Characterization of lipid solubilization, bicelle formation, and magnetic-alignment induced by saponins.

Design, synthesis and structural development of nonsecosteroidal VDR ligands based on the C,C'-diphenyl-m-carborane scaffold.

Cellulose-based materials have been widely studied due to their biodegradability and excellent mechanical strength. However, the intrinsic brittleness of cellulose limits its applications. In this study, the bacterial cellulose-chitosan films were prepared by a casting method. The cellulose films with ≤ 30% chitosan exhibited a simultaneous increase in strength and toughness. The slippage of cellulose chains and dense network structure contribute to the improved strength and toughness of the cellulose-chitosan films. Besides, coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the effects of different molecular factors (i.e., chain length, molecular interaction strength, and density) on the mechanical properties of cellulose-chitosan films. These molecular factors exhibited opposite effects on the tensile strength and strain at break. In particular, modifying the density of cellulose-chitosan films could simultaneously improve the strength and toughness significantly without sacrificing the elastic modulus. The findings provide physical insights into the strengthening and toughening effects of the cellulose-chitosan films.

Polymeric microspheres are indispensable in catalysis, coatings, and biomedical analysis, yet conventional dispersion polymerization requires high stabilizer loadings and often yields surfaces with limited functional accessibility. Here, we report a molecular bottlebrush strategy that overcomes these limitations by employing reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-derived macromonomers, followed by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to generate bottlebrush stabilizers for photoinitiated RAFT dispersion polymerization. These bottlebrushes afford robust steric stabilization at significantly reduced loadings and enrich microsphere surfaces with RAFT end groups, enabling facile postpolymerization modification. The resulting PMMA microspheres exhibit exceptional monodispersity, tunable diameters, and versatile surface functionality. Subsequent photoiniferter polymerization yields carboxyl-functionalized microspheres with grafted poly(acrylic acid) chains, providing a high density of accessible carboxyl groups for biomacromolecule conjugation. Optimization of the chain length reveals a critical balance between loading capacity and accessibility, leading to markedly improved performance in bead-based immunoassays. This bottlebrush-mediated approach thus establishes a general and scalable platform for producing size-controlled, surface-functional polymeric microspheres with enhanced bioanalytical utility.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the most widely applied nanocarriers for mRNA delivery in clinical use. However, the limited stability and increasingly recognized immunogenicity of PEG-based LNP formulations are potential impediments to the more widespread development of mRNA therapeutics. To address shortcomings in current LNP polymer coatings, we have developed a polymer-lipid conjugate based on the low-fouling sulfoxide polymer poly(2-(methylsulfinyl)ethyl acrylate) (PMSEA). The results show that LNPs formed from the PMSEA-DSPE conjugates with optimized polymer chain length have excellent stability, highly effective shielding, and low immunogenicity, favorable properties for PMSEA-DSPE to be incorporated as a component of mRNA nanocarriers. mRNA-LNP formulations were prepared with PMSEA-DSPE as an alternative to the PEGylated formulations. The stability, in vitro behavior, and transfection efficiency of the mRNA nanocarriers were evaluated, with PMSEA providing superior transfection efficiency compared with the PEG equivalents. This work demonstrates the potential of PMSEA mRNA-LNPs for further development as therapeutic delivery vehicles.

Effect of free fatty acids with different chain lengths and unsaturation degrees on hazardous compounds in canola oil cooking fumes.

Noncovalent interactions as key modulators of PFAS translocation, lipid-protein affinity, and tissue partitioning.

Exploring the enzymatic landscape of 4-α-glucanotransferases in carbohydrate bioprocessing.

National collaborative study on the incidence and mobility of PFAS following land application of biosolids.

Effects of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes on the structural, oxidative, and digestive properties of oyster myofibrillar proteins during thermal processing.

Spatial source apportionment of n-alkanes and their effects on carbon pool dynamics and microbial communities in a river-estuary-offshore continuum.

The use of cationic quaternary ammonium halide as a surfactant is popular in aqueous seed-mediated growth methods of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs). Despite the effective shape control of NPs that can be achieved by modifying the surfactant chemistry, these structural parameters have been insufficiently probed. The number of cationic quaternary ammonium halide surfactants explored for the synthesis of Au NPs have been limited primarily to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). In this study, we investigate the effect of structural parameters, including the headgroup, chain length, and counter-anion of the quaternary ammonium halides, on the resultant Au NPs formed using seed-mediated synthesis. By employing pentatwinned Au NPs as the starting seeds, we observe that (i) increasing the bulkiness of the surfactant headgroup results in the formation of Au NPs with fewer stellations and more shape polydispersity, (ii) surfactant chain length affects the dimension of Au NPs, and (iii) the counter-anion associated with the surfactant affects the Au NPs' final morphology. These structural parameters provide a practical handle to tune the shape, size, and polydispersity of the final Au NPs.

