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Molecular electron spins are promising candidates as scalable and tunable qubits but often suffer from air sensitivity or other undesirable decomposition pathways. Furthermore, significant spin‒lattice relaxation and nuclear spin-mediated decoherence limit their applications. While significant advances in the synthesis of new molecular electron spin qubit candidates have led to improved coherence lifetimes, one key question is whether coherence can be maintained under conditions relevant for employment as quantum sensors, for instance in solution and at room temperature for sensing in biological systems. Here we report a tetrathiafulvalene-based molecular qubit candidate with spin centered on a nuclear spin-free bridging ligand. This unique air and water-stable scaffold exhibits a long spin decoherence time of hundreds of nanoseconds at ambient temperatures and in nuclear spin-rich protonated solvents. These results distinguish this system as a promising candidate for the development of novel room temperature, solution-phase quantum sensing technologies, and suggest that molecular electron spin qubits can be ideal candidates for these applications.

This study is aimed to investigate the health-associated benefits of bergamot-dietary fibers (DFs) with a special emphasis on weight loss and lipid-lowering effects, as well as the potential mechanisms involved. The feeding experiment of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats for 6 weeks showed that DFs had dose-dependent regulatory effects against metabolic syndrome and they controlled obesity by slowing down the rate of weight growth, and reduced body mass index (BMI) and Lee's index without affecting appetite. Furthermore, DFs inhibited increment in TG, TC, LDL-C levels and AI index caused by a high-fat diet, and improved the pathological abnormality of the liver. Western blot results showed that DFs significantly up-regulated the protein expression levels of LXRα and CYP7A1, and down-regulated the levels of SREBP-1c, FAS, ACC and SREBP-2 in the liver. QRT-PCR results showed that DFs up-regulated PGC-1α, PRDM16, UCP-1, and PPARγ in brown adipose tissue. These results suggest that DFs played an effective role in reducing weight and lipids levels by promoting the decomposition and transport of lipids in liver, increasing the energy consumption of brown adipose tissue. DFs intervention reduced the difference in the intestinal microflora between rats fed with a normal diet and those fed with a high-fat diet. Soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and total dietary fiber (TDF) showed better weight loss and hypolipidemic potential compared to insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) at the same dose. In conclusion, bergamot-derived DFs demonstrated the potential to lower blood cholesterol and body weight and could be used to develop novel functional foods for the prevention or treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia.

A new organosiloxane precursor ((E)-3-hydroxy-4-((2-(2-hydroxy-4-(3-(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl)ureido)benzoyl)hydrazono)methyl)phenyl(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl)carbamate, hereinafter referred to as AHBH-Si) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) were mixed as the mixed Si source, and bridged periodic mesoporous organic silica (AHBH-PMOs) nanoparticles were obtained through the co-condensation reaction. AHBH-PMO nanoparticles possess mechanisms of “Aggregation Induced Emission” (AIE) and “Intramolecular Charge Transfer” (ICT), which originate from the molecular structure of AHBH having “CN” bond, ortho hydroxyl groups, etc.. Therefore, the optical properties of AHBH are excellent with respect to the solvent effect and enhanced fluorescence. For hybrid materials, the silica framework provides a rigid environment that restricts the rotation of AHBH, thereby turning on the fluorescence of AHBH due to the regulation by the AIE effect. In particular, AHBH-PMOs are no longer restricted by organic solvents and could really achieve the response to Cu2+ with high sensitivity and selectivity in aqueous solutions of a wide pH range. In addition, the detection limit is as low as 3.26 × 10−9 M. Methods such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and high-resolution mass spectrometry have shown the coordination interaction between AHBH and Cu2+. The Gaussian 09 software of density functional theory to calculate the reducing changes of energy gaps among AHBH and AHBH-Si before and after the addition of Cu2+ showed that coordination interaction exists in the system. These results indicate that AHBH-PMO hybrid materials have potential applications in the field of environmental monitoring.

