International Journal of Biological Macromolecules最新文献

Astragalus membranaceus is a representative medicinal and edible herb in China, with significant clinical value in traditional Chinese medicine. As cultivation becomes the primary source, regional quality variations have grown increasingly evident. Conventional quality assessments based on small molecules are inadequate for capturing its overall quality, underscoring the need for a polysaccharide-centred evaluation system. This study optimised the extraction process using single-factor experiments and response surface methodology (RSM), achieving a yield of 3.90 % Astragalus polysaccharides (APS). Notable differences in the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity among regional samples prompted further comparison of molecular weight distributions and monosaccharide compositions. Using high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC) and monosaccharide profiling, combined with multivariate analysis including HCA, PCA, and PLS-DA, we identified distinct regional features. Specific molecular weights (2355.23, 2.18, 1.13 kDa) and monosaccharides (rhamnose, d-glucose) served as markers for geographical discrimination. Further correlation analysis revealed that specific molecular weight ranges (374.27 kDa, 7.48 kDa, etc.) and monosaccharide components (rhamnose, D-mannose, D-xylose, etc.) were negatively correlated with the IC₅₀ values for anti-inflammatory activity, suggesting that these structural features may represent key bioactive determinants of APS. This study provides technical support for improving the quality evaluation system for Astragalus membranaceus and also serves as a reference for quality control of other Chinese herbal medicines.

The effects of pressure annealing treatment (PAT), a novel non-thermal starch modification method, were investigated using four starches from different botanical sources (corn, tapioca, wheat, and potato). PAT was conducted under sub-gelatinization conditions optimized by response surface methodology to maintain granule integrity while inducing internal molecular rearrangement. PAT starches showed no visible morphological changes, but exhibited starch-specific differences in physicochemical properties, such as particle size distribution, relative crystallinity, gelatinization behavior, and hydration properties. PAT increased crystallinity in corn and tapioca starches, while decreasing it in potato starch. Thermal stability varied depending on starch type. Swelling power and solubility showed moderate changes. In pasting properties, PAT generally enhanced peak viscosity but caused diverse effects on viscosity parameters depending on starch type. In vitro digestibility analysis showed increased slowly digestible starch (SDS) in corn and tapioca, and increased resistant starch (RS) in wheat. These findings demonstrate that PAT induces distinct structural and functional modifications across starch types, highlighting its potential as a clean-label and tunable strategy for starch modification.

Effective wound management remains a significant clinical challenge, often hindered by inadequate drug delivery and compromised healing environments. To solve this, a double-layer dissolving microneedle (MN) patch was developed for synergistic, sequential delivery of Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP) and resveratrol (Res). Res's poor aqueous solubility was fixed by encapsulating it in 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (Hp-β-CD) to form a stable complex. MNs were made via a two-step casting method: the Res-loaded tip layer released drugs quickly, while the BSP-based backing layer provided sustained bioactivity and structural support. The BSP/Hp-β-CD@Res MNs had good mechanical strength and skin penetration, creating microchannels up to 381 μm deep. They were biocompatible, with no cytotoxicity and hemolysis below the 5 % safety threshold. In vitro, they inhibited NO production in LPS-stimulated macrophages, promoted fibroblast migration and achieved 46.08 ± 3.18 % scratch closure in 48 h. In a murine full-thickness skin defect model, they accelerated wound closure to 95.7 ± 1.91 % by day 10, outperforming controls. With its demonstrated efficacy and controlled delivery mechanism, this multifunctional MN patch holds significant translational potential to shift current treatment paradigms and improve outcomes for patients with challenging wounds.

Cancer remains one of the most formidable global public health challenges, exerting a profound and detrimental impact on human health. Despite substantial advancements in cancer research, the escalating incidence and mortality rates underscore the persistent and growing burden on global healthcare systems. The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas system, heralded as a revolutionary gene-editing tool, holds immense promise for cancer treatment. However, its efficacy is critically contingent upon developing efficient delivery strategies. DNA nanocarriers, characterized by their programmability, sequence specificity, and design flexibility, emerge as a highly effective vehicle for delivering the CRISPR/Cas system, facilitating the precise transportation of gene-editing tools to the cell nucleus. The integration of DNA nanocarriers with CRISPR/Cas technology provides a new paradigm for precise and controllable gene editing. Through programmable spatial assembly, DNA nanocarriers can protect Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexs (RNPs), facilitate endosomal escape, and co-localize donor DNA to promote homology-directed repair. These synergistic effects bridge molecular programmability and genetic functionality, paving the way for safer and more efficient genome engineering. This review aims to evaluate the application of DNA nanocarriers in cancer diagnosis comprehensively and to explore their potential utility in cancer therapy when combined with the CRISPR/Cas system, offering novel insights and significant scientific contributions to the field.

