Tag Archives: Jin Zhang

Nanomedicine: two stories about wound healing

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Different strokes for different folks or, in this case, somewhat different approaches to healing different wounds.

Infected wounds

A July 17, 2024 news item on Nanowerk highlights work from China’s Research Center for Neutrophil Engineering Technology (affiliated with Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University), Note: A link has been removed,

Infectious wounds represent a critical challenge in healthcare, especially for diabetic patients grappling with ineffective antibiotics and escalating drug resistance. Conventional therapies often inadequately address deep tissue infections, highlighting the need for more innovative solutions. Engineered nanovesicles (NVs) from activated neutrophils provide a precise mechanism to combat pathogens deeply embedded in tissues, potentially revolutionizing the management of complex infectious wounds and boosting overall treatment efficacy.

Researchers at the Research Center for Neutrophil Engineering Technology have achieved a significant advancement in medical nanotechnology. Their findings, published in the journal Burns & Trauma (“Engineered nanovesicles from activated neutrophils with enriched bactericidal proteins have molecular debridement ability and promote infectious wound healing”), detail the creation of novel neutrophil-engineered NVs.

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A July 17, 2024 Maximum Academic Press ‘press release’ on EurekAlert, which originated the news item, goes on to describe what the researchers discovered,

This study reveals that engineered NVs derived from activated neutrophils not only mimic the physical properties of exosomes but surpass them due to their rich content of bactericidal proteins. Extensively tested both in vitro and in vivo, these NVs effectively combat key pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, which contribute to deep tissue infections. The NVs promote rapid debridement, significantly reduce bacterial populations, and boost collagen deposition, thus hastening the healing process. This research positions NVs as a formidable alternative to traditional antibiotics, introducing a novel method for treating resistant infections and advancing the field of wound care.

Dr. Bingwei Sun, the lead researcher, emphasized, “These engineered NVs mark a major advancement in the management of infectious diseases. By targeting the infection site with high levels of bactericidal proteins, we achieve swift and effective healing, thereby opening new paths for the treatment of chronic and resistant infections.”

The advent of activated neutrophil-derived NVs signifies a major leap in medical technology, potentially reducing healthcare costs and enhancing patient outcomes. This innovation not only promises to improve wound healing in diabetic and other chronic infection patients but also sets the stage for further development of biologically inspired therapeutic strategies.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Engineered nanovesicles from activated neutrophils with enriched bactericidal proteins have molecular debridement ability and promote infectious wound healing by Hangfei Jin, Xiao Wen, Ran Sun, Yanzhen Yu, Zaiwen Guo, Yunxi Yang, Linbin Li, and Bingwei Sun. Burns & Trauma, Volume 12, 2024, tkae018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/burnst/tkae018 Published: 20 June 2024

This paper is open access.

Diabetic wounds

A July 17, 2024 news item on phys.org announces work from another team developing its own approach to healing wounds, albeit, a different category of wounds,

Diabetic wounds are notoriously challenging to treat, due to prolonged inflammation and a high risk of infection. Traditional treatments generally offer only passive protection and fail to dynamically interact with the wound environment.

In a new article published in Burns & Trauma on June 5, 2024, a research team from Mudanjiang Medical University and allied institutions assesses the effectiveness of PLLA nanofibrous membranes.

Infused with curcumin and silver nanoparticles, these membranes are designed to substantially enhance the healing processes in diabetic wounds by targeting fundamental issues like excessive inflammation and infection.

This research centered on developing PLLA/C/Ag nanofibrous membranes through air-jet spinning, achieving a consistent fiber distribution essential for effective therapeutic delivery. The membranes boast dual benefits: antioxidant properties that reduce harmful reactive oxygen species in wound environments and potent antibacterial activity that decreases infection risks.

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A July 17, 2024 Maximum Academic Press ‘press release‘ on EurekAlert provides more information about the research, Note 1: This press release appears to have originated the news item, which was then edited and rewritten; Note 2: Links have been removed,

In a pioneering study, researchers have developed a poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibrous membrane enhanced with curcumin and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), aimed at improving the healing of diabetic wounds. This advanced dressing targets critical barriers such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and bacterial infections, which hinder the recovery process in diabetic patients. The study’s results reveal a promising therapeutic strategy that could revolutionize care for diabetes-related wounds.

