Antibacterial cellulose solution-blown nonwovens modified with salicylic acid microcapsules using NMMO as solvent.

Solution blowing process was used to prepare cellulose nonwovens, by using N-methyl morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) as solvent, and salicylic acid (SA) microcapsules as antibacterial additives. The structure and properties of cellulose nonwovens modified with different SA microcapsules contents were compared and evaluated. The results showed that more uniform and denser web structure was formed with the increase of SA microcapsules content, the average fiber diameter of cellulose nonwoven increased from 1.

[Immunoadjuvant Effect of Chitosan Oligosaccharide and Its Feasibility of Being Used as an Adjuvant for Attenuated Live Bacteria Vector Vaccines].

Objective: To study the immunoadjuvant effects of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), including the immune activation and the triggering of lysosomal escape, and to explore whether COS can be used as an adjuvant for attenuated live bacteria vector vaccines.

Methods: 1) Mouse macrophages RAW264.7 cells were cultured with COS at 0 mg/mL (the control group) and 0.

Listeria-vectored cervical cancer vaccine candidate strains reduce MDSCs via the JAK-STAT signaling pathway.

Background: Immunosuppressive status is prevalent in cancer patients and increases the complexity of tumor immunotherapy. It has been found that Listeria-vectored tumor vaccines had the potential ability of two-side regulatory effect on the immune response during immunotherapy.

Results: The results show that the combined immunotherapy with the LM∆E6E7 and LI∆E6E7, the two cervical cancer vaccine candidate strains constructed by our lab, improves the antitumor immune response and inhibits the suppressive immune response in tumor-bearing mice in vivo, confirming the two-sided regulatory ability of the immune response caused by Listeria-vectored tumor vaccines.

Preimmunization with Listeria-vectored cervical cancer vaccine candidate strains can establish specific T-cell immune memory and prevent tumorigenesis.

Background: Although HPV prophylactic vaccines can provide effective immune protection against high-risk HPV infection, studies have shown that the protective effect provided by them would decrease with the increased age of vaccination, and they are not recommended for those who are not in the appropriate age range for vaccination. Therefore, in those people who are not suitable for HPV prophylactic vaccines, it is worth considering establishing memory T-cell immunity to provide long-term immune surveillance and generate a rapid response against lesional cells to prevent tumorigenesis.

Methods: In this study, healthy mice were preimmunized with LM∆E6E7 and LI∆E6E7, the two Listeria-vectored cervical cancer vaccine candidate strains constructed previously by our laboratory, and then inoculated with tumor cells 40 d later.

[ Balanced Lethal Systems Expressing Cervical Cancer Antigen Genes: Construction and Basic Biological Characteristics].

Objective: To construct (LM) and (LI) balanced lethal systems expressing cervical cancer antigens, to study their basic biological characteristics, and to provide reference data for the immunotherapy of cervical cancer.

Methods: Through seamless cloning via ligation kit, the HPV16 67 fusion protein antigen gene constructed in our lab was spliced to the complement plasmid pCW-LM -Amp that contained the nutritional gene . Then, we replaced the ampicillin (Amp) resistance gene of the complement plasmid with the nutrition gene.

Increased brain nucleus accumbens functional connectivity in melancholic depression.

Background: Melancholic depression, marked by typical symptoms of anhedonia, is regarded as a homogeneous subtype of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, little attention was paid to underlying mechanisms of melancholic depression. This study aims to examine functional connectivity of the reward circuit associated with anhedonia symptoms in melancholic depression.

A Temperature and pH Dual-Sensitive Multifunctional Polyurethane with Bacteria-Triggered Antibacterial Activity.

An effective and practical antibacterial strategy is to design multifunctional and stimuli-responsive materials that exhibit antibacterial activity in response to bacterial triggers. In this study, because the metabolism of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can acidify the surrounding environment and pH level can affect the lower critical solution temperature of temperature/pH dual-sensitive polymers, a monomer containing a temperature-sensitive N-isopropyl amide derivative and pH-sensitive tertiary amine groups is first synthesized.

