Simple and Green Strategy for the Synthesis of “Pathogen-Mimetic” Glycoadjuvant@AuNPs by Combination of Photoinduced RAFT and Bioinspired Dopamine Chemistry

Innate immune responses recognizing pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) play a crucial role in adaptive immunity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) contribute to antigen capture, uptake, presentation and activation of immune responses. In this contribution, metal-free reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of <i>N</i>-3,4-dihydroxybenzenethyl methacrylamide (DMA) and 2-(methacrylamido) glucopyranose (MAG) under sunlight irradiation using 2-cyanoprop-2-yl-α-dithionaphthalate (CPDN) as iniferter agent, can be employed to fabricate the multivalent glycopolymer containing bioresponsive sugar group and multifunctional catechol functionalities. The polymerization behavior is investigated and it presents controlled features. Moreover, bioinspired dopamine chemistry can be successfully utilized to form in situ glycopolymer-coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) without the need of additional reducing reagent, design “pathogen-mimetic” glycoadjuvant recognized by both CLRs and TLRs. The synthetic glycoadjuvant is found to enhance the adjuvant activity as “infected signals” in vitro

Earliest life on earth

This volume integrates the latest findings on earliest life forms, identified and characterized in some of the oldest rocks on Earth. It places emphasis on the integration of analytical methods with observational techniques and experimental simulations

Natural RAFT Polymerization: Recyclable-Catalyst-Aided, Opened-to-Air, and Sunlight-Photolyzed RAFT Polymerizations

The successful sunlight-photolyzed reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) photopolymerization can be reversibly activated and deactivated by irradiation with sunlight in the absence of photocatalyst and photoinitiator. In the present work, the thiocarbonylthio compounds (dithiobenzoate, trithiocarbonate, and xanthate) can all be employed to carry out the polymerization under sunlight irradiation acting as an initiator, chain transfer agent, and termination agent. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the recyclable-catalyst-aided, opened-to-air, and sunlight-photolyzed RAFT (ROS-RAFT) polymerizations can be successfully carried out to fabricate precise and predictable polymers in the presence of the recyclable magnetic semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs). The oxygen tolerance is likely attributed to a specific interaction between NPs and oxygen

<i>Nigella</i> communities.

<p>Shown are the <i>Nigella</i> communities, where nodes display higher connectivity to each other than to the rest of the network. The communities were generated using the walktrap-community algorithm. Their stability was confirmed by robustness analysis. Only communities with more than one node are illustrated.</p

Fixed oil composition of <i>Nigella sativa</i> at 50 DAA and 82 DAA seeds.

<p>Means of three independent determinations originating from three separate plants each±SE. Fatty acid composition is presented as relative percentage (%) of total fatty acid and was analyzed by GC-FID after their transesterification with 2% H₂SO₄ in dry methanol. Identification was accomplished by comparison of sample peak retention times with those of FAME standard mixtures.</p

Comparative analysis of dynamic regulation of main compositions during seed development in <i>Arabidopsis</i> and <i>Nigella</i>.

<p>Total amino acid is the sum of detected free amino acids. The unit for total protein content is µg/seed, all other compositions use ng/seed as unit. Data came from reported paper <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0073061#pone.0073061-Baud1" target="_blank">[16]</a>.</p

Principal component analysis of central metabolites data during seed development in DAA (see legend).

<p>Plot represents 1^st (X-axis) and 2^nd (Y-axis) principal components. Variance explained by each component is indicated in brackets. Shapes represent different developmental clusters.</p

Relative content of central metabolites identified by GC-MS analysis of <i>Nigella</i> seeds during development.

<p>A – relative content of amino acids, B – relative content of carboxylic and other acids, C – relative content of sugars, sugar alcohols and others. Each bar represents the mean values of three replicates±SE.</p

Phenotype (A) and chlorophyll content (B) of <i>Nigella sativa</i> developing seed from 40^th to 70^th DAA.

<p>Phenotype (A) and chlorophyll content (B) of <i>Nigella sativa</i> developing seed from 40^th to 70^th DAA.</p