Common carp intelectin 3 (cITLN3) plays a role in the innate immune response.

Intelectin is a lectin with the capacity to recognize and bind to carbohydrates. In this study, we successfully cloned cITLN3 from common carp, which consists of a signal peptide domain, a FReD domain, and an intelectin domain. The expression levels of cITLN3 were detected in various organs of common carp, including the liver, head kidney, spleen, foregut, midgut, and hindgut, with the highest expression observed in the liver. Following infection with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) or Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila), the expression level of cITLN3 was significantly upregulated in all organs of common carp. Subsequently, we expressed and purified the recombinant cITLN3 protein using an E. coli expression system. The cITLN3 could aggregate both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in the presence of Ca2+, with a stronger affinity for gram-positive bacteria. Moreover, our study demonstrated that cITLN3 displayed a higher binding affinity towards PGN compared to LPS. Furthermore, we observed that cITLN3 had the potential to inhibit bacterial proliferation in common carp and safeguard intestinal integrity during bacterial stimulation. And the results also indicated that cITLN3 might played a role in the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) signaling pathway activation.

Development of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay for rapid detection of Aeromonas hydrophila.

Aquaculture plays an increasingly important if not critical role in the current and future world food supply. Aeromonas hydrophila, a heterotrophic, Gram-negative, bacterium found in fresh or brackish water in warm climates poses a serious threat to the aquaculture industry in many areas, causing significant economic losses. Rapid, portable detection methods of A. hydrophila are needed for its effective control and mitigation. We have developed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique to detect PCR (polymerase chain reaction) products that can replace agarose gel electrophoresis, or otherwise provide an alternative to costlier and more complicated real-time, fluorescence-based detection. The SPR method provides sensitivity comparable to gel electrophoresis, while reducing labor, cross-contamination, and test time, and employs simpler instrumentation with lower cost than real-time PCR.

Common carp Peptidoglycan Recognition Protein 2 (CcPGRP2) plays a role in innate immunity for defense against bacterial infections.

PGRP is a family of pattern recognition molecules of the innate immune system. PGRPs are conserved from insects to mammals and have diverse functions in antimicrobial defense. Here we cloned a common carp PGRP ortholog, CcPGRP2 containing a conserved C-terminal PGRP domain. We tested the expression levels of CcPGRP2 in the liver, spleen, kidney, foregut, midgut, and hindgut of the highest level in the liver. The expression of CcPGRP2 upregulated in common carp infected with Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) or Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Recombinant CcPGRP2 protein expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) system and the purified CcPGRP2 could maintain the integrity of intestinal mucosa of common carp infected with A. hydrophila. In addition, CcPGRP2 could agglutinate or bind both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in a Zn2+-dependent manner. CcPGRP2 has a stronger agglutination and bacterial binding ability in gram-positive bacteria than in gram-negative bacteria. It is perhaps because CcPGRP2 could bind peptidoglycan (PGN) with a higher degree to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). And CcPGRP2 shows antimicrobial activities in the presence of Zn2+. Our results of CcPGRP2 provided new insight into the function of PGRP in the innate immunity of the common carp.

Recombinase polymerase amplification assay for rapid detection of Seneca Valley Virus.

Seneca Valley virus (SVV) is related to vesicular disease in pigs, and its clinical symptoms are indistinguishable from other notifiable clinical symptoms of vesicular disease such as foot-and-mouth disease. The rapid and accurate detection of SVV is essential to confirm the pathogenic factors and initiate the implementation of control measures. The development of a rapid, simple, convenient, and low-cost molecular (nucleic acid amplification) test that can be used at the sample collection point has been identified as a key component for controlling SVV. This study describes the development and demonstration of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) test targeting the conserved regions of SVV for detection of SVV. The Primers and probes designed by us have shown good sensitivity and specificity in RPA test, which is helpful for RPA to be an effective tool for rapid diagnosis of SVV.

Halogen-Assisted Piezochromic Supramolecular Assemblies for Versatile Haptic Memory.

Sensory memory is capable of recording information and giving feedback based on external stimuli. Haptic memory in particular can retain the sensation of the interaction between the human body and the environment and help humans to describe the physical quantities in their environment and manipulate objects in daily activities. Although sensitive and accurate tactile sensors have been produced on optical and electronic devices, their rigorous operation and equipment requirements seriously limit their further applicability. In addition, their poor retainability after the removal of external stimuli also warrants further improvements. Thus, haptic memory materials, having simple structures and high sensitivity, are highly desired. Herein, we successfully developed two piezochromic assemblies assisted by halogen bonding for haptic memory. The halogen bond not only contributes to the fabrication of the network and enhances integrative stability but also broadens the natural piezofluorescent range, thus promoting sensory sensitivity. Moreover, the colorimetric change of the assemblies could be well-retained after the stimulus was removed. Upon mild heating treatment, the piezochromic response could be recovered to its original state, confirming the recyclability of this haptic memory material for use in practical applications. The present work enriches the library of piezochromic materials with enhanced performance for haptic memory.

