Bruch’s-Mimetic Nanofibrous Membranes Functionalized with the Integrin-Binding Peptides as a Promising Approach for Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cell Transplantation

Background: This study aimed to develop an ultrathin nanofibrous membrane able to, firstly, mimic the natural fibrous architecture of human Bruch’s membrane (BM) and, secondly, promote survival of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells after surface functionalization of fibrous membranes. Methods: Integrin-binding peptides (IBPs) that specifically interact with appropriate adhesion receptors on RPEs were immobilized on Bruch’s-mimetic membranes to promote coverage of RPEs. Surface morphologies, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectra, contact angle analysis, Alamar Blue assay, live/dead assay, immunofluorescence staining, and scanning electron microscopy were used to evaluate the outcome. Results: Results showed that coated membranes maintained the original morphology of nanofibers. After coating with IBPs, the water contact angle of the membrane surfaces varied from 92.38 ± 0.67 degrees to 20.16 ± 0.81 degrees. RPE cells seeded on IBP-coated membranes showed the highest viability at all time points (Day 1, p < 0.05; Day 3, p < 0.01; Days 7 and 14, p < 0.001). The proliferation rate of RPE cells on uncoated poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) membranes was significantly lower than that of IBP-coated membranes (p < 0.001). SEM images showed a well-organized hexa/polygonal monolayer of RPE cells on IBP-coated membranes. RPE cells proliferated rapidly, contacted, and became confluent. RPE cells formed a tight adhesion with nanofibers under high-magnification SEM. Our findings confirmed that the IBP-coated PCL membrane improved the attachment, proliferation, and viability of RPE cells. In addition, in this study, we used serum-free culture for RPE cells and short IBPs without immunogenicity to prevent graft rejection and immunogenicity during transplantation. Conclusions: These results indicated that the biomimic BM-IBP-RPE nanofibrous graft might be a new, practicable approach to increase the success rate of RPE cell transplantation.     

Identification of Pharmacophoric Fragments of DYRK1A Inhibitors Using Machine Learning Classification Models

Dual-specific tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase 1 (DYRK1A) has been regarded as a potential therapeutic target of neurodegenerative diseases, and considerable progress has been made in the discovery of DYRK1A inhibitors. Identification of pharmacophoric fragments provides valuable information for structure- and fragment-based design of potent and selective DYRK1A inhibitors. In this study, seven machine learning methods along with five molecular fingerprints were employed to develop qualitative classification models of DYRK1A inhibitors, which were evaluated by cross-validation, test set, and external validation set with four performance indicators of predictive classification accuracy (CA), the area under receiver operating characteristic (AUC), Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC), and balanced accuracy (BA). The PubChem fingerprint-support vector machine model (CA = 0.909, AUC = 0.933, MCC = 0.717, BA = 0.855) and PubChem fingerprint along with the artificial neural model (CA = 0.862, AUC = 0.911, MCC = 0.705, BA = 0.870) were considered as the optimal modes for training set and test set, respectively. A hybrid data balancing method SMOTETL, a combination of synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) and Tomek link (TL) algorithms, was applied to explore the impact of balanced learning on the performance of models. Based on the frequency analysis and information gain, pharmacophoric fragments related to DYRK1A inhibition were also identified. All the results will provide theoretical supports and clues for the screening and design of novel DYRK1A inhibitors.     

An efficient synthesis of 9-anthrone lactone derivatives via the Knoevenagel condensation and intramolecular cyclization

One-step synthesis of 9-anthrone lactone derivatives from 1-acetyloxyanthraquinone with a variety of dicarbonyl substrates in the presence of K₂CO₃ by Knovenagel condensation and intramolecular cyclization is developed. Possible reaction mechanisms have been investigated using the density functional theory (DFT), which has been widely used in the study of reaction mechanism. The strategy could be useful for the synthesis of the core structure of marine natural product aspergiolide.     

Light/Electricity Energy Conversion and Storage for a Hierarchical Porous In2S3@CNT/SS Cathode towards a Flexible Li-CO2 Battery

A photoinduced flexible Li-CO₂ battery with well-designed, hierarchical porous, and free-standing In₂S₃@CNT/SS (ICS) as a bifunctional photoelectrode to accelerate both the CO₂ reduction and evolution reactions (CDRR and CDER) is presented. The photoinduced Li-CO₂ battery achieved a record-high discharge voltage of 3.14 V, surpassing the thermodynamic limit of 2.80 V, and an ultra-low charge voltage of 3.20 V, achieving a round trip efficiency of 98.1 %, which is the highest value ever reported (<80 %) so far. These excellent properties can be ascribed to the hierarchical porous and free-standing structure of ICS, as well as the key role of photogenerated electrons and holes during discharging and charging processes. A mechanism is proposed for pre-activating CO₂ by reducing In³⁺ to In⁺ under light illumination. The mechanism of the bifunctional light-assisted process provides insight into photoinduced Li-CO₂ batteries and contributes to resolving the major setbacks of the system.     

