Ag–SiO₂ Core–Shell Nanorod Arrays: Morphological, Optical, SERS, and Wetting Properties

Using the hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate, a uniform and conformal layer of porous SiO₂ with controlled thickness has been coated onto the oblique angle deposited Ag nanorod (AgNR) array to form an aligned AgNR-SiO₂ core–shell array nanostructure. The morphology, optical property, SERS response, and surface wettability of the AgNRs with different SiO₂ shell thicknesses have been obtained by multiple characterization techniques. The morphological characterization shows that each AgNR on the array is coated with a uniform and porous silica shell independently and the growth of shell thickness follows a linear function versus the coating time. Thickening of the shell induces a monotonic decrease of the apparent contact angle, red-shift of the transverse mode of the localized surface plasmon resonance peak, and makes the SiO₂ shell more compact. The SERS response of 4-Mercaptophenol on these substrates exhibits an exponential decay behavior with the increasing coating time, which is ascribed to the decreasing Ag surface coverage of core–shell nanorods. Under the assumption that the Ag surface coverage is proportional to the SERS intensity, one can estimate the evolution of SiO₂ coverage on AgNRs. Such coverage evolution can be used to qualitatively explain the LSPR wavelength change and quantitatively interpret the contact angle change based on a double Cassie’s law

Table1_Neurodevelopmental disorders as a risk factor for temporomandibular disorder: evidence from Mendelian randomization studies.XLSX

Objective: This study aims to clarify the incidence rate of temporomandibular joint disease in patients with mental disorders.Methods: Data extracted from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and FinnGen databases employed the Mendelian Randomization (MR) method to assess the associations of three neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)—Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Tourette’s Disorder (TD)—as exposure factors with Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). The analysis used a two-sample MR design, employing the Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) method to evaluate the relationships between these disorders and Temporomandibular Disorder. Sensitivity analysis and heterogeneity assessments were conducted. Potential confounding factors like low birth weight, childhood obesity, and body mass index were controlled for.Results: The study found that ADHD significantly increased the risks for TMD (OR = 1.2342, 95%CI (1.1448–1.3307), p Conclusion: This study reveals the elevated risk of various TMD aspects due to ADHD. Furthermore, we discuss the link between low vitamin D levels ADHD and TMD. Future research should address these limitations and delve further into the complex interactions between ADHD, ASD, TD, and TMD.</p

DataSheet1_Neurodevelopmental disorders as a risk factor for temporomandibular disorder: evidence from Mendelian randomization studies.PDF

Objective: This study aims to clarify the incidence rate of temporomandibular joint disease in patients with mental disorders.Methods: Data extracted from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and FinnGen databases employed the Mendelian Randomization (MR) method to assess the associations of three neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)—Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Tourette’s Disorder (TD)—as exposure factors with Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). The analysis used a two-sample MR design, employing the Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) method to evaluate the relationships between these disorders and Temporomandibular Disorder. Sensitivity analysis and heterogeneity assessments were conducted. Potential confounding factors like low birth weight, childhood obesity, and body mass index were controlled for.Results: The study found that ADHD significantly increased the risks for TMD (OR = 1.2342, 95%CI (1.1448–1.3307), p Conclusion: This study reveals the elevated risk of various TMD aspects due to ADHD. Furthermore, we discuss the link between low vitamin D levels ADHD and TMD. Future research should address these limitations and delve further into the complex interactions between ADHD, ASD, TD, and TMD.</p

Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Traceable and Glutathione Responsive Nanocarrier for the Intracellular Drug Delivery

A surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) traceable nanocarrier is presented through a simple strategy for the intracellular redox environment triggered drug delivery. Basically, the nanocarrier has a core–shell structure, with the Raman molecule tagged Au@Ag nanorods as the SERS active core and mesoporous silica (MS) as the drug containing shell. In the presented system, the locations of nanocarriers can be tracked by SERS signals while those of drugs can be monitored through their fluorescence, allowing the simultaneous investigation of the intracellular distribution of both the nanocarriers and the drugs. To endow the nanocarrier with the glutathione (GSH) responsive behavior, disulfide, which can be cleaved by GSH, is used to directly attach drug molecules to the MS. Compared with other disulfide based drug delivery strategies, this is a quite simple and efficient method. The experimental results confirmed that the drug release can be triggered by the stimuli. Moreover, after the cellular uptake of the nanocarriers, a gradual drug release from the nanocarriers was observed by monitoring both the fluorescence of the drug molecules and the SERS signals of the nanocarriers. Considering its stimuli-responsive properties, this kind of nanocarrier would have great potential in improving the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy by avoiding premature drug leakage. More importantly, this SERS based tracking method of the nanocarrier would be more powerful than that based only on the fluorescence of the drug in the studies of drug release dynamic processes

Luminescent and Magnetic Properties in Semiconductor Nanocrystals with Radial-Position-Controlled Mn²⁺ Doping

Colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) with radial-position-controlled doping were synthesized to study the effect of the binding symmetry around Mn²⁺ dopant. For the four samples ZnSe:Mn/ZnSe, ZnSe/ZnS­(2 ML):Mn/ZnS­(2 ML), ZnSe/ZnS­(1 ML):Mn/ZnS­(2 ML), and ZnSe:Mn/ZnS­(2 ML), which were in sequence of binding asymmetry around Mn²⁺ dopant, their photoluminescent (PL) peak showed gradual red-shift (579 to 599 nm) and the PL lifetime became monotonously shorter (0.57 to 0.31 ms), while, as indicated in the electronic paramagnetic resonance spectra, the hyperfine splitting constant became larger (67.9 to 68.4 G) and the <i>g</i> factor became smaller (2.0076 to 2.005). The relation between the luminescent and magnetic properties of the Mn-doped NCs was discussed

