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Click-Chemistry synergic MXene-functionalized flexible skeleton membranes achieved high-efficiency selective separation to artemisinin. [Display omitted] • Transport to specific molecule was achieved assisted by MXene laminated structure. • High stability for perm-selectivity of MIMs in mobile phase was achieved. • Click-chemistry drove to build dot-matrix imprinting units. • MIMs showed excellent antibacterial properties and sustainable reusability. Membrane-based technology with accurate-recognition and specific-transmission has been regarded as one of the most promising strategies in environmental protection and energy conservation. However, membrane technique still faces challenges of "trade-off effect" between high selectivity and permeation flux within organic-aqueous mixed matrix. Here, well-intergrown click-chemistry synergic MXene-functionalized flexible skeleton membranes has been prepared in this strategy, enabling size-exclusion&structure selectivity by uniform location array imprinting unit and transport performance towards specific medicinal molecules of artemisinin (Ars). The well-assembled ultrathin cascade-type MXene layer guarantees the narrow interlayer nanochannels and the flexible skeleton modified mesoporous SiO 2 nanoparticles provide active reaction platform for the construction of selective recognition space. The resulting membranes demonstrated outstanding selective separation performance with permeability factor that artesunate (Aru) /Ars and dihydro-artemisinin (d -Ars) / Ars of 3.17 and 2.89 and permeation flux of 1173.25 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1. Besides, combined with antibacterial durability, recycling performance, high separation performance in mobile phase stability of CMFMs, it is anticipated that this work hopefully opens a new avenue for efficient chiral separation to medicinal molecules, exhibiting broad potential for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A MXene-based SA-imprinted membrane using cooperative dual-imprinting strategy has been rationally developed to obtain high-selectivity double-layer-based SA-imprinted sites for selective recognition and separation of SA. [Display omitted] Ti 3 C 2 T x (MXene) has attracted extensive attention from scholars at home and abroad due to its rich surface termination functional groups and two-dimensional multilayer structure. In this work, MXene was introduced to the membrane by vacuum-assisted filtration processes, and the formed interlayer channel facilitated the construction of recognition sites and molecular transmission. In this paper, PDA@MXene@PDA@SiO 2 -PVDF dual-imprinted mixed matrix membrane (PMS-DIMs) were developed by the cooperative dual-imprinting strategy, which was used for the adsorption of shikimic acid (SA). Firstly, SiO 2 -PVDF nanofiber basement membrane were prepared by electrospinning method and the first Polydopamine (PDA)-based imprinted layer was constructed on the membrane. PDA not only realized the imprinting process, PDA modification was used to give MXene nanosheets better antioxidant properties and to confer the SiO 2 -PVDF nanofiber membrane the interface stability. After that, the second-imprinted sites were constructed on the stacked MXene nanosheets surface as well as between the layers. The SA dual-imprinted sites significantly increased the efficiency of the selective adsorption efficiency, when the template molecule passed through the membrane, the cooperative dual-imprinting strategy enabled multiplex recognition and adsorption of template molecules. As a consequence, which greatly improving the rebinding ability(262.17 g m−2), and mselectivity factors (β Catechol/SA , β P-HB/SA , β P-NP/SA were 2.34, 4.50 and 5.68). High stability proved the potentials of the PMS-DIMs for practical application. Precise SA-recognition sites were constructed on the PMS-DIMs, PMS-DIMs not only exhibit excellent selective rebinding properties but also have high permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of works have presented the single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to study the diversity and biological functions of cells at the single-cell level. Clustering identifies unknown cell types, which is essential for downstream analysis of scRNA-seq samples. However, the high dimensionality, high noise and pervasive dropout rate of scRNA-seq samples have a significant challenge to the cluster analysis of scRNA-seq samples. Herein, we propose a new adaptive fuzzy clustering model based on the denoising autoencoder and self-attention mechanism called the scDASFK. It implements the comparative learning to integrate cell similar information into the clustering method and