OBJECTIVEKlotho is an antiaging hormone present in the kidney that extends the lifespan, regulates kidney function, and modulates cellular responses to oxidative stress. We investigated whether Klotho levels and signaling modulate inflammation in diabetic kidneys.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSRenal Klotho expression was determined by quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblot analysis. Primary mouse tubular epithelial cells were treated with methylglyoxalated albumin, and Klotho expression and inflammatory cytokines were measured. Nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation was assessed by treating human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 and HK-2 cells with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the presence or absence of Klotho, followed by immunoblot analysis to evaluate inhibitor of κB (IκB)α degradation, IκB kinase (IKK) and p38 activation, RelA nuclear translocation, and phosphorylation. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay was performed to analyze the effects of Klotho signaling on interleukin-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 promoter recruitment of RelA and RelA serine (Ser)536.RESULTSRenal Klotho mRNA and protein were significantly decreased in db/db mice, and a similar decline was observed in the primary cultures of mouse tubule epithelial cells treated with methylglyoxal-modified albumin. The exogenous addition of soluble Klotho or overexpression of membranous Klotho in tissue culture suppressed NF-κB activation and subsequent production of inflammatory cytokines in response to TNF-α stimulation. Klotho specifically inhibited RelA Ser536 phosphorylation as well as promoter DNA binding of this phosphorylated form of RelA without affecting IKK-mediated IκBα degradation, total RelA nuclear translocation, and total RelA DNA binding.CONCLUSIONSThese findings suggest that Klotho serves as an anti-inflammatory modulator, negatively regulating the production of NF-κB–linked inflammatory proteins via a mechanism that involves phosphorylation of Ser536 in the transactivation domain of RelA.

Colloidal all inorganic CsPbX (X = Cl, Br, I) nanocrystals (NCs) have emerged to be an excellent material for applications in light emission, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. Efficient interfacial transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes are essential for a good photovoltaic and photocatalytic material. Using time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy, we have measured the kinetics of photogenerated electron and hole transfer processes in CsPbBr NCs in the presence of benzoquinone and phenothiazine molecules as electron and hole acceptors, respectively. Efficient hot electron/hole transfer with a sub-300 fs time scale is the major channel of carrier transfer thus overcomes the problem related to Auger recombination. A secondary transfer of thermalized carriers also takes place with time scales of 20-50 ps for electrons and 137-166 ps for holes. This work suggests that suitable interfaces of CsPbX NCs with electron and hole transport layers would harvest hot carriers, increasing the photovoltaic and photocatalytic efficiencies.

Background: Oxidized bases in mammalian genome are repaired via base excision repair (BER) process that utilizes both common repair and noncanonical proteins. Results: hnRNP-U stimulates NEIL1-initiated BER via direct interaction and is required for enhancing oxidative stress-induced repair. Conclusion: NEIL1's interaction with hnRNP-U is critical for regulating oxidized genome damage repair after oxidative stress. Significance: The RNA-binding protein hnRNP-U plays a role in maintaining genomic integrity.

Background: Both endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, a fundamental cell response associated with stress-initiated unfolded protein response (UPR), and loss of Klotho, an anti-aging hormone linked to NF-κB-induced inflammation, occur in chronic metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. We investigated if the loss of Klotho is causally linked to increased ER stress. Methods: We treated human renal epithelial HK-2, alveolar epithelial A549, HEK293, and SH-SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells with ER stress-inducing agents, thapsigargin and/or tunicamycin. Effects of overexpression or siRNA-mediated knockdown of Klotho on UPR signaling was investigated by immunoblotting and Real-time PCR. Results: Elevated Klotho levels in HK-2 cells decreased expression of ER stress markers phospho-IRE1, XBP-1s, BiP, CHOP, pJNK, and phospho-p38, all of which were elevated in response to tunicamycin and/or thapsigargin. Similar results were observed using A549 cells for XBP-1s, BiP, and CHOP in response to thapsigargin. Conversely, knockdown of Klotho in HEK 293 cells using siRNA caused further thapsigargin-induced increases in pIRE-1, XBP-1s, and BiP. Klotho overexpression in A549 cells blocked thapsigargin-induced caspase and PARP cleavage and improved cell viability. Conclusion: Our data indicate that Klotho has an important role in regulating ER stress and that loss of Klotho is causally linked to ER stress-induced apoptosis.

