Latest Articles2-Phenylethylamine (2-PEA) is one of the main ingredients for stimulants. Therefore, it is necessary to limit its use and illegal trade by conveniently detecting 2-PEA vapour. Here, a QCM based 2-PEA gas sensor was constructed by using aldehyde functionalized mesoporous carbon (FDU-15-CHO) as sensing materials designed according to Schiff base adsorption role. The 2D hexagonal mesoporous structures of the sensing material have been confirmed by small-angle X-ray diffraction (SXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The covalent grafting of aldehyde group onto the FDU-15 was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). FDU-15-CHO based Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) sensor shows better sensitivity to 2-PEA than its parent FDU-15. Besides, the detection limit of FDU-15-CHO based sensor can reach down to 1 ppm, and its selectivity and reproducibility are satisfactory. The high concentrations of active sites in the mesopores of FDU-15 are believed to facilitate 2-PEA adsorption, and thus the presence of the -CHO group leading to sensitive and selective response, which is verified by Gaussian simulation
Taking advantage of the Warburg effect in cancer cells, glucose conjugation has emerged as a useful strategy for targeted delivery of anticancer agents. Pristimerin is a naturally occurring triterpenoid that displays potent but non-selective cytotoxicity. We developed a convergent and modular approach to construction of glucose−payload conjugates featuring copper-mediated azide−alkyne cycloaddition and prepared a glucose conjugate of pristimerin through this approach. The anticancer activity of this conjugate was evaluated in cancer cells and normal cells; however, the selectivity toward cancer cells was not significantly improved. We then examined the extracellular stability of the conjugate and found that its ester linkage was cleaved rapidly in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium at 37 ℃, which resulted in the release of pristimerin. In fact, the inorganic components in this medium were sufficient to induce the cleavage. Given that the subtle difference between intrinsic stability and extracellular stability of the conjugate linker is often underappreciated, this work highlights the importance of the latter in the development of target-selective conjugates.
Due to the abundant sodium reserves and high safety, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) are foreseen a promising future. While, hard carbon materials are very suitable for the anode of SIBs owing to their structure and cost advantages. However, the unsatisfactory initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) is one of the crucial blemishes of hard carbon materials and the slow sodium storage kinetics also hinders their wide application. Herein, with spherical nano SiO2 as pore-forming agent, gelatin and polytetrafluoroethylene as carbon sources, a multi-porous carbon (MPC) material can be easily obtained via a co-pyrolysis method, by which carbonization and template removal can be achieved synchronously without the assistance of strong acids or strong bases. As a result, the MPC anode exhibited remarkable ICE of 83% and a high rate capability (208 mAh/g at 5 A/g) when used in sodium-ion half cells. Additionally, coupling with Na3V2(PO4)3 as the cathode to assemble full cells, the as-fabricated MPC//NVP full cell delivered a good rate capability (146 mAh/g at 5 A/g) as well, implying a good application prospect the MPC anode has
Repeated waves of influenza virus H7N9 epidemics after 2013 have caused severe influenza in humans, with mortality reaching approximately 40%–50%. To prevent possible pandemics, the development of highly effective vaccines against influenza virus H7N9 is highly desired. In the present study, by taking advantage of the d-tetra-peptide adjuvant (GDFDFDY), we reported a simple method to prepare H7N9 vaccines. Naproxen (Npx), with good anti inflammatory and broad anti-viral effects, was employed as an N-terminal capping group to construct a hydrogel precursor, Npx-GDFDFDY. The hydrogel adjuvant was prepared using a routine heating cooling protocol and the final vaccine was ready after mixing with the split A/Zhejiang/DTID-ZJU01/2013 (H7N9) antigen by vortexing. Compared with the traditional Al(OH)3 adjuvant vaccine and the split vaccine, our hydrogel adjuvant vaccine showed the best preventive effects against H7N9 infection. A mechanistic study illustrated that higher antibody responses and variations in cytokine expression might account for its increased protective effects. Our strategy demonstrated the advantages of a peptide hydrogel adjuvant in the application of vaccines against H7N9 and demonstrated its potential application in vaccines against emerging threats from other viruses.
MicroRNA-26a (miR-26a) has been verified to promote osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in recent years. The main obstacles to its application in bone regeneration are instability in the physiological environment and low efficiency of cellular membrane penetration. To overcome these problems, we constructed a novel plant virus gene delivery system based on Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV). By encapsulating miR-26a with purified capsid protein (CP) dimers derived from CCMV, CP-miR-26a (CP26a) virus-like particles (VLPs) were obtained. CP26a retained a structure similar to the native CCMV and protected miR-26a from digestion with its exterior CP. Moreover, CP26a featured similar cellular uptake efficiency, osteogenesis promotion ability, and better biocompatibility compared with Lipofectamine2000-miR-26a (lipo26a), which indicated a promising prospect for CCMV as a novel gene delivery system.
