Oncoprotein-induced transcript 3 protein-enriched extracellular vesicles promotes NLRP3 ubiquitination to alleviate acute lung injury after cardiac surgery.

Acute lung injury (ALI) including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a major complication and increase the mortality of patients with cardiac surgery. We previously found that the protein cargoes enriched in circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) are closely associated with cardiopulmonary disease. We aimed to evaluate the implication of EVs on cardiac surgery-associated ALI/ARDS. The correlations between "oncoprotein-induced transcript 3 protein (OIT3) positive" circulating EVs and postoperative ARDS were assessed. The effects of OIT3-overexpressed EVs on the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) -induced ALI in vivo and inflammation of human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) were detected. OIT3 enriched in circulating EVs is reduced after cardiac surgery with CPB, especially with postoperative ARDS. The "OIT3 positive" EVs negatively correlate with lung edema, hypoxemia and CPB time. The OIT3-overexpressed EVs can be absorbed by pulmonary epithelial cells and OIT3 transferred by EVs triggered K48- and K63-linked polyubiquitination to inactivate NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, and restrains pro-inflammatory cytokines releasing and immune cells infiltration in lung tissues, contributing to the alleviation of CPB-induced ALI. Overexpression of OIT3 in human bronchial epithelial cells have similar results. OIT3 promotes the E3 ligase Cbl proto-oncogene B associated with NLRP3 to induce the ubiquitination of NLRP3. Immunofluorescence tests reveal that OIT3 is reduced in the generation from the liver sinusoids endothelial cells (LSECs) and secretion in liver-derived EVs after CPB. In conclusion, OIT3 enriched in EVs is a promising biomarker of postoperative ARDS and a therapeutic target for ALI after cardiac surgery.

Controlled interconversion of macrocyclic atropisomers via defined intermediates.

Macrocyclic conformations play a crucial role in regulating their properties. Our understanding of the determinants to control macrocyclic conformation interconversion is still in its infancy. Here we present a macrocycle, octamethyl cyclo[4](1,3-(4,6)-dimethylbenzene)[4]((4,6-benzene)(1,3-dicarboxylate) (OC-4), that can exist at 298 K as two stable atropisomers with C2v and C4v symmetry denoted as C2v-OC-4 and C4v-OC-4, respectively. Heating induces the efficient stepwise conversion of C2v- to C4v-OC-4 via a Cs-symmetric intermediate (Cs-OC-4). It differs from the typical transition state-mediated processes of simple C-C single bond rotations. Hydrolysis and further esterification with a countercation dependence promote the generation of C2v- and Cs-OC-4 from C4v-OC-4. In contrast to C2v-OC-4, C4v-OC-4 can bind linear guests to form pseudo-rotaxans, or bind C60 or C70 efficiently. The present study highlights the differences in recognition behavior that can result from conformational interconversion, as well as providing insights into the basic parameters that govern coupled molecular rotations.

SLS4D: Sparse Latent Space for 4D Novel View Synthesis.

Neural radiance fields (NeRF) have achieved great success in novel view synthesis and 3D representation for static scenarios. Existing dynamic NeRFs usually exploit a locally dense grid to fit the deformation fields; however, they fail to capture the global dynamics and concomitantly yield models of heavy parameters. We observe that the 4D space is inherently sparse. Firstly, the deformation fields are sparse in spatial but dense in temporal due to the continuity of motion. Secondly, the radiance fields are only valid on the surface of the underlying scene, usually occupying a small fraction of the whole space. We thus represent the 4D scene using a learnable sparse latent space, a.k.a. SLS4D. Specifically, SLS4D first uses dense learnable time slot features to depict the temporal space, from which the deformation fields are fitted with linear multi-layer perceptions (MLP) to predict the displacement of a 3D position at any time. It then learns the spatial features of a 3D position using another sparse latent space. This is achieved by learning the adaptive weights of each latent feature with the attention mechanism. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our SLS4D: It achieves the best 4D novel view synthesis using only about 6% parameters of the most recent work.

Assembly of Homochiral Magneto-Optical Dy6 Triangular Clusters by Fixing Carbon Dioxide in the Air.

