Binding Kinetics of Self-Assembled Monolayers of Fluorinated Phosphate Ester on Metal Oxides for Underwater Aerophilicity.

The term "aerophilic surface" is used to describe superhydrophobic surfaces in the Cassie-Baxter wetting state that can trap air underwater. To create aerophilic surfaces, it is essential to achieve a synergy between a low surface energy coating and substrate surface roughness. While a variety of techniques have been established to create surface roughness, the development of rapid, scalable, low-cost, waste-free, efficient, and substrate-geometry-independent processes for depositing low surface energy coatings remains a challenge.

Microplastic Materials for Inhalation Studies: Preparation by Solvent Precipitation and Comprehensive Characterization.

Assessing the inhalation hazard of microplastics is important but necessitates sufficient quantity of microplastics that are representative and respirable (<4 µm). Common plastics are not typically manufactured in such small sizes. Here, solvent precipitation is used to produce respirable test materials from thermoplastics polyurethane (TPU), polyamide (PA-6), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE).

Isolation of anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic secondary metabolites from Valeriana phu and evaluation of their mechanisms of action.

As a result of anti-inflammatory activity-guided fractionation, 16 secondary metabolites from the underground parts of Valeriana phu L. were obtained, including five new ones belonging to iridoid (1, 2, and 5), phenylpropanoid (6) and neolignan (7) chemical classes. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR analyses as well as HRESIMS.

Cytoskeleton-functionalized synthetic cells with life-like mechanical features and regulated membrane dynamicity.

The cytoskeleton is a crucial determinant of mammalian cell structure and function, providing mechanical resilience, supporting the cell membrane and orchestrating essential processes such as cell division and motility. Because of its fundamental role in living cells, developing a reconstituted or artificial cytoskeleton is of major interest. Here we present an approach to construct an artificial cytoskeleton that imparts mechanical support and regulates membrane dynamics.

Higher-order transient membrane protein structures.

This study shows that five membrane proteins-three GPCRs, an ion channel, and an enzyme-form self-clusters under natural expression levels in a cardiac-derived cell line. The cluster size distributions imply that these proteins self-oligomerize reversibly through weak interactions. When the concentration of the proteins is increased through heterologous expression, the cluster size distributions approach a critical distribution at which point a phase transition occurs, yielding larger bulk phase clusters.

Entangling Independent Particles by Path Identity.

Quantum entanglement-correlations of particles that are stronger than any classical analog-is the basis for research on the foundations of quantum mechanics and for practical applications such as quantum networks. Traditionally, entanglement is achieved through local interactions or via entanglement swapping, where entanglement at a distance is generated through previously established entanglement and Bell-state measurements. However, the precise requirements enabling the generation of quantum entanglement without traditional local interactions remain less explored.

Automated discovery of experimental designs in super-resolution microscopy with XLuminA.

Driven by human ingenuity and creativity, the discovery of super-resolution techniques, which circumvent the classical diffraction limit of light, represent a leap in optical microscopy. However, the vast space encompassing all possible experimental configurations suggests that some powerful concepts and techniques might have not been discovered yet, and might never be with a human-driven direct design approach. Thus, AI-based exploration techniques could provide enormous benefit, by exploring this space in a fast, unbiased way.

Optoacoustic Entanglement in a Continuous Brillouin-Active Solid State System.

Entanglement in hybrid quantum systems comprised of fundamentally different degrees of freedom, such as light and mechanics, is of interest for a wide range of applications in quantum technologies. Here, we propose to engineer bipartite entanglement between traveling acoustic phonons in a Brillouin active solid state system and the accompanying light wave. The effect is achieved by applying optical pump pulses to state-of-the-art waveguides, exciting a Brillouin Stokes process.

Consensus Statement on Brillouin Light Scattering Microscopy of Biological Materials.

Brillouin Light Scattering (BLS) spectroscopy is a non-invasive, non-contact, label-free optical technique that can provide information on the mechanical properties of a material on the sub-micron scale. Over the last decade it has seen increased applications in the life sciences, driven by the observed significance of mechanical properties in biological processes, the realization of more sensitive BLS spectrometers and its extension to an imaging modality. As with other spectroscopic techniques, BLS measurements not only detect signals characteristic of the investigated sample, but also of the experimental apparatus, and can be significantly affected by measurement conditions.

Correction: Microglia are essential for tissue contraction in wound closure after brain injury in zebrafish larvae.

Although in humans, the brain fails to heal after an injury, young zebrafish are able to restore tissue structural integrity in less than 24 h, thanks to the mechanical action of microglia.

Optical characterization of molecular interaction strength in protein condensates.

Biomolecular condensates have been identified as a ubiquitous means of intracellular organization, exhibiting very diverse material properties. However, techniques to characterize these material properties and their underlying molecular interactions are scarce. Here, we introduce two optical techniques-Brillouin microscopy and quantitative phase imaging (QPI)-to address this scarcity.

