Multifunctional Ag@MOF-5@chitosan non-woven cloth composites for sulfur mustard decontamination and hemostasis

Research Progress in the Degradation of Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants Using Metal-Organic Frameworks

Chemical warfare agents primarily comprise organophosphorus nerve agents, saliva alkaloids, cyanides, and mustard gas. Exposure to these agents can result in severe respiratory effects, including spasms, edema, and increased secretions leading to breathing difficulties and suffocation. Protecting public safety and national security from such threats has become an urgent priority. Porous metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have emerged as promising candidates for the degradation of chemical warfare agents due to their large surface area, tunable pore size distribution, and excellent catalytic performance. Furthermore, combining MOFs with polymers can enhance their elasticity and processability and improve their degradation performance. In this review, we summarize the literature of the past five years on MOF-based composite materials and their effectiveness in degrading chemical warfare agents. Moreover, we discuss key factors influencing their degradation efficiency, such as MOF structure, pore size, and functionalization strategies. Furthermore, we highlight recent developments in the design of MOF-polymer composites, which offer enhanced degradation performance and stability for practical applications in CWA degradation. These composite materials exhibit good performance in degrading chemical warfare agents, playing a crucial role in protecting public safety and maintaining national security. We can expect to see more breakthroughs in the application of metal-organic framework porous materials for degrading chemical warfare agents. It is hoped that these innovative materials will play a positive role in achieving social stability and security.

Development of Novel Chimeric Endolysin Conjugated with Chitosan-Zn-Metal-Organic Framework Nanocomposites with Antibacterial Activity

Bacterial diseases have been considered the most crucial issue and are threatening human health all around the world. Also, resistance to antimicrobial drugs has become a big hurdle against efficient therapy. As a result, recombinant chimeric endolysin was produced in E. coli host to use as a potential antibacterial agent against bacteria resistance and replacement to conventional antibiotics in this study. Then, chitosan (C)-coated nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (CS-NMOFs) nanocomposite was synthesized as a novel nano delivery system to further improve the antibacterial activity of endolysin. After characterization of nanocomposite with analytical devices such as FT-IR, DLS, and TEM and determining the nanometric size of samples (30 nm to 90 nm), endolysin was covalently (endolysin-CS-NMOFs (C)) and non-covalently (endolysin-CS-NMOFs (NC)) conjugated to nanocomposite. Thereafter, the lytic ability, synergistic interaction, and biofilm reduction manner of endolysin-containing CS-NMOF nanocomposites were evaluated on E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa strains. The results depicted an excellent lytic ability of nanocomposites after 24 h and 48 h of treatment, especially endolysin-CS-NMOFs (NC) on E. coli and P. aeruginosa strains. The synergistic interaction between nanocomposite and vancomycin did not attain for P. aeruginosa strain whereas the reverse was true for E. coli and S. aureus strains at 8 ng/mL concentration. Next, nanocomposites demonstrated potential biofilm reduction activities in various strains, especially in S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Ultimately, our outputs demonstrate an efficient performance of the synthesized nanocomposite as an appropriate substitution for conventional antibiotics against bacteria.

Heterostructured Ag@MOF-801/MIL-88A(Fe) Nanocomposite as a Biocompatible Photocatalyst for Degradation of Reactive Black 5 under Visible Light

Heterostructured Ag@MOF-801/MIL-88A(Fe) nanocomposite was synthesized through template effects in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MIL-88A(Fe) was fabricated on a MOF-801 template using the internal extended growth method (IEGM) via polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the structure-director agent to create the MIL-88A(Fe)-on-MOF-801 heterostructure. The MOF-801/MIL-88A(Fe) heterostructure was used as a template for the formation of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) inside it via a double solvents method (DSM) combined with a photoreduction route (PR). To characterize synthesized samples to a high level of detail, PXRD, FT-IR, EDX, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, TEM, DRS, PL, EIS, and Mott-Sckottky measurements were used. The resulting Ag@MOF-801/MIL-88A(Fe) nanocomposite demonstrated the highest photocatalytic activity of 91.72% for the degradation of Reactive Black 5, after 30 min under visible light irradiation.

Aramid nanofibers supported metal-organic framework aerogel for protection of chemical warfare agent

Protective fabrics containing Zr-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks (Zr-MOFs) show great potential in the detoxification of chemical warfare agents (CWAs). However, the current studies still face the challenges of complicated fabrication processes, limited MOF loading mass, and insufficient protection. Herein, we developed a lightweight, flexible and mechanical robust aerogel by in situ growth of UiO-66-NH₂ onto aramid nanofibers (ANFs) and assembly of UiO-66-NH₂ loaded ANFs (UiO-66-NH₂@ANFs) into 3D hierarchically porous architecture. The UiO-66-NH₂@ANF aerogels feature high MOF loading of 261 %, high surface area of 589.349 m² g^-1, open and interconnected cellular structure, which provide efficient transfer channels and promote catalytic degradation of CWAs. As a result, the UiO-66-NH₂@ANF aerogels demonstrate high 2-chloroethyl ethyl thioether (CEES) removal rate at 98.9 % and a short half-life of 8.15 min. Moreover, the aerogels present good mechanical stability (recovery rate of 93.3 % after 100 cycles under 30 % strain), low thermal conductivity (λ of 25.66 mW m^-1 K^-1), high flame resistance (LOI of 32 %) and good wearing comfortableness, indicating promising potential in multifunctional protection against CWAs.

