Significance: Post-traumatic sterile inflammation is the first necessary step of wound healing. In addition, sterile inflammation underlies the pathogenesis of a multitude of common diseases, such as allergies and autoimmune diseases. The molecular mechanisms underlying sterile inflammation are still not fully understood. Here, we show that the receptor Mincle (Clec4e), the expression of which is highly induced in the skin in response to damage, recognizes cholesterol sulfate, a molecule that is abundant in the epidermal layer of the skin, subsequently inducing a pro-inflammatory response. We also identify a role for Mincle as a driving component in the pathogenesis of allergic skin inflammation. The results demonstrate a previously unconsidered important role of Mincle in mediating sterile inflammation.

The bacterium Clostridium botulinum is the causative agent of botulism—a severe intoxication caused by botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) and characterized by damage to the nervous system. In an effort to develop novel C. botulinum immunotherapeutics, camelid single-domain antibodies (sdAbs, VHHs, or nanobodies) could be used due to their unique structure and characteristics. In this study, VHHs were produced using phage display technology. A total of 15 different monoclonal VHHs were selected based on their comlementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) sequences. Different toxin lethal dose (LD₅₀) challenges with each selected phage clone were conducted in vivo to check their neutralizing potency. We demonstrated that modification of neutralizing VHHs with a human immunoglobulin G (IgG)1 Fc (fragment crystallizable) fragment (fusionbody, VHH-Fc) significantly increased the circulation time in the blood (up to 14 days). At the same time, VHH-Fc showed the protective activity 1000 times higher than monomeric form when challenged with 5 LD₅₀. Moreover, VHH-Fcs remained protective even 14 days after antibody administration. These results indicate that this VHH-Fc could be used as an effective long term antitoxin protection against botulinum type A.

Light-activated antimicrobial materials based on polymethylmethactylate doped with porphyrin and silver nanoparticles were prepared and studied.

Porphyrin/Au and Au/porphyrin/Au systems were prepared by vacuum evaporation and vacuum sputtering onto glass substrate. The surface morphology of as-prepared systems and those subjected to annealing at 160°C was studied by optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Absorption and luminescence spectra of as-prepared and annealed samples were measured. Annealing leads to disintegration of the initially continuous gold layer and formation of gold nanoclusters. An amplification of Soret band magnitude was observed on the Au/meso-tetraphenyl porphyrin (TPP) system in comparison with mere TPP. Additional enhancement of luminescence was observed after the sample annealing. In the case of sandwich Au/porphyrin/Au structure, suppression of one of the two porphyrins’ luminescence maxima and sufficient enhancement of the second one were observed.