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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising blocks for building advanced yarns with unique structural and functional attributes. However, the complexity of fabrication and high cost has hindered the widespread adoption of CNT yarns. In this study, a rapid and continuous twisting wet spun yarn strategy to produce highly densified CNT yarns is presented. The method involves effectively dispersing CNTs in the surfactant dispersion, swiftly removing the surfactant in the coagulation bath and twisting treatment to effectively improve the density of yarn and the orientation of CNT. Detailed characterizations on the influence of each spinning conditions reveal that twisting treatment significantly enhances the packing density of yarns, improves the orientation of CNTs, and mitigates the impact of impurities on conductivity. The resulting CNT yarns exhibit a remarkable tensile strength of 600 MPa, a Young's modulus of ≈40 GPa, and a high conductivity of 8990 S cm−1. When utilized as a yarn heater, the CNT yarn demonstrates an ultra‐fast electrothermal response of over 1000 °C s−1 at a low operating voltage of 5 V. Impressively, the mechanical properties of CNT yarns show good stability during heating. This study provides a perspective of structural engineering for the large‐scale preparation of high‐performance CNT yarns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimuli‐responsive hydrogels that leverage protein conformational changes are of significant interest in the design of dynamic materials applicable in a myriad of fields, such as drug delivery, actuators, biosensors, and microfluidics. The small calcium binding protein calmodulin (CaM), which undergoes three‐stage conformational changes upon successive binding with Ca2+ and specific ligands, offers a mechanism to create dynamic hydrogels with three distinct physical states. In this work, a CaM‐based recombinant protein hydrogel is engineered using [Ru(bpy)3]2+‐mediated photo‐crosslinking. This hydrogel displays the ability to reversibly increase its Young's modulus by 1.5‐fold and ∼7‐fold, respectively, upon binding with Ca2+ and subsequent interaction with trifluoperazine. The magnitude of stiffness changes is tunable by adjusting the length proportion of dynamic and static domains and modifying protein content. This tunable and reversible control over hydrogel mechanics is further utilized to engineer shape‐morphing materials, highlighting the versatile potential of this CaM‐based protein hydrogel for diverse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wearable strain–humidity sensors are increasingly recognized for their role in healthcare and detecting human motion signals. However, many strain–humidity sensors require complex manufacturing processes and have limited applicability. In this study, based on the good miscibility between natural rubber latex (NRL) and poly (3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (4‐styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), PEDOT:PSS/NRL composite conductors are transferred onto fabric substrate through screen printing and prepared high‐performance strain–humidity sensor. The PEDOT:PSS/NRL blends strain–humidity sensor exhibited good stability and durability (500 cycles) at 10% strain, achieves a gauge factor (GF) of 123.8 with excellent linearity, making it operational in detecting various human motions, such as finger bending, elbow bending, wrist bending, and so on. In addition, the PEDOT:PSS and water molecules interaction results in a humidity response time as low as 0.72 s and recovery time as low as 0.85 s for the PEDOT:PSS/NRL composite strain–humidity sensor, and a wide relative humidity detection range (6–83%), allowing it to be utilized for precise detection of human breathing. Furthermore, it can monitor the use's joint movement, facial muscle movement, and respiratory rate, which show its potential application prospect in health monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs) play a critical role in the immunosuppressive solid tumor microenvironment (TME), yet in situ engineering of TAMs for enhanced tumor immunotherapy remains a significant challenge in translational immuno‐oncology. Here, we report an innovative nanodrug‐delivering‐drug (STNSP@ELE) strategy that leverages two‐dimensional (2D) stanene‐based nanosheets (STNSP) and β‐Elemene (ELE), a small‐molecule anticancer drug, to overcome TAM‐mediated immunosuppression and improve chemo‐immunotherapy. Our results demonstrate that both STNSP and ELE are capable of polarizing the tumor‐supportive M2‐like TAMs into a tumor‐suppressive M1‐like phenotype, which acts with the ELE chemotherapeutic to boost antitumor responses. In