Redox-active protein engineering has emerged as a promising field with applications in biosensing, bioelectrocatalysis, synthetic biology, and bioelectronics. Electrochemical techniques such as impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and scanning electrochemical microscopy are central to probing electron transfer mechanisms, tuning redox potentials, and analyzing protein-electrode interactions. This review highlights recent advances in electrochemical approaches that support the design and functional optimization of engineered redox proteins. It discusses how artificial intelligence and computational modelling facilitate the identification of mutations that enhance electron transfer efficiency. Additionally, the review examines how synthetic biology enables the construction of artificial electron transport pathways, and how nanostructured materials such as carbon nanotubes, metal-organic frameworks, and conductive polymers improve protein immobilization and charge conduction. Scalable production methods like recombinant expression and cell-free synthesis have increased the accessibility of these proteins for industrial applications. Their integration into wearable and real-time diagnostic platforms reflects growing utility in healthcare monitoring. However, challenges such as protein stability, precise control of tunneling, and effective electronic integration remain. Addressing these through interdisciplinary strategies will be key to advancing protein-based bioelectronic systems.

This study aimed to develop an effective and magnetically separable chitosan-based nanocomposite adsorbent for efficient adsorption of anionic dye from aqueous solutions. Herein, a magnetic crosslinked chitosan-citrate/carbon nanotubes/iron oxide nanocomposite (CS-CT/CNT/Fe₃O₄) was developed for the effective removal of the anionic dye (eosin Y, ESY) from water. Characterization of the synthesized material was carried out via Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The CS-CT/CNT/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite exhibited a BET surface area of 11.63 m²/g, an average pore size of 19.35 nm, and a total pore volume of 0.0562 cm³/g. The adsorption process was optimized using a Box-Behnken design (BBD), focusing on three key parameters: adsorbent dosage (0.02-0.1 g), pH (4-10), and contact time (10-40 min). Optimization using the BBD model identified the optimal conditions of 0.086 g adsorbent dosage, pH 4, and 33 min contact time, under which the CS-CT/CNT/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite achieved a maximum ESY removal efficiency of 94.57 %. Isotherm analysis revealed that the Langmuir and Freundlich models best described the equilibrium data. The maximum adsorption capacity of the CS-CT/CNT/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite for ESY was found to be 420.6 mg/g. The underlying adsorption mechanisms of ESY dye were attributed to electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, n-π interactions, and π-π stacking. These findings demonstrate the potential of the CS-CT/CNT/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite as an efficient and versatile adsorbent for treating dye-laden industrial wastewater.

The intercellular polysaccharides derived from Agaricus bitorquis (Quél.) Sacc. Chaidam (ABIPs) are macromolecules exhibiting significant biological activity and outstanding anti-hypoxia properties. However, the digestive traits of ABIPs within the intestinal microbiota and their adaptive mechanisms to hypoxia in high-altitude populations remain poorly understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the anti-hypoxia mechanism of ABIPs at the small-molecule level through the utilization of the in vitro fermentation model of intestinal flora and the cell hypoxia models. The results indicated that under conditions of hypoxic stress, the total amount of monosaccharides and uronic acids (MUAs) metabolized by ABIPs in the plateau group was comparatively high, predominantly mannose. Furthermore, the level of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced through their metabolism was also significantly higher than that of the plain group, with acetic-acid, propionic-acid, and butyric-acid constituting a relatively large proportion. Additionally, in the plateau group, the metabolism of ABIPs increased the abundance of Prevotella and Alloprevotella, while the abundance of Collinsella decreased notably. In contrast, the metabolites produced by ABIPs in the plateau group (mainly SCFAs) had a more pronounced inhibitory effect on the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) signaling pathway than in the plain group. Overall, ABIPs may enable cells to develop hypoxia tolerance by enhancing hypoxia-consuming metabolic levels, rebalancing the gut microbiota, and stabilizing the HIF-1α signaling pathway, thereby protecting the body from hypoxia damage.

