Latest ArticlesFerritins can generally be divided into four subfamilies based on their structural characteristics, namely, the classic ferritins (Ftns), bacterioferritins (Bfrs), DNA-binding proteins from starved cells (Dps'), and encapsulated ferritins (EncFtns). However, the ferritin from Mycoplasma penetrans (Mpef) possesses a particular ferroxidase center with an extreme low activity and exhibits unusual characteristics, indicating that it could be a member of a quite different subfamily of ferritins. Hereby, the crystal structure of the ferritin from Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uurf) is presented, Mpef and Uurf have very similar properties, though they display very low sequence similarity. Thus, ferritins from Mycoplasma with these unique properties do not belong to any known subfamily, but they should rather be placed in a novel ferritin subfamily, which we term Mycoplasma Ferritin (Mfr).
Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries exhibit outstanding energy density and material sustainability. Enormous effects have been devoted to the sulfur cathode to address redox kinetics and polysulfide intermediates shuttle. Recent attentions are gradually turning to the protection of the lithium metal anodes, since electrochemical performances of Li–S batteries are closely linked to the working efficiency of the anode side, especially in pouch cells that adopt stringent test protocols. This Perspective article summarizes critical issues encountered in the lithium metal anode, and outlines possible solutions to achieve efficient working lithium anode in Li–S batteries. The lithium metal anode in Li–S batteries shares the common failure mechanisms of volume fluctuation, nonuniform lithium flux, electrolyte corrosion and lithium pulverization occurring in lithium metal batteries with oxide cathodes, and also experiences unique polysulfide corrosion and massive lithium accumulation. These issues can be partially addressed by developing three-dimensional scaffold, exerting quasi-solid reaction, tailoring native solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and designing artificial SEI. The practical evaluation of Li–S batteries highlights the importance of pouch cell platform, which is distinguished from coin-type cells in terms of lean electrolyte-to-sulfur ratio, thin lithium foil, as well as sizable total capacity and current that are loaded on pouch cells. This Perspective underlines the development of practically efficient working lithium metal anode in Li–S batteries.
The properties of layered double hydroxides (LDHs), including the adjustability of cations in host layers, exchangeability of anions between layers, and tunability of the crystal structure, render them unique characteristics in preparation and applications. Relating to the structural characteristics of LDHs, this work analyzes the research status, advantages and disadvantages of the synthetic methods for LDHs, including hydrothermal, electrodeposition, co-precipitation and anion exchange methods. In addition, the application status and prospects are reviewed, such as photo/electrocatalysis, electrochemical energy storage, magnetic materials, pollutant adsorption, and other fields. Lastly, the critical issues and solutions in the developing process of LDHs are analyzed and proposed.
For more than a decade, the exfoliation of graphene and other layered materials has led to a tremendous amount of research in two-dimensional (2D) materials, among which 2D transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) nanomaterials have attracted much attention in a wide range of applications including photoelectric devices, lithium-ion batteries, catalysis, and energy conversion and storage owing to their unique photoelectric physical properties. With such large specific surface area, strong near-infrared (NIR) absorption and abundant chemical element composition, 2D TMCs nanomaterials have become good candidates in biomedical imaging and cancer treatment. This review systematically summarizes recent progress on 2D TMCs nanomaterials, which includes their synthesis methods and applications in cancer treatment. At the end of this review, we also highlight the future prospects and challenges of 2D TMCs nanomaterials. It is expected that this work can provide the readers with a detailed overview of the synthesis of 2D TMCs and inspire more novel functional biomaterials based on 2D TMCs for cancer treatment in the future.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and recurrent disease of the gastrointestinal tract, mainly including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, current approaches against IBD do not precisely deliver drugs to the inflammatory site, which leads to life-long medication and serious side effects that can adversely impact patients' adherence. It is necessary to construct optimal drug delivery systems (DDSs) that can target drugs to the region of inflammation, thereby improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce side effects. With the burgeoning development of nanotechnology-based nanomedicines (NMs) and prodrug strategy, remarkable progresses in the treatment of IBD have been made in recent years. Herein, the latest advances are outlined at the intersection of IBD treatment and nanotherapeutics as well as prodrug therapy. First, the pathophysiological microenvironment of inflammatory sites of IBD is introduced in order to rationally design potential NMs and prodrugs. Second, the necessity of NMs for the IBD therapy is elaborated, and the representative nanotherapeutics via passive targeted and active targeted NMs developed to treat the IBD are overviewed. Furthermore, the emerging prodrug-based therapeutics are summarized, including 5-aminosalicylic acid-, amino acid-, and carbohydrate-conjugated prodrugs. Finally, the design considerations and perspectives of these NMs and prodrugs-driven IBD therapeutics in the clinical translation are spotlighted.
