Enhanced Preservation of Climacteric Fruit with a Cellulose Nanofiber-Based Film Coating.

Bananas are a typical climacteric fruit with high respiration and ethylene production rates after harvest, and they show rapid ripening-senescence phenotypes. Here, we demonstrate that carboxymethylcellulose nanofibers (CM-CNFs) and red cabbage extracts (RCE) can be used as a unique film coating formulation for enhancement of the shelf-life of fruit. A CM-CNF suspension solution is created through a process involving chemical modification, followed by mechanical grinding. It has a high aspect ratio that allows for the creation of a thin and transparent film on the surface of bananas. The cross-linked CM-CNF hydrogel forms a dense film layer on the banana surface during dehydration and prevents respiration and weight loss. RCE contains polyphenols acting as antioxidants, which prevent the appearance of black dots on the banana peels. It serves to mitigate the browning of banana skins and also hinders the respiration process, consequently slowing the aging of bananas.

Network of cyano-p-aramid nanofibres creates ultrastiff and water-rich hydrospongels.

The structure-property paradox of biological tissues, in which water-rich porous structures efficiently transfer mass while remaining highly mechanically stiff, remains unsolved. Although hydrogel/sponge hybridization is the key to understanding this phenomenon, material incompatibility makes this a challenging task. Here we describe hydrogel/sponge hybrids (hydrospongels) that behave as both ultrastiff water-rich gels and reversibly squeezable sponges. The self-organizing network of cyano-p-aramid nanofibres holds approximately 5,000 times more water than its solid content. Hydrospongels, even at a water concentration exceeding 90 wt%, are hard as cartilage with an elastic modulus of 50-80 MPa, and are 10-1,000 times stiffer than typical hydrogels. They endure a compressive strain above 85% through poroelastic relaxation and hydrothermal pressure at 120 °C. This performance is produced by amphiphilic surfaces, high rigidity and an interfibrillar, interaction-driven percolating network of nanofibres. These features can inspire the development of future biofunctional materials.

Review of polymer technologies for improving the recycling and upcycling efficiency of plastic waste.

Human society has become increasingly reliant on plastic because it allows for convenient and sanitary living. However, recycling rates are currently low, which means that the majority of plastic waste ends up in landfills or the ocean. Increasing recycling and upcycling rates is a critical strategy for addressing the issues caused by plastic pollution, but there are several technical limitations to overcome. This article reviews advancements in polymer technology that aim to improve the efficiency of recycling and upcycling plastic waste. In food packaging, natural polymers with excellent gas barrier properties and self-cleaning abilities have been introduced as environmentally friendly alternatives to existing materials and to reduce food-derived contamination. Upcycling and valorization approaches have emerged to transform plastic waste into high-value-added products. Recent advancements in the development of recyclable high-performance plastics include the design of super engineering thermoplastics and engineering chemical bonds of thermosets to make them recyclable and biodegradable. Further research is needed to develop more cost-effective and scalable technologies to address the plastic pollution problem through sustainable recycling and upcycling.

Biodegradable, Water-Resistant, Anti-Fizzing, Polyester Nanocellulose Composite Paper Straws.

Among plastic items, single-use straws are particularly detrimental to marine ecosystems because such straws, including those made of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), are sharp and extremely slowly degradable in the ocean. While paper straws are promising alternatives, they exhibit hydration-induced swelling even when coated with a non-degradable plastic coating and promote effervescence (fizzing) in soft drinks owing to their surface heterogeneities. In this study, upgraded paper straw is coated with poly(butylene succinate) cellulose nanocrystal (PBS/CNC) composites. CNC increases adhesion to paper owing to their similar chemical structures, optimizes crystalline PBS spherulites through effective nucleation, and reinforces the matrix through its anisotropic and rigid features. The straws are not only anti-fizzing when used with soft drinks owing to their homogeneous and seamless surface coatings, but also highly water-resistant and tough owing to their watertight surfaces. All degradable components effectively decompose under aerobic composting and in the marine environment. This technology contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water).

Protective coating of strawberries with cellulose nanofibers.

