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The treatment of diabetic ulcer (DU) remains a major clinical challenge due to the complex wound-healing milieu that features chronic wounds, impaired angiogenesis, persistent pain, bacterial infection, and exacerbated inflammation. A strategy that effectively targets all these issues has proven elusive. Herein, we use a smart black phosphorus (BP)-based gel with the characteristics of rapid formation and near-infrared light (NIR) responsiveness to address these problems. The in situ sprayed BP-based gel could act as 1) a temporary, biomimetic "skin" to temporarily shield the tissue from the external environment and accelerate chronic wound healing by promoting the proliferation of endothelial cells, vascularization, and angiogenesis and 2) a drug "reservoir" to store therapeutic BP and pain-relieving lidocaine hydrochloride (Lid). Within several minutes of NIR laser irradiation, the BP-based gel generates local heat to accelerate microcirculatory blood flow, mediate the release of loaded Lid for "on-demand" pain relief, eliminate bacteria, and reduce inflammation. Therefore, our study not only introduces a concept of in situ sprayed, NIR-responsive pain relief gel targeting the challenging wound-healing milieu in diabetes but also provides a proof-of-concept application of BP-based materials in DU treatment.

This paper proposes a spawned targets tracking algorithm—STT-δ-GLMB—by extending the δ-GLMB algorithm. In the course of the research, we found that for the original δ-GLMB algorithm, performance of the spawned target tracking is seriously insufficient in the environment of the low signal-to-noise ratio. For this problem, the biggest difficulty is spawned target birth detection, and we need to model spawned target. Therefore, this paper uses the characteristics, position and velocity of the spawned target, and multiple frames of measurements to detect the spawned target. By referring to parent target state arguments, we model spawned target based on δ-GLMB. Simulation results show that under low detection rate and strong clutters, the proposed algorithm can accurately estimate spawned targets, and the performance is significantly better than the original δ-GLMB algorithm.

Aim: To label HBsAg with the mCherry protein without impairing its functionality. Materials & methods: A vector expressing mCherry–HBsAg fusion protein was constructed and transfected into Huh7 cell lines. The expression, secretion and subcellular localization of HBsAg was detected by western blotting, ELISA and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. Then the assembly of subviral particles was evaluated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, dot blotting and electron microscopic assay. Results: mCherry–HBsAg fusion protein can be expressed and secreted in a similar manner to HBsAg. More importantly, mCherry–HBsAg fusion protein can self-assemble into spherical subviral-like particles. Conclusion: mCherry could be introduced into HBsAg without affecting its biological characters including expression, secretion and assembly.

The accurate quantification of p53 protein expression level is of great importance for cancer diagnosis. Here, a highly sensitive fluorescent sensor based on DNA functionalized magnetic nanoparticles was developed for the detection of p53 protein expression. Instead of a monoclonal antibody, a consensus DNA was employed to capture p53 protein. Meanwhile the fluorescent dye tethered DNA was used as the signal output instead of enzyme tagged nanoparticle or antibody. Consequently, our developed method is cost-effective for both the p53 capture and detection by compared with the conventional immunoassay. The biosensor developed by the above strategy was used to quantitatively detect p53, which yields a detection limit of 8 p.M. with the linear range of 50 p.M. to 2 nM. The sensitive for specific p53 detection was achieved due to the facile magnetic separation from the complex condition, and the reduced non-specific absorption effect by dextran. Moreover, the method is able to measure p53 from real cell lysate without extensive sample pretreatment/separation. The developed p53 biosensor has high sensitivity, good selectivity and reliable accuracy. It demonstrates great potential in clinical cancer diagnosis and early detection of cancer.

Metallic Co4N catalysts have been considered as one of the most promising non-noble materials for heterogeneous catalysis because of their high electrical conductivity, great magnetic property, and high intrinsic activity. However, the metastable properties seriously limit their applications for heterogeneous water phase catalysis. In this work, a novel Co-metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived hollow porous nanocages (PNCs) composed of metallic Co4N and N-doped carbon (NC) were synthesized for the first time. This hollow three-dimensional (3D) PNC catalyst was synthesized by taking advantage of Co-MOF as a precursor for fabricating 3D hollow Co3O4@C PNCs, along with the NH3 treatment of Co-oxide frames to promote the in situ conversion of Co-MOF to Co4N@NC PNCs, benefiting from the high intrinsic activity and electron conductivity of the metallic Co4N phase and the good permeability of the hollow porous nanostructure as well as the efficient doping of N into the carbon layer. Besides, the covalent bridge ...

