Environmental sustainability represents a major challenge facing our world. Recent advances in synthetic micro/nanomachines have opened new horizons for addressing environmental problems. This review ...article highlights the opportunities and challenges in translating the remarkable progresses in nanomotor technology toward practical environmental applications. It covers various environmental areas that would benefit from these developments, including nanomachine-enabled degradation and removal of major contaminants or nanomotor-based water quality monitoring. Future operations of autonomous intelligent multifunctional nanomachines, monitoring and responding to hazardous chemicals (in a “sense and destroy” mode) and using bioinspired chemotactic search strategies to trace chemical plumes to their source, are discussed, along with the challenges of moving these exciting research efforts to larger-scale pilot studies and eventually to field applications. With continuous innovations, we expect that man-made nano/microscale motors will have profound impact upon the environment.
Nanomachines offer considerable promise for the treatment of diseases. The ability of man-made nanomotors to rapidly deliver therapeutic payloads to their target destination represents a novel ...nanomedicine approach. Synthetic nanomotors, based on a multitude of propulsion mechanisms, have been developed over the past decade toward diverse biomedical applications. In this review article, we journey from the use of chemically powered drug-delivery nanovehicles to externally actuated (fuel-free) drug-delivery nanomachine platforms, and conclude with future prospects and challenges for such practical propelling drug-delivery systems. As future micro/nanomachines become more powerful and functional, these tiny devices are expected to perform more demanding biomedical tasks and benefit different drug delivery applications.
To determine distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in hospital wards in Wuhan, China, we tested air and surface samples. Contamination was greater in intensive care units ...than general wards. Virus was widely distributed on floors, computer mice, trash cans, and sickbed handrails and was detected in air ≈4 m from patients.
The dynamics, duration, and nature of immunity produced during SARS-CoV-2 infection are still unclear. Here, we longitudinally measured virus-neutralising antibody, specific antibodies against the ...spike (S) protein, receptor-binding domain (RBD), and the nucleoprotein (N) of SARS-CoV-2, as well as T cell responses, in 25 SARS-CoV-2-infected patients up to 121 days post-symptom onset (PSO). All patients seroconvert for IgG against N, S, or RBD, as well as IgM against RBD, and produce neutralising antibodies (NAb) by 14 days PSO, with the peak levels attained by 15-30 days PSO. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and NAb remain detectable and relatively stable 3-4 months PSO, whereas IgM antibody rapidly decay. Approximately 65% of patients have detectable SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4
or CD8
T cell responses 3-4 months PSO. Our results thus provide critical evidence that IgG, NAb, and T cell responses persist in the majority of patients for at least 3-4 months after infection.
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death among men in western countries. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is considered the ...standard therapy for recurrent prostate cancer; however, this therapy may lead to ADT resistance and tumor progression, which seems to be regulated by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and/or neuroendocrine differentiation (NED). In addition, recent data suggested the involvement of either adaptive or innate infiltrated immune cells in the initiation, progression, metastasis, and treatment of prostate cancer. In this review, we outlined the characteristics and roles of these immune cells in the initiation, progression, metastasis, and treatments of prostate cancer. We also summarized the current therapeutic strategies in targeting immune cells of the prostate tumor microenvironment.
•The biological functions of the major immune populations in different stages of prostate cancer.•The roles of immune cells in ADT and immunotherapies in prostate cancer.•Immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoints, TAMs and MDSCs in prostate cancer.
Mouse p202 is a disease locus for lupus and a dominant‐negative inhibitor of AIM2 inflammasome activation. A human homolog of p202 has not been identified so far. Here, we report a novel transcript ...isoform of human IFI16‐designated IFI16‐β, which has a domain architecture similar to that of mouse p202. Like p202, IFI16‐β contains two HIN domains, but lacks the pyrin domain. IFI16‐β is ubiquitously expressed in various human tissues and cells. Its mRNA levels are also elevated in leukocytes of patients with lupus, virus‐infected cells, and cells treated with interferon‐β or phorbol ester. IFI16‐β co‐localizes with AIM2 in the cytoplasm, whereas IFI16‐α is predominantly found in the nucleus. IFI16‐β interacts with AIM2 to impede the formation of a functional AIM2‐ASC complex. In addition, IFI16‐β sequesters cytoplasmic dsDNA and renders it unavailable for AIM2 sensing. Enforced expression of IFI16‐β inhibits the activation of AIM2 inflammasome, whereas knockdown of IFI16‐β augments interleukin‐1β secretion triggered by dsDNA but not dsRNA. Thus, cytoplasm‐localized IFI16‐β is functionally equivalent to mouse p202 that exerts an inhibitory effect on AIM2 inflammasome.
