Rational Design of Coordination Polymers Composited Hollow Multishelled Structures for Drug Delivery.

Multifunctional drug delivery systems (DDS) are in high demand for effectively targeting specific cells, necessitating excellent biocompatibility, precise release mechanisms, and sustained release capabilities. The hollow multishelled structure (HoMS) presents a promising solution, integrating structural and compositional design for efficient DDS development amidst complex cellular environments. Herein, starting from a Fe-based metal-organic framework (MOF), amorphous coordination polymers (CP) composited HoMS with controlled shell numbers are fabricated by balancing the rate of MOF decomposition and shell formation. Fe-CP HoMS loaded with DOX is utilized for synergistic chemotherapy and chemodynamic therapy, offering excellent responsive drug release capability (excellent pH-triggered drug release 82% within 72 h at pH 5.0 solution with doxorubicin (DOX) loading capacity of 284 mg g-1). In addition to its potent chemotherapy attributes, Fe-CP-HoMS possesses chemodynamic therapy potential by continuously catalyzing H2O2 to generate ·OH species within cancer cells, thus effectively inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. DOX@3S-Fe-CP-HoMS, at a concentration of 12.5 µg mL-1, demonstrates significant inhibitory effects on cancer cells while maintaining minimal cytotoxicity toward normal cells. It is envisioned that CP-HoMS could serve as an effective and biocompatible platform for the advancement of intelligent drug delivery systems in the realm of cancer therapy.

Normobaric hyperoxia alleviates complement C3-mediated synaptic pruning and brain injury after intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a common cerebrovascular disease, and the complement cascade exacerbates brain injury after ICH. As the most abundant component of the complement system, complement component 3 (C3) plays essential roles in all three complement pathways. However, the effects of C3 on neurological impairment and brain injury in ICH patients and the related mechanism have not been fully elucidated. Normobaric hyperoxia (NBO) is regarded as a treatment for ICH patients, and recent clinical studies also have confirmed the neuroprotective role of NBO against acute ICH-mediated brain damage, but the underlying mechanism still remains elusive. AIMS: In the present study, we investigated the effects of complement C3 on NBO-treated ICH patients and model mice, and the underlying mechanism of NBO therapy in ICH-mediated brain injury. RESULTS: Hemorrhagic injury resulted in the high plasma C3 levels in ICH patients, and the plasma C3 levels were closely related to hemorrhagic severity and clinical outcomes after ICH. BO treatment alleviated neurologic impairments and rescued the hemorrhagic-induced increase in plasma C3 levels in ICH patients and model mice. Moreover, the results indicated that NBO exerted its protective effects of on brain injury after ICH by downregulating the expression of C3 in microglia and alleviating microglia-mediated synaptic pruning. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed that NBO exerts its neuroprotective effects by reducing C3-mediated synaptic pruning, which suggested that NBO therapy could be used for the clinical treatment of ICH.

Revealing the Mechanism of sp-N Doping in Graphdiyne for Developing Site-Defined Metal-Free Catalysts.

Due to the limited reserves of metals, scientists are devoted to exploring high-performance metal-free catalysts based on carbon materials to solve environment-related issues. Doping would build up inhomogeneous charge distribution on surface, which is an efficient approach for boosting the catalytic performance. However, doping sites are difficult to control in traditional carbon materials, thus hindering their development. Taking the advantage of unique sp-C in graphdiyne (GDY), a new N doping configuration of sp-hybridized nitrogen (sp-N), bringing a Pt-comparable catalytic activity in oxygen reduction reaction is site-defined introduced. However, the reaction intermediate of this process is never captured, hindering the understanding of the mechanism and the precise synthesis of metal-free catalysts. After the four-year study, the fabrication of intermediate-like molecule is realized, and finally sp-N doped GDY via the pericyclic reaction is obtained. Compared with GDY doped with other N configurations, the designed sp-N GDY shows much higher catalytic activity in electroreduction of CO2 toward CH4 production, owing to the unique electronic structure introduced by sp-N, which is more favorable in stabilizing the intermediate. Thus, besides opening the black-box for the site-defined doping, this work reveals the relationship between doping configuration and products of CO2 reduction.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Provides Novel Molecular Events for the Differentiation and Maturation of Hepatocytes during the Liver Development of Zebrafish.

