Facile Fabrication of Hollow Li3PO4 Catalyst via Ostwald Ripening

Jihai Zhang,Dongyu Wang,Weihua Ma 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2018 NANO Vol.13 No.1

Hollow inorganic nanostructures are important due to their applications in energy storage and conversion, catalysis, gas sensing, and biomedicine. Li3PO4 is used as an isomerization catalyst for propylene oxide to selectively give allyl alcohol. We used a facile template-free method to synthesize hollow Li3PO4 nanoparticles with size range of 500 nm to 1500 nm. The effect of concentration, agitation, ripening temperature and the ratio of starting reagents on the hollowing process is investigated. The most important factor to influence the hollowness was found to be the ratio of lithium ion to phosphate ion; as the ratio increases, the hollowness of the particles increases. When this ratio reached 3, the hollow nanostructures become dominant. As an isomerization catalyst for propylene oxide, 4-Li3PO4 exhibited the highest conversion and best selectivity of allyl alcohol. The hydroxide ion of the precursor is adsorbed on the surface of the Li3PO4 particles which results in different surface basicity.

Interaction between Brucella melitensis 16M and small ubiquitin-related modifier 1 and E2 conjugating enzyme 9 in mouse RAW264.7 macrophages

Jihai Yi,Yueli Wang,Qifeng Li,Huan Zhang,Zhiran Shao,XiaoYu Deng,Jinke He,Chencheng Xiao,Zhen Wang,Yong Wang,Chuangfu Chen 대한수의학회 2019 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.20 No.5

Brucella is an intracellular pathogen that invades a host and settles in its immune cells; however, the mechanism of its intracellular survival is unclear. Modification of small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) occurs in many cellular activities. E2 conjugating enzyme 9 (Ubc9) is the only reported ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that links the SUMO molecule with a target protein. Brucella's intracellular survival mechanism has not been studied with respect to SUMO-related proteins and Ubc9. Therefore, to investigate the relationship between Brucella melitensis 16M and SUMO, we constructed plasmids and cells lines suitable for overexpression and knockdown of SUMO1 and Ubc9 genes. Brucella 16M activated SUMO1/Ubc9 expression in a time-dependent manner, and Brucella 16M intracellular survival was inhibited by SUMO1/Ubc9 overexpression and promoted by SUMO1/Ubc9 depletion. In macrophages, Brucella 16M-dependent apoptosis and immune factors were induced by SUMO1/Ubc9 overexpression and restricted by SUMO1/Ubc9 depletion. We noted no effect on the expressions of SUMO1 and Ubc9 in B. melitensis 16M lipopolysaccharide-prestimulated mouse RAW264.7 macrophages. Additionally, intracellular survival of the 16MΔVirB2 mutant was lower than that of Brucella 16M (p < 0.05). VirB2 can affect expression levels of Ubc9, thereby increasing intracellular survival of Brucella in macrophages at the late stage of infection. Collectively, our results demonstrate that B. melitensis 16M may use the VirB IV secretion system of Brucella to interact with SUMO-related proteins during infection of host cells, which interferes with SUMO function and promotes pathogen survival in host cells.

A combined application of molecular docking technology and indirect ELISA for the serodiagnosis of bovine tuberculosis

Song, Shengnan,Zhang, Qian,Yang, Hang,Guo, Jia,Xu, Mingguo,Yang, Ningning,Yi, Jihai,Wang, Zhen,Chen, Chuangfu The Korean Society of Veterinary Science 2022 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol. No.

Background: There is an urgent need to find reliable and rapid bovine tuberculosis (bTB) diagnostics in response to the rising prevalence of bTB worldwide. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) recognizes components of bTB and initiates antigen-presenting cells to mediate humoral immunity. Evaluating the affinity of antigens with TLR2 can form the basis of a new method for the diagnosis of bTB based on humoral immunity. Objectives: To develop a reliable and rapid strategy to improve diagnostic tools for bTB. Methods: In this study, we expressed and purified the sixteen bTB-specific recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. The two antigenic proteins, MPT70 and MPT83, which were most valuable for serological diagnosis of bTB were screened. Molecular docking technology was used to analyze the affinity of MPT70, MPT83, dominant epitope peptide of MPT70 (M1), and dominant epitope peptide MPT83 (M2) with TLR2, combined with the detection results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate the molecular docking effect. Results: The results showed that interaction surface Cα-atom root mean square deviation of proteins (M1, M2, MPT70, MPT83)-TLR2 protein are less than 2.5 A, showing a high affinity. It is verified by clinical serum samples that MPT70, MPT83, MPT70-MPT83 showed good diagnostic potential for the detection of anti-bTB IgG and M1, M2 can replace the whole protein as the detection antigen. Conclusions: Molecular docking to evaluate the affinity of bTB protein and TLR2 combined with ELISA provides new insights for the diagnosis of bTB.

