Effects of Cu²⁺on Wheat Seedlings Exposed to Enhanced Ultraviolet-B Radiation

To explore the wheat seedling development and physiological responses under copper contamination and enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation, 10 mg·L-1 CuCl2 solution was irrigated to Triticum aestivum L. cv. Linyuan 2069 one day after germination with or without ultraviolet-B (10.08 kJ m-2·d-1) light exposure, respectively. The results showed that Cu2+ and UV-B caused various adverse effects on wheat seedling development. Cu2+ hindered root development by significantly reducing root number, while UV-B dwarfed seedling height and decreased the leaf length. Chlorophyll content and activity of ATPase in thylakoid membrane of wheat leaves dropped significantly under enhanced UV-B while the activity of ATPase in plasma membrane of seedling root was significantly decreased in Cu2+ group. Relative electric conductivity of leaves significantly increased in both Cu2+ and UV-B groups, so did the biomass. We also observed that combined Cu2+ and UV-B showed more adverse effects on wheat seedlings than either of them alone except for root growth.

High-speed GaN-based laser diode with modulation bandwidth exceeding 5 GHz for 20 Gbps visible light communication

Visible light communication(VLC)based on laser diodes demonstrates great potential for high data rate maritime,terrestrial,and aerial wireless data links.Here,we design and fabricate high-speed blue laser diodes(LDs)grown on c-plane gallium nitride(GaN)substrate.This was achieved through active region design and miniaturization toward a narrow ridge waveguide,short cavity length,and single longitudinal mode Fabry–Perot laser diode.The fabricated mini-LD has a low threshold current of 31 mA and slope efficiency of 1.02 W/A.A record modulation bandwidth of 5.9 GHz(−3dB)was measured from the mini-LD.Using the developed mini-LD as a transmitter,the VLC link exhibits a high data transmission rate of 20.06 Gbps adopting the bit and power loading discrete multitone(DMT)modulation technique.The corresponding bit error rate is 0.003,satisfying the forward error correction standard.The demonstrated GaN-based mini-LD has significantly enhanced data transmission rates,paving the path for energy-efficient VLC systems and integrated photonics in the visible regime.

Cytosolic delivery of the immunological adjuvant PolyⅠ:C and cytotoxic drug crystals via a carrier-free strategy significantly amplifies immune response

Co-delivery of chemotherapeutics and immunostimulant or chemoimmunotherapy is an emerging strategy in cancer therapy.The precise control of the targeting and release of agents is critical in this methodology.This article proposes the asynchronous release of the chemotherapeutic agents and immunostimulants to realize the synergistic effect between chemotherapy and immunotherapy.To obtain a proof-of-concept,a co-delivery system was prepared via a drug-delivering-drug(DDD)strategy for cytosolic co-delivery of Poly I:C,a synthetic ds RNA analog to activate RIG-I signaling,and PTX,a commonly used chemotherapeutics,in which pure PTX nanorods were sequentially coated with Poly I:C and mannuronic acid via stimulating the RIG-I signaling axis.The co-delivery system with a diameter of 200 nm enables profound immunogenicity of cancer cells,exhibiting increased secretion of cytokines and chemokines,pronounced immune response in vivo,and significant inhibition of tumor growth.Also,we found that intracellularly sustained release of cytotoxic agents could elicit the immunogenicity of cancer cells.Overall,the intracellular asynchronous release of chemotherapeutics and immunomodulators is a promising strategy to promote the immunogenicity of cancer cells and augment the antitumor immune response.

Liposome-based anchoring and core-encapsulation for combinatorial cancer therapy

Downregulated pro-apoptotic protein in cancer cells compromises the chemotherapy by a cytotoxic drug.Here,we report co-delivery of a pro-apoptotic protein,caspase 3(Cas 3),and cytotoxic agent,oridonin(ORD),for synergistic cancer treatment,using a method of liposome-based anchoring and core encapsulation.First,ORD is modified with hyaluronic acid(HA)to improve its solubility.Then,the targeted co-delivery system is prepared by assembling the conjugate HA-ORD onto the Cas 3-loaded liposomes,which the surface HA can target the CD44 receptor on cancer cells.In vitro,the co-loaded liposomes(120 nm)are specifically taken up by 4T1 cells and endow a 1.5-fold increase of Cas 3.After intravenous injection into the tumor-bearing mice,the liposomes accumulate in the tumor with high efficacy and significantly inhibit tumor growth via promoting apoptosis and anti-proliferation of cancer cells.Mechanistically,the co-delivery works synergistically by upregulating the activated Cas form,cleaved-Cas 3.