A new hydrazone Schiff base bridging ligand (H2LSchiff (E)-N'-((1-hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl)methylene)pyrazine-2-carbohydrazide) and L/D-proline were used to construct a pair of homochiral Dy6 cluster complexes, [Dy6(CO3)(L-Pro)6(LSchiff)4(HLSchiff)2]·5DMA·2H2O (L-1, L-HPro = L-proline; DMA = N,N-dimethylacetamide) and [Dy6(CO3)(D-Pro)6(LSchiff)4(HLSchiff)2]·5DMA·2H2O (D-1, D-HPro = D-proline), which show a novel triangular Dy6 topology. Notably, the fixation of CO2 in the air formed a carbonato central bridge, playing a key role in assembling L-1/D-1. Magnetic measurements revealed that L-1/D-1 displays intramolecular ferromagnetic coupling and magnetic relaxation behaviours. Furthermore, L-1/D-1 shows a distinct magneto-optical Faraday effect and has a second harmonic generation (SHG) response (1.0 × KDP) at room temperature. The results show that the immobilization of CO2 provides a novel pathway for homochiral multifunctional 4f cluster complexes.

Core-shell structured alginate-based hydrogel beads modified by starch and protocatechuic acid: Preparation, characterization, phenolic slow release and stable antioxidant potential.

A novel core-shell structured alginate-based hydrogel bead modified by co-gelatinizing with starch and protocatechuic acid (PA), was designed to modulate physical properties of beads, release behavior and antioxidant stability of encapsulated bioactives. Core was fabricated by ionotropic gelation, and its formulation (ratio of sodium alginate/starch) was determined by particle size/starch distribution, texture and bioactive encapsulation capacity of core. Then, coating core with shell-forming solution co-gelatinized with different doses of PA, and subsequently cross-linked with Ca2+ to obtain core-shell structured beads. Surface microstructure, mechanical characteristics, and swelling ratio of beads were affected by concentrations of PA. Besides, core-shell structure containing PA could enhance delivery and sustained release of encapsulated phenolic bioactives during in vitro digestion, and improve their antioxidant potential stability. Furthermore, interaction between PA and polysaccharide components was elucidated by FTIR and TGA. The present information was beneficial for the advancement of functional food materials and bioactive delivery systems.

Identification of Anticancer Enzymes and Biomarkers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma through Constraint-Based Modeling.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) results in the abnormal regulation of cellular metabolic pathways. Constraint-based modeling approaches can be utilized to dissect metabolic reprogramming, enabling the identification of biomarkers and anticancer targets for diagnosis and treatment. In this study, two genome-scale metabolic models (GSMMs) were reconstructed by employing RNA sequencing expression patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and their healthy counterparts. An anticancer target discovery (ACTD) framework was integrated with the two models to identify HCC targets for anticancer treatment. The ACTD framework encompassed four fuzzy objectives to assess both the suppression of cancer cell growth and the minimization of side effects during treatment. The composition of a nutrient may significantly affect target identification. Within the ACTD framework, ten distinct nutrient media were utilized to assess nutrient uptake for identifying potential anticancer enzymes. The findings revealed the successful identification of target enzymes within the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway using a cholesterol-free cell culture medium. Conversely, target enzymes in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway were not identified when the nutrient uptake included a cholesterol component. Moreover, the enzymes PGS1 and CRL1 were detected in all ten nutrient media. Additionally, the ACTD framework comprises dual-group representations of target combinations, pairing a single-target enzyme with an additional nutrient uptake reaction. Additionally, the enzymes PGS1 and CRL1 were identified across the ten-nutrient media. Furthermore, the ACTD framework encompasses two-group representations of target combinations involving the pairing of a single-target enzyme with an additional nutrient uptake reaction. Computational analysis unveiled that cell viability for all dual-target combinations exceeded that of their respective single-target enzymes. Consequently, integrating a target enzyme while adjusting an additional exchange reaction could efficiently mitigate cell proliferation rates and ATP production in the treated cancer cells. Nevertheless, most dual-target combinations led to lower side effects in contrast to their single-target counterparts. Additionally, differential expression of metabolites between cancer cells and their healthy counterparts were assessed via parsimonious flux variability analysis employing the GSMMs to pinpoint potential biomarkers. The variabilities of the fluxes and metabolite flow rates in cancer and healthy cells were classified into seven categories. Accordingly, two secretions and thirteen uptakes (including eight essential amino acids and two conditionally essential amino acids) were identified as potential biomarkers. The findings of this study indicated that cancer cells exhibit a higher uptake of amino acids compared with their healthy counterparts.

Potential of polyphenols from Ligustrum robustum (Rxob.) Blume on enhancing the quality of starchy food during frying.

