Small-molecule organic fluorophores spectrally active in the 800-950 nm region are sought-after for their broad potential in biomedical and material applications. We have developed a new family of brightly fluorescent dyes (ECX) to meet this challenge. ECX dyes are transparent to the visible region, while strongly absorbing in the NIR region at approximately 880 nm. They emit at around 915 nm with a fluorescence quantum yield up to 13.3 %. ECX dyes exhibit high chemostability, high photostability, and low tendency to aggregate. Other merits of ECX dyes include low degree of solvatochromism and facile post-synthetic derivatization. ECX dyes potentially make available the 800-950 nm region for spectroscopic and microscopic applications and are also expected to find broad material applications.

Quick, simple and accurate diagnosis of suspected COVID-19 is very important for the screening and therapy of patients. Although several methods were performed in clinical practice, however, the IgM and IgG diagnostic value evaluation was little performed. 57 suspected COVID-19 infection patients were enrolled in our study. 24 patients with positive and 33 patients with negative nucleic acid test. The positive rate of COVID-19 nucleic acid was 42.10%. The positive detection rate of combination of IgM and IgG for patients with COVID-19 negative and positive nucleic acid test was 72.73% and 87.50%. The results were significantly higher than the nucleic acid or IgM, IgG single detection. hsCRP in the COVID-19 nucleic acid negative group showed significantly higher than the positive groups (P=0.0298).AST in the COVID-19 IgM negative group showed significantly lower than the positive groups (P=0.0365). We provided a quick, simple, accurate aided detection method for the suspected patients and on-site screening in close contact with the population.

Nitric oxide (NO) potentially plays a regulatory role in mitochondrial fusion and fission, which are vital to cell survival and implicated in health, disease, and aging. Molecular tools facilitating the study of the relationship between NO and mitochondrial dynamics are in need. We have recently developed a novel NO donor (NOD550). Upon photoactivation, NOD550 decomposes to release two NO molecules and a fluorophore. The NO release could be spatially mapped with subdiffraction resolution and with a temporal resolution of 10 s. Due to the preferential localization of NOD550 at mitochondria, morphology and dynamics of mitochondria could be monitored upon NO release from NOD550.

Bisphenol A (BPA) analogues, used in a range of products due to health concerns regarding BPA, have emerged as ubiquitous environmental contaminants worldwide. This study aims to evaluate the levels of nine bisphenols (BPs) and eight biomarkers (malondialdehyde, MDA; 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, 8-OHdG; estradiol, E2; follicle-stimulating hormone, FSH; luteinizing hormone, LH; complement compound 3, C3; immunoglobulin M, IgM and c-reaction protein, CRP) in human serum (n = 353) to explore their potential relationships. The detection rates (DRs) of eight BPs in serum samples taken from people working in a dense industrial area of Shenzhen (Guangdong Province, China) were over 72% except for bisphenol B (BPB) (DR = 27.5%). The mean concentrations of BPA, bisphenol P (BPP), BPB, bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol FL (BPFL), 4,4′-dihydroxy-benzophenone (DHBP), bisphenol AF (BPAF), 4,4′-thiodiphenol (TDP) and bisphenol S (BPS) were 42.062, 2.083, 0.765, 0.578, 0.423, 0.402, 0.191, 0.120, and 0.071 ng/mL, respectively. BPA and BPFL were significantly correlated with the level of oxidative stress indices MDA and 8-OHdG; BPAF, BPB, and DHBP were strongly correlated with the level of endocrine disturbance indices E2, FSH, and LH; and BPF, DHBP, and BPAF were apparently related to the level of immune interference indices C3 and IgM. This study also suggests multiple impacts (oxidative stress, endocrine disturbance, and immune interference) mediated by BPs contaminants in vivo. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the correlations among these nine serum BPs and oxidative stress and endocrine and immune system indices in human serum samples collected from dense industrial areas.

No abstract