The transcripts levels of genes associated with apoptosis confirmed the anti-apoptotic effect of the biomaterials. Increased metabolic activity of MC3T3-E1 in cultures with biomaterials functionalized with Bi3+ ions has been observed. Moreover, the determined profile of osteogenic markers indicates that the obtained matrices, that is, Eu3+nSi-HAp functionalized with Bi3+ ions, exert pro-osteogenic properties. The biological features of Eu3+nSi-HAp modified with Bi3+ ions are highly desired in terms of functional tissue restoration and further efficient osteointegration.The primary stage of adhesion during implant infection is dominated by interactions of the surface proteins of the bacteria with the substrate atoms. In the current work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been utilized to investigate the mechanics of the associated adhesion forces of bacteria on different surfaces. The unfolding of these adhesion proteins is investigated in order to map these events to earlier experiments on bacterial de-adhesion (using single cell force spectroscopy) with real-life substrates (i.e., ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, hydroxyapatite, Ti alloy, and stainless steel). selleck The adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus adhesin (i.e., SpA) is observed by altering their orientation on the silica substrate through MD simulations, followed by capturing unfolding events of three adhesins (SpA, ClfA, and SraP) of variable lengths possessing different secondary structures. The output long-range and short-range interaction forces and consequent visualization of changes in the secondary structure of protein segments are presented during the de-adhesion process. Simulation results are correlated with extracted short-range forces (using Poisson regression) from real-life bacterial de-adhesion experiments. Insights into such protein-substrate interactions may allow for engineering of biomaterials and designing of nonbiofouling surfaces.Localized cancer chemotherapy through injectable hydrogels is a next-generation advanced substitute for the currently operational systemic route of drug administration. Recently, several hydrogels have been developed for prospective drug delivery applications; however, no in vitro disease model is available to evaluate its long-term bioactivity in real time. In this regard, we have designed a porous silk scaffold that provides a single platform to accommodate both the soft hydrogel and cancer cells together. The stomach cancer (AGS) cells were seeded in the periphery of the silk scaffold, where they sit in the pores and form three-dimensional (3D) spheroids. Furthermore, the anticancer drug cisplatin-loaded nanocomposite injectable silk hydrogel was filled in the central cavity of the scaffold to evaluate its 11 day extended bioactivity. Such an arrangement keeps the released cisplatin in close contact with the spheroids for its sustained therapeutic effects. In an attempt to model cancer recurrence, the AGS cells were reseeded on the second day of treatment. Our data revealed that the shelf life and cytotoxic effects of cisplatin, which was explicitly releasing out from the nanocomposite silk hydrogel, were considerably enhanced. Hence, the reseeded AGS cells did not survive further on the scaffold, which also indicates its ability to inhibit cancer relapse. Conclusively, the current work showed a possible way to evaluate the long-term efficacy and bioactivity of the injectable hydrogel system in vitro for sustained drug delivery application.A simple, direct fluorescent sensor was developed to simultaneously determine nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide based on 4-(((3-aminonaphthalen-2-yl)amino)methyl)benzoic acid (DAN-1)-functionalized CdTe/CdS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs@DAN-1). In this sensor, DAN-1 could specifically recognize nitric oxide and yield highly fluorescent naphtho triazole (DAN-1-T). Meanwhile, the fluorescence intensity of the QDs could be quenched by hydrogen sulfide. The QDs and DAN-1-T could be simultaneously excited at 365 nm, and their maximum emission wavelengths were 635 and 440 nm, respectively. Nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide were simultaneously determined by monitoring two different fluorescence signals. The limits of determination for nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide were 0.051 and 0.13 μM, respectively. The QDs@DAN-1 sensor was also applied to determine nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide in human plasma. This sensor may provide a new strategy for investigating the relationship between nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide and elucidating their roles in related physiological and pathophysiological processes at the same time.Artificial lung (AL) membranes are used for blood oxygenation for patients undergoing open-heart surgery or acute lung failures. Current AL technology employs polypropylene and polymethylpentene membranes. Although effective, these membranes suffer from low biocompatibility, leading to undesired blood coagulation and hemolysis over a long term. In this work, we propose a new generation of AL membranes based on amphiphobic fluoropolymers. We employed poly(vinylidene-co-hexafluoropropylene), or PVDF-co-HFP, to fabricate macrovoid-free membranes with an optimal pore size range of 30-50 nm. The phase inversion behavior of PVDF-co-HFP was investigated in detail for structural optimization. To improve the wetting stability of the membranes, the fabricated membranes were coated using Hyflon AD60X, a type of fluoropolymer with an extremely low surface energy. Hyflon-coated materials displayed very low protein adsorption and a high contact angle for both water and blood. In the hydrophobic spectrum, the data showed an inverse relationship between the surface free energy and protein adsorption, suggesting an appropriate direction with respect to biocompatibility for AL research. The blood oxygenation performance was assessed using animal sheep blood, and the fabricated fluoropolymer membranes showed competitive performance to that of commercial polyolefin membranes without any detectable hemolysis. The data also confirmed that the bottleneck in the blood oxygenation performance was not the membrane permeance but rather the rate of mass transfer in the blood phase, highlighting the importance of efficient module design.