Downregulation of circAsxl2 Relieves Neuronal Injury Induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion

BACKGROUND

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been shown to play an important role in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, the role of circAsxl2 (mmu_circ_0000346) in cerebral I/R injury remains unclear.

METHODS

Mouse brain neuronal cell line (HT-22) was used to perform oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) treatment. The levels of circAsxl2, microRNA (miR)-130b-5p and forkhead box O3 (FOXO3) were determined using quantitative real-time PCR. Cell viability and apoptosis were measured using cell counting kit 8 assay and flow cytometry. Commercial kits were used to assess cell cytotoxicity, inflammation and oxidative stress. Protein expression was analyzed by western blot. RNA interaction was verified using dual-luciferase reporter assay, RIP assay and RNA pull-down assay.

RESULTS

CircAsxl2 was highly expressed in OGD/R-induced HT-22 cells, and its silencing could alleviate OGD/R-induced apoptosis, inflammation and oxidative stress in HT-22 cells. MiR-130b-5p was sponged by circAsxl2, and its inhibitor could overturn the regulation of circAsxl2 knockdown on OGD/R-induced neuronal injury. FOXO3 was targeted by miR-130b-5p and its expression was positively regulated by circAsxl2. In addition, the regulation of circAsxl2 knockdown on OGD/R-induced neuronal injury also was reversed by FOXO3 overexpression.

CONCLUSION

CircAsxl2/miR-130b-5p/FOXO3 axis accelerated OGD/R-induced neuronal injury, which might provide effective strategies for treating cerebral I/R injury.

Highly efficient Ni(II) adsorption by industrial lignin-based biochar: a pivotal role of dissolved substances within biochar

In the context of carbon neutrality, promoting resource utilization of industrial alkali lignin addressing heavy metal pollution is crucial for China's pollution alleviation and carbon reduction. Microwave pyrolysis produced functionalized biochar from industrial alkali lignin for Ni(II) adsorption. LB400 achieved 343.15 mg g-1 saturated adsorption capacity in 30 min. Pseudo-second-order kinetic and Temkin isotherm models accurately described the adsorption, which was endothermic and spontaneous (ΔGϴ < 0, ΔHϴ > 0). Quantitative analysis revealed that both dissolved substances and carbon skeleton from biochar contributed to adsorption, with the former predominates (93.76%), including mineral precipitation NiCO3 (Qp) and adsorption of dissolved organic matter (QDOM). Surface complexation (Qc) and ion exchange (Qi) on the carbon skeleton accounted for 6.3%. Higher biochar preparation temperature reduced Ni(II) adsorption by dissolved substances. Overall, biochar which comes from the advantageous disposal of industrial lignin effectively removes Ni(II) contamination, encouraging ecologically sound treatment of heavy metal pollution and sustainable resource utilization.

The Transition of Mg-Containing Phases and Recovery of NaCl in Molten Salt Chloride Slags at High Temperature

The molten salt chlorination method is more suitable to produce TiCl4 using titanium-containing materials with high contents of CaO and MgO in China. However, there is a large amount of molten salt chloride slags generated from the molten salt chlorination process, which contains a variety of chlorides and is difficult to treat, often causing serious environmental problems such as direct piling or landfilling. A novel process was proposed to deal with molten salt chloride slags, and calcium chloride could be effectively removed by this process (as in our previous study). However, magnesium chloride is another impurity which can deteriorate the density and viscosity of the molten salt; it is often found in higher contents, and should be also removed from molten salt chloride slags to efficiently recycle NaCl in novel processes. Na2SiO3 is added to the molten salt chloride slags in the molten state to produce the Mg-containing solid phase, which could be separated with the molten NaCl in novel processes. Thus, the transition of Mg-containing phases and the recovery of NaCl in molten salt chloride slags at high temperature in a novel process were systematically investigated in this work, including thermodynamic analysis, the phase transition behavior of Mg-containing phases, NaCl recovery, etc. The removal rate of Mg was 99.56% when the molar ratio of MgCl2:Na2SiO3 was 1:1.5 at 1273 K and in a N2 atmosphere. The recovery rate of NaCl from the molten salt chlorination slag was 97.62% and the purity of NaCl obtained was 99.35 wt%, which could be used in the molten salt chlorination process.