Diabetic wounds are notoriously challenging to heal, with prolonged inflammation and a high risk of infection. Traditional treatments generally offer only passive protection and fail to dynamically interact with the wound environment. The creation of bioactive dressings like the poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibrous membranes incorporated with AgNPs and curcumin (PLLA/C/Ag) membranes signifies a crucial shift towards therapies that actively correct imbalances in the wound healing process, offering a more effective solution for managing diabetic wounds.

Published (DOI: 10.1093/burnst/tkae009) in Burns & Trauma on June 5, 2024, this trailblazing research by a team from Mudanjiang Medical University and allied institutions assesses the effectiveness of PLLA nanofibrous membranes. Infused with curcumin and silver nanoparticles, these membranes are designed to substantially enhance the healing processes in diabetic wounds by targeting fundamental issues like excessive inflammation and infection.

This research centered on developing PLLA/C/Ag nanofibrous membranes through air-jet spinning, achieving a consistent fiber distribution essential for effective therapeutic delivery. The membranes boast dual benefits: antioxidant properties that reduce harmful reactive oxygen species in wound environments and potent antibacterial activity that decreases infection risks. In vivo tests on diabetic mice demonstrated the membranes’ capability to promote crucial healing processes such as angiogenesis and collagen deposition. These findings illustrate that PLLA/C/Ag membranes not only protect wounds but also actively support and expedite the healing process, marking them as a significant therapeutic innovation for diabetic wound management with potential for broader chronic wound care applications.

Dr. Yanhui Chu, a principal investigator of the study, highlighted the importance of these developments: “The PLLA/C/Ag membranes are a significant breakthrough in diabetic wound care. Their ability to effectively modulate the wound environment and enhance healing could establish a new standard in treatment, providing hope to millions affected by diabetes-related complications.”

The deployment of PLLA/C/Ag nanofibrous membranes in clinical environments could transform the treatment of diabetic wounds, offering a more active and effective approach. Beyond diabetes management, this technology has the potential for extensive applications in various chronic wounds, paving the way for future breakthroughs in bioactive wound dressings. This study not only progresses our understanding of wound management but also paves new paths for developing adaptive treatments for complex wound scenarios.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Immunomodulatory poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibrous membranes promote diabetic wound healing by inhibiting inflammation, oxidation and bacterial infection by Yan Wu, Jin Zhang, Anqi Lin, Tinglin Zhang, Yong Liu, Chunlei Zhang, Yongkui Yin, Ran Guo, Jie Gao, Yulin Li, and Yanhui Chu. Burns & Trauma, Volume 12, 2024, tkae009, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/burnst/tkae009 Published: 05 June 2024

This paper is open access.

Science publishing

As I think most people know, publishing of any kind is a tough business, particularly these days. This instability has led to some interesting corporate relationships. E.g., Springer Nature (a German-British academic publisher) is the outcome of some mergers as the Springer Nature Wikipedia entry notes,

The company originates from several journals and publishing houses, notably Springer-Verlag, which was founded in 1842 by Julius Springer in Berlin[4] (the grandfather of Bernhard Springer who founded Springer Publishing in 1950 in New York),[5] Nature Publishing Group which has published Nature since 1869,[6] and Macmillan Education, which goes back to Macmillan Publishers founded in 1843.[7]

Springer Nature was formed in 2015 by the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, and Macmillan Education (held by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group) with Springer Science+Business Media (held by BC Partners). Plans for the merger were first announced on 15 January 2015.[8] The transaction was concluded in May 2015 with Holtzbrinck having the majority 53% share.[9]

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Now you have what was an independent science journal, Nature, owned by Springer. By the way, Springer Nature also acquired Scientific American, another major science journal.

Relatedly, seeing Maximum Academic Press as the issuer for the press releases mentioned here aroused my curiosity. I haven’t stumbled across the company before but found this on the company’s About Us webpage, Note: Links have been removed,

Maximum Academic Press (MAP) is an independent publishing company with focus on publishing golden open access academic journals. From 2020 to now, MAP has successfully launched 24 academic journals which cover the research fields of agriculture, biology, environmental sciences, engineering and humanities and social sciences.                    

