Natural scaffold

Reconciling the dilemma between rapid degradation and overdose toxicity is challenging in biodegradable materials when shifting from bulk to porous materials. Here, we achieve significant bone ingrowth into Zn-based porous scaffolds with 90% porosity via osteoinmunomodulation. At microscale, an alloy incorporating 0.8 wt% Li is employed to create a eutectoid lamellar structure featuring the LiZn4 and Zn phases. This microstructure optimally balances high strength with immunomodulation effects. At mesoscale, surface pattern with nanoscale roughness facilitates filopodia formation and macrophage spreading...

ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) is a key enzyme in glucolipid metabolism, and abnormally high expression of ACLY occurs in many diseases, including cancers, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular diseases. ACLY inhibitors are prospective treatments for these diseases. However, the scaffolds of ACLY inhibitors are insufficient with weak activity. The discovery of inhibitors with structural novelty and high activity continues to be a research hotpot. Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Harms is used for cardiovascular disease treatment, from which no ACLY inhibitors have ever been found...

Scaffolds play a pivotal role in tissue engineering and serve as vital biological substitutes providing structural support for cell adhesion and subsequent tissue development. An ideal scaffold must possess mechanical properties suitable for tissue function and exhibit biodegradability. Although synthetic polymer scaffolds offer high rigidity and elasticity owing to their reactive side groups, which facilitate tailored mechanical and rheological properties, they may lack biological cues and cause persistent side effects during degradation...

Quercetin is an important antioxidant with high bioactivity and it has been used as SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor significantly. Quercetin, one of the most abundant flavonoids in nature, has been in the spot of numerous experimental and theoretical studies in the past decade due to its great biological and medicinal importance. But there have been limited instances of employing quercetin and its derivatives as a fluorescent framework for specific detection of various cations and anions in the chemosensing field. Therefore, we have developed a novel chemosensor based on quercetin coupled benzyl ethers (QBE) for selective detection of Hg2+ with "naked-eye" colorimetric and "turn-on" fluorometric response...

Benthic diatom vertical movement has been investigated mainly through indirect measurements based on chlorophyll a fluorescence and spectral reflectance signals. The presence of sediment hinders direct imaging and grazers activity renders the work under controlled conditions very difficult. This study provides a tool to study diatoms movement in a 3D hydrogel matrix. Synthetic and natural hydrogels were tested to find the best 3D transparent scaffold where diatoms could grow and freely move in all directions...

Molecular details for the impact of DNA damage on folding of potential G-quadruplex sequences (PQSs) to noncanonical DNA structures involved in gene regulation are poorly understood. Here, the effects of DNA base damage and strand breaks on PQS folding kinetics were studied in the context of the VEGF promoter sequence embedded between two DNA duplex anchors, termed a duplex-G-quadruplex-duplex (DGD) motif. This DGD scaffold imposes constraints on the PQS folding process that more closely mimic those found in genomic DNA...

The physiological mechanism of bone tissue regeneration is intricately organized and involves several cell types, intracellular, and extracellular molecular signaling networks. To overcome the drawbacks of autografts and allografts, a number of synthetically produced scaffolds have been manufactured by integrating ceramics, polymers, and their hybrid-composites. Considering the fact that natural bone is composed primarily of collagen and hydroxyapatite, ceramic-polymer composite materials seem to be the most viable alternative to bone implants...

BACKGROUND: The finger lime (Citrus australasica), one of six Australian endemic citrus species shows a high natural phenotypic diversity and novel characteristics. The wide variation and unique horticultural features have made this lime an attractive candidate for domestication. Currently no haplotype resolved genome is available for this species. Here we present a high quality, haplotype-resolved reference genome for this species using PacBio HiFi and Hi-C sequencing. RESULTS: Hifiasm assembly and SALSA scaffolding resulted in a collapsed genome size of 344...

Nanofibers hold significant promise for wound healing applications, but their potential is limited by their large diameter. To overcome this limitation, the development of nanofibrous systems with refined nanonets (approximately 20 nm in diameter) represents a notable improvement. In this study, a composite of polycaprolactone/collagen (PCLC) nano-fiber/nets (NFNs) was fabricated using benign solvents (acetic acid and formic acid) via the electro-spinning/netting (ESN) technique, harnessing the regenerative potential of collagen as a biological macromolecule...

Ferritin is a multivalent, self-assembling protein scaffold found in most human cell types, in addition to being present in invertebrates, higher plants, fungi, and bacteria, that offers an attractive alternative to polymer-based drug delivery systems (DDS). In this study, the utility of the ferritin cage as a DDS was demonstrated within the context of T cell agonism for tumor killing. Members of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRSF) are attractive targets for the development of anticancer therapeutics...

