Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries are highly desirable for grid-scale applications due to their low cost and high safety; however, the poor cycling stability hinders their widespread application. Herein, a highly durable zinc-ion battery system with a NaVO·1.63HO nanowire cathode and an aqueous Zn(CFSO) electrolyte has been developed. The NaVO·1.63HO nanowires deliver a high specific capacity of 352 mAh g at 50 mA g and exhibit a capacity retention of 90% over 6000 cycles at 5000 mA g, which represents the best cycling performance compared with all previous reports. In contrast, the NaVO nanowires maintain only 17% of the initial capacity after 4000 cycles at 5000 mA g. A single-nanowire-based zinc-ion battery is assembled, which reveals the intrinsic Zn storage mechanism at nanoscale. The remarkable electrochemical performance especially the long-term cycling stability makes NaVO·1.63HO a promising cathode for a low-cost and safe aqueous zinc-ion battery.

The human obesity susceptibility gene, FTO, encodes a protein that is homologous to the DNA repair AlkB protein.The AlkB family proteins utilize iron(II), a-ketoglutarate (a-KG) and dioxygen to perform oxidative repair of alkylated nucleobases in DNA and RNA. We demonstrate here the oxidative demethylation of 3-methylthymine (3-meT) in singlestranded DNA (ssDNA) and 3-methyluracil (3-meU) in singlestranded RNA (ssRNA) by recombinant human FTO protein in vitro. Both human and mouse FTO proteins preferentially repair 3-meT in ssDNA over other base lesions tested. They showed negligible activities against 3-meT in double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). In addition, these two proteins can catalyze the demethylation of 3-meU in ssRNA with a slightly higher efficiency over that of 3-meT in ssDNA, suggesting that methylated RNAs are the preferred substrates for FTO.

Cancer has been one of the most common life‐threatening diseases for a long time. Traditional cancer therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy (CT), and radiotherapy (RT) have limited effects due to drug resistance, unsatisfactory treatment efficiency, and side effects. In recent years, photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) have been utilized for cancer treatment owing to their high selectivity, minor resistance, and minimal toxicity. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that selective delivery of drugs to specific subcellular organelles can significantly enhance the efficiency of cancer therapy. Mitochondria‐targeting therapeutic strategies are promising for cancer therapy, which is attributed to the essential role of mitochondria in the regulation of cancer cell apoptosis, metabolism, and more vulnerable to hyperthermia and oxidative damage. Herein, the rational design, functionalization, and applications of diverse mitochondria‐targeting units, involving organic phosphine/sulfur salts, quaternary ammonium (QA) salts, peptides, transition‐metal complexes, guanidinium or bisguanidinium, as well as mitochondria‐targeting cancer therapies including PDT, PTT, CDT, and others are summarized. This review aims to furnish researchers with deep insights and hints in the design and applications of novel mitochondria‐targeting agents for cancer therapy.

BackgroundDisruption of the gut microbiota homeostasis may induce low-grade inflammation leading to obesity-associated diseases. A major protective mechanism is to use the multi-layered mucus structures to keep a safe distance between gut epithelial cells and microbiota. To investigate whether pesticides would induce insulin resistance/obesity through interfering with mucus-bacterial interactions, we conducted a study to determine how long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos affected C57Bl/6 and CD-1 (ICR) mice fed high- or normal-fat diets. To further investigate the effects of chlorpyrifos-altered microbiota, antibiotic treatment and microbiota transplantation experiments were conducted.ResultsThe results showed that chlorpyrifos caused broken integrity of the gut barrier, leading to increased lipopolysaccharide entry into the body and finally low-grade inflammation, while genetic background and diet pattern have limited influence on the chlorpyrifos-induced results. Moreover, the mice given chlorpyrifos-altered microbiota had gained more fat and lower insulin sensitivity.ConclusionsOur results suggest that widespread use of pesticides may contribute to the worldwide epidemic of inflammation-related diseases.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-019-0635-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

About one-third of the world’s food is lost and wasted each year, along with excessive carbon emission, disposals, and other environmental issues. The rotting of perishable products like fruits and vegetables accounts for the largest percentage of food waste due to their short shelf life. The storage atmosphere (H2O, O2, CO2) acts as a key role in the preservation process and could regulate plants’ physiological metabolism and microbial growth. In this work, a facile and biomimetic strategy is introduced for food preservation at room temperature employing PLLA (poly­(l-lactic acid)) or chitosan porous microspheres as gas “switches” or “stomata” in a shellac membrane to regulate O2, CO2, and H2O permeability and CO2/O2 selectivity. Surface coatings on fruits or packaging films prepared through this strategy show exceptional preservation performance on five selected model fruits with different respiratory metabolisms. These hybrid materials could effectively control the gases (O2, CO2, and H2O) permeability and CO2/O2 selectivity by adding different amounts of porous microspheres or depositing small functional molecules, which demonstrate excellent antioxidant, antimicrobial, water-resistant, and reusable properties. This gas permeation control strategy has great potential in food preservation as well as other applications where a controlled atmosphere is required.