Multifunctional Janus particles composed of inorganic nanoparticles through emulsion confined assembly.

Janus particles, consisting of two or more chemically distinct composites within a single structural system, have attracted significant attention for their solid surfactant functionality, as well as their potential applications in micro/nanomotors and functional materials. Here, we present a simple and robust method to prepare plasmonic Janus particles consisting of a polystyrene-tethered gold nanorod (AuNRs@PS) head and a poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) head through emulsion confined assembly. The balance of the Janus particles can be finely tuned by adjusting the volume ratio of the AuNRs@PS solution and P4VP solution.

Fluoride induces immune-inflammatory disorder in the kidneys via histone lysine crotonylation in vivo.

Fluoride is an essential trace element for human. Adequate levels of fluoride are crucial for maintaining skeletal growth, but excessive fluoride exposure entering the body can cause renal damage, including damaged renal tubules and impaired renal function. However, the mechanism on fluoride-induced kidney injury remains unclear.

scStateDynamics: deciphering the drug-responsive tumor cell state dynamics by modeling single-cell level expression changes.

Understanding tumor cell heterogeneity and plasticity is crucial for overcoming drug resistance. Single-cell technologies enable analyzing cell states at a given condition, but catenating static cell snapshots to characterize dynamic drug responses remains challenging. Here, we propose scStateDynamics, an algorithm to infer tumor cell state dynamics and identify common drug effects by modeling single-cell level gene expression changes.

γδ T Cell-mediated Tumor Immunity is Tightly Regulated by STING and TGF-β Signaling Pathways.

The STING pathway plays a critical role in tumor immunosurveillance. However, the precise mechanisms by which STING regulates gamma delta (γδ) T cell function during tumor progression remain unclear. Herein, we find that tumor-derived cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) activates a distinct STING pathway by inducing TBK1-mediated phosphorylation of Eomes in γδ T cells during the early stage of tumor development is demonstrated.

Organic/inorganic heterostructures templated by interfacial instability-driven BCP colloids in deformable emulsion droplets.

Hybrid heterostructure materials have received considerable attention due to the integration of each component and abundant functional applications in micromotors, catalysis, photothermal therapy, drug delivery, and bioimaging. However, the preparation of organic/inorganic heterostructure nanoparticles (HSNPs) with high quality still remains a remarkable challenge since thermodynamically metastable structures usually coexist, resulting in a lack of organic scaffolds with extreme uniformity both in shape and size distribution. Here, we prepared polystyrene--poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS--P4VP) block copolymer (BCP) core-shell spherical colloids driven by interfacial instability of soft and deformable emulsion droplets.

Paper-Based Microfluidic Device for Extracellular Lactate Detection.

Lactate is a critical regulatory factor secreted by tumors, influencing tumor development, metastasis, and clinical prognosis. Precise analysis of tumor-cell-secreted lactate is pivotal for early cancer diagnosis. This study describes a paper-based microfluidic chip to enable the detection of lactate levels secreted externally by living cells.

Systemic gene therapy corrects the neurological phenotype in a mouse model of NGLY1 deficiency.

The cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase (NGLY1) is ubiquitously expressed and functions as a de-N-glycosylating enzyme that degrades misfolded N-glycosylated proteins. NGLY1 deficiency due to biallelic loss-of-function NGLY1 variants is an ultrarare autosomal recessive deglycosylation disorder with multisystemic involvement; the neurological manifestations represent the main disease burden. Currently, there is no treatment for this disease.

RNA helicase SKIV2L limits antiviral defense and autoinflammation elicited by the OAS-RNase L pathway.

The OAS-RNase L pathway is one of the oldest innate RNA sensing pathways that leads to interferon (IFN) signaling and cell death. OAS recognizes viral RNA and then activates RNase L, which subsequently cleaves both cellular and viral RNA, creating "processed RNA" as an endogenous ligand that further triggers RIG-I-like receptor signaling. However, the IFN response and antiviral activity of the OAS-RNase L pathway are weak compared to other RNA-sensing pathways.

