pH/光热双重响应的纳米递送系统构建及对耐药膀胱癌