Rationally encapsulated gold nanorods improving both linear and nonlinear photoacoustic imaging contrast in vivo.

Photoacoustic tomography has emerged as a promising non-invasive imaging technique that integrates the merits of high optical contrast with high ultrasound resolution in deep scattering medium. Unfortunately, the blood background in vivo seriously impedes the quality of imaging due to its comparable optical absorption with contrast agents, especially in conventional linear photoacoustic imaging modality. In this study, we demonstrated that two hybrids consisting of gold nanorods (Au NRs) and zinc tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrin (ZnTPP) exhibited a synergetic effect in improving optical absorption, conversion efficiency from light to heat, and thermoelastic expansion, leading to a notable enhancement in both linear (four times greater) and nonlinear (more than six times) photoacoustic signals as compared with conventional Au NRs. Subsequently, we carefully investigated the interesting factors that may influence photoacoustic signal amplification, suggesting that the coating of ZnTPP on Au NRs could result in the reduction of gold interfacial thermal conductance with a solvent, so that the heat is more confined within the nanoparticle clusters for a significant enhancement of local temperature. Hence, both the linear and nonlinear photoacoustic signals are enhanced on account of better thermal confinement. The present work not only shows that ZnTPP coated Au NRs could serve as excellent photoacoustic nanoamplifiers, but also brings a perspective for photoacoustic image-guided therapy.

Remarkable colorimetric sensing of heavy metal ions based on thiol-rich nanoframes.

Novel colorimetric sensors based on meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid nanoframes templated by a metal-organic framework were developed to detect heavy metal ions. Highly specific color changes in response to various heavy metal ions were employed for the easy detection and differentiation of heavy metal ions.

Pseudocapacitive Na-Ion Storage Boosts High Rate and Areal Capacity of Self-Branched 2D Layered Metal Chalcogenide Nanoarrays.

The abundant reserve and low cost of sodium have provoked tremendous evolution of Na-ion batteries (SIBs) in the past few years, but their performances are still limited by either the specific capacity or rate capability. Attempts to pursue high rate ability with maintained high capacity in a single electrode remains even more challenging. Here, an elaborate self-branched 2D SnS2 (B-SnS2) nanoarray electrode is designed by a facile hot bath method for Na storage. This interesting electrode exhibits areal reversible capacity of ca. 3.7 mAh cm-2 (900 mAh g-1) and rate capability of 1.6 mAh cm-2 (400 mAh g-1) at 40 mA cm-2 (10 A g-1). Improved extrinsic pseudocapacitive contribution is demonstrated as the origin of fast kinetics of an alloying-based SnS2 electrode. Sodiation dynamics analysis based on first-principles calculations, ex-situ HRTEM, in situ impedance, and in situ Raman technologies verify the S-edge effect on the fast Na+ migration and reversible and sensitive structure evolution during high-rate charge/discharge. The excellent alloying-based pseudocapacitance and unsaturated edge effect enabled by self-branched surface nanoengineering could be a promising strategy for promoting development of SIBs with both high capacity and high rate response.

Responsive Prodrug Self-Assembled Vesicles for Targeted Chemotherapy in Combination with Intracellular Imaging.

Targeted drug delivery systems having controlled drug release property with an inherent fluorescence reporter have drawn a lot of attention in nanomedicine. However, only very few prodrugs can be directly used to construct such delivery systems. Herein, we report that an amphiphilic chlorambucil-based prodrug consisting of a fluorescence reporter and a d-mannose targeting ligand could directly self-assemble into glutathione-responsive nanovesicles for selective cancer therapy and intracellular imaging. These nanovesicles could be dissociated to release the chlorambucil drug with obviously red-shifted fluorescence when internalized by d-mannose receptor-overexpressed MCF-7 cancer cells. In addition, the nanovesicles displayed better selectivity and higher therapy efficiency than free chlorambucil drug.

Remarkable In Vivo Nonlinear Photoacoustic Imaging Based on Near-Infrared Organic Dyes.