Measurable residual disease testing by next generation sequencing is more accurate compared with multiparameter flow cytometry in adults with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Results of measurable residual disease (MRD)-testing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) correlate with relapse risk in adults with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving chemotherapy or an allotransplant from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical relative or HLA-matched unrelated donor. We studied cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) and survival prediction accuracy using a NGS-based MRD-assay targeting immunoglobulin genes after 2 courses of consolidation chemotherapy cycles in 93 adults with B-cell ALL most receiving HLA-haplotype-matched related transplants. Prediction accuracy was compared with MRD-testing using multi-parameter flow cytometry (MPFC).

Effectiveness of azvudine against severe outcomes among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Xinjiang, China: a single-center, retrospective, matched cohort study.

Background: Since the end of 2022, Azvudine was widely used to treat hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in China. However, data on the real-world effectiveness of Azvudine against severe outcomes and post-COVID-19-conditions (PCC) among patients infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variants was limited. This study evaluates the effectiveness of Azvudine in hospitalized COVID-19 patients during a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.

Celastrol ameliorates hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal rats by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.

Background: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is caused by perinatal hypoxia and subsequent reductions in cerebral blood flow and is one of the leading causes of severe disability or death in newborns. Despite its prevalence, we currently lack an effective drug therapy to combat HIE. Celastrol (Cel) is a pentacyclic triterpene extracted from Tripterygium Wilfordi that can protect against oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer.

Innate immune sensing of macromolecule homeostasis.

The innate immune system uses a distinct set of germline-encoded pattern recognition receptors to recognize molecular patterns initially thought to be unique to microbial invaders, named pathogen-associated molecular patterns. The concept was later further developed to include similar molecular patterns originating from host cells during tissue damage, known as damage-associated molecular patterns. However, recent advances in the mechanism of monogenic inflammatory diseases have highlighted a much more expansive repertoire of cellular functions that are monitored by innate immunity.

Concomitant Near-Infrared Photothermy and Photoluminescence of Rod-Shaped Au(PET) and Au(PET) Synthesized Concurrently.

Gold nanoclusters exhibiting concomitant photothermy (PT) and photoluminescence (PL) under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation are rarely reported, and some fundamental issues remain unresolved for such materials. Herein, we concurrently synthesized two novel rod-shaped Au nanoclusters, Au(PET) and Au(PET) (PET = 2-phenylethanethiolate), and precisely revealed that their kernels were 4 × 4 × 6 and 5 × 4 × 6 face-centered cubic (fcc) structures, respectively, based on the numbers of Au layers in the [100], [010], and [001] directions. Following the structural growth mode from Au(PET) to Au(PET), we predicted six more novel nanoclusters.

Designed Additive to Regulated Crystallization for High Performance Perovskite Solar Cell.

It is a crucial role for enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to prepare high-quality perovskite films, which can be achieved by delaying the crystallization of perovskite film. Hence, we designed difluoroacetic anhydride (DFA) as an additive to regulating crystallization process thus reducing defect formation during perovskite film formation. It was found DFA reacts with DMSO by forming two molecules, difluoroacetate thioether ester (DTE) and difluoroacetic acid (DA).

Degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants by Rhodococcus erythropolis KB1 synergistic with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

Petroleum hydrocarbons are a stubborn pollutant that is difficult to degrade globally, and plant-microbial degradation is the main way to solve this type of pollutant. In this study, the physiological and ecological responses of alfalfa to petroleum hydrocarbons in different concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil with KB1 (Rhodococcus erythropolis) were analyzed and determined by laboratory potting techniques. The growth of alfalfa (CK) and alfalfa with KB1 (JZ) in different concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soil was compared and analyzed.

Surface Reconstruction for Efficient NiO-Based Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

Functional agents are verified to efficiently enhance device performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) through surface engineering. However, the influence of intrinsic characteristics of molecules on final device performance is overlooked. Here, a surface reconstruction strategy is developed to enhance the efficiency of inverted PSCs by mitigating the adverse effects of lead chelation (LC) molecules.