vivo mouse studies demonstrate that STNSP@ELE treatment can reprogram the immunosuppressive TME by significantly increasing the intratumoral ratio of M1/M2‐like TAMs, enhancing the population of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and mature dendritic cells, and elevating the expression of immunostimulatory cytokines in B16F10 melanomas, thereby promoting a robust antitumor response. Our study not only demonstrates that the STNSP@ELE chemo‐immunotherapeutic nanoplatform has immune‐modulatory capabilities that can overcome TAM‐mediated immunosuppression in solid tumors, but also highlights the promise of this nanodrug‐delivering‐drug strategy in developing other nano‐immunotherapeutics and treating various types of immunosuppressive tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) are an emerging class of promising therapeutic modalities that selectively degrade intracellular proteins of interest by hijacking the ubiquitin‐proteasome system. However, the lack of techniques to efficiently transport these degraders to targeted cells and consequently the potential toxicity of PROTACs limit their clinical applications. Here, a strategy of nanoengineered PROTACs, that is, Nano‐PROTACs, is reported, which improves the bioavailability of PROTACs and maximizes their capacity to therapeutically degrade intracellular oncogenic proteins for tumor therapy. The Nano‐PROTACs are developed by encapsulating PROTACs in glutathione (GSH)‐responsive poly(disulfide amide) polymeric (PDSA) nanoparticles and show that ARV@PDSA Nano‐PROTAC, nanoengineered BRD4 degrader ARV‐771, improves BRD4 protein degradation and decreases the downstream oncogene c‐Myc expression. Benefiting from the GSH‐scavenging ability to amply the c‐Myc‐related ferroptosis and cell cycle arrest, this ARV@PDSA Nano‐PROTACs strategy shows superior anti‐tumor efficacy with a low dose administration and good biocompatibility in vivo. The findings reveal the potential of the Nano‐PROTACs strategy to treat a broad range of diseases by dismantling associated pathogenic proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a novel multifunctional construct, M1, designed explicitly to target the DNA damage response in cancer cells. M1 contains both a floxuridine (FUDR) and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) inhibitor combined with a GSH‐sensitive linker. Further conjugation of the triphenylphosphonium moiety allows M1 to undergo specific activation in the mitochondria, where mitochondria‐mediated apoptosis is observed. Moreover, M1 has enormous effects on genomic DNA ascribed to FUDR's primary function of impeding DNA/RNA synthesis combined with diminishing PP2A‐activated DNA repair pathways. Importantly, mechanistic studies highlight the PP2A obtrusion in FUDR/5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) therapy and underscore the importance of its inhibition to harbor therapeutic potential. HCT116 cell xenograft‐bearing mice that have a low response rate to 5‐FU show a prominent effect with M1, emphasizing the importance of DNA damage response targeting strategies using tumor‐specific microenvironment‐activatable systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature monitoring in vivo plays a vital role in the investigation of biological processes of organisms and the improvement of disease theranostic methods. The development of lanthanide luminescent nanocomposite‐derived temperature probes in vivo allows accurate and reliable interrogation of biological thermodynamic processes due to their superior photostability, high sensitivity, and non‐invasive sensing fashion. This concept presented an overview of the recent development of lanthanide luminescent nanocomposite which are suitable for in vivo temperature monitoring, including the thermometric principles, key features, materials designs as well as their potential biomedical applications for non‐invasive temperature detection in the living body. The perspectives of these lanthanide luminescent nanocomposite thermometers for the optimization of temperature monitoring performance and potential future development are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasound (US)‐mediated sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has emerged as a superior modality for cancer treatment owing to the non‐invasiveness and high tissue‐penetrating depth. However, developing biocompatible nanomaterial‐based sonosensitizers with efficient SDT capability remains challenging. Here, we employed a liquid‐phase exfoliation strategy to obtain a new type of two‐dimensional (2D) stanene‐based nanosheets (SnNSs) with a band gap of 2.3 eV, which is narrower than those of the most extensively studied nano‐sonosensitizers, allowing a more