10 research outputs found
Evaluating the Ecological Services of Roof Greening Plants in Beijing Based on Functional Traits
Selecting suitable species to enhance ecological functions is crucial for improvements in the planning and design of roof greening and in maintaining sustainable urban development, especially in rapidly urbanized areas. Assisted by field trips to enhance studies, the present project assessed the ecological functions of 207 plant species used for roof greening in Beijing based on their key functional traits. The results indicate that regulating, cultural, supplying, and supporting functions differed significantly among species and families in the study area. Rosaceae species have higher levels of overall ecological functions than other species, and a large number of Compositae species have lower-level functions. Compared to other families, Araliaceae and Nyctaginaceae have higher mean values of cultural and supporting functions and the highest mean overall function value of 37. Ulmaceae, Sapindaceae, Ginkgoaceae, Berberidaceae, and Aceraceae have higher mean regulating, cultural, supporting, and overall function values. Amaranthaceae, Umbelliferae, Lamiaceae, Saxifragaceae, Ericaceae, and Gramineae have lower values. The existing roof greening in Beijing includes some pitfalls with respect to plant composition as well as plant selection that does not consider ecological functions. The following measures could be proposed to increase ecological functions: (1) Increasing the number of plants with shallow roots and with strong adaptation traits to roof conditions; (2) Enriching ecological communities with diverse plants with high ecological functions; and (3) Carrying out rational ecological planning and management based on detailed and objective data on plant species. Future studies should focus on specifying plant functional traits to enhance ecological functions
A Novel Bioswitchable miRNA Mimic Delivery System: Therapeutic Strategies Upgraded from Tetrahedral Framework Nucleic Acid System for Fibrotic Disease Treatment and Pyroptosis Pathway Inhibition
Abstract There has been considerable interest in gene vectors and their role in regulating cellular activities and treating diseases since the advent of nucleic acid drugs. MicroRNA (miR) therapeutic strategies are research hotspots as they regulate gene expression postâtranscriptionally and treat a range of diseases. An original tetrahedral framework nucleic acid (tFNA) analog, a bioswitchable miR inhibitor delivery system (BiRDS) carrying miR inhibitors, is previously established; however, it remains unknown whether BiRDS can be equipped with miR mimics. Taking advantage of the transport capacity of tetrahedral framework nucleic acid (tFNA) and upgrading it further, the treatment outcomes of a traditional tFNA and BiRDS at different concentrations on TGFâβâ and bleomycinâinduced fibrosis simultaneously in vitro and in vivo are compared. An upgraded traditional tFNA is designed by successfully synthesizing a novel BiRDS, carrying a miR mimic, miRâ27a, for treating skin fibrosis and inhibiting the pyroptosis pathway, which exhibits stability and biocompatibility. BiRDS has three times higher efficiency in delivering miRNAs than the conventional tFNA with sticky ends. Moreover, BiRDS is more potent against fibrosis and pyroptosisârelated diseases than tFNAs. These findings indicate that the BiRDS can be applied as a drug delivery system for disease treatment
Tetrahedral Framework Nucleic Acids Loading Ampicillin Improve the Drug Susceptibility against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
DNA framework signal amplification platform-based high-throughput systemic immune monitoring
Abstract Systemic immune monitoring is a crucial clinical tool for disease early diagnosis, prognosis and treatment planning by quantitative analysis of immune cells. However, conventional immune monitoring using flow cytometry faces huge challenges in large-scale sample testing, especially in mass health screenings, because of time-consuming, technical-sensitive and high-cost features. However, the lack of high-performance detection platforms hinders the development of high-throughput immune monitoring technology. To address this bottleneck, we constructed a generally applicable DNA framework signal amplification platform (DSAP) based on post-systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment and DNA tetrahedral framework-structured probe design to achieve high-sensitive detection for diverse immune cells, including CD4+, CD8+ T-lymphocytes, and monocytes (down to 1/100âÎźl). Based on this advanced detection platform, we present a novel high-throughput immune-cell phenotyping system, DSAP, achieving 30-min one-step immune-cell phenotyping without cell washing and subset analysis and showing comparable accuracy with flow cytometry while significantly reducing detection time and cost. As a proof-of-concept, DSAP demonstrates excellent diagnostic accuracy in immunodeficiency staging for 107 HIV patients (AUCâ>â0.97) within 30âmin, which can be applied in HIV infection monitoring and screening. Therefore, we initially introduced promising DSAP to achieve high-throughput immune monitoring and open robust routes for point-of-care device development
Fabrication of Calcium Phosphate Microflowers and Their Extended Application in Bone Regeneration
The
structure of materials is known to play an important role in material
function. Nowadays, flowerlike structures have gained attention for
studies not only in analytical chemistry, but also in biomaterial
design. In this study, flowerlike structures were applied in bone
regeneration in the form of calcium phosphate microflowers. The material
was synthesized by a simple and environmentally friendly method. We
characterized the structure and properties of the microflower using
various methods. Cytotoxicity and osteogenesis-related gene regulations
of the microflower were investigated <i>in vitro</i>. Cell
uptake was observed by immunofluorescence. Rat calvarial critical-size
defect models were successfully established to further confirm the
enhanced bone regeneration ability of this material. We expect that
this novel study will be of practical importance for the extended
application of flowerlike materials and will provide new insights
into the optimization of the morphology of calcium phosphate materials
Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidative Effects of Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructures via the Modulation of Macrophage Responses
Tetrahedral
DNA nanostructures (TDNs) are a new type of nanomaterials that have
recently attracted attention in the field of biomedicine. However,
the practical application of nanomaterials is often limited owing
to the host immune response. Here, the response of RAW264.7 macrophages
to TDNs was comprehensively evaluated. The results showed that TDNs
had no observable cytotoxicity and could induce polarization of RAW264.7
cells to the M1 type. TDNs attenuated the expression of NO IL-1β
(interleukin-1β), IL-6 (interleukin-6), and TNF-ι (tumor
necrosis factor-Îą) in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells by inhibiting
MAPK phosphorylation. In addition, TDNs inhibited LPS-induced reactive
oxygen species (ROS) production and cell apoptosis by up-regulating
the mRNA expression of antioxidative enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1).
The findings of this study demonstrated that TDNs have great potential
as a novel theranostic agent because of their anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant activities, high bioavailability, and ease of targeting