Ion Permeability of Polydopamine Films Revealed Using a Prussian Blue-Based Electrochemical Method

Polydopamine (PDA) is fast becoming a popular surface modification technique. Detailed understanding of the ion permeability properties of PDA films will improve their applications. Herein, we report for the first time the thickness-independent ion permeability of PDA films using a Prussian blue (PB)-based electrochemical method. In this method, PDA films are deposited via ammonium persulfate-induced dopamine polymerization onto a PB electrode. The ion permeability of the PDA films can thus be detected by observing the changes in electrochemical behaviors of the PB coated by PDA films. On the basis of this method, it was unexpectedly found that the PDA films with thickness greater than 45 nm (e.g., ∼60 and ∼113 nm) can exhibit pH-switchable but thickness-insensitive permeability to monovalent cations such as potassium and sodium ions. These observations clearly indicate the presence of a continuous network of interconnected intermolecular voids within PDA films, regardless of film thickness

Functional Toxicogenomic Assessment of Triclosan in Human HepG2 Cells Using Genome-Wide CRISPR-Cas9 Screening

There are thousands of chemicals used by humans and detected in the environment for which limited or no toxicological data are available. Rapid and cost-effective approaches for assessing the toxicological properties of chemicals are needed. We used CRISPR-Cas9 functional genomic screening to identify the potential molecular mechanism of a widely used antimicrobial triclosan (TCS) in HepG2 cells. Resistant genes at IC50 (the concentration causing a 50% reduction in cell viability) were significantly enriched in the adherens junction pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and PPAR signaling pathway, suggesting a potential role in the molecular mechanism of TCS-induced cytotoxicity. Evaluation of the top-ranked resistant genes, <i>FTO</i> (encoding an mRNA demethylase) and <i>MAP2K3</i> (a MAP kinase kinase family gene), revealed that their loss conferred resistance to TCS. In contrast, sensitive genes at IC10 and IC20 were specifically enriched in pathways involved with immune responses, which was concordant with transcriptomic profiling of TCS at concentrations o