uses a deep denoising network module to denoise the data. scDASFK consists of a self-attention mechanism for further denoising where an adaptive clustering optimization function for iterative clustering is implemented. In order to make the denoised latent features better reflect the cell structure, we introduce a new adaptive feedback mechanism to supervise the denoising process through the clustering results. Experiments on 16 real scRNA-seq datasets show that scDASFK performs well in terms of clustering accuracy, scalability and stability. Overall, scDASFK is an effective clustering model with great potential for scRNA-seq samples analysis. Our scDASFK model codes are freely available at https://github.com/LRX2022/scDASFK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-imprinted GO/TiO 2 -loaded nanocomposite membranes based on polydopamine-based and sol–gel imprinting methods were prepared for selective separation of tetracycline. [Display omitted] Molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) with sufficient and even-distributed recognition sites that can break the permeability-selectivity trade-off phenomenon are desirable in chemical field of selective separation. Herein graphene oxide (GO)/TiO 2 -loaded nanocomposite fibrous membranes were prepared by developing two kinds of tetracycline (TC)-imprinted systems in the same MIMs-based material. Thereinto, polydopamine-based and sol–gel-based imprinting processes were applied to the synthesis of GO/TiO 2 -loaded dual-imprinted mixed matrix membranes (GT-DIMs). The as-prepared GT-DIMs encompassed innovative GO/TiO 2 -based nanocomposite fibrous channels and two kinds of TC-imprinted systems, and critical comparisons regarding the fluxes, rebinding capacities and permselectivity were provided and studied. Importantly, dual-imprinted system of GT-DIMs could not only allow for largely enhanced rebinding result (70.63 mg/g) and fast adsorption equilibrium rate within 30 min, but also facilitate the high permselectivity of TC in complex separation systems and lab-simulated wastewater samples. The permselectivity factors were all around 5.0, which strongly demonstrated the efficiently selective recognition and separation performance of GT-DIMs. Overall, based on testing results of practical separation and scalability, excellent structural stability and separation continuity had been successfully obtained for selective separation applications of pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D wood-based Nd3+-imprinted membranes with high permselectivity performance were successfully synthesized by developing a PDA@basswood-based multilevel membrane structure. • Basswood was used as the supporting membrane for the preparation of imprinting materials. • 3D wood-based Nd3+-imprinted multilevel structure was designed and prepared. • Well-designed multilevel/hierarchical 3DW-IIMs were first proposed and applied as selective separation membranes. • The PDA@basswood structure was first proposed and applied as imprinting-initiated factors. • High rebinding capacity and permselectivity performance could be simultaneously obtained. Three-dimensional (3D) basswood materials, for the first time, were successfully used for the construction of rare-earth Nd(III)-imprinted nanocomposite membranes. Herein, polydopamine (PDA)-modified layers could be initially synthesized on basswood surfaces. After the double-bonded modification procedure, the 3D wood-based ionic imprinted membranes (3DW-IIMs) system was finally accomplished by developing a re-modified two-step-temperature free radical polymerization process. The as-design PDA@basswood surface structure was first proposed and applied as imprinting-initiated factors for the preparation of Nd(III)-imprinted sites. Importantly, excellent rebinding capacity (120.87 mg g−1), adsorption kinetics and permselectivity coefficients (more than 10) were achieved successfully. Furthermore, an important research result had also been found that the PDA-modified layers caused significant promotions to the rebinding capacities of the as-prepared 3DW-IIMs, that is to say, more and more Nd(III)-imprinted sites could be synthesized because of the PDA-modified surfaces. The as-obtained selective rebinding and separation results together with the green natural wood-based materials strongly demonstrated that our synthesis methodology of 3DW-IIMs had great potential for applications in various fields of rare earth separation, chemical industry, and environment protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The high-performance MXene nanosheets with stable and tunable lamellar nanochannels were introduced to the polymeric membrane matrix. • As a multifunction hybrid coating, PDA enhances the antioxidant