Anti-Freezing and Ultrasensitive Zwitterionic Betaine Hydrogel-Based Strain Sensor for Motion Monitoring and Human-Machine Interaction.

Ultrasensitive and reliable conductive hydrogels are significant in the construction of human-machine twinning systems. However, in extremely cold environments, freezing severely limits the application of hydrogel-based sensors. Herein, building on biomimetics, a zwitterionic hydrogel was elaborated for human-machine interaction employing multichemical bonding synergies and experimental signal analyses. The covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, and electrostatic interactions construct a dense double network structure favorable for stress dispersion and hydrogen bond regeneration. In particular, zwitterions and ionic conductors maintained excellent strain response (99 ms) and electrical sensitivity (gauge factor = 14.52) in the dense hydrogel structure while immobilizing water molecules to enhance the weather resistance (-68 °C). Inspired by the high sensitivity, zwitterionic hydrogel-based strain sensors and remote-control gloves were designed by analyzing the experimental signals, demonstrating promising potential applications within specialized flexible materials and human-machine symbiotic systems.

Bergenin attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice via inhibiting TGF-ß1 signaling pathway.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease characterized by epithelial cell damage, fibroblast activation, and collagen deposition. IPF has high mortality and limited therapies, which urgently needs to develop safe and effective therapeutic drugs. Bergenin, a compound derived from a variety of medicinal plants, has demonstrated multiple pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor, also acts as a traditional Chinese medicine to treat chronic bronchitis, but its effect on the pulmonary fibrosis is unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that bergenin could attenuate bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. In vitro studies indicated that bergenin inhibited the transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1)-induced fibroblast activation and the extracellular matrix accumulation by inhibiting the TGF-ß1/Smad signaling pathway. Further studies showed that bergenin could induce the autophagy formation of myofibroblasts by suppressing the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling and that bergenin could promote the myofibroblast apoptosis. In vivo experiments revealed that bergenin substantially inhibited the myofibroblast activation and the collagen deposition and promoted the autophagy formation. Overall, our results showed that bergenin attenuated the BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice by suppressing the myofibroblast activation and promoting the autophagy and the apoptosis of myofibroblasts.

Stretchable Unsymmetrical Piezoelectric BiO2-x Deposited-Hydrogel as Multimodal Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Biomechanical Motion Harvesting.

Enhancing the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is essential for increasing their application in smart devices. Oxygen-vacancy-rich BiO2-x nanosheets (BiO2-x NSs) are advanced-engineered nanomaterials with excellent piezoelectric properties. Herein, a stretchable unsymmetrical BiO2-x NSs deposited-hydrogel made of polyacrylamide (PAM) as a multimodal TENG is rationally fabricated, and the performance of TENG can be tailored by controlling the BiO2-x NSs deposition amount and spatial distribution. The alteration of resistance caused by the Poisson effect of PAM/BiO2-x composite hydrogel (H-BiO2-x) can be used as a piezoresistive sensor, and the piezoelectricity of BiO2-x NSs can effectively enhance the density of transfer charge, thus improving the output performance of the H-BiO2-x-based TENG. In addition, the chemical cross-linking between the BiO2-x NSs and the PAM polymer chain allows the hydrogel electrode to have a higher tensile capacity (867%). Used for biomechanical motion signal detection, the sensors made of H-BiO2-x have high sensitivity (gauge factor = 6.93) and can discriminate a range of forces (0.1-5.0 N) at low frequencies (0.5-2.0 Hz). Finally, the prepared TENG can collect biological energy and convert it into electricity. Consequently, the improved TENG shows a good application prospect as multimodal biomechanical sensors by combining piezoresistive, piezoelectric, and triboelectric effects.

A singular plasmonic-thermoelectric hollow nanostructure inducing apoptosis and cuproptosis for catalytic cancer therapy.

Thermoelectric technology has recently emerged as a distinct therapeutic modality. However, its therapeutic effectiveness is significantly limited by the restricted temperature gradient within living organisms. In this study, we introduce a high-performance plasmonic-thermoelectric catalytic therapy utilizing urchin-like Cu2-xSe hollow nanospheres (HNSs) with a cascade of plasmonic photothermal and thermoelectric conversion processes. Under irradiation by a 1064 nm laser, the plasmonic absorption of Cu2-xSe HNSs, featuring rich copper vacancies (VCu), leads to a rapid localized temperature gradient due to their exceptionally high photothermal conversion efficiency (67.0%). This temperature gradient activates thermoelectric catalysis, generating toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) targeted at cancer cells. Density functional theory calculations reveal that this vacancy-enhanced thermoelectric catalytic effect arises from a much more carrier concentration and higher electrical conductivity. Furthermore, the exceptional photothermal performance of Cu2-xSe HNSs enhances their peroxidase-like and catalase-like activities, resulting in increased ROS production and apoptosis induction in cancer cells. Here we show that the accumulation of copper ions within cancer cells triggers cuproptosis through toxic mitochondrial protein aggregation, creating a synergistic therapeutic effect. Tumor-bearing female BALB/c mice are used to evaluate the high anti-cancer efficiency. This innovative approach represents the promising instance of plasmonic-thermoelectric catalytic therapy, employing dual pathways (membrane potential reduction and thioctylated protein aggregation) of mitochondrial dysfunction, all achieved within a singular nanostructure. These findings hold significant promise for inspiring the development of energy-converting nanomedicines.