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Hydrogels with chemical sensitive switch have control release properties in special environments. A series of polyacrylamide-octadecyl methacrylate hydrogels crosslinked by N,N′-bis (acryloyl) cystamine were synthesized as potential chemical sensitive system. When this hydrogel encounters dithiothreitol it can change its quality. The properties of the hydrogels were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, contact angle, and scanning electron microscopy. The water absorption of the hydrogel has the maximum value of 475%, when the content of octadecyl methacrylate is 5 wt%. The amount of weight loss was changed from 34.6% to 17.2%, as the content of octadecyl methacrylate increased from 3 wt% to 9.4 wt%. At the same time, the stress of the hydrogel decreased from 67.01% to 47.61%; the strength of the hydrogel reaches to the maximum 0.367 Mpa at 7 wt% octadecyl methacrylate. The increasing content of octadecyl methacrylate from 3 wt% to 9.4 wt% can enhance the hydrophobicity of the hydrogel; the contact angle of water to hydrogel changed from 14.10° to 19.62°. This hydrogel has the porous structure which permits loading of oils into the gel matrix. The functionalities of the hydrogel make it have more widely potential applications in chemical sensitive response materials.

A novel cellulose-chitosan gel was successfully prepared in three steps: (1) ferrocene- (Fc-) cellulose with degrees of substitution (DS) of 0.5 wt% was synthesised by ferrocenecarboxylic acid and cellulose within dimethylacetamide/lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl); (2) theβ-cyclodextrin (β-CD) groups were introduced onto the chitosan chains by reacting chitosan with epichlorohydrin in dimethyl sulphoxide and a DS of 0.35 wt%; (3) thus, the cellulose-chitosan gel was obtained via an intermolecular inclusion interaction of Fc-cellulose andβ-CD-chitosan in DMA/LiCl, that is, by an intermolecular inclusion interaction, between the Fc groups of cellulose and theβ-CD groups on the chitosan backbone at room temperature. The successful synthesis of Fc-cellulose andβ-CD-chitosan was characterised by13C-NMR spectroscopy. The gel based onβ-CD-chitosan and Fc-cellulose was formed under mild conditions which can engender autonomous healing between cut surfaces after 24 hours: the gel cannot self-heal while the cut surfaces were coated with a solution of a competitive guest (adamantane acid). The cellulose-chitosan complex made by this method underwent self-healing. Therefore, this study provided a novel method of expanding the application of chitosan by binding it with another polymer.

Molecules that associate to form cross-links by hydrophobic association are designed and synthesised. Hydrogels, based on cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs), acrylamide (AM), and stearyl methacrylate (C18), were synthesised by micellar copolymerisation, using ammonium peroxydisulfate as an initiator. CNWs composite hydrogels were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and their morphologies were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The system shows the original extensibility up to about 2500%: the tensile strength and compressive strength have maximum values of 1.338 MPa and 2.835 MPa, respectively. Besides excellent mechanical properties, CNWs composite hydrogels also have the ability to self-heal and remould: this is mainly attributed to the dissociation and reassociation of the associated micelles. In contrast to conventional cellulose hydrogels, these systems, when broken or cut, can be simply repaired by bringing together fractured surfaces to self-heal at room temperature.

Cellulose possessingβ-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was used as a host molecule and cellulose possessing ferrocene (Fc) as a guest polymer. Infrared spectra, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV), and contact angle analysis were used to characterise the material structure and the inclusion behaviour. The results showed that theβ-CD-cellulose and the Fc-cellulose can form inclusion complexes. Moreover, ferrocene oxidation, and reduction of state can be adjusted by sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) as an oxidant and glutathione (GSH) as a reductant. In this study, a physical gel based onβ-CD-cellulose/Fc-cellulose was formed under mild conditions in which autonomous healing between cut surfaces occurred after 24 hours. The physical gel can be controlled in the sol-gel transition. The compressive strength of the Fc-cellulose/β-CD-cellulose gel increased with increased cellulose concentration. The host-guest interaction between the side chains of cellulose could strengthen the gel. The cellulose physical gel may eventually be used as a stimulus-responsive, healing material in biomedical applications.

In this study, we explored the potential mechanisms of how PTEN regulating LPS induced TLR4 signaling pathway. The initial findings from ELISA demonstrate that PTEN influences TNF-αsecretion by its lipid phosphatase activity. Subsequently, western blot, immunoprecipitation assay, and immunofluorescence were performed to explore the activation process of PTEN by stimulation with LPS. As early as 20 minutes after LPS stimulation, reduced phosphorylation of PTEN was found obviously. Accordingly, the whole cell-scattered PTEN translocated towards the cell membrane 20 minutes after stimulating with LPS. Moreover, the weak physical association between PTEN and TLR4 in resting RAW264.7 cells increased gradually after the stimulation of LPS. Furthermore, our study showed PTEN decreased LPS-induced Akt activity and upregulated NF-κB-dependent gene transcription, identifying indirectly that the PTEN could regulate the activation of NF-κB by its downstream Akt kinase. In summary, our study illustrates the potential signal transduction process of PTEN while stimulated by LPS: by increasing the association of TLR4, PTEN recruits to its phosphoinositide substrate PI(3,4,5)P3 located on the cell membrane and exerts its dephosphorylated function and subsequently depresses the activity of downstream molecule Akt and results in activation of NF-κB, followed by the secretion of inflammatory mediators TNF-α.

Major trauma is the leading cause of death in young adults. Despite advances in prehospital system and treatment in hospital, mortality rates have not improved significantly over the past decades. Victims of severe injuries who survive the initial hours have great risk for additional life-threatening complicaitons, including uncontrollable infection (sepsis) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been shown to affect susceptibility to the course of numerous diseases. Accumulating evidence suggests that genetic backgrounds also play important roles in posttraumatic complications. Genetic polymorphisms may become powerful biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of trauma-induced complications. Recent advances in studies on associations between genetic polymorphisms and sepsis or MODS have led to better understanding of posttraumatic complications. Here we summarise recent findings on genetic variations in molecules of the innate immune system and other systems as well as their connection with susceptibility to posttraumatic complications.