Glutathione modified Ag nanoparticles as efficient detector for pyrimethanil

Fabrication of glutathione functionalized self-assembled magnetite nanochains for effective removal of crystal violet and phenol red dye from aqueous matrix

A novel fabrication of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanochains, surface functionalized with glutathione (GSH), has been attempted through a basic wet reduction method, coalesced with oxidative etching for the removal of crystal violet (CV) and phenol red (PR) from an aqueous solution. The structural and functional characterizations of GSH@Fe₃O₄ MNPs were performed using SEM-EDX, DLS, XRD, and FTIR. The nanochain-structured adsorbent was found to have an average size of 24 ± 1.29 nm and a zeta potential value of - 6.44 mV. The batch experiments showed that GSH@Fe₃O₄ MNPs have a brilliant removal efficiency of 97% and 79% for CV and PR dyes, respectively, within a period of 60 min. The influence of different operational parameters like adsorbent dosage, pH, temperature, reaction time, and initial dye concentration on the removal behaviour of the adsorbent was studied in detail. The adsorbate-adsorbent reaction was tested over isotherm models, and the reaction fitted well for Langmuir isotherm with an excellent q_max value of 1619.5 mg/g and 1316.16 mg/g for CV and PR dye, respectively. The experimental results were also validated using different reaction kinetics, and it was found that the pseudo-first-order model fits well for PR dye adsorption (R² = 0.91), while adsorption of CV dye was in best agreement with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R² = 0.98). Thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption reaction was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. Furthermore, GSH@Fe₃O₄ MNPs can be reused effectively up to 5 cycles of dye removal. Major mechanisms involved in the adsorption reaction were expected to be electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, and π-interactions. The efficiency of GSH@Fe₃O₄ MNPs in real water samples suggested that it has a high potential for dye removal from complex aqueous systems and could be used as an effective alternative for remediation of dyes contaminated water.

Effect of Fluorofenidone Against Paraquat-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis Based on Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology

BACKGROUND Fluorofenidone (AKF-PD) is an anti-fibrotic small-molecule compound. Its mechanism of action on paraquat (PQ)-induced pulmonary fibrosis is still unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty-eight SD rats were divided into 4 groups: control group, PQ group, PQ+AKF-PD group, and AKF-PD group. The pathological changes of lung tissues were observed by Masson and HE staining. The UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis was performed to detect the differences in metabolites among groups, then the possible mechanisms of the anti-pulmonary fibrosis effects of fluorofenidone were further revealed by network pharmacology analysis. Biological methods were used to verify the results of the network pharmacology analysis. RESULTS The results showed that fluorofenidone treatment significantly alleviated paraquat-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Metabolomics analysis showed that 18 metabolites were disordered in the serum of paraquat-poisoned rats, of which 13 were restored following fluorofenidone treatment. Network pharmacology analysis showed that the drug screened a total of 12 targets and mainly involved multiple signaling pathways and metabolic pathways to jointly exert anti-pulmonary fibrosis effects. Autophagy is the main pathway of fluorofenidone in treatment pulmonary fibrosis. The western blot results showed that fluorofenidone upregulated the expression of LC3-II/I and E-cadherin, and downregulated the expression of p62, alpha-SMA, and TGF-ß1, which validated that fluorofenidone could inhibit the development of paraquat-induced pulmonary fibrosis by increasing autophagy. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, metabolomics combined with network pharmacology research strategy revealed that fluorofenidone has a multi-target and multi-path mechanism of action in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Construction of a Smart Nanofluidic Sensor through a Redox Reaction Strategy for High-Performance Carbon Monoxide Sensing

Carbon monoxide (CO), an important gas signaling molecule, demonstrated various physiological and pathological functions by regulating the ion flux of biological channels. Herein, inspired by the CO-regulated K⁺ channel in vivo, we propose a smart CO-responsive nanosensor through the redox reaction strategy. Such nanosensor demonstrated an outstanding CO specificity and selectivity with high ion rectification (∼9) as well as excellent stability and recyclability. Therefore, these results will provide a new direction for the design of nanochannel-based sensors for future practical and biological applications.

Sunlight and UV driven synthesis of Ag nanoparticles for fluorometric and colorimetric dual-mode sensing of ClO

A photo-responsive compound BINOL-LA (1) having a rigid backbone ending up with two 5-membered cyclic disulfide moieties was designed. BINOL-LA capped Ag nanoparticles (1@Ag NPs) with a network structure were synthesized in a green way by sunlight or UV lamp irradiation. 1@Ag NPs exhibit a selective recognition towards ClO^- in aqueous solution with a switch-on fluorescence response and a visual color change, with detection limits of 0.17 μM and 1.54 μM, respectively. The sensing mechanism is based on the ClO^--mediated oxidation of AgS bond, resulting in a disaggregation of 1@Ag NPs assembly. With the strategy demonstrated here, ClO^- in tap water and lake water can be detected quantitatively in 5 s.