Increased arginase II activity contributes to endothelial dysfunction through endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling in aged mice

The incidence of cardiovascular disease is predicted to increase as the population ages. There is accumulating evidence that arginase upregulation is associated with impaired endothelial function. Here, we demonstrate that arginase II (ArgII) is upregulated in aortic vessels of aged mice and contributes to decreased nitric oxide (NO) generation and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production via endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) uncoupling. Inhibiting ArgII with small interfering RNA technique restored eNOS coupling to that observed in young mice and increased NO generation and decreased ROS production. Furthermore, enhanced vasoconstrictor responses to U46619 and attenuated vasorelaxation responses to acetylcholine in aged vasculature were markedly improved following siRNA treatment against ArgII. These results might be associated with increased L-arginine bioavailability. Collectively, these results suggest that ArgII may be a valuable target in age-dependent vascular diseases.     

Homo‐ and diblock copolymers of poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether) by living anionic polymerization: Toward reversibly core‐crosslinked micelles

We report the synthesis and characterization of well‐defined homo‐ and diblock copolymers containing poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether) (PFGE) via living anionic ring‐opening polymerization using different initiators. The obtained materials were characterized by SEC, MALDI‐TOF MS, and ¹H NMR spectroscopy and molar masses of up to 9400 g/mol were obtained for PFGE homopolymers. If the amphiphilic diblock copolymer PEG‐block‐PFGE was dissolved in water, micelles with a PFGE core and a PEG corona were formed. Hereby, the hydrophobic PFGE core domains were used for the incorporation of a suitable bismaleimide and heating to 60 °C induced the crosslinking of the micellar core via Diels‐Alder chemistry. This process was further shown to be reversible. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Enzymetically Regulating the Self‐Healing of Protein Hydrogels with High Healing Efficiency

Enzyme‐mediated self‐healing of dynamic covalent bond‐driven protein hydrogels was realized by the synergy of two enzymes, glucose oxidase (GOX) and catalase (CAT). The reversible covalent attachment of glutaraldehyde to lysine residues of GOX, CAT, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) led to the formation and functionalization of the self‐healing protein hydrogel system. The enzyme‐mediated protein hydrogels exhibit excellent self‐healing properties with 100 % recovery. The self‐healing process was reversible and effective with an external glucose stimulus at room temperature.     

Self‐Healable Electrically Conducting Wires for Wearable Microelectronics

Electrically conducting wires play a critical role in the advancement of modern electronics and in particular are an important key to the development of next‐generation wearable microelectronics. However, the thin conducting wires can easily break during use, and the whole device fails to function as a result. Herein, a new family of high‐performance conducting wires that can self‐heal after breaking has been developed by wrapping sheets of aligned carbon nanotubes around polymer fibers. The aligned carbon nanotubes offer an effective strategy for the self‐healing of the electric conductivity, whereas the polymer fiber recovers its mechanical strength. A self‐healable wire‐shaped supercapacitor fabricated from a wire electrode of this type maintained a high capacitance after breaking and self‐healing.     

Organ Repair,Hemostasis, and In Vivo Bonding of Medical Devices by Aqueous Solutions of Nanoparticles

Sutures are traumatic to soft connective tissues, such as liver or lungs. Polymer tissue adhesives require complex in vivo control of polymerization or cross‐linking reactions and currently suffer from being toxic, weak, or inefficient within the wet conditions of the body. Herein, we demonstrate using Stöber silica or iron oxide nanoparticles that nanobridging, that is, adhesion by aqueous nanoparticle solutions, can be used in vivo in rats to achieve rapid and strong closure and healing of deep wounds in skin and liver. Nanoparticles were also used to fix polymer membranes to tissues even in the presence of blood flow, such as occurring after liver resection, yielding permanent hemostasis within a minute. Furthermore, medical devices and tissue engineering constructs were fixed to organs such as a beating heart. The simplicity, rapidity, and robustness of nanobridging bode well for clinical applications, surgery, and regenerative medicine.     

Biobased poly(2,5‐furandimethylene succinate‐co‐butylene succinate) crosslinked by reversible Diels–Alder reaction

We synthesized biobased poly(2,5‐furandimethylene succinate‐co‐butylene succinate) [P(FS‐co‐BS)] copolymers by polycondensation of 2,5‐bis(hydroxymethyl)furan, 1,4‐butanediol, and succinic acid. These copolymers could be crosslinked to form network polymers by means of a reversible Diels–Alder reaction with bis‐maleimide. The thermal properties, mechanical properties, and healing abilities of the P(FS‐co‐BS)s and the network polymers were investigated. The mechanical properties of the network polymers depended on the comonomer composition of the P(FS‐co‐BS)s and the maleimide/furan ratio in the network polymers. Some of the copolymers exhibited healing ability at room temperature, and their healing efficiency was enhanced by solvent or heat. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 216–222     

Healable dual organic–inorganic crosslinked sol–gel based polymers: Crosslinking density and tetrasulfide content effect

In this article, the first generation of healable sol–gel based polymers is reported. A dual organic–inorganic crosslinked network is developed containing non‐reversible crosslinks and reversible (tetrasulfide) groups. The designed polymer architecture allows thermally induced mesoscale flow leading to damage closure followed by interfacial strength restoration due to reformation of the reversible groups. While the reversible bonds are responsible for the flow and the interface restoration, the irreversible crosslinks control the required mechanical integrity during the healing process. The temperature dependent gap closure kinetics is strongly affected by the crosslinking density and tetrasulfide content. Raman spectroscopy is used to explain the gap closure kinetics in air and dry nitrogen. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1953–1961     

Self‐healing of poly(propylene oxide)‐polybenzoxazine thermosets by photoinduced coumarine dimerization

In this work, a self‐healing strategy for poly(propylene oxide)s bearing coumarine‐benzoxazine units (PPO‐CouBenz)s based on light induced coumarine dimerization reactions is described. Four different types of poly(propylene oxide) amines with molecular weights ranging from 440 to 5000 Da were reacted with formaldehyde and 4‐methyl‐7‐hydroxycoumarin to yield desired (PPO‐CouBenz)s. The crosslinked polymer films were prepared by solvent casting of various compositions of PPO‐CouBenzs in chloroform followed by thermal ring opening reaction of benzoxazine groups at 210–240 °C. Thermal curing and thermal stability of the initial PPOs and final products were investigated. Using allyl benzoxazine in the formulation, it was demonstrated that the toughness of the films was improved. Photoinduced healing of coumarin‐based cured PPO‐CouBenz polymer films was investigated. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2911–2918     

Preparation of hybrid microcapsules and application to self‐healing agent

It was tried to prepare hybrid microcapsules composed of porous inorganic particles and epoxy resin shell and to apply to the self‐healing agent. A water soluble imidazole of gelation promoting agent as the core material was microencapsulated in the porous inorganic particles, which were coated with epoxy resin. The porous inorganic particles were prepared with the interfacial reaction between sodium silicate and calcium ion in the (W/O) dispersion. In the experiment, the concentration of sodium silicate and the mixing speed to form the (W/O) dispersion were mainly changed. The porous inorganic particles were immersed in the aqueous solution dissolving imidazole and then, added in the corn oil dissolving epoxy resin to be microencapsulated with gelated epoxy resin. The hybrid microcapsules containing imidazole with the mean diameters from 200 to 400 µm were able to be prepared and to induce the gelation reaction of epoxy resin by breaking the hybrid microcapsule shell due to heating. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.