Asian sea bass mince gels having different adjusted moisture/water content (80 and 85%; w/w) were prepared with addition of sodium bicarbonate (SB) at various concentrations (0, 0.05 and 0.1%; w/w). Fish mince gels of 80% water content added with 0.05 and 0.1% SB (G80-0.05 and G80-0.1, respectively) had the highest increase (135-139%) in breaking force (BrF) than the respective control gel (G80) (

The effect of the amount of ice added (20–60%) on the gel properties and water migration of Nemipterus virgatus surimi gel obtained with two-stage heat treatment was studied. The gel strength and water-holding capability (WHC) of the surimi gel with 30% ice added were significantly higher than those of other treatment groups (p &lt, 0.05). The addition of 30% ice was conducive to the increase of protein β-sheet proportion during heat treatment, exposing more reactive sulfhydryl groups. These promoted the combination of protein-protein through disulfide bonds and hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions, forming an ordered three-dimensional gel network structure. Meanwhile, the increase in hydrogen bonds promoted the protein-water interaction. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed that more bound water was locked in the gel system, reducing the migration of immobile water to free water and finally showing better gel properties. When the amount of ice added was insufficient (20%), the gel structure lacked the support of immobile water, resulting in deterioration of gel strength. However, excessive addition of ice (&gt, 30%) was not conducive to the combination of protein-protein and protein-water, forming a large and rough gel structure, resulting in the migration of immobile water to free water and ultimately exhibited weak gel properties.

Osteoporosis is a worldwide epidemic, and certain functional foods can alleviate osteoporosis with great efficiency. Here, in a dexamethasone-induced osteoporosis rat model, it was proved that APS could restore the bone mineral density (BMD) and repair the impairment of bone microarchitecture, two major features of osteoporosis. In APS-treated rats, acid phosphatase 5 (ACP5) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-2) were significantly decreased. This suggested that APS might improve osteoporosis by inhibiting osteoclastogenesis and preventing inflammation. Further analysis on the bacterial community revealed that the structure of gut microbiota was dramatically changed by APS, and 13 bacteria (such as c_Bacteroidia, p_Bacteroidetes, and g_Allpprevotella) could serve as biomarkers for APS-improved osteoporosis. Furthermore, five genera (uncultured_bacterium_f_Ruminococcaceae, Alloprevotella, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Blautia and Lactobacillus) were inferred as the key bacteria in APS-improved osteoporosis. In conclusion, APS-modified gut microbiota and the potential key bacteria to alleviate osteoporosis, as well as its relationship with improved osteoporosis, were investigated in our present study. Our results will help to understand how APS improves osteoporosis by regulating gut microbiota and contribute to the development and application of functional foods to alleviate refractory osteoporosis by regulating targeted intestinal bacteria.

The residue rich in protein (up to 88.78%) obtained from round scad (Decapterus maruadsi) after oil extraction, was hydrolyzed by Alcalase to produce antioxidative peptides. The hydrolysate was separated by ultrafiltration, Sephadex G-15 and RP-HPLC, and the active fractions were screened by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline- 6 sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), reducing power and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). The obtained peptide with the highest antioxidative activity was then analyzed by HPLC and LC-MS/MS and its anti-aging effect was examined using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model. The peptide (Ile-Leu-Gly-Ala-Thr-Ile-Asp-Asn-Ser-Lys, 1153.4 Da), identified by LC-MS/MS showed the highest antioxidant activity. C. elegans fed with the selected peptide had longer lifespan, higher survival rate, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities than the control group (P＜0.05), demonstrating the promising anti-aging effects of the antioxidant peptide from defatted round scad.

The development of antiaging functional products is a hot topic in the field of functional foods. However, the efficient extraction of functional ingredients is the limiting step for the functional food industry. Continuous phase‐transition extraction (CPE) is a new extraction technique that combines the advantages of Soxhlet extraction and supercritical extraction, which may have a distinct advantage over traditional methods in the extraction of flavonoids. In our study, the Box–Behnken design combined with response surface methodology was used to optimize CPE of crude flavonoids from finger citron fruit. The antiaging activities of finger citron crude flavonoids (FCCF) were evaluated by Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model. The optimal extraction conditions for CPE were as follows: ethanol concentration 85%, temperature 90°C, time 120 min, and pressure 0.2 MPa. Compared with the heat reflux extraction, the extraction rate and content of FCCF extracted by CPE increased by 24.28% and 33.22% (p, Compared with heat reflux extraction, continuous phase‐transition extraction can significantly increase the extraction rate and content of finger citron crude flavonoids (FCCF). FCCF may prolong the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans under normal and oxidative stress by increasing the activity of major enzymes in endogenous antioxidant defense system and reduce the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA).