In the fight against pathogenic bacteria, traditional antibiotic therapy is challenged by low efficiency and drug resistance. These drawbacks motivate the development of synergistic antibacterial therapy, but there is a lack of efficient synergistic platforms. Herein, with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as a pathogenic bacterial model, we explored the potential of black phosphorus (BP) as a synergistic therapeutic platform for drug resistant bacterial infection. Acting as a substrate, reductant and stabilizer, BP nanosheets were decorated with Ag nanoparticles (NP) through an in situ growth strategy. The photothermal effect of the BP nanosheets allows Ag@BP nanohybrids to rapidly disrupt a bacterial membrane under near infrared (NIR) light irradiation. Moreover, the slowly released Ag+ elevates oxidative stress and sustainably suppresses bacterial proliferation for a long time. The combination of these two aspects endows the Ag@BP nanohybrids with synergistically enhanced antibacterial performance. Different from traditional antibiotics, the antibacterial effects of the Ag@BP nanohybrids are independent of the bacterial structure, which bypasses the issue of drug resistance. The in vivo studies show that the Ag@BP nanohybrids efficiently decrease the MRSA bacterial burden in mice and minimize infection associated tissue lesions. Besides, the excellent biocompatibility of the Ag@BP nanohybrids guarantees their biosafety for future clinical applications. Accordingly, this work demonstrates the potential of the BP nanosheets in the synergistic antibacterial therapy against drug resistant bacteria, and paves the way for developing 2D semiconductor based synergistic antibacterial nanodrugs.

Two dimensional (2D) semiconducting nanomaterials have shown great potential for antitumor therapy. However, their clinical applications are seriously hampered by the tumour microenvironments. Bearing this in mind, we propose to improve the performance of 2D semiconducting nanomaterials using artificial catalase. In this work, we decorate black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets with Pt nanoparticles (NPs) through an in situ growth strategy. Pt NPs as artificial catalases can efficiently decompose the accumulated H2O2 in tumours to relieve tumour hypoxia, and thereafter improve the photodynamic antitumor activity of BP nanosheets. This work paves a new avenue for the functionalization of 2D semiconducting nanomaterials, which will promote the development of 2D semiconductor based nanodrugs.

With black phosphorus (BP) as an example, the first two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor based sonosensitizer (Au@BP nanohybrids) was fabricated. Under ultrasound irradiation, Au@BP nanohybrids can generate 1O2 in deep tissues and eradicate tumors with high efficacy. This platform paves the way for the application of 2D semiconductors in sonodynamic cancer therapy.

A novel electrochemical sensor based on cyclodextrin and chitosan-functionalized reduced graphene oxide composite film was designed and prepared to detect o - and p -nitrophenols simultaneously. Apart from the synergistic effect of large specific surface area of reduced graphene oxide (RGO), the adsorption of nitrophenols (NPhs) through electrostatic interaction benefited from large quantities of host–guest recognition sites on cyclodextrin (CD) and abundant functional groups on chitosan. By taking advantage of the salient features of RGO, CDs, and chitosan, p -nitrophenol ( p -NPh) and o -nitrophenol ( o -NPh) can be determined simultaneously based on their nitroaromatic/hydroxylamine redox reactions. Under the optimized experimental conditions, a wide linear range was obtained over o -NPh concentration from 0.12 μM to 0.28 μM and 5 μM to 40 μM with a detection limit of 0.018 μM (S/N = 3) as well as p -NPh concentration from 0.06 μM to 0.16 μM and 5 μM to 40 μM along with a detection limit of 0.016 μM (S/N = 3). In addition, the newly developed reduced graphene oxide-cyclodextrin-chitosan (RGO-CD-CS) sensor displayed high accuracy, satisfactory reproducibility, good stability, and adequate efficiency in simultaneously detecting o -NPh and p -NPh in aqueous samples.

Three-dimensional (3D) nitrogen and sulfur dual-doped graphene aerogels (NSGAs) are successfully synthesized by using a rational hydrothermal self-assembly process with ammonia and sulfur powder as nitrogen and sulfur sources, respectively. Structural characterization, including TEM, HAADF-STEM, SEM, and XPS indicated that the NSGA catalyst exhibits an interconnected macroporous framework of graphene sheets and tunable contents of N and S. The as-prepared NSGAs show an excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, including a highly positive onset potential, high kinetic limiting current density, and fuel tolerance. In particular, the NSGA catalyst reveals a much better long-term stability than that of Pt/C in alkaline medium.