Rapid fabrication of zwitterionic sulfobetaine vinylimidazole-based monoliths via photoinitiated copolymerization for hydrophilic interaction chromatography

Zwitterionic sulfobetaine-based monolithic stationary phases have attracted increasing attention for their use in hydrophilic interaction chromatography.In this study,a novel hydrophilic polymeric monolith was fabricated through photo-initiated copolymerization of 3-(3-vinyl-1-imidazolio)-1-propanesulfonate(SBVI)with pentaerythritol triacrylate using methanol and tetrahydrofuran as the porogenic system.Notably,the duration for the preparation of this novel monolith was as little as 5 min,which was significantly shorter than that required for previously reported sulfobetaine-based monoliths prepared via conventional thermally initiated copolymerization.Moreover,these monoliths showed good morphology,permeability,porosity(62.4%),mechanical strength(over 15 MPa),column efficiency(51,230 plates/m),and reproducibility(relative standard deviations for all analytes were lower than 4.6%).Mechanistic studies indicated that strong hydrophilic and negative electrostatic interactions might be responsible for the retention of polar analytes on the zwitterionic SBVI-based monolith.In particular,the resulting monolith exhibited good anti-protein adhesion ability and low nonspecific protein adsorption.These excellent features seem to favor its application in bioanalysis.Therefore,the novel zwitterionic sulfobetaine-based monolith was successfully employed for the highly selective separation of small bioactive compounds and the efficient enrichment of N-glycopeptides from complex samples.In this study,we prepared a novel zwitterionic sulfobetaine-based monolith with good performance and developed a simpler and faster method for preparation of zwitterionic monoliths.

A universal strategy for achieving dual cross-linked networks to obtain ultralong polymeric room temperature phosphorescence

Efficient polymeric room-temperature phosphorescence(PRTP)with excellent processability and flexibility is highly desirable but still faces formidable challenge.Herein,a general strategy is developed for efficient PRTP through photo-polymerization of phosphor monomers and N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPAM)spontaneously without a crosslinker.Remarkably ultralong lifetime of 3.54 s with afterglow duration time of 25 s and decent phosphorescent quantum efficiency of 13%are achieved.This efficient PRTP has been demonstrated to be derived from the synergistic effect of the covalent and hydrogen bonds networks formed through photo-polymerization of NIPAM.The electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)spectra confirmed that methyl radicals are generated under the irradiation of ultraviolet light and promote the formation of covalent cross-linking networks.This strategy has also been proved to be generalizable to several other phosphor monomers.Interestingly,the polymer films display ultrahigh temperature resistance with long afterglows even at 140℃ and unexampled ultralong lifetime of 2.45 s in aqueous solutions.This work provides a simple and feasible avenue to obtain efficient PRTP.

The toxicity of hydroxylated and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes to human endothelial cells was not exacerbated by ER stress inducer

Hydroxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes(h-MWCNTs) and carboxylated MWCNTs(c-MWCNTs)have potential applications in biomedicine, but their toxicity to human endothelial cells under stressed conditions associated with chronic diseases was less studied in vitro. This study stressed human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) with ER stress inducer thapsigargin(TG), and investigated the toxicity of h-MWCNTs and c-MWCNTs to normal and stressed HUVECs. h-MWCNTs and c-MWCNTs modestly reduced cellular viability, significantly promoted soluble ICAM-1(sICAM-1),soluble VCAM-1(sVCAM-1) as well as intracellular ROS, and decreased the expression of transcription factor KLF2 and KLF4. Pre-treatment with TG significantly reduced cellular viability, promoted IL-6 and THP-1 monocyte adhesion, and increased the expression of a panel of ER stress genes. ANOVA indicated no interaction between MWCNTs and TG pre-treatment on most of the endpoints. It was concluded that the toxicity of h-MWCNTs and c-MWCNTs to HUVECs might not be exacerbated by ER stress

Pre-incubated with BSA-complexed free fatty acids alters ER stress/autophagic gene expression by carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotube exposure in THP-1 macrophages

Recently we found that multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exposure alters the mRNA levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/autophagic genes, but the impact of biological molecules on this response is unclear. Herein, we compared the different actions of carboxylated MWCNTs (c-MWCNTs) pre-incubated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or BSA-complexed free fatty acid (denoted as FFA) on macrophages derived from THP-1 monocytes (denoted as THP-1 macrophages). C-MWCNTs exhibited increased diameter and hydrodynamic size as well as decreased absolute zeta potential value after pre-incubation with BSA or FFA, which suggested a coating effect. Cytotoxicity or oxidative stress were not significantly induced after exposure to BSA-or FFA-coated c-MWCNTs. BSA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs significantly enhanced the expression of the ER stress gene, DDIT3 and the autophagic genes, ATG5, BECN1, and PLIN2, but the mRNA levels of these genes was significantly decreased by FFA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs. FFA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs induced significantly higher lipid accumulation and interleukin-6 (IL-6) protein level compared with BSA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs, which suggested that FFA-pre-incubated c-MWCNTs may more effectively induce the formation of macrophage foam cells. Collectively, our data indicated that pre-incubation with FFA may influence c-MWCNT-induced ER stress/autophagic gene expression and foam cell formation in THP-1 macrophages.