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Despite advancements in therapeutic agents for diabetic chronic wounds, challenges such as suboptimal bioavailability, intricate disease milieus, and inadequate delivery efficacy have impeded treatment outcomes. Here, ultrasound‐responsive hydrogel incorporated with heparin‐binding domain (HBD) peptide nanoparticles is developed to promote diabetic wound healing. HBD peptide, derived from von Willebrand Factor with angiogenic activity, are first engineered to self‐assemble into nanoparticles with enhanced biostability and bioavailability. Ultrasound responsive cargo release and hydrogel collapses are first verified through breakage of crosslinking. In addition, desired antioxidant and antibacterial activity of such hydrogel is observed. Moreover, the degradation of hydrogel under ultrasound stimulation into smaller fragments facilitated the deeper wound penetration of ≈400 µm depth. Complete wound closure is observed from diabetic mice with chronic wounds after being treated with the proposed hydrogel. In detail, in vivo studies revealed that hydrogels loaded with HBD peptide nanoparticles increased the levels of angiogenesis‐related growth factors (VEGF‐A, CD31, and α‐SMA) to effectively accelerate wound repair. Overall, this study demonstrates that ultrasound‐responsive HBD peptide hydrogel provides a synergistic therapeutic strategy for external biofilm elimination and internal effective delivery for diabetic wounds with biofilm infection. Herein, an ultrasound‐responsive hydrogel is constructed, designed for controlled drug release through the disruption of its network under ultrasound stimulation. Additionally, ultrasound facilitates the removal of wound biofilms and the deep delivery of encapsulated HBD peptide nanoparticles and antimicrobial agents, thereby completely eradicating bacteria and promoting angiogenesis, synergistically enhancing wound healing in diabetic infections.

An economic and effective Pt-based alloy cocatalyst has attracted considerable attention due to their excellent catalytic activity and reducing Pt usage. In this study, PtNi alloy cocatalyst was successfully decorated on the g-C 3 N 4 /GO hybrid photocatalyst via a facile chemical reduction method. The Eosin Y-sensitized g-C 3 N 4 /PtNi/GO-0.5% composite photocatalyst yields about 1.54 and 1178 times higher hydrogen evolution rate than the Eosin Y-sensitized g-C 3 N 4 /Pt/GO-0.5% and g-C 3 N 4 /Ni/GO-0.5% samples, respectively. Mechanism of enhanced performance for the g-C 3 N 4 /PtNi/GO composite was also investigated by different characterization, such as photoluminescence, transient photocurrent response, and TEM. These results indicated that enhanced charge separation efficiency and more reactive sites are responsible for the improved hydrogen evolution performance due to the positive synergetic effect between Pt and Ni. This study suggests that PtNi alloy can be used as an economic and effective cocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction. Graphical abstract A significant enhancement of photocatalytic H 2 evolution is realized over the Eosin Y-sensitized g-C 3 N 4 /PtNi/GO composite with PtNi alloy as an efficient cocatalyst.

The aim of this study was to develop cholic-acid-stabilized itraconazole nanosuspensions (ITZ-Nanos) with the objective of enhancing drug dissolution and oral absorption. A laboratory-scale microprecipitation–high-pressure homogenization method was employed for the preparation of the ITZ-Nanos, while dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscope analysis, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis were utilized to evaluate their physicochemical properties. The absorption and bioavailability of the ITZ-Nanos were assessed using Caco-2 cells and rats, with Sporanox® pellets as a comparison. Prior to lyophilization, the particle size of the ITZ-Nanos measured approximately 225.7 nm. Both X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry confirmed that the ITZ remained crystalline within the nanocrystals. Compared to the pellets, the ITZ-Nanos exhibited significantly higher levels of supersaturation dissolution and demonstrated enhanced drug uptake by the Caco-2 cells. The AUC(0–t) value for the ITZ-Nanos in rats was 1.33-fold higher than that observed for the pellets. These findings suggest that cholic acid holds promise as a stabilizer for ITZ nanocrystals, as well as potentially other nanocrystals.

