A simple and novel method is firstly reported for controlling coffee ring structure on polystyrene（PS）film surface by O2 plasma. O2 plasma treatment leads to the wettability change of PS surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. For hydrophilic PS surface the coffee ring structure is avoided relying on the motion of contact line（CL） while SiO2 microspheres are left. The motion of the CL is produced based on the viscosity and Marangoni effect with the addition of polymer additives. For hydrophobic PS surface coffee ring structure still persists even with polymer additives because SiO2 microspheres transfer with the motion of the CL at the beginning of droplet evaporation and accumulate at the droplet edge at late stage with the pinning of the CL. As a result, uniform and macroscale SiO2 microspheres deposition without coffee ring structure and SiO2 microspheres deposition with coffee ring structure are controlled by O2 plasma. This method provides a new way to tune coffee ring structure with smart surface and may be potentially useful for a range of application at material deposition and diagnosing diseases.
Li-Ying CuiYu YanXin-Yu ZhaoCun-Long YuYing MaBai Yang
With the development of science and technology,ordered microstructures with special functions have aroused intense research interest.These functional microstructures have been widely used in fields of microelectronic devices,micro-reactors,biochemical sensors and optical devices,etc.This paper summaries our work on preparation and application of microscopic patterned surfaces with ordered microstructures,and looks into the future development of this field.
The active center of human glutaredoxin(hGrx1)shares a common thioredoxin fold and specific affinity for substrate glutathione (GSH)with natural glutathione peroxidase(GPx).hGrx1 was redesigned to introduce the catalytic selenocysteine residue to imi- tate the function of antioxidant selenoenzyme GPx in vivo.The human hGrx1 scaffold is a good candidate for potential medical application compared with other animal-originated protein scaffolds.Two consecutive rare codons(AGG-AGG)in the open reading frame of hGrx1 mRNA encoding Arg26-Arg27 residues can reduce seleno-hGrx1 expression level significantly in the Cys auxotrophic Escherichia coli strain BL21cysE51.Therefore,we optimized the rare codons,which resulted in a remarkable in- crease of the expression level in the Cys auxotrophic cells,which may be sufficient for future medical production.The engineered artificial selenoenzyme displays high GPx catalytic activity,rivaling that of some natural GPx proteins.Kinetic analysis of the engineered seleno-hGrx1 showed a typical ping-pong kinetic mechanism;its catalytic properties are similar to those of some nat- urally occurring GPx proteins.
