Latest ArticlesExtracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from cancer cells are considered as ideal biomarker for liquid biopsy in cancer diagnosis, and are stable and abundant. Electrochemical methods for the detection of EVs are preferred over conventional methods such as Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for their high sensitivity and real-time detection. This article summaries studies proposing the electrochemical methods utilizing immunological and molecular methodologies for detecting EVs derived biomacromolecules such as miRNAs and transmembrane protein for cancer diagnosis. Moreover, the electrochemical detection methods are compared and future prospects for the development of electrochemical methods for EVs detection are concluded.
Linear carbon chains (LCCs) are a one-dimensional sp1-hybridized allotrope of carbon. LCCs are extremely unstable: The longer the LCCs, the less stable the materials. Thus, it is a big challenge to synthesize long LCCs. Although the research on the short LCCs, e.g., polyynes, can be traced back to the 18th, LCCs are still not well-known compared to other allotropes of carbon, e.g., fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene. Therefore, introducing recent progress on LCCs is of great significance to draw more attention in the community of nanocarbons as well as nanomaterials in general. Theoretically, various excellent properties have been predicted. Experimentally, LCCs with different length in many kinds of forms have been successfully synthesized. In this review, we summarized recent studies of polyynic LCCs from both theoretical and experimental aspects. Also, perspectives are highlighted to point out the further investigations of the materials.
Recently, increasing attention has been paid on extending the π-conjugation structures of viologens (1, 1'-disubstituted-4, 4'-bipyridylium salts) by incorporating planar aromatic units into the bipyridinium backbones. Various viologen derivatives with extended π-conjugation structures have been synthesized, including the N-termini aromatic substituted viologens, the extended π-conjugated viologens (denoted as ECVs) as well as the π-conjugated oligomeric viologens (denoted as COVs). These compounds typically exhibit interesting properties distinguished from those of an isolated viologen unit, which make them as new class of electron deficient supra-/molecular building blocks in supramolecular chemistry and materials science. In this review, we would like to highlight the recent advances of viologen derivatives with extended π-conjugation structures in versatile applications ranging from electrochromic and energy storage materials, the ECV/COV-based supramolecular self-assembly systems including the linear supramolecular polymers and 2D/3D supramolecular organic frameworks (SOFs), to the viologen-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs)/networks. We hope this review will serve as an in-time summary worthy of referring, more importantly, to provide inspiration in the rational design of novel molecules with unexplored properties and functions.
In recent years, the research of nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions has attracted wide attention for their relatively low energy consumption, in which rational design of electrocatalysts is the key to achieve high-performance NRR. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as a new kind of porous material, have been intensively studied in the past few decades owing to not only their structural versatility and tunability but also intrinsic porosity. Due to their structural features, MOFs also have potential applications in mild condition electrocatalysis of NRR. In this review, the recently experimental and theoretical studies of MOFs in NRR electrocatalysts are briefly summarized.
Semiconductor-based photoelectrocatalytic processes have attracted considerable research interest for solar energy collection and storage. Photoelectrocatalysis is a heterogeneous photocatalytic process in which a bias potential is applied to a photoelectrode, and thus the photoelectrocatalytic performance is closely related to the photoelectrode prepared by semiconductors. Among various semiconductors, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted more and more attention because of their unique properties such as optical properties and adjustable structure. Herein, a comprehensive review on different MOFs (Ti-based, Zn-based, Co-based, Fe-based, Cu-based, and mixed metal-based MOFs) for heterogeneous photoelectrocatalysis is carried out and, in particular, the application of this technique for CO2 conversion and water splitting is discussed. In addition, the challenges and development prospects of MOFs in photoelectrocatalysis are also presented.
Anodic electrocatalyst plays the core role in direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs), while traditional Pt-catalysts suffer from limited catalytic activity, high over potential and severe CO poisoning. Herein, by selectively depositing Rh atoms on the defective-sites of Pt nanowires (NWs), we developed a new Pt@Rh NW electrocatalyst that exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic performance for both methanol oxidation (MOR) and ethanol oxidation (EOR). Both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and in-situ infrared spectroscopy revealed that the presence of Rh atoms suppressed the generation of poisonous intermediates and completely oxidized alcohols molecule into CO2. Atomic resolusion spherical aberration corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (CS-HAADF-STEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mapping analysis revealed that Rh atoms were primarily deposited on the defective sites of Pt NWs. Meanwhile, the presence of Rh atoms also modified the electronic state of Pt atoms and therefore lowered the onset potential for alcohols oxidation potential. This work gives the first clear clue on the role of the defective sites of Pt nanocatalyst poisoning, and propose that selectively blocking these sites with trace amount of Rh is an effective strategy in designing advantageous electrocatalysts.
