Chem & Bio Engineering最新文献

The success of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines has boosted their development against various diseases, especially tumors. However, their clinical application is hindered by limited therapeutic efficacy and non-negligible side effects. Many studies attempt to improve therapeutic effect against tumors by using spleen-tropism mRNA delivery systems. Herein, we develop lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) based on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)-derived ionizable lipid as a spleen-tropism mRNA delivery system that simultaneously modulates the tumor immune-suppressive microenvironment. The screened HCQ LNPs exhibit high mRNA transfection efficiency both in vitro and in vivo. Surprisingly, the HCQ LNP can achieve spleen-tropic transfection after systemic administration, which is conducive to immune cells for antigen presentation. In addition, HCQ LNP passively targeted to tumors significantly repolarizes tumor-associated macrophages to the M1 phenotype, thereby modulating the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, compared to the commercial MC-3 LNP/mOVA, HCQ LNP/mOVA shows significantly improved prophylactic and therapeutic antitumor efficacy and antimetastatic effect. HCQ LNP/mOVA demonstrates a multifaceted strategy that enhances the therapeutic efficacy of mRNA tumor vaccines through functional mRNA delivery system design.

The valorization of agricultural waste into high-value hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs) is critical for advancing sustainable biorefineries. However, traditional batch alkaline hydrolysis processes are hindered by cost-prohibitive downtime, labor-intensive operations, and inefficient heat-mass transfer, limiting their industrial applicability. This study presents a continuous high-pressure screw reactor (HPSR) system that integrates intensified mechanical shear, enhanced material mixing, and improved process controllability. These features collectively accelerate reaction kinetics while significantly suppressing product thermal degradation, enabling a high yield of HCAs (25.46 mg/g) and lignin removal (93.6%) within a time scale of minutes. The production efficiency reaches 11.40 mg/g biomass/min, one magnitude higher than that of the batch mode. Further, a high solid/liquid ratio strategy amplifies product stream concentration, coupled with a cascade purification involving adsorption, extraction and crystallization, yielding high-purity (91.04%) p-CA product. In summary, this work demonstrates an efficient conversion strategy to convert herbaceous biomass into HCAs and other industrially relevant components in a continuous fashion.

Influenza remains a highly contagious respiratory disease with profound global health and economic implications. Although traditional vaccines, including inactivated influenza vaccines (IIVs), live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs), and recombinant subunit influenza vaccines (RIVs), are widely available, their efficacy against emerging viral strains is often limited. This limitation underscores the urgent need for novel vaccine strategies. In this study, we explored both DNA and RNA vaccine platforms for influenza, utilizing phage RNA polymerase (RNAP) and the capping enzyme NP868R. For the influenza DNA vaccine strategy, we employed a phage RNAP-dependent positive feedback transcription system to achieve high-efficiency expression of the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) antigen. Utilizing the transcription mechanism dependent on phage RNAP polymerase, our DNA vaccine strategy confines antigen transcription and translation within the cytoplasm, thereby reducing the risk of genomic integration inherent to conventional DNA vaccines. In parallel, for the influenza RNA vaccine, we developed a replication-deficient vesicular stomatitis virus (rdVSV) expressing HA as a self-amplifying RNA vaccine. By replacing the traditional T7 vaccinia virus with T7 RNAP fused to a capping enzyme in the rdVSV rescue process, we achieved a high titer of 1.2 × 10⁷ PFU/mL in a single round of rescue. This modification not only shortened the time required for recombinant VSV (rdVSV) rescue but also mitigated the safety concerns associated with T7 vaccinia virus usage. Moreover, this innovation facilitates faster RNA vaccine production, reduces manufacturing costs, and relaxes environmental requirements for RNA vaccine production. In animal studies, BALB/c mice immunized with the DNA vaccine exhibited significantly enhanced HA protein expression and higher antibody titers when dendritic cells (DCs) were employed as delivery carriers. Similarly, RNA vaccine immunized mice exhibited robust humoral and cellular immune responses, marked by increased HA-specific IgG levels and elevated cytokine production. These findings highlight the potential of both platforms as versatile tools for rapidly responding to emerging pathogens and advancing vaccine design for infectious diseases and therapeutic applications. With further technological optimization and clinical validation, this strategy is expected to provide a promising new solution for influenza prevention and control.

Plant diseases account for nearly one-third of annual global crop losses, making early and real-time detection essential for safeguarding agricultural productivity. Wearable technology has emerged as a promising real-time plant health monitoring approach that detects specific physiological and chemical changes associated with plant diseases or stresses. In this review, we highlight the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as noninvasive biomarkers for tracking plant health and diagnosing diseases. We explore the materials, fabrication techniques, and recent applications of wearable VOC sensors for the real-time monitoring of plant diseases and stresses. Finally, we discuss the current challenges in wearable VOC sensor development and future directions to improve their design, fabrication, and practical implementation. This mini-review aims to guide the advancement of wearable sensing technologies for sustainable agriculture and enhanced crop protection.

Oxidative stress, driven by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), poses a significant challenge to the productivity and robustness of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in industrial applications. This review provides an overview of oxidative stress mechanisms, focusing on transcription factors (Yap1p, Skn7p, Msn2/4p) and their regulation through different stress signaling pathways such as HOG, CWI, TOR, and cAMP/PKA. Advanced strategies for enhancing oxidative stress resistance are discussed, including antioxidant enzyme overexpression, redox cofactor optimization, transcription factor modulation, and promoter engineering. Emerging tools like omics-guided gene discovery, biosensor-based feedback regulation, and machine learning-driven optimization are highlighted as promising approaches for constructing robust yeast cell factories. These insights pave the way for intelligent strain design to improve industrial performance under oxidative stress conditions.