Sodium alginate hydrogel loaded with Capparis spinosa L. extract for antimicrobial and antioxidant wound dressing applications.

Novel composite hydrogels composed of Capparis spinosa L. extract (CSL) and sodium alginate (SA) were developed for biomedical applications using calcium chloride (CaCl₂) as a nontoxic ionic crosslinker. The swelling degree, antioxidant activity, water retention, and biocompatibility of the CSL/SA composite hydrogels were thoroughly analyzed, along with their antibacterial properties.

Preclinical development of SGN-CD47M: Protease-activated antibody technology enables selective tumor targeting of the innate immune checkpoint receptor CD47.

CD47 is a cell surface glycoprotein that is expressed on normal human tissues and has a key role as a marker of self. Tumor cells have coopted CD47 overexpression to evade immune surveillance and thus blockade of CD47 is a highly active area of clinical exploration in oncology. However, clinical development of CD47-targeted agents has been complicated by its robust expression in normal tissues and the toxicities that arise from blocking this inhibitory signal.

Reversible Chemical Modification of Antibody Effector Function Mitigates Unwanted Systemic Immune Activation.

Antibody effector functions including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and phagocytosis (ADCP) are mediated through the interaction of the antibody Fc region with Fcγ receptors present on immune cells. Several approaches have been used to modulate antibody Fc-Fcγ interactions with the goal of driving an effective antitumor immune response, including Fc point mutations and glycan modifications. However, robust antibody-Fcγ engagement and immune cell binding of Fc-enhanced antibodies in the periphery can lead to the unwanted induction of systemic cytokine release and other dose-limiting infusion-related reactions.

Enhancement Mechanism of Pt/Pd-Based Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the key catalytic reactions for hydrogen fuel cells, biofuel cells and metal-air cells. However, due to the complex four-electron catalytic process, the kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction are sluggish. Platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts represented by platinum and palladium are considered to be the most active ORR catalysts.

Anticancer Activity of Diosgenin and Its Molecular Mechanism.

Diosgenin, a steroidal sapogenin, obtained from Trigonella foenum-graecum, Dioscorea, and Rhizoma polgonati, has shown high potential and interest in the treatment of various cancers such as oral squamous cell carcinoma, laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, glioma, and leukemia. This article aims to provide an overview of the in vivo, in vitro, and clinical studies reporting the diosgenin's anticancer effects. Preclinical studies have shown promising effects of diosgenin on inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and growth, promoting apoptosis, inducing differentiation and autophagy, inhibiting tumor cell metastasis and invasion, blocking cell cycle, regulating immunity and improving gut microbiome.

Recent Progress of Energy-Storage-Device-Integrated Sensing Systems.

With the rapid prosperity of the Internet of things, intelligent human-machine interaction and health monitoring are becoming the focus of attention. Wireless sensing systems, especially self-powered sensing systems that can work continuously and sustainably for a long time without an external power supply have been successfully explored and developed. Yet, the system integrated by energy-harvester needs to be exposed to a specific energy source to drive the work, which provides limited application scenarios, low stability, and poor continuity.

Fast constructing polarity-switchable zinc-bromine microbatteries with high areal energy density.

Microbatteries (MBs) are promising candidates to provide power for various miniaturized electronic devices, yet they generally suffer from complicated fabrication procedures and low areal energy density. Besides, all cathodes of current MBs are solid state, and the trade-off between areal capacity and reaction kinetics restricts their wide applications. Here, we propose a dual-plating strategy to facilely prepare zinc-bromine MBs (Zn-Br MBs) with a liquid cathode to achieve both high areal energy density and fast kinetics simultaneously.

Fixture-free omnidirectional prestretching fabrication and integration of crumpled in-plane micro-supercapacitors.

Multidimensional folded structures with elasticity could provide spatial charge storage capability and shape adaptability for micro-supercapacitors (MSCs). Here, highly crumpled in-plane MSCs with superior conformality are fabricated in situ and integrated by a fixture-free omnidirectional elastic contraction strategy. Using carbon nanotube microelectrodes, a single crumpled MSC holds an ultrahigh volumetric capacitance of 9.

Enabling fast-charging selenium-based aqueous batteries via conversion reaction with copper ions.

