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The discovery of natural adhesion phenomena and mechanisms has advanced the development of a new generation of tissue adhesives in recent decades. In this study, we develop a natural biological adhesive from snail mucus gel, which consists a network of positively charged protein and polyanionic glycosaminoglycan. The malleable bulk adhesive matrix can adhere to wet tissue through multiple interactions. The biomaterial exhibits excellent haemostatic activity, biocompatibility and biodegradability, and it is effective in accelerating the healing of full-thickness skin wounds in both normal and diabetic male rats. Further mechanistic study shows it effectively promotes the polarization of macrophages towards the anti-inflammatory phenotype, alleviates inflammation in chronic wounds, and significantly improves epithelial regeneration and angiogenesis. Its abundant heparin-like glycosaminoglycan component is the main active ingredient. These findings provide theoretical and material insights into bio-inspired tissue adhesives and bioengineered scaffold designs. Natural adhesives have received a lot of attention recently. Here, the authors develop a natural biological adhesive from snail mucus that can adhere to wet tissue and be used to accelerate healing of skin wounds.

Chemical modification of 5fC allows its enrichment and genome-wide profiling at single-nucleotide resolution. Active DNA demethylation in mammals involves oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC). However, genome-wide detection of 5fC at single-base resolution remains challenging. Here we present fC-CET, a bisulfite-free method for whole-genome analysis of 5fC based on selective chemical labeling of 5fC and subsequent C-to-T transition during PCR. Base-resolution 5fC maps showed limited overlap with 5hmC, with 5fC-marked regions more active than 5hmC-marked ones.

A single-step and facile hydrothermal route has been developed for the fabrication of ZnIn 0.16 Ag 2 x S 1.24+ x ( x  = 0–0.025) nanospheres. The photocatalytic activities of the products for the H 2 evolution from aqueous solutions containing sacrificial reagents, SO 3 2− and S 2− , were investigated under visible-light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). It was found that the photocatalysts showed high photocatalytic activities even without Pt co-catalysts.

Background N -Hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI), an important chemical raw material, was found to have potent and selective anti-proliferative effect on human breast carcinoma BT-20 cells, human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo and HT-29 cells during our screening for anticancer compounds. The purpose of this study is to assess the antitumor efficacy of NHPI in vitro and in vivo and to explore the underlying antitumor mechanism. Methods Cell cytotoxicity of NHPI was evaluated using MTS assay and cell morphological analysis. After NHPI treatment, cell cycle, apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential were analyzed using flow cytometer. The subcellular localization of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) was analyzed by immunofluorescence assay. The antitumor efficacy of NHPI in vivo was tested in BT-20 xenografts. The underlying antitumor mechanisms of NHPI in vitro and in vivo were investigated with western blot analysis in NHPI-treated cancer cells and tumor tissues. Statistical significance was determined using Student’s t -test. Results In vitro , NHPI selectively inhibited the proliferation and induced G 2 /M phase arrest in BT-20 and LoVo cells, which was attributed to the inhibition of cyclin B1 and cdc2 expressions. Furthermore, NHPI induced apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway. Of note, NHPI effectively inhibited mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) signaling, and overcame the feedback activation of Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) caused by mTORC1 inhibition in BT-20 and LoVo cells. In vivo , NHPI inhibited tumor growth and suppressed mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling in BT-20 xenografts with no obvious toxicity. Conclusions We found for the first time that NHPI displayed antitumor activity which is associated with the inhibition of mTOR signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that NHPI may be developed as a promising candidate for cancer therapeutics by targeting mTOR signaling pathway and as such warrants further exploration.

Active DNA demethylation in mammals involves TET-mediated oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxycytosine (5caC). However, genome-wide detection of 5fC at single-base resolution remains challenging. Here we present a bisulfite-free method for whole-genome analysis of 5fC, based on selective chemical labeling of 5fC and subsequent C-to-T transition during PCR. Base-resolution 5fC maps reveal limited overlap with 5hmC, with 5fC-marked regions more active than 5hmC-marked ones.

