Delivery of FGF10 by implantable porous gelatin microspheres for treatment of spinal cord injury.

Porous gelatin microspheres (GMSs) were constructed to enhance the neuroprotective effects of fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) against spinal cord injury (SCI). The GMSs were prepared using a water­in­oil emulsion, followed by cross­linking, washing and drying. The blank GMSs had a mean particle size of 35 µm, with a coarse and porous surface. FGF10 was encapsulated within bulk GMSs via diffusion. To evaluate the effects of the FGF10­GMSs, locomotion tests were performed as a measure of the functional recovery of rats. Hematoxylin and eosin and Nissl staining were used to quantify tissue injury, and Evans blue staining was used to evaluate blood­spinal cord barrier restoration. Western blotting and TUNEL assays were employed to assess apoptotic activity. Immunohistochemical staining of neurofilament antibodies (NF200) was used to evaluate axonal rehabilitation. Compared with the groups intravenously administered FGF10 alone, disruption of the blood­spinal cord barrier and tissue injury were attenuated in the FGF10­GMS group; this group also showed less neuronal apoptosis, as well as enhanced neuronal and axonal rehabilitation. Implantable porous GMSs could serve as carriers for FGF10 in the treatment of SCI.

Oxygen vacancy-rich hierarchical BiOBr hollow microspheres with dramatic CO2 photoreduction activity.

Conversion of carbon dioxide into useful chemicals has attracted great attention. However, the significant bottlenecks facing in the field are the poor conversion efficiency of CO2 and low selectivity of products. Herein, hierarchical BiOBr hollow microspheres are fabricated by a solvothermal method using ethylene glycol (EG) as solvent in presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). The hollow BiOBr microspheres prepared at 120 °C exhibit the best performance for CO2 photoreduction. The evolution rates of product CO and CH4 are up to 88.1 µmol g-1h-1 and 5.8 µmol g-1h-1, which are 8.8 times and 5.8 times higher than that of plate-like BiOBr respectively. The hollow microspheres possess larger specific area and generate multiple reflections of light in the cavity, thus enhancing the utilization efficiency of light. The modulated electronic structure by oxygen vacancy (OVs) is beneficial to the transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes. Especially, the enriched charge density of BiOBr by OVs is conductive to the adsorption and activation of CO2, which could lower the overall activation energy barrier of CO2 photoreduction. In summary, the synergistic effect of the hollow structure with OVs plays a vital role in boosting the photoreduction of CO2 for BiOBr. This work provides a new opportunity for designing the high efficiency catalyst by morphology engineering with defects at the atomic level for CO2 photoreduction.