Molecular Engineering to Boost the Photo-Oxidase Activity of Molecular Rotors in Colorimetric Sensing of Temperatures.

Some organic dyes and photosensitizers with strong visible absorption can behave as photo-responsive oxidase mimics. However, the relationship between the photo-oxidase activity and molecular structure remains unclear to date. In this work, a new type of photosensitizer with the characteristics of molecular rotors, namely DPPy, served as the molecular scaffold for further investigation.

Hemolysin function of Listeria is related to biofilm formation: transcriptomics analysis.

Listeriolysin O (LLO) is the main virulence protein of Listeria monocytogenes (LM), that helps LM escape lysosomes. We previously found that the cellular immune response elicited by L.ivanovii (LI) is weaker than that elicited by LM.

Recombinant strain expressing listeriolysin O in place of ivanolysin O might be a potential antigen carrier for vaccine construction.

(LM) induces efficient and specific T-cell immune responses in the host. Listeriolysin O (LLO) is the main virulence protein of LM. LLO helps LM escape from the lysosome.

In situ real-time investigation of Staphylococcus aureus on hemisphere-patterned polyurethane films.

Surface patterning is a promising approach to prevent bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation without the concerns of antimicrobial resistance. To determine the parameters of a patterned surface that can affect bacterial behavior, a sphere-like coccus (Staphylococcus aureus) was investigated on a series of polyurethane films with ordered hemisphere patterns. The bacterial retention data in a growth medium indicated that the surface patterns significantly decreased bacterial adhesion and proliferation.

Wet Mixing with Organic Solvent for Synthesized -1,4-Polyisoprene-Based Rubber Composites.

In this work, well-dispersed fumed SiO/-1,4-polyisoprene rubber (IR) masterbatch was first obtained through an effective wet mixing method, and the properties of the corresponding vulcanizate were studied. Before curing with activator and sulfur, IR solution was blended and co-coagulated with SiO suspension modified by bis(3-trimethoxysilypropyl) tetrasulfide in -hexane. The modification of TESPT imparted evenly distributed SiO particles in IR and improved interfacial binding among SiO and IR.

Small diameter blood vessels with controllable micropore structure induced by centrifugal force for improved endothelialization.

The micropore structure is prerequisite for fast and durable endothelialization of artificial small diameter blood vessels (ASDBVs). Although some methods, such as salt leaching, coagulation, and electrospinning, have been developed to construct micropores for ASDBVs, the uncontrollability of the structure and the complicated procedures of the process are still the issues to be concerned about. In this study, a compact device based on the principle of centrifugal force is established and used to prepare polyurethane (PU) ASDBVs with micropore structures by blasting different porogens.

Large-scale targeted metabolomics method for metabolite profiling of human samples.

Targeted metabolomics has significant advantages for quantification but suffers from reduced metabolite coverage. In this study, we developed a large-scale targeted metabolomics method and expanded its applicability to various human samples. This approach initially involved unbiased identification of metabolites in human cells, tissues and body fluids using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS).

Cross-plane transport in a single-molecule two-dimensional van der Waals heterojunction.

Two-dimensional van der Waals heterojunctions (2D-vdWHs) stacked from atomically thick 2D materials are predicted to be a diverse class of electronic materials with unique electronic properties. These properties can be further tuned by sandwiching monolayers of planar organic molecules between 2D materials to form molecular 2D-vdWHs (M-2D-vdWHs), in which electricity flows in a cross-plane way from one 2D layer to the other via a single molecular layer. Using a newly developed cross-plane break junction technique, combined with density functional theory calculations, we show that M-2D-vdWHs can be created and that cross-plane charge transport can be tuned by incorporating guest molecules.

Androgen deficit changes the response to antidepressant drugs in tail suspension test in mice.

Depressive symptoms are throughout our life, especially in the older population, the sex hormones reduction link to a high risk of depression. In this study, we investigated whether bilateral orchiectomy (ORX) modifies mice behaviors and antidepressant drugs effects through tail suspension test (TST). We evaluated behavioral changes at 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and up to 2 months after ORX.

Electric-Field-Induced Connectivity Switching in Single-Molecule Junctions.

