Autophagy-dependent ferroptosis may play a critical role in early stages of diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy(DR),as one of the most common and significant microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus(DM),continues to elude effective targeted treatment for vision loss despite ongoing enrichment of the understanding of its pathogenic mechanisms from perspectives such as inflammation and oxidative stress.Recent studies have indicated that characteristic neuroglial degeneration induced by DM occurs before the onset of apparent microvascular lesions.In order to comprehensively grasp the early-stage pathological changes of DR,the retinal neurovascular unit(NVU)will become a crucial focal point for future research into the occurrence and progression of DR.Based on existing evidence,ferroptosis,a form of cell death regulated by processes like ferritinophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy,mediates apoptosis in retinal NVU components,including pericytes and ganglion cells.Autophagy-dependent ferroptosis-related factors,including BECN1 and FABP4,may serve as both biomarkers for DR occurrence and development and potentially crucial targets for future effective DR treatments.The aforementioned findings present novel perspectives for comprehending the mechanisms underlying the early-stage pathological alterations in DR and open up innovative avenues for investigating supplementary therapeutic strategies.

γ-MnO_(2) nanorod-assembled hierarchical micro-spheres with oxygen vacancies to enhance electrocatalytic performance toward the oxygen reduction reaction for aluminum-air batteries

γ-MnO2 nanorod-assembled hierarchical micro-spheres with abundant oxygen defects are synthesized by a simple thermal treatment approach as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for Al(aluminum)-air batteries. The rich oxygen vacancies on the surface of γ-MnO2 are verified by morphology, structure,electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) results. The oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) electrocatalytic activity of γ-MnO2 is significantly improved by the incoming oxygen vacancies. The γ-MnO2 nanorod-assembled hierarchical micro-spheres calcined under 300 °C in Ar atmosphere show the best ORR performance. The primary Al-air batteries using γ-MnO2 catalysts as the cathode, which demonstrates excellent peal power density of 318 m W cm^(-2) when applying theγ-MnO2 catalysts with optimal amount of oxygen vacancies.

Stable metal-organic frameworks with high catalytic performance in the cycloaddition of CO_2 with aziridines

Based on the mixed ligands XN(4′-(4-pyridine)4,2′:2′,4′′-terpyridine) and isophthalic acid(IPA), three new metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) {[M_2(XN)_2(IPA)_2]·2 H_2O}_n(M=Co(1), Mn(2), Ni(3)) were assembled and structurally characterized,presenting 3 D pillar-chain feature structures. Stability measurements demonstrate that these compounds possess high thermostability and can endure different organic solvents as well as various acid/base solutions with pH range of 1 to 14. Importantly,compounds 1–3 can serve as high-efficiency catalysts for the transformation of CO_2 and aziridines to form high-value oxazolidinones under mild conditions, exhibiting excellent cyclicity at least five times.

A Facile and Environment-friendly Method for Fabrication of Polymer Brush

A novel environment-friendly system is proposed to fabricate polymer brush, which has the advantages including non-toxic and inexpensive initiator （eosin Y）, visible-light exposure （λ = 515 nm）, water medium and ambient environment. The experimental results from UV-Vis spectroscopy, AFM-based single molecule force spectroscopy （SMFS） and other measurements indicate that a polymer brush with a living nature is fabricated via free radical polymerization. This polymer brush may find applications in coatings, bio-interfaces and so forth.