Flexible energy storage plays a crucial role in the field of flexible electronics,because it provides the energy supply,and its technological advancement directly affects the performance and application scope of flexi...Flexible energy storage plays a crucial role in the field of flexible electronics,because it provides the energy supply,and its technological advancement directly affects the performance and application scope of flexible electronics.As an important flexible energy storage technology member,aqueous zinc(Zn)ion batteries(AZIBs)have garnered considerable attention due to their high safety and low cost.However,the development of flexible AZIBs is hindered by Zn metal anodes(ZMAs),where Zn is prone to growing into dendritic structures,especially in a curved state,and thus leads to battery failure.Herein,we design a robust interfacial layer(RIL)for stabilizing ZMAs in flexible AZIBs,whose introduction constructs uniform Zn ion channels and releases stress accumulation on the anode surface.Various experiments and calculations are employed to verify the effectiveness of RIL in suppressing Zn dendrite at bending states.Furthermore,a Zn|MnO_(2)flexible pouch battery with RIL is demonstrated with stable cycling performance during bending.We believe this study provides new possibilities for regulating Zn deposition under bending conditions and extends its application to flexible wearable aqueous metal batteries.展开更多
Introduction:Magnesium(Mg)has a prophylactic potential against the onset of hyperlipidemia.Similar to statin,Mg is recommended as lipid-lowering medication for hypercholesterolemia and concomitantly exhibits an associ...Introduction:Magnesium(Mg)has a prophylactic potential against the onset of hyperlipidemia.Similar to statin,Mg is recommended as lipid-lowering medication for hypercholesterolemia and concomitantly exhibits an association with increased bone mass.The combination of statin with Mg ions(Mg^(2+))may be able to alleviate the high-fat diet(HFD)-induced bone loss and reduce the side-effects of statin.This study aimed to explore the feasibility of combined Mg^(2+)with simvastatin(SIM)for treating HFD-induced bone loss in mice and the involving mechanisms.Materials and methods:C57BL/6 male mice were fed with a HFD or a normal-fat diet(NFD).Mice were intraperitoneally injected SIM and/or orally received water with additional Mg^(2+)until sacrificed.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to measure cytokines and cholesterol in serum and liver lysates.Bone mineral density(BMD)and microarchitecture were assessed by micro-computed tomography(μCT)in different groups.The adipogenesis in palmitate pre-treated HepG2 cells was performed under various treatments.Results:μCT analysis showed that the trabecular bone mass was significantly lower in the HFD-fed group than that in NFD-fed group since week 8.The cortical thickness in HFD-fed group had a significant decrease at week 24,as compared with NFD-fed group.The combination of Mg^(2+)and SIM significantly attenuated the trabecular bone loss in HFD-fed mice via arresting the osteoclast formation and bone resorption.Besides,such combination also reduced the hepatocytic synthesis of cholesterol and inhibited matrix metallopeptidase 13(Mmp13)mRNA expression in pre-osteoclasts.Conclusions:The combination of Mg^(2+)and SIM shows a synergistic effect on attenuating the HFD-induced bone loss.Our current formulation may be a cost-effective alternative treatment to be indicated for obesity-related bone loss.展开更多
Many studies have investigated the effects of different pretreatments on the performance of anaerobic digestion of sludge.However,the detailed changes of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly the release behavior of...Many studies have investigated the effects of different pretreatments on the performance of anaerobic digestion of sludge.However,the detailed changes of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly the release behavior of proteins and the byproducts of protein hydrolysis-amino acids,are rarely known during anaerobic digestion of sludge by different pretreatments.Here we quantified the changes of three types of proteins and 17 types of amino acids in sludge samples solubilized by ultrasonic,thermal,and acid/alkaline pretreatments and their transformation during anaerobic digestion of sludge.Tryptophan protein,aromatic protein I,aromatic protein II,and cysteine were identified as the key dissolved organic nitrogen responsible for methane production during anaerobic digestion of sludge,regardless of the different pretreatment methods.Different from the depletion of other amino acids,cysteine was resistant to degradation after an incubation period of 30 days in all sludge samples.Meanwhile,the“cysteine and methionine metabolism(K00270)”was absent in all sludge samples by identifying 6755 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes assignments of genes hits.Cysteine contributed to the generation of methane and the degradation of acetic,propionic,and n-butyric acids through decreasing oxidation-reduction potential and enhancing biomass activity.This study provided an alternative strategy to enhance anaerobic digestion of sludge through in situ production of cysteine.展开更多