properties and hydrophilicity of the original MXene. • A discontinuous cooperative imprinting strategy is developed to achieve high selectivity. • A lasting adsorption stability was realized. Ti 3 C 2 T x (MXene) has attracted wide research interest for application in various fields due to its rich surface chemistry and 2D multilayer structure. However, its application remains challenging due to its oxidative fragility. Here, Polydopamine (PDA) act as both the functional monomer and crosslinker, could self-polymerize to form a stable multifunction hybrid coating on MXene surfaces, which enhances the antioxidant properties of the MXene while form the first SA-imprinted sites. During the second imprinting process, the PDA-based first SA-imprinted recognition layer acted as the "anchor" to trigger the second SA-imprinted layer (sol–gel boronate affinity imprinting layer). Benefiting from the above mentioned discontinuous cooperative imprinting strategy, an efficient SA dual-imprinted sites was constructed on the surface of MXene-based molecularly imprinted membrane(P-MBMs). Such cooperative imprinting strategy could generate highly specific and strong binding sites for the template molecule. Adsorption isotherm and dynamics, permeation selectivity, and stability were studied, with ideal rebinding ability for SA (363.29 g m−2) and permselectivity factors (β Catechol/SA = 2.40, β P-HB/SA = 5.50, β P-NP/SA = 7.54), respectively. In-situ diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analysis revealed that the high selectivity of P-MBMs for SA was mainly realized by the SA dual-imprinted sites constructed on the membrane. In addition, dynamic penetration test was first used to to verify the stability of the P-MBMs to specifically recognize the target molecule in this work. Compared to one-step imprinting approaches, the proposed discontinuous cooperative imprinting strategy would offer precise recognition sites, multiple strengthening of SA-imprinted sites could improve the selective separation performance of P-MBMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of membrane-based molecularly imprinted material with rapid rebinding and high-permselectivity performance has become an urgent need in chemical separation and industrial production. Herein, the high-quality membrane-based designs were proposed for the preparation of SiO 2 @polydopamine blended nanocomposite imprinted membranes with hierarchical structure. The high-efficiency antimalarial drug, artemisinin, was used as template molecule during the newly-developed sol-gel artemisinin-imprinted strategy. Importantly in this work, instead of the direct construction of imprinting layers on membranes, the artemisinin-imprinted SiO 2 @polydopamine particles were initially synthesized followed by a phase conversion process to obtain the SPIMs. The SiO 2 -based artemisinin-imprinted polymers on PDA nanospheres would played imprinted-triggered roles for achieving specific artemisinin-imprinted sites. Meanwhile, amount of artemisinin-imprinted cavities and permselectivity were both optimized, high-permselectivity coefficients (more than 11.5), fast adsorption kinetics and enhanced rebinding capacity (45.89 mg g−1) could be obtained. That is to say, this new direction of the membrane's design would become the further design and guide for selective separation membrane materials. SiO 2 @PDA-blended nanocomposite imprinted membranes with multilevel synergistic integration structure were first proposed and developed for the selective recognition and separation of artemisinin. [Display omitted] • The sol-gel artemisinin-imprinted SiO 2 @PDA particles were first proposed. • A nanocomposite-blended synthesis strategy was developed instead of the direct modification of MIPs on membranes. • Well-designed multilevel/hierarchical SPIMs were used as selective separation membranes. • High rebinding capacity and permselectivity performance could be simultaneously obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biomass-activated carbon/GO-based loading system was designed and developed for the preparation of PDA-based ACNPs/GO nanocomposite imprinted membranes, high rebinding capacity and permselectivity performance could be simultaneously obtained. • PDA-based ACNPs/GO nanocomposite imprinted membranes were first proposed. • A biomass-activated carbon/GO-based loading system was designed for separating propranolol. • Well-designed hierarchical P-AGNMs were first applied as selective separation membranes. • High rebinding capacity and permselectivity performance could be simultaneously obtained. There has been plenty of attempts to engineer functional membranes with excellent comprehensive properties, figuring out how to both achieve excellent selectivity