Two near-infrared dyes featuring good dispersion and light-harvesting property present a remarkable nonlinear photoacoustic response in vitro and in vivo comparing with conventional gold nanorods. This study benefits the fabrication of drug delivery platforms with accurate targeting and control effect under photoacoustic image guidance.

Hierarchically porous Pd nanospheres: facile synthesis and their application in HCOOH electrooxidation.

With the help of rhodamine B base (RBB), novel Pd nanospheres were synthesized by a facile one-step approach. Owing to their hierarchically porous characteristics, these nanospheres exhibited highly catalytic activity for HCOOH electrooxidation (∼1.84 times and 1.67 times higher than those of a commercial Pd/C catalyst for mass and specific activity, respectively).

Refined Sulfur Nanoparticles Immobilized in Metal-Organic Polyhedron as Stable Cathodes for Li-S Battery.

The lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery presents a promising rechargeable energy storage technology for the increasing energy demand in a worldwide range. However, current main challenges in Li-S battery are structural degradation and instability of the solid-electrolyte interphase caused by the dissolution of polysulfides during cycling, resulting in the corrosion and loss of active materials. Herein, we developed novel hybrids by employing metal-organic polyhedron (MOP) encapsulated PVP-functionalized sulfur nanoparticles (S@MOP), where the active sulfur component was efficiently encapsulated within the core of MOP and PVP as a surfactant was helpful to stabilize the sulfur nanoparticles and control the size and shape of corresponding hybrids during their syntheses. The amount of sulfur embedded into MOP could be controlled according to requirements. By using the S@MOP hybrids as cathodes, an obvious enhancement in the performance of Li-S battery was achieved, including high specific capacity with good cycling stability. The MOP encapsulation could enhance the utilization efficiency of sulfur. Importantly, the structure of the S@MOP hybrids was very stable, and they could last for almost 1000 cycles as cathodes in Li-S battery. Such high performance has rarely been obtained using metal-organic framework systems. The present approach opens up a promising route for further applications of MOP as host materials in electrochemical and energy storage fields.

Remarkable Vapochromic Behavior of Pure Organic Octahedron Embedded in Porous Frameworks.

Vapochromic behavior is employed to selectively monitor the vapor changes in surrounding environment, particularly for toxic gas leaking and floating detection. Thus, sensitive trapping and accurate response to different toxic vapors are critical factors in vapochromic sensing. In this work, a self-assembled hybrid that consists of fluorescent organic octahedron encapsulated by metal-organic polyhedron (MOP) is reported. The fluorescent octahedron is used as a responsive sensor to probe various solvent vapors, while the MOP is employed as a protector to prevent the corrosion of solvents to the organic octahedron. The hybrid exhibits remarkable vapochromic behavior to different solvents, and shows the highest selectivity and sensitivity specifically to acetone. In addition, acetone vapor under different conditions is utilized for further studying the response mechanism of the hybrid. This work presents a promising vapochromic sensor with good stability, selectivity, and sensitivity. The study is expected to open up the applicability of MOP-based hybrids for specific molecular capture, interim storage, controlled release, and advanced sensing.

Hierarchical Porous LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 Nano-/Micro Spherical Cathode Material: Minimized Cation Mixing and Improved Li(+) Mobility for Enhanced Electrochemical Performance.

Although being considered as one of the most promising cathode materials for Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM) is currently limited by its poor rate performance and cycle stability resulting from the thermodynamically favorable Li(+)/Ni(2+) cation mixing which depresses the Li(+) mobility. In this study, we developed a two-step method using fluffy MnO2 as template to prepare hierarchical porous nano-/microsphere NCM (PNM-NCM). Specifically, PNM-NCM microspheres achieves a high reversible specific capacity of 207.7 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 C with excellent rate capability (163.6 and 148.9 mAh g(-1) at 1 C and 2 C), and the reversible capacity retention can be well-maintained as high as 90.3% after 50 cycles. This excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to unique hierarchical porous nano-/microsphere structure which can increase the contact area with electrolyte, shorten Li(+) diffusion path and thus improve the Li(+) mobility. Moreover, as revealed by XRD Rietveld refinement analysis, a negligible cation mixing (1.9%) and high crystallinity with a well-formed layered structure also contribute to the enhanced C-rates performance and cycle stability. On the basis of our study, an effective strategy can be established to reveal the fundamental relationship between the structure/chemistry of these materials and their properties.

Synergistic Assembly of Covalent and Supramolecular Polymers.

