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Conjugated polymers usually require strategies to expand the range of wavelengths absorbed and increase solubility. Developing effective strategies to enhance both properties remains challenging. Herein, we report syntheses of conjugated polymers based on a family of metalla-aromatic building blocks via a polymerization method involving consecutive carbyne shuttling processes. The involvement of metal d orbitals in aromatic systems efficiently reduces band gaps and enriches the electron transition pathways of the chromogenic repeat unit. These enable metalla-aromatic conjugated polymers to exhibit broad and strong ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) absorption bands. Bulky ligands on the metal suppress π–π stacking of polymer chains and thus increase solubility. These conjugated polymers show robust stability toward light, heat, water, and air. Kinetic studies using NMR experiments and UV–Vis spectroscopy, coupled with the isolation of well-defined model oligomers, revealed the polymerization mechanism.

The recycling and reuse of Ni, Co, and other rare metals from aged lithium-ion batteries have drawn much attention to the researchers, which can reduce the negative effect on the environment. In this work, a novel and facile regeneration method is proposed to obtain valuable metals Ni, Co, and Mn. The fresh LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode materials are regenerated via employing mixed acid leaching, oxalate co-precipitation, and solid-phase reaction. The regenerated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode materials display an initial specific discharge capacity of 180.6 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C. The capacity retention is 86% after 100 cycles at the current density of 1 C. The recycling process in our work does not need complicated metal separation and has low processing costs. Moreover, the regenerated cathode materials can be reused in next-generation LIBs.

Laminaria japonica, one of the most widespread seafood consumed in China and many other nations, has been traditionally utilized as an effective therapeutically active substance for treating weight loss, phlegm elimination, and detumescence for more than 2000 years. Numerous studies have found that the polysaccharides play an indispensable role in the nutritional and medicinal value of L. japonica. Water extraction and alcohol precipitation method is the most used method. Approximately 56 LJPs were successfully isolated and purified from L. japonica, whereas only few of them were well characterized. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that L. japonica polysaccharides (LJPs) have high-order structural features and multiple biological activities, including anti-tumor, anti-thrombotic, anti-atherosclerosis, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, renoprotective, and immunomodulatory. In addition, the structural characteristics of LJPs are closely related to their biological activity. In this review, the extraction and purification methods, structural characteristics, biological activities, clinical settings, toxicities, and structure-activity relationships of LJPs are comprehensively summarized. The structural characteristics and biological activities as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms of LJPs were also outlined. Furthermore, the clinical settings and structure-activity functions of LJPs were highlighted. Some research perspectives and challenges in the study of LJPs were also proposed.

Cinnamic acid (CA) is an active organic acid compound extracted from Cinnamomi ramulus that has various biological activities. There is growing studies have shown that the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome significantly contributes to sterile inflammatory response and pyroptosis in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). However, whether CA has any influence on NLRP3 inflammasome and pyroptosis during MI/RI are not fully elucidated.In the present study, we investigated whether NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis were involved in the cardioprotective effect of CA against MI/RI.Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intragastrically administered either with CA (75 and 150 mg/kg, daily) or vehicle for 7 successive days prior to ligation of coronary artery, and then rats were subjected to ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 120 min to evoke MI/RI.Our results demonstrated that CA could significantly improve cardiac diastolic function, decrease cardiac infarct size and myocardial injury enzymes, inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis, attenuate cardiac structure abnormality, and mitigate oxidative stress and inflammatory response. We also found that MI/RI activate NLRP3 inflammasome as evidenced by the upregulation levels of NLRP3, pro-caspase-1, caspase-1, and ASC proteins and mRNA. More importantly, MI/RI trigger pyroptosis as indicated by increased DNA fragmentation, membrane pore formation, and mitochondrial swelling as well as increased levels of pyroptosis-related proteins and mRNA, including GSDMD, N-GSDMD, IL-18, and IL-1β. As expected, all these deleterious alterations were prominently reversed by CA pretreatment.These findings indicate that CA effectively protected cardiomyocytes against MI/RI by inhibiting NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD signaling pathway, and it is worthy of more investigations for its therapeutic potential for extenuating ischemic heart disease.