The synergistic interactions between hyaluronic acid (HA) and other cellular components, particularly lipids and water, play a vital role in maintaining cellular structure and function. Variations in HA concentration and chain length lead to changes in the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of diseased cells, such as those in colon cancer and osteoarthritis. Despite its biological significance, the microscopic dynamics at the HA-water and lipid bilayer interface remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the dynamic properties of water molecules at the interface between HA and a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipid bilayer using molecular dynamics simulations. The interfacial and hydration water exhibit non-Gaussian self van Hove functions, indicating dynamic heterogeneity. The diffusivity distributions reveal contrasts in the underlying translational and rotational dynamics between the two regions. In the diffusive interface, while the diffusion coefficients decrease with increasing HA concentration, they show only a weak dependence on HA chain length. However, the water dynamics in the subdiffusive hydration layer are largely unaffected by the presence of HA chains.

Fatty acid photodecarboxylases (FAPs) utilize blue light to convert fatty acids into Cn-1 hydrocarbons and CO2, providing a sustainable route to photobiocatalytic fuel production. Despite increasing interest, substrate-dependent phenomena-such as binding affinity, initial electron-transfer (ET) dynamics, and the influence of residues near the FAD cofactor-remain insufficiently characterized. Here, we systematically analyzed substrate binding, substrate-to-product conversion, and initial ET dynamics for three fatty acids of varying chain lengths using two cosolvent buffer systems. Ethanol improved substrate solubility but increased enzyme flexibility, leading to an extended FAD-substrate distance (DFAD-substrate) and diminished fluorescence quenching. Fluorescence titrations revealed chain-length-dependent binding, with palmitic acid (C16) and arachidic acid (C20) exhibiting stronger binding than lauric acid (C12). A fluorometric assay enabled quantification of product formation and catalytic half-lives, revealing that the fastest turnover arises from binding competition between substrate and product. Time-resolved fluorescence measurements further demonstrate that ET rates increase with substrate chain length. Longer fatty acids position their carboxylate groups closer to the FAD cofactor, reducing DFAD-substrate and accelerating the initial ET step. Finally, targeted mutagenesis at residue N170-located adjacent to the isoalloxazine ring-shows that local active-site interactions strongly modulate the partitioning of the excited 1FAD* pathways, thereby tuning photocatalytic efficiency and photostability.

Photocrosslinkable carbohydrate-based hydrogels for cartilage regeneration: Current insights and future perspectives.

Long-term intervention of the esterified starch enhanced the satiety of mice via alterations to pyruvate metabolism.

Excipient variability critically impacts crystallization propensity of spray-dried amorphous solid dispersions.

Marine ecotoxicity evaluation of 10 per- and poly-fluoroalkyl acids using three USEPA short-term chronic bioassays.

The recently discovered heliconical ferroelectric nematic (NTBF) phase is a unique example of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in a proper ferroelectric fluid. In this study, we investigate four homologous series of mesogenic compounds, differing in the degree of fluorination of the mesogenic core and bearing lateral alkoxy substituents of varying lengths, to understand how molecular architecture influences the formation and stability of the NTBF phase. Increasing the length of the lateral chain lowers the phase transition temperatures and suppresses smectic layer formation, enabling the emergence of the NTBF phase which replaces the orthogonal ferroelectric smectic A (SmAF) phase. This indicates a competition between lamellar and heliconical polar ordering, driven by the interplay of strong molecular dipoles and the self-segregation of chemically incompatible molecular segments that typically favour layered structures. Notably, the NTBF phase in these compounds exhibits exceptionally short helical pitch lengths, on the order of a few hundred nanometers, as revealed by selective light reflection and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Furthermore, for one of the studied compounds AFM imaging revealed a regular array of screw dislocations within the NTBF phase, suggesting a possible link to more complex modulated or twist-grain-boundary-like structures.

Design, synthesis and bioactive evaluation of novel quinoline-linked sulfonamide-pyridine derivatives as PI3K/HDAC dual-target inhibitors.