Peptide Coacervates with Metal-Phenolic Membranes Modulate Glucose Metabolism and Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy.

Glucose consumption by tumors induces metabolic restriction of T cells, which results in immune evasion and tumor progression. Regulating cellular metabolism represents a promising strategy to enhance cancer immunotherapy; however, redirecting glucose utilization from tumor cells to T cells is challenging. Herein, the activation of cytotoxic T cells using engineered peptide coacervates (PCs) containing interferon alpha (IFNα) and membranized with metal-phenolic networks (MPNs) (PC-IFNα@MPNs), which promote glucose uptake and glycolysis, is reported.

Tabletability Enhancement of Acetaminophen Coated with a Nanocellulose Suspension using a Fluidized Bed.

Fluidized bed coating was investigated as a method to coat aqueous suspensions of nanocellulose onto acetaminophen (APAP) for the purpose of tabletability enhancement. Effects of suspension concentration and fluidized bed processing conditions were evaluated. Nanocellulose coatings of up to 2.

Steric Modulation of Protein-Mediated Nanoparticle Assembly: Controlling Cluster Size, Polydispersity, and FRET Responses by Rebalancing Short- and Long-Range Interactions.

Understanding and manipulating protein-nanoparticle interactions is of broad interest to fields ranging from nanomedicine to the biological fabrication of functional hierarchical materials. This study investigates how steric forces introduced by a pegylated derivative of superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) that is monofunctional for silica binding modulate the delicate interplay of long-range (electrostatic and van der Waals) and short-range (protein-mediated) interactions in pH-responsive silica nanoparticle (SiNP) assembly by bifunctional silica-binding sfGFP. Increasing the length of the PEG segment and pre-incubating SiNPs with increasing concentrations of pegylated proteins enables precise control over cluster size within the 800-1450 nm range with a sixfold decrease in polydispersity index to a remarkable 0.

Cracked Metal-Phenolic Networks with Durable Confinement Capillarity for Enhanced Solar Desalination.

Solar-driven interfacial desalination is a promising strategy to address freshwater shortages. Water evaporation can be enhanced through confinement capillarity by generating ultra-thin water layers on the internal surfaces of porous photothermal materials. However, realizing confinement capillarity relies on coatings composed of aggregated nanospheres, which likely detach under mechanical compression, limiting their practical application.

Native polymer degradation capacity of microorganisms in agricultural soils.

With a growing global population increasing demand for food production, fertilisers are of paramount importance in the agricultural industry. New fertiliser coating candidates may reduce environmental harm but it is critical that they are evaluated for their native biodegradation potential within agricultural soils and their effects on microbial communities. Four of the seven compounds tested, poly(1,4-butylene adipate) (PBA), polyethylene adipate (PEA), polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), showed degradation by indigenous soil microorganisms with headspace CO concentrations increasing between 14 to 98 % compared to the soil only control.

Alternate InP synthesis with aminophosphines: solution-liquid-solid nanowire growth.

Indium phosphide nanowires are important components in high-speed electronics and optoelectronics, including photodetectors and photovoltaics. However, most syntheses either use high-temperature and costly vapor-phase methodology or highly toxic and pyrophoric tris(trimethylsilyl)phosphine. To expand on the success of the aminophosphine-based InP colloidal quantum dot synthesis, we developed a synthesis for thin (∼11 nm) zinc blende InP nanowires at 180 °C using indium tris(trifluoroacetate) and tris(diethylamino)phosphine.

Antimicrobial Phenolic Materials: From Assembly to Function.

Infectious diseases pose considerable challenges to public health, particularly with the rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens that globally cause high mortality rates. These pathogens can persist on surfaces and spread in public and healthcare settings. Advances have been made in developing antimicrobial materials to reduce the transmission of pathogens, including materials composed of naturally sourced polyphenols and their derivatives, which exhibit antimicrobial potency, broad-spectrum activity, and a lower likelihood of promoting resistance.

