Tuning the full-color emission of polymers holds significant promise. However, preparing unconventional luminescence polymers with color-tunability in dilute solution and understanding the relationship between non-covalent interactions and luminescent behavior remains a great challenge. We report two emitters (P1 and P2) incorporating tetracoordinate boron. The P1 with non-conjugated D-π-A structure, exhibited red delayed fluorescence at 645 nm with quantum yield of 9.15% in aggregates. Notably, the emission wavelength of P1 can be tuned from 418 to 588 nm at different solvent. Similarly, the emission wavelength of P2 can also be adjusted by manipulating the interactions between the solvent and fluorophore. Experimental characterization and theoretical calculations indicate that the B←N bond and electronic interactions between solvent and fluorophore significantly regulate the equilibrium the electrostatic potential (ESP) and the intramolecular O···O interactions of P1, thereby modulating its emission wavelength. Additionally, these polymers showed excellent potential in fluoride ions detection. This work provides new insights into the complex effects of intermolecular interactions on luminescent properties.

Pyroptosis is an inflammatory programed cell death process that plays a crucial role in cancer therapeutic, while Gasdermin-D is a critical effector protein for pyroptosis execution. This review discusses the intricate interactions between Gasdermin-D and some non-coding RNAs (lncRNA, miRNA, siRNA) and their potential application in the regulation of pyroptosis as an anticancer therapy. Correspondingly, these ncRNAs significantly implicate in Gasdermin-D expression and function regarding the pyroptosis pathway. Functioning as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), these ncRNAs might regulate Gasdermin-D at the molecular level, underlying fatal cell death caused by cancer and tumor propagation. Therefore, these interactions appeal to therapeutics, offering new avenues for cancer treatment. It address this research gap by discussing the possible roles of ncRNAs as mediators of gasdermin-D regulation. It suggest therapeutic strategies based on the current research findings to ensure the interchange between the ideal pyroptosis and cancer cell death.

The plum seed protein isolates (PSPI) were used to prepare a gel by probiotics fermentation. The effects of fermentation time (from 0 to 12 h) on the physicochemical properties of PSPI gel were evaluated. The results showed that PSPI started to form a gel after 6 h of fermentation, as evidenced by a decrease in pH from 6.6 to 5.2, an increase in particle size from 10 μm to 40 μm, appearance of a new peak with retention time of 10 min in gel filtration high-performance liquid chromatography, and formation of aggregation and porous structure observed by fluorescence and scanning electron microscope. The PSPI gel from 9 h of fermentation exhibited the highest viscosity (318 Pa.s), storage modulus (18,000 Pa), water holding capacity (37 %), and gel strength (21.5 g) due to stronger molecular interactions such as hydrogen bond, electrostatic, hydrophobic interaction and disulfide bond. However, increasing fermentation time over 9 h led to disrupture of PSPI gel. Furthermore, the subunit around 15 kDa of PSPI disappeared after fermentation, indicating that the formation of PSPI gel was induced by both acidification and partial hydrolysis. Our results suggest that PSPI can provide an alternative for developing plant-based gel products.

Alzheimer\'s disease (AD) is the most prevalent type of dementia; therefore, there is a high demand for therapeutic medication targeting it. In this context, extensive research has been conducted to identify molecular targets for drugs. AD manifests through two primary pathological signs: senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, caused by accumulations of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and phosphorylated tau, respectively. Thus, studies concerning the molecular mechanisms underlying AD etiology have primarily focused on Aβ generation and tau phosphorylation, with the anticipation of uncovering a signaling pathway impacting these molecular processes. Over the past two decades, studies using not only experimental model systems but also examining human brains have accumulated fragmentary evidences suggesting that REELIN signaling pathway is deeply involved in AD. Here, we explore REELIN signaling pathway and its involvement in memory function within the brain and review studies investigating molecular connections between REELIN signaling pathway and AD etiology. This review aims to understand how the manipulation (activation) of this pathway might ameliorate the disease\'s etiology.

The current landscape of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) extraction methodologies presents significant challenges, particularly for multiple PFAS with different carbon chain lengths. This study introduced an energy-driven strategic approach for screening deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to effectively remove a diverse range of PFAS, including perfluoroalkylcarboxylic acids (PFCAs), perfluoroalkanesulfonic acids (PFSAs), and perfluoroalkyl amides (FAAs), from contaminated environments (total 13 target compounds). Utilizing energy-based screening, we identified DES candidates with high affinity for a spectrum of PFAS compounds from 1234 potential starting materials of eutectic systems. Key findings revealed the superior removal efficiency of tributylphosphineoxide/2-methylpiperazine system, exceeding 99 % for various PFAS with different carbon chain lengths in real environmental water samples. Additionally, we elucidated the molecular interactions between DESs and PFAS through ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms governing the removal process. The mechanism of extraction involves hydrogen bond network topology and structural organization, with DESs capable of extracting PFAS while maintaining a weakly aggregated state of target molecules and minimizing the impact on the intrinsic structures of DES. The proposed system forms a dynamic, complementary, and flexible non-covalent interaction network structure with PFAS. The study advances the understanding of DES as a designable, effective, and sustainable alternative to conventional solvents for PFAS remediation, offering a significant contribution to environmental chemistry and green technology.