Synopsis
IFI16‐β, a novel transcript isoform of IFI16 is a functional homolog of mouse p202 and inhibits the AIM2 inflammasome. IFI16‐β impedes AIM2‐ASC complex formation and blocks cytoplasmic dsDNA sensing of AIM2.
IFI16‐β shows a similar domain architecture than mouse p202.
IFI16‐β associates with STING and is a weak inducer of type I interferons.
IFI16‐β inhibits AIM2 inflammasome activation, and blocks its binding to cytoplasmic dsDNA.
IFI16‐β, a novel transcript isoform of IFI16 is a functional homolog of mouse p202 and inhibits the AIM2 inflammasome. IFI16‐β impedes AIM2‐ASC complex formation and blocks cytoplasmic dsDNA sensing of AIM2.
We describe catalytic micromotors powered by remarkably low concentrations of chemical fuel, down to the 0.0000001% level. These Janus micromotors rely on an iridium hemispheric layer for the ...catalytic decomposition of hydrazine in connection to SiO2 spherical particles. The micromotors are self-propelled at a very high speed (of ∼20 body lengths s–1) in a 0.001% hydrazine solution due to osmotic effects. Such a low fuel concentration represents a 10 000-fold decrease in the level required for common catalytic nanomotors. The attractive propulsion performance, efficient catalytic energy-harvesting, environmentally triggered swarming behavior, and magnetic control of the new Janus micromotors hold considerable promise for diverse practical applications.
Artificial micromotors, operating on locally supplied fuels and performing complex tasks, offer great potential for diverse biomedical applications, including autonomous delivery and release of ...therapeutic payloads and cell manipulation. Various types of synthetic motors, utilizing different propulsion mechanisms, have been fabricated to operate in biological matrices. However, the performance of these man-made motors has been tested exclusively under in vitro conditions (outside the body); their behavior and functionalities in an in vivo environment (inside the body) remain unknown. Herein, we report an in vivo study of artificial micromotors in a living organism using a mouse model. Such in vivo evaluation examines the distribution, retention, cargo delivery, and acute toxicity profile of synthetic motors in mouse stomach via oral administration. Using zinc-based micromotors as a model, we demonstrate that the acid-driven propulsion in the stomach effectively enhances the binding and retention of the motors as well as of cargo payloads on the stomach wall. The body of the motors gradually dissolves in the gastric acid, autonomously releasing their carried payloads, leaving nothing toxic behind. This work is anticipated to significantly advance the emerging field of nano/micromotors and to open the door to in vivo evaluation and clinical applications of these synthetic motors.
In the field of nanoscience, there are a large number of new nanomaterials produced in the laboratory every year. These nanomaterials need to go through a lot of tests in engineering application ...before, to determine their physical, chemical and nanomedicine properties. The work demands a large number of experimental personnel, equipment and reagents, and it’s time-consuming as well. In the theoretical nanoscience, the various features can be obtained through the computation of topological index on nano molecular structures. In this paper, we study the fourth multiplicative atom-bond connectivity indices of some special molecular structures which commonly appeared in the compound of nanomaterials, and their specific expressions are given. The results yielded in this work will be a guidance for the practical nanoscience applications. Keywords: Theoretical nanoscience, Molecular structure, Fourth multiplicative atom-bond connectivity index, Dendrimer
Highly efficient catalytic microtubular engines are synthesized rapidly and inexpensively using an electrochemical growth of bilayer polyaniline/platinum microtubes within the conically shaped pores ...of a polycarbonate template membrane. These mass-produced microtubular engines are only 8 μm long, are self-propelled at an ultrafast speed (of over 350 body lengths s–1), and can operate in very low levels of the hydrogen peroxide fuel (down to 0.2%). The propulsion characteristics and optimization of these microtubular engines are described, along with their efficient operation in different biological environments which holds great promise for biomedical applications.
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