We study the current density-voltage (J − V) characteristics of dissimilar metal-insulator-metal (MIM) nanoscale tunneling junctions using a self-consistent quantum model. The model includes emissions from both cathode and anode, and the effects of image charge potential, space charge and exchange correlation potential. The J − V curves span three regimes: direct tunneling, field emission, and space-charge-limited regime. Unlike similar MIM junctions, the J − V curves are polarity dependent. The forward (higher work function metal is negatively biased) and reverse (higher work function metal is positively biased) bias J − V curves and their crossover behaviors are examined in detail for various regimes, over a wide range of material properties (work function of the electrodes, electron affinity and permittivity of the insulator). It is found that the asymmetry between the current density profiles increases with the work function difference between the electrodes, insulator layer thickness and relative permittivity of the insulator. This asymmetry is profound in the field emission regime and insignificant in the direct tunneling, and space charge limited regimes.

Enhanced levels of nuclear factor (NF)-κB-inducing kinase (NIK), an upstream kinase in the NF-κB pathway, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation in diabetes. We investigated whether increased levels of NIK could induce skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Six obese subjects with metabolic syndrome underwent skeletal muscle biopsies before and six months after gastric bypass surgery to quantitate NIK protein levels. L6 skeletal myotubes, transfected with NIK wild-type or NIK kinase-dead dominant negative plasmids, were treated with insulin alone or with adiponectin and insulin. Effects of NIK overexpression on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake were estimated using tritiated 2-deoxyglucose uptake. NF-κB activation (EMSA), phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3) kinase activity, and phosphorylation of inhibitor κB kinase β and serine-threonine kinase (Akt) were measured. After weight loss, skeletal muscle NIK protein was significantly reduced in association with increased plasma adiponectin and enhanced AMP kinase phosphorylation and insulin sensitivity in obese subjects. Enhanced NIK expression in cultured L6 myotubes induced a dose-dependent decrease in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. The decrease in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was associated with a significant decrease in PI3 kinase activity and protein kinase B/Akt phosphorylation. Overexpression of NIK kinase-dead dominant negative did not affect insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Adiponectin treatment inhibited NIK-induced NF-κB activation and restored insulin sensitivity by restoring PI3 kinase activation and subsequent Akt phosphorylation. These results indicate that NIK induces insulin resistance and further indicate that adiponectin exerts its insulin-sensitizing effect by suppressing NIK-induced skeletal muscle inflammation. These observations suggest that NIK could be an important therapeutic target for the treatment of insulin resistance associated with inflammation in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Contact resistance and current crowding are important to nanoscale electrical contacts. In this paper, we present a self-consistent model to characterize partially overlapped parallel contacts with varying specific contact resistivity along the contact length. For parallel tunneling contacts formed between contacting members separated by a thin insulating gap, we examine the local voltage-dependent variation of potential barrier height and tunneling current along the contact length, by solving the lumped circuit transmission line model (TLM) equations coupled with the tunneling current self consistently. The current and voltage distribution along the parallel tunneling contacts and their overall contact resistance are analyzed in detail, for various input voltage, electrical contact dimension, and material properties (i.e. work function, sheet resistance of the contact members, and permittivity of the insulating layer). It is found the existing one-dimensional (1D) tunneling junction models become less reliable when the tunneling layer thickness becomes smaller or the applied voltage becomes larger. In these regimes, the proposed self-consistent model may provide a more accurate evaluation of the parallel tunneling contacts. For the special case of constant ohmic specific contact resistivity along the contact length, our theory has been spot-checked with finite element method (FEM) based numerical simulations. This work provides insights on the design, and potential engineering, of nanoscale electrical contacts with controlled current distribution and contact resistance via engineered spatially varying contact layer properties and geometry.

Bulk crystals of Sb3+-doped A2InX5·H2O (A = Cs, Rb; X = Cl, Br) zero-dimensional (0D) perovskites exhibit a high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield. Can we prepare their colloidal nanocrystals (NCs)? Such solution-processed nanocrystals will be useful for ink-based and thin-film technologies. Here, we present a facile route to synthesize colloidal Sb3+-doped Cs2InCl5·H2O NCs and explore their optical properties. Sb3+ ions with 5s2 outermost electrons yield intense (quantum yield 39%) green light emission. Temperature-dependent (6.5–300 K) PL provides a mechanistic origin of the excitation and emission processes. At room temperature, the undoped NCs emit blue light (2.8 eV, 435 nm) through localized defects, but below 200 K, near band-edge UV–blue emission (3.15 eV, 394 nm) is observed. Sb3+ doping introduces a new transition from relaxed excited 3P1 * to 1S0 state yielding green emission with a long (1.94 μs) lifetime. Colloidal Sb3+-doped Cs2InCl5·H2O NCs emitting intense green light along with a large Stokes shift and a long PL lifetime have potentials for solution-processed light-emitting applications.