efficient US‐triggered separation of electron (e−)‐hole (h+) pairs for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In addition, we discovered that such SnNSs could also serve as robust near‐infrared (NIR)‐mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) agents owing to their efficient photothermal conversion, and serve as nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery owing to the inherent 2D layered structure. This study not only presents general nanoplatforms for SDT‐enhanced combination cancer therapy, but also highlights the utility of 2D SnNSs to the field of nanomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Angewandte Chemie is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong metabolic disease that requires frequent subcutaneous injections of insulin. However, this method of administration can be associated with patient discomfort and local tissue infection. Oral delivery of insulin has been pursued as a more convenient method for diabetes treatment, given its likely superior patient compliance and convenience as well as cost‐effectiveness. However, various biological barriers hinder the clinical translation of oral insulin. The rapid development of nanotechnology over the last decade offers great promise in improving the bioavailability of oral insulin. This Minireview provides an overview of biological barriers to oral insulin delivery, summarizes significant technological advances, and outlines future perspectives in oral insulin formulations as well as their hypoglycaemic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique cuboid spider silk from the outer egg sac of Nephila pilipes, with an unusual square cross‐section, is disclosed. The structure–function relationships within this silk are first studied through structural characterization, mechanical measurement, protein conformation, and polypeptide signature of silk proteins. This silk maintains the higher stiffness property of egg sac silks, and also shows a species difference. Environmental response of the mechanical properties within this silk are observed. Synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy is used to monitor the silk protein conformation in a single natural silk. The β‐sheet structure aligns parallel to the fiber axis with a content of 22% ± 2.6%. The de novo resulting polypeptide from the solid silk fibers are novel, and an abundant polar amino acid insertion is observed. Short polyalanine (An, n ≤ 3), alternating serine and alanine (S/A)X, and alternating glycine and alanine (G/A)X, GGX, and SSX dominates in the resulting de novo polypeptide. This accords with the composition pattern of other egg sac silk proteins, besides the rarely observed GGX. This study broadens the library of egg sac spider silks and provides a new perspective to uncover structure–function relationships in spider silk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new family member of the emerging two‐dimensional (2D) monoelemental materials (Xenes), germanene has shown promising advantages over the prototypical 2D Xenes, such as black phosphorus (BP) and graphene. However, efficient manufacture of novel germanene nanostructures is still a challenge. Herein, a simple top‐down approach for the liquid‐exfoliation of ultra‐small germanene quantum dots (GeQDs) is presented. The prepared GeQDs possess an average lateral size of about 4.5 nm and thickness of about 2.2 nm. The functionalized GeQDs were demonstrated to be robust photothermal agents (PTAs) with outstanding photothermal conversion efficacy (higher than those of graphene and BPQDs), superior stability, and excellent biocompatibility. As a proof‐of‐principle, 2D GeQDs‐based PTAs were used in fluorescence/photoacoustic/photothermal‐imaging‐guided hyperpyrexia ablation of tumors. This work could expand the application of 2D germanene to the field of photonic cancer nanomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative nanodrug‐delivering‐drug strategy , utilizing β‐Elemene and stanene nanosheets (β‐Elemene@Stanene), has been developed to in situ engineer tumor‐associated macrophages and bolster cancer chemo‐immunotherapy. This study provides insights into the immunomodulatory capability of β‐Elemene@Stanene and highlights the nanodrug‐delivering‐drug strategy for the treatment of immunosuppressive tumors, as reported by Wei Tao, Tian Xie et al. in their Research Article (e202308413). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Angewandte Chemie is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to their potential biomedical applications, protein-based hydrogels have attracted considerable interest. Although various methods have been developed to engineer self-assembling, physically-crosslinked protein hydrogels, exploring novel driving forces to engineer such hydrogels remains challenging. Protein fragment reconstitution, also known as fragment complementation, is a self-assembling mechanism by which protein fragments can reconstitute the folded conformation of the native protein when split into two halves. Although it has been used in biophysical studies and bioassays, fragment reconstitution has not been explored for hydrogel construction. Using a small protein GL5 as a model, which is capable of fragment reconstitution to reconstitute the folded GL5 spontaneously when split into two halves, GN and GC, we demonstrate that protein fragment reconstitution is a novel driving force for engineering self-assembling reversible protein hydrogels. Fragment reconstitution between GN and GC crosslinks GN and GC-containing proteins into self-assembling reversible protein hydrogels. These novel hydrogels show temperature-dependent reversible sol-gel transition, and excellent property against erosion in water. Since many proteins can undergo fragment reconstitution, we anticipate that such fragment reconstitution may offer a general driving force for engineering protein hydrogels from a variety of proteins, and thus significantly expanding the 'toolbox' currently available in the field of biomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein hydrogels have attracted considerable interest due to their potential applications in biomedical engineering. Creating protein hydrogels with dynamic mechanical properties is challenging. Here, the engineering of a novel, rationally designed protein-hydrogel is reported that translates molecular level protein folding-unfolding conformational changes into macroscopic reversibly tunable mechanical properties based on a redox controlled protein folding-unfolding switch. This novel protein folding switch is constructed from a designed mutually exclusive protein. Via oxidation and reduction of an engineered disulfide bond, the protein folding switch can switch its conformation between folded and unfolded states, leading to a drastic change of protein's effective chain length and mechanical compliance. This redox-responsive protein can be readily photochemically crosslinked into solid hydrogels, in which molecular level conformational changes (folding-unfolding) can result in significant macroscopic changes in hydrogel's physical and mechanical properties due to the change of the effective chain length between two crosslinking points in the protein hydrogel network. It is found that when reduced, the hydrogel swells and is mechanically compliant; when oxidized, it swells to a less extent and becomes resilient and stiffer, exhibiting an up to fivefold increase in its Young's modulus. The changes of the mechanical and physical properties of this hydrogel are fully reversible and can be cycled using redox potential. This novel protein hydrogel with dynamic mechanical and physical properties could find numerous applications in material sciences and tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA Damage Response, DNA Repair, Drug Delivery, Floxuridine, Protein Phosphatase 2A Keywords: DNA Damage Response; DNA Repair; Drug Delivery; Floxuridine; Protein Phosphatase 2A EN DNA Damage Response DNA Repair Drug Delivery Floxuridine Protein Phosphatase 2A 1 1 1 04/06/22 20220411 NES 220411 B Reaktionen auf DNA-Schäden b , welche die DNA-Reparatur und Zellzykluskontrollpunkte in Krebszellen involvieren, gelten als eines der Haupthindernisse für die traditionelle Chemotherapie. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die DNA-Schadensreparaturwege während der 5-FU/FUDR-Therapie eine entscheidende Rolle spielen, und sie unterstreichen die Bedeutung der Hemmung dieser Wege für die Sensibilisierung von Krebszellen gegenüber Chemotherapeutika. [Extracted from the article]

The influence of graphene on the electrical communication through organic layers fabricated on graphite and gold electrodes is investigated. These layers were prepared by in situ reductive adsorption of 4-aminobenzoic acid in the presence of NaNO2 and HCl to have surface bound carboxylic acid functionalities, followed by covalent attachment of 1-aminopyrene via an amide coupling reaction to have surface bound pyrene groups for graphene immobilization via noncovalent ππ stacking interaction. The coverage of the layers created via reductive adsorption on graphite electrodes was found to be much higher than that on gold electrodes. It was revealed that graphene significantly enhances the electrical communication through the layers on graphite electrodes but on gold electrodes the enhancement effect through the layers was only minor. However, when gold electrodes were modified with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of propanethiol the subsequent immobilization of graphene resulted in a significant enhancement of the electrical communication. It is also found that immobilization of graphene could affect the electron transfer between the redox probe, pyrene and the underlying electrodes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the graphene sheets. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were also used to characterize the stepwise modified electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic/artificial protein switches provide an efficient means of controlling protein functions using chemical signals and stimuli. Mutually exclusive proteins, in which only the host or guest domain can remain folded at a given time owing to conformational strain, have been used to engineer novel protein switches that can switch enzymatic functions on and off in response to ligand binding. To further explore the potential of mutually exclusive proteins as protein switches and sensors, we report here a new redox-based approach to engineer a mutually exclusive folding-based protein switch. By introducing a disulfide bond into the host domain of a mutually exclusive protein, we demonstrate that it is feasible to use redox potential to switch the host domain between its folded and unfolded conformations via the mutually exclusive folding mechanism, and thus switching the functionality of the host domain on and off. Our study opens a new and potentially general avenue that uses mutually exclusive proteins to design novel switches able to control the function of a variety of proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GLO:OL3/22mar21:ange202101421-gra-0003.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): . gl B Computerchemie b DFT- und kMC-Rechnungen werden kombiniert, um die Reaktionsenergieprofile und die Bildungskinetik von Silika-Oligomeren zu untersuchen, wie Caroline Mellot-Draznieks, Carlos Nieto-Draghi et al. in ihrem Forschungsartikel auf S. 7187 beschreiben. Combination cancer therapy, photothermal therapy, sonodynamic therapy, stanene, two-dimensional materials Keywords: combination cancer therapy; photothermal therapy; sonodynamic therapy; stanene; two-dimensional materials EN combination cancer therapy photothermal therapy sonodynamic therapy stanene two-dimensional materials 6905 6905 1 03/23/21 20210322 NES 210322 B 2D-Nanoblätter b auf Stanen-Basis (SnNSs), die als neuartiger Sonosensibilisator für die ultraschallvermittelte sonodynamische Therapie dienen, werden von Omid C. Farokhzad, Wei Tao, Tian Xie et al. in ihrem Forschungsartikel auf S. 7231 vorgestellt. [Extracted from the article]

Keywords: combination cancer therapy; photothermal therapy; sonodynamic therapy; stanene; two-dimensional materials EN combination cancer therapy photothermal therapy sonodynamic therapy stanene two-dimensional materials 6829 6829 1 03/19/21 20210322 NES 210322 B 2D stanene-based nanosheets b (SnNSs) serving as a new type of sonosensitizer for ultrasound-mediated sonodynamic therapy are reported by Omid C. Farokhzad, Wei Tao, Tian Xie et al. in their Research Article on page 7155. Combination cancer therapy, photothermal therapy, sonodynamic therapy, stanene, two-dimensional materials Cover Picture: Stanene-Based Nanosheets for -Elemene Delivery and Ultrasound-Mediated Combination Cancer Therapy (Angew. [Extracted from the article]

Biotite, also called black mica (BM), is a group of sheet silicate minerals with great potential in various fields. However, synthesis of high‐quality BM nanosheets (NSs) remains a huge challenge. Here, an exfoliation approach is provided that combines calcination, n‐butyllithium exchange and intercalation, and liquid exfoliating processes for the high‐yield synthesis of ultrathin BM NSs. Due to the presence of MgO, Fe2O3, and FeO in these NSs, PEGylated BM can be engineered as an intelligent theranostic platform with the following unique features: i) Fe3+ can damage the tumor microenvironment (TME) through glutathione consumption and O2 production; ii) Generated O2 can be further catalyzed by MgO with oxygen vacancy to generate ·O2−; iii) The Fe2+‐catalyzed Fenton reaction can produce ·OH by disproportionation reactions of H2O2 in the TME; iv) Reactions in (i) and (iii) circularly regenerate Fe2+ and Fe3+ for continuous consumption of glutathione and H2O2 and constant production of ·OH and O2; v) The NSs can be triggered by a 650 nm laser to generate ·O2− from O2 as well as by an 808 nm laser to generate local hyperthermia; and vi) The fluorescent, photoacoustic, and photothermal imaging capabilities of the engineered NSs allow for multimodal imaging‐guided breast cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]