Kinetics and isothermal adsorption of U(VI) in aqueous solution by nano-Ni0

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The nanoscale zero-valent nickel (nano-Ni0) was prepared by liquid-phase reduction method and characterized by BET, XPS, FT-IR and XRD and be used...     

Spleen and thymus metabolomics strategy to explore the immunoregulatory mechanism of total withanolides from the leaves of Datura metel L. on imiquimod-induced psoriatic skin dermatitis in mice

Our previous work demonstrated that total withanolides of Datura metel L. leaves (TWD) exhibited excellent therapeutic effects on psoriasis. However, current knowledge of its mechanisms is incomplete. In this study, integrated spleen and thymus untargeted metabolomics were used to analyze the changes in endogenous metabolites underlying the immunosuppressive activity of TWD on psoriasis animal models induced by imiquimod. The results suggested that TWD treatment markedly attenuated imiquimod-induced psoriasis and showed significant immunosuppressive activity as evidenced by decreased elevation index of spleen and thymus. Meanwhile, TWD significantly reversed the elevation of immunoregulatory factors, including IL-10, IL-17, IL-22 and IL-23. Multivariate trajectory analysis revealed that TWD treatment could restore the psoriasis-disturbed spleen and thymus metabolite profiles towards the normal metabolic status. A total of 25 and 27 metabolites associated with the immunomodulatory effects for which levels changed markedly upon treatment have been identified in spleen and thymus, respectively. These differential metabolites were mainly involved in amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and lipid metabolism. Our investigation provided a holistic view of TWD for intervention in psoriasis through immunoregulation and provided further scientific information in vivo about a clinical value of TWD for psoriasis.     

Experimental and numerical study on instability structure of the supersonic mixing layer (Mc = 0.5)

The parameters of instability wave of supersonic mixing layer(Mc=0.5,M1=3.5/M2=1.4) are measured by flow visualization and calculated by means of two-dimensional direct numerical simulaitons of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations.In both cases of the mixing layer with harmonic disturbance or not,the comparative results indicate that the wavelength of the two-dimensional wave is equal to the vortex spacing in the streamwise direction because the difference between them is less than 1%.However,the measur...     

Preparation, thermo-optic property and simulation of optical switch based on azo benzothiazole polymer

An azo chromophore molecule 4-[(benzothiazole-2-yl)diazenyl]phenyl-1,3-diamine (BTPD) was prepared with 2-amino benzothiazole and m-phenylenediamine by diazo-coupling reaction. Then, the chromophore molecule BTPD was polymerized with NJ-210 and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) to obtain novel azo benzothiazole polymer (BTPU). The structures of BTPD and BTPU were characterized using the Fourier transform infrared, UV–visible spectroscopy, DSC and TGA. The physical properties of the obtained BTPU were investigated. The refractive index (n) of BTPU was demonstrated at different temperature and wavelength (532, 650 and 850 nm) using attenuated total reflection technique. The transmission loss and dispersion characteristic of BTPU film were investigated using the CCD digital imaging devices and Sellmeyer equation. A Y-branch and 2 × 2 Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) polymeric thermo-optic switches based on the thermo-optic effect of prepared BTPU were proposed and the performance of switches was simulated. The results indicated that the power consumption of the Y-branch thermo-optic switch could be only 0.6 mW. The Y-branch and MZI switching rising and falling times obtained were 8.0 and 1.8 ms.     

Theoretical study on the dislocations in the bubble rafts

The core structure of the dislocation in a bubble raft has been evaluated by using the improved P–N equation. The dislocation profile has been obtained explicitly for the bubble radius R=0.296, 0.592, 0.650, 0.888 mm. The results show that the core width of dislocation will increase rapidly when the bubble radius decreases, especially, this trend will become more significant as the radius is more smaller. Our calculated results agree well with the experimental data, and our method can be used to predict the core structure of the dislocation in a bubble raft where bubble-radius is given arbitrarily.     

第4代航天育种白芷的FTIR分析

针对植物航天育种变异大的特点,利用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)结合二阶导数谱对第4代航天育种白芷与地面组白芷从整体上对主要组分进行测定和对比分析。结果表明:太空白芷主要活性成分香豆素类组分(1 741cm-1)含量增加,蛋白质(1 459,1 419cm-1)和脂肪(930cm-1)组分含量略有增加;而淀粉、膳食纤维(1 152,1 105,1 080,1 050cm-1)的含量大幅度降低。二阶导数谱中峰强差异更明显,1 279cm-1处揭示出太空白芷含有胺类组分。航天育种有利于选育出变异幅度大的特异质白芷新品种。