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With the support of modern biotechnology, vaccine technology continues to iterate. The safety and efficacy of vaccines are some of the most important areas of development in the field. As a natural substance, chitosan is widely used in numerous fields—such as immune stimulation, drug delivery, wound healing, and antibacterial procedures—due to its good biocompatibility, low toxicity, biodegradability, and adhesion. Chitosan-based nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted extensive attention with respect to vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems due to their excellent properties, which can effectively enhance immune responses. Here, we list the classifications and mechanisms of action of vaccine adjuvants. At the same time, the preparation methods of chitosan, its NPs, and their mechanism of action in the delivery system are introduced. The extensive applications of chitosan and its NPs in protein vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines are also introduced. This paper reviewed the latest research progress of chitosan-based NPs in vaccine adjuvant and drug delivery systems.

Dental caries (DC) is one of the most common oral diseases and is mainly caused by Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). The use of antibiotics against S. mutans usually has side effects, including developing resistance. N-2-Hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan (N-2-HACC), a natural product, has great potential utility in antibacterial agents owing to its low toxicity and good biocompatibility. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to explore the antimicrobial activity of N-2-HACC against S. mutans through the permeability of the cell wall, integrity of cell membrane, protein and nucleic acid synthesis, respiratory metabolism, and biofilm formation. Our results confirmed that the MIC of N-2-HACC against S. mutans was 0.625 mg/mL with a 90.01 ± 1.54% inhibition rate. SEM observed the formation of cavities on the surface of S. mutans after 12 h N-2-HACC treatment. The level of alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity was higher in the N-2-HACC treatment group than in the control group, indicating that N-2-HACC can improve the permeability of the cell wall. Also, N-2-HACC treatment can destroy the cell membrane of S. mutans by increasing conductivity and absorbance at 260 nm, decreasing cell metabolic activity, and enhancing the fluorescence at 488 nm. Respiratory metabolism revealed that the activities of the Na+-K+-ATP enzyme, pyruvate kinase (PK), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) were decreased after N-2-HACC treatment, revealing that N-2-HACC can inhibit glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) of S. mutans. Moreover, N-2-HACC can also decrease the contents of the nucleic acid and solution protein of S. mutans, interfere with biofilm formation, and decrease the mRNA expression level of biofilm formation-related genes. Therefore, these results verify that N-2-HACC has strong antibacterial activity against S. mutans, acting via cell membrane integrity damage, increasing the permeability of cell walls, interfering with bacterial protein and nucleic acid synthesis, perturbing glycolysis and the TCA cycle, and inhibiting biofilm formation. It is suggested that N-2-HACC may represent a new potential synthetically modified antibacterial material against S. mutans.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) inactivated vaccine lacks an effective vaccine adjuvant as an immune activator. The aim of this study was to develop N-2-HACC-Al nano-adjuvant as a high immune-enhancing adjuvant and to make the vaccine suitable for intramuscular and oral administration. N-2-HACC-Al nano-adjuvant was prepared by ion crosslinking method using the N-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan (N-2-HACC). The N-2-HACC-Al nano-adjuvant was characterised, and its safety was determined by analysing the cytotoxicity and hemolysis. PED inactivated vaccine (N-2-HACC-Al/PEDV) was prepared by electrostatic adsorption method, and mice were inoculated by intramural injection and orally to evaluate the immune enhancement effect and application potential of the N-2-HACC-Al/PEDV. The hemolysis rate was 3.89 ± 0.12% and the activity of PK15 cells was 77.40 ± 1.74%, indicating that the N-2-HACC-Al/PEDV had good biosafety. The levels of PEDV antibodies induced by the N-2-HACC-Al/PEDV were higher than those of commercially available vaccines, both by intramural injection and oral administration. Except for the serum IgG1 levels in the N-2-HACC-Al/PEDV injection group, which were similar to those in the commercial PEDV group, the serum IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2c and sIgA levels in the injection, and the oral groups were significantly higher than those in the commercial group. These results indicated and that N-2-HACC-Al nano-adjuvant significantly enhanced cellular immunity and N-2-HACC-Al nano-adjuvant could deliver PEDV antigen across the mucosal layer of the intestine and induced a strong mucosal immune response. N-2-HACC-Al nano-adjuvant is safe and can efficiently induce humoral, cellular and mucosal immunity efficiently, which provides a new idea for the development of oral mucosal vaccine adjuvant.