Professor Zong-Ming (Max) Cheng, chief editor and founder of MAP, who earned his Ph.D from Cornell University in 1991 and worked as an Assistant, Associate and Professor at North Dakota State University and University of Tennessee for over 30 years. Prior to establishing MAP, Dr. Cheng launched Horticulture Research (initially published by Nature Publishing Group) in 2014, Plant Phenomics (published by American Association of Advancement of Sciences, AAAS) in 2019, and BioDesign Research (published by AAAS) in 2020, and served as the Editor-in-Chief, Co-Editors-in-Chief, and the executive editor, respectively. Dr. Cheng wishes to apply all successful experiences in launching and managing these three high quality journals to MAP-published journals with highest quality and ethics standards.

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It was a little bit of a surprise to see that MAP doesn’t publish the journal, Burns & Trauma, where the studies (cited here) were published. From the Burns & Trauma About the Journal webpage on the Oxford University Press website for Oxford Academic journals,

Aims and scope

Burns & Trauma is an open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing the latest developments in basic, clinical, and translational research related to burns and traumatic injuries, with a special focus on various aspects of biomaterials, tissue engineering, stem cells, critical care, immunobiology, skin transplantation, prevention, and regeneration of burns and trauma injury.

Society affiliations

Burns & Trauma is the official journal of Asia-Pacific Society of Scar Medicine, Chinese Burn Association, Chinese Burn Care and Rehabilitation Association and Chinese Society for Scar Medicine. It is sponsored by the Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital (First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University), China.

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I don’t know what to make of it all but I can safely say scientific publishing has gotten quite complicated since the days that Nature first published its own eponymous journal.

Should October 2013 be called ‘the month of graphene’?

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Since the Oct. 10-11, 2013 Graphene Flagship (1B Euros investment) launch, mentioned in my preview Oct. 7, 2013 posting, there’ve been a flurry of graphene-themed news items both on this blog and elsewhere and I’ve decided to offer a brief roundup what I’ve found elsewhere.

Dexter Johnson offers a commentary in the pithily titled, Europe Invests €1 Billion to Become “Graphene Valley,” an Oct. 15, 2013 posting on his Nanoclast blog (on the IEEE [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers] website) Note: Links have been removed,

The initiative has been dubbed “The Graphene Flagship,” and apparently it is the first in a number of €1 billion, 10-year plans the EC is planning to launch. The graphene version will bring together 76 academic institutions and industrial groups from 17 European countries, with an initial 30-month-budget of €54M ($73 million).

Graphene research is still struggling to find any kind of applications that will really take hold, and many don’t expect it will have a commercial impact until 2020. What’s more, manufacturing methods are still undeveloped. So it would appear that a 10-year plan is aimed at the academic institutions that form the backbone of this initiative rather than commercial enterprises.

Just from a political standpoint the choice of Chalmers University in Sweden as the base of operations for the Graphene Flagship is an intriguing choice. …

I have to agree with Dexter that choosing Chalmers University over the University of Manchester where graphene was first isolated is unexpected. As a companion piece to reading Dexter’s posting in its entirety and which features a video from the flagship launch, you might want to try this Oct. 15, 2013 article by Koen Mortelmans for Youris (h/t Oct. 15, 2013 news item on Nanowerk),

Andre Konstantin Geim is the only person who ever received both a Nobel and an Ig Nobel. He was born in 1958 in Russia, and is a Dutch-British physicist with German, Polish, Jewish and Ukrainian roots. “Having lived and worked in several European countries, I consider myself European. I don’t believe that any further taxonomy is necessary,” he says. He is now a physics professor at the University of Manchester. …

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He shared the Noble [Nobel] Prize in 2010 with Konstantin Novoselov for their work on graphene. It was following on their isolation of microscope visible grapheme flakes that the worldwide research towards practical applications of graphene took off.  “We did not invent graphene,” Geim says, “we only saw what was laid up for five hundred year under our noses.”

Geim and Novoselov are often thought to have succeeded in separating graphene from graphite by peeling it off with ordinary duct tape until there only remained a layer. Graphene could then be observed with a microscope, because of the partial transparency of the material. That is, after dissolving the duct tape material in acetone, of course. That is also the story Geim himself likes to tell.

However, he did not use – as the urban myth goes – graphite from a common pencil. Instead, he used a carbon sample of extreme purity, specially imported. He also used ultrasound techniques. But, probably the urban legend will survive, as did Archimedes’ bath and Newtons apple. “It is nice to keep some of the magic,” is the expression Geim often uses when he does not want a nice story to be drowned in hard facts or when he wants to remain discrete about still incomplete, but promising research results.