In this study, a polysaccharide fraction (HPP-c3-s1) was obtained from Haematococcus pluvialis using DEAE-52 anion exchange and Sephacryl S400 chromatographies. The structure of HPP-c3-s1 was partially characterized and its biological activity was investigated. HPP-c3-s1 is a homogeneous polysaccharide with a molecular weight of 23 413 kDa as determined by high-performance gel permeation chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Periodate oxidation and Smith degradation analysis combined with GC-MS determined that HPP-c3-s1 contains 1 → 2, 1 → 3, 1 → 4, and probably a few 1 → 6 glycosyl linkages. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses indicate HPP-c3-s1 is a pyranose containing an amino and O-acetyl group. The sugar chains in HPP-c3-s1 contain both α and β glycosidic configurations, where the β configuration is the primary form. It was observed that the HPP-c3-s1 nanostructure had linear and branched forms at a concentration of 5 μg mL−1 and created different sized aggregates at a higher concentration of 50 μg mL−1. Furthermore, HPP-c3-s1 had significant immunostimulatory effects on splenocytes and B lymphocytes. In assays assessing anti-aging effects, HPP-c3-s1 extended the mean survival of Caenorhabditis elegans without adversely affecting reproduction. In addition, treatment with HPP-c3-s1 resulted in delays in age-related physiologic parameters, including body movement, rates of head swing and body bending, and accumulation of intestinal lipofuscinosis in C. elegans. Overall, these results suggest HPP-c3-s1 has remarkable immunomodulatory and anti-aging properties that may serve as the basis for development of functional foods and dietary supplements.

The effects of high-pressure processing (HPP) at different levels (0.1–600 MPa) and pressure coupled with two-stage heat treatment on the gel properties and water migration of Nemipterus virgatus surimi were studied. The gel prepared by HPP at 100 or 200 MPa for 15 min, followed by a two-stage heating, namely 100 P H and 200 P H respectively, showed the improved the gel strength, water-holding capacity (WHC) and whiteness (P

In this study, a microbial transglutaminase (MTGase)-catalyzed reaction was first optimized to prepare the cross-linked sodium caseinate (MSC). At the optimal condition of MTGase to sodium caseinate mass ratio of 250 U/g and 2 h of reaction time, different concentrations of sodium caseinate (5, 25 and 50 mg/mL) were used to synthesize MTGase-catalyzed cross-linked sodium caseinate (named as MSC-5, MSC-25 and MSC-50, respectively), which were further characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compared to those of sodium caseinate, MSC exhibited a higher molecular weight and surface hydrophobicity index, different secondary structure and microstructure characteristics. Then, MSC-50 was used as the coating stabilizer for zein nanoparticles and their composite nanoparticles (zein-MSC-50 NPs) exhibited a spherical shape with an average diameter of 240.70 nm, a narrow size distribution and negative surface charge of −23.83 mV at the optimized zein to MSC-50 mass ratio of 1:2. The stability studies indicated that zein-MSC-50 NPs had desirable re-dispersibility, thermal, salt and storage stabilities. These results suggested a possible utilization of MSC as the novel stabilizer of zein-based delivery carriers for encapsulating lipophilic bioactive components in functional foods and pharmaceutical products.

