Oxygen-Independent Photodynamic Therapy-Mediated Selective Consumption of M1 Macrophage Against Ventricular Arrhythmias via Sympathetic Neuromodulation.

The occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI)-induced malignant ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) is closely associated with the hyperactivation of left stellate ganglion (LSG). Proinflammatory M1 macrophage is reported to aggravate sympathetic overactivation and cause VAs. Therefore, the depletion of M1 macrophage is anticipated to inhibit LSG overactivation and alleviate MI-induced VAs.

Homogeneous synthesis of cationic celluloses with broad-spectrum antibacterial activities for the treatment of vaginitis in mice.

Microbial infection is a significant health issue for humans. Despite the development of numerous antibiotics, the continuous rise of drug-resistant bacteria highlights the urgent need for new materials to combat these problems. In this study, four water-soluble quaternized cellulose (QC) derivatives with degrees of substitution (DS) ranging from 0.

Carboxylic Acid-Functionalized Cellulose Hydrogel Electrolyte for Dual-Interface Stabilization in Aqueous Zinc-Organic Batteries.

Aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs) are considered one of the most promising candidates for grid-scale energy storage. However, achieving a stable electrode-electrolyte interface remains a challenge for developing high-performance AZBs. Herein, taking the Zn||phenazine (PNZ) system as a prototype, where the proton uptake/removal mechanism dominates in the cathode, a carboxylic acid-functionalized cellulose hydrogel electrolyte is designed to simultaneously solve the issues at both the anode and cathode interfaces.

Hydrogel Films with Impact Resistance by Sacrificial Micelle-Assisted-Alignment.

Various strategies are developed to engineer aligned hierarchical architectures in polymer hydrogels for enhanced mechanical performance. However, chain alignment remains impeded by the presence of hydrogen bonds between adjacent chains. Herein, a facile sacrificial micelle-assisted-alignment strategy is proposed, leading to well-aligned, strong and tough pure chitosan hydrogels.

Chitin/Chitosan Nanofibers Toward a Sustainable Future: From Hierarchical Structural Regulation to Functionalization Applications.

Owing to its multiple fascinating properties of renewability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and antibacterial activity, chitin is expected to become a green cornerstone of next-generation functional materials. Chitin nanofibers, as building blocks, form multiscale hierarchical structures spanning nano- and macrolevels in living organisms, which pave the way for sophisticated functions. Therefore, from a biomimetic perspective, exploiting chitin nanofibers for use in multifunctional, high-performance materials is a promising approach.

Accelerated healing of intractable biofilm-infected diabetic wounds by trypsin-loaded quaternized chitosan hydrogels that disrupt extracellular polymeric substances and eradicate bacteria.

Complex and stubborn bacterial biofilm infections significantly hinder diabetic wound healing and threaten public health. Therefore, a dressing material that effectively clears biofilms and promotes wound healing is urgently required. Herein, we introduce a novel strategy for simultaneously dispersing extracellular polymeric substances and eradicating drug-resistant bacteria.

Nanofibrous textured silk aerogel with 3D channel arrays and adjustable mechanical properties for bone tissue regeneration.

Bone tissue engineering scaffolds are an important means of repairing bone defects, but current solutions do not adequately simulate complex extracellular microenvironment fibrous structures and adjustable mechanical properties. We use template-assisted fiber freeze-shaping technology to construct silk fibroin nanofiber aerogels (SNFAs) with nanofibrous textures and adjustable mechanical properties. The parallel arranged channels, the pores, electrospun nanofibers, and silk protein conformation together constitute the hierarchical structure of SNFAs.

Glucosamine sulfate-loaded nanofiber reinforced carboxymethyl chitosan sponge for articular cartilage restoration.

Cartilage is severely limited in self-repair after damage, and tissue engineering scaffold transplantation is considered the most promising strategy for cartilage regeneration. However, scaffolds without cells and growth factors, which can effectively avoid long cell culture times, high risk of infection, and susceptibility to contamination, remain scarce. Hence, we developed a cell- and growth factor-dual free hierarchically structured nanofibrous sponge to mimic the extracellular matrix, in which the encapsulated core-shell nanofibers served both as mechanical supports and as long-lasting carriers for bioactive biomass molecules (glucosamine sulfate).

Development and characterization of curcumin-loaded chitosan/egg yolk freshness-keeping edible films for chilled fresh pork packaging application.

In this study, a novel fresh-keeping edible film was prepared using egg yolk (EY) and chitosan (CS) with varying concentrations of curcumin (Cur) for food packaging. The addition of Cur notably enhanced tensile strength, elongation at break, and water resistance from 15.70 MPa to 24.

Plant-Based Shape Memory Cryogel for Hemorrhage Control.

The escalating global demand for sustainable manufacturing, motivated by concerns over energy conservation and carbon footprints, encounters challenges due to insufficient renewable materials and arduous fabrication procedures to fulfill specific requirements in medical and healthcare systems. Here, biosafe pollen cryogel is engineered as effective hemostats without additional harmful crosslinkers to treat deep noncompressible wounds. A straightforward and low-energy approach is involved in forming stable macroporous cryogel, benefiting from the unique micro-hierarchical structures and chemical components of non-allergenic plant pollen.

Self-Adapting Biomass Hydrogel Embodied with miRNA Immunoregulation and Long-Term Bacterial Eradiation for Synergistic Chronic Wound Therapy.