Certain cancer cells prefer aerobic glycolysis rather than oxidative phosphorylation for energy supply. Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) catalyzes the reduction of pyruvate to lactate and regains NAD+ so that glycolysis is continued. As a pivotal enzyme to promote smooth glycolysis, LDHA plays an important role in carcinogenesis. Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) has displayed antitumor activity, but the exact mechanism remains to be identified. In this study, we treated liver cancer cells with I3C, performed colony formation and cell migration, measured the expression of glycolysis-related proteins, and predicted and validated LDHA-targeting miRNA from the databases. In addition, the mRNA and protein levels of p53, glycolysis-related genes and miRNAs that regulate glycolysis were detected after I3C and siRNA-p53 treatment alone or in combination. Next, the expression and colocalization of p53 and MDM2 in liver cancer cells were evaluated after I3C treatment, and the effect of I3C on p53 protein stability was examined. The results showed that I3C inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and the expression levels of glycolysis-related gene LDHAs. MiR-34a was predicted to target LDHA, and I3C downregulated its expression. Furthermore, the combined I3C and siRNA-p53 treatment demonstrated that I3C regulated the expression of LDHA via miR-34a in a p53-dependent manner. Finally, I3C inhibited MDM2 expression and its colocalization with p53 and stabilized p53 expression. In summary, I3C inhibited the degradation of p53 by MDM2 in liver cancer cells; stable p53 induced miR-34a, which targeted LDHA, a key enzyme for aerobic glycolysis, suggesting cancer metabolism is an important target for I3C in liver cancer cells.

Obesity is a risk factor for many serious health problems, associated with inflammation, hyperlipidemia, and gut dysbiosis. Prevention of obesity is especially important for human health. Tolypocladium sinense is one of the fungi isolated from Chinese caterpillar fungus, which is a traditional Chinese medicine with putative gut microbiota modulation effects. Here, we established a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemia mice model, which was supplemented with lyophilized T. sinense mycelium (TSP) daily to evaluate its anti-obesity effects. The results indicated that TSP supplementation can effectively alleviate the inflammatory response and oxidative stress levels caused by obesity. TSP significantly prevented obesity and suppressed dyslipidemia by regulating the expression of lipid metabolism genes in the liver. TSP is also effective in preventing the HFD-induced decline in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) content. Gut microbiota profiling showed that TSP supplementation reversed HFD diet-induced bacterial abundance and also altered the metabolic pathways of functional microorganisms, as revealed by KEGG analysis. It is noteworthy that, correlation analysis reveals the up-regulated gut microbiota ( Lactobacillus and Prevotella_9 ) are closely correlated with lipid metabolism parameters, gene expression of liver lipid metabolism and inflammatory. Additionally, the role of TSP in the regulation of lipid metabolism was reconfirmed by fecal microbiota transplantation. To sum up, our results provide the evidence that TSP may be used as prebiotic agents to prevent obesity by altering the gut microbiota, alleviating the inflammatory response and regulating gene expression of liver lipid metabolism.

Lactic acid bacteria exopolysaccharide (EPS) is a large molecular polymer produced during the growth and metabolism of lactic acid bacteria. EPS has multiple biological functions and is widely used in fields such as food and medicine. However, the low yield and high production cost of EPS derived from lactic acid bacteria limit its widespread application. In this study, we used beet waste residue as a substrate to produce EPS by fermentation with Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides to improve the utilization rate of agricultural waste and reduce the production cost of lactic acid bacterial EPS. After purification, the molecular weight (Mw) of EPS was determined to be 417 kDa using high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy revealed that the EPS was composed of glucose subunits with α-1,6 glycosidic linkages. The thermal analysis and heavy metal adsorption capacity revealed a relatively high degradation temperature of 315.54 °C and that the material could effectively adsorb Cu2+. Additionally, the findings indicated that the EPS exhibited a significant ability to neutralize free radicals, a property that was found to be concentration dependent. Furthermore, the results of the intracellular study showed the protective effect of freshly isolated EPS on tBHP-induced cellular oxidative stress at a concentration of 50 µg/mL. These results suggest that the EPS from L. pseudomesenteroides may be developed as antioxidant agents for functional food products and pharmaceutical applications due to its capacity to scavenge free radicals.

