Crystallization Kinetics, Morphology, and Mechanical Properties of Novel Biodegradable Poly(ethylene succinate-<i>co</i>-ethylene suberate) Copolyesters

Through a two-step melt polycondensation method, three poly­(ethylene succinate-<i>co</i>-ethylene suberate) (PESSub) copolymers containing different contents of ethylene suberate (ESub) from 4.8 to 15.3 mol % and with similar molecular weights were successfully synthesized in this research. To demonstrate the effect of the ESub composition, the crystallization kinetics, morphology, and mechanical properties of PESSub were systematically studied. The crystal structure of PESSub was the same as that of PES; however, with increasing ESub composition, the degree of crystallinity values slightly decreased. The increase of the ESub content led to a depression in the glass transition temperature, cold crystallization temperature, cold crystallization enthalpy, melting point, heat of fusion, and equilibrium melting point of PESSub. Increasing the ESub composition retained the crystallization mechanism but decreased the crystallization rates and spherulitic growth rates. The copolymers with higher ESub component showed greater elongation at break but smaller tensile strength and Young’s modulus. The crystallization behavior and mechanical properties of the synthesized novel copolyesters were well-regulated by adjusting the content of the ESub units

DataSheet1_RNA methylation pattern and immune microenvironment characteristics mediated by m6A regulator in ischemic stroke.docx

Background: Ischemic stroke (IS) is a highly heterogeneous disease. Recent studies have shown that epigenetic variables affect the immune response. However, only a few studies have examined the relationship between IS and m6A immunoregulation. Therefore, we aim to explore the methylation of RNA mediated by m6A regulatory factor and the immune microenvironment characteristics of IS.Methods: Differentially expressed m6A regulators were detected in IS microarray datasets GSE22255 and GSE58294. We used a series of machine learning algorithms to identify key IS-related m6A regulators and validated them on blood samples of IS patients, oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) microglia and GSE198710 independent data sets. Different m6A modification modes were determined and the patients were classified. In addition, we systematically associate these modification patterns with the characteristics of immune microenvironment, including infiltrating immune cells, immune function genes and immune response genes. Then we developed a model of m6A score to quantify the m6A modification in IS samples.Results: Through the analysis of the differences between the control group and IS patients, METTL16, LRPPRC, and RBM15 showed strong diagnostic significance in three independent data sets. In addition, qRT-PCR and Western blotting also confirmed that the expression of METTL16 and LRPPRC was downregulated and the expression of RBM15 was upregulated after ischemia. Two m6A modification modes and two m6A gene modification modes were also identified. m6A gene cluster A (high m6A value group) was positively correlated with acquired immunity, while m6A gene cluster B (low m6A value group) was positively correlated with innate immunity. Similarly, five immune-related hub genes were significantly associated with m6Acore (CD28, IFNG, LTF, LCN2, and MMP9).Conclusion: The modification of m6A is closely related to the immune microenvironment. The evaluation of individual m6A modification pattern may be helpful for future immunomodulatory therapy of anti-ischemic response.</p

Electrostatic Assembly of Peptide Nanofiber–Biomimetic Silver Nanowires onto Graphene for Electrochemical Sensors

Biomacromolecules and their assemblies have the unique ability for biomimetic promotion of the formation of novel and functional nanomaterials. In this work, artificial peptide nanofibers were created with a special designed peptide molecule that contains complex motif sequences and then further metallized to synthesize nanofiber-based silver nanowires. A novel hybrid nanomaterial was obtained successfully by assembling the prepared silver nanowires on graphene nanosheets, and its potential application in nonenzymatic electrochemical H₂O₂ sensing was explored. This fabricated sensor based on graphene and silver nanowires exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity, low detection limit, and wide linear range for the determination of H₂O₂

Supramolecular Self-Assembly Bioinspired Synthesis of Luminescent Gold Nanocluster-Embedded Peptide Nanofibers for Temperature Sensing and Cellular Imaging

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) hold great potential as novel luminescent nanomaterials in many applications, while the synthesis of highly luminescent metal NCs still remains challenging. In this work, we report self-assembling peptides as a novel bioinspired scaffold capable of significantly enhancing the luminescence efficiency of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs). The resulting AuNCs capped with motif-designed peptides can self-assemble to form nanofiber structures, in which the luminescence of AuNCs is enhanced nearly 70-fold, with 21.3% quantum yield. The underlying mechanism responsible for the luminescence enhancement has been thoroughly investigated by the combined use of different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The resultant highly luminescent AuNC-decorated peptide nanofibers exhibit physicochemical properties that are advantageous for biological applications. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the use of these nanostructure as fluorescent thermometers and for imaging living cells, both showing very promising results