A peptide containing a RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) sequence as well as a hydrophobic N-fluorenyl-9-methoxycarbonyl (FMOC) tail was prepared via a standard FMOC solid-phase peptide synthesis technique. The supramolecular self-assembly of such peptide through pi-pi stacking from FMOC tail can transfer the peptide aqueous solution into a three-dimensional hydrogel. The biocompatibility of the peptide hydrogel was evaluated via clinical follow-up and histological analysis. The data obtained demonstrated that the peptide hydrogel exhibited good biocompatibility when injected to the subconjunctival space and anterior chamber of rabbit, indicating a potential application in ophthalmology as an implantable drug delivery system for the treatment to ocular anterior segment diseases such as glaucoma, iridocyclitis, and keratopathy.

Iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanopowder was prepared by a precipitation method and then mixed with different proportions of carbon nanotubes. The composite materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A fabricated heater-type gas sensor was compared with a pure Fe2O3 gas sensor under the influence of acetone. The effects of the amount of doping, the sintering temperature, and the operating temperature on the response of the sensor and the response recovery time were analyzed. Experiments show that doping of carbon nanotubes with iron oxide effectively improves the response of the resulting gas sensors to acetone gas. It also reduces the operating temperature and shortens the response recovery time of the sensor. The response of the sensor in an acetone gas concentration of 80 ppm was enhanced, with good repeatability.

During early vertebrate eye development, a regulatory network of transcription factors regulates retinal cell differentiation and survival into adulthood. Among those factors, Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) plays the dual role of maintaining the stem cell status of retinal progenitors cells and repressing the intrinsic axon regeneration ability in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) after injury. This study further investigated whether KLF4 plays a role in early retinal cell differentiation or survival into adulthood. We examined different types of retinal neurons, including RGCs, amacrine cells, bipolar cells, Müller cells, and photoreceptor cells, in adult mice in which KLF4 was conditionally deleted in early retinal development using Chx10-promoted Cre by immunohistochemistry. We compared the numbers of retinal neurons and the thickness of photoreceptor and nerve fiber layers between Chx10–Cre-driven KLF4 deletion mice and wild-type mice. There was no significant difference in cell number among any of the retinal cell types or in photoreceptor layer thickness with KLF4 deletion during early development. The thickness of axon bundles in the nerve fiber layer in the Chx10 conditional KLF4 knock-out mice was greater than that in wild-type mice. These results suggest that KLF4 is not required for retinal cell differentiation or survival, but does normally limit retinal ganglion cell axon bundle thickness. These data support a hypothesis that KLF4 suppresses axon growth during development.