Search

This work demonstrates the synthesis of poly(ω-pentadecalactone-co-δ-valeroLactone) with high molecular weight (Mn = 71.3 kDa) and low polydispersity (Đ = 1.67) within 6 hours by reactive extrusion (REX) using a lipase catalyst (Novozyme-435). The catalyst under REX conditions effectively promoted transesterification with increased reaction time providing access to copolymers with blocky and nearly random sequence distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superoxide anion (O2Ṗ−) plays a crucial role in several physiological processes and many human diseases. Developing new methods for O2Ṗ− detection in biological systems is very important. A FRET-based two-photon (TP) fluorescent probe with a ratiometric signal, TFR-O, was developed. A naphthalene derivative based TP fluorescent group was selected as the energy donor group, and a rhodol fluorescent group was chosen as the energy acceptor; the trifluoromethanesulfonate group was chosen as the recognition moiety. After reacting with O2Ṗ−, the recognition moiety was removed and the fluorophore was released, leading to a fluorescence intensity decrease at the wavelength of 425 nm and a significant enhancement of the fluorescence intensity at 550 nm. The fluorescence intensity ratio between 550 and 425 nm (I550/I425) varied from 0.15 to 6.72, with the O2Ṗ− concentration increasing from 0 to 50 μM. The detection limit of the TFR-O was 83 nM. Moreover, TFR-O was applied for detecting and imaging O2Ṗ− in cells and liver tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reported a facile and efficient strategy for the construction of polycarbonate-based core-crosslinked redox-responsive nanoparticles (CC-RRNs), which can efficiently regulate the drug loading content and redox-responsive drug release. A series of CC-RRNs for delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) were synthesized by the click reaction between alkyne-bearing amphiphilic block copolymer PEG-b-poly(MPC)n (PMPC) and azide-terminated α-lipoic acid derivative (LA) and 6-bromohexanoic acid derivative (AHE) at different ratios, followed by introduction of crosslinked networks under a catalytic amount of dithiothreitol (DTT). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments showed that the CC-RRNs presented more excellent stability over non-crosslinked unresponsive nanoparticles (NC-URNs) under physiological conditions. Interestingly, the DOX loading content of nanoparticles (NPs) increased as the proportion of LA moieties increased, and the maximum value was up to 20.0 ± 0.6%, close to the theoretical value of 23.1%. The in vitro redox-responsive release of DOX and MTT assays confirmed that the ratio of LA-to-AHE of PMPC-based polymers not only determined the ultimate drug release of DOX-loaded CC-RRNs in a reductive environment, but also dominated the cytotoxicity towards HepG2 cells. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLMS) and flow cytometry further proved the enhancement of cellular uptake and tumor accumulation. This facile strategy overcomes tedious fabrication procedures for drug nanocarriers, offers an opportunity for regulating the functionality of NPs, and thus paves the pathway for scale-up production of biodegradable drug carriers with biocompatibility, stability and targetability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we have successfully realized the on-site evolution of ultrafine ZnO nanoparticles from hollow zeolitic-imidazolate-framework-8 through a simple but efficient plasma treatment. With unique hollow frameworks which decorated with well-dispersed ultrafine ZnO nanoparticles, the h-ZIF-8@ZnO hybrids exhibit enhanced electrochemical performance for Li-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]