Direct -Azidomethylation of Thiols with -Azidomethyldisulfonimides.

A direct azidomethylation reaction at the sulfur atoms of thiols with -azidomethyldisulfonimides is presented, providing a facile and efficient approach for the synthesis of azidomethylated compounds with broad substrate scope and mild reaction conditions. Under optimized conditions using -azidomethyl-bis(4-trifluoromethylbenzene)sulfonimide as the azidomethyl source, various aliphatic and aromatic thiols furnish the corresponding -azidomethyl compounds in moderate to high yields. The reaction proceeds selectively at the mercapto group, even in substrates bearing polar functional groups.

IGLV3-21-directed bispecific antibodies activate T cells and promote killing in a high-risk subset of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

We previously used a disease-specific B cell receptor (BCR) point mutation (IGLV3-21R110) for selective targeting of a high-risk subset of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Since CLL is a disease of the elderly and a significant fraction of patients is not able to physically tolerate CAR T cell treatment, we explored bispecific antibodies as an alternative for precision targeting of this tumor mutation. Heterodimeric IgG1-based antibodies consisting of a fragment crystallizable region (Fc) attached to both an anti-IGLV3-21R110 Fab and an anti-CD3 (UCHT1) single chain variable fragment (R110-bsAb) selectively killed cell lines engineered to express high levels of the neoepitope as well as primary CLL cells using healthy donor and CLL patient-derived T cells as effectors.

Early cytokine and chemokine signals shape the anti-AML activity of bispecific engager-secreting T cells.

Immunotherapies, including cell therapies, are effective anti-cancer agents. However, cellular product persistence can be limiting with short functional duration of activity contributing to disease relapse. A variety of manufacturing protocols are used to generate therapeutic engineered T-cells; these differ in techniques used for T-cell isolation, activation, genetic modification, and other methodology.

Phage-nanomaterial platforms for precision antimicrobial therapy: from design to therapeutic application.

The rapid increase in multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria and biofilm-associated infections has intensified the global need for innovative antimicrobial strategies. Phage therapy offers promising precision against MDR pathogens by utilizing the natural ability of phages to specifically infect and lyse bacteria. However, their clinical application is hampered by challenges such as narrow host range, immune clearance and limited efficacy within biofilms.

Molecular Plasmonic Cavities.

Graphene-based photonic structures have emerged as fertile ground for the controlled manipulation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), providing a two-dimensional platform with low optoelectronic losses. In principle, nanostructuring graphene can enable further confinement of nanolight─enhancing light-matter interactions in the form of SPP cavity modes. In this study, we engineer nanoscale plasmonic cavities composed of self-assembled C arrays on graphene.

Geometric Aging of the Thoracic Aorta: Insights From 2 Large Cohorts.

Background: Aortic structural degeneration occurs with aging; however, 3-dimensional geometric remodeling has not been well characterized in large populations.

Methods: We segmented the thoracic aorta from magnetic resonance images of 56 164 UKB (UK Biobank) participants and computed tomography images of 9417 PMBB (Penn Medicine Biobank) participants. We quantified structural measurements of elongation, dilation, tortuosity, and curvature across the thoracic aorta.

Preclinical Ischemic Stroke Multicenter (PRISM) Trials Collective Statement: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for a New Era.

Preclinical stroke research faces a critical translational gap, with animal studies failing to reliably predict clinical efficacy. To address this, the field is moving toward rigorous, multicenter preclinical randomized controlled trials (mpRCTs) that mimic phase 3 clinical trials in several key components. This collective statement, derived from experts involved in mpRCTs, outlines considerations for designing and executing such trials.

Clinical Role of the Noninvasive Abdominal Fetal ECG in the Detection and Monitoring of Fetal Tachycardia.

Background: Fetal tachycardias can cause adverse fetal outcomes including ventricular dysfunction, hydrops, and fetal demise. Postnatally, ECG is the gold standard, but, in fetal practice, echocardiography is used most frequently to diagnose and monitor fetal arrhythmias. Noninvasive extraction of the fetal ECG (fECG) may provide additional information about the electrophysiological mechanism and monitoring of intermittent arrhythmias.