Selenium (Se) is an appealing alternative cathode material for secondary battery systems that recently attracted research interests in the electrochemical energy storage field due to its high theoretical specific capacity and good electronic conductivity. However, despite the relevant capacity contents reported in the literature, Se-based cathodes generally show poor rate capability behavior. To circumvent this issue, we propose a series of selenium@carbon (Se@C) composite positive electrode active materials capable of delivering a four-electron redox reaction when placed in contact with an aqueous copper-ion electrolyte solution (i.

A Cascade Battery: Coupling Two Sequential Electrochemical Reactions in a Single Battery.

Currently, rechargeable electrochemical batteries generally operate on one reversible electrochemical reaction during discharging and charging cycles. Here, a cascade battery that couples two sequential electrochemical reactions in a single battery is proposed. Such a concept is demonstrated in an aqueous Zn-S hybrid battery, where solid sulfur serves as the cathode in the first discharge step and the generated Cu S catalyzes Cu reduce to Cu/Cu O to provide the second discharge step.

All-pH-Tolerant In-Plane Heterostructures for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Generally, electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by water splitting is a pH-dependent reaction, which limits the widespread harvesting of hydrogen energy. Herein, we present a simple way for chemical bonding of MoS (002) planes and α-MoC {111} planes to form in-plane heterostructures capable of efficient pH-universal HER. Due to the lattice strain from mismatched lattice parameters between α-MoC and MoS, this catalyst changes the electronic configuration of the MoS and thus acquires the favorable proton adsorption and desorption activity, suggested by the platinum (Pt)-like free Gibbs energy.

Retarding Ostwald Ripening to Directly Cast 3D Porous Graphene Oxide Bulks at Open Ambient Conditions.

Graphene aerogels (GAs) with attractive properties have shown tremendous potentials in energy- and environment-related applications. Unfortunately, current assembly methods for GAs such as sol-gel and freeze-casting processes must be conducted in enclosed spaces with unconventional conditions, thus being literally inoperative for and continuous productions. Herein, a direct slurry-casting method at open ambient conditions is established to arbitrarily prepare three-dimensional (3D) porous graphene oxide (GO) bulks without macroscopic dimension limits on a wide range of solid surfaces by retarding Ostwald ripening of 3D liquid GO foams when being dried in air.

Regulation of 2D Graphene Materials for Electrocatalysis.

Benefiting from unique excellent physical and chemical characteristics, graphene has attracted widespread attention in the application of electrocatalysis. As a promising candidate, graphene is usually regulated with surface defects, heteroatoms, metal atoms and other active materials through covalent or non-covalent bonds to substitute for noble metal catalysts, which has not been targeted in a report yet. In this review, we summarize the recent advances of approaches for engineering graphene-based electrocatalysts and emphasize the corresponding electrocatalytic active sites in various electrocatalysis circumstances, such as electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), etc.

Hybrid Energy Storage Device: Combination of Zinc-Ion Supercapacitor and Zinc-Air Battery in Mild Electrolyte.

In this work, a new type of hybrid energy storage device is constructed by combining the zinc-ion supercapacitor and zinc-air battery in mild electrolyte. Reduced graphene oxide with rich defects, large surface area, and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups is used as active material, which exhibits two kinds of charge storage mechanisms of capacitor and battery simultaneously. Apart from the physical adsorption/desorption of anions on the surface of graphene, the zinc ions in electrolyte will be electrochemically adsorbed/desorbed onto the oxygen-containing groups of graphene during the charge/discharge process, contributing extra capacitance to the device.

A coiled-coil masking domain for selective activation of therapeutic antibodies.

The use of monoclonal antibodies in cancer therapy is limited by their cross-reactivity to healthy tissue. Tumor targeting has been improved by generating masked antibodies that are selectively activated in the tumor microenvironment, but each such antibody necessitates a custom design. Here, we present a generalizable approach for masking the binding domains of antibodies with a heterodimeric coiled-coil domain that sterically occludes the complementarity-determining regions.

Tumor-Associated Macrophages Can Contribute to Antitumor Activity through FcγR-Mediated Processing of Antibody-Drug Conjugates.

The primary mechanism of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) is targeted delivery of a cytotoxic payload to tumor cells via cancer-associated membrane receptors. However, the tumor microenvironment likely plays a role in ADC penetration, distribution, and processing and thus impacts the overall antitumor activity. Here, we report on the potential contribution of Fc-FcγR interactions between ADCs and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) to the preclinical antitumor activities of ADCs.

One-Dimensional CoO@C Core–Shell Nanostructures for Improved Lithium Storage Properties.