Background The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 continues to pose a serious threat to human health and social. The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made a serious threat to public health and economic stability worldwide. Given the urgency of the situation, researchers are attempting to repurpose existing drugs for treating COVID-19. Methods We first established an anti-coronavirus drug screening platform based on the Homogeneous Time Resolved Fluorescence (HTRF) technology and the interaction between the coronavirus spike protein and its host receptor ACE2. Two compound libraries of 2,864 molecules were screened with this platform. Selected candidate compounds were validated by SARS-CoV-2_S pseudotyped lentivirus and ACE2-overexpressing cell system. Molecular docking was used to analyze the interaction between S protein and compounds. Results We identified three potential anti-coronavirus compounds: tannic acid (TA), TS-1276 (anthraquinone), and TS-984 (9-Methoxycanthin-6-one). Our in vitro validation experiments indicated that TS-984 strongly inhibits the interaction of the coronavirus S protein and the human cell ACE2 receptor. Additionally, tannic acid showed moderate inhibitory effect on the interaction of S protein and ACE2. Conclusion This platform is a rapid, sensitive, specific, and high throughput system, and available for screening large compound libraries. TS-984 is a potent blocker of the interaction between the S-protein and ACE2, which might have the potential to be developed into an effective anti-coronavirus drug.

Cinnamaldehyde (CD) is one of the most important active compounds derived from Cinnamomum cassia and showed multiple biological activities. Accumulating evidence has shown that the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome significantly contributes to sterile inflammatory response and gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). Whether CD has any influence on NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis during myocardial I/R injury remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the cardioprotective effect of CD via establishing the MI/RI rats' model by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min ischemia followed by 120 min reperfusion. Sprague-Dawley rats were intragastrically administered with CD (45 and 90 mg/kg/d) or vehicle for 7 successive days before ligation of the coronary artery to evoke MI/RI. The results found that CD significantly improved cardiac diastolic function, decreased cardiac infarct size and myocardial injury enzymes, inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis, attenuated cardiac structure abnormality, and mitigated oxidative stress and inflammatory response. We also found that MI/RI activated the NLRP3 inflammasome as evidenced by the upregulation levels of NLRP3, pro-caspase-1, caspase-1, and ASC proteins and mRNA. Importantly, MI/RI could trigger cardiomyocyte pyroptosis by increased DNA fragmentation, membrane pore formation, and mitochondrial swelling as well as increased levels of pyroptosis-related proteins and mRNA, including GSDMD, IL-18, and IL-1β. As expected, all these deleterious alterations were reversed by CD pretreatment. Our findings demonstrated that CD showed an outstanding cardioprotective effect via inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation and GSDMD-mediated cardiomyocyte pyroptosis, which has a promising application value and development prospect against myocardial I/R injury in the future.

Lubricating oil is usually injected in the gap between mechanical interfaces to reduce the friction and wear and improve the normal bearing capacity of the interface. The state of the mixed lubrication is induced from the inadequate lubrication. However, in the investigation of this state, the irregular oil pits of rough surfaces are usually simplified to be the cylindrical or conical in traditional contact models, which is disagreed with the actual contact situations and makes errors in the contact analysis when it is used to reveal the contact performance of the mixed lubrication. To investigate the normal and tangential contact performances for the real mixed lubrication, the normal and tangential contact models reproducing the effects of both the surface roughness and the lubrication viscosity on the normal contact force as well as the tangential fraction force are proposed in this work. Based on the statistical theory, the total area of oil pits is presented to describe irregular oil pits of rough surfaces. Then, the contact performance between the solid and liquid parts involved in the mixed lubrication is analyzed referring to the elastic–plastic theory and the hydrodynamics theory. Finally, several key influencing factors (including the surface roughness, the film thickness, and the lubrication oil viscosity) on the normal and tangential contact performances of mechanical interface are revealed. The main contribution of this work is providing some guidance on the improvement of the normal and tangential contact performances of the mechanical interface by adjusting the normal pressure, the surface roughness, the relative movement speed, and the viscosity of the lubricating medium.

