Modulation of Mechanosensitive Potassium Channels by a Membrane-targeted Nongenetic Photoswitch.

Mechanosensitive ion channels are present in the plasma membranes of all cells. They play a fundamental role in converting mechanical stimuli into biochemical signals and are involved in several physiological processes such as touch sensation, hearing, and blood pressure regulation. This protein family includes TWIK-related arachidonic acid-stimulated K channel (TRAAK), which is specifically implicated in the maintenance of the resting membrane potential and in the regulation of a variety of important neurobiological functions.

Toward Photoactive Wallpapers Based on ZnO-Cellulose Nanocomposites.

The quest for eco-friendly materials with anticipated positive impact for sustainability is crucial to achieve the UN sustainable development goals. Classical strategies of composite materials can be applied on novel nanomaterials and green materials. Besides the actual technology and applications also processing and manufacturing methods should be further advanced to make entire technology concepts sustainable.

How Photogenerated I Induces I-Rich Phase Formation in Lead Mixed Halide Perovskites.

Bandgap tunability of lead mixed halide perovskites (LMHPs) is a crucial characteristic for versatile optoelectronic applications. Nevertheless, LMHPs show the formation of iodide-rich (I-rich) phase under illumination, which destabilizes the semiconductor bandgap and impedes their exploitation. Here, it is shown that how I , photogenerated upon charge carrier trapping at iodine interstitials in LMHPs, can promote the formation of I-rich phase.

How Halide Alloying Influences the Optoelectronic Quality in Tin-Halide Perovskite Solar Absorbers.

Halide alloying in tin-based perovskites allows for photostable bandgap tuning between 1.3 and 2.2 eV.

Recent advances in lipid nanovesicles for targeted treatment of spinal cord injury.

The effective regeneration and functional restoration of damaged spinal cord tissue have been a long-standing concern in regenerative medicine. Treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) is challenging due to the obstruction of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB), the lack of targeting of drugs, and the complex pathophysiology of injury sites. Lipid nanovesicles, including cell-derived nanovesicles and synthetic lipid nanovesicles, are highly biocompatible and can penetrate BSCB, and are therefore effective delivery systems for targeted treatment of SCI.

Simplified 3D hydrodynamic flow focusing for lab-on-chip single particle study.

Accurately control of the position of a fluid and particle within lab-on-a-chip platform is a critical prerequisite for many downstream analysis processes, such as detection, trapping and separation, moving the sensing at the single-particle level. With the development of microfluidic fabrication technology, particle/cell focusing has shifted from two to three dimensions. 3D hydrodynamic focusing, which sorts and aligns the incoming cloud of particles so that they pass through the interrogation area one by one, enables new possibilities and breakthroughs in the single-cell analysis system.

Intracellular Ca signalling: unexpected new roles for the usual suspect.

Cytosolic Ca signals are organized in complex spatial and temporal patterns that underlie their unique ability to regulate multiple cellular functions. Changes in intracellular Ca concentration ([Ca]) are finely tuned by the concerted interaction of membrane receptors and ion channels that introduce Ca into the cytosol, Ca-dependent sensors and effectors that translate the elevation in [Ca] into a biological output, and Ca-clearing mechanisms that return the [Ca] to pre-stimulation levels and prevent cytotoxic Ca overload. The assortment of the Ca handling machinery varies among different cell types to generate intracellular Ca signals that are selectively tailored to subserve specific functions.

A membrane intercalating metal-free conjugated organic photosensitizer for bacterial photodynamic inactivation.

Photodynamic inhibition (PDI) of bacteria represents a powerful strategy for dealing with multidrug-resistant pathogens and infections, as it exhibits minimal development of antibiotic resistance. The PDI action stems from the generation of a triplet state in the photosensitizer (PS), which subsequently transfers energy or electrons to molecular oxygen, resulting in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These ROS are then able to damage cells, eventually causing bacterial eradication.

Exceptional Microscale Plasticity in Amorphous Aluminum Oxide at Room Temperature.

Oxide glasses are an elementary group of materials in modern society, but brittleness limits their wider usability at room temperature. As an exception to the rule, amorphous aluminum oxide (a-Al O ) is a rare diatomic glassy material exhibiting significant nanoscale plasticity at room temperature. Here, it is shown experimentally that the room temperature plasticity of a-Al O extends to the microscale and high strain rates using in situ micropillar compression.

Bubble dynamics and speed of jets for needle-free injections produced by thermocavitation.

Significance: The number of injections administered has increased dramatically worldwide due to vaccination campaigns following the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a problem of disposing of syringes and needles. Accidental needle sticks occur among medical and cleaning staff, exposing them to highly contagious diseases, such as hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus. In addition, needle phobia may prevent adequate treatment.

Semiconducting Polymer Nanoporous Thin Films as a Tool to Regulate Intracellular ROS Balance in Endothelial Cells.

The design of soft and nanometer-scale photoelectrodes able to stimulate and promote the intracellular concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is searched for redox medicine applications. In this work, we show semiconducting polymer porous thin films with an enhanced photoelectrochemical generation of ROS in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). To achieve that aim, we synthesized graft copolymers, made of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and degradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) segments, P3HT--PLA.

A Single-Molecule Bioelectronic Portable Array for Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Precursors.

