Biomimetic natural biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine: new biosynthesis methods, recent advances, and emerging applications.

Biomimetic materials have emerged as attractive and competitive alternatives for tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine. In contrast to conventional biomaterials or synthetic materials, biomimetic scaffolds based on natural biomaterial can offer cells a broad spectrum of biochemical and biophysical cues that mimic the in vivo extracellular matrix (ECM). Additionally, such materials have mechanical adaptability, microstructure interconnectivity, and inherent bioactivity, making them ideal for the design of living implants for specific applications in TE and regenerative medicine. This paper provides an overview for recent progress of biomimetic natural biomaterials (BNBMs), including advances in their preparation, functionality, potential applications and future challenges. We highlight recent advances in the fabrication of BNBMs and outline general strategies for functionalizing and tailoring the BNBMs with various biological and physicochemical characteristics of native ECM. Moreover, we offer an overview of recent key advances in the functionalization and applications of versatile BNBMs for TE applications. Finally, we conclude by offering our perspective on open challenges and future developments in this rapidly-evolving field.

Deep investigation on different effects of Cl- in transformation of reactive species in Fe(II)/NH2OH/PDS and Fe(II)/NH2OH/H2O2 systems.

Hydroxylamine (NH2OH) has been verified to efficiently strengthen pollutants oxidation in Fe(II)/peroxydisulfate (PDS) and Fe(II)/H2O2 systems. However, the different effects of hydroxylamine salts types were rarely recognized. Herein, the effects of two commonly used hydroxylamine salts (i.e. NH2OH·HCl and (NH2OH)2·H2SO4) on oxidation kinetics and reactive species composition were compared in Fe(II)/PDS and Fe(II)/H2O2 systems for the first time. Pseudo first order kinetics could only describe benzoic acid (BA) oxidation well in Fe(II)/NH2OH/H2O2 system, which was related to the different concentration changes of Fe(III) determined by [Formula: see text] . Hydroxylamine salts types influenced not kinetic rules, but reaction rates of target compounds. The empirical reaction rate constant of BA in Fe(II)/NH2OH·HCl/PDS system was 141.5% of that in Fe(II)/(NH2OH)2·H2SO4/PDS system under the same concentration of NH2OH (1.4 mM), while the apparent reaction rate constant in Fe(II)/NH2OH·HCl/H2O2 system was 68% of that in Fe(II)/(NH2OH)2·H2SO4/H2O2 system. This opposite effect resulted from the differences in primary reactive species compositions and their interactions with Cl-. Reactive species identification indicated that Cl- would decrease the contribution of ferryl ion (Fe(IV)) and transform sulfate radical (SO4·-) to hydroxyl radical (·OH) in Fe(II)/NH2OH/PDS system, while it competitively consumed the only reactive species ·OH in Fe(II)/NH2OH/H2O2 system. This study highlights the importance of reductants types on strengthening Fenton oxidation and offers a reference for reasonable construction of the relevant systems.

Identification of a retroelement from the resurrection plant Boea hygrometrica that confers osmotic and alkaline tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Functional genomic elements, including transposable elements, small RNAs and non-coding RNAs, are involved in regulation of gene expression in response to plant stress. To identify genomic elements that regulate dehydration and alkaline tolerance in Boea hygrometrica, a resurrection plant that inhabits drought and alkaline Karst areas, a genomic DNA library from B. hygrometrica was constructed and subsequently transformed into Arabidopsis using binary bacterial artificial chromosome (BIBAC) vectors. Transgenic lines were screened under osmotic and alkaline conditions, leading to the identification of Clone L1-4 that conferred osmotic and alkaline tolerance. Sequence analyses revealed that L1-4 contained a 49-kb retroelement fragment from B. hygrometrica, of which only a truncated sequence was present in L1-4 transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Additional subcloning revealed that activity resided in a 2-kb sequence, designated Osmotic and Alkaline Resistance 1 (OAR1). In addition, transgenic Arabidopsis lines carrying an OAR1-homologue also showed similar stress tolerance phenotypes. Physiological and molecular analyses demonstrated that OAR1-transgenic plants exhibited improved photochemical efficiency and membrane integrity and biomarker gene expression under both osmotic and alkaline stresses. Short transcripts that originated from OAR1 were increased under stress conditions in both B. hygrometrica and Arabidopsis carrying OAR1. The relative copy number of OAR1 was stable in transgenic Arabidopsis under stress but increased in B. hygrometrica. Taken together, our results indicated a potential role of OAR1 element in plant tolerance to osmotic and alkaline stresses, and verified the feasibility of the BIBAC transformation technique to identify functional genomic elements from physiological model species.