The potential toxicity of nanoplastics on plants has previously been illustrated, but whether nanoplastics could cause neurotoxicity, especially to higher animals, remains unclear. We now demonstrate that nanoplastics can be deposited in the brain via nasal inhalation, triggering neuron toxicity and altering the animal behavior. Polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) of PS-COOH and PS-NH 2 are used as models for nanoplastics. We designed a microfluidic chip to evaluate the PS-NPs with different concentrations, surface ligands, and sizes to interact with neurons. Smaller PS-NPs can induce more cellular uptake than larger PS-NPs. PS-NPs with a size of 80 nm can reach and deposit in the brain of mice via aerosol inhalation. Mice inhaling PS-NPs exhibit fewer activities in comparison to those inhaling water droplets. An obvious neurotoxicity of the nanoplastics could be observed from the results of the inhibition of AChE activities. Our results show the potential significance of the physiochemical properties of organic nanoplastics on depositing in mammalian brains by nasal inhalation.

The replacement of dressings may cause secondary damage to the wounds; thus, the real-time monitoring of the state of wound dressings is crucial for evaluating wound care processes. Herein, we report a smart dressing to selfmonitor residue nanomedicine on it during the application. We load aminobenzeneboronic acid (ABA)-modified gold nanoclusters (A-GNCs) on bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes as an antibacterial wound dressing to display the amount of residual nanomedicine (A-GNCs) by in situ colorimetry during the application in remedying multi-drug-resistant (MDR) bacteriainfected wounds. A-GNCs emit bright orange fluorescence under UV light, whereas the BC membrane is transparent at a humidified state on the wounds. Thus, the BC-A-GNCs nanocomposite (BGN) shows decreasing intensity of orange fluorescence with the release of the A-GNCs, indicating the appropriate time points for the replacement of the dressing. The BGN, which can realize accurate self-monitoring in a simple, low-cost, and efficient way, thus holds great promise for broad clinical applications.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria-induced infections are becoming challenging issues threatening human health and life. Current antibiotics can hardly tackle this problem. Herein, we present a strategy to prepare mercaptophenylboronic acid (MBA)activated gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) as an antibacterial agent against MDR bacteria. Both Au NPs and MBA cannot serve as antibiotics. However, when MBA attaches on Au NPs, the Au_MBA NPs show potent antibacterial activities against Gram-positive MDR clinical isolates (e.g., MDR Staphyloccocus aureus, MDR S. aureus; MDR Staphyloccocus epidermidis, MDR S. epidermidis). Furthermore, Au_MBA NPs show an extremely high median lethal dose (LD 50,i.v., 960 mg/kg), which is much higher than those of most of the clinically used antibiotics. As an application example, we dope Au_MBA NPs with electrospun poly(εcaprolactone) (PCL)/gelatin nanofibrous membranes as wound dressings, which show striking ability to remedy S. aureus-or MDR S. aureus-infected full-thickness skin wounds on rats. Our study provides a novel strategy for treating MDR bacteria-infected wounds in a simple, low-cost, and efficient way, which holds promise for broad clinical applications.

We herein develop a concentration gradient generator (CGG) on a microfluidic chip for diluting different nanoparticles. Specifically designed compact disk (CD)‐shaped microchannels in the CGG module could thoroughly mix the flowing solutions and generate a linear concentration gradient of nanoparticles without aggregation. We combine the CGG with a single‐cell trapper array (SCA) on microfluidics to evaluate the concentration‐dependent bioeffects of the nanoparticles. The precise control of the spatiotemporal generation of nanoparticle concentration on the CGG module and the single‐cell‐level monitoring of the cell behaviors on the SCA module by a high‐content system in real time, render the CGG‐SCA system a highly precise platform, which can exclude the average effect of cell population and reflect the response of individual cells to the gradient concentrations accurately. In addition, the CGG‐SCA system provides an automated platform for high‐throughput screening of nanomedicines with high precision and low sample consumption.

For epilepsy therapy, one-third of the patients worldwide are resistant to antiepileptic drugs mainly due to the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that prevents the drugs from reaching the...