Tailored Bisacylphosphane Oxides for Precise Induction of Oxidative Stress-Mediated Cell Death in Biological Systems.

Precise cell elimination within intricate cellular populations is hampered by issues arising from the multifaceted biological properties of cells and the expansive reactivity of chemical agents. Current chemical platforms are often limited by their complexity, toxicity, and poor physical/chemical properties. Here, we report on the synthesis of a structurally versatile library of chemically tunable bisacylphosphane oxides (BAPOs), which harnesses the spatiotemporal precision of light delivery, thereby establishing a universal strategy for on-demand, precise cellular ablation and .

Optical characterization of molecular interaction strength in protein condensates.

Biomolecular condensates have been identified as a ubiquitous means of intracellular organization, exhibiting very diverse material properties. However, techniques to characterize these material properties and their underlying molecular interactions are scarce. Here, we introduce two optical techniques - Brillouin microscopy and quantitative phase imaging (QPI) - to address this scarcity.

Thermally Assisted Microfluidics to Produce Chemically Equivalent Microgels with Tunable Network Morphologies.

Although micron-sized microgels have become important building blocks in regenerative materials, offering decisive interactions with living matter, their chemical composition mostly significantly varies when their network morphology is tuned. Since cell behavior is simultaneously affected by the physical, chemical, and structural properties of the gel network, microgels with variable morphology but chemical equivalence are of interest. This work describes a new method to produce thermoresponsive microgels with defined mechanical properties, surface morphologies, and volume phase transition temperatures.

Long-Range Three-Dimensional Tracking of Nanoparticles Using Interferometric Scattering Microscopy.

Tracking nanoparticle movement is highly desirable in many scientific areas, and various imaging methods have been employed to achieve this goal. Interferometric scattering (iSCAT) microscopy has been particularly successful in combining very high spatial and temporal resolution for tracking small nanoparticles in all three dimensions. However, previous works have been limited to an axial range of only a few hundred nanometers.

Microglia are essential for tissue contraction in wound closure after brain injury in zebrafish larvae.

Wound closure after brain injury is crucial for tissue restoration but remains poorly understood at the tissue level. We investigated this process using in vivo observations of larval zebrafish brain injury. Our findings show that wound closure occurs within the first 24 h through global tissue contraction, as evidenced by live-imaging and drug inhibition studies.

Second-Order Nonlinear Circular Dichroism in Square Lattice Array of Germanium Nanohelices.

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is prohibited in centrosymmetric crystals such as silicon or germanium due to the presence of inversion symmetry. However, the structuring of such materials makes it possible to break the inversion symmetry, thus achieving generation of second-harmonic. Moreover, various symmetry properties of the resulting structure, such as chirality, also influence the SHG.

Longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and cell deformability: do glucocorticoids play a role?

Cell deformability of all major blood cell types is increased in depressive disorders (DD). Furthermore, impaired glucocorticoid secretion is associated with DD, as well as depressive symptoms in general and known to alter cell mechanical properties. Nevertheless, there are no longitudinal studies examining accumulated glucocorticoid output and depressive symptoms regarding cell deformability.

full-angle high-dynamic range scattering of microscopic objects exploiting holotomography.

Accurate optical characterization of microscopic objects is crucial in academic research, product development, and clinical diagnosis. We present a method for obtaining full and high-dynamic range, angle-resolved light scattering attributes of microparticles, enabling distinction of variations in both overall morphology and detailed internal structures. This method overcomes previous limitations in observable scattering angles and dynamic range of signals through computationally assisted three-dimensional holotomography.

Anisakis extracellular vesicles elicit immunomodulatory and potentially tumorigenic outcomes on human intestinal organoids.

Background: Anisakis spp. are zoonotic nematodes causing mild to severe acute and chronic gastrointestinal infections. Chronic anisakiasis can lead to erosive mucosal ulcers, granulomas and inflammation, potential tumorigenic triggers.

Femtosecond pulse amplification on a chip.

Femtosecond laser pulses enable the synthesis of light across the electromagnetic spectrum and provide access to ultrafast phenomena in physics, biology, and chemistry. Chip-integration of femtosecond technology could revolutionize applications such as point-of-care diagnostics, bio-medical imaging, portable chemical sensing, or autonomous navigation. However, current chip-integrated pulse sources lack the required peak power, and on-chip amplification of femtosecond pulses has been an unresolved challenge.

Long-term zinc treatment alters the mechanical properties and metabolism of prostate cancer cells.

The failure of intracellular zinc accumulation is a key process in prostate carcinogenesis. Although prostate cancer cells can accumulate zinc after long-term exposure, chronic zinc oversupply may accelerate prostate carcinogenesis or chemoresistance. Because cancer progression is associated with energetically demanding cytoskeletal rearrangements, we investigated the effect of long-term zinc presence on biophysical parameters, ATP production, and EMT characteristics of two prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3, 22Rv1).