The magnetism of nanographene is dominated by the structure of its carbon skeleton. However, the magnetism engineering of nanographene is hindered due to finite precursors. Here, we demonstrate an ingenious synthetic strategy to engineer the magnetism of nanographene through hetero-coupling two precursors on Au(111) surface. Bond-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy results show that two homo-coupled products host a closed-shell structure, while the products with five membered ring defects perform as an open-shell one with the total spin number of 1/2, confirmed by spin-polarized density functional theory calculations. While two hetero precursors on Au(111) substrate, the hetero-coupled products both perform as the magnetic structure with total spin quantum numbers of 1/2 and 1, resulting from carbon skeleton transformations. Our work provides an effective way to engineer the magnetism of nanographene by enriching the magnetic products simultaneous, which could be extended into other controllable magnetic nanographene instruction.
The biodegradable substitution materials for bone tissue engineering have been a research hotspot. As is known to all, the biodegradability, biocompatibility, mechanical properties and plasticity of the substitution materials are the important indicators for the application of implantation materials. In this article, we reported a novel binary substitution material by blending the poly(lactic-acid)-co-(trimethylene-carbonate) and poly(glycolic-acid)-co-(trimethylene-carbonate), which are both biodegradable polymers with the same segment of flexible trimethylene-carbonate in order to accelerate the degradation rate of poly(lactic-acid)-co-(trimethylene carbonate) substrate and improve its mechanical properties. Besides, we further fabricate the porous poly(lactic-acid)-co-(trimethylene-carbonate)/poly(glycolic-acid)-co-(trimethylene-carbonate) scaffolds with uniform microstructure by the 3D extrusion printing technology in a mild printing condition. The physicochemical properties of the poly(lactic-acid)-co-(trimethylene-carbonate)/poly(glycolic-acid)-co-(trimethylene-carbonate) and the 3D printing scaffolds were investigated by universal tensile dynamometer, fourier transform infrared reflection (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Meanwhile, the degradability of the PLLA-TMC/GA-TMC was performed in vitro degradation assays. Compared with PLLA-TMC group, PLLA-TMC/GA-TMC groups maintained the decreasing Tg, higher degradation rate and initial mechanical performance. Furthermore, the PLLA-TMC/GA-TMC 3D printing scaffolds provided shape-memory ability at 37 ℃. In summary, the PLLA-TMC/GA-TMC can be regarded as an alternative substitution material for bone tissue engineering.
Macrophages play a crucial role in initiating, maintaining, and resolving inflammation through the phenotypic shift, inducing or inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, macrophages are potential targets for treating inflammatory diseases. Andrographolide (AND) is a potent anti-inflammatory drug that can reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and suppress NF-κB /MAPK pathway in activated macrophages. Although AND has many medicinal properties, its lower water solubility and first-pass effect in the liver have hindered its clinical application. In this context, by using a metal phenolic network as a stabilizer, we designed and prepared highly stabilized AND nanocrystals (AND-MPN Ns) with high drug loading capacity to facilitate the clinical application of AND. Our findings showed that AND-MPN Ns could be used to enhance the anti-inflammation in-vitro via macrophage polarization, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α, and suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathway activation. The results demonstrated the potential of AND-MPN Ns to combat inflammatory diseases effectively.
The fluorescence lifetime of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), a key endogenous coenzyme and metabolic biomarker, can reflect the metabolic state of cells. To implement metabolic imaging of brain tissue at high resolution, we assembled a two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) platform and verified the feasibility and stability of NADH-based two-photon FLIM in paraformaldehyde-fixed mouse cerebral slices. Furthermore, NADH based metabolic state oscillation was observed in cerebral nuclei suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The free NADH fraction displayed a relatively lower level in the daytime than at the onset of night, and an ultradian oscillation at night was observed. Through the combination of high-resolution imaging and immunostaining data, the metabolic tendency of different cell types was detected after the first two hours of the day and at night. Thus, two-photon FLIM analysis of NADH in paraformaldehyde-fixed cerebral slices provides a high-resolution and label-free method to explore the metabolic state of deep brain regions.
Oral and maxillofacial diseases are a group of high-incidence disorders that affect people's life quality to a great extent, while the wet and highly movable environment of the related regions brings challenges to traditional therapies. Faced with the obstacles of insufficient adhesive strength and ensuing short drug retention time, conventional oral therapeutic agents often have difficulty in achieving their desired efficacy. Oral and maxillofacial wet-adhesive materials have the advantages of excellent wet environment retention, internal stability, plasticity, and clinical potential, thus have become a significant research direction in the field of oral related disorders healing. In the past decade, the development of oral adhesive materials with good wet adhesion has accelerated based on the chemical molecular interaction, physical interlocking, and biological adhesion mechanisms, including biomimetic-inspired materials, naturally derived polymer–based materials and adhesive electrospun fiber films. These fancy wet-adhesive materials can be used for oral mucosal drug delivery, oral vaccination, wound healing, and bone defects treatments. Despite their numerous novel applications, wet-adhesive materials in stomatology still face unresolved challenges from material and biological aspects. Here, advances in designs of oral and maxillofacial wet-adhesive materials are reviewed in terms of design backgrounds, attachment mechanisms, and common classifications. Recent demonstrations of wet-adhesive materials for oral and maxillofacial region medical applications from drug delivery to multifunctional tissue treatments are presented. To conclude, current challenges and prospects on potential applications of oral and maxillofacial wet-adhesive materials are also briefly discussed.
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