Cancerous tumors are still a major disease that threatens human life, with tumor multidrug resistance (MDR) being one of the main reasons for the failure of chemotherapy. Thus, reversing tumor MDR has become a research focus of medical scientists. Here, a reduction-sensitive polymer prodrug micelle, mPEG-DCA-SS-PTX (PDSP), was manufactured with a new polymer inhibitor of drug resistance as a carrier to overcome MDR and improve the anti-tumor effect of PTX. The PDSP micelles display good stability, double-responsive drug release, and excellent biocompatibility. The PDSP micelles reduced the cytotoxicity of PTX to normal HL-7702 cells and enhanced that to SMMC-7721 and MCF-7 cells in vitro. Improved sensitivity of A549/ADR to PDSP was also observed in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo experiments show reduced systemic toxicity and enhanced therapeutic efficacy of PTX to H22 subcutaneous tumor-bearing mice. This work proves that the reduction-sensitive polymer prodrug micelles carried by the new polymer inhibitor can be used as an alternative delivery system to target tumors and reverse MDR for paclitaxel and other tumor-resistant drugs.

Hepatoma is the leading cause of death among liver diseases worldwide. Modern pharmacological studies suggest that some natural monomeric compounds have a significant effect on inhibiting tumor growth. However, poor stability and solubility, and side effects are the main factors limiting the clinical application of natural monomeric compounds. In this paper, drug-co-loaded nanoself-assemblies were selected as a delivery system to improve the chemical stability and solubility of Tanshinone II A and Glycyrrhetinic acid, and to produce a synergetic anti-hepatoma effect. The study suggested that the drug co-loaded nanoself-assemblies showed high drug loading capacity, good physical and chemical stability, and controlled release. In vitro cell experiments verified that the drug-co-loaded nanoself-assemblies could increase the cellular uptake and cell inhibitory activity. In vivo studies verified that the drug co-loaded nanoself-assemblies could prolong the MRT , increase accumulation in tumor and liver tissues, and show strong synergistic anti-tumor effect and good bio-safety in H22 tumor-bearing mice. This work indicates that natural monomeric compounds co-loaded nanoself-assemblies would be a potential strategy for the treatment of hepatoma.

The pharmacokinetic profile of a drug can be different when delivered as a nanosuspension compared with a true solution, which may in turn affect the therapeutic effect of the drug. The goal of this study was to prepare itraconazole nanosuspensions (ITZ-Nanos) stabilized by an amphipathic polymer, polyethylene glycol-poly (benzyl aspartic acid ester) (PEG-PBLA), by the precipitation-homogenization, and study the pharmacokinetic profile of the ITZ-Nanos. The particle size and morphology of nanosuspensions were determined by Zetasizer and field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The dissolution profile was evaluated using a paddle method according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015. The level of ITZ in plasma and tissues was measured by a HPLC method. The optimized ITZ-Nanos had an average particle size of 268.1 ± 6.5 nm and the particles were in a rectangular form. The dissolution profile of ITZ-Nanos was similar to that of commercial ITZ injections, with nearly 90% ITZ released in the first 5 min. The ITZ-Nanos displayed different pharmacokinetic properties compared with the commercial ITZ injections, including a decreased initial drug concentration, increased plasma half-life and mean residence time (MRT), and increased concentration in the liver, lung, and spleen. The ITZ-Nanos can change the distribution of ITZ and result in passive targeting to the organs with mononuclear phagocyte systems (MPS).

Orthorhombic titanic acid nanotubes (TAN) have large BET surface area and small-diameter one-dimensional nanotubular morphology, so they can work as a good supporter and a precursor of TiO 2 . However, in our former research, we found that calcination of TAN to anatase TiO 2 would destroy the nanotubular structure and decrease the BET surface area sharply. In this work, we utilized the pillar effect of the foreign nanoparticles (La 2 O 3 ) to keep the nanotubular morphology of TiO 2 , and obtained the anatase TiO 2 nanotubes with large BET surface area. For improving the photocatalytic activity, Pd nanoparticles were loaded as the electron traps on the surface of La-doped TiO 2 by photo-deposition method. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance spectra, and N 2 adsorption–desorption isotherms measurement. Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by the removal of propylene under visible light irradiation ( λ  ≥ 420 nm). The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Pd-loaded La-doped TiO 2 nanotubes improved effectively compared with that of La-doped TiO 2 and pure TiO 2 .