Mortelmans’ article fills in some gaps for those not familiar with the graphene ‘origins’ story while Tim Harper’s July 22, 2012 posting on Cientifica’s (an emerging technologies consultancy where Harper is the CEO and founder) TNT blog offers an insight into Geim’s perspective on the race to commercialize graphene with a paraphrased quote for the title of Harper’s posting, “It’s a bit silly for society to throw a little bit of money at (graphene) and expect it to change the world.” (Note: Within this context, mention is made of the company’s graphene opportunities report.)

With all this excitement about graphene (and carbon generally), the magazine titled Carbon has just published a suggested nomenclature for 2D carbon forms such as graphene, graphane, etc., according to an Oct. 16, 2013 news item on Nanowerk (Note: A link has been removed),

There has been an intense research interest in all two-dimensional (2D) forms of carbon since Geim and Novoselov’s discovery of graphene in 2004. But as the number of such publications rise, so does the level of inconsistency in naming the material of interest. The isolated, single-atom-thick sheet universally referred to as “graphene” may have a clear definition, but when referring to related 2D sheet-like or flake-like carbon forms, many authors have simply defined their own terms to describe their product.

This has led to confusion within the literature, where terms are multiply-defined, or incorrectly used. The Editorial Board of Carbon has therefore published the first recommended nomenclature for 2D carbon forms (“All in the graphene family – A recommended nomenclature for two-dimensional carbon materials”).

This proposed nomenclature comes in the form of an editorial, from Carbon (Volume 65, December 2013, Pages 1–6),

All in the graphene family – A recommended nomenclature for two-dimensional carbon materials

  • Alberto Bianco
    CNRS, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Immunopathologie et Chimie Thérapeutique, Strasbourg, France
  • Hui-Ming Cheng
    Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China
  • Toshiaki Enoki
    Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
  • Yury Gogotsi
    Materials Science and Engineering Department, A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
  • Robert H. Hurt
    Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
  • Nikhil Koratkar
    Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, The Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180, USA
  • Takashi Kyotani
    Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • Marc Monthioux
    Centre d’Elaboration des Matériaux et d’Etudes Structurales (CEMES), UPR-8011 CNRS, Université de Toulouse, 29 Rue Jeanne Marvig, F-31055 Toulouse, France
  • Chong Rae Park
    Carbon Nanomaterials Design Laboratory, Global Research Laboratory, Research Institute of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Republic of Korea
  • Juan M.D. Tascon
    Instituto Nacional del Carbón, INCAR-CSIC, Apartado 73, 33080 Oviedo, Spain
  • Jin Zhang
    Center for Nanochemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

This editorial is behind a paywall.

Sticky tape and carbon nanotubes

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I like the use of simple, homely tools in science and the use of sticky tape (or scotch tape) to isolate graphene by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for work that led to a Nobel prize certainly fits that category.

Scientists inspired by the ‘sticky tape technique’ for separating graphene from graphite (you can view a video which shows you how to do this at home using a lead pencil in my November 26, 2010 posting) have devised a nondamaging means of separating metallic and semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. From the abstract for the paper, Separation of Metallic and Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Arrays by “Scotch Tape” (the paper is behind a paywall),

Amine-functionalized A-scotch tape selectively removes s(semiconducting)-SWNTs, the phenyl-functionalized P-scotch tape acts specifically towards m (metallic)-SWNTs.

From the Sept. 12, 2011 news item on Nanowerk,

The researchers used thin films of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chemically modified with either amino or phenyl groups as a type of scotch tape to lift CNTs from the sapphire substrate on which they were prepared (see image). The amino-type scotch tape selectively removes semiconducting CNTs from a mixture of CNTs on the substrate surface, whereas the phenyl-type scotch tape selectively removes only metallic CNTs, without disturbing the CNTs left behind. “Compared with current separation methods based on selective adsorption, we have successfully extended the mechanism to a long nanotube system and controlled the formation of carbon nanotubes perfectly,” says Zhang [Jin Zhang].

If they can find a way to make this technique more productive (only a small number of carbon nanotubes can be separated at this time), then there is great potential for their use in solar cells and other such devices.