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Abstract Plants offer a cost-effective and scalable pharmaceutical platform devoid of host-derived contamination risks. However, their medical application is complicated by the potential for acute allergic reactions to external proteins. Developing plant-based protein therapeutics for localized diseases with non-invasive treatment modalities may capitalize on the benefits of plant proteins while avoiding their inherent risks. Dupilumab, which is effective against a variety of allergic and autoimmune diseases but has systemic responses and injection-related side effects, may be more beneficial if delivered locally using a small biological form. In this study, we engineered a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) of dupilumab, termed Dup-scFv produced by Nicotiana benthamiana, and evaluated its tissue permeability and anti-inflammatory efficacy in air–liquid interface cultured human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs). Despite showing 3.67- and 17-fold lower binding affinity for IL-4Ra in surface plasmon resonance assays and cell binding assays, respectively, Dup-scFv retained most of the affinity of dupilumab, which was originally high, with a dissociation constant (KD) of 4.76 pM. In HNECs cultured at the air–liquid interface, Dup-scFv administered on the air side inhibited the inflammatory marker CCL26 in hard-to-reach basal cells more effectively than dupilumab. In addition, Dup-scFv had an overall permeability of 0.8% across cell layers compared to undetectable levels of dupilumab. These findings suggest that plant-produced Dup-scFv can be delivered non-invasively to cultured HNESc to alleviate inflammatory signaling, providing a practical approach to utilize plant-based proteins for topical therapeutic applications.

The demand for well-designed nanostructured composites with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion batteries electrode materials has been emerging. In order to improve the electrochemical performance of MoS 2 -based anode materials, MoS 2 nanosheets integrated with g-C 3 N 4 (MoS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 composite) was synthesized by a facile heating treatment from the precursors of thiourea and sodium molybdate at 550 °C under N 2 gas flow. The structure and composition of MoS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and elemental analysis. The lithium storage capability of the MoS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 composite was evaluated, indicating high capacity and stable cycling performance at 1 C (A·g -1 ) with a reversible capacity of 1204 mA·h·g -1 for 200 cycles. This result is believed the role of g-C 3 N 4 as a supporting material to accommodate the volume change and improve charge transport for nanostructured MoS 2 . Additionally, the contribution of the pseudocapacitive effect was also calculated to further clarify the enhancement in Li-ion storage performance of the composite.