Optimizing Surface Maleimide/cRGD Ratios Enhances Targeting Efficiency of cRGD-Functionalized Nanomedicines.

Thiol-maleimide (MI) chemistry is a cornerstone of bioconjugation strategies, particularly in the development of drug delivery systems. The cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (cRGD) peptide, recognized for its ability to target the integrin αβ, is commonly employed to functionalize maleimide-bearing nanoparticles (NPs) for fabricating cRGD-functionalized nanomedicines. However, the impact of cRGD density on tumor targeting efficiency remains poorly understood.

Recent Progress of pH-Responsive Peptides, Polypeptides, and Their Supramolecular Assemblies for Biomedical Applications.

Peptides and polypeptides feature a variety of active functional groups on their side chains (including carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, amino, and thiol groups), enabling diverse chemical modifications. This versatility makes them highly valuable in stimuli-responsive systems. Notably, pH-responsive peptides and polypeptides, due to their ability to respond to pH changes, hold significant promise for applications in cellular pathology and tumor targeting.

Advanced Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Functional Applications of Precision Polymers.

In the realm of biological macromolecules, entities such as nucleic acids and proteins are distinguished by their homochirality, consistently defined chain lengths, and integral sequence-dependent functionalities. Historically, these refined attributes have eluded traditional synthetic polymers, which often exhibit wide variabilities in chain lengths, limited batch-to-batch reproducibility, and stochastic monomer arrangements. Bridging this divide represents a pivotal challenge within the domain of polymer science - a challenge that the burgeoning discipline of precision polymer chemistry is poised to address.

Preparation of the double cross-linking carbon dots-polyvinyl alcohol-carboxymethyl cellulose composite film for food active packaging application.

This paper prepared a new kind of carbon dots-polyvinyl alcohol-carboxymethyl cellulose composite film with antibacterial properties. Carbon dots and citric acid were used as cross-linking agents, and polyvinyl alcohol and carboxymethyl cellulose were used as matrices respectively. The mechanical properties, UV shielding performance, thermal stability, antioxidant capability, and antibacterial activities of the carbon dots-polyvinyl alcohol-carboxymethyl cellulose composite film were researched.

Regulation of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in ferromagnetic multilayers.

Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (i-DMI) exists in the film materials with inversion symmetry breaking, which can stabilize a series of nonlinear spin structures and control their chirality, such as Néel-type domain wall, magnetic skyrmion and spin spiral. In addition, the strength and chirality of i-DMI are directly related to the dynamic behavior of these nonlinear spin structures. Therefore, regulating the strength and chirality of i-DMI not only has an important scientific significance for enriching spintronics and topological physics, but also has a significant practical value for constructing a new generation of memorizer, logic gate, and brain-like devices with low-power.

Self-Modulated Ghost Imaging in Dynamic Scattering Media.

In this paper, self-modulated ghost imaging (SMGI) in a surrounded scattering medium is proposed. Different from traditional ghost imaging, SMGI can take advantage of the dynamic scattering medium that originally affects the imaging quality and generate pseudo-thermal light through the dynamic scattering of free particles' Brownian motion in the scattering environment for imaging. Theoretical analysis and simulation were used to establish the relationship between imaging quality and particle concentration.

Preparation of high electromagnetic interference shielding and humidity responsivity composite film through modified TiCT MXene cross-linking with sodium alginate.

This paper established a new kind of L-citrulline-modified MXene cross-linked sodium alginate composite film through solution blending and casting film methods. The L-citrulline-modified MXene cross-linked sodium alginate composite film exhibited high electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency of 70 dB and high tensile strength of 7.9 MPa, which were much higher than the sodium alginate film without L-citrulline-modified MXene.

Local Manipulation of Skyrmion Nucleation in Microscale Areas of a Thin Film with Nitrogen-Ion Implantation.

Precise manipulation of skyrmion nucleation in microscale or nanoscale areas of thin films is a critical issue in developing high-efficient skyrmionic memories and logic devices. Presently, the mainstream controlling strategies focus on the application of external stimuli to tailor the intrinsic attributes of charge, spin, and lattice. This work reports effective skyrmion manipulation by controllably modifying the lattice defect through ion implantation, which is potentially compatible with large-scale integrated circuit technology.

New Hydrolase from sp. HA for the Biodegradation of Zearalenone: Identification, Mechanism, and Application.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogenic mycotoxin most frequently found in cereals that can cause reproductive disorders in livestock and pose a severe threat to animal husbandry. In this study, we isolated a ZEN-degrading strain from soil and found that ZenH, a hydrolase, is responsible for the hydrolysis of ZEN through comparative proteomics and biochemical studies. ZenH exhibited the highest similarity with lactone hydrolase ZHD607 from at 21.

A Nuclear-Targeted AIE Photosensitizer for Enzyme Inhibition and Photosensitization in Cancer Cell Ablation.

The nucleus is considered the ideal target for anti-tumor therapy because DNA and some enzymes in the nucleus are the main causes of cell canceration and malignant proliferation. However, nuclear target drugs with good biosafety and high efficiency in cancer treatment are rare. Herein, a nuclear-targeted material MeTPAE with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics was developed based on a triphenylamine structure skeleton.

Spatial Matching Selectivity and Solution Structure of Organic-Metal Hybrid to Quadruplex-Duplex Hybrid.

The sequence-dependent DNA secondary structures possess structure polymorphism. To date, studies on regulated ligands mainly focus on individual DNA secondary topologies, while lack focus on quadruplex-duplex hybrids (QDHs). Here, we design an organic-metal hybrid ligand L Pt(dien), which matches and selectively binds one type of QDHs with lateral duplex stem-loop (QLDH) with high affinity, while shows poor affinity for other QDHs and individual G4 or duplex DNA.

Preparative isolation and purification of B-type fumonisins by using macroporous resin column and high-speed countercurrent chromatography.

B-type fumonisins (FBs) are water-soluble mycotoxins produced by species, which are mainly found in maize products and threaten food safety. Toxicological studies and quantitative determinations of fumonisins require large amounts of pure toxins, and their high prices limit progress in FBs research. In this study, we used a macroporous resin column combined with high-speed countercurrent chromatography to separate large quantities of FBs.