This study compared effects of three different valent iron(Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III))on enhanced anaerobic sludge digestion,focusing on the changes of oxidation reduction potential(ORP),dissolved organic nitrogen(DON),...This study compared effects of three different valent iron(Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III))on enhanced anaerobic sludge digestion,focusing on the changes of oxidation reduction potential(ORP),dissolved organic nitrogen(DON),and microbial community.Under the same iron dose in range of 0−160 mg/L after an incubation period of 30 days(d),the maximum methane production rate of sludge samples dosed with respective Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same concentration showed indiscernible differences at each iron dose,regardless of the different iron valence.Moreover,their behavior in changes of ORP,DON and microbial community was different:(1)the addition of Fe^(0) made the ORP of sludge more negative,and the addition of Fe(II)and Fe(III)made the ORP of sludge less negative.However,whether being more or less negative,the changes of ORP may show unobservable effects on methane yield when it ranged from−278.71 to−379.80 mV;(2)the degradation of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly proteins,was less efficient in sludge samples dosed with Fe^(0) compared with those dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)after an incubation period of 30 d.At the same dose of 160 mg/L iron,more cysteine was noted in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)(30.74 mg/L)and Fe(III)(27.92 mg/L)compared with that dosed with Fe^(0)(21.75 mg/L);(3)Fe^(0) particularly promoted the enrichment of Geobacter,and it was 6 times higher than those in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same dose of 160 mg/L iron.展开更多
In the ongoing arms race between bacteria and bacteriophages,bacteriophages have evolved anti-CRISPR proteins to counteract bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems.Recently,AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 have been found to effectively ...In the ongoing arms race between bacteria and bacteriophages,bacteriophages have evolved anti-CRISPR proteins to counteract bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems.Recently,AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 have been found to effectively inhibit the activity of Spy Cas9 both in bacterial and human cells.However,their molecular mechanisms remain elusive.Here,we report the cryo-electron microscopy structures of ternary complexes formed by AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 bound to Spy Cas9-sg RNA.Using structural analysis and biochemical experiments,we revealed that AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 recognize a novel,previously-unidentified anti-CRISPR binding site on Spy Cas9.We found that both AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 directly interact with the WED domain,where they spatially obstruct conformational changes of the WED and PI domains,thereby inhibiting Spy Cas9 from recognizing protospacer adjacent motif(PAM)and unwinding double-stranded DNA.In addition,they may inhibit nuclease activity by blocking the dynamic conformational changes of the Spy Cas9 surveillance complex.In summary,our data elucidate the inhibition mechanisms of two new anti-CRISPR proteins,provide new strategies for the modulation of Spy Cas9 activity,and expand our understanding of the diversity of anti-CRISPR protein inhibition mechanisms.展开更多
Plasma protein-induced aggregation of nanoparticles(NPs)is a crucial issue in many applications,such as drug delivery.Although great efforts have been made to inves-tigate the protein adsorption kinetics or protein-in...Plasma protein-induced aggregation of nanoparticles(NPs)is a crucial issue in many applications,such as drug delivery.Although great efforts have been made to inves-tigate the protein adsorption kinetics or protein-induced NPs coalescence in bulk solutions,limited evidence has been uncovered for interfacial circumstances.Diet,disease,medicine,or senility could thoroughly change interfacial physicochemical properties of the inner lining of blood vessels.Implants including stents and artificial heart valves also have varied and evolutionary interfaces.Hence,there is an urgent need to understand the mechanism behind the non-specific protein adsorption and NP-protein aggregation in such interfacial cases.Here,we use evanescent light scat-tering to observe polystyrene NPs‒fibrinogen aggregation at substrates with varying surface properties.A density-fluctuation correlation function is utilized to reveal the relaxation dynamics of the aggregates.Both time-resolved and spatial-correlated evi-dence shows that the aging process of such soft materials is out-of-equilibrium,where the dynamics faster and slower than exponential can coexist in one sin-gle relaxation process.Besides,corona formation,inner stress,and interconnection together determine the microstructure,local adhesion,and structural relaxation of the aggregates,which can further correspond to the protein-to-NP ratio as well as the surface chemistry of NPs and substrates.展开更多
基金financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52472214,22409095,and 22201135)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China(Nos.BK20220385 and BK20230368)+2 种基金Science and Technology Program of Suzhou(No.SYG202354)Project of State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays,Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications(Nos.GZR2022010017 and GDX2022010010)Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications Start-up Fund(Nos.NY222094,NY223099,and NY223054).
