Mechanical Regulation of Polymer Gels.

The mechanical properties of polymer gels devote to emerging devices and machines in fields such as biomedical engineering, flexible bioelectronics, biomimetic actuators, and energy harvesters. Coupling network architectures and interactions has been explored to regulate supportive mechanical characteristics of polymer gels; however, systematic reviews correlating mechanics to interaction forces at the molecular and structural levels remain absent in the field. This review highlights the molecular engineering and structural engineering of polymer gel mechanics and a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of mechanical regulation. Molecular engineering alters molecular architecture and manipulates functional groups/moieties at the molecular level, introducing various interactions and permanent or reversible dynamic bonds as the dissipative energy. Molecular engineering usually uses monomers, cross-linkers, chains, and other additives. Structural engineering utilizes casting methods, solvent phase regulation, mechanochemistry, macromolecule chemical reactions, and biomanufacturing technology to construct and tailor the topological network structures, or heterogeneous modulus compositions. We envision that the perfect combination of molecular and structural engineering may provide a fresh view to extend exciting new perspectives of this burgeoning field. This review also summarizes recent representative applications of polymer gels with excellent mechanical properties. Conclusions and perspectives are also provided from five aspects of concise summary, mechanical mechanism, biofabrication methods, upgraded applications, and synergistic methodology.

Exosomal circSTRBP from cancer cells facilitates gastric cancer progression via regulating miR-1294/miR-593-3p/E2F2 axis.

CircRNAs represent a new class of non-coding RNAs which show aberrant expression in diverse cancers, such as gastric cancer (GC). circSTRBP, for instance, is suggested to be overexpressed in GC cells and tissues. However, the biological role of circSTRBP in the progression of GC and the potential mechanisms have not been investigated. circSTRBP levels within GC cells and tissues were measured by RT-qPCR. The stability of circSTRBP was assessed by actinomycin D and Ribonuclease R treatment. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion and in vitro angiogenic abilities after circSTRBP knockdown were analysed through CCK-8 assay, transwell culture system and the tube formation assay. The interaction of circSTRBP with the predicted target microRNA (miRNA) was examined by RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays. Xenograft tumour model was established to evaluate the role of exosomal circSTRBP in the tumour formation of GC cells. circSTRBP was upregulated in GC cells and tissues, and there was an increased level of circSTRBP in GC-derived exosomes. circSTRBP in the exosomes enhanced GC cell growth and migration in vitro, which modulates E2F Transcription Factor 2 (E2F2) expression through targeting miR-1294 and miR-593-3p. Additionally, exosomal circSTRBP promoted the tumour growth of GC cells in the xenograft model. Exosomal circSTRBP is implicated in the progression of GC by modulating the activity of miR-1294/miR-593-3p/E2F2 axis.

Improvement of Quality and Disease Resistance for a Heavy-Panicle Hybrid Restorer Line, R600, in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) by Gene Pyramiding Breeding.

The utilization of heavy-panicle hybrid rice exemplifies the successful integration of architectural enhancement and heterosis, which has been widely adopted in the southwest rice-producing area of China. Iterative improvement in disease resistance and grain quality of heavy-panicle hybrid rice varieties is crucial to promote their sustainable utilization. Here, we performed a molecular design breeding strategy to introgress beneficial alleles of broad-spectrum disease resistance and grain quality into a heavy-panicle hybrid backbone restorer line Shuhui 600 (R600). We successfully developed introgression lines through marker-assisted selection to pyramid major genes (Wxb + ALKA-GC + Pigm + Xa23) derived from three parents (Huanghuazhan, I135, I488), which significantly enhance grain quality and confer resistance to rice blast and bacterial blight (BB). The improved parental R600 line (iR600) exhibited superior grain quality and elevated disease resistance while maintaining the heavy-panicle architecture and high-yield capacity of R600. Moreover, the iR600 was crossed with male sterility line 608A to obtain a new heavy-panicle hybrid rice variety with excellent eating and cooking quality (ECQ) and high yield potential. This study presents an effective breeding strategy for rice breeders to expedite the improvement of grain quality and disease resistance in heavy-panicle hybrid rice.

Biomimetic Superwetting Fabric for Evaporation-Induced Body Sweat and Heat Management and Electricity Generation.