The increasing concerns about health have led to a growing demand for high-quality fried foods. The potential uses of Ligustrum robustum (Rxob.) Blume, a traditional tea in China, as natural additives to enhance the quality of starchy food during frying was studied. Results indicated that L. robustum polyphenols extract (LREs) could improve the quality of fried starchy food, according to the tests of color, moisture content, oil content, texture property, and volatile flavor. The in vitro digestion results demonstrated that LRE reduced the final glucose content from 11.35 ± 0.17 to 10.80 ± 0.70 mmol/L and increased the phenolic content of fried starch foods from 1.23 ± 0.04 to 3.76 ± 0.14 mg/g. The appearance and polarizing microscopy results showed that LRE promoted large starch bulges on the surface of fried starchy foods. Meanwhile, X-ray diffraction results showed that LRE increased the intensity of characteristic diffraction peak of fried starch with a range of 21.8%-28%, and Fourier transform infrared results showed that LRE reduced the damage to short-range order structure of starch caused by the frying process. In addition, LRE increased the aggregation of starch granules according to the SEM observation and decreased the enthalpy of starch gelatinization based on the differential scanning calorimetry results. The present results suggest that LREs have the potential to be utilized as a natural additive for regulating the quality of fried starchy food in food industries. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The enhancement of L. robustum polyphenols on the quality of starchy food during frying was found, and its mechanisms were also explored. This work indicated that L. robustum might be used as a novel economic natural additive for producing high-quality fried foods.

A Practical and Modular Method for Direct C-H Functionalization of the BODIPY Core via Thianthrenium Salts.

Direct structural modification of small-molecule fluorophores represents a straightforward and appealing strategy for accessing new fluorescent dyes with desired functionalities. We report herein a general and efficient visible-light-mediated method for the direct C-H functionalization of BODIPY, an important fluorescent chromophore, using readily accessible and bench-stable aryl and alkenylthianthrenium salts. This practical approach operates at room temperature with extraordinary site-selectivity, providing a step-economical means to construct various valuable aryl- and alkenyl-substituted BODIPY dyes. Remarkably, this protocol encompasses a broad substrate scope and excellent functional-group tolerance, and allows for the modular synthesis of sophisticated symmetrical and asymmetrical disubstituted BODIPYs by simply employing different combinations of thianthrenium salts. Moreover, the late-stage BODIPY modification of complex drug molecules further highlights the potential of this novel methodology in the synthesis of fluorophore-drug conjugates.

Anisotropic optical property of ferroelectric Bi2O2X(X = S,Se,Te) monolayer and strain engineering.

Based on the first-principles calculations, ferroelectricBi2O2X(X=S,Se,Te)monolayers with unequivalent in-plane lattice constants are confirmed to be the ground state, which is consistent with the experiment result (Ghoshet al2019Nano Lett.195703-09), and the anisotropic optical property is firstly investigated. We find that the polarizations ofBi2O2Xmonolayers points along the direction ofa-axis, andBi2O2Temonolayer process the largest polarization. Furthermore, both the biaxial and uniaxial strains are favor for the enhancement of polarization ofBi2O2Xmonolayers. It should be mentioned that the type of band gap will convert from indirect to direct forBi2O2Temonolayer when thea-axial tensile strain is larger than 2%. At last, the optical absorption coefficient forBi2O2Xmonolayers are calculated, and we obtain thatBi2O2Temonolayer has the strongest optical absorption within the range of visible light, the anisotropy and possible strain engineering to improve the optical absorption are discussed in detail. Our findings are significant in fields of optoelectronics and photovoltaics.

The safety, feasibility, and oncological outcomes of laparoscopic completion total gastrectomy for remnant gastric cancer: a prospective study with 3-year follow-up (FUGES-004 study).