文摘Flexible energy storage plays a crucial role in the field of flexible electronics,because it provides the energy supply,and its technological advancement directly affects the performance and application scope of flexible electronics.As an important flexible energy storage technology member,aqueous zinc(Zn)ion batteries(AZIBs)have garnered considerable attention due to their high safety and low cost.However,the development of flexible AZIBs is hindered by Zn metal anodes(ZMAs),where Zn is prone to growing into dendritic structures,especially in a curved state,and thus leads to battery failure.Herein,we design a robust interfacial layer(RIL)for stabilizing ZMAs in flexible AZIBs,whose introduction constructs uniform Zn ion channels and releases stress accumulation on the anode surface.Various experiments and calculations are employed to verify the effectiveness of RIL in suppressing Zn dendrite at bending states.Furthermore,a Zn|MnO_(2)flexible pouch battery with RIL is demonstrated with stable cycling performance during bending.We believe this study provides new possibilities for regulating Zn deposition under bending conditions and extends its application to flexible wearable aqueous metal batteries.
基金supported by Theme-based Research Scheme from RGC-Hong Kong(No.T13-402/17N)partially supported by Health and Medical Research Fund(17180671)National Natural Science Foundation of China(81802152).
文摘Introduction:Magnesium(Mg)has a prophylactic potential against the onset of hyperlipidemia.Similar to statin,Mg is recommended as lipid-lowering medication for hypercholesterolemia and concomitantly exhibits an association with increased bone mass.The combination of statin with Mg ions(Mg^(2+))may be able to alleviate the high-fat diet(HFD)-induced bone loss and reduce the side-effects of statin.This study aimed to explore the feasibility of combined Mg^(2+)with simvastatin(SIM)for treating HFD-induced bone loss in mice and the involving mechanisms.Materials and methods:C57BL/6 male mice were fed with a HFD or a normal-fat diet(NFD).Mice were intraperitoneally injected SIM and/or orally received water with additional Mg^(2+)until sacrificed.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to measure cytokines and cholesterol in serum and liver lysates.Bone mineral density(BMD)and microarchitecture were assessed by micro-computed tomography(μCT)in different groups.The adipogenesis in palmitate pre-treated HepG2 cells was performed under various treatments.Results:μCT analysis showed that the trabecular bone mass was significantly lower in the HFD-fed group than that in NFD-fed group since week 8.The cortical thickness in HFD-fed group had a significant decrease at week 24,as compared with NFD-fed group.The combination of Mg^(2+)and SIM significantly attenuated the trabecular bone loss in HFD-fed mice via arresting the osteoclast formation and bone resorption.Besides,such combination also reduced the hepatocytic synthesis of cholesterol and inhibited matrix metallopeptidase 13(Mmp13)mRNA expression in pre-osteoclasts.Conclusions:The combination of Mg^(2+)and SIM shows a synergistic effect on attenuating the HFD-induced bone loss.Our current formulation may be a cost-effective alternative treatment to be indicated for obesity-related bone loss.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51708239 and U1901216)Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(No.2020CFA042)+1 种基金Applied Basic Research Program of Wuhan(No.2020020601012277)Additionally,we would also like to thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology for providing experimental measurements.
文摘Many studies have investigated the effects of different pretreatments on the performance of anaerobic digestion of sludge.However,the detailed changes of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly the release behavior of proteins and the byproducts of protein hydrolysis-amino acids,are rarely known during anaerobic digestion of sludge by different pretreatments.Here we quantified the changes of three types of proteins and 17 types of amino acids in sludge samples solubilized by ultrasonic,thermal,and acid/alkaline pretreatments and their transformation during anaerobic digestion of sludge.Tryptophan protein,aromatic protein I,aromatic protein II,and cysteine were identified as the key dissolved organic nitrogen responsible for methane production during anaerobic digestion of sludge,regardless of the different pretreatment methods.Different from the depletion of other amino acids,cysteine was resistant to degradation after an incubation period of 30 days in all sludge samples.Meanwhile,the“cysteine and methionine metabolism(K00270)”was absent in all sludge samples by identifying 6755 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes assignments of genes hits.Cysteine contributed to the generation of methane and the degradation of acetic,propionic,and n-butyric acids through decreasing oxidation-reduction potential and enhancing biomass activity.This study provided an alternative strategy to enhance anaerobic digestion of sludge through in situ production of cysteine.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.52170133,U1901216,51708239)the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(No.2020CFA042)Applied Basic Research Program of Wuhan(No.2020020601012277),and Program for HUST Academic Frontier Youth Team.