Chronic wound rescue is critical for diabetic patients but is challenging to achieve with a specific and long-term strategy. The prolonged bacterial inflammation is particularly prevalent in hyperglycemia-induced wounds, usually leading to severe tissue damage. Such a trend could further suffer from an environmental suitability provided by macrophages for persisting () and even deteriorate by their mutual reinforcement.

Multifunctional Material Building Blocks from Plant Pollen.

With its multifaceted nature, plant pollen serves not only as a key element in the reproductive cycle of seed plants but also as an influential contributor to environmental, human health, safety, and climate-related concerns. Pollen functions as a carrier of nutrients and organisms and holds a pivotal role in sustaining pollinator populations. Moreover, it is vital in ensuring the safety and quality of our food supply while presenting potential therapeutic applications.

Dopamine-Modified Chitosan Patterning Hydrogel with Dynamic Information Storage Ability.

The storage of dynamic information in hydrogels has aroused considerable interest regarding the multiple responsiveness of soft matter. Herein, we propose an electrical writing methodology to prepare dopamine (DA)-modified chitosan hydrogels with a dynamic information storage ability. A pH-responsive chitosan hydrogel medium was patterned by cathodic writing to in situ generate OH in the writing area, at which dopamine underwent an auto-oxidation reaction in the locally alkaline environment to generate a dark color.

Programmable Electrical Signals Induce Anisotropic Assembly of Multilayer Chitosan Hydrogels.

Multilayer hydrogels are widely used in biomedical-related fields due to their complex and variable spatial structures. Various strategies have been developed for preparing multilayer hydrogels, among which electrically induced self-assembly provides a simple and effective method for multilayer hydrogel fabrication. By application of an oscillatory electrical signal sequence, multilayer hydrogels with distinct boundaries can be formed according to the provided programmable signals.

A Sustainable Dual Cross-Linked Cellulose Hydrogel Electrolyte for High-Performance Zinc-Metal Batteries.

Aqueous rechargeable Zn-metal batteries (ARZBs) are considered one of the most promising candidates for grid-scale energy storage. However, their widespread commercial application is largely plagued by three major challenges: The uncontrollable Zn dendrites, notorious parasitic side reactions, and sluggish Zn ion transfer. To address these issues, we design a sustainable dual cross-linked cellulose hydrogel electrolyte, which has excellent mechanical strength to inhibit dendrite formation, high Zn ions binding capacity to suppress side reaction, and abundant porous structure to facilitate Zn ions migration.

Cellulose nanofibers embedded chitosan/tannin hydrogel with high antibacterial activity and hemostatic ability for drug-resistant bacterial infected wound healing.

Millions of patients annually suffer life-threatening illnesses caused by bacterial infections of skin wounds. However, the treatment of wounds infected with bacteria is a thorny issue in clinical medicine, especially with drug-resistant bacteria infections. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in developing wound dressings that can efficiently fight against drug-resistant bacterial infections and promote wound healing.

Scalable synthesis of N, O co-doped hierarchical porous carbon for high energy density supercapacitors.

Rational design of hierarchical porous architecture with abundant pseudocapacitive sites is highly desirable for carbon electrode materials. However, the lengthy production process and high economic input limit its broader application. Herein, we successfully prepared N, O co-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NOHC) through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of chitin biomass with the assist of NHCl and subsequent carbonization with NaNH.

Photothermal Fibrous Chitosan/Polydopamine Sponge for Intraoperative Hemostasis and Prevention of Tumor Recurrence in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Resection.

Hepatectomy, a surgical procedure for liver cancer, is often plagued by high recurrence rates worldwide. The recurrence of liver cancer is primarily attributed to microlesions in the liver, changes in the immune microenvironment, and circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream. To address this issue, a novel intervention method that combines intraoperative hemostasis with mild photothermal therapy is proposed, which has the potential to ablate microlesions and improve the immune microenvironment simultaneously.

Effect of hemicellulose content on the solution properties of cellulose carbamates in NaOH/ZnO aqueous system.

Hemicellulose removal from bleached bamboo pulp is key to produce qualified dissolving pulps. In this work, alkali/urea aqueous solution was firstly applied to remove hemicellulose in bleached bamboo pulp (BP). The effect of urea usage, time and temperature on the hemicellulose content of BP was studied.

Effect of the β-glucan from Lentinus edodes on colitis-associated colorectal cancer and gut microbiota.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world, and therapies with safety are in great need. In this study, the β-glucan isolated from Lentinus edodes was successfully fractionated into three fractions with different weight-average molecular weight (M) by ultrasonic degradation and used for the treatment of colorectal cancer. In our findings, the β-glucan was successfully degraded with the M decreased from 2.

Electro-Biofabrication. Coupling Electrochemical and Biomolecular Methods to Create Functional Bio-Based Hydrogels.

Twenty years ago, this journal published a review entitled "Biofabrication with Chitosan" based on the observations that (i) chitosan could be electrodeposited using low voltage electrical inputs (typically less than 5 V) and (ii) the enzyme tyrosinase could be used to graft proteins (via accessible tyrosine residues) to chitosan. Here, we provide a progress report on the coupling of nic inputs with advanced logical methods for the of biopolymer-based hydrogel films. In many cases, the initial observations of chitosan's electrodeposition have been extended and generalized: mechanisms have been established for the electrodeposition of various other biological polymers (proteins and polysaccharides), and electrodeposition has been shown to allow the precise control of the hydrogel's emergent microstructure.