About 90% cancer-related mortality results from the cancer metastasis, which generally undergoes after epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. N-Cadherin, overexpressed on cancer cell surface during EMT, can enhance the migration of cancer cells. Herein, we design and synthesize a transformable peptide BP-KLVFF-SWTLYTPSGQSK (BFS) that can block N-cadherin for inhibiting cancer migration and metastasis. The peptide BFS consists of three modules including (1) the hydrophobic bis-pyrene (BP) unit for forming and locating nanoparticles, (2) the KLVFF peptide sequence for forming and stabilizing fibrous structures and (3) the targeting peptide sequence SWTLYTPSGQSK that can specifically bind to Ncadherin. The peptide BFS can form nanoparticles in PBS, which can transform to nanofibers when targeting and binding to N-cadherin. The nanofibers inhibit the migration of N-cadherin overexpressed MDA-MB-436 cancer cells. The peptide BFS shows 83.6% inhibiting rate in cells wound healing assay. In addition, the inhibition rate is 67.9% when the BFS applied in transwell migration assay. These results indicate that the BFS has excellent ability to inhibit migration of cancer cells. This self-assembly strategy could be potentially utilized to regulate the key protein during EMT for inhibiting the tumor metastasis.
Accurate temperature measurement plays an important role in a variety of industrial processes and scientific researches. In our work, the dual-mode temperature response nanoprobe CDs-Tb-TMPDPA containing a two-photon ligand (4-(2, 4, 6-trimethoxyphenyl)-pyridine-2, 6-dicarboxylic acid, TMPDPA) sensitized Tb3+ as a temperature-sensitive unit and carbon dots (CDs) as photothermal reagent and a fluorescence reference unit, have been designed and synthesized. In this system, both the fluorescence intensity ratio and the fluorescence lifetime have a good response to temperature. In addition, due to the excellent photothermal conversion capability of CDs, photothermal antibacterial ability was also tested. Based on the temperature dependence of the fluorescence and the two-photon excitation characteristics of CDs-Tb-TMPDPA, the nanoprobe can also be used in the anti-counterfeiting. Our finding opens a new prospect for the use of two-photon sensitized dual-mode fluorescence thermometers.
Acellular tissue matrix scaffolds are much closer to tissue's complex natural structure and biological characteristics, thus assess great advantages in cartilage engineering. We used rabbit costal cartilage to prepare acellular microfilaments and further 3D porous acellular cartilage scaffold via crosslinking. Poly (L-lysine)/hyaluronic acid (PLL/HA) multilayer film was then built up onto the surface of the resulting porous scaffold. Furthermore, TGF-β3 was loaded into the PLL/HA multilayer film coated scaffold to obtain a 3D porous acellular cartilage scaffold with sustained releasing of TGF-β3 up to 60 days. The success of this project will provide a new way for the treatment of articular cartilage defects. Meanwhile, the anchoring and on-site sustained releasing of growth factors mediated by polyelectrolyte multilayered film can also provide a new method for improving the biocompatibility and the biofunctionality for other implanted biomaterials.
Tumor cell resistance is one of the big hurdles limiting the therapeutic efficacy of tumor necrosis factorrelated apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-based cancer treatment. Therefore, the development of a safe and effective sensitizer agent is greatly desired for optimizing TRAIL therapy. Herein, we successfully developed a Se/Fe complex with low toxicity to highly effectively inhibit tumor cells proliferation and migration capabilities through down-regulating ER stress related selenoproteins. Furthermore, it could more efficiently damage tumor spheroids with good penetration capability. More importantly, it could synergize with TRAIL treatment to induce the robust generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), downregulating ER stress related selenoproteins for triggering tumor cells apoptosis in extrinsic and intrinsic signaling pathways. Taken together, this study provides a potential chemo-drug and sensitizer agent to improve the therapeutic efficacy of TRAIL-based cancer treatment.
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