The pickled products of finger citron are famous in southern China for their unique taste and flavor. Although pickling process involves complex treatments including salting, desalting, sugaring, cooking and drying, extended shelf-life up to ten years after pickling can be achieved. In this study, the variations of volatile flavour components in the pickling process of finger citron were investigated by electronic nose (E-nose), headspace solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) and headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS). HS-SPME-GC-MS identified 85 substances, and HS-GC-IMS identified 81 substances, including terpenoids (21), aromatic hydrocarbons (11), alcohols (11), aldehydes (10), esters (7), phenols (6), acids (5), ethers (2), ketones (2), and other species (10). Linalool, limonene, (E)-3,7-dimethyl-1,3,6-octatriene, myrcene, 3-carene, β-pinene, α-pinene, terpinolene, 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-1,4-cyclohexadiene, α-terpinene, (S)-β-bisabolene, 1-isopropyl-2-methylbenzene and 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethenyl)-benzene were the stable substances at relatively high contents in finger citron at different pickling process. Salting and drying steps in the pickling process exerted greatest influence on the volatile components of finger citron. Salting promoted the generation of aldehydes, esters and acids, but led to the disappearance of alcohols, while drying promoted the generation of alcohols, phenols, aldehydes and acids at the expense of reduction in terpenoids. Our study revealed that the characteristic volatile compounds of finger citron pickled products was mainly formed by the biological reactions in the salting stage and thermal chemical transformations in the drying stage. This study also validated the suitability of E-nose combined with HS-SPME-GC-MS and HS-GC-IMS in tracking the changes of volatile components in finger citron during the pickling process.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a marine food-borne pathogen, has been proved to be a significant cause of human gastrointestinal disorders worldwide. In this study, a method of multiplex droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) based on primer and probe sequences of the tlh, tdh and ureR genes were developed and evaluated for the reliable quantification of V. parahaemolyticus cells in seafoods. The specificities of all primers and probes used in this study were validated on three standard strains of V. parahaemolyticus, 10 strains of Vibrio spp., and 22 strains of other bacteria by ddPCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Then the ddPCR system, primers, probe concentration and amplification procedures were optimized, and the templates with cell and genomic DNA (gDNA) were compared. The results showed that using cell as template could benefit for multiplex ddPCR, which performed higher linkage among three genes. This method improved sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, convenience, and reproducibility for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 15 CFU/mL. In addition, the applicability of this method was compared with plate count and qPCR, and then verified to detect artificially contaminated seafood samples containing different concentrations of V. parahaemolyticus. The results indicated that the established method is stable, accurate, sensitive, range-wide, and has the potential to detect the three different genes of V. parahaemolyticus in food samples.

Cross-linking plays an important role in tissue engineering, which involves the alternative of cross-linker and the way of components interaction. We compared two proanthocyanidin (PA) cross-linked recombinant human collagen-peptide - chitosan scaffolds: immerse cross-linking (I-CLS) and premix cross-linking (P-CLS). Both of the scaffolds presented homogeneous pore structure with mean pore size of 110-115 μm. The swelling ratio was decreased to 29.6 in I-CLS, but increased to 37.1 in P-CLS while porosity of the two scaffolds was reduced about 8% comparing to 94.3% before cross-linking. The cross-linked scaffolds exhibited enhanced resistance to enzyme degradation and improved compressive modulus (I-CLSP-CLS). The scaffolds transformed from elastic region to plastic region until the strain reached 60%, and the stress was 40.5, 133.2 and 84.1 kPa of uncross-linking scaffold, I-CLS and P-CLS individually. Thermal stability indicated molecular bonding between PA and the scaffold components, simultaneously, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy mainly presented hydrogen bonding between the protein amide carbonyl and the phenolic hydroxyl with a particular transform due to pyrrolidine rings of proline in P-CLS. Both of the I-CLS and P-CLS could promote human umbilical vein endothelial cells attachment and proliferation. The characterization suggested in situ biodegradable application of P-CLS, while a potential long-term utilization of I-CLS in tissue engineering.

The chemical composition, physical structure, and biologically functional moieties are all important to biomaterials for tissue engineering, a recombinant human collagen-peptide (RHC) with high water-solubility obtained in our laboratory was investigated for biomedical application in this paper. Recombinant human collagen-peptide scaffold and a set of complex with chitosan (RHCC scaffolds) were fabricated by lyophilisation. Precipitated reaction of proanthocyanidin (PA) with RHC, chitosan or RHC-chitosan composite exhibited hydrogen bonding interaction between RHC and chitosan. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) characterisation and deconvolution analysis also represented that the carboxide in RHC and amino in chitosan would impact the reaction. Physicochemical and biological characterisation were applied for further potential application of this RHC-chitosan composite in skin tissue engineering. Different ratio of RHC to chitosan played significant influence on scaffold properties, the optim...

