A Joint Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analysis Reveals the Regulation of Shading on Lignin Biosynthesis in Asparagus.

Asparagus belongs to the Liliaceae family and has important economic and pharmacological value. Lignin plays a crucial role in cell wall structural integrity, stem strength, water transport, mechanical support and plant resistance to pathogens. In this study, various biological methods were used to study the mechanism of shading on the asparagus lignin accumulation pathway. The physiological results showed that shading significantly reduced stem diameter and cell wall lignin content. Microstructure observation showed that shading reduced the number of vascular bundles and xylem area, resulting in decreased lignin content, and thus reducing the lignification of asparagus. Cinnamic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and sinapyl alcohol are crucial intermediate metabolites in the process of lignin synthesis. Metabolomic profiling showed that shading significantly reduced the contents of cinnamic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and sinapyl alcohol. Transcriptome profiling identified 37 differentially expressed genes related to lignin, including PAL, C4H, 4CL, CAD, CCR, POD, CCoAOMT, and F5H related enzyme activity regulation genes. The expression levels of POD, CCoAOMT, and CCR genes were significantly decreased under shading treatment, while the expression levels of CAD and F5H genes exhibited no significant difference with increased shading. The downregulation of POD, CCoAOMT genes and the decrease in CCR gene expression levels inhibited the activities of the corresponding enzymes under shading treatment, resulting in decreased downstream content of caffeic acid, ferulic acid, sinaperol, chlorogenic acid and coniferin. A significant decrease in upstream cinnamic acid content was observed with shading, which also led to decreased downstream metabolites and reduced asparagus lignin content. In this study, transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis revealed the key regulatory genes and metabolites of asparagus lignin under shading treatment. This study provides a reference for further understanding the mechanism of lignin biosynthesis and the interaction of related genes.

Injectable Thermosensitive Iodine-Loaded Starch-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel for Cancer Photothermal Therapy and Anti-Infection.

Although photothermal therapy (PTT) can effectively eliminate tumors, the normal tissues near tumors are inevitably damaged by heat and infected by bacteria, which greatly limits the therapeutic effect. In this work, an injectable thermosensitive hydrogel based on iodine-loaded starch-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNSI) is developed to overcome this problem. FTIR, 1 H NMR, and UV-vis spectra confirm the graft copolymerization of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) with starch and the formation of "iodine-starch" complex. Transmission electron microscope images show PNSI polymer self-assembles into regular spherical nanogel with a size of ≈50 nm. The concentrated nanogel dispersion is a sol at room temperature and transforms to hydrogel at body temperature. Under NIR laser irradiation for 10 min, the ΔT of the nanogel dispersion approachs about 20 °C with excellent thermal stability and high cytotoxicity due to the photothermal effect of the "iodine-starch" complex. After intratumor injection, this injectable hydrogel efficiently inhibites the tumor growth under 808 nm laser irradiation. Furthermore, it can also suppress Staphylococcus aureus infection in the wound post-PTT due to the release of iodine, which promotes wound healing. Therefore, this injectable thermosensitive "iodine-starch" composite hydrogel with advantages of good biocompatible and easy preparation possesses potential application for tumor photothermal therapy and antibacterial infection.

Fine extraction of cellulose from corn straw and the application for eco-friendly packaging films enhanced with polyvinyl alcohol.

Biomass materials substituting for petroleum-based polymers occupy an important position in achieving sustainable development. Cellulose, a typical biomass material, stands out as the primary choice for producing eco-friendly packaging materials. However, it is still a challenge to efficiently utilize cellulose from waste biomass materials in practice. Herein, cellulose-based films were prepared by pretreating waste corn straw, separating straw husk, straw pith and straw leaf, and extracting cellulose through alkali and sodium chlorite treatment to improve its mechanical properties using the cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) method in this work. The prepared composite films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction instrument (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric (TG) and mechanical properties. The results indicated that corn straw husk exhibited the highest cellulose content of 31.67 wt%, and obtained husk cellulose had the highest crystallinity of 52.5 %. Compared to corn straw, the crystallinity of husk cellulose, pith cellulose and leaf cellulose increased by 19.5 %, 16.4 % and 44.1 %, respectively. Husk cellulose/PVA composite films were the most thermally stable, with a maximum weight loss temperature of 346.8 °C. In addition, the husk cellulose/PVA composite film had the best tensile strength of 37 MPa. Meanwhile, the composite films had good UV shielding, low water vapor transmission rate and biodegradability. Therefore, this work provides a fine utilization route of waste corn straw, and as-prepared cellulose based films have potential application in eco-friendly packaging materials.