and permeation flux in one membrane is facing challenges. In this work, a subversive synthesis strategy with hierarchical structure was first proposed for the preparation of polymerization (PDA)-based activated carbon particles (ACPs)/GO nanocomposite imprinted membranes (P-AGNMs). A PDA-based imprinting process was initially performed on ACPs/GO surfaces to synthesize the PDA-based propranolol-imprinted sites, the P-AGNMs were then obtained through an innovative electrostatic spinning process. Based on the propranolol-imprinted PDA-ACPs/GO blended membrane structure, simultaneous benefits in both adsorption selectivity and permselectivity performance toward propranolol had been accomplished. Specifically, excellent rebinding capacity (54.9 mg g−1), fast adsorption kinetics and permselectivity coefficients (more that 3.5) could be easily obtained. Importantly, the optimized experimental results strongly suggested that the as-designed propranolol-imprinted sites from PDA-modified surfaces played crucial roles for obtaining increasing rebinding capacities of P-AGNMs. In addition, the as-prepared P-AGNMs were synthesized without complicated procedures and polluting the environment, which demonstrated that the as-designed synthesis methodology of P-AGNMs had great potential for applications in selective separation field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the design and fabrication of high-performance molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) using a UiO-66@PDA framework with densely imprinted sites for the targeted adsorption of artemisinin (ATSN). UiO-66@PDA was synthesized by modifying polydopamine with metal-organic frame (MOF) that contain Zr(IV) ions. The unique UiO-66@PDA structure exhibits an excellent specific surface area and strong binding abilities towards ATSN due to the abundant phenolic, quinone, and amino functional groups. The addition of SiO 2 nanoparticles further enhanced the stability of the hybrid membrane during the adsorption process, and the preparation of inorganic-organic hybrid membranes (k-SUPCP-IMs) involves the use of a click chemistry-based imprinted polymer that takes advantage of the heterogeneous structure of the material. This process highlights the importance of different building blocks and functional reactions in controlling the morphology and porosity of porous organic polymers. The results showed satisfactory rebinding ability (40.07 mg g−1) and superselective (β ATMT/ATSN = 7.87, β DDTM/ATSN = 8.26, β ATST/ATSN = 6.40). It was noteworthy that the unique electrostatic interaction between SiO 2 and the imprinted molecules provides optimal conditions for the formation of high-affinity binding sites, thereinto, the creation of additional active sites played a critical role in improving the sensitivity of MIMs. The close combination of porous MOF-based heterojunctions and abundant adsorption sites realizes the synergistic promotion of selectivity and efficient separation of artemisinin. [Display omitted] • The preparation of porous MOF-based heterojunction can improve the solute transport rate and obtain sufficient anchor points. • SiO 2 nanoparticles with a large amount of active -OH ensure the "survival" of the membrane in complex environments. • Excellent light absorbent material provides guarantee for the formation of imprinting sites. • Porous structure and adsorption sites gives advantages in achieving enhanced permeation flux and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous&permselective dual-tetracycline-imprinted nanocomposite membranes based on twice-polymerization-based imprinting process were prepared for selective separation of tetracycline. [Display omitted] • Twice-PDA-based dual-TC-imprinted membrane was first proposed. • Dual-imprinted membrane with GO/SiO 2 -loaded structure was successfully constructed. • Well-designed TC-imprinted membrane was applied as selective separation device. • High-performance flux and permselectivity of MIMs were obtained simultaneously. Here, the graphene oxide (GO)/SiO 2 -loaded dual-imprinted membranes (GS-DIMs) were constructed based on the self-polymerization imprinting technique of dopamine, in which a twice polydopamine (PDA)-based imprinting strategy had been successfully developed to obtain the three-dimensional nanocomposite membrane-based separation system. Meanwhile, the pollution-intensive antibiotics of tetracycline (TC) was used as template molecule throughout the GS-DIMs synthesis, and the dopamine molecules were simultaneously used as functional monomer and cross-linking agent during the twice polydopamine (PDA)-based imprinting processes. Therefore, dual-TC-imprinted sites had been prepared based on the as-designed dual imprinting processes, the as-prepared