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Abstract Macrophages are heterogenic phagocytic cells that play distinct roles in physiological and pathological processes. Targeting different types of macrophages has shown potent therapeutic effects in many diseases. Although many approaches are developed to target anti‐inflammatory macrophages, there are few researches on targeting pro‐inflammatory macrophages, which is partially attributed to their non‐s pecificity phagocytosis of extracellular substances. In this study, a novel recombinant protein is constructed that can be anchored on an exosome membrane with the purpose of targeting pro‐inflammatory macrophages via antigen recognition, which is named AnCar‐ExoLaIMTS. The data indicate that the phagocytosis efficiencies of pro‐inflammatory macrophages for different AnCar‐ExoLaIMTS show obvious differences. The AnCar‐ExoLaIMTS3 has the best targeting ability for pro‐inflammatory macrophages in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, AnCar‐ExoLaIMTS3 can specifically recognize the leucine‐rich repeat domain of the TLR4 receptor, and then enter into pro‐inflammatory macrophages via the TLR4‐mediated receptor endocytosis pathway. Moreover, AnCar‐ExoLaIMTS3 can efficiently deliver therapeutic cargo to pro‐inflammatory macrophages and inhibit the synovial inflammatory response via downregulation of HIF‐1α level, thus ameliorating the severity of arthritis in vivo. Collectively, the work established a novel gene/drug delivery system that can specifically target pro‐inflammatory macrophages, which may be beneficial for the treatments of arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

Abstract Heart failure (HF) is a disease with high mortality and morbidity rate. Autophagy is critically implicated in HF progression. The current research was designed to investigate the function of Dioscin on oxidative stress, autophagy, and apoptosis in HF. In this study, doxorubicin (Dox) was employed to induce HF model and HL‐1 cell damage model. Echocardiography implied that Dioscin could dramatically relieve heart function in vivo. Western blotting determined that Dioscin treatment reversed the promotive effect of autophagy caused by Dox through modulating levels of key autophagy‐associated molecules, including Atg5 and Beclin1. Dioscin also impaired apoptosis by regulating apoptosis‐related protein, including Bcl‐2 and cleaved caspase‐3 following Dox treatment in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the impacts of Dioscin were mediated by upregulation of PDK1‐mediated Akt/mTOR signaling. The mTOR inhibitor (rapamycin) could counteract the therapeutic impact of Dioscin in vitro. Taken together, Dioscin could relieve cardiac function through blocking apoptosis and autophagy by activating the PDK1‐elicited Akt/mTOR pathway.

Abstract Saliva biopsy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been developed in our latest study, indicating the application of oral sampling in NPC detection. Further exploration of the potential for self‐sampling from the oral cavity is necessary. A total of 907 various samples from oral cavity, including saliva (n = 262), oropharyngeal swabs (n = 250), oral swabs (n = 210), and mouthwash (n = 185), were collected. Epstein‒Barr virus (EBV) DNA methylation at the 12,420 bp CpG site in EBV genome from the repeat‐copy W promoter (Wp) region and at the 11,029 bp CpG site in the single‐copy C promoter (Cp) region were simultaneously detected in these samples. A significant increase in EBV methylation, no matter at Wp or Cp region, was found in all types of samples from NPC patients. However, EBV DNA methylation in saliva and oropharyngeal swab showed a better diagnostic performance in detecting NPC. The combination of these two sample types and two markers could help to improve the detection of NPC. Our study further explored the optimal self‐sampling methods and detection target in the detection of NPC and may facilitate the application of EBV DNA methylation detection in a home‐based large‐scale screening of NPC.

The main purpose of the present work is to investigate fatigue fracture mechanical properties of aeronautical directional polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) which has been treated by the directional tensile technology. Firstly, the fatigue cracks growth has been tracked in directional PMMA using the stroboscopic method. Then, the digital photoelasticity with a phase-shifting technique was used to measure the uniformity of the interlaminar stretching. Based on obtained experimental results, the effect of the directional stretching on fatigue fracture properties of PMMA was analyzed. Finally, fatigue fracture properties of laminated directional PMMA were discussed and compared with those of monolayer directional PMMA. Results of this work show that the lamination technology can strengthen the interlayer of directional PMMA and enhance its fatigue fracture properties.

The two examples of alkaline-earth M(II)-phosphonate coordination polymers, [Ba2(L)(H2O)9]·3H2O (1) and [Mg1.5(H2O)9]·(L-H2)1.5·6H2O (2) (H4L = H2O3PCH2N(C4H8)NCH2PO3H2), N,N′-piperazinebis(methylenephosphonic acid), (L-H2 = O3PH2CHN(C4H8)NHCH2PO3) have been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, PXRD, TG-DSC, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 possesses a 2D inorganic-organic alternate arrangement layer structure built from 1D inorganic chains through the piperazine bridge, in which the ligand L−4 shows two types of coordination modes reported rarely at the same time. In 1, both crystallographic distinct Ba(1) and Ba(2) ions adopt 8-coordination two caps and 9-coordination three caps triangular prism geometry structures, respectively. Compound 2 possesses a zero-dimensional mononuclear structure with two crystallographic distinct Mg(II) ions. Free metal cations [MgO6]n2+ and uncoordinated anions (L-H2)n2- are joined together by static electric force. Results of photoluminescent measurement indicate three main emission bands centered at 300 nm, 378.5 nm, and 433 nm for 1 and 302 nm, 378 nm, and 434.5 nm for 2 (λex=235 nm), respectively. The high energy emissions could be derived from the intraligand π∗-n transition stations of H4L (310 nm and 382 nm, λex=235 nm), while the low energy emission (>400 nm) of 1-2 may be due to the coordination effect with metal(II) ions.