Revolutionizing Agriculture With CRISPR Technology: Applications, Challenges, and Future Perspectives.

CRISPR technologies are rapidly transforming agriculture by enabling precise and programmable modifications across a wide range of organisms. This review provides an overview of CRISPR applications in crops, livestock, aquaculture, and microbial systems, highlighting key advances in sustainable agriculture. In crops, CRISPR has accelerated the improvement of traits such as drought tolerance, nutrient efficiency, and pathogen resistance.

Relationships of Circulating Plasma Metabolites With the QT Interval in a Large Population Cohort.

Background: There is a higher prevalence of heart rate corrected QT (QTc) prolongation in patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. QT interval genome-wide association studies have identified candidate genes for cardiac energy metabolism, and experimental studies suggest that polyunsaturated fatty acids have direct effects on ion channel function. Despite this, there has been limited study of metabolite concentration relationships with QT intervals.

A cationization strategy to simultaneously enhance reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondria targeting ability for enhanced photodynamic therapy.

Mitochondria-targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) circumvents the short lifetime and action radius limitation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and greatly improves the anticancer PDT efficacy. However, current approaches require different molecular engineering strategies to separately improve ROS production and introduce mitochondria targeting ability, which involve tedious synthetic procedures. Herein, we report a facile one-step cationization strategy that simultaneously improves the ROS generation efficiency and introduces mitochondria targeting ability for enhanced PDT.

Empowering Patients with Congenital Heart Disease: Development of a Digital Question Prompt List for Shared Decision-Making: A Pilot Study.

Background: Advancements in healthcare have significantly improved the prospect of patients with CHD, with over 97% now surviving adulthood. This growing population requires lifelong care and support to manage their condition. Digital health innovations, such as the "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) tool, aim to empower patients and improve collaboration with clinicians.

Novel photocatalytic SrTiO@TiO/SrSO heterojunction and its high performance in RhB degradation.

Building a heterogeneous structure is favorable for improving the performance of photocatalyst materials. In this study, we fabricated a ternary SrTiO@TiO/SrSO heterojunction material with a porous shell composite structure a simple one-step direct high-temperature treatment using the commercial strontium titanate and ZnSO. The effect of the synthesis temperature on the ZS-STO- products was investigated.

Origin and mitigation of the imprint effect in hafnia-based ferroelectrics.

The potential of hafnia-based ferroelectric materials for Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FeRAM) applications is limited by the imprint effect, which compromises readout reliability. Here, we systematically investigate the asymmetric imprint behavior in W/HfZrO/W ferroelectric capacitors, demonstrating that the imprint direction correlates directly with the ferroelectric polarization state. Notably, a pre-pulse of specific polarity can temporarily suppress the imprint effect.

Structure-Guided Engineering of a Bacterial Sesterterpene Synthase for Sesterviridene Diversification.

Terpene synthases produce a remarkable structural diversity from acyclic precursors through complex carbocation cascades. Here, we report the crystal structure of the bacterial sesterterpene synthase StvirS bound to geranylfarnesyl thiopyrophosphate (GFSPP), revealing a preorganized active site that enforces a defined folding of the C25 backbone. Guided by this structure, active-site engineering at 11 positions yielded 23 enzyme variants and 13 new sesterterpenes.

Globular proteins as functional-mechanical materials: a multiscale perspective on design, processing, and applications.

Globular proteins, traditionally regarded as non-structural biomolecules due to the limited load-bearing capacity in their monomeric states, are increasingly recognized as valuable building blocks for functional-mechanical materials. Their inherent bioactivity, chemical versatility, and structural tunability enable the design of materials that combine biological functionality with tailored mechanical performance. This review highlights recent advances in engineering globular proteins-spanning natural systems (serum albumins, enzymes, milk globulins, silk sericin, and soy protein isolates) to recombinant architectures including tandem-repeat proteins-into functional-mechanical platforms.