Nanotube titanic acid (NTA) network film has a porous structure and large BET surface area, which lead them to possessing high utilization of the incident light and strong adsorption ability. We used NTA as the precursor to fabricate a TiO2/ SrTiO3 heterojunction film by the hydrothermal method. In the process of the reaction, part of NTA reacted with SrCl2 to form SrTiO3 nanocubes, and the remainder dehydrated to transform to the rutile TiO2. The ratio of TiO2 and SrTiO3 varied with the hydrothermal reaction time. SEM and TEM images indicated that SrTiO3 nanocubes dispersed uniformly on TiO2 film, and the particle size and crystallinity of SrTiO3 nanocubes increased with the reaction time prolonging. The TiO2/SrTiO3 heterojunction obtained by 1 h showed the best activity for CO2 photoreduction, where the mole ratio of TiO2 and SrTiO3 was 4:1. And the photo-conversion efficiency of CO2 to CH4 improved remarkably after the foreign electron traps of Pt and Pd nanoparticles were loaded. The highest photocatalytic production rate of CH4 reached 20.83 ppm/h cm2. In addition, the selectivity of photoreduction product of CO2 was also increased apparently when Pd acted as the cocatalyst on TiO2/SrTiO3 heterojunction film.

An economic and effective Pt-based alloy cocatalyst has attracted considerable attention due to their excellent catalytic activity and reducing Pt usage. In this study, PtNi alloy cocatalyst was successfully decorated on the g-C N /GO hybrid photocatalyst via a facile chemical reduction method. The Eosin Y-sensitized g-C N /PtNi/GO-0.5% composite photocatalyst yields about 1.54 and 1178 times higher hydrogen evolution rate than the Eosin Y-sensitized g-C N /Pt/GO-0.5% and g-C N /Ni/GO-0.5% samples, respectively. Mechanism of enhanced performance for the g-C N /PtNi/GO composite was also investigated by different characterization, such as photoluminescence, transient photocurrent response, and TEM. These results indicated that enhanced charge separation efficiency and more reactive sites are responsible for the improved hydrogen evolution performance due to the positive synergetic effect between Pt and Ni. This study suggests that PtNi alloy can be used as an economic and effective cocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction. Graphical abstract A significant enhancement of photocatalytic H evolution is realized over the Eosin Y-sensitized g-C N /PtNi/GO composite with PtNi alloy as an efficient cocatalyst.

TiO 2 nanotubes attract much attention because of their high photoelectron-chemical and photocatalytic efficiency. But their large band gap leads to a low absorption of the solar light and limits the practical application. How to obtain TiO 2 nanotubes without any dopant and possessing visible light response is a big challenge nowadays. Orthorhombic titanic acid nanotubes (TAN) are a special precursor of TiO 2 , which possess large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas and strong ion exchange and adsorption capacity. TAN can transform to a novel TiO 2 with a large amount of single-electron-trapped oxygen vacancies (SETOV) during calcination, while their nanotubular structure would be destroyed, and a BET surface area would decrease remarkably. And interestingly, SETOV can lead to a visible light response for this kind of TiO 2 . Herein, glucose was penetrated into TAN by the vacuum inhalation method, and TAN would dehydrate to anatase TiO 2 , and glucose would undergo thermolysis completely in the calcination process. As a result, the pure TiO 2 nanotubes with visible light response and large BET surface areas were obtained. For further improving the photocatalytic activity, Pd nanoparticles were loaded as the foreign electron traps on TiO 2 nanotubes and the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency of propylene was as high as 71 % under visible light irradiation, and the photostability of the catalyst kept over 90 % after 4 cyclic tests.