Solar optothermal evaporation of water possesses the potential for thermal regulation and electricity generation, which are desirable for regulating body perspiration and heat as well as improving electrical output and strain sensing. However, ordinary fabrics exhibit poor evaporation capacity and antifouling performance due to limited adsorption capacity and internal hydrophilicity. Moreover, conventional evaporation-driven generators show a low power supply without widely practical use due to limited and fluctuating evaporation rates. Herein, an antifouling cooling fabric with an evaporation-driven electricity performance is obtained by constructing Janus channels on the superomniphobic fabric. Sweat can be easily eliminated from inside to outside through Janus channels by efficient evaporation, and the green liquid metal ink (CGM/LMP-rGO@PPy) cotton fabric shows a thermal conductivity of 0.18 W m-1 K-1, suggesting a comfortable dry and cooling sense. Meanwhile, the fabric can stably output a potential of 302.20 mV when seawater flows through the ionic channels at an evaporation rate of 1.58 mL h-1 with one sun power density. In addition, the multifunctional fabric demonstrates strain sensing at high electrical conductivity for body motion monitoring. This work would offer a prospect for intelligent textile construction and energy harvesting by water evaporation.

Janus Fabric with Asymmetric Wettability for Switchable Emulsion Separation and Controllable Droplets with Low Friction.

Superwetting surfaces have recently attracted extensive attention in oil-water emulsion separation and droplet manipulations, which are widely used in various situations ranging from wastewater treatment, to flexible electronics, to biochemical diagnosis. However, it still remains challenging to obtain asymmetric materials with high efficiency during oil-water separation. Meanwhile, excellent robustness of the superhydrophobic surface is of significance but retards the mobility of droplets due to increased lateral adhesion of small spacing between solid protrusions. Herein, a facile approach is demonstrated to obtain the excellent robustness of Janus fabrics with asymmetric wettability. As for one side of water-in-oil emulsion separation, mimicking the soft earthworm with periodically wrinkled skin, an adaptive superhydrophobic fabric was fabricated by wrapping soft wrinkled poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) polymer with a cross-linking structure on woven fabric fibers induced by Ar plasma treatment. In addition, inspired by the desert beetle's structure but with reversed wettability, the other side of the Janus fabric was constructed for treating emulsion of oil-in-water. In addition, the underwater superoleophobic surface consisting of magnetically responsive PDMS microcilia with slippery heads, which shows robustness against pH, improved water drop mobility and lowered the resistance of fluid friction similar to the intrinsic hydrophobic Salvinia molesta with additional slippery performance. Hence, we propose a novel and easy approach that optimizes enhanced emulsion separation and reduced fluid drag properties simultaneously, which actively broadens their widespread applications.

High-Performance Magnetic and Electric Control of Liquid Metal Droplets.

In the present study, we propose a magnetically controlled and electrically controlled magnetic liquid metal (MLM) method to achieve high-performance multiple manipulation of droplets. The prepared MLM has good active and passive deformability. Under the action of the magnetic field, controllable transport, splitting, merging, and rotation are realized. In addition, controllable electric field manipulation in alkaline and acidic electrolytes is realized. This simple preparation method can be applied to the precise and rapid control of the magnetic field and electric field at the same time. Compared with other droplet manipulation methods, we realized droplet manipulation independent of special surfaces. It has the advantages of easy implementation, low cost, and high controllability. It shows great application potential in the fields of biochemical analysis, microfluidics, drug transportation in complex limited space, and intelligent soft robots.

LncRNA ACTA2-AS1 suppress colon adenocarcinoma progression by sponging miR-4428 upregulation BCL2L11.

BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNA is considered to be essential to modulate the development and progression of human malignant cancers. And long non-coding RNA can act as crucial modulators by sponging the corresponding microRNA in tumorigenesis. We aimed to elucidate the function of ACTA2-AS1 and its molecular mechanism in colon adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of ACTA2-AS1, miR-4428 and BCL2L11 in colon adenocarcinoma tissues were detected via qRT-PCR. SW480 and HT29 cells were transfected with shRNA ACTA2-AS1, OE ACTA2-AS1, miRNA mimics of miR-4428, miR-4428 inhibitor, si-BCL2L11 and over-expression of si-BCL2L11. Cell proliferation, colony formation and apoptosis were respectively assessed using CCK-8 assay, colony assay and flow cytometry. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to verify the targets of ACTA2-AS1 and miR-4428. Tumor subcutaneous xenograft mode was constructed to explore tumor growth in vivo. RESULTS: ACTA2-AS1 was obviously downregulated in human colon adenocarcinoma tissues and colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. Silence or over-expression of ACTA2-AS1 promoted or inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation abilities, and regulated apoptosis. The silence of ACTA2-AS1 resulted in the decrease of Bax and increase of Bal2, while restored in OE ACTA2-AS1 group when compared with the control transfected cells. In addition, luciferase reporter assay revealed that ACTA2-AS1 interacted with miR-4428 and suppressed its expression. miR-4428 could bind to 3' untranslated region of BCL2L11 and modulated the expression of BCL2L11 negatively. Knockdown of ACTA2-AS1 and over-expression of BCL2L11 reversed the biological function that ACTA2-AS1 mediated by knockdown ACTA2-AS1 alone. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated that ACTA2-AS1 could suppress colon adenocarcinoma progression via sponging miR-4428 to regulate BCL2L11 expression.