Regulation of Bone Remodeling by Metal-Phenolic Networks for the Treatment of Systemic Osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a systemic metabolic disease that impairs bone remodeling by favoring osteoclastic resorption over osteoblastic formation. Nanotechnology-based therapeutic strategies focus on the delivery of drug molecules to either decrease bone resorption or increase bone formation rather than regulating the entire bone remodeling process, and osteoporosis interventions suffer from this limitation. Here, we present a multifunctional nanoparticle based on metal-phenolic networks (MPNs) for the treatment of systemic osteoporosis by regulating both osteoclasts and osteoblasts.

Assembly and biological functions of metal-biomolecule network nanoparticles formed by metal-phosphonate coordination.

Metal-organic networks have attracted widespread interest owing to their hybrid physicochemical properties. Natural biomolecules represent attractive building blocks for these materials because of their inherent biological function and high biocompatibility; however, assembling them into coordination network materials, especially nanoparticles (NPs), is challenging. Herein, we exploit the coordination between metal ions and phosphonate groups, which are present in many biomolecules, to form metal-biomolecule network (MBN) NPs in aqueous solution at room temperature.

Assembly of Silicate-Phenolic Network Coatings with Tunable Properties for Controlled Release of Small Molecules.

Engineered coatings are pivotal for tailoring the surface properties and release profiles of materials for applications across diverse areas. However, developing robust coatings that can both encapsulate and controllably release cargo is challenging. Herein, a dynamic covalent coordination assembly strategy is used to engineer robust silicate-based coatings, termed silicate-phenolic networks (SPNs), using sodium metasilicate and phenolic ligands (tannic acid, gallic acid, pyrogallol).

Crystalline Metal-Organic Framework Coatings Engineered via Metal-Phenolic Network Interfaces.

Crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have garnered extensive attention owing to their highly ordered porous structure and physicochemical properties. However, their practical application often requires their integration with various substrates, which is challenging because of their weakly adhesive nature and the diversity of substrates that exhibit different properties. Herein, we report the use of amorphous metal-phenolic network coatings to facilitate the growth of crystalline MOF coatings on various particle and planar substrates.

Facilitating direct compaction tableting of fine cohesive APIs using dry coated fine excipients: Effect of the excipient size and amount of coated silica.

The possibility of attaining direct compression (DC) tableting using silica coated fine particle sized excipients was examined for high drug loaded (DL) binary blends of APIs. Three APIs, very-cohesive micronized acetaminophen (mAPAP, 7 μm), cohesive acetaminophen (cAPAP, 23 μm), and easy-flowing ibuprofen (IBU, 53 μm), were selected. High DL (60 wt%) binary blends were prepared with different fine-milled MCC-based excipients (ranging 20- 37 μm) with or without A200 silica coating during milling.

Impact of dry coating lactose as a brittle excipient on multi-component blend processability.

Previous work demonstrated the benefits of dry coating fine-grade microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) for enabling direct compression (DC), a favored tablet manufacturing method, due to enhanced flowability while retaining good compactability of placebo and binary blends of cohesive APIs. Here, fine brittle excipients, Pharmatose 450 (P450, 19 μm) and Pharmatose 350 (P350, 29 μm), having both poor flowability and compactability are dry coated with silica A200 or R972P to assess DC capability of multi-component cohesive API (coarse acetaminophen, 22 μm, and ibuprofen50, 47 μm) blends. Dry coated P450 and P350 not only attained excellent flowability and high bulk density but also heightened tensile strength hence processability, which contrasts with reported reduction for dry coated ductile MCC.

Metal-Phenolic-Mediated Assembly of Functional Small Molecules into Nanoparticles: Assembly and Bioapplications.

Small molecules, including therapeutic drugs and tracer molecules, play a vital role in biological processing, disease treatment and diagnosis, and have inspired various nanobiotechnology approaches to realize their biological function, particularly in drug delivery. Desirable features of a delivery system for functional small molecules (FSMs) include high biocompatibility, high loading capacity, and simple manufacturing processes, without the need for chemical modification of the FSM itself. Herein, we report a simple and versatile approach, based on metal-phenolic-mediated assembly, for assembling FSMs into nanoparticles (i.

Cytoprotective Metal-Phenolic Network Sporulation to Modulate Microalgal Mobility and Division.