ZnCdS‐based photocatalysts exhibit great potential for solar‐driven hydrogen (H2) evolution due to their tunable bandgaps and visible‐light absorption. Nevertheless, rapid charge recombination and structural instability hinder their practical implementation. To overcome these challenges, this work proposes a dual S‐scheme heterojunction design strategy utilizing polyoxometalates (POMs) as precursors to precisely control the heterojunction interfacial coupling. A dual S‐scheme WS2/Co9S8/ZnCdS system was synthesized via a precursor‐guided sulfidation process, using K7[Co2W11O40H2]·15H2O (Co2W11) POM clusters as dual‐source templates. This approach enables the simultaneous achievement of tight interfacial coupling and a simplified single‐interface architecture. The charge transfer mechanism within the heterojunction was systematically investigated through analyses of the Fermi level, band structure, ultrafast timescale femtosecond transient absorption (fs‐TAS), time‐resolved photoluminescence (TRPL), in situ x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and synchrotron radiation. The dual S‐scheme heterojunction not only expands the light absorption range of ZnCdS but also promotes efficient charge migration and separation. Under visible‐light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), this dual S‐scheme heterojunction exhibits remarkable stability and achieves a hydrogen evolution rate of up to 15.66 mmol g−1 h−1, surpassing most reported noble metal‐free ZnCdS‐based photocatalysts. This research provides a robust methodology for developing dual S‐scheme heterojunctions that enhance photocatalytic hydrogen evolution efficiency. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of the polyoxometalate (POM)‐derived dual S‐scheme heterojunction photocatalyst WS2/Co9S8/ZnCdS reaches a value as high as 15.66 mmol g−1 h−1 under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm), providing a straightforward approach for the development of dual S‐scheme heterojunctions to enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic H2 production.

The official opening of Shanghai Library East on September 28, 2022 marked the full implementation of FOLIO platform in the Shanghai Library. The Shanghai Library has developed and implemented applications for library traditional and smart services based on the FOLIO technical framework. This paper mainly introduces the process, difficulties, and solutions during the FOLIO implementation in the Shanghai Library, and provides a summary of the various activities of a Chinese library network (the Yunhan Alliance) established in 2021.

The M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) has been shown to be up-regulated in human skin cancers. To test whether PKM2 may be a target for chemoprevention, shikonin, a natural product from the root of Lithospermum erythrorhizon and a specific inhibitor of PKM2, was used in a chemically-induced mouse skin carcinogenesis study. The results revealed that shikonin treatment suppressed skin tumor formation. Morphological examinations and immunohistochemical staining of the skin epidermal tissues suggested that shikonin inhibited cell proliferation without inducing apoptosis. Although shikonin alone suppressed PKM2 activity, it did not suppress tumor promoter-induced PKM2 activation in the skin epidermal tissues at the end of the skin carcinogenesis study. To reveal the potential chemopreventive mechanism of shikonin, an antibody microarray analysis was performed, and the results showed that the transcription factor ATF2 and its downstream target Cdk4 were up-regulated by chemical carcinogen treatment; whereas these up-regulations were suppressed by shikonin. In a promotable skin cell model, the nuclear levels of ATF2 were increased during tumor promotion, whereas this increase was inhibited by shikonin. Furthermore, knockdown of ATF2 decreased the expression levels of Cdk4 and Fra-1 (a key subunit of the activator protein 1. In summary, these results suggest that shikonin, rather than inhibiting PKM2 in vivo, suppresses the ATF2 pathway in skin carcinogenesis.

Enhancing drug delivery is an ongoing endeavor in pharmaceutics, especially when the efficacy of chemotherapy for cancer is concerned. In this study, we prepared and evaluated nanosized HKUST-1 (nanoHKUST-1), nanosized metal-organic drug delivery framework, loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for potential use in cancer treatment. NanoHKUST-1 was prepared by reacting copper (II) acetate [Cu(OAc) ] and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (H BTC) with benzoic acid (C H COOH) at room temperature (23.7°C±2.4°C). A central composite design was used to optimize 5-FU-loaded nanoHKUST-1. Contact time, ethanol concentration, and 5-FU:material ratios were the independent variables, and the entrapment efficiency of 5-FU was the response parameter measured. Powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nitrogen adsorption were used to determine the morphology of nanoHKUST-1. In addition, 5-FU release studies were conducted, and the in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated. Entrapment efficiency and drug loading were 9.96% and 40.22%, respectively, while the small-angle X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed a regular porous structure. The SEM and TEM images of the nanoHKUST-1 confirmed the presence of round particles (diameter: approximately 100 nm) and regular polygon arrays of mesoporous channels of approximately 2-5 nm. The half-maximal lethal concentration (LC ) of the 5-FU-loaded nanoHKUST-1 was approximately 10 µg/mL. The results indicated that nanoHKUST-1 is a potential vector worth developing as a cancer chemotherapeutic drug delivery system.