Artificial Leaf for Switchable Droplet Manipulation.

Droplet manipulation plays an important role in scientific research, daily life, and practical production such as biological and chemical analysis. Inspired by the structure and function of three typical leaf veins, the bionic texture was replicated by the template method, and the artificial leaf was selectively treated by nanoparticles to obtain a quasi-three-dimensional hybrid superhydrophobic-hydrophilic surface. When the droplet touches the surface of the leaf, it will be attracted to the bottom of the main vein from different directions even in horizontal conditions due to the Laplace pressure gradient and energy gradient. The simulation analysis demonstrates that the reason for directional transportation is the energy gradient of the droplets on the different levels of veins, including the thin veins, lateral veins, and main vein. Meanwhile, the experimental result of water collection also showed an outstanding directional transportation effect and excellent water collection efficiency. In addition, when the sample is tilted upside down, the droplet will flow back to the main vein along the lateral vein and then flow down the main vein, showing a good droplet pumping effect. Therefore, the directional and polydirectional transportation of droplets on the same sample is successfully realized, and the conversion between executing single and multiple tasks simultaneously can be realized only by upright and inverted samples. This work provided a new strategy for directional and polydirectional water manipulation, water collection, directional drainage, and microfluidic devices.

Fabricated advanced textile for personal thermal management, intelligent health monitoring and energy harvesting.

Fabrics are soft against the skin, flexible, easily accessible and able to wick away perspiration, to some extent for local private thermal management. In this review, we classify smart fabrics as passive thermal management fabrics and active thermal management fabrics based on the availability of outside energy consumption in the manipulation of heat generation and dissipation from the human body. The mechanism and research status of various thermal management fabrics are introduced in detail, and the article also analyses the advantages and disadvantages of various smart thermal management fabrics, achieving a better and more comprehensive comprehension of the current state of research on smart thermal management fabrics, which is quite an important reference guide for our future research. In addition, with the progress of science and technology, the social demand for fabrics has shifted from keeping warm to improving health and quality of life. E-textiles have potential value in areas such as remote health monitoring and life signal detection. New e-textiles are designed to mimic the skin, sense biological data and transmit information. At the same time, the ultra-moisturizing properties of the fabric's thermal management allow for applications beyond just the human body to energy. E-textiles hold great promise for energy harvesting and storage. The article also introduces the application of smart fabrics in life forms and energy harvesting. By combining electronic technology with textiles, e-textiles can be manufactured to promote human well-being and quality of life. Although smart textiles are equipped with more intelligent features, wearing comfort must be the first thing to be ensured in the multi-directional application of textiles. Eventually, we discuss the dares and prospects of smart thermal management fabric research.

Correction: Robust superhydrophobic and self-lubricating PTES-TiO2@UHMWPE fabric and its tribological properties.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C6RA28255E.].

Tinware-Inspired Aerobic Surface-Initiated Controlled Radical Polymerization (SI-Sn0CRP) for Biocompatible Surface Engineering.

Surface anchored polymer brushes prepared by surface-initiated controlled radical polymerization (SI-CRP) have raised considerable interest in biomaterials and bioengineering. However, undesired residues of noxious transition metal catalysts critically restrain their widespread biomedical applications. Herein, we present a robust and biocompatible surface-initiated controlled radical polymerization catalyzed by a Sn(0) sheet (SI-Sn0CRP) under ambient conditions. Through this approach, microliter volumes of vinyl monomers with diverse functions (heterocyclic, ionic, hydrophilic, and hydrophobic) could be efficiently converted to homogeneous polymer brushes. The excellent controllability of SI-Sn0CRP strategy is further demonstrated by the exquisite fabrication of predetermined block and patterned polymer brushes through chain extension and photolithography, respectively. Additionally, in virtue of intrinsic biocompatibility of Sn, the resultant polymer brushes present transcendent affinity toward blood and cell, in marked contrast to those of copper-based approaches. This strategy could provide an avenue for the controllable fabrication of biocompatible polymer brushes toward biological applications.

Superomniphobic Silk Fibroin/Ag Nanowires Membrane for Flexible and Transparent Electronic Sensor.

