Dendritic cell-targeting polymer nanoparticle-based immunotherapy for cancer: A review.

Cancer immunity is dependent on dynamic interactions between T cells and dendritic cells (DCs). Polymer-based nanoparticles target DC receptors to improve anticancer immune responses. In this paper, DC surface receptors and their specific coupling natural ligands and antibodies are reviewed and compared. Moreover, reaction mechanisms are described, and the synergistic effects of immune adjuvants are demonstrated. Also, extracellular-targeting antigen-delivery strategies and intracellular stimulus responses are reviewed to promote the rational design of polymer delivery systems.

Hierarchical porous boron nitride with boron vacancies for improved adsorption performance to antibiotics.

Designing atomically defective adsorbents with high specific surface area has emerged as a promising approach to improve sorption properties. Herein, hierarchical porous boron nitride nanosheets with boron vacancies (Bv-BNNSs) were in-situ synthesized via a one-step ZnCl2-assisted strategy. Being benefitted from the dual-functional template of zinc salt, highly-active boron vacancies and abundant hierarchical pores were simultaneously generated in the Bv-BNNSs framework. By employing the boron vacancies engineering strategy, the morphological and electronic structures were controllably tuned. Meanwhile, the specific surface area was improved to as high as 1104 m2/g. Owning to the abundance of accessible surface active-sites, the sorption capacity to antibiotic tetracycline (TC) on Bv-BNNSs was boosted by 38% compared to the pristine boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs). Detailed fitting results showed that TC sorption on Bv-BNNSs obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetic equation and the Freundlich isotherm model. The pi - pi interaction with a multi-layered stacking form was proposed as the dominated sorption mechanism. Furthermore, DFT calculations verified that the interaction energy between Bv-BNNSs and TC was enhanced. The high activity, excellent selectivity, and remarkable durability of the Bv-BNNSs nanomaterial suggest the great potential in practical wastewater treatment.

Synergistic effects of metal salt and ionic liquid on the pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse for enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis.

High cost of ionic liquids (ILs) restricts the industrial application of IL-mediated lignocellulose pretreatment. In this study, a simple and economic technology for the pretreatment of natural lignocellulose was developed. The delignification capacity of aqueous choline ornithine ([Cho][Orn]) and hemicellulose-removal capacity of metal salt FeCl2 were combined. The changes of morphological structure and composition indicated a synergistic interaction of [Cho][Orn] and FeCl2 in the pretreatment process. The delignification and hemicellulose-removal capacity of aqueous [Cho][Orn]50% solution was significantly improved in the presence of FeCl2 by 28% and 53%, respectively. The combination use of FeCl2 and [Cho][Orn] made it possible to save the amount of IL used for pretreatment in half. Enhancement effect of metal salts on the IL-pretreatment efficiency was proved.

Synthesis, structural characterization and theoretical approach of 3-(2,6-dichlorobenzyl)-5-methyl-N-nitro-1,3,5-oxadiazinan-4-imine.

3-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyl)-5-methyl-N-nitro-1,3,5-oxadiazinan-4-imine (DNOI) was synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, FT-Raman and UV-Vis spectra. The X-ray diffraction study showed that DNOI has a one dimensional configuration, due to the intermolecular C9H⋯O1 and N4H⋯O2 hydrogen bonds. The benzene ring and the oxadiazine rings are tilted with respect to each other by 63.07° (C3N1C5C6). Vibrational spectra and electronic spectra measurements were made for the compound. Optimized geometrical structure and harmonic vibrational frequencies were computed with DFT (B3LYP, B3P86, and M062X) methods using 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Assignments of the observed spectra were proposed. The equilibrium geometries computed by all of the methods were compared with X-ray diffraction results. The absorption spectra of the title compound were computed both in gas phase and in CH3OH solution using TD-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and PCM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) approaches, respectively. The calculated results provide a good description of positions of the bands maxima in the observed electronic spectrum. Temperature dependence of thermodynamic parameters in the range of 100-1000K were determined, entropy, heat capacity and enthalpy changes were increasing with temperature increasing, while for Gibbs free energy is decreasing with temperature increasing. The bond orbital occupancies, contribution from parent natural bond orbital (NBO), the natural atomic hybrids was calculated and discussed.

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the extracts of the flowers of the Chinese plant Chimonanthus praecox.

This study investigated the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the extracts of the flowers, essential oil (EO) and semi-volatile fractions (SVF) of Chimonanthus praecox. The chemical composition of the EO was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) which revealed that the EO contained elemene, muurolene, caryophyllene, cadinol and spathulenol. The effective antibacterial activity of the EO suggested that its different responses on the microorganisms studied depended on the synergistic effects of the compounds contained in the EO. The effective antioxidant activity of the EO showed that the EO had a more marked antioxidant effect on scavenging O2(-)· and OH· than DPPH·, and SVF had a higher potential for scavenging DPPH· than the EO. Our data suggested that the flowers of Chimonanthus praecox had pharmaceutical benefits, and are also a potential source of natural antioxidants and biocides.

Adsorption of hydrogen isotopes on micro- and mesoporous adsorbents with orderly structure.

The equilibrium and dynamic adsorption data of H(2) and D(2) on different micro- and mesoporous adsorbents with orderly structure including 3A, 4A, 5A, Y, and 10X zeolites; carbon CMK-3; silica SBA-15; and so forth were collected. Critical effect of the nanodimension of adsorbents on the adsorption behavior of hydrogen and its isotopes is shown. The highest adsorption capacity was observed at pore size 0.7 nm, but equal or even larger isotope difference in the equilibrium adsorption was observed at larger pore sizes, whereas the largest isotope difference in the dynamic adsorption was observed at 0.5 nm. The adsorption rate of D(2) is larger than that of H(2) in microporous adsorbents, but the sequence could be switched over in mesoporous materials. Linear relationship was observed between the adsorption capacity for hydrogen and the specific surface area of adsorbents although the adsorbents are made of different material, which provides a convincing proof of the monolayer mechanism of hydrogen adsorption. The linear plot for microporous adsorbents has a larger slope than that for mesoporous adsorbents, which is attributed to the stronger adsorption potential in micropores.