Chitosan-coated Zn-metal-organic framework nanocomposites for effective targeted delivery of LNA-antisense miR-224 to colon tumor: in vitro studies

Nowadays, nano-compartments are considered as an effective drug delivery system (DDS) for cancer therapy. Targeted delivery of therapeutic agents is an advantageous approach by which cancer cells can be targeted without harming normal cells, and eliminates the negative effects of conventional therapies such as chemotherapy. In this research, a novel zinc-based nanoscale metal-organic framework (Zn-NMOF) coated with folic acid (FA) functionalized chitosan (CS) has been constructed and applied as efficient delivery of LNA (locked nucleic acid)-antisense miR-224 to colon cancer cell lines. LNA-antisense miR-224 as a therapeutic sequence was able to considerably block highly expressed miR-224 and downregulated cancer cell growth. The prepared nano-complex was characterized by analytical devices such as FT-IR, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, DLS, TEM, and XRD. The size range of NMOF-CS-FA-LNA-antisense miR-224 (MCFL224) nano-complex was obtained nearly at 200 nm. The entrapment efficiency of LNA-antisense miR-224 was calculated 72 ± 5% and a significant release profile of LNA-antisense miR-224 was observed at first 6 h (about 50%). Then, in vitro assays were implemented on HCT116 (folic acid receptor-positive colon cancer cell line) and CRL1831 (normal colon cell line) to evaluate the therapeutic efficiency of the MCFL224 nano-complex. In these investigations, decreased cell viability (14.22 ± 0.3% after 72 h treatment), increased apoptotic and autophagy-related genes expression level (BECLIN1: 34-folds, BAX: 36-folds, mTORC1: 10-folds, and Caspase-9: 9-folds more than control), higher cell cycle arrest in sub-G1 phase (19.53% of cells in sub-G1 phase), and more apoptosis analyses (late apoptosis: 67.7%) were evaluated in colon cancer cells treated with MCFL224 nano-complex. Results remarkably indicate the inhibited growth of colon cancer cells and induced cell apoptosis which suggests MCFL224 as a promising nanocomposite for colon cancer therapy.

Chitosan based macromolecular probes for the selective detection and removal of Fe3+ ion

Chitosan has been widely used due to its biodegradable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly properties. Modification of chitosan attracts much attention as promising methods to detect and remove organic and inorganic pollutants. In this work, chitosan-based macromolecular probes were designed and synthesized. The probes can detect Fe³⁺ in the presence of other metal ions. The detection mechanism is investigated as well. The probe's fluorescence quenching upon the addition of Fe³⁺ ion could be ascribed to the complexation between the electron-deficient ion Fe³⁺ and "C=N" (electron-rich group) of fluorescent chitosan probes. What's more, the obtained fluorescent macromolecular probes can be used for the removal of Fe³⁺ in solution. The probes could adsorb the Fe³⁺ in solution and the removal efficiency can reach as high as 62.0% while the removal efficiency of original chitosan is only 16.0%. The probes have good selective detection for Fe³⁺ and the detection limit reaches 1.2 μM.

Evaluation of decontamination efficacy of electrolytically generated hypochlorous acid for vesicating agent: A multimodel Study

BACKGROUND

Sulfur Mustard is a strong vesicant and chemical warfare agent that imposes toxicity to the lungs, eyes, and skin after accidental or intended exposure.

OBJECTIVES

The current study was intended to explore in vitro and in vivo decontamination properties of electrolytically generated HOCl (hypochlorous acid) against CEES (2-chloroethyle ethyle sulphide), a known sulfur mustard simulant & vesicating agent.

METHODS

In vitro studies were carried out using UV spectroscopy and GC-MS methods. In vivo studies were perfomred in Strain A and immune compromised mice by subcutaneous as well as prophylactic topical administrion of HOCl pretreated CEES. The blister formation and mortality were considered as end-point. Histopathological study was conducted on skin samples by H & E method. DNA damage studies measuring γ-H2AX and ATM has been carried out in human blood using flow cytometry. Anti-bacterial action was tested by employing broth micro dilution methods. Comparative study was also carried out with known oxidizing agents.

RESULTS

The topical application of pre-treated CEES at 5, 30 min and 1 h time points showed significant (p<0.001) inhibition of blister formation. DNA damage study showed reduced mean flourences intensity of DSBs nearly 17-20 times, suggesting that HOCl plays a protective role against DNA damage. Histopathology showed no sign of necrosis in the epidermis upto 5 min although moderate changes were observed at 30 min. Pretreated samples were analyzed for detection of reaction products with m/z value of 75.04, 69.08, 83.93, 85.95, 123.99, 126.00, and 108.97. HOCl showed strong bactericidal effect at 40 ppm. The absorbance spectra of HOCl treated CEES showed lowered peaks in comparison to CEES alone and other oxidizing agents Conclusion: In a nutshell, our results signify the decontamination role of HOCl for biological surface application.

A NaX zeolite framework containing magnetic MgFe2O4/CdO nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance in the decontamination of 2-chloroethyl phenyl sulfide (2-CEPS) as a model of sulfur mustard agent

Magnetic MgFe2O4/CdO nanoparticles were immobilized in a zeolite NaX network and their application for the decontamination of sulfur mustard agent simulant 2-CEPS was evaluated.