Since shelf life of perishable foods is short, a compelling challenge is to prolong the freshness of foods with a cost-effective strategy. A perishable fruit, the strawberry, is chosen as a model perishable food and an edible film coating is applied to it using carboxymethylated cellulose nanofibers (CM-CNFs) stabilized by cationic salts. A transparent and impermeable CM-CNF film is formed at the strawberry surface using a dip coating process. The formation of the film is dependent on the electrostatic interaction between anionic CM-CNF and salt cations. Physical properties of the film are characterized and the effectiveness of edible film coating on the freshness of perishable fruit is evaluated by the measurement of weight loss, CO2 release, firmness, total solid sugar and acidity. Cellulose nanofiber is a promising cost-effective material appropriate for use as an edible coating that contributes to the long-term storage and prolonged freshness of foods.

Solid matrix-assisted printing for three-dimensional structuring of a viscoelastic medium surface.

Gluconacetobacter xylinus (G. xylinus) metabolism is activated by oxygen, which makes the formation of an air-medium interface critical. Here we report solid matrix-assisted 3D printing (SMAP) of an incubation medium surface and the 3D fabrication of bacterial cellulose (BC) hydrogels by in situ biosynthesis of G. xylinus. A printing matrix of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microparticles and a hydrogel ink containing an incubation medium, bacteria, and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are used in the SMAP process. The hydrogel ink can be printed in the solid matrix with control over the topology and dimensional stability. Furthermore, bioactive bacteria produce BC hydrogels at the surface of the medium due to the permeability of oxygen through the PTFE microparticle layer. The flexibility of the design is verified by fabricating complex 3D structures that were not reported previously. The resulting tubular BC structures suggest future biomedical applications, such as artificial blood vessels and engineered vascular tissue scaffolding. The fabrication of a versatile free-form structure of BC has been challenged due to restricted oxygen supplies at the medium and the dimensional instability of hydrogel printing. SMAP is a solution to the problem of fabricating free-form biopolymer structures, providing both printability and design diversity.

Transparent cellulose nanofiber based open cell culture platform using matrix-assisted 3D printing.

Carboxymethylated hydrophilic CNF (Hphil-CNF) was modified with methyltrimethoxysilane into hydrophobic CNF (Hphob-CNF) and used as a printing matrix. The Hphil-CNF hydrogel was printed at the surface of the Hphob-CNF hydrogel, forming an immiscible, distinct 3D structure. Fabrication of channel systems in the CNF platform was performed by matrix-assisted 3D printing of petroleum jelly ink in the Hphil-CNF-patterned Hphob-CNF hydrogel. After the dehydration process followed by removal of the ink from the CNF film, the CNF hydrogels became a dense platform embedding fluidic channels. The CNF platform exhibited selective diffusion of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran from the channels in the Hphil-CNF patterns, indicating transport of bioactive molecules to cells cultured at the platform surface. The applicability of the open cell culture platform was investigated with A549 lung cancer cells by injecting cisplatin, a model drug into the channel.

Melanin Nanoparticle-Incorporated Silk Fibroin Hydrogels for the Enhancement of Printing Resolution in 3D-Projection Stereolithography of Poly(ethylene glycol)-Tetraacrylate Bio-ink.

It is not easy to design structures with transparent solutions, especially in light projection three-dimensional (3D) printing, since the penetration of light in solution is limitless. Here, silk fibroin incorporated with melanin nanoparticles (SFM) is used as a transparency modifier of poly(ethylene glycol)-tetraacrylate (PEG4A) solution. The incorporation of melanin into the SF hydrogel is performed in the range of 0.05-0.2% (w/v), and the SFM was added to the PEG4A precursor solution at 0.25-1.0% (w/v). The printing accuracy was examined by comparing the printed and designed feature sizes. The addition of 1.0% (w/v) SFM to a 4% (w/v) PEG4A (PEG4A/SFM) precursor solution effectively reduces the transparency of the solution and improves the printing resolution by confining the light beam to a designed region. This enables the fabrication of hard-to-express features such as hollow blood vessels or vacant tubes. Furthermore, the elastic modulus of the printed PEG4A/SFM composite hydrogel increases 2.5-fold higher than the PEG4A hydrogel without SFM. For the bio-ink, PEG4A/SFM-containing cells show non-cytotoxicity and improve the proliferation rate of embedded cells, confirming the high biocompatibility of PEG4A/SFM hydrogels.