GS-DIMs-based separation system with dual-TC-imprinted structures could not only allow for the largely enhanced rebinding result of 65.61 mg/g and faster adsorption equilibrium rate within 20 min, but also facilitate the permselectivity performance from TC-based complex separation system and mimetic water sample. Importantly, we demonstrated the applications and effects of the dual-imprinted membrane-based separation materials to selective rebinding and separation of TC from complex solution systems and mimetic water samples. The as-obtained permselectivity factors (β) around 4.0 strongly illustrated the efficiently selective separation ability and high-intensitive recognizability of TC than any other non-template molecules based on our GS-DIMs-based separation system. Overall, the as-designed GS-DIMs had great potential for selective separation applications and provided critical comparisons based on the as-achieved excellent rebinding and permselectivity performance, which encompassed innovative GO/SiO 2 -loaded nanocomposite and PDA-based dual-TC-imprinted system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the synergistic effect of the MOF mixed matrix membrane prepared by rotary evaporation and the polydopamine imprinted layer, a boronate-affinity sol–gel double-imprinted UiO-66/PVDF nanocomposite membrane was constructed. [Display omitted] • Imprinted structures based on borate affinity sol–gel dual imprinting synergy was developed. • The application of acetone and rotary evaporation technology promoted the uniform dispersion of MOF particles. • The dopamine-imprinted layer exhibited good adsorption to SA molecules. • The developed membrane achieves high performance flux and permeation selectivity. Compared to traditional separation methods, membrane-based separation can reduce environmental impact while reducing energy consumption. However, traditional adsorbents have issues with low selectivity and adsorption capacity because they enclose the majority of their functional sites in their thick structures. In this research, molecularly imprinted nanocomposite membranes were inventively integrated with boronate-affinity sol–gel imprinting technique (BSIT). It is important to note that in this work, the metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) mixed-matrix membrane (MMMs) served as the initial platform for the polydopamine (PDA)-based imprinting layer. The key to the fabrication of the MOFs MMMs was the employment of the rotary evaporation technique. The prepared boronate-affinity sol–gel molecularly imprinted membranes (BS-MIMs) played an important role in the high selectivity of the specific compound shikimic acid (SA) through covalent (boronate-affinity) and non-covalent (–OH and –NH 2) effect. This new approach provides a more precise combination of simultaneously increasing selectivity (greater than 5.0) and adsorption capacity (up to 107.87 mg g−1). The efficiency of BSIT makes it extremely competitive for the development of selective separation membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Programmed cell death (PCD) is an essential process for development, and shows conserved cytological features in both plants and animals. Caspases are well‐known critical components of the PCD machinery in animals. However, currently few typical counterparts have been identified in plants and only several caspase‐like proteases are known to be involved in plant PCD, indicating the existence of great challenge for confirming new caspase‐like proteases and elucidating the mechanisms regulating plant PCD. Here, we report a novel cysteine protease, NtTPE8, which was extracted from tobacco seeds and confirmed as a new caspase‐like protease. Recombinant NtTPE8 exhibited legumain and caspase‐like proteolytic activities, both of which could be inhibited by the pan‐caspase inhibitor (Z‐VAD‐FMK). Notably, NtTPE8 possessed several caspase activities and the capacity to cleave the cathepsin H substrate FVR, indicating a unique character of NtTPE8. NtTPE8 was exclusively expressed in the integumentary tapetum and thus, is the first specific molecular marker reported to date for this cell type. Down‐regulation of NtTPE8 caused seed abortion, via disturbing early embryogenesis, indicating its critical role in embryogenesis and seed development. In conclusion, we identified a novel caspase‐like cysteine protease, NtTPE8, exclusively expressed in the integumentary tapetum that is involved in seed development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid development of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology has allowed researchers to explore biological phenomena at the cellular scale. Clustering is a crucial and helpful step for researchers to study the