A cohort of 47 patients is screened for pancreatic cancer precursors with a portable 96-well bioelectronic sensing-array for single-molecule assay in cysts fluid and blood plasma, deployable at point-of-care (POC). Pancreatic cancer precursors are mucinous cysts diagnosed with a sensitivity of at most 80% by state-of-the-art cytopathological molecular analyses (e.g.

Photosystem II monomeric antenna CP26 plays a key role in nonphotochemical quenching in Chlamydomonas.

Thermal dissipation of excess excitation energy, called nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), is 1 of the main photoprotective mechanisms in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms. Here, we investigated the function of the monomeric photosystem II (PSII) antenna protein CP26 in photoprotection and light harvesting in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a model organism for green algae. We used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and complementation to generate cp26 knockout mutants (named k6#) that did not negatively affect CP29 accumulation, which differed from previous cp26 mutants, allowing us to compare mutants specifically deprived of CP26, CP29, or both.

Exploring the Core Parameters of CNC-Based Chiral Nematic Structures for Enhancing the Dissymmetry Factor of Right-Handed Circularly Polarized Luminescence.

The chiral nematic nanostructure formed from cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) self-assembly has shown great potential as a matrix for generating circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) light with a high dissymmetry factor. Exploring the relationship between the device composition and structure and the light dissymmetry factor is crucial to a common strategy for a strongly dissymmetric CPL light. In this study, we have compared the single-layered and double-layered CNC-based CPL devices with different luminophores, such as rhodamine 6G (R6G), methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), and silicon quantum dots (Si QDs).

Chitosan-gated organic transistors printed on ethyl cellulose as a versatile platform for edible electronics and bioelectronics.

Edible electronics is an emerging research field targeting electronic devices that can be safely ingested and directly digested or metabolized by the human body. As such, it paves the way to a whole new family of applications, ranging from ingestible medical devices and biosensors to smart labelling for food quality monitoring and anti-counterfeiting. Being a newborn research field, many challenges need to be addressed to realize fully edible electronic components.

Defect Engineering to Achieve Photostable Wide Bandgap Metal Halide Perovskites.

Bandgap tuning is a crucial characteristic of metal-halide perovskites, with benchmark lead-iodide compounds having a bandgap of 1.6 eV. To increase the bandgap up to 2.

Tamm Plasmon Resonance as Optical Fingerprint of Silver/Bacteria Interaction.

The incorporation of responsive elements into photonic crystals is an effective strategy for fabricating active optical components to be used as sensors, actuators, and modulators. In particular, the combination of simple multilayered dielectric mirrors with optically responsive plasmonic materials has proven to be successful. Recently, Tamm plasmon (TP) modes have emerged as powerful tools for these purposes.

Membrane Order Effect on the Photoresponse of an Organic Transducer.

Non-genetic photostimulation, which allows for control over cellular activity via the use of cell-targeting phototransducers, is widely used nowadays to study and modulate/restore biological functions. This approach relies on non-covalent interactions between the phototransducer and the cell membrane, thus implying that cell conditions and membrane status can dictate the effectiveness of the method. For instance, although immortalized cell lines are traditionally used in photostimulation experiments, it has been demonstrated that the number of passages they undergo is correlated to the worsening of cell conditions.

Role of Efficient Charge Transfer at the Interface between Mixed-Phase Copper-Cuprous Oxide and Conducting Polymer Nanostructures for Photocatalytic Water Splitting.

Photocatalytic hydrogen generation from water splitting is regarded as a sustainable technology capable of producing green solar fuels. However, the low charge separation efficiencies and the requirement of lowering redox potentials are unresolved challenges. Herein, a multiphase copper-cuprous oxide/polypyrrole (PPy) heterostructure has been designed to identify the role of multiple oxidation states of metal oxides in water reduction and oxidation.

Kinetic trapping of 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)benzene and ZnI into ML poly-[n]-catenanes using solution and solid-state processes.

Here, we show that in a supramolecular system with more than 20 building blocks forming large icosahedral ML metal-organic cages (MOCs), using the instant synthesis method, it is possible to kinetically trap and control the formation of interlocking ML nanocages, giving rare ML TPB-ZnI poly-[n]-catenane. The catenanes are obtained in a one-pot reaction, selectively as amorphous (a1) or crystalline states, as demonstrated by powder X-ray diffraction (powder XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and H NMR. The 300 K ML poly-[n]-catenane single crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) structure including nitrobenzene (1) indicates strong guest binding with the large ML cage (i.

An Edible Rechargeable Battery.

Edible electronics is a growing field that aims to produce digestible devices using only food ingredients and additives, thus addressing many of the shortcomings of ingestible electronic devices. Edible electronic devices will have major implications for gastrointestinal tract monitoring, therapeutics, as well as rapid food quality monitoring. Recent research has demonstrated the feasibility of edible circuits and sensors, but to realize fully edible electronic devices edible power sources are required, of which there have been very few examples.

Optical modulation of excitation-contraction coupling in human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Non-genetic photostimulation is a novel and rapidly growing multidisciplinary field that aims to induce light-sensitivity in living systems by exploiting exogeneous phototransducers. Here, we propose an intramembrane photoswitch, based on an azobenzene derivative (Ziapin2), for optical pacing of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). The light-mediated stimulation process has been studied by applying several techniques to detect the effect on the cell properties.