Sensitive and selective analysis of a wide concentration range of IGFBP7 using a surface plasmon resonance biosensor.

A sensitive method for selectively detecting insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) over a wide range of concentrations based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing techniques is described. IGFBP7 has been shown to regulate cell proliferation, cell adhesion, cellular senescence, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in several different cancer cell lines. Since the concentration of IGFBP7 can vary widely in the body, determining the precise concentration of IGFBP7 over a wide range of concentrations is important, since it serves as an inducible biomarker for both disease diagnosis and subsequent therapy. The SPR sensing method is based on the selective interaction of IGFBP7 with specific anti-IGFBP7 proteins on a gold thin film, which was covalently bound to the Fc-binding domain of protein G on a mixed self-assembled monolayer composed of DSNHS (S2(CH2)11COO(CH2)2COO-(N-hydroxysuccinimide)) and mercaptoundecanol, and effect of this on changes in the SPR profiles. The limit of detection (LOD) of the SPR biosensor was determined to be 10 ng/ml, which is a reasonable LOD value for biomedical applications. The response is essentially linear in the concentration range of 10-300 ng/ml. The SPR biosensor also shows specificity for IGFBP7 compared to that for biologically relevant interleukin (IL) derivatives including IL4, IL23, IL29, and IFG1. These molecules are also present along with IGFBP7 in the cell culture medium and have the potential to interfere with the analysis. Finally, the level secretion of IGFBP7 from cancer cells detected by the SPR biosensor showed a good correlation with a commercial kit using an IGFBP7 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The findings reported herein indicate that the SPR biosensor for IGFBP7 would be applicable in a wide variety of biomedical fields.

Transforming growth factor-ß1 bioassay involving matrix metalloproteinase-2 induction.

The transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) bioassay developed in this study monitors increased luciferase activity in MCF10A cells containing the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) promoter with a luciferase reporter and treated with increasing TGF-ß1 concentrations. The response was linear in the concentration range from 75 to 2,500 pg/mL. The abilities of 3 types of TGF-ß in inducing MMP-2 were different. The luciferase activity induced by TGF-ß1 was about 2 times more than that by TGF-ß2 and TGF-ß3. The MMP-2 promoter bioassay showed greater reproducibility (coefficient of variation [CV] 10%) than the previously developed anticell proliferation assay of TF-1 cell (CV 16%) and the MMP-2 zymogram assay (CV 40%).

Validation of a HeLa Mx2/Luc reporter cell line for the quantification of human type I interferons.

Although antiviral assays have been the most widely available biological assays for interferons (IFNs), they are less sensitive and provide considerable interassay variation. In this study, we demonstrate a new reporter cell line, which is based on HeLa cells transfected with a plasmid containing a human Mx2 promoter driving a luciferase (Luc) cDNA. To characterize the specific gene expression profiles induced by interferon alpha, we analyzed the microarray results of interferon response gene expression induced by IFN-alpha2a or IFN-alpha2b treatment with HeLa cells. We found that the Mx2 gene increased the most by treatment with both IFN-alpha2a and IFN-alpha2b. Based on this result, we designed a reporter cell line, HeLa-Mx2, suitable for determination of IFN-alpha. HeLa cells were stably transfected with the luciferase gene under the control of Mx2 promoter. The expression of luciferase can be easily measured for luminescence using a 96-well luminometer and has been correlated with the concentration of added IFN and cell density. In the validation results, our reporter cell line had specificity for type I IFN, but the significant effects of a number of other cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-5, IL-6 and GM-CSF, or type II interferon (IFN-gamma) were not observed. Moreover, the robustness of our cell line is demonstrated by the lack of an effect of the HeLa-Mx2 cell culture's age on the performance of the reporter gene assay. The reporter gene assay demonstrated reproducible dose-response curves for IFN-alpha2a in the range of 1-10,000 IU/ml. The 95% confidential limit and total coefficient of variation estimates ranged between 96 and 116 and 10.51% in the reducible range mentioned above, respectively. In conclusion, we established a stable IFN-responsible HeLa-Mx2 cell line, which has advantages with regard to simplicity, selectivity, and reliability over conventional cytopathic effect reduction assays used to quantify IFN-alpha activity.