Exploring conversion-type anode materials with large and stable lithium storage properties as well as good rate performance still remains a great challenge. This work presents one-dimensional core–shell CoO@C nanostructures as high-performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries. TEM measurements show that interior voids and carbon shell can be observed in the core–shell nanostructures.

Orthogonal Cysteine Protection Enables Homogeneous Multi-Drug Antibody-Drug Conjugates.

A strategy for the preparation of homogeneous antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) containing multiple payloads has been developed. This approach utilizes sequential unmasking of cysteine residues with orthogonal protection to enable site-specific conjugation of each drug. In addition, because the approach utilizes conjugation to native antibody cysteine residues, it is widely applicable and enables high drug loading for improved ADC potency.

Intracellular Released Payload Influences Potency and Bystander-Killing Effects of Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Preclinical Models.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) comprise targeting antibodies armed with potent small-molecule payloads. ADCs demonstrate specific cell killing in clinic, but the basis of their antitumor activity is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the degree to which payload release predicts ADC activity in vitro and in vivo ADCs were generated to target different receptors on the anaplastic large cell lymphoma line L-82, but delivered the same cytotoxic payload (monomethyl auristatin E, MMAE), and we found that the intracellular concentration of released MMAE correlated with in vitro ADC-mediated cytotoxicity independent of target expression or drug:antibody ratios.

Metabolic engineering of monoclonal antibody carbohydrates for antibody-drug conjugation.

The role that carbohydrates play in antibody function and pharmacokinetics has made them important targets for modification. The terminal fucose of the N-linked glycan structure, which has been shown to be involved in modulation of antibody-directed cellular cytotoxicity, is a particularly interesting location for potential modification through incorporation of alternative sugar structures. A library of fucose analogues was evaluated for their ability to incorporate into antibody carbohydrates in place of the native fucose.

Development of orally active inhibitors of protein and cellular fucosylation.

The key role played by fucose in glycoprotein and cellular function has prompted significant research toward identifying recombinant and biochemical strategies for blocking its incorporation into proteins and membrane structures. Technologies surrounding engineered cell lines have evolved for the inhibition of in vitro fucosylation, but they are not applicable for in vivo use and drug development. To address this, we screened a panel of fucose analogues and identified 2-fluorofucose and 5-alkynylfucose derivatives that depleted cells of GDP-fucose, the substrate used by fucosyltransferases to incorporate fucose into protein and cellular glycans.

Intracellular activation of SGN-35, a potent anti-CD30 antibody-drug conjugate.

Purpose: SGN-35 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) containing the potent antimitotic drug, monomethylauristatin E (MMAE), linked to the anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody, cAC10. As previously shown, SGN-35 treatment regresses and cures established Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma xenografts. Recently, the ADC has been shown to possess pronounced activity in clinical trials.

The pharmacologic basis for antibody-auristatin conjugate activity.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) made with auristatin antimitotic agents have shown significant preclinical and clinical oncology activity. SGN-75 is composed of the anti-CD70 antibody h1F6 conjugated to monomethylauristatin F through a noncleavable maleimidocaproyl linkage. To understand the pharmacologic basis of the activity of this ADC, its pharmacokinetics and biodistribution were evaluated in a mouse xenograft model with use of a dual-radiolabeled ADC.

Anti-CD30 diabody-drug conjugates with potent antitumor activity.

Anti-CD30 diabodies were engineered with two cysteine mutations for site-specific drug conjugation in each chain of these homodimeric antibody fragments. Diabodies were conjugated with approximately 4 equivalents of the anti-tubulin drugs, monomethyl auristatin E or F, via a protease-cleavable dipeptide linker, to create the conjugates, diabody-vcE4 and diabody-vcF4, respectively. Diabody conjugation had only minor (<3-fold) effects on antigen binding.

Isolation of new polyketide synthase gene fragments and a partial gene cluster from East China Sea and function analysis of a new acyltransferase.

Using the consensus-degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primer polymerase chain reaction method, 26 new ketoacyl synthase (KS) fragments were isolated from a marine sediment sample in the East China Sea (ECS) and analyzed by construction of a phylogenetic tree. With a digoxigenin-labeled KS gene fragment used as a probe, a partial polyketide synthase (PKS) gene cluster was isolated and identified by hybridization screening of a marine sediment sample metagenome fosmid library constructed for this study. A new acyltransferase (AT) gene was cloned from the PKS gene cluster and heterogeneously expressed as a protein fused to maltose-binding protein (MBP).