precision medicine.

The surfaces of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles have been modified by gold (Au) nanoparticles by a reduction method in solution. Their interfacial electronic structures and optical absorptions have been studied by depth-profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, respectively. Upon Au-modification, UVvis absorption spectra reveal a broad surface plasmon peak at around 500 nm. For the as-prepared Au-modified TiO2 and ZnO, the Au 4f7/2 XPS peaks exhibit at 83.7 and 83.9 eV, respectively. These are due to a charge transfer effect from the metal oxide support to the Au. For TiO2, the larger binding energy shift from that (84.0 eV) of bulk Au could indicate that Au-modification site of TiO2 is different from that of ZnO. On the basis of the XPS data with sputtering depth, we conclude that cationic (1+ and 3+) Au species, plausibly Au(OH)x (x = 1-3), commonly form mainly at the AuTiO2 and Au-ZnO interfaces. With Ar + ion sputtering, the oxidation state of Ti dramatically changes from 4+ to 3+ and 2+ while that (2+) of Zn shows no discernible change based on the binding energy position and the full-width at half maximum (FWHM).

We prepared Ni and Pd-modified TiO2@SiO2 core-shell nanostructures and then analyzed them by scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction crystallography, FT-IR and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. In addition, their CO oxidation performance was tested by temperature-programmed mass spectrometry. The CO oxidation activity showed an order of Ni-TiO2@SiO2 (900 °C) < Ni-TiO2@SiO2 (90 °C) < Ni-TiO2@SiO2 (450 °C) in the first CO oxidation run, and greatly improved activity in the same order in the second run. The T10% (the temperature at 10% CO conversion) corresponds to the CO oxidation rate of 2.8 × 10 −5 molCO gcat. For Ni-TiO2@SiO2 (450 °C), the T10% was observed at 365 °C in the first run and at 335°C in the second run. For the Pd-TiO2@SiO2 (450 °C), the T10% was observed at a much lower temperature of 263 °C in the first CO oxidation run, and at 247 °C in the second run. The CO oxidation activities of transition metal modified TiO2@SiO2 core-shell nanostructures presented herein provide new insights that will be useful in developing catalysts for various environments.