Changes of physicochemical properties in natural actomyosin (NAM) from threadfin bream (Nemipterus spp.) induced by high hydrostatic pressure (200, 400, 600 MPa for 10, 30, 50 min) were studied. The increase in turbidity of NAM was coincidental with the decrease in protein solubility with increasing pressure and time, suggesting the formation of protein aggregates. SDS–PAGE showed that polymerisation and degradation of myosin heavy chain were induced by high pressure. Ca2+-ATPase activity of NAM treated by high pressure was lost, suggesting the denaturation of myosin and the dissociation of actomyosin complex. Surface hydrophobicity of NAM increased when the pressure and pressurization time increased, indicating that the exposed hydrophobic residues increased upon application of high pressure. Decrease in total sulfhydryl content and increase in surface-reactive sulfhydryl content of NAM samples were observed with the extension of pressurizing time, indicating the formation of disulphide bonds through oxidation of SH groups or disulphide interchanges. The above changes of physicochemical properties suggested conformational changes of NAM from muscle of threadfin bream induced by high hydrostatic pressure.

The antioxidant activity of Sweet Potato Extracts (SPE) can be enhanced by the presence of these other active antioxidants such as Tea Polyphones (TP) and Pueraria Flavonoid (PF). Since many of these natural antioxidants are consumed together in foods, the potential for synergistic interactions is high in the human diet. The aim of this study was to determine what concentrations and combinations of antioxidants among SPE, TP and PF are capable of producing synergistic antioxidant effects, based on potato-based food products. Solutions of the antioxidant activity of SPE, TP and PF, alone and in different combinations were measured using the stable free radical 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric Reducing Anti-oxidant Power (FRAP) method. A comparison of the antioxidant activity of the combinations of antioxidants to the arithmetic sum of the antioxidant activity of the individual antioxidants was used to calculate the Synergistic Effects (SEs) between the antioxidants. The results showed that all concentrations of TP and PF combination with SPE (1 and 1.5%) could produce significant SEs (p

Trypsin, with molecular weight of 28 kDa from the intestine of genetically improved Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, and anion-exchange chromatography. Purified trypsin had maximal activity at pH 8.0 and 60°C for hydrolysis of N α-p-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester. The enzyme was stable at temperatures up to 50°C and pH range of 6.0–11.0. Its activity was strongly inhibited by metal ions such as Pb2+ and Fe3+ and protease inhibitors including soybean trypsin inhibitor and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. Also, the ion Ca2+ slightly inhibited this activity. The Michaelis-Menten constant (K m) and catalytic constant (K cat) of purified trypsin were 0.036 mM and 152 s−1, respectively. Furthermore, trypsin contained low amounts of hydrophobic and aromatic amino acids as well as β-sheet (20.2%) and β-turn (25.0%).

Carnosic acid is the primary rosemary-derived phenolic diterpenes with greatest antioxidant activity, but it is rather unstable in methanol solution. Understanding the degradation pathway of carnosic acid and the interaction between these phenolic compounds is important if they are to be utilized to a greatest effect. In this study, the HPLC analysis of an aged methanolic solution of carnosic acid revealed that carnosic acid was degraded, and several compounds were produced in the solution. From the time-course and quantitative analyses of the formation of the products and their structural analysis, a novel degradation pathway of carnosic acid in methanol solution is proposed. Carnosic acid can firstly decompose into carnosic acid quinone in methanol, which was the first time to be confirmed the existence of carnosic acid quinone. Carnosic acid quinone is the quinone intermediate of carnosic acid that can be reduced into carnosic acid or can be further converted into carnosol. Carnosol can further decompose to form epirosmanol, rosmanol, 7-methoxyrosmanol, and 7-methoxy-epirosmanol. The latter three compounds were identified as the final degradation products of carnosic acid in methanol because they appeared rather stable in the study.