Integrating irreplaceable features of both covalent chemistry and noncovalent interactions into a single entity to maximize the applicability is highly desired. Here, a discovery of this type of hybrid, developed by Stupp and co-workers, is developed, where a synergistic combination of covalent and noncovalent compartments enables them to assemble by each other perfectively. The covalent compartments can grow into polymer chains assisted by a supramolecular compartment. The supramolecular compartments can be reversibly removed and re-formed to reconstitute the hybrid structure. The obtained soft materials can serve as functional platforms for molecular delivery or self-repairing materials.

Perylenetetracarboxylic-metal assemblies and anisotropic charge transport in a Cu(II) assembly.

Structural diversity and uniformity of nanomaterials are usually prerequisites for many practical applications involving the oriented fabrication of various devices with full control over their desired physiochemical properties. Particularly in the optoelectronic field, ordered assembly inside cells is required not only for obtaining attractive configurations but also for playing an important role in the characteristics of photoconduction and conductivity. Here, we present a synergetic self-assembly driven by coordination and intermolecular interactions for the construction of organic-inorganic hybrids with multi-morphologies and tunable physical properties. 3,4,9,10-Perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride was treated with base to produce various assemblies by coordination with metal ions, showing morphologies of nanowires, nanosheets, nanoribbons and nanorods. The organic π-spacer affords an extension in different directions through the suitable incorporation of metal ions with different coordination modes for the formation of metal-ligand complexes. Interestingly, the obtained nanorods were twisted rods with obvious screw threads on the rod wall, supporting the synergetic self-assembly. Then, anisotropic mobility measurements of the obtained Cu(2+)-ligand assembly were carried out to show the importance of the size- and shape-confined synthesis of the hybrids. By presenting a series of ordered metal-ligand complex superstructures driven by synergetic self-assembly, this work is expected to pave the way for future anisotropic measurements of complex assemblies.

Nanoscale covalent organic frameworks as smart carriers for drug delivery.

Two porous covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with good biocompatibility were employed as drug nanocarriers, where three different drugs were loaded for subsequent drug release in vitro. The present work demonstrates that COFs are applicable in drug delivery for therapeutic applications.

Enhanced performance in gas adsorption and Li ion batteries by docking Li(+) in a crown ether-based metal-organic framework.

Incorporating supramolecular interaction units, crown ether rings, into metal-organic frameworks enables the docking of metal ions through complexation for enhanced performance in H2 and CO2 adsorption and lithium ion batteries.

Morphology Tuning of Self-Assembled Perylene Monoimide from Nanoparticles to Colloidosomes with Enhanced Excimeric NIR Emission for Bioimaging.

Organic near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes have been recognized as an emerging class of materials exhibiting a great potential in advanced bioanalytical applications. However, synthesizing such organic probes that could simultaneously work in the NIR spectral range and have large Stokes shift, high stability in biological systems, and high photostability have been proven challenging. In this work, aggregation induced excimeric NIR emission in aqueous media was observed from a suitably substituted perylene monoimide (PeIm) dye. Controlled entrapment of the dye into pluronic F127 micellar system to preserve its monomeric green emission in aqueous media was also established. The aggregation process of the PeIm dye to form organic nanoparticles (NPs) was evaluated experimentally by the means of transmission electron microscope imaging as well as theoretically by the molecular dynamics simulation studies. Tuning the morphology along with the formation of colloidosomes by the controlled self-aggregation of PeIm NPs in aqueous suspension was demonstrated successfully. Finally, both excimeric and monomeric emissive PeIm NPs as well as PeIm colloidosomes were employed for the bioimaging in vitro.

Superstructure Formation and Topological Evolution Achieved by Self-Organization of a Highly Adaptive Dynamer.

The adaptive property of supramolecular building blocks facilitates noncovalent synthesis of soft materials. While it is still a challenging task, fine-tuning and precise control over topological nanostructures constructed from the self-assembly of low-molecular-weight building blocks are an important research direction to investigate the structure-property relationship. Herein, we report controlled self-assembly evolution of a low-molecular-weight building block bearing cholesterol and naphthalene-dicarboximide moieties, showing ultrasensitivity to solvent polarity. In low-polarity solvents (<4), it could form an M-type fiber-constituted organogel (supergel) with high solvent content, columnar molecular packing, and self-healing property. Highly polar solvents (>7.8) favor the formation of P-type helical nanostructures terminated by nanotoroids, having lamellar molecular packing. With a further increase in solvent polarity (up to 9.6), unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles were generated, which could undergo an aggregation-induced fusion process to form branched nanotubes tuned by the concentration. Self-attractive interactions between aggregates were found to be responsible for the formation of superstructures including helix-nanotoroid junctions as well as membrane-fused nanotubes.