In recent years, with the emergence of new pollutants, the effective treatment of wastewater has become very important. Persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes have been successfully applied to the treatment of wastewater, such as wastewater containing antibiotics, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, dyes, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, chlorinated organic pollutants, and phenolics, for the degradation of refractory organic contaminants. This paper summarizes the production of sulfate radicals, which can be generated by the activation of persulfate via conventional and emerging approaches. The existing problems of persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes were analyzed in detail, including residual sulfates, coexisting factors (coexisting inorganic anions and natural organic matter), and energy consumption. This paper proposes corresponding possible solutions to the problems mentioned above, and this paper could provide a reference for the application of persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes in actual wastewater treatment.
Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a common and serious adverse drug reaction. At present, DILI is perfectly diagnozed in clinical settings using Roussel Uclaf causality assessment method (RUCAM) in its original version published 1993 and its updated version published 2016, well established worldwide as a diagnostic algorithm with a high sensitivity and specificity. Nevertheless, the search for additional detection methods supporting RUCAM continues. In recent years, with the development of optical imaging technology, fluorescent probes have gradually shown great advantages in the detection and diagnosis of DILI markers such as high sensitivity, anti-interference, real-time monitoring and non-invasive measurement. In this review, the recent advances of fluorescent probes for evaluation of DILI in experimental studies were summarized according to various markers of DILI. We believe that learning about the design and practical application of these probes will contribute to the further development of detection sensors for DILI markers.
Disinfection by-products (DBPs) in water systems have attracted increasing attention due to their toxic effects. Removal of precursors (mainly natural organic matter (NOM)) prior to the disinfection process has been recognized as the ideal strategy to control the DBP levels. Currently, biological activated carbon (BAC) process is a highly recommended and prevalent process for treatment of DBP precursors in advanced water treatment. This paper first introduces the fundamental knowledge of BAC process, including the history, basic principles, typical process flow, and basic operational parameters. Then, the selection of BAC process for treatment of DBP precursors is explained in detail based on the comparative analysis of dominant water treatment technologies from the aspects of mechanisms for NOM removal as well as the treatability of different groups of DBP precursors. Next, a thorough overview is presented to summarize the recent developments and breakthroughs in the removal of DBP precursors using BAC process, and the contents involved include effect of pre-BAC ozonation, removal performance of various DBP precursors, toxicity risk reduction, fractional analysis of NOM, effect of empty bed contact time (EBCT) and engineered biofiltration. Finally, some recommendations are made to strengthen current research and address the knowledge gaps, including the issues of microbial mechanisms, toxicity evaluation, degradation kinetics and microbial products.
The applications of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) are coming to be one of the simplest and most accessible strategy with super-resolved optical measurements. Meanwhile, nanomaterials have become ideal for constructing FRET-based system, due to their unique advantages of tunable emission, broad absorption, and long fluorescence (FL) lifetime. The limitations of traditional FRET-based detections, such as the intrinsic FL, auto-FL, as well as the short FL lifetime, could be overcome with nanomaterials. Consequently, numbers of FRET-based nanomaterials have been constructed for precise, sensitive and selective detections in biological systems. They could act as both energy donors and/or acceptors in the optical energy transfer process for biological detections. Some other nanomaterials would not participate in the energy transfer process, but act as the excellent matrix for modifications. The review will be roughly classified into nanomaterial-involved and uninvolved ones. Different detection targets, such as nucleic acids, pathogenic microorganisms, proteins, heavy metal ions, and other applications will be reviewed. Finally, the other biological applications, including environmental evaluation and mechanism studies would also be summarized.
Fluoroalkyl-containing organic compounds have exhibited wide applications in the field of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and materials science due to their outstanding properties such as biological activity, metabolic stability, lipophilicity, excellent chemical and thermal stability. Therefore, various synthetic strategies have been developed for the construction of fluoroalkyl-containing compounds, using highly active fluorinating reagents and fluorinated building blocks. Recently, the use of easily available and inexpensive trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) and its anhydride analogues has attracted great attention to access numerous fluoroalkyl-containing compounds through cyclization and coupling reactions. In this review, we summarized the recent advances in the synthesis of fluoroalkylated compounds using fluoroalkyl anhydrides as reagents. This review aims to provide a reference for researchers on how to develop new synthetic straregies of fluorine-containing organic compounds and achieve kilograms or even tons preparation of fluorine-containing organic compounds using fluoroalkyl anhydrides.
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