Ultrasensitive Detection of Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Activity Using a Ratiometric Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Nanosensor with a Core–Satellite Structure

Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) has been considered a promising molecular biomarker for cancer diagnosis due to its related dysregulation. In this work, a core–satellite structure-powered ratiometric surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanosensor with high sensitivity and specificity to MMP-2 was developed. The SERS nanosensor was composed of a magnetic bead encapsulated within a 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB)-labeled gold shell as the capture core and a 4-mercaptobenzonitrile (MBN)-encoded silver nanoparticle as the signal satellite, which were connected through a peptide substrate of MMP-2. MMP-2-triggered cleavage of peptides from the core surface resulted in a decrease of the SERS intensity of MBN. Since the SERS intensity of DTNB was used as an internal standard, the reliable and sensitive quantification of MMP-2 activity would be realized by the ratiometric SERS signal, with a limit of detection as low as 2.067 ng/mL and a dynamic range from 5 to 100 ng/mL. Importantly, the nanosensor enabled a precise determination of MMP-2 activity in tumor cell secretions, which may provide an avenue for early diagnosis and classification of malignant tumors

Water Dispersible and Biocompatible Porphyrin-Based Nanospheres for Biophotonics Applications: A Novel Surfactant and Polyelectrolyte-Based Fabrication Strategy for Modifying Hydrophobic Porphyrins

The hydrophobility of most porphyrin and porphyrin derivatives has limited their applications in medicine and biology. Herein, we developed a novel and general strategy for the design of porphyrin nanospheres with good biocompatibility and water dispersibility for biological applications using hydrophobic porphyrins. In order to display the generality of the method, we used two hydrophobic porphyrin isomers as starting material which have different structures confirmed by an X-ray technique. The porphyrin nanospheres were fabricated through two main steps. First, the uniform porphyrin nanospheres stabilized by surfactant were prepared by an interfacially driven microemulsion method, and then the layer-by-layer method was used for the synthesis of polyelectrolyte-coated porphyrin nanospheres to reduce the toxicity of the surfactant as well as improve the biocompatibility of the nanospheres. The newly fabricated porphyrin nanospheres were characterized by TEM techniques, the electronic absorption spectra, photoluminescence emission spectra, dynamic light scattering, and cytotoxicity examination. The resulting nanospheres demonstrated good biocompatibility, excellent water dispersibility and low toxicity. In order to show their application in biophotonics, these porphyrin nanospheres were successfully applied in targeted living cancer cell imaging. The results showed an effective method had been explored to prepare water dispersible and highly stable porphyrin nanomaterial for biophotonics applications using hydrophobic porphyrin. The approach we reported shows obvious flexibility because the surfactants and polyelectrolytes can be optionally selected in accordance with the characteristics of the hydrophobic material. This strategy will expand the applications of hydrophobic porphyrins owning excellent properties in medicine and biology

Pharmacokinetics-on-a-Chip Using Label-Free SERS Technique for Programmable Dual-Drug Analysis

Synergistic effects of dual or multiple drugs have attracted great attention in medical fields, especially in cancer therapies. We provide a programmable microfluidic platform for pharmacokinetic detection of multiple drugs in multiple cells. The well-designed microfluidic platform includes two 2 × 3 microarrays of cell chambers, two gradient generators, and several pneumatic valves. Through the combined use of valves and gradient generators, each chamber can be controlled to infuse different kinds of living cells and drugs with specific concentrations as needed. In our experiments, 6-mercaptopurine (6MP) and methimazole (MMI) were chosen as two drug models and their pharmacokinetic parameters in different living cells were monitored through intracellular SERS spectra, which reflected the molecular structure of these drugs. The dynamic change of SERS fingerprints from 6MP and MMI molecules were recorded during drug metabolism in living cells. The results indicated that both 6MP and MMI molecules were diffused into the cells within 4 min and excreted out after 36 h. Moreover, the intracellular distribution of these drugs was monitored through SERS mapping. Thus, our microfluidic platform simultaneously accomplishes the functions to monitor pharmacokinetic action, distribution, and fingerprint of multiple drugs in multiple cells. Owing to its real-time, rapid-speed, high-precision, and programmable capability of multiple-drug and multicell analysis, such a microfluidic platform has great potential in drug design and development

Tracking Multiplex Drugs and Their Dynamics in Living Cells Using the Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Technique

Label free and real time detection of nonfluorescent drugs inside living cells has been realized by using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). For the first time, the characteristics of 6-mercapotopurine and methimazole, two different drugs, were monitored simultaneously by SERS in living cells. Particularly, the processes of diffusion and metabolism of drugs occurring in the intracellular matrix were investigated. The results indicate that the metabolism speed of 6-mercapotopurine in living HeLa cells is much faster than that of methimazole. Moreover, the detection sensitivity of intracellular drugs has also been checked and a low detection limit of 1 nM was obtained of drug 6-mercapotopurine in a single HeLa cell

Effects of Core Size and Shell Thickness on Luminescence Dynamics of Wurtzite CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Nanocrystals

Colloidal CdSe nanocrystals (NCs), whose size is 2.8, 3.8, and 4.9 nm, respectively, were successively overcoated with CdS monolayers (MLs). The X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the stress in the wurtzite CdSe core was increased with the epitaxial growth of CdS shell, and the CdSe lattice contraction, which was sensitive to core size, did not release with the CdS shell toward 5 MLs. The effects of the CdSe core size and the CdS shell thickness on the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) lifetime were investigated. The PL lifetime undulation with temperature is indicative of the spatial distribution of trap states, and the strong interplay between intrinsic excitons and surface traps can be activated even in the case of the NCs with 5 ML CdS shell