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of laparoscopic completion total gastrectomy (LCTG) for remnant gastric cancer (RGC) remains controversial. METHODS: The primary outcome was postoperative morbidity within 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes included 3-year disease-free survival (DFS), 3-year overall survival (OS), and recurrence. Inverse probability treatment weighted (IPTW) was used to balance the baseline between LCTG and OCTG. RESULTS: Final analysis included 46 patients with RGC who underwent LCTG at the FJMUUH between June 2016 and June 2020. The historical control group comprised of 160 patients who underwent open completion total gastrectomy (OCTG) in the six tertiary teaching hospitals from CRGC-01 study. After IPTW, no significant difference was observed between the LCTG and OCTG groups in terms of incidence (LCTG vs. OCTG: 28.0 vs. 35.0%, P =0.379) or severity of complications within 30 days after surgery. Compared with OCTG, LCTG resulted in better short-term outcomes and faster postoperative recovery. However, the textbook outcome rate was comparable between the two groups (45.9 vs. 32.8%, P =0.107). Additionally, the 3-year DFS and 3-year OS of LCTG were comparable to those of OCTG (DFS: log-rank P =0.173; OS: log-rank P =0.319). No significant differences in recurrence type, mean recurrence time, or 3-year cumulative hazard of recurrence were observed between the two groups (all P >0.05). Subgroup analyses and concurrent comparisons demonstrated similar trends. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective study suggested that LCTG was noninferior to OCTG in both short-term and long-term outcomes. In experienced centers, LCTG may be considered as a viable treatment option for RGC.

[Differences in the Elderly Care Service Demand,Preference,and Tendency Between Urban and Rural Areas in the Pearl River Delta].

Objective To understand the differences in the demand,preference,and tendency for elderly care services between urban and rural areas in the Pearl River Delta (PRD),and to provide reference for the planning and balanced allocation of elderly care resources in urban and rural areas. Methods Using the multi-stage stratified random sampling method,we selected 7 community health service centers in 2 prefecture-level cities in the PRD and conducted a questionnaire survey on the elderly care service demand,preference,and tendency among 1919 regular residents aged 60 years and above who attended the centers. Results A total of 641 urban elderly residents (33.4%) and 1278 rural elderly residents (66.6%) were surveyed in the PRD.The urban and rural elderly residents showed differences in the child number (χ2=43.379,P<0.001),willingness to purchase socialized elderly care services (χ2=104.141,P<0.001),and attitudes to the concept of raising child to avoid elderly hardship (χ2=65.632,P<0.001).The proportion (71.8%) of rural elderly residents who prefer family-based elderly care was higher than that (57.1%) of urban elderly residents (χ2=41.373,P<0.001).The proportion (62.2%) of urban elderly residents clearly expressing their willingness to choose institutions for elderly care was higher than that (44.0%) of rural elderly residents (χ2=57.007,P<0.001).Compared with family-based elderly care,the willingness to choose institutional or community-based in-house elderly care was low among the urban elderly residents with surplus monthly household income or balanced income and expenditure;urban males,those with college education background or above,and those who purchased socialized elderly care services tended to prefer community-based in-house elderly care.In rural areas,the elderly residents who had local household registry were prone to choose institutional or community-based in-house elderly care,while those who had more than one child and those who were satisfied with the current living conditions were less willing to choose community-based in-house elderly care. Conclusions It is suggested that the urban-rural differences in the elderly care service demand,preference and tendency should be fully considered in the planning and allocation of urban and rural elderly care resources.Efforts remain to be made to develop diversified social elderly care services tailored to the characteristics of urban and rural areas.

Feasibility of in-situ sludge fermentation coupled with partial denitrification: Key roles of initial organic matters and alkaline pH.

Achieving partial denitrification (PD) by using fermentation products extracted from waste activated sludge (WAS) rather than commercial organic matters is a promising approach for providing nitrite for anammox, while sludge reduction could also be realized by WAS reutilization. This study proposed an In-situ Sludge Fermentation coupled with Partial Denitrification (ISFPD) system and explored its performance under different conditions, including initial pH, nitrate concentrations, and organic matters. Results showed that nitrite production increased with the elevation of initial pH (from 6 to 9), and the highest nitrate-to-nitrite transformation ratio (NTR) reached 77% at initial pH 9. The PD rates and NTR were observed to be minimally influenced by initial nitrate concentrations. Acetate was preferred by denitrifying bacteria, while macromolecules such as proteins necessitated be hydrolyzed to be suitable for further utilization. The insights gained through this study paved the way for efficient nitrite production and sustainable WAS reutilization in harmony.

Elucidating the influence and mechanism of different phenols on the properties, food quality and function of maize starch.

This study discusses interaction differences between three phenols (protocatechuic acid, naringin and tannic acid) and starch helix, investigates influences of phenols at different doses on properties of maize starch, and further determines their effects on quality and function of maize-starchy foods. Simulated results indicate variations of phenolic structure (phenolic hydroxyl group amount, glycoside structure and steric hindrance) and dose induce phenols form different complexes with starch helix. Formation of different starch-phenols complexes alters gelatinization (1.65-5.63 J/g), pasting form, water binding capacity (8.83-12.69 g/g) and particle size distribution of starch. Meanwhile, differences in starch-phenols complexes are reflected in fingerprint area (R1045/1022: 0.920 to 1.047), crystallinity (8.3% to 17.0%), rheology and gel structure of starch. Additionally, phenols change texture and color of cold maize cake, giving them different antioxidant capacity and lower digestibility. Findings are beneficial for understanding interaction between starch and different phenols and their potential application.