The Effects of Hypoxia-Preconditioned Dental Stem Cell-Derived Secretome on Tissue Regeneration.

Mesenchymal stroma cells derived from oral tissues are known as dental stem cells (DSCs). Owing to their unique therapeutic niche and clinical accessibility, DSCs serve as a promising treatment option for bone defects and oral tissue regeneration. DSCs exist in a hypoxic microenvironment in vivo, which is far lower than the current 20% oxygen concentration used in in vitro culture. It has been widely reported that the application of an oxygen concentration less than 5% in the culture of DSCs is beneficial for preserving stemness and promoting proliferation, migration, and paracrine activity. The paracrine function of DSCs involves the secretome, which includes conditioned media (CM) and soluble bioactive molecules, as well as extracellular vesicles extracted from CM. Hypoxia can play a role in immunomodulation and angiogenesis by altering the protein or nucleic acid components in the secretory group, which enhances the therapeutic potential of DSCs. This review summarizes the biological characteristics of DSCs, the influence of hypoxia on DSCs, the impact of hypoxia on the secretory group of DSCs, and the latest progress on the use of DSCs secretory group in tissue regeneration based on hypoxia pretreatment. We highlighted the multifunctional biological effect of hypoxia culture on tissue regeneration and provided a summary of the current mechanism of hypoxia in the pretreatment of DSCs.

Bioactive Materials That Promote the Homing of Endogenous Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Improve Wound Healing.

Endogenous stem cell homing refers to the transport of endogenous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to damaged tissue. The paradigm of using well-designed biomaterials to induce resident stem cells to home in to the injured site while coordinating their behavior and function to promote tissue regeneration is known as endogenous regenerative medicine (ERM). ERM is a promising new avenue in regenerative therapy research, and it involves the mobilizing of endogenous stem cells for homing as the principal means through which to achieve it. Comprehending how mesenchymal stem cells home in and grasp the influencing factors of mesenchymal stem cell homing is essential for the understanding and design of tissue engineering. This review summarizes the process of MSC homing, the factors influencing the homing process, analyses endogenous stem cell homing studies of interest in the field of skin tissue repair, explores the integration of endogenous homing promotion strategies with cellular therapies and details tissue engineering strategies that can be used to modulate endogenous homing of stem cells. In addition to providing more systematic theories and ideas for improved materials for endogenous tissue repair, this review provides new perspectives to explore the complex process of tissue remodeling to enhance the rational design of biomaterial scaffolds and guide tissue regeneration strategies.

Synergistic effect of protein foams and polysaccharide on the invisible hemostasis of acellular dermal matrix sponges.

Efficient management of hemorrhage is vital for preventing hemorrhagic shock and safeguarding wounds against infection. Inspired by the traditional Chinese steamed bread-making process, which involves kneading, foaming, and steaming, we devised a hemostatic sponge by amalgamating an acellular dermal matrix gel, hydroxyethyl starch, and rice hydrolyzed protein. The integration of hydroxyethyl starch bolstered the sponge's mechanical and hemostatic attributes, while the inclusion of rice hydrolyzed protein, acting as a natural foaming agent, enhanced its porosity This augmentation facilitated rapid blood absorption, accelerated clot formation, and stimulated the clotting cascade. Experimental findings underscore the exceptional biocompatibility and physicochemical characteristics of the hemostatic sponge, positioning it on par with commercially available collagen hemostatic sponges for hemorrhage control. Mechanistically, the sponge fosters aggregation and activation of red blood cells and platelets, expediting coagulation kinetics both in vivo and in vitro. Notably, this hemostatic sponge activates the clotting cascade sans crosslinking agents, offering a premium yet cost-effective biomaterial with promising clinical applicability.

Recent Advances in Nano-Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Diabetic Wound Healing.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) induced wound healing impairment remains a serious health problem and burden on the clinical obligation for high amputation rates. Based on the features of wound microenvironment, biomaterials loading specific drugs can benefit diabetic wound treatment. Drug delivery systems (DDSs) can carry diverse functional substances to the wound site. Nano-drug delivery systems (NDDSs), benefiting from their features related to nano size, overcome limitations of conventional DDSs application and are considered as a developing process in the wound treatment field. Recently, a number of finely designed nanocarriers efficiently loading various substances (bioactive and non-bioactive factors) have emerged to circumvent constraints faced by traditional DDSs. This review describes various recent advances of nano-drug delivery systems involved in mitigating diabetes mellitus-based non-healing wounds.