Moisture-induced electricity generation converts chemical potential into electrical energy through material-water interactions, emerging as a promising technique for clean energy harvesting. However, inefficient material structure design and adjustable ion migration mechanisms limit moisture capture, output stability, and power density. Herein, a molecular engineering strategy constructs a composite hydrogel fiber composed of polyvinyl alcohol, sodium alginate, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and lithium chloride, synergistically optimizing hydrophilicity and ion concentration gradient. The hydrogel fibrous moisture-induced electricity generator (HMEG) exhibits three advantageous mechanisms: (i) heterostructure interface effects, (ii) humidity/ion concentration dual gradient, and (iii) redox synergistic driving, enhancing ion-selective migration efficiency and ion-electron coupling conversion stability. A single unit (1 cm) sustains an open-circuit voltage of ~0.6 V for over 300 h, with a short-circuit current of ~12.5 μA and a maximum power density of 14.72 μW/cm². Modular integration of five units achieves an adjustable output of ~2.5 V and ~50 μA. Furthermore, the heterogeneous hydrogel fiber serves as a strain sensor with high sensitivity for human motion monitoring. This work provides a novel hydrogel fiber design scheme for wearable energy devices and a multifunctional integrated system, driving rapid development in the fields of green energy conversion and bio-motion sensing.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a prevalent disease characterized by sudden loss of renal function. Nanozymes have emerged as promising therapeutic candidates because of their intrinsic reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging capabilities and anti-inflammatory efficacy. However, their clinical translation has been hindered by limited bioavailability and lack of targeted tissue specificity. In this study, ROS-scavenging Prussian blue nanozymes were stabilized with levan polysaccharide (L-PB) to improve their colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and inflammation site-targeting ability. The resulting L-PB exhibited a stable hydrodynamic diameter of ~100 nm under physiological conditions for up to 2 weeks. In vitro assays confirmed the biocompatibility, effective ROS-scavenging activity, and significantly higher cellular internalization of L-PB than that of Prussian blue stabilized with bovine serum albumin (B-PB). In a glycerol-induced murine model of AKI, L-PB demonstrated selective accumulation in CD44 receptor-overexpressing injured kidneys and exhibited excellent therapeutic effects by mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation, with minimal systemic toxicity compared with B-PB. These findings indicate that L-PB, with CD44 active targeting, has potential as a novel targeted AKI therapeutic, enabling efficient treatment of various inflammation-related diseases.

Amphotericin B (AmB) is a potent broad-spectrum antifungal agent widely used to treat invasive candidiasis (IC); however, its clinical application is limited by severe toxicity, particularly nephrotoxicity. In this study, AmB-chitosan (CS) nanoparticles (NPs) cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (Glu) and phthaldialdehyde (pH) were developed to enhance therapeutic efficacy and reduce AmB toxicity. CS-Glu-AmB and CS-Ph-AmB NPs were synthesized by cross-linking CS with Glu or Ph, followed by AmB incorporation. NP formation was confirmed by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, and XRD analyses. The average particle sizes of CS-Glu-AmB and CS-Ph-AmB NPs were 64.00 ± 3.71 nm and 82.00 ± 5.38 nm, with zeta potentials of +29.00 ± 4.12 mV and + 55.00 ± 7.01 mV, respectively. Drug loading was 5.63 ± 2.01 % and 4.91 ± 1.83 %, and encapsulation efficiency reached 94.66 ± 2.55 % and 81.74 ± 3.01 % for CS-Glu-AmB and CS-Ph-AmB, respectively. After 12 h, hemolysis was significantly lower for CS-Glu-AmB (15.75 ± 0.96 %) and CS-Ph-AmB (16.41 ± 0.21 %) compared with plain AmB (79.62 ± 0.51 %) and Fungizone® (67.41 ± 16.80 %). HEK-293 cell viability after 72 h was significantly higher for CS-Glu-AmB (57.63 ± 2.14 %) and CS-Ph-AmB (53.96 ± 3.76 %) than for plain AmB (24.27 ± 1.32 %) and Fungizone® (35.81 ± 3.55 %). CS-Glu-AmB and CS-Ph-AmB NPs inhibited Candida albicans biofilm formation (85.61 ± 3.42 % and 83.39 ± 4.46 %, respectively) and effectively cured IC in BALB/c mice. These findings indicate that CS-Glu-AmB and CS-Ph-AmB NPs are promising candidates for IC treatment due to their enhanced safety and reduced cytotoxicity compared to conventional AmB formulations.