The manipulation of molecule-electrode interaction is essential for the fabrication of molecular devices and determines the connectivity from electrodes to molecular components. Although the connectivity of molecular devices could be controlled by molecular design to place anchor groups in different positions of molecule backbones, the reversible switching of such connectivities remains challenging. Here, we develop an electric-field-induced strategy to switch the connectivity of single-molecule junctions reversibly, leading to the manipulation of different connectivities in the same molecular backbone.

Electric field-induced selective catalysis of single-molecule reaction.

Oriented external electric fields (OEEFs) offer a unique chance to tune catalytic selectivity by orienting the alignment of the electric field along the axis of the activated bond for a specific chemical reaction; however, they remain a key experimental challenge. Here, we experimentally and theoretically investigated the OEEF-induced selective catalysis in a two-step cascade reaction of the Diels-Alder addition followed by an aromatization process. Characterized by the mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) technique in the nanogap and confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in bottles, OEEFs are found to selectively catalyze the aromatization reaction by one order of magnitude owing to the alignment of the electric field on the reaction axis.

The TRAPs From Microglial Vesicles Protect Against Infection in the CNS.

Previous studies have demonstrated that T cells and microglia could fight against cerebral (Listeria); however, their synergistic anti-Listeria mechanisms remain unknown. Following Listeria infection in a culture system, we found that microglia, but not nerve cells, could release extracellular traps (ETs) which originated from microglial vesicles. Specific inhibitor analysis showed that extracellular DNA (eDNA), matrix metallopeptidases (MMP9 and MMP12), citrullinated histone H3, and peptidyl arginine deiminase 2 were the major components of microglial ETs (MiETs) and were also the components of vesicles.

Atomically defined angstrom-scale all-carbon junctions.

Full-carbon electronics at the scale of several angstroms is an expeimental challenge, which could be overcome by exploiting the versatility of carbon allotropes. Here, we investigate charge transport through graphene/single-fullerene/graphene hybrid junctions using a single-molecule manipulation technique. Such sub-nanoscale electronic junctions can be tuned by band gap engineering as exemplified by various pristine fullerenes such as C, C, C and C.

State of the Art of Small-Diameter Vessel-Polyurethane Substitutes.

Cardiovascular diseases are a severe threat to human health. Implantation of small-diameter vascular substitutes is a promising therapy in clinical operations. Polyurethane (PU) is considered one of the most suitable materials for this substitution due to its good mechanical properties, controlled biostability, and proper biocompatibility.

Cordycepin reduces weight through regulating gut microbiota in high-fat diet-induced obese rats.

Background: An increasing number of studies have shown that obesity is the key etiological agent of cardiovascular diseases, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes and several kinds of cancer and that gut microbiota change was one of the reasons suffering from obesity. At present, the gut microbiota has gained increased attention as a potential energy metabolism organ. Our recent study reported that cordycepin, a major bioactive component separated from Cordyceps militaris, prevented body weight gain in mice fed a high-fat diet directly acting to adipocytes, however, the effect of cordycepin regulating gut microbiota keeps unknown.

ATD: a comprehensive bioinformatics resource for deciphering the association of autophagy and diseases.

Autophagy is the natural, regulated, destructive mechanism of the eukaryotes cell that disassembles unnecessary or dysfunctional components. In recent years, the association between autophagy and diseases has attracted more and more attention, but our understanding of the molecular mechanism about the association in the system perspective is limited and ambiguous. Hence, we developed the comprehensive bioinformatics resource Autophagy To Disease (ATD, http://auto2disease.

Electrical and SERS detection of disulfide-mediated dimerization in single-molecule benzene-1,4-dithiol junctions.

We applied a combination of mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) methods to investigate the long-standing single-molecule conductance discrepancy of prototypical benzene-1,4-dithiol () junctions. Single-molecule conductance characterization, together with configuration analysis of the molecular junction, suggested that disulfide-mediated dimerization of contributed to the low conductance feature, which was further verified by the detection of S-S bond formation through SERS characterization. Control experiments demonstrated that the disulfide-mediated dimerization could be tuned the chemical inhibitor.