A single-step and facile hydrothermal route has been developed for the fabrication of ZnIn₀.₁₆Ag₂x S₁.₂₄₊x (x = 0-0.025) nanospheres. The photocatalytic activities of the products for the H₂ evolution from aqueous solutions containing sacrificial reagents, SO₃ ²⁻ and S²⁻, were investigated under visible-light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). It was found that the photocatalysts showed high photocatalytic activities even without Pt co-catalysts.

A single-step and facile hydrothermal route has been developed for the fabrication of ZnIn†.1(6)Ag(2)x S1.(2)₄,Šx (x = 0-0.025) nanospheres. The photocatalytic activities of the products for the H(2) evolution from aqueous solutions containing sacrificial reagents, SO(3) ² and S², were investigated under visible-light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). It was found that the photocatalysts showed high photocatalytic activities even without Pt co-catalysts.

Inactive components and safety hazards are two critical challenges in realizing high-energy lithium-ion batteries. Metal foil current collectors with high density are typically an integrated part of lithium-ion batteries yet deliver no capacity. Meanwhile, high-energy batteries can entail increased fire safety issues. Here we report a composite current collector design that simultaneously minimizes the ‘dead weight’ within the cell and improves fire safety. An ultralight polyimide-based current collector (9 μm thick, specific mass 1.54 mg cm −2 ) is prepared by sandwiching a polyimide embedded with triphenyl phosphate flame retardant between two superthin Cu layers (~500 nm). Compared to lithium-ion batteries assembled with the thinnest commercial metal foil current collectors (~6 µm), batteries equipped with our composite current collectors can realize a 16–26% improvement in specific energy and rapidly self-extinguish fires under extreme conditions such as short circuits and thermal runaway. Batteries need to be energy-dense as well as safe. Yi Cui and team develop an ultralight polyimide-based current collector with embedded fire retardants that enables lithium-ion batteries with much-enhanced safety and energy density.

Space heating accounts for the largest energy end-use of buildings that imposes significant burden on the society. The energy wasted for heating the empty space of the entire building can be saved by passively heating the immediate environment around the human body. Here, we demonstrate a nanophotonic structure textile with tailored infrared (IR) property for passive personal heating using nanoporous metallized polyethylene. By constructing an IR-reflective layer on an IR-transparent layer with embedded nanopores, the nanoporous metallized polyethylene textile achieves a minimal IR emissivity (10.1%) on the outer surface that effectively suppresses heat radiation loss without sacrificing wearing comfort. This enables 7.1 °C decrease of the set-point compared to normal textile, greatly outperforming other radiative heating textiles by more than 3 °C. This large set-point expansion can save more than 35% of building heating energy in a cost-effective way, and ultimately contribute to the relief of global energy and climate issues. Energy wasted for heating the empty space of the entire building can be saved by passively heating the immediate environment around the human body. Here, the authors show a nanophotonic structure textile with tailored infrared property for passive personal heating using nanoporous metallized polyethylene.

Doped semiconductors are the most important building elements for modern electronic devices1. In silicon-based integrated circuits, facile and controllable fabrication and integration of these materials can be realized without introducing a high-resistance interface2,3. Besides, the emergence of two-dimensional (2D) materials enables the realization of atomically thin integrated circuits4–9. However, the 2D nature of these materials precludes the use of traditional ion implantation techniques for carrier doping and further hinders device development10. Here, we demonstrate a solvent-based intercalation method to achieve p-type, n-type and degenerately doped semiconductors in the same parent material at the atomically thin limit. In contrast to naturally grown n-type S-vacancy SnS2, Cu intercalated bilayer SnS2 obtained by this technique displays a hole field-effect mobility of ~40 cm2 V−1 s−1, and the obtained Co-SnS2 exhibits a metal-like behaviour with sheet resistance comparable to that of few-layer graphene5. Combining this intercalation technique with lithography, an atomically seamless p–n–metal junction could be further realized with precise size and spatial control, which makes in-plane heterostructures practically applicable for integrated devices and other 2D materials. Therefore, the presented intercalation method can open a new avenue connecting the previously disparate worlds of integrated circuits and atomically thin materials.