Synthetic cell exoskeletons created from abiotic materials have attracted interest in materials science and biotechnology, as they can regulate cell behavior and create new functionalities. Here, a facile strategy is reported to mimic microalgal sporulation with on-demand germination and locomotion via responsive metal-phenolic networks (MPNs). Specifically, MPNs with tunable thickness and composition are deposited on the surface of microalgae cells via one-step coordination, without any loss of cell viability or intrinsic cell photosynthetic properties.

Engineering Antimicrobial Metal-Phenolic Network Nanoparticles with High Biocompatibility for Wound Healing.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a global health threat by causing persistent and recurrent microbial infections. To address this issue, antimicrobial nanoparticles (NPs) with low drug resistance but potent bactericidal effects have been developed. However, many of the developed NPs display poor biosafety and their synthesis often involves complex procedures and the antimicrobial modes of action are unclear.

Direct Assembly of Metal-Phenolic Network Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications.

Coordination assembly offers a versatile means to developing advanced materials for various applications. However, current strategies for assembling metal-organic networks into nanoparticles (NPs) often face challenges such as the use of toxic organic solvents, cytotoxicity because of synthetic organic ligands, and complex synthesis procedures. Herein, we directly assemble metal-organic networks into NPs using metal ions and polyphenols (i.

Peptide-Based Coacervate Protocells with Cytoprotective Metal-Phenolic Network Membranes.

Protocells have garnered considerable attention from cell biologists, materials scientists, and synthetic biologists. Phase-separating coacervate microdroplets have emerged as a promising cytomimetic model because they can internalize and concentrate components from dilute surrounding environments. However, the membrane-free nature of such coacervates leads to coalescence into a bulk phase, a phenomenon that is not representative of the cells they are designed to mimic.

Direct synthesis of amorphous coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks.

Coordination polymers (CPs) and their subset, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), can have porous structures and hybrid physicochemical properties that are useful for diverse applications. Although crystalline CPs and MOFs have received the most attention to date, their amorphous states are of growing interest as they can be directly synthesized under mild conditions. Directly synthesized amorphous CPs (aCPs) can be constructed from a wider range of metals and ligands than their crystalline and crystal-derived counterparts and demonstrate numerous unique material properties, such as higher mechanical robustness, increased stability and greater processability.

Co-Assembly of Carbon Nanotube Porins into Biomimetic Peptoid Membranes.

Robust and cost-effective membrane-based separations are essential to solving many global crises, such as the lack of clean water. Even though the current polymer-based membranes are widely used for separations, their performance and precision can be enhanced by using a biomimetic membrane architecture that consists of highly permeable and selective channels embedded in a universal membrane matrix. Researchers have shown that artificial water and ion channels, such as carbon nanotube porins (CNTPs), embedded in lipid membranes can deliver strong separation performance.

Preparation of Free-Flowing Spray-Dried Amorphous Composites Using Neusilin.

A highly porous additive, Neusilin, with high adsorption capability is investigated to improve bulk properties, hence processability of spray-dried amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). Griseofulvin (GF) is applied as a model BCS class 2 drug in ASDs. Two grades of Neusilin, US2 (coarser) and UFL2 (finer), were used as additives to produce spray-dried amorphous composite (AC) powders, and their performance was compared with the resulting ASDs without added Neusilin.

Supramolecular Polyphenol-DNA Microparticles for In Vivo Adjuvant and Antigen Co-Delivery and Immune Stimulation.

DNA-based materials have attracted interest due to the tunable structure and encoded biological functionality of nucleic acids. A simple and general approach to synthesize DNA-based materials with fine control over morphology and bioactivity is important to expand their applications. Here, we report the synthesis of DNA-based particles via the supramolecular assembly of tannic acid (TA) and DNA.

Engineering Metal-Phenolic Networks for Solar Desalination with Directional Salt Crystallization.

Solar desalination is one of the most promising strategies to address the global freshwater shortage crisis. However, the residual salt accumulated on the top surface of solar evaporators severely reduces light absorption and steam evaporation efficiency, thus impeding the further industrialization of this technology. Herein, a metal-phenolic network (MPN)-engineered 3D evaporator composed of photothermal superhydrophilic/superhydrophobic sponges and side-twining hydrophilic threads for efficient desalination with directional salt crystallization and zero liquid discharge is reported.