A novel peptide binding to the cytoplasmic domain of class A scavenger receptor reduces lipid uptake in THP-1 macrophages

Nanomaterials-enriched sensors for detection of chiral pharmaceuticals

Advancements in nanoscience and nanotechnology have opened new pathways to fabricate novel nanostructures with interesting properties that would be used for different applications. In this respect, nanostructures comprising chirality are one of the most rapidly developing research fields encompassing chemistry, physics and biology. Chirality, also known as mirror asymmetry, describes the geometrical property of an object that is not superimposable on its mirror image. This characteristic plays a crucial role because these identical forms of chiral species in pharmaceuticals or food additives may exhibit different effects on living organisms. Therefore, chiral analysis is an important field of modern chemical analysis in health-related industries that are reliant on the production of enantiomeric compounds involving pharmaceuticals. This review covers the recent advances dealing with the synthesis, design and advantageous analytical performance of nanomaterials-enriched sensors used for chiral pharmaceuticals. We conclude this review with the challenges existing in this research field and our perspectives on some potential strategies with cutting-edge approaches for the rational design of sensors for chiral pharmaceuticals. We expect this comprehensive review will inspire future studies in nanomaterials-enriched chiral sensors.

KOH activation of coal-derived microporous carbons for oxygen reduction and supercapacitors

Due to the dilemma of rapid consumption of fossil fuels and environmental pollution, development of clean, efficient and renewable energy conversion and storage technology has become an urgent need. Supercapacitors and hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells as typical representatives have become the focus of scientific research, in which the electrode materials are of much importance to their improved activity. In this work, a series of porous carbons (PCs) with high specific surface areas were prepared using natural coals as carbon precursors coupled with KOH activation. The effects of the mass ratio of coal and KOH as well as different activation temperatures on the microstructures of the PCs and electrochemical properties were studied in detail. The optimal PC4 (KOH: coal = 4) possessed a high specific surface area (SSA) of 2092 m2 g-1 and a well-developed microporous structure. As the electrocatalyst, it exhibited a positive onset potential of 0.88 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and half-wave potential of 0.78 V (vs. RHE) towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline solution. PC4 also showed the highest specific capacitance of 128 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 among all the samples in this work. The relatively good performance of PC4 resulted from its well-developed microporous structure and large SSA, enabling fast mass transfer of electrolytes.

Highly active metal-free carbon dots/g-C3N4 hollow porous nanospheres for solar-light-driven PPCPs remediation: Mechanism insights, kinetics and effects of natural water matrices

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are increasingly being scrutinized by the scientific community due to their environmental persistence. Therefore, the development of novel environmentally compatible and energy-efficient technologies for their removal is highly anticipated. In this work, a novel metal-free photocatalytic nanoreactor was successfully synthesized by anchoring carbon dots to hollow carbon nitride nanospheres (HCNS/CDs). The unique structure of these hollow nanospherical HCNS/CDs hybrids endowed them with a high population of reactive sites, while enhancing optical absorption due to internal light reflection. Simultaneously, the CDs served as "artificial antennas" to absorb and convert photons with low energy, due to their superior up-converting properties. Consequently, the HCNS/CDs demonstrated excellent photodegradation activities for the degradation of PPCPs under broad-spectrum irradiation. Remarkedly, 10 mg/L of naproxen (NPX) was completely degraded following 5 min of natural solar irradiation. It was further revealed that the O₂^•- played a significant role during the photocatalytic process, which could lead to the decomposition of NPX. The effects of natural water matrices and the degradation of trace PPCPs further supported that this photocatalytic system may be efficaciously applied for the remediation of PPCPs contamination in ambient waterways.

The recombinant expression and activity detection of MAF-1 fusion protein

This study establishes the recombinant expression system of MAF-1 (Musca domestica antifungal peptide-1) and demonstrates the antifungal activity of the expression product and shows the relationship between biological activity and structure. The gene segments on mature peptide part of MAF-1 were cloned, based on the primers designed according to the cDNA sequence of MAF-1. We constructed the recombinant prokaryotic expression plasmid using prokaryotic expression vector (pET-28a(+)) and converted it to the competent cell of BL21(DE3) to gain recombinant MAF-1 fusion protein with His tag sequence through purifying affinity chromatographic column of Ni-NTA. To conduct the Western Blotting test, recombinant MAF-1 fusion protein was used to produce the polyclonal antibody of rat. The antifungal activity of the expression product was detected using Candida albicans (ATCC10231) as the indicator. The MAF-1 recombinant fusion protein was purified to exhibit obvious antifungal activity, which lays the foundation for the further study of MAF-1 biological activity, the relationship between structure and function, as well as control of gene expression.

Class A1 scavenger receptors in cardiovascular diseases

Class A1 scavenger receptors (SR-A1) are membrane glycoproteins that can form homotrimers. This receptor was originally defined by its ability to mediate the accumulation of lipids in macrophages. Subsequent studies reveal that SR-A1 plays critical roles in innate immunity, cell apoptosis and proliferation. This review highlights recent advances in understanding the structure, receptor pathway and regulation of SR-A1. Although its role in atherosclerosis is disputable, recent discoveries suggest that SR-A1 function in anti-inflammatory responses by promoting an M2 macrophage phenotype in cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, SR-A1 may be a potential target for therapeutic intervention of cardiovascular diseases.

Caveolae-dependent endocytosis is required for class A macrophage scavenger receptor-mediated apoptosis in macrophages

SR-A (class A macrophage scavenger receptor) is a transmembrane receptor that can bind many different ligands, including modified lipoproteins that are relevant to the development of vascular diseases. However, the precise endocytic pathways of SR-A/mediated ligands internalization are not fully characterized. In this study, we show that the SR-A/ligand complex can be endocytosed by both clathrin- and caveolae-dependent pathways. Internalizations of SR-A-lipoprotein (such as acLDL) complexes primarily go through clathrin-dependent endocytosis. In contrast, macrophage apoptosis triggered by SR-A-fucoidan internalization requires caveolae-dependent endocytosis. The caveolae-dependent process activates p38 kinase and JNK signaling, whereas the clathrin-mediated endocytosis elicits ERK signaling. Our results suggest that different SR-A endocytic pathways have distinct functional consequences due to the activation of different signaling cascades in macrophages.

Glucose-regulated protein 78 inhibits scavenger receptor A-mediated internalization of acetylated low density lipoprotein

Class A scavenger receptor (SR-A) plays an important role in foam cell formation. However, the mechanism underlying the internalization of the receptor-ligand complexes remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanism to regulate SR-A-mediated intracellular lipid accumulation in macrophages. A pull-down assay was performed and glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) was identified to bind with the cytoplasmic domain of SR-A (CSR-A). Immunoprecipitation and artificially expressed protein binding assay demonstrated the direct specific binding of GRP78 with SR-A in cells. Indirect immunofluorescence assay and western blot analysis showed their co-localization in membrane and cytoplasm. Over-expression of GRP78 specifically inhibited SR-A-mediated uptake of fluorescent acetylated low-density lipoprotein, a specific ligand for SR-A, without altering cellular SR-A expression and binding ability, and significantly inhibited cholesterol ester accumulation in cells, which can be partly attributed to the suppression of c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase signaling pathway. These results suggest that GRP78 may act as an inhibitor of SR-A-mediated internalization of modified low-density lipoprotein into macrophages.