Linking empowering leadership to innovative behavior in professional learning communities: the role of psychological empowerment and team psychological safety

Jinjie Zhu,Jihai Yao,Lili Zhang 서울대학교 교육연구소 2019 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.20 No.4

This study investigates the mediating role of teachers’ psychological empowerment and the moderating role of team psychological safety in the relationship between empowering leadership and teachers’ innovative behavior in teaching and research groups (TR groups) as professional learning communities. In total, 507 teachers from 114 TR groups in China participated in this study. The multilevel model results show that empowering leadership improves teachers’ innovative behavior by increasing teachers’ psychological empowerment, which is not influenced by team psychological safety. A supplementary analysis shows that the relationship between team psychological safety and teachers’ innovative behavior is also mediated by psychological empowerment.

A combined application of molecular docking technology and indirect ELISA for the serodiagnosis of bovine tuberculosis

Song, Shengnan,Zhang, Qian,Yang, Hang,Guo, Jia,Xu, Mingguo,Yang, Ningning,Yi, Jihai,Wang, Zhen,Chen, Chuangfu The Korean Society of Veterinary Science 2022 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.23 No.3

Background: There is an urgent need to find reliable and rapid bovine tuberculosis (bTB) diagnostics in response to the rising prevalence of bTB worldwide. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) recognizes components of bTB and initiates antigen-presenting cells to mediate humoral immunity. Evaluating the affinity of antigens with TLR2 can form the basis of a new method for the diagnosis of bTB based on humoral immunity. Objectives: To develop a reliable and rapid strategy to improve diagnostic tools for bTB. Methods: In this study, we expressed and purified the sixteen bTB-specific recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. The two antigenic proteins, MPT70 and MPT83, which were most valuable for serological diagnosis of bTB were screened. Molecular docking technology was used to analyze the affinity of MPT70, MPT83, dominant epitope peptide of MPT70 (M1), and dominant epitope peptide MPT83 (M2) with TLR2, combined with the detection results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate the molecular docking effect. Results: The results showed that interaction surface Cα-atom root mean square deviation of proteins (M1, M2, MPT70, MPT83)-TLR2 protein are less than 2.5 A, showing a high affinity. It is verified by clinical serum samples that MPT70, MPT83, MPT70-MPT83 showed good diagnostic potential for the detection of anti-bTB IgG and M1, M2 can replace the whole protein as the detection antigen. Conclusions: Molecular docking to evaluate the affinity of bTB protein and TLR2 combined with ELISA provides new insights for the diagnosis of bTB.

Enhanced proton conductivity of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes at elevated temperature by incorporating (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane-grafted graphene oxide

Shuguo Qu,Chenchen Zhang,Minhui Li,Yan Zhang,Lunbo Chen,Yushuai Yang,Bo Kang,Yiwei Wang,Jihai Duan,Weiwen Wang 한국화학공학회 2019 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.36 No.12

Making inexpensive proton exchange membrane with high proton conductivity for the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is still a challenging problem. Graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles grafted with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxy silane (APTES) were prepared and then incorporated into sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) matrix by solution casting to make the composite proton exchange membrane. The obtained nanoparticles and composite membranes were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Raman, TGA, SEM, and UTM. GO treated with the silane coupling agent improved the dispersion stability and compatibility of GO in SPEEK, which decreased the agglomeration of GO nanoparticles in the SPEEK membrane. The prepared nanocomposite membranes exhibited better water retention properties and proton conductivity. The proton conductivity of the SPEEK membrane with 2wt% amine functionalized GO (AGO) reached 11.32mS/cm at 120oC, which was 2.45-times higher than that of the pristine SPEEK membrane. The reason was that AGO nanoparticles disperse uniformly in the SPEEK membranes, which provides new channels for proton transfer. The potential application of this composite membrane in the PEMFC was indicated.

Nucleomodulin BspJ as an effector promotes the colonization of Brucella abortus in the host

Zhongchen Ma,Shuifa Yu,Kejian Cheng,Yuhe Miao,Yimei Xu,Ruirui Hu,Wei Zheng,Jihai Yi,Huan Zhang,Ruirui Li,Zhiqiang Li,Yong Wang,Chuangfu Chen 대한수의학회 2022 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.23 No.1

Background: Brucella infection induces brucellosis, a zoonotic disease. The intracellular circulation process and virulence of Brucella mainly depend on its type IV secretion system (T4SS) expressing secretory effectors. Secreted protein BspJ is a nucleomodulin of Brucella that invades the host cell nucleus. BspJ mediates host energy synthesis and apoptosis through interaction with proteins. However, the mechanism of BspJ as it affects the intracellular survival of Brucella remains to be clarified. Objectives: To verify the functions of nucleomodulin BspJ in Brucella's intracellular infection cycles. Methods: Constructed Brucella abortus BspJ gene deletion strain (B. abortus ΔBspJ) and complement strain (B. abortus pBspJ) and studied their roles in the proliferation of Brucella both in vivo and in vitro. Results: BspJ gene deletion reduced the survival and intracellular proliferation of Brucella at the replicating Brucella-containing vacuoles (rBCV) stage. Compared with the parent strain, the colonization ability of the bacteria in mice was significantly reduced, causing less inflammatory infiltration and pathological damage. We also found that the knockout of BspJ altered the secretion of cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-1β, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ) in host cells and in mice to affect the intracellular survival of Brucella. Conclusions: BspJ is extremely important for the circulatory proliferation of Brucella in the host, and it may be involved in a previously unknown mechanism of Brucella's intracellular survival.