Chalcone and triazole scaffolds have demonstrated a crucial role in the advancement of science and technology. Due to their significance, research has proceeded on the design and development of novel benzooxepine connected to 1,2,3-triazolyl chalcone structures. The new chalcone derivatives produced by benzooxepine triazole methyl ketone 2 and different aromatic carbonyl compounds 3 are discussed in this paper. All prepared compounds have well-established structures to a variety of spectral approaches, including mass analysis, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and IR...

Carboxysomes are bacterial microcompartments that encapsulate the enzymes RuBisCO and carbonic anhydrase in a proteinaceous shell to enhance the efficiency of photosynthetic carbon fixation. The self-assembly principles of the intact carboxysome remain elusive. Here we purified α-carboxysomes from Prochlorococcus and examined their intact structures using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy to solve the basic principles of their shell construction and internal RuBisCO organization. The 4.2 Å icosahedral-like shell structure reveals 24 CsoS1 hexamers on each facet and one CsoS4A pentamer at each vertex...

This study involves the development of a new nanocomposite material for use in biological applications. The nanocomposite was based on tragacanth hydrogel (TG), which was formed through cross-linking of Ca2+ ions with TG polymer chains. The utilization of TG hydrogel and silk fibroin as natural compounds has enhanced the biocompatibility, biodegradability, adhesion, and cell growth properties of the nanobiocomposite. This advancement makes the nanobiocomposite suitable for various biological applications, including drug delivery, wound healing, and tissue engineering...

Six oxidosqualene cyclases ( Ni OSC1- Ni OSC6) from Neoalsomitra integrifoliola were characterized for the biosynthesis of diverse triterpene scaffolds, including tetracyclic and pentacyclic triterpenes from the 2,3-oxidosqualene ( 1 ) and oxacyclic triterpenes from the 2,3:22,23-dioxidosqualene ( 2 ). Ni OSC1 showed high efficiency in the production of naturally rare (20 R )-epimers of oxacyclic triterpenes. Mutagenesis results revealed that the Ni OSC1-F731G mutant significantly increased the yields of (20 R )-epimers compared to the wild type...

UNLABELLED: Tetraspanin CD81 is a transmembrane protein used as a co-receptor by different viruses and implicated in some cancer and inflammatory diseases. The design of therapeutic small molecules targeting CD81 lags behind monoclonal antibodies and peptides but different synthetic and natural products binding to CD81 have been identified. We have investigated the interaction between synthetic compounds and CD81, considering both the cholesterol-bound full-length receptor and a truncated protein corresponding to the large extracellular loop (LEL) of the tetraspanin...

The intertidal gastropod Littorina saxatilis is a model system to study speciation and local adaptation. The repeated occurrence of distinct ecotypes showing different levels of genetic divergence makes L. saxatilis particularly suited to study different stages of the speciation continuum in the same lineage. A major finding is the presence of several large chromosomal inversions associated with the divergence of ecotypes and, specifically, the species offers a system to study the role of inversions in this divergence...

A glutenin (G)-chitosan (CS) complex (G-CS) was cross-linked by water annealing with aim to prepare structured 3D porous cultured meat scaffolds (CMS) here. The CMS has pore diameters ranging from 18 to 67 μm and compressive moduli from 16.09 to 60.35 kPa, along with the mixing ratio of G/CS. SEM showed the porous organized structure of CMS. FTIR and CD showed the increscent content of α-helix and β-sheet of G and strengthened hydrogen-bondings among G-CS molecules, which strengthened the stiffness of G-CS...

Synapse formation depends on the coordinated expression and regulation of scaffold proteins. The JNK family kinases play a role in scaffold protein regulation, but the nature of this functional interaction in dendritic spines requires further investigation. Here, using a combination of biochemical methods and live-cell imaging strategies, we show that the dynamics of the synaptic scaffold molecule SAP102 are negatively regulated by JNK inhibition, that SAP102 is a direct phosphorylation target of JNK3, and that SAP102 regulation by JNK is restricted to neurons that harbour mature synapses...

Tissue engineering shows promise in repairing extensive bone defects. The promotion of proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) by biological scaffolds has a significant impact on bone regeneration outcomes. In this study we used an injectable hydrogel, known as aminated mesoporous silica gel composite hydrogel (MSNs-NH2 @GelMA), loaded with a natural drug, processed pyritum (PP), to promote healing of bone defects. The mechanical properties of the composite hydrogel were significantly superior to those of the blank hydrogel...

Tailocins are high-molecular-weight bacteriocins produced by bacteria to kill related environmental competitors by binding and puncturing their target. Tailocins are promising alternative antimicrobials, yet the diversity of naturally occurring tailocins is limited. The structural similarities between phage tails and tailocins advocate using phages as scaffolds for developing new tailocins. This article reviews three strategies for producing tailocins: disrupting the capsid-tail junction of phage particles, blocking capsid assembly during phage propagation, and creating headless phage particles synthetically...