Latest ArticlesWith the development of nanotechnology and materials science, bioinspired nanochannels appeared by mimicking the intelligent functions of biological ion channels. They have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to their controllable structure and tunable chemical properties. Inspired by the layered microstructure of nacre, 2D layered materials as excellent matrix material of nanochannel come into our field of vision. Bionic nanochannels based on 2D materials have the advantages of facile preparation, tunable channel size and length, easy expansion, and modification, etc. Therefore, the 2D layered nanofluid system based on bionic nanochannels from 2D layered materials has great potential in biomimetic microsensors, membrane separations, energy conversion, and so on. In this paper, we focus on the construction and application of bionic nanochannels based on 2D layer materials. First, a basic understanding of nanochannels based on 2D materials is briefly introduced, we also present the property of the 2D materials and construction strategies of bionic nanochannels. Subsequently, the application of these nanochannels in responsive channels and energy conversion is discussed. The unsolved challenges and prospects of 2D materials-based nanochannels are proposed in the end.
Osteoporosis (OP) is a noncommunicable bone disease caused by a shift in the balance between osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and can severely affect the health of elderly persons. Autologous stem-cell transplantation can improve reduced bone density and weakened fracture healing abilities in patients with OP. However, OP can adversely affect the osteogenesis and proliferation abilities of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Therefore, an effective drug is required to facilitate autologous ASCs to recover their osteogenic and proliferative potential. Tetrahedral framework nucleic acid (tFNA) is a new type of nanomaterial that has ability to regulate the biological behavior of cells effectively and enhance the bioactivity of stem cells. In this study, we examine the effects of tFNAs on the osteogenic differentiation and proliferation abilities of ASCs in rats with OP. The results indicate that the 250 nmol/L tFNAs can considerably increase the expression of osteogenesis-related markers, effectively promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of osteoporotic ASCs (OP-ASCs), and help them to regain their osteogenic and proliferative potential. In short, tFNAs can enable OP-ACSs to recover their osteogenic potential and promote their proliferation and, therefore, can play a key regulatory role in autologous ASC transplantation.
DNA-encoded chemical library (DEL) represents an emerging drug discovery technology to construct compound libraries with abundant chemical combinations. While drug-like small molecule DELs facilitate the discovery of binders against targets with defined pockets, macrocyclic DELs harboring extended scaffolds enable targeting of the protein–protein interaction (PPI) interface. We previously demonstrated the design of the first-generation DNA-encoded multiple display based on a constant macrocyclic scaffold, which harvested binders against difficult targets such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Here, we developed a novel strategy which utilized four orthogonal amine-protecting groups on DNA, to explore larger chemical combinations on the same constant macrocyclic scaffold, following the parallel paradigm to mimic the versatile antibody-like multivalent epitope recognition patterns. We successfully integrated these orthogonal protecting groups with acylation and made a mock second-generation DNA-encoded display combination. This work illustrates a strategy to produce larger encoded multiple display on a constant macrocyclic scaffold, which could facilitate potential binder discovery with enhanced affinity to clinically significant PPI targets.
Highly efficient removal of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) from plasma by hemoperfusion for autoimmune disease therapy remains a challenge in the clinical field owing to the low adsorption capacity and poor blood compatibility of adsorbents. In this work, a new class of nanobody (Nb)-coupled antifouling polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) beads was constructed as an immunosorbent for the selective removal of TNF-α from plasma. Notably, our immunosorbent exhibited an exceptionally high specific TNF-α adsorption capacity of 416.9 ng/g in human plasma (at a plasma-to-adsorbent ratio of 300). More importantly, the obtained adsorbent beads showed outstanding blood compatibility. In addition, during in vivo experiments, the blood circulation device was constructed to remove TNF-α in rat models, proving that the beads had good removal performance (~85%/60 min). Furthermore, 95% of the original capacity was retained after 6-month storage, showed strong stability and prolonged storage of PVA-Nb. Above all, the results indicate that the novel PVA-Nb immunosorbent has possible clinical applications for treating autoimmune diseases in the clinic.