文摘This study compared effects of three different valent iron(Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III))on enhanced anaerobic sludge digestion,focusing on the changes of oxidation reduction potential(ORP),dissolved organic nitrogen(DON),and microbial community.Under the same iron dose in range of 0−160 mg/L after an incubation period of 30 days(d),the maximum methane production rate of sludge samples dosed with respective Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same concentration showed indiscernible differences at each iron dose,regardless of the different iron valence.Moreover,their behavior in changes of ORP,DON and microbial community was different:(1)the addition of Fe^(0) made the ORP of sludge more negative,and the addition of Fe(II)and Fe(III)made the ORP of sludge less negative.However,whether being more or less negative,the changes of ORP may show unobservable effects on methane yield when it ranged from−278.71 to−379.80 mV;(2)the degradation of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly proteins,was less efficient in sludge samples dosed with Fe^(0) compared with those dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)after an incubation period of 30 d.At the same dose of 160 mg/L iron,more cysteine was noted in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)(30.74 mg/L)and Fe(III)(27.92 mg/L)compared with that dosed with Fe^(0)(21.75 mg/L);(3)Fe^(0) particularly promoted the enrichment of Geobacter,and it was 6 times higher than those in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same dose of 160 mg/L iron.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFF1000200)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U21A20276)+1 种基金the Tencent Foundation through the XPLORER PRIZE and the New Cornerstone Science Foundation to Z.H.,Heilongjiang Touyan Team(HITTY-20190034 to Z.H.)Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China(YQ2023C032 to Y.Z.)。
文摘In the ongoing arms race between bacteria and bacteriophages,bacteriophages have evolved anti-CRISPR proteins to counteract bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems.Recently,AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 have been found to effectively inhibit the activity of Spy Cas9 both in bacterial and human cells.However,their molecular mechanisms remain elusive.Here,we report the cryo-electron microscopy structures of ternary complexes formed by AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 bound to Spy Cas9-sg RNA.Using structural analysis and biochemical experiments,we revealed that AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 recognize a novel,previously-unidentified anti-CRISPR binding site on Spy Cas9.We found that both AcrⅡA25.1 and AcrⅡA32 directly interact with the WED domain,where they spatially obstruct conformational changes of the WED and PI domains,thereby inhibiting Spy Cas9 from recognizing protospacer adjacent motif(PAM)and unwinding double-stranded DNA.In addition,they may inhibit nuclease activity by blocking the dynamic conformational changes of the Spy Cas9 surveillance complex.In summary,our data elucidate the inhibition mechanisms of two new anti-CRISPR proteins,provide new strategies for the modulation of Spy Cas9 activity,and expand our understanding of the diversity of anti-CRISPR protein inhibition mechanisms.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Number:22303033Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China,Grant/Award Number:JUSRP123017+2 种基金Wuxi“Taihu Light”Science and Technology Project-Basic Research,Grant/Award Number:K20231063Hong Kong Metropolitan University,Grant/Award Number:RD/2023/2.1Hong Kong Special Administration Region(HKSAR)General Research Fund,Grant/Award Numbers:CUHK14302120,2130704。
文摘Plasma protein-induced aggregation of nanoparticles(NPs)is a crucial issue in many applications,such as drug delivery.Although great efforts have been made to inves-tigate the protein adsorption kinetics or protein-induced NPs coalescence in bulk solutions,limited evidence has been uncovered for interfacial circumstances.Diet,disease,medicine,or senility could thoroughly change interfacial physicochemical properties of the inner lining of blood vessels.Implants including stents and artificial heart valves also have varied and evolutionary interfaces.Hence,there is an urgent need to understand the mechanism behind the non-specific protein adsorption and NP-protein aggregation in such interfacial cases.Here,we use evanescent light scat-tering to observe polystyrene NPs‒fibrinogen aggregation at substrates with varying surface properties.A density-fluctuation correlation function is utilized to reveal the relaxation dynamics of the aggregates.Both time-resolved and spatial-correlated evi-dence shows that the aging process of such soft materials is out-of-equilibrium,where the dynamics faster and slower than exponential can coexist in one sin-gle relaxation process.Besides,corona formation,inner stress,and interconnection together determine the microstructure,local adhesion,and structural relaxation of the aggregates,which can further correspond to the protein-to-NP ratio as well as the surface chemistry of NPs and substrates.