heterogeneity of cell. Although many clustering methods have been proposed, massive dropout events and the curse of dimensionality in scRNA-seq data make it still difficult to analysis because they reduce the accuracy of clustering methods, leading to misidentification of cell types. In this work, we propose the scHFC, which is a hybrid fuzzy clustering method optimized by natural computation based on Fuzzy C Mean (FCM) and Gath-Geva (GG) algorithms. Specifically, principal component analysis algorithm is utilized to reduce the dimensions of scRNA-seq data after it is preprocessed. Then, FCM algorithm optimized by simulated annealing algorithm and genetic algorithm is applied to cluster the data to output a membership matrix, which represents the initial clustering result and is taken as the input for GG algorithm to get the final clustering results. We also develop a cluster number estimation method called multi-index comprehensive estimation, which can estimate the cluster numbers well by combining four clustering effectiveness indexes. The performance of the scHFC method is evaluated on 17 scRNA-seq datasets, and compared with six state-of-the-art methods. Experimental results validate the better performance of our scHFC method in terms of clustering accuracy and stability of algorithm. In short, scHFC is an effective method to cluster cells for scRNA-seq data, and it presents great potential for downstream analysis of scRNA-seq data. The source code is available at https://github.com/WJ319/scHFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close combination of porous MOF-based heterojunctions and abundant adsorption sites realizes the synergistic promotion of selectivity and efficient separation of luteolin. [Display omitted] • Porous MOF-based heterojunction can improve the solute transport rate and obtain sufficient anchor points. • The deposition of Ag nanoparticles ensured the membrane's "survival" in complex environment. • Bifunctional monomers provided a guarantee for the formation of abundant imprinting sites. • Close combination of stable porous structure and abundant adsorption sites gives synergistic osmotic flux and selectivity. Complex substrates found in certain extracts-particularly those containing high phenolic compounds with significant medicinal value-pose considerable challenges to developing molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) with specific recognition abilities. In this study, UiO-66-NH 2 , a metal–organic structure (MOF), was chosen as an optimizer to enhance the basic support material C 3 N 4. A composite imprinted membrane based on MOFs was then prepared for the targeted adsorption of luteolin (LTL). This not only increases the surface area and pore capacity of the composite membranes, but also ensures unprecedented control over the membranes structure and good stability. To maximize the proportion of imprinted sites, we utilize an advanced boron affinity sol–gel imprinting technique that capitalizes on the exceptional response of the bifunctional monomer. By finely manipulating the imprinting process, controlled distribution of imprinted sites was achieved. Furthermore, the incorporation of Ag nanoparticles into the composite matrix of MIMs enhances selectivity and efficiency due to their plasmonic properties and high affinity for phenolic compounds, providing increased adsorption surface area and additional binding sites. The results showed satisfactory rebinding ability (56.25 mg g−1) and superselective (β AG/LTL = 4.43 and β CT/LTL = 8.49). It was worth noting that incorporating Ag nanoparticles into composite MIMs for the selective adsorption of LTL demonstrates significant potential. This includes enhanced selectivity, efficiency, and hydrophilicity of the membrane surface. Thus, enhanced hydrophilicity can establish stronger non-covalent interactions, namely hydrogen bonding and van der waals forces, with the target molecules, thereby significantly improving the adsorption capacity of the MIMs. The feasibility of this method was demonstrated via in-situ infrared analysis of the chemical structure changes before and after adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Au/SiO 2 -pDA-based nanocomposite ovalbumin-imprinted membranes with controllable biocompatibility/selectivity were first proposed and developed for the achievements of thermo-responsive recognition ability and reversible cell adhesion/detachment. Inspired by the biomimetic modification strategy of dopamine self-polymerization technique, molecularly imprinted nanocomposite membranes (MINCMs) with thermo-responsive rebinding and separation performance were synthesized and evaluated. Herein, the Au/SiO 2 -based multilevel structure had been successfully obtained onto