Superwetting surfaces that repel various liquids have been exciting for biomimetic research and have displayed versatile potential applications. Generally, superhydrophobic coatings can allow for droplet rolling off and antifouling, whereas it is a challenge to achieve superomniphobic surfaces with transparency, flexibility, and conductivity. Here, we adopt an effective and simple method to fabricate a superomniphobic, transparent, and flexible smart silk fibroin (SF) membrane by spray-coating long AgNWs dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), followed by treatment with vacuum drying. The resulting SF/AgNWs membranes are super-repellent to different liquids with low surface tension and water, and demonstrate high contact angles (CAs) more than 150° and low rolling-off angles (RAs) even less than 10°. Moreover, the obtained membranes display superior sensitivity under stretching and bending, as well as intact stability of high transparency, which can be considered as promising flexible sensing electronics to detect human motions under wet conditions.

A hybrid bioinspired fiber trichome with special wettability for water collection, friction reduction and self-cleaning.

Inspired by biological surfaces, we designed a magnetic fiber trichome based on the surface properties of caterpillars and earthworms. The caterpillar-inspired fiber trichome possesses a cooperative superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic-slippery lubricant-infused porous surface with gradient wettability and shows excellent fog harvesting behavior due to the driving force of the gradient wettability fiber similar to caterpillar spines. The earthworm-inspired fiber trichome exhibits excellent friction reduction and antiwear properties under harsh oil-bathed friction conditions, and it moves rapidly in mud under magnetic stimulation because of the self-lubricating transfer film formed between friction contact surfaces. In addition, the earthworm-inspired fiber trichome also has continuous antifouling capacity in mud due to the self-releasing lubricating layer that can be replenished after being consumed under solid friction. Therefore, the caterpillar- and earthworm-inspired fiber trichomes extend the scope of potential applications, such as self-driven water collection, self-floating oil spill cleanup, reducing friction and wear resistance, high-efficiency antifouling, and transport of heavy loads, among others.

A robust and stretchable superhydrophobic PDMS/PVDF@KNFs membrane for oil/water separation and flame retardancy.

The wide application of superhydrophobic membranes has been limited due to their complicated preparation technology and weak durability. Inspired by the mechanical flexibility of nanofibrous biomaterials, nanofibrils have been successfully generated from Kevlar, which is one of the strongest synthetic fibers, by appropriate hydrothermal treatment. In this study, a robust superhydrophobic PDMS/PVDF@KNFs membrane is prepared via a simple one-step process and subsequent curing without combination with inorganic fillers. The as-prepared PDMS/PVDF@KNFs membrane not only shows efficient oil/water separation ability and oil absorption capacity but also has excellent superhydrophobicity stability after deformation. The resultant membrane shows stretchability, flexibility and flame retardance because of the reinforcing effect and the excellent flame retardancy of Kevlar. We believe that this simple fabrication of PDMS/PVDF@KNFs has promising applications in filtering membranes and wearable devices.

Stable and self-healing superhydrophobic MnO2@fabrics: Applications in self-cleaning, oil/water separation and wear resistance.

In this work, superhydrophobic fabrics were prepared through an in-situ growth method for fabricating hierarchical flower-like MnO2 nanoparticles on cotton fabric surface and subsequent STA modification, which exhibited multifunction for self-healing, self-cleaning, oil/water separation and wear resistance. After air-plasma treatment, the self-healing MnO2@fabric could restore superhydrophobicity by a short time heat treatment, and the water CA without obvious reduction after 8 cycles. Moreover, the MnO2@fabric could selectively filtrate oil from a mixture of oil and water repeatedly, and demonstrated high efficiency for oil/water separation capability and excellent self-cleaning property. Furthermore, the MnO2@fabric composite possessed high mechanical strength and good wear resistance, its wear rate could be reduced to 1.21×10-14m3 (Nm)-1. The MnO2@fabric still maintained superhydrophobicity even was seriously damaged after the friction test.

Effect of co-transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR-132 on proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of co-transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR-132 on proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7. METHODS: Hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7 was cultured in vitro and lipidosome was used to transfect miR-520c-3p and miR-132, respectively or together. The effects of transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR-132 on proliferation and apoptosis of Huh7 were detected by CCK8 and Annexin V staining and flow cytometry, and the expression level of the targeted gene of over-expressed miR-520c-3p and miR-132 was determined by Western blot and realtime PCR. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the proliferation ability of Huh7 of the single transfected and co-transfected miR-520c-3p and miR-132 decreased significantly, and the apoptosis ratio increased distinctly (P < 0.05). Besides, the effect of the co-transfection group was better than that of the single transfection group. The protein levels of GPC3 (Glypican-3) and YAP (Yes-associated protein), the target genes transfected only by miR-520c-3p and miR-132, respectively, reduced obviously (P < 0.05), which was similar with the co-infected cells, but cells transfected by miR-132 only showed a decrease of YAP. CONCLUSIONS: The co-transfection of miR-520c-3p and miR-132 can target-regulate the expression of GPC3 and YAP, enhance the exhibition effect on proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma Huh7 and induce cell apoptosis synergistically.