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The liver, a complex and vital organ in the human body, is susceptible to various diseases, including metabolic disorders, acute hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. In recent decades, these diseases have significantly contributed to global morbidity and mortality. Currently, liver transplantation remains the most effective treatment for hepatic disorders. Nucleic acid therapeutics offer a selective approach to disease treatment through diverse mechanisms, enabling the regulation of relevant genes and providing a novel therapeutic avenue for hepatic disorders. It is expected that nucleic acid drugs will emerge as the third generation of pharmaceuticals, succeeding small molecule drugs and antibody drugs. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) represent a crucial technology in the field of drug delivery and constitute a significant advancement in gene therapies. Nucleic acids encapsulated in LNPs are shielded from the degradation of enzymes and effectively delivered to cells, where they are released and regulate specific genes. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the structure, composition, and applications of LNPs in the treatment of hepatic disorders and offers insights into prospects and challenges in the future development of LNPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pickering emulsions are considered as promising chemical oil repellents in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In this paper, an amphiphilic block copolymer poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(dopamine methacrylamide) (mPEG–PDMA, abbreviated as mp) containing catechol adhesion groups was synthesized. The surface modification of A200 and SBA-15 nanoparticles was carried out using the strategy of dip-coating with mp solution, and the emulsification properties of the two modified particles and their stability were comparatively investigated. The results showed that both modified particles could achieve excellent emulsification performance. The best emulsification effect was achieved when the concentration of A200-mp and SBA-15-mp particles was 2.5 mg mL−1 and the oil phase volume fraction was 0.5. The emulsions stabilized by SBA-15-mp tended to be invertible when the volume fraction of the oil phase was 0.7 or pH = 2–3 or when NaCl was added, and O/W emulsions could be inverted into W/O types. Interestingly, the emulsions stabilized by A200-mp particles showed good acid resistance, alkali resistance, high salt resistance, multiple oil phase applicability and centrifugal shear stability. In the simulated rock permeation experiments, the emulsions prepared using A200-mp particles could stably permeate in the silica sand column without an obvious chromatographic separation effect, which is promising for application in tertiary oil recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic cages (MOCs) are an emerging class of porous materials with promising applications. However, controlling the configuration of the cage packing, which can influence the overall porosity of the materials, remains a difficulty, as many factors can influence the cage assembly and stacking. Herein, we report a solvent strategy to fine-tune the packing configuration of a bilayer MOC, a small triangular prism cage (six Cu ions act as vertices, three nitrate ions act as pillars, and six nitrate ions act as caps) incorporated into a large triangular prism cage (another six Cu ions act as vertices, a couple of oxygen atoms act as pillars and six ligands (L1: 3,5-bis(pyridine-3-yl)-4 H -1,2,4-triazole) act as a jointed cap) by the coordination between the triazole nitrogen from L1 and the inner vertex Cu ions. The involved solvents water, acetonitrile (MeCN) and N , N '-dimethylformamide (DMF) form hydrogen bonds with this bilayer MOC, resulting in three different types of packing associated with systemically tuned porosity (NTU-93: 12.2%, NTU-94: 19.3%, and NTU-95: 42.1%). Gas adsorption and breakthrough tests demonstrate that NTU-95 has potential ability for C 2 H 2 /C 2 H 4 separation. This work not only shows a case of finely tuned packing of coordination cages, but also provides a powerful tool that may be extended to other cage families.