Charting out personalized and/or optimized diets offers new opportunities in the field of food science, although with inherent challenges. Starch-based foods are a major component of daily energy intake in humans. In addition to being rich in starch, starchy foods also contain a multitude of bioactive substances (e.g., polyphenols, lipids). Food processing including storage affects the consistency and interactions between starch and other food components, which can affect the quality and nutritional characteristics of starch-based foods. This review describes the effects of interactions between starch and other components on the structural evolution of starch during food processing. We ponder upon how the evolution of starch molecular structure affects the quality and nutritional characteristics of starch-based foods vis-a-vis the structure-property relationship. Furthermore, we formulate best practices in processing starchy food to retain the quality and nutritional value by rationally designing starch structural domains. Interestingly, we found that inhibiting the formation of a crystalline structures while promoting the formation of short-range ordered structures and nano-aggregates can synchronously slow down its digestion and retrogradation properties, thus improving the quality and nutritional characteristics of starch-based food. This review provides theoretical guidelines for new researchers and food innovators of starch-based foods.

A transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) was conducted on genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics of malignant melanoma of skin (UK Biobank dataset) and The Cancer Genome Atlas-Skin Cutaneous Melanoma (TCGA-SKCM) gene expression weights to identify melanoma susceptibility genes. The GWAS included 2465 cases and 449,799 controls, while the gene expression testing was conducted on 103 cases. Afterward, a gene enrichment analysis was applied to identify significant TWAS associations. The melanoma\'s gene-microRNA (miRNA) regulatory network was constructed from the TWAS genes and their corresponding miRNAs. At last, a disease enrichment analysis was conducted on the corresponding miRNAs. The TWAS detected 27 genes associated with melanoma with p-values less than 0.05 (the top three genes are LOC389458 (RBAK), C16orf73 (MEIOB), and EIF3CL). After the joint/conditional test, one gene (AMIGO1) was dropped, resulting in 26 significant genes. The Gene Ontology (GO) biological process associated the extended gene set (76 genes) with protein K11-linked ubiquitination and regulation of cell cycle phase transition. K11-linked ubiquitin chains regulate cell division. Interestingly, the extended gene set was related to different skin cancer subtypes. Moreover, the enriched pathways were nsp1 from SARS-CoV-2 that inhibit translation initiation in the host cell, cell cycle, translation factors, and DNA repair pathways full network. The gene-miRNA regulatory network identified 10 hotspot genes with the top three: TP53, BRCA1, and MDM2; and four hotspot miRNAs: mir-16, mir-15a, mir-125b, and mir-146a. Melanoma was among the top ten diseases associated with the corresponding (106) miRNAs. Our results shed light on melanoma pathogenesis and biologically significant molecular interactions.

Lubricant-infused slippery surfaces have recently emerged as promising antifouling coatings, showing potential against proteins, cells, and marine mussels. However, a comprehensive understanding of the molecular binding behaviors and interaction strength of foulants to these surfaces is lacking. In this work, mussel-inspired chemistry based on catechol-containing chemicals including 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and polydopamine (PDA) is employed to investigate the antifouling performance and repellence mechanisms of fluorinated-based slippery surface, and the correlated interaction mechanisms are probed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Intermolecular force measurements and deposition experiments between PDA and the surface reveal the ability of lubricant film to inhibit the contact of PDA particles with the substrate. Moreover, the binding mechanisms and bond dissociation energy between a single DOPA moiety and the lubricant-infused slippery surface are quantitatively investigated employing single-molecule force spectroscopy based on AFM (SM-AFM), which reveal that the infused lubricant layer can remarkably influence the dissociation forces and weaken the binding strength between DOPA and underneath per-fluorinated monolayer surface. This work provides new nanomechanical insights into the fundamental antifouling mechanisms of the lubricant-infused slippery surfaces against mussel-derived adhesive chemicals, with important implications for the design of lubricant-infused materials and other novel antifouling platforms for various bioengineering and engineering applications.

In recent years, meat analogs based on plant proteins have received increasing attention. However, the process of high moisture extrusion (HME), the method for their preparation, has not been thoroughly explored, particularly in terms of elucidating the complex interactions that occur during extrusion, which remain challenging. These interactions arise from the various ingredients added during HME, including proteins, starches, edible gums, dietary fibers, lipids, and enzymes. These ingredients undergo intricate conformational changes and interactions under extreme conditions of high temperature, pressure, and shear, ultimately forming the fibrous structure of meat analogs. This review offers a overview of these ingredients and the molecular interaction changes they undergo during the extrusion process. Additionally, it delves into the major molecular interactions such as disulfide bonding, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions, providing detailed insights into each.

BACKGROUND: Proteins and anionic octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified starch (OSA-starch) are common ingredients in food systems. The interactions between OSA-starch and protein are found to alter the structural and functional properties of the protein-OSA-starch complexes. In this regard, the close understanding of the relationship among the molecular interactions between whey protein isolate (WPI) and OSA-high amylose corn starch (HAS), structure changes and rheological, digestibility and release properties of WPI-OSA-HAS was investigated.
RESULTS: The molecular interactions of WPI-OSA-HAS were significant for increasing the surface rough, solubility, storage modulus and loss modulus, but decreasing the R1047/1022 values. For the nutritional evaluation, the anti-digestibility of WPI-OSA-HAS was enhanced with increased resistant starch + slowly digestible starch contents and decreased equilibrium hydrolysis percentage and kinetic constant. During the digestion, part of the starch granule, OSA groups and WPI were lost, but the loss was lower than for OSA-HAS. Furthermore, the results of curcumin-loaded WPI-OSA-HAS in simulated gastrointestinal fluids demonstrated that curcumin could be gradually released to simulate colonic fluid. Notably, the interaction between WPI and OSA-HAS depended on the WPI concentration with the stronger molecular interactions obtained at 35% concentration.
CONCLUSIONS: These results provided important information concerning how to adjust the rheological, anti-digestibility and release properties of WPI-OSA-HAS through altering the electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic interactions of WPI-OSA-HAS. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.