Modification effects of socioeconomic factors on associations between air pollutants and hand, foot, and mouth disease: A multicity time-series study based on heavily polluted areas in the basin area of Sichuan Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a serious threat among children in China. Some studies have found that air pollution is associated with HFMD incidence, but the results showed heterogeneity. In this study, we aimed to explore the heterogeneity of associations between air pollutants and the number of HFMD cases and to identify significant socioeconomic effect modifiers. METHODS: We collected daily surveillance data on HFMD cases in those aged less than 15 years, air pollution variables and meteorological variables from 2015 to 2017 in the basin area of Sichuan Province. We also collected socioeconomic indicator data. We conducted a two-stage multicity time-series analysis. In the first stage, we constructed a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to obtain cumulative exposure-response curves between each air pollutant and the numbers of HFMD cases for every city. In the second stage, we carried out a multivariable meta-regression to merge the estimations in the first stage and to identify significant socioeconomic effect modifiers. RESULTS: We found that PM10, NO2 and O3 concentrations were associated with the number of HFMD cases. An inverted V-shaped association between PM10 and the number of HFMD cases was observed. The overall NO2-HFMD association was a hockey-stick shape. For the relationships of PM10, SO2, NO2, O3 and CO with HFMD counts, approximately 58.5%, 48.4%, 51.0%, 55.6% and 52.5% of the heterogeneity could be explained, respectively. The proportion of primary school students, population density, urbanization rate, number of licensed physicians and number of hospital beds explained part of the heterogeneity and modified the relationships. CONCLUSION: Our study explored the heterogeneity of associations between air pollutants and HFMD counts. The proportion of primary school students, population density, urbanization rate, number of licensed physicians and number of hospital beds could modify the relationships. The results can serve as a reference for relevant public health decision making.

Electrochemically enhanced adsorption of organic dyes from aqueous using a freestanding metal-organic frameworks/cellulose-derived porous monolithic carbon foam.

Monolithic carbon foams are promising materials for adsorption due to the easy recyclability and without secondary-pollution. However, poor adsorption efficiency for organic pollutants limits its practical application. Hence, this work proposed a novel monolithic porous carbon foam by a facile carbonization approach as freestanding electrodes to remove the organic dyes. The prepared carbon foam derived from waste cigarette filters and zeolitic-imidazolate frameworks-8 with well-developed pores, and the calculated surface area is 1457 m2·g-1, and exhibited an outstanding removal efficiency for methylene blue in aqueous. The maximum adsorption capacity for methylene blue can reach up to 1846.7 mg·g-1 under the applied voltage of -1.2 V. Importantly, as-prepared carbon foams possessed excellent stability, and the removal efficiency can remain above 85% after 5 cycles. Thus, obtained porous carbon foams in this paper as a free standing electrode is expected to be promising materials of adsorbent besides supercapacitors.

Harnessing Colloidal Self-Assembled Patterns (cSAPs) to Regulate Bacterial and Human Stem Cell Response at Biointerfaces In Vitro and In Vivo.

The generation of complex physicochemical signals on the surface of biomedical materials is still challenging despite the fact that a broad range of surface modification methods have been developed over the last few decades. Colloidal self-assembled patterns (cSAPs) are combinations of unique colloids differing in size and surface chemistry acting as building blocks that can be programmed to generate surface patterns with exquisite control of complexity. This study reports on producing a variety of pre-modified colloids for the fabrication of cSAPs as well as post-assembly modifications to yield complex surfaces. The surface of cSAPs presents hierarchical micro- and nanostructures, localized hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristics, and tunable surface functionality imparted by the individual colloids. The selected cSAPs can control bacterial adhesion (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli) and affect the cell cycle of human bone marrow stem cells (hBMSCs). Moreover, in a mouse subcutaneous model, cSAPs with selective [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium (SBMA) modification can reduce the inflammatory response after being challenged with bacteria. This study reveals that functionalized cSAPs are versatile tools for controlling cellular responses at biointerfaces, which is instructive for biomaterials or biodevices.