Effect of coordinated anions on ferromagnetically coupled Dy2 zero-field single-molecule magnets.

A new hydrazone Schiff base ligand was condensed from 2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde and pyrimidine-4-carbohydrazide {H2L = (E)-N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)pyrimidine-4-carbohydrazide}, which was used to assemble two new Dy2 complexes Dy2L2(DMF)2(NO3)2 (1) and Dy2L2(DMF)2(AcO)2 (2). Notably, the coordinated anions have a subtle effect on the coordination configurations of the Dy3+ ions and the magnetic properties of the two Dy2 complexes. The Dy3+ ions in 1 and 2 have the same N2O5 coordination environment but show the triangular dodecahedron and the biaugmented trigonal prism coordination configurations, respectively. Magnetic measurements revealed that both 1 and 2 have intramolecular ferromagnetic interactions between the Dy3+ ions and show single-molecule magnet behaviors at 0 Oe, with Ueff/k values of 58.2 K for 1 and 59.9 K for 2. These magnetic properties may be explained by theoretical calculations.

Statins aggravate insulin resistance through reduced blood glucagon-like peptide-1 levels in a microbiota-dependent manner.

Statins are currently the most common cholesterol-lowering drug, but the underlying mechanism of statin-induced hyperglycemia is unclear. To investigate whether the gut microbiome and its metabolites contribute to statin-associated glucose intolerance, we recruited 30 patients with atorvastatin and 10 controls, followed up for 16 weeks, and found a decreased abundance of the genus Clostridium in feces and altered serum and fecal bile acid profiles among patients with atorvastatin therapy. Animal experiments validated that statin could induce glucose intolerance, and transplantation of Clostridium sp. and supplementation of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) could ameliorate statin-induced glucose intolerance. Furthermore, oral UDCA administration in humans alleviated the glucose intolerance without impairing the lipid-lowering effect. Our study demonstrated that the statin-induced hyperglycemic effect was attributed to the Clostridium sp.-bile acids axis and provided important insights into adjuvant therapy of UDCA to lower the adverse risk of statin therapy.

Modulator of TMB-associated immune infiltration (MOTIF) predicts immunotherapy response and guides combination therapy.

Patients with high tumor mutational burden (TMB) levels do not consistently respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), possibly because a high TMB level does not necessarily result in adequate infiltration of CD8+ T cells. Using bulk ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-seq) data from 9311 tumor samples across 30 cancer types, we developed a novel tool called the modulator of TMB-associated immune infiltration (MOTIF), which comprises genes that can determine the extent of CD8+ T cell infiltration prompted by a certain TMB level. We confirmed that MOTIF can accurately reflect the integrity and defects of the cancer-immunity cycle. By analyzing 84 human single-cell RNA-seq datasets from 32 types of solid tumors, we revealed that MOTIF can provide insights into the diverse roles of various cell types in the modulation of CD8+ T cell infiltration. Using pretreatment RNA-seq data from 13 ICI-treated cohorts, we validated the use of MOTIF in predicting CD8+ T cell infiltration and ICI efficacy. Among the components of MOTIF, we identified EMC3 as a negative regulator of CD8+ T cell infiltration, which was validated via in vivo studies. Additionally, MOTIF provided guidance for the potential combinations of programmed death 1 blockade with certain immunostimulatory drugs to facilitate CD8+ T cell infiltration and improve ICI efficacy.

