The protein high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is released into the extracellular space in response to many inflammatory stimuli, where it is a potent signaling molecule. Although research has focused on downstream HMGB1 signaling, the means by which HMGB1 exits the cell is controversial. Here we demonstrate that HMGB1 is not released from bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment. We also explore whether HMGB1 is released via the pore-forming protein gasdermin D after inflammasome activation, as is the case for IL-1β. HMGB1 is only released under conditions that cause cell lysis (pyroptosis). When pyroptosis is prevented, HMGB1 is not released, despite inflammasome activation and IL-1β secretion. During endotoxemia, gasdermin D knockout mice secrete HMGB1 normally, yet secretion of IL-1β is completely blocked. Together, these data demonstrate that in vitro HMGB1 release after inflammasome activation occurs after cellular rupture, which is probably inflammasome-independent in vivo.

Microtubule dynamics are thought to play an important role in regulating microtubule interactions with cortical force generating motor proteins that position the spindle during asymmetric cell division. CLASPs are microtubule-associated proteins that have a conserved role in regulating microtubule dynamics in diverse cell types. Caenorhabditis elegans has three CLASP homologs in its genome. CLS-2 is known to localize to kinetochores and is needed for chromosome segregation at meiosis and mitosis; however CLS-1 and CLS-3 have not been reported to have any role in embryonic development. Here, we show that depletion of CLS-2 in combination with either CLS-1 or CLS-3 results in defects in nuclear rotation, maintenance of spindle length, and spindle displacement in the one-cell embryo. Polarity is normal in these embryos, but reduced numbers of astral microtubules reach all regions of the cortex at the time of spindle positioning. Analysis of the microtubule plus-end tracker EB1 also revealed a reduced number of growing microtubules reaching the cortex in CLASP depleted embryos, but the polymerization rate of astral microtubules was not slower than in wild type. These results indicate that C. elegans CLASPs act partially redundantly to regulate astral microtubules and position the spindle during asymmetric cell division. Further, we show that these spindle pole-positioning roles are independent of the CLS-2 binding proteins HCP-1 and HCP-2.

In this work, a redox and an electrochemical polymerization method were carried out separately to produce the composite PANI@PVA@ACNT-based flexible solid-state supercapacitor (FSC) device with symmetrical "sandwich structure". Interestingly different polymerization methods result in different spatial structures, which lead to significant difference in the ion transport behaviors and energy storage mechanisms. The redox-polymerized aniline (R-PANI) provides a 3D polyaniline network in the gel system which exhibits a diffusion-controlled energy storage mechanism. While the electrochemical-polymerized aniline (E-PANI) is found to form a PANI nanoparticles attached-CNTs structure which shows a more typical pseudocapacitive behavior and better rate performance. The maximum specific capacitance of the E-PANI@PVA@ACNT and R-PANI@PVA@ACNT device reached as high as 896 mF•cm −3 (206 mF•cm −2 ) and 667 mF•cm −3 (200 mF•cm −2 ) respectively, which is much better than the prepolymerized PANI@ACNT samples (216 mF•cm −3 ). In addition, the composite devices based on highly densified carbon nanotube arrays (DACNTs) were found to have a superior electrochemical performance. The maximum specific capacitance of the E-PANI@PVA@DACNT and R-PANI@PVA@DACNT device reached as high as 1.95 F•cm −3 (432 mF•cm −2 ) and 2.91 F•cm −3 (873 mF•cm −2 ), respectively. The highest energy density was measured to be 0.389 mW•h•cm −3 (0.09 mW•h•cm −2 ) for E-PANI@PVA@DACNT and 0.572 mW•h•cm −3 (0.17 mW•h•cm −2 ) for R-PANI@PVA@DACNT with high power density of 11.2 mW•cm −3 (2.58 mW•cm −2 ) and 74.4 mW•cm −3 (22.3 mW•cm −2 ), respectively. Besides, the long-term cyclic stability and excellent rate performance of such devices were also achieved. Our approach well overcomes the general obstacle that the hydrogel electrolyte is likely blocked by the carbon-based electrode materials in the FSC system. In addition, our findings reveal that the relationship between the spatial distribution and energy storage mechanisms of mixed-type supercapacitor devices thus helps the design of redox-enhanced FSC devices with excellent performances.

No abstract

As a new energy storage device, supercapacitor (or electrochemical capacitor) has an ultra-long cycle life, extremely high power density and enhanced energy density. It fills the gap in the energy-power spectrum between traditional capacitor and battery. In general, the traditional energy storage and conversion device cannot have a perfect trade-off between high energy density and high power density. With the rapid development of modern society, developing light, portable, safe and environmentally friendly high-performance energy storage devices has become increasingly vital. Therefore, there are numerous researches of flexible solid supercapacitors emerging at this historic moment. The selection of flexible electrode materials and that of electrolytes are crucial factors in designing the flexible solid state supercapacitors, which have been the research hotspots in recent years. Carbon nanotube array has been widely used in electrode material of super capacitors due to its excellent electrical conductivity, large specific surface area and super high chemical stability. But in assembly process, carbon nanotube array easily collapses and breaks its neat orientation because of its poor mechanical strength. In consideration of environmental contamination and practical demands, in this paper the neutral gel electrolyte is adopted to embed carbon nanotube array to form flexible composite film electrode. Besides the fact that we use hydrophilic flexible carbon cloth as current collector and neutral gel electrolyte as separator to prepare flexible devices, we compare the electrochemical properties among different devices by changing the electrolyte salt added in gel electrolyte. Meanwhile, after continuous bending and folding, the properties of flexible devices have not been significantly damaged, indicating good flexibility and mechanical stability. The specific capacity of the whole device with PVA-NaCl used as gel electrolyte increases up to 104.5 mF·cm^–3, which is much higher than the specific capacity of the composite device formed by organic ionic gels with carbon nanotube array and that of the composite device formed by commercial short carbon nanotubes with hydrogels. A maximum energy density of 0.034 mW·h·cm^–3 is obtained at the same time. In addition, it has good rate performance, cycling stability, suppressing self-discharge property, and good chemical stability at a high voltage of 1.6 V. Neutral gel/carbon nanotube array composite devices not only meet the needs of the era of green safety, flexible and portable folding, but also open up the future application prospects of medical implants.