Cascade C-H-Activated Polyannulations toward Ring-Fused Heteroaromatic Polymers for Intracellular pH Mapping and Cancer Cell Killing.

The development of straightforward and efficient synthetic methods toward ring-fused heteroaromatic polymers with attractive functionalities has great significance in both chemistry and materials science. Herein, we develop a facile cascade C-H-activated polyannulation route that can in situ generate multiple ring-fused aza-heteroaromatic polymers from readily available monomers in an atom-economical manner. A series of complex polybenzimidazole derivatives with high absolute molecular weights of up to 24 000 are efficiently produced in high yields within 2 h. Benefiting from their unique imidazole-containing ring-fused structures with multiple aryl pendants, the obtained polymers show excellent thermal and morphological stability, good solution processability, high refractive index, small chromic dispersion, as well as remarkable acid-base-responsive fluorescence. Taking advantage of the ratiometric fluorescence response of the triphenylamine-substituted heteroaromatic polymer to pH variations, we successfully apply it as a sensitive fluorescence probe for the mapping and quantitative analysis of intracellular pH in live cells. Furthermore, through the simple N-methylation reaction of the ring-fused polybenzimidazoles, diverse azonia-containing polyelectrolytes are readily produced, which can efficiently kill cancer cells via the synergistic effects of dark toxicity and phototoxicity.

Rational design of multifunctional hydrogels targeting the microenvironment of diabetic periodontitis.

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease and is the primary contributor to adult tooth loss. Diabetes exacerbates periodontitis, accelerates periodontal bone resorption. Thus, effectively managing periodontitis in individuals with diabetes is a long-standing challenge. This review introduces the etiology and pathogenesis of periodontitis, and analyzes the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontitis. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the four pathological microenvironments influenced by diabetic periodontitis: high glucose microenvironment, bacterial infection microenvironment, inflammatory microenvironment, and bone loss microenvironment. The hydrogel design strategies and latest research development tailored to the four microenvironments of diabetic periodontitis are mainly focused on. Finally, the challenges and potential solutions in the treatment of diabetic periodontitis are discussed. We believe this review will be helpful for researchers seeking novel avenues in the treatment of diabetic periodontitis.

Gel-confined fabrication of fully bio-based filtration membrane for green capture and rapid detection of airborne microbes.

Air filtration has become a desirable route for collecting airborne microbes. However, the potential biotoxicity and sterilization of current air filtration membranes often lead to undesired inactivation of captured microbes, which greatly limits microbial non-traumatic transfer and recovery. Herein, we report a gel-confined phase separation strategy to rationally fabricate a fully bio-based filtration membrane (SGFM) using soluble soybean polysaccharide and gelatin. The versatile SGFM features fascinating honeycomb micro-nano architecture and hierarchical interconnected porous structures for microbial capture, and achieves a lower pressure drop, higher interception efficiency (99.3%), and superior microbial survivability than commercial gelatin filtration membranes. Particularly, the water-dissolvable SGFM can greatly simplify the elution and extraction process after bioaerosol sampling, thereby bringing about maximum sample transfer and vigorous recovery of collected microbes. Meanwhile, green capture coupled with ATP bioluminescence endows the SGFM with rapid and quantitative detection capability for airborne microbes. This work may pave the way for designing green protocols for the detection of bioaerosols.

Versatile filter membrane for effective sampling and real-time quantitative detection of airborne pathogens.

Construction of air filter membranes bearing prominent collecting and transferring capability is highly desirable for detecting airborne pathogens but remains challenging. Here, a hyaluronic acid air filter membrane (HAFM) with tunable heterogeneous micro-nano porous structures is straightforwardly constructed through the ethanol-induced phase separation strategy. Airborne pathogens can be trapped and collected by HAFM with high performance due to the ideal trade-off between removal efficiency and pressure drop. By exempting the sample elution and extraction processes, the HAFM after filtration sampling can not only directly disperse on the agar plate for colony culture but also turn to an aqueous solution for centrifugal enrichment, which significantly reduces the damage and losses of the captured microorganisms. The following combination with ATP bioluminescence endows the HAFM with a real-time quantitative detection function for the captured airborne pathogens. Benefiting from high-efficiency sampling and non-traumatic transfer of airborne pathogens, the real-world bioaerosol concentration can be facilely evaluated by the HAFM-based ATP assay. This work thus not only provides a feasible strategy to fabricate air filter membranes for efficient microbial collection and enrichment but also sheds light on designing advanced protocols for real-time detection of bioaerosols in the field.