Use of artificial intelligence and I-Score for prediction of recurrence before catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Based solely on pre-ablation characteristics, previous risk scores have demonstrated variable predictive performance. This study aimed to predict the recurrence of AF after catheter ablation by using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled pre-ablation computed tomography (PVCT) images and pre-ablation clinical data. METHODS: A total of 638 drug-refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) patients undergone ablation were recruited. For model training, we used left atria (LA) acquired from pre-ablation PVCT slices (126,288 images). A total of 29 clinical variables were collected before ablation, including baseline characteristics, medical histories, laboratory results, transthoracic echocardiographic parameters, and 3D reconstructed LA volumes. The I-Score was applied to select variables for model training. For the prediction of one-year AF recurrence, PVCT deep-learning and clinical variable machine-learning models were developed. We then applied machine learning to ensemble the PVCT and clinical variable models. RESULTS: The PVCT model achieved an AUC of 0.63 in the test set. Various combinations of clinical variables selected by I-Score can yield an AUC of 0.72, which is significantly better than all variables or features selected by nonparametric statistics (AUCs of 0.66 to 0.69). The ensemble model (PVCT images and clinical variables) significantly improved predictive performance up to an AUC of 0.76 (sensitivity of 86.7% and specificity of 51.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Before ablation, AI-enabled PVCT combined with I-Score features was applicable in predicting recurrence in paroxysmal AF patients. Based on all possible predictors, the I-Score is capable of identifying the most influential combination.

Elucidating effects of Epiphyllum oxypetalum (DC.) Haw polysaccharide on the physicochemical and digestive properties of tapioca starch.

Effects of Epiphyllum oxypetalum (DC.) Haw polysaccharide (EP) on physicochemical/digestive properties of tapioca starch (TS) were investigated, and its effects on final quality of TS-based foods were further determined. Results showed EP significantly decreased gelatinization enthalpy (3.92 to 2.11 J/g) and increased breakdown (302 to 382 cp), thereby inducing the gelatinization of TS. Meanwhile, EP decreased setback viscosity (324 to 258 cp), suggesting the retrogradation of TS paste was inhibited. Rheological determination results suggested EP had an impact on the viscoelasticity of TS paste. Moreover, particle size distribution showed EP increased size of TS by cross-linking. Additionally, the suitable addition of EP ameliorated the microstructure and decreased the crystal diffraction peak area of TS gel. Infrared spectroscopy results revealed EP modified the above properties of TS by hydrogen bonds and non-covalent forces. Furthermore, EP inhibited the in vitro digestion of TS paste. Using taro balls as TS-based food model, appropriate addition of EP (0.10 %) improved texture properties, frozen storage stability and color of samples. The present results can not only facilitate the understanding of the modification mechanism of EP on the properties of TS, but also induce the burgeoning of starchy products and the possible application of EP in foods.

In Vivo Imaging of γ-Glutamyl Transferase in Cardiovascular Diseases with a Photoacoustic Probe.

In this work, a photoacoustic (PA) probe, HDS-GGT, was developed for the in vivo imaging of cardiovascular diseases by monitoring the γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) dynamics. HDS-GGT exhibited a stable PA signal with auxiliary absorbance and NIRF variation after the trigger by GGT. In all three modalities of absorbance, NIRF, and PA, HDS-GGT could quantitatively reflect the GGT level. In PA modality, HDS-GGT indicated the practical advantages including high sensitivity, high stability, and high specificity. In living oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced RAW264.7 cells, HDS-GGT indicated proper capability for imaging the plaques by visualizing the GGT dynamics. Moreover, during imaging in living model mice, HDS-GGT was achieved to distinguish the plaques from healthy blood vessels via a multiview PA presentation. HDS-GGT could also suggest the severity of plaques in the extracted aorta from the model mice, which was consistent with the histological staining results. The information herein might be useful for future investigations on cardiovascular diseases.

Perforin-Mimicking Molecular Drillings Enable Macroporous Hollow Lignin Spheres for Performance-Configurable Materials.

Despite the first observations that the perforin can punch holes in target cells for live/dead cycles in the human immune system over 110 years ago, emulating this behavior in materials science remains challenging. Here, a perforin-mimicking molecular drilling strategy is employed to engineer macroporous hollow lignin spheres as performance-configurable catalysts, adhesives, and gels. Using a toolbox of over 20 molecular compounds, the local curvature of amphiphilic lignin is modulated to generate macroporous spheres with hole sizes ranging from 0 to 100 nm. Multiscale control is precisely achieved through noncovalent assembly directing catalysis, synthesis, and polymerization. Exceptional performance mutations correlate with the changes in hole size, including an increase in catalytic efficiency from 50% to 100%, transition from nonstick synthetics to ultrastrong adhesives (adhesion ≈18.3 MPa, exceeding that of classic epoxies), and transformation of viscous sols to tough nanogels. Thus, this study provides a robust and versatile noncovalent route for mimicking perforin-induced structural variations in cells, representing a significant stride toward the exquisite orchestration of assemblies over multiple length scales.