The liver plays an essential role in multiple biological functions including metabolism, detoxification, digestion, coagulation, and homeostasis in vertebrates. The specification and differentiation of embryonic hepatoblasts, the proliferation of hepatocytes, and the hepatic tissue architecture are well documented, but molecular events governing the maturation of hepatocytes during liver development remain largely unclear. In this study, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis of hepatocytes that were sorted by flow cytometry from developing zebrafish embryos at 60, 72, and 96 hpf. We identified 667 up-regulated and 3640 down-regulated genes in hepatocytes between 60 and 72 hpf, 606 up-regulated and 3924 down-regulated genes between 60 and 96 hpf, and 1693 up-regulated genes and 1508 down-regulated genes between 72 and 96 hpf. GO enrichment analysis revealed that key biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions in hepatocytes between 60 to 72 hpf, such as cell cycle, DNA replication, DNA repair, RNA processing, and transcription regulation, are mainly associated with the proliferation of hepatocytes. In addition to biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions for cell proliferation, molecular functions for carbohydrate metabolism were enriched in hepatocytes during 72 to 96 hpf. KEGG enrichment analysis identified key signaling pathways, such as cell cycle, RNA degradation, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, ErbB and Hedgehog signaling, basal transcription factors, Wnt signaling, and glycan degradation, which are closely associated with cell proliferation or carbohydrate metabolism in hepatocytes between 60 to 72 hpf. Newly enriched signaling pathways in hepatocytes during 72 to 96 hpf include metabolisms of pyrimidine, purine, nicotinate and nicotinamide, caffeine, glycine, serine and threonine, ABC transporters, and p53 signaling that function in metabolisms of lipid, protein and energy, cellular secretion, or detoxification, indicating the functional maturation of hepatocytes between 72 to 96 hpf. These findings provide novel clues for further understanding the functional differentiation and maturation of hepatocytes during liver development.

Functions of SMC2 in the Development of Zebrafish Liver.

SMC2 (structural maintenance of chromosomes 2) is the core subunit of condensins, which play a central role in chromosome organization and segregation. However, the functions of SMC2 in embryonic development remain poorly understood, due to the embryonic lethality of homozygous SMC2-/- mice. Herein, we explored the roles of SMC2 in the liver development of zebrafish. The depletion of SMC2, with the CRISPR/Cas9-dependent gene knockout approach, led to a small liver phenotype. The specification of hepatoblasts was unaffected. Mechanistically, extensive apoptosis occurred in the liver of SMC2 mutants, which was mainly associated with the activation of the p53-dependent apoptotic pathway. Moreover, an aberrant activation of a series of apoptotic pathways in SMC2 mutants was involved in the defective chromosome segregation and subsequent DNA damage. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that SMC2 is necessary for zebrafish liver development.

Development of a Mucus Gland Bioreactor in Loach Paramisgurnus dabryanus.

Most currently available bioreactors have some defects in the expression, activity, or purification of target protein and peptide molecules, whereas the mucus gland of fish can overcome these defects to become a novel bioreactor for the biopharmaceutical industry. In this study, we have evaluated the practicability of developing a mucus gland bioreactor in loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus). A transgenic construct pT2-krt8-IFN1 was obtained by subcloning the promoter of zebrafish keratin 8 gene and the type I interferon (IFN1) cDNA of grass carp into the SB transposon. The IFN1 expressed in CIK cells exhibited an antiviral activity against the replication of GCRV873 and activated two genes downstream of JAK-STAT signaling pathway. A transgenic loach line was then generated by microinjection of the pT2-krt8-IFN1 plasmids and in vitro synthesized capped SB11 mRNA. Southern blots indicated that a single copy of IFN1 gene was stably integrated into the genome of transgenic loach. The expression of grass carp IFN1 in transgenic loaches was detected with RT-PCR and Western blots. About 0.0825 µg of grass carp IFN1 was detected in 20 µL mucus from transgenic loaches. At a viral titer of 1 × 103 PFU/mL, plaque numbers on plates containing mucus from transgenic loaches reduced by 18% in comparison with those of the control, indicating that mucus of IFN1-transgenic loaches exhibited an antiviral activity. Thus, we have successfully created a mucus gland bioreactor that has great potential for the production of various proteins and peptides.

