No abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), naturally occurring nanosized vesicles secreted from cells, are essential for intercellular communication. They carry unique biomolecules on the surface or interior that are of great interest as biomarkers for various pathological conditions such as cancer. In this work, we use highresolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectroscopy (AFS) techniques to demonstrate differences between EVs derived from colon cancer cells and colon epithelial cells at the singlevesicle level. We observe that EV populations are significantly increased in the cancer cell media compared to the normal cell EVs. We show that both EVs display an EV marker, CD9, while EVs derived from the cancer cells are slightly higher in density. Hyaluronan (HA) is a nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan linked to malignant tumor growth according to recent reports. Interestingly, at the single-vesicle level, colon cancer EVs exhibit significantly increased HA surface densities compared to the normal EVs. Spectroscopic measurements such as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), circular dichroism (CD), and Raman spectroscopy unequivocally support the AFM and AFS measurements. To our knowledge, it represents the first report of detecting HA-coated EVs as a potential colon cancer biomarker. Taken together, this sensitive approach will be useful in identifying biomarkers in the early stages of detection and evaluation of cancer.

The applicability of HKUST-1 for the degradation of sulfur mustard and sarin simulants was studied with and without coadsorbed water. Degradation was found to be via hydrolysis and dependent on the nucleophilic substitution reaction, vapour pressure and molecular diameter of the toxicants.

No abstract

A void-enriched and highly strained porous Au−Ag nanoalloy (NP alloy ) has been synthesized from Au−Ag core−shell nanostructure by employing a galvanic replacement reaction and introducing Kirkendall voids in it. Obtained NP alloy acts both as an efficient cathodic and anodic material for methanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol oxidation as well as oxygen reduction reactions simultaneously in an alkaline medium. High catalytic efficacy (low onset potential (E on ) and high current density (j)), wide thermal stability, and positive alcohol tolerance response of NP alloy sets them as a practical bifunctional electrode coating alternative compared to Pt/C in designing an efficient alkaline direct alcohol fuel cell.