Design and Characterization of the Fusion Enzyme of Bovine Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase and DNA Binding Protein Sso7d from Sulfolobus solfataricus.

The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase is a unique polymerase that incorporates nucleotides at the 3'-terminus of single-stranded DNA primers in a template-independent manner. This biological function propels the development of numerous biomedical and bioengineering applications. However, the extensive use of TdT is constrained by its low expression levels in E.

Engineering Lignin-Based Tubular Hydrogel Scaffolds for Load-Bearing Biomedical Applications.

The development of mechanically robust, biocompatible, and biodegradable hydrogels remains a significant challenge for biomedical applications involving load-bearing soft tissues. Herein, a tubular lignin-derived hydrogel is engineered to assess its physicochemical, mechanical, and biological properties. Kraft and organosolv lignin are systematically compared at varying crosslinker concentrations to determine their effect on pore morphology, swelling behavior, and mechanical performance.

Enzyme-Click Postsynthetic Modification of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Photocatalytic HO Production.

Postsynthetic modification (PSM) is a powerful strategy for tailoring the structure and functionality of covalent organic frameworks (COFs). In this work, we present a novel enzymatic PSM strategy for functional group engineering within COFs. By taking advantage of enzymatic catalysis, 2-hydroxyethylthio (-S-EtOH) and ethylthio (-S-Et) groups were covalently implanted within the COF pore channels with high grafting efficiency under ambient aqueous conditions, highlighting the mild, efficient, and ecofriendly nature of this approach.

Diastereoselective Iron-Catalyzed [4 + 1] Cycloadditions of Imines with Sulfoxonium Ylides Enable Modular Synthesis of Oxazolidin-2-ones: O- versus N-Nucleophilic Attack.

Presented herein is a protocol for the iron-catalyzed [4 + 1] cycloadditions of -Boc-imines with β-ketosulfoxonum ylides through a succession of nucleophilic additions and intramolecular annulation, giving access to functionalized oxazolidine-2-ones in generally good yields. In contrast to the renown Corey-Chaykovsky reaction via N attack to furnish aziridines, this method afforded oxazolidine-2-ones via an O-nucleophilic attack. Features of this strategy include readily accessible starting materials, sustainable catalyst, post-functionalizations of complex molecules, scalability, and exceptional control over diastereoselectivity.

Quality Difference Analysis of Pomegranate Peels Based on Multidimensional Fingerprint With Chemical Pattern Recognition.

To evaluate the quality of pomegranate peels from different cultivars, pomegranate peel samples from 47 cultivars were compared and classified based on fingerprints and chemical components obtained using HPLC-PDA-MS/MS combined with chemometric methods. Three pattern recognition methods, namely, hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and partial least square-discriminant analysis, were used to establish classification models. Results showed that the contents of 10 components from pomegranate peel were determined.

Copper-Catalyzed Coupling of -Acyl-'-Substituted Hydrazines with (Hetero)aryl Chlorides/Bromides.

The coupling of -acyl-'-substituted hydrazines with (hetero)aryl bromides and chlorides is efficiently catalyzed by CuI/4-hydroxy picolinamide and Cu(OAc)/6-hydroxy picolinohydrazide, respectively. Under these conditions, a broad range of (hetero)aryl halides and -acyl-'-substituted hydrazines react smoothly at 80-120 °C, affording the corresponding products in good to excellent yields in most cases.

Physics of microbial taxis and behaviours in response to various physical stimuli.

The physical environment exerts a profound influence on microbial life. The directional movement of cells in response to their physical environment is understood as taxis, which has been studied in biology as chemotaxis, phototaxis, gravitaxis and so forth. These taxis are induced by physiological, physical or both factors.

Diffusion-controlled growth of a planar chemical garden wall before osmotic fracture.

Chemical gardens refer to a class of self-assembling structures of semi-permeable precipitates. They have been attracting significant interest due to their relevance to sub-oceanic hydrothermal vents and the origin of life. We have investigated the growth behaviour of chemical garden walls in a horizontal Hele-Shaw cell.