Averrhoa carambola L. (star fruit) is an edible fruit that is extensively cultivated in southern China, Southeast Asia, India, and northern South America. It has a sweet and juicy taste and is frequently used in fruit salads and fruit platters, as a garnish in cocktail drinks and beverages, or squeezed into juice and served as a beverage. Traditionally, it has been used for treating diabetes and diabetic nephropathy, arthralgia, vomiting, lithangiuria, coughing, hangovers, and chronic paroxysmal headache for thousands of years. Currently, approximately 132 compounds have been isolated from A. carambola. Among them, flavonoids, benzoquinone, and their glycosides have been considered as biologically active substances, which are responsible for various biological activities. Pharmacological studies have revealed that crude extracts or monomeric compounds from A. carambola exhibit multiple bioactivities, such as anti-oxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-obesity, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, anti-hypertensive, neuroprotective, and others. Thus, A. carambola is a valuable treatment in Chinese medicine with therapeutic potential for multiple diseases, especially diabetes and diabetes-related diseases. Even though it is a very promising candidate in the development of functional food and the pharmaceutical industry, reports on its bioactivities have only been conducted in vivo and in vitro and there is a gap in research regarding clinical settings and safety. This review therefore provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of current progress on botany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicity of A. carambola, providing a valuable reference for further developments and applications of A. carambola in the pharmaceutical industry and functional food.

Jing-Fang powder consists of Jingjie (Nepeta tenuifolia Benth, (Lamiaceae)). and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia divaricata (Turcz.) Schischk, (Apiaceae)) Previous studies have revealed that the Jing-Fang powder n-butanol extract (JFNE) has anti-acute lung injury (ALI) and anti-inflammatory properties; however, the active ingredient and mechanism remain unknown.In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of a bioactive fraction obtained from JFNE(JFNE-A) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in mice and explored the underlying mechanism.The anti-acute lung injury effect and mechanism of JFNE-A was investigated by prophylactic administration of JFNE-A in mice with LPS-induced acute lung injury.The expression levels of myeloperoxidase(MPO) in lung tissues of mice and interleukin(IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α, IL-1β, IL-5, interferon (IFN)-γ, monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, and MIP-1β in bronchi alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected by reagent kit and the histological changes were examined by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) for general histopathological conditions under a light microscope. In addition, the ultrastructure of the cells in lung tissues were observed and photographed under a transmission electron microscope. The expression levels of protein were detected via Western blotting and the mRNA expression of relative genes were determined of via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). What's more, we also further clarified the potential targets of JFNE-A through network pharmacology analysis, which could be utilized in ALI treatment.Our results showed that pretreatment with JFNE-A for 7 days significantly reduced the lung pathological injury score, alleviated pulmonary edema, and decreased the lung tissue MPO level. Mechanistically, JFNE-A dramatically downregulated the protein levels of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, M-CSF, and IFN-γ in BALF and mRNA expression levels of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IFN-γ in lung tissues. JFNE-A also significantly lowered the protein levels of iNOS and phosphorylated NF-κB (p65) and mRNA expression levels of iNOS, Rela, CHUK, and NF-κB1, and also elevated the protein expression levels of Nrf2, HO-1, and SOD1 and the mRNA expression levels of Nrf2, Hmox1, and Keap-1 in the lungs. Moreover, JFNE-A significantly decreased the protein expression of p62 and increased the ratio of LC3II/LC3I. It also upregulated the mRNA expression levels of Atg5 and Beclin-1, whereas it reduced the mRNA expression level of SQSTM1 and increased autophagosome structures.Overall, treatment with JFNE-A ameliorated LPS-induced ALI in mice by suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathways and promoting Nrf2 signaling pathways by accelerating autophagy.