the polydopamine (pDA) modified membrane surfaces. Afterward, the poly(N -isopropylacrylamide)-based biomolecule-imprinted sites were adequately constructed by developing a photoinitiated atom transfer radical polymerization (pATRP) imprinting strategy using the high-biocompatible ovalbumin (Ova, pI 4.6) as template molecule. Therefore, thermo-responsive 'specific recognition sites' toward Ova were then achieved on the as-prepared MINCMs after the well-designed imprinting process. When the external temperature was set at 37 °C, excellent ovalbumin rebinding capacity (33.26 mg/g), selectivity factor (3.06) and structural stability were obtained. Importantly, as to the controllable biocompatibility research of this work, the bare glass and Ova-bound-MINCMs (the MINCMs were bound with Ova) showed basically the same cell adhesion behaviors and viability, indicating the excellent biocompatibility of the Ova-bound-MINCMs. Additionally, efficient and rapid regulation of cell adhesion/detachment on ovalbumin-bound MINCMs could be still obtained even after 10 cycles of temperature-switch process, which indicated that the as-prepared MINCMs had strong ability to work under high intensity and long continuous operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecularly imprinted nanocomposite membranes with C-MSNs-based imprinting structure, in which lysozyme was template molecule, was constructed based on our newly-developed synergetic synthesis strategy of the sol–gel imprinting-initiated system. [Display omitted] • LYZ-MINMs improved the problem embedding and aggregation of nanoparticles. • Uniform and dense C-MSNs layer was loaded on the doubles faces of membrane by self-assembly strategy. • Double-faced C-MSNs-based imprinting structure was constructed by the sol–gel imprinting-initiated system. • High rebinding capacity and selectivity of LYZ-MINMs were obtained simultaneously. • Well-designed bidirectional LYZ-imprinted membrane was applied as selective separation device. In recent years, the combination of membranes and nanomaterials has made remarkable progress in separation of proteins. Nevertheless, the current combination methods suffer from the drawbacks of aggregation and embedding of nanomaterials, leading to a loss of membrane performance. In present work, the lysozyme molecularly imprinted nanocomposite membranes (LYZ-MINMs) with uniform and dense carboxyl functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (C-MSNs) layer were successfully prepared by a double-faced self-assembly strategy for selective separation of LYZ from chicken egg white. Notably, the resulted LYZ-MINMs exhibit both promoted hydrophilicity (36.2°) and enhanced rebinding capacity (509 mg g−1) by comparing with the MINMs designed with the blending method. The selectivity of LYZ-MINMs toward LYZ is improved by the sol–gel imprinting process, resulting in a satisfactory rebinding selectivity of 2.98, 3.22 and 3.45 for Cytochrome C , Bovine haemoglobin, and Ovalbumin, respectively. After ten cycles, the high regeneration rate (>90 %) demonstrates the potential of LYZ- MINMs for practical applications. In addition, the practicability of LYZ- MINMs further verified by utilizing diluted egg white. The work shows great promise for next-generation membranes for protein separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P2X4 receptor (P2X4R) is a member of trimeric ATP-gated receptor channel family. Despite the importance of P2X4R in innate immunity has been addressed in mammals, the immunological significance of P2X4R has not been characterized in fish. In the present study we identified a full-length P2X4R cDNA sequence from Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus (termed poP2X4R ) by RT-PCR and RACE approaches and analyzed its gene expression patterns under normal and immune challenge conditions. Qualitative RT-PCR analyses revealed that poP2X4R has a widespread distribution in all examined tissues but dominantly expressed in hepatopancreas. In Japanese flounder head kidney macrophages and peripheral blood lymphocytes, poP2X4R was rapidly and significantly up-regulated by the immune challenges of LPS, poly(I:C) and zymosan. In addition, poP2X4R was up-regulated in spleen, head kidney and gill tissues by Edwardsiella tarda infections. Furthermore, we showed that poP2X4R is a membrane glycoprotein which could interact with ATP release channel Pannexin1, an important component in extracellular ATP-activated purinergic signaling pathways involved in Japanese flounder innate immune response. From a comparative immunological point of view, our results have provided new evidence for the involvement of extracellular ATP-gated P2XRs in fish innate immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]