Dehydration Pathways of Gypsum and the Rehydration Mechanism of Soluble Anhydrite γ-CaSO4.

The dehydration products of gypsum under different temperature and water vapor pressure were investigated by thermodynamic theory. Additionally, the rehydration mechanism of soluble anhydrite was also studied by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The thermodynamic calculation results reveal that the dehydration mechanism of gypsum significantly depended on ambient temperature and water vapor pressure. In the high-temperature and low water vapor pressure region, gypsum dehydrates to form γ-CaSO4 in a single-step process (CaSO4·2H2O → γ-CaSO4); with increasing water vapor pressure, gypsum undergoes the CaSO4·2H2O → γ-CaSO4 → ß-CaSO4·0.5H2O reaction path and as water vapor pressure increases further, the occurrence of a two-step conversion path CaSO4·2H2O → ß-CaSO4·0.5H2O → γ-CaSO4 was observed. It was also found that gypsum is stable in the low-temperature and high water vapor pressure region and does not dehydrate to form any calcium sulfate hemihydrate. Finally, the rehydration mechanism of soluble anhydrite was studied by MC simulations. The simulation results are in agreement with the experimental data and support the finding that γ-CaSO4 rehydration forms CaSO4·0.67H2O in high relative humidity. Another important result revealed by the MC simulation is that γ-CaSO4 has an extraordinary ability to capture water molecules from an extremely dry atmosphere, which is very useful in some fields, such as in drying processes and even for extracting liquid water from extremely dry atmosphere.

Stereodefined Codoping of sp-N and S Atoms in Few-Layer Graphdiyne for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Developing metal-free catalysts with high catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essentially important for energy and environment-related techniques. Compared with individual element doping, doping carbon materials with multiple heteroelements has more advantages for enhancing the OER performance. However, doped sites for the different atoms are highly uncontrollable under the reported methods, which hinder the deeper understanding on the relationship between structure and property, and also limit the enhancement of catalytic activity. Our latest research has reported a method to site-controlled introducing a new form of nitrogen atoms, i.e. sp-hybridized nitrogen (sp-N), into graphdiyne, showing its potential advantages in OER catalysis. Since the sites of sp-N atoms are defined in graphdiyne, and the doping sites for S atoms are well understood, the relative position between N and S can be further defined. It gives us a chance to understand deeply the mechanism in the N, S heteroelements doped metal-free catalyst. Experimental results present that the codoping of sp-N and S atoms brought an excellent OER performance with low overpotential and high current density owning to the effectively synergistic effect of the stereodefined heteroatoms.

Hollow Multi-Shelled Structures of Co3O4 Dodecahedron with Unique Crystal Orientation for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Structure and facet control are considered to be effective routes to enhance catalytic performance. We successfully synthesized hollow multi-shelled structures (HoMSs) of a Co3O4 dodecahedron by adopting metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as templates and using the sequential templating approach (STA). Importantly, owing to the topological arrangement of metal atoms in MOFs, the Co3O4 nanocrystals in HoMSs are assembled in the desired orientation, forming a unique shell with dominant exposure of (111) facets. This process is defined as "genetic inheritance" in this work. In addition, these exposed facets possess high activity for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Adding this to the properties inherited from HoMSs, i.e., multiple interfaces and strong solar light harvesting, these Co3O4 HoMSs present high catalytic activity for CO2 photoreduction. The catalytic activity of quadruple-shelled (QS) Co3O4 HoMSs was about 5 and 3 times higher than that of Co3O4 nanoparticles and Co3O4 HoMSs without facet control, respectively.