Collagen is a kind of natural biomedical material and collagen based three-dimensional porous scaffolds have been widely used in skin tissue engineering. However, these scaffolds do not meet the requirements for artificial skin substitutes in terms of their poor mechanical properties, short supply, and rejection in the bodies. All of these factors limit their further application in skin tissue engineering. A variety of methods have been chosen to meliorate the situation, such as cross linking and blending other substance for improving mechanical properties. The highly biomimetic scaffolds either in structure or in function can be prepared through culturing cells and loading growth factors. To avoid the drawbacks of unsafety attributing to animals, investigators have fixed their eyes on the recombinant collagen. This paper reviews the the progress of research and application of collagen-based 3-dimensional porous scaffolds in skin tissue engineering.

The cryoprotective effects of trehalose and sodium lactate at level of 8% (w/w) in tilapia surimi were studied in comparison with a conventional cryoprotectant (sucrose/sorbitol, 1:1) during extended storage at −18 °C for up to 24 weeks. All present cryoprotectants retarded the protein changes as evidenced by the lowered decrease in salt extractable protein (SEP), Ca2+-ATPase activity, total sulfhydryl content as well as the impeded increase in disulfide bond content and surface hydrophobicity. The gel-forming ability of frozen surimi was more retained with addition of cryoprotectants. Among all cryoprotectants used, trehalose exhibited the greatest protective effect on protein denaturation as shown by the effectiveness in maintaining Ca2+-ATPase activity and protein solubility. Additionally, the greatest breaking force and deformation were obtained in surimi added with 8% trehalose throughout the frozen storage up to 24 weeks. Sodium lactate showed a similar cryoprotective effect to sucrose/sorbitol blend. Therefore, trehalose and sodium lactate appeared to be promising alternative cryoprotectants for surimi owing to their low sweetness and caloric value.

Pore architecture of 3D scaffolds used in tissue engineering plays a critical role in the maintenance of cell survival, proliferation and further promotion of tissue regeneration. We investigated the pore size and structure, porosity, swelling as well as cell viability of a series of recombinant human collagen-peptide-chitosan (RHCC) scaffolds fabricated by lyophilization. In this paper, freezing regime containing a final temperature of freezing (Tf) and cooling rates was applied to obtain scaffolds with pore size ranging from 100μm to 120μm. Other protocols of RHC/chitosan suspension concentration and ratio modification were studied to produce more homogenous and appropriate structural scaffolds. The mean pore size decreased along with the decline of Tf at a slow cooling rate of 0.7°C/min; a more rapid cooling rate under 5°C/min resulted to a smaller pore size and more homogenous microstructure. High concentration could reduce pore size and lead to thick well of scaffold, while improved the ratio of RHC, lamellar and fiber structure coexisted with cellular pores. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded on these manufactured scaffolds, the cell viability represented a negative correlation to the pore size. This study provides an alternative method to fabricate 3D RHC-chitosan scaffolds with appropriate pores for potential tissue engineering.

Sustaining the release of therapeutic nanoparticles in a cell-, tissue-, or disease-specific manner is a potentially powerful technology. A new drug carrier-dialdehyde starch nanoparticle (DASNP) that can sustain the loading and release of 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) antitumor drug is reported in this study. IR spectrophotometer and 1H NMR confirmed the formation of aldehyde groups, and scan electron microscope determinations showed that the dialdehyde starch nanoparticles obtained had an average diameter of 90 nm. 5-Fu, the model drug, was conjugated into nanoparticles by aldehyde groups. These 5-Fu-binding nanoparticles significantly enhanced breast cancer cell (MCF-7) inhibition in vitro compared with free 5-Fu. After subcutaneous 0 injection in the breast tumor-loaded rats, 5-Fu-DASNP exhibited remarkable tumor-inhibitory efficacy determined by measuring tumor weight in vivo. The tumor inhibition of 5-Fu-DASNP was 61%±6%, whereas that of free 5-Fu was only 42%±4%. Bcl-2/Bax immunohistochemistry studies indicated that 5-Fu-DASNP remarkably induced tumor tissue necrosis. These results demonstrated that the DASNP prepared in this work is a potentially effective drug carrier.