This brief review reports the recent advancement of metallic glasses and metallic glass nanostructures for functional electrocatalytic applications. Metallic glasses (MGs) or amorphous metals result from quenching the melts at a high cooling rate (e.g., 106 K/s), bypassing crystallization. Metallic glasses are devoid of long-range translational order, no defects like grain boundaries, and multiple elements included. Due to these unique structural features, MG's show distinct and valuable mechanical, physical and chemical properties and therefore were widely studied as a structural material for decades. Even though MGs were proposed for catalytic applications earlier, a comprehensive study or attempt to apply these materials successfully in electrocatalytic applications are few since the intrinsic surface area is comparably lesser. A rejuvenated interest among the research community for applying various novel strategies in catalytic applications of MGs is highlighted in the present review. Theoretical approaches using density functional theory (DFT) and high-throughput screening assisted with machine learning paradigm advances the discovery of new MGs, which demonstrated high potential for catalytic applications. We focus on the basic features and recent advances in the MGs for catalytic applications like electrocatalytic water splitting reactions like HER, OER, fuel cell reactions like ORR, alcohol oxidation reactions like MOR, EOR, and degradation of harmful organic dyes from the industrial effluents. The presently advancing strategies for enhancing the performance of these metallic glass electrocatalysts through nanostructuring and high-throughput screening are discussed. The unique atomic-scale structural mechanism of the metallic glasses, which can favor the development of high-performance electrocatalysts even comparable to currently available precious-metal-based catalysts, will be discussed. Finally, we also give future directions on designing novel and superior metallic glass-based advanced catalysts.
Stimuli-responsive hydrogels hold an irreplaceable statue in intelligent actuation materials because of their reversible stretchability and excellent biocompatibility. However, the poor mechanical performance and complicated fabrication process of anisotropic structures severely limit their further applications. Herein, we report a high-strength thermoresponsive wood-PNIPAM composite hydrogel actuator with complex deformations, through a simple in-situ polymerization. In this composite hydrogel actuator, the anisotropic wood and the thermoresponsive PNIPAM hydrogel hydroel can work together to provide bending and even other complex deformations. Owing to strong interfacial interaction, this actuator perfectly realized the combination of good mechanical properties (~1.1 MPa) and fast actuation speed (~0.9 s). In addition, by adjusting the orientation direction of wood, this actuator can achieve various complex deformations. Such composite hydrogel actuator could be a good candidate for intelligent applications, such as intelligent actuators, smart valves, manipulators and even soft robots.
Lewis base-catalyzed annulations of allenoates have been one of the most powerful synthetic strategies for the synthesis of various valuable cycles, especially in the preparation of biologically active natural products and pharmaceuticals. Generally, the effective Lewis bases mainly include tertiary phosphine, NHC and tertiary amine catalysts, among those catalysis, tertiary amine Lewis bases have proven to be effective catalysts for a range of synthetic transformations. In the past decades, tremendous progress involving tertiary amines-promoted cycloaddition of allenoates has been made in the chemoselective construction of valuable motifs. This review describes a comprehensive and updated summary of tertiary amine Lewis base-promoted annulation reactions of allenoates. Diverse reactivities, chemoselectivties and detailed reaction mechanisms will be highlighted in this review.
α-(Trifluoromethyl)styrene and its derivatives have found wide applications in the fields of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced materials. They are also versatile trifluoromethyl-containing building blocks for the preparation of various trifluoromethyl-containing, fluorine-containing or nonfluorinated compounds. Recently, great efforts have been made to develop diverse reactions for rapidly accessing a wide range of valuable gem-difluoroalkenes and gem-difluoroalkylated compounds via defluorinative reaction or the defluorinative ipso-functionalization reaction of α-(trifluoromethyl)styrenes, respectively. In contrast, α-(trifluoromethyl)styrenes remain notably underdeveloped with respect to their use in cycloaddition and hydroaddition reaction with retaining of three CF bonds. This short review herein is aimed to summarize the recent progress on the cycloaddition and hydroaddition reaction including nucleophilic, radical and transition metal-catalyzed addition of α-(trifluoromethyl)styrenes without accompanying defluorination.
The Cu(I)-catalyzed [4 + 1] annulation of vinyl indoles and a carbene precursor is a powerful method for constructing cyclopentaindole derivatives. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to elucidate the mechanism and regioselectivity of this reaction. After Cu-assisted indole C3-alkylation, direct 1,5-annulation was favored over the Cu-assisted annulation pathway. Furthermore, the regioselectivity for 1,5-annulation was attributed to the generated five-membered-ring product being more stable than the three-membered-ring product from 1,3-annulation, which was the kinetically favored pathway.
Advances in microbiology rely on innovations in technology. Droplet microfluidics, as a versatile and powerful technique that allows high-throughput generation and manipulation of subnanoliter volume droplets, has become an indispensable tool shifting experimental paradigms in microbiology. Droplet microfluidics has opened new avenues to various microbiological research, from resolving single-cell heterogeneity to investigating spatiotemporal dynamics of microbial communities, from precise quantitation of microbiota to systematic decipherment of microbial interactions, and from isolating rare and uncultured microbes to improving genetic engineered strains. In this review, we present recent advances of droplet microfluidics in various fields of microbiology: i) microbial cultivation, ii) microorganism detection and characterization, iii) antibiotic susceptibility testing, iv) microbial interactions, v) microbial biotechnology. We also provide our perspectives on the challenges and future directions for droplet microfluidic-based microbiology research.
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