Graphdiyne: Recent Achievements in Photo- and Electrochemical Conversion.

As a rising star of carbon allotropes, graphynes (GYs) merely consist of sp- and sp2-hybridized carbon atoms, which endow them a large conjugated network and expanded 2D porous structure. With unique topological structure, GYs display unusual semiconducting properties, especially in the aspects of charge mobility and electron transport. Among the members of the GY family, only graphdiyne (GD) can be successfully synthesized in large quantities. The advanced properties of GD make it promising in various applications. Here, the recent progress in the synthesis of GD and GD-based composites is reviewed as well as their applications in photorelated and electrocatalytic applications. It is hoped that this Review will promote the development and applications of carbon chemistry.

Few-layer graphdiyne doped with sp-hybridized nitrogen atoms at acetylenic sites for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis.

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a fundamental reaction for energy storage and conversion. It has mainly relied on platinum-based electrocatalysts, but the chemical doping of carbon-based materials has proven to be a promising strategy for preparing metal-free alternatives. Nitrogen doping in particular provides a diverse range of nitrogen forms. Here, we introduce a new form of nitrogen doping moieties -sp-hybridized nitrogen (sp-N) atoms into chemically defined sites of ultrathin graphdiyne, through pericyclic replacement of the acetylene groups. The as-prepared sp-N-doped graphdiyne catalyst exhibits overall good ORR performance, in particular with regards to peak potential, half-wave potential and current density. Under alkaline conditions it was comparable to commercial Pt/C, and showed more rapid kinetics. And although its performances are a bit lower than those of Pt/C in acidic media they surpass those of other metal-free materials. Taken together, experimental data and density functional theory calculations suggest that the high catalytic activity originates from the sp-N dopant, which facilitates O2 adsorption and electron transfer on the surface of the catalyst. This incorporation of chemically defined sp-N atoms provides a new synthetic route to high-performance carbon-based and other metal-free catalysts.

Claudin7b is required for the formation and function of inner ear in zebrafish.

Zebrafish has become an excellent model for studying the development and function of inner ear. We report here a zebrafish line in which claudin 7b (cldn7b) locus is interrupted by a Tol2 transposon at its first intron. The homozygous mutants have enlarged otocysts, smaller or no otoliths, slowly formed semicircular canals, and insensitiveness to sound stimulation. These abnormal phenotypes and hearing loss of inner ear could be mostly rescued by injection of cldn7b-mRNA into one-cell stage homozygous mutant embryos. Mechanistically, cldn7b-deficiency interrupted the formation of apical junction complexes (AJCs) in otic epithelial cells of inner ear and the ion-homeostasis of endolymph, which then led to the loss of proper contact between otoliths and normally developed hair cells in utricle and saccule or aberrant mechanosensory transduction. Thus, Cldn7b is essential for the formation and proper function of inner ear through its unique role in keeping an initial integrity of otic epithelia during zebrafish embryogenesis.

Multiresidue analysis of environmental pollutants in edible vegetable oils by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A novel multiresidue determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalate esters (PAEs) and alkylphenols (APs) in edible vegetable oils was developed. The samples were extracted with hexane-saturated acetonitrile, and after concentration, the extract was directly qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in positive ion mode. The calibration curve displayed good linearity in the range of 2-100 µg/L, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The mean recoveries were 70.0-110.8% by analysis of spiked oil, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 2.1-10.2% (n=6), respectively. The limits of detection (LODs) for the 23 PAHs, 17 PAEs and 3 APs were 0.1-1.0 µg/kg, 0.1-4.0 µg/kg and 1.2-3.0 µg/kg, respectively. The established method effectively avoided interference from large amounts of lipids and pigments. It was applied to real sample and shown to be a rapid and reliable alternative for determination and confirmation in routine analysis.