Additional file 6: Fig. S3. qPCR verification and validation of gene expression. qPCR validation using RNAs from independent samples from adenoma stage. Data represent the mean ± SEM, n=6; ***P < 0.001 and ****P < 0.0001.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. The experiment flow chart of this study was depicted. Fvb.B6 F1 female (brown color) hybrids were generated by crossing FVB/N-Tg(MMTV-PyMT)634Mul male (white color) mice to C57BL/6J female (black color) mice (Fig. S1A), Mammary tumors were harvested when the diameter of the largest tumor per mouse reached approximately 2 millimeters and 10 millimeters, which correspond to the Adenoma/MIN and late carcinoma stages. Lung metastases were harvested at the age of 13 weeks for Fvb mice and 16 weeks for F1 hybrids (Fig. S1B).

Additional file of Postponing tumor onset and tumor progression can be achieved by alteration of local tumor immunity

Additional file 5: Fig. S2. GO enrichment of down-regulated DEGs at three stages. The top 15 terms with the most significant p values at adenoma stage (Fig. S2A), late adenocarcinoma stage (Fig. S2B), and lung metastasis (Fig. S2C) are plotted. Color gradient ranging from red to blue corresponds to increasing p-values.

Piperazine ferulate (PF) has been reported to protect cardiac from ischemia/reperfusion injury to achieve myocardial protection. NLRP3 inflammasome activation-mediated pyroptosis has been shown to the involvement in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MI/RI). Increasing evidence suggested that PF is used for cardiovascular diseases, whereas its protection of MI/RI and the mechanism are not fully understood. Rats' model of MI/RI was subjected by occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery for 30 min followed by 120 min of reperfusion to investigate whether PF exhibited cardiac protection via modulating the NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis. Rats were intragastrically administrated with PF (100 mg/kg) for 7 consecutive days prior to I/R surgery. The results showed that PF remarkedly elevated left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fraction shortening (LVFS), and decrease mitral early diastolic flow velocity/late diastolic flow velocity (E/A) of I/R injury rats compared with the I/R group. Besides, MI/RI contributes to increasing the cardiac infarction size and aggravates the myocardial injury as well as causes inflammation, whereas these detrimental alterations were ameliorated by PF pretreatment. Mechanically, the protein and gene expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, GSDMD, IL-Iβ and caspase-1 in the PF-treated group were lower than those of the I/R group, which indicates that PF can evidently suppress the I/R-triggered NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in the heart. These results indicated that PF could prevent I/R-induced cardiac damages and cardiac dysfunction in the rats induced by I/R challenge, and it might be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ischemic heart disease.

Background NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis play an important role in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). Cinnamomi ramulus (CR), is an important folk medicinal plant in China, which derived from the dried twig of Cinnamomum cassia (L.) Presl, has function of “warming and tonifying heart yang”, and traditionally utilized to treat the cold, blood-cold amenorrhea, phlegm, edema, arthralgia, and palpitations as well as improve blood circulation. The aqueous extract of C. ramulus was reported to show significant therapeutic potential for treating MI/RI. Whereas, there are no previous investigations in China or abroad has reported the cardioprotective effects and underlying mechanism of the ethyl acetate extract of C. ramulus (CREAE) and its bioactive substance cinnamic acid (CA) in triggering NLRP3 inflammasome activation and subsequent pyroptosis. Purpose The present study aimed to assess the cardioprotective function of CREAE and CA against the MI/RI in rats and involved the underlying mechanisms. Methods The MI/RI model was established in male SD rats by occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 120 min, respectively. The rats were intragastrically administered with CREAE (74 and 37 mg/kg) and CA (45 mg/kg) for 7 successive days before vascular ligation. The cardioprotective effects of CREAE and CA against myocardial injury of rats were detected by HE staining, TTC staining, echocardiograms, and myocardial enzymes detections. Serum levels of inflammatory factors, such as IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, were analyzed by ELISA kits to evaluate the effects of CREAE and CA. The protein and gene expression levels of NLRP3 and the pyroptosis-related factors in heart tissue were conducted by western blot and RT-qPCR. Results Our results showed that CREAE and CA decrease myocardial infarct size and improve cardiac function, mitigate myocardial damage, and repress inflammatory response in rats after I/R. Mechanistically, our results revealed that CREAE and CA can dramatically suppress the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and subsequent cardiomyocyte pyroptosis in myocardial tissues that as evidenced by downregulating the protein and gene expressions of NLRP3, ASC, IL-1β, caspase-1, gasdermin D, and N-terminal GSDMD. Conclusions Our data indicated that CREAE and CA may attenuate MI/RI through suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome and subsequent pyroptosis-related signaling pathways.

Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf., as a well-known homology plant of medicine and food, has the function of replenishing the Qi, strengthening the spleen and tonifying the lung, nourishing the blood and engendering the liquid in traditional Chinese medicine. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the C. pilosula polysaccharides (CPPs) are one of the major and representative pharmacologically active macromolecules and present multiple biological activities both in vitro and in vivo methods, such as immunomodulatory, antitumor, antioxidant, neuroprotective, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-fatigue, hypoglycemic, anti-hypoxia, renoprotective, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, and prebiotic. The purpose of the present review is to provide comprehensively and systematically reorganized information in the extraction and purification, structure characterization, biological activities and the underlying mechanisms of action as well as toxicities of CPPs to support their therapeutic potentials and sanitarian functions. New valuable insights for the future researches regarding CPPs were also proposed in the fields of therapeutic agents and functional foods.

This paper deeply analyzes the main factors of the dissolved problems arising in the process of aluminum alloy hard anodizing, combined with the specific problems occurring in production practice, introduces in detail the method and thought to analyze and investigate the causes of dissolving, and puts forward targeted improvement technology. This paper is practically instructive and significant for the production practice to effectively solve the problems of the dissolved situations arising in the process of tube parts hard anodizing.

Ozone treatment is a common way to functionalize commercial multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with various oxygen functionalities like carboxyl, phenol and lactone groups, in order to enhance their textural properties and chemical activity. In order to detail the effect of each functional group, we correlated the activity with the surface density of each group, and found that the carboxyl groups play a pivotal role in two important catalytic reactions, namely the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and agar conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). During the processes, the hydrophilic surface provides a strong affinity for reaction substrates while the improved porosity allows the efficient diffusion of reactants and products. Furthermore, the activity of functionalized CNTs for agar conversion remained almost unchanged during nine cycles of reaction. This work highlights a strategy for improving the activity of CNTs for electrochemical ORR and agar conversion reactions, as well a promising application of carboxyl-rich CNTs as a solid acid catalyst to produce high-purity HMF—an important chemical intermediate.

Doping hafnium to partially substitute zirconium in ZrCo is a promising strategy to improve the ability to resist hydrogen-induced disproportionation. Herein, Zr(1 − x)Hf(x)Co(x = 0,0.1,0.2, and 0.3) alloys were fabricated by arc melting and the effect of hafnium substitution ratio and temperature on their hydrogen-induced disproportionation was studied. Additionally, the disproportionated products were characterized by XRD, DSC and TDS. Results showed that disproportionation rate and the extent of disproportionation decreased with hafnium substitution ratio increasing from 0 to 30% and increased with temperature increasing from 400 °C to 550 °C. It was exciting that Zr0.7Hf0.3Co alloy had much better ability of anti-disproportionation than ZrCo in hydrogen pressure of about 200 kPa when temperature increasing from 400 °C to 550 °C, which was practical for tritium application.

Autologous fat particle transplantation has been widely used by surgeons. The present study evaluated the effect of Notoginsenoside R1 (NR1) treatment on rat autologous fat graft, along with the quality and retention rates. Male Sprague‑Dawley rats (n=60) received fat particle auto‑transplantation from the left abdominal cavity into lateral dorsum. A total of 14 days after surgery, NR1 in different doses (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day) was injected into rats, following which blood and fat graft samples were harvested at days 7, 14 and 28. Assessments were carried out by hematoxylin and eosin staining, western blotting, ELISA and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The survival rate of fat grafts was increased in three experimental groups, as detected by weight measurement. Histological scoring demonstrated that there were significant differences in tissue integrity between the 100 mg/kg/day group and the other 3 groups. hepatocyte growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, angiotensin and S100 levels in the 100 mg/kg/day NR1 group was increased compared with the other 2 treatment groups; however, all 3 treatment groups demonstrated increased expression of these proteins compared with the control group. Additionally, cluster of differentiation (CD)68 exhibited negative expression and CD31 showed weakly positive expression in all three experiments, as assessed by IHC. In conclusion, 100 mg/kg/day NR1 may potentially promote the retention rate and enhance the quality of autologous fat grafts via increasing vascularity in the recipient site. These results implicate NR1 as a therapeutic strategy for the improvement of outcome following fat graft surgery.

Oxidation and deoxidation of a Pd membrane was conducted in a quartz tube oven in a temperature range of 23–500 °C. The micromorphology and chemical composition of the Pd membrane surface was characterized using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Micropores and PdO began to form on the Pd membrane surface after oxidation at 240 °C for 1 h and their quantity increased gradually with increasing temperature. A rough Pd membrane surface was obtained when the temperature rose to 500 °C. The PdO on the Pd membrane surface was completely deoxidized once more using H 2 at room temperature, but the rough surface morphology caused by oxidation remained. The deuterium permeability of the Pd membrane was tested using special equipment in the China National Key Laboratory and the results indicated that the rough Pd membrane surface had higher deuterium permeability than the original membrane. The improved deuterium permeability could be attributed to the higher Pd membrane surface area, which provided deuterium atoms with more adsorption sites and dissociation sites.

Combustion catalysts have been extensively explored to reduce the emission of hydrocarbons that are capable of triggering photochemical smog and greenhouse effect. Palladium as the most active material is widely applied in exhaust catalytic converter and combustion units, but its high capital cost stimulates the tremendous research on non-noble metal candidates. Here we fabricate highly defective cobalt oxide nanocrystals via a controllable oxidation of carbon-encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles. Strain gradients induced in the nanoconfined carbon shell result in the formation of a large number of active sites featuring a considerable catalytic activity for the combustion of a variety of hydrocarbons (methane, propane and substituted benzenes). For methane combustion, the catalyst displays a unique activity being comparable or even superior to the palladium ones., Palladium is an effective but expensive catalyst used in catalytic converters. Here, the authors show that defective Co3O4 nanocrystals, synthesized via oxidation of carbon-encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles, display similar or even comparable catalytic activity to palladium for hydrocarbon combustion.

Latest surface modification methods of nanoparticles are researched in this article. The mechanism, characteristics and process of surface physical modification methods of nanoparticles such as surfactant and surface deposition are analyzed. The characteristics, mechanism and chemical reaction process of the nanoparticles surface chemical modification methods such as esterification reaction, coupling agent, phosphate eater, surface graft modification, in-situ modification are analyzed. Four examples of application are selected to verify the methods above. The verification results show the methods of nanoparticles surface modified are correct.

Tumor suppressor ARF can induce cell cycle arrest or apoptosis by activating p53. In order to explore the molecular mechanism of the induction of apoptosis byp14ARF, a human melanoma cell model overexpressingp14ARF was constructed. Present study indicated that in the cells overexpressingp14ARF, p53 was accumulated in nucleus while it dispersed in cytosol in the control cells. Irradiated with γ-ray, overexpressingp14ARF promoted the apoptosis of A375 cells, triggered Smac release from mitochondria to cytosol, and increased the expression of p53, Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-9, p21cip1 and p27kip1. However, the protein level of Bcl-2 and phospho-ERK was down-regulated. These results suggested a possible mechanism of p14ARF in promotion of apoptosis.

Germinal centres support antibody affinity maturation and memory formation. Follicular T-helper cells promote proliferation and differentiation of antigen-specific B cells inside the follicle. A genetic deficiency in the inducible co-stimulator (ICOS), a classic CD28 family co-stimulatory molecule highly expressed by follicular T-helper cells, causes profound germinal centre defects, leading to the view that ICOS specifically co-stimulates the follicular T-helper cell differentiation program. Here we show that ICOS directly controls follicular recruitment of activated T-helper cells in mice. This effect is independent from ICOS ligand (ICOSL)-mediated co-stimulation provided by antigen-presenting dendritic cells or cognate B cells, and does not rely on Bcl6-mediated programming as an intermediate step. Instead, it requires ICOSL expression by follicular bystander B cells, which do not present cognate antigen to T-helper cells but collectively form an ICOS-engaging field. Dynamic imaging reveals ICOS engagement drives coordinated pseudopod formation and promotes persistent T-cell migration at the border between the T-cell zone and the B-cell follicle in vivo. When follicular bystander B cells cannot express ICOSL, otherwise competent T-helper cells fail to develop into follicular T-helper cells normally, and fail to promote optimal germinal centre responses. These results demonstrate a co-stimulation-independent function of ICOS, uncover a key role for bystander B cells in promoting the development of follicular T-helper cells, and reveal unsuspected sophistication in dynamic T-cell positioning in vivo.

In terms of monthly NCEP/NCAR and 160 site temperature data from NCC (National Climate Center), the main modes of January surface air temperature in 1979-2008 over China and possible mechanism of typical cold/warm episodes are investigated. Results show that the first mode for January temperature is characterized by consist variation in China, which is closely related to circulation anomalies in stratosphere. From the wave source over East Asian in stratosphere wave fluxes propagate downward and westward, and in upper troposphere over North Atlantic there is a remarkable convergent area of wave flux leading to the ridge enhanced with stronger heat transforming to the North and front zone moving to more northerly. Thereby jet stream becomes strong and expands to East Atlantic with positive (negative) NAO anomaly pattern and higher pressure occurs south to Baikal indicating stronger (weaker) than normal cold air, which is helpful for lower (higher) temperature appearing over China

Wei Xiong,1,2 Lixia Peng,1,2 Hongbo Chen,3 Qin Li1,2 1Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 2Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA, Guangzhou, People’s Republic ofChina; 3Division of Life Sciences and Health, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China Abstract: To enhance the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy on malignant melanoma, paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) nanoparticles (MPEG-b-PCL NPs) that had their surfaces modified with polydopamine (PTX-loaded MPEG-b-PCL NPs@PDA) were prepared as drug vehicles. The block copolymer MPEG-b-PCL was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization and characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. The PTX-loaded NPs were prepared by a modified nanoprecipitation technique. The PTX-loaded NPs and PTX-loaded NPs@PDA were characterized in terms of size and size distribution, zeta potential, surface morphology, drug encapsulation efficiency, and drug release. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that coumarin-6-loaded NPs@PDA could be internalized by human melanoma cell line A875cells. The cellular uptake efficiency of NPs was greatly enhanced after PDA modification. The antitumor efficacy of the PTX-loaded NPs@PDA was investigated in vitro by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and in vivo by a xenograft tumor model. The PTX-loaded NPs@PDA could significantly inhibit tumor growth compared to Taxol® and precursor PTX-loaded NPs. All the results suggested that the PTX-loaded MPEG-b-PCL NPs that had their surfaces modified with PDA are promising nanocarriers for malignant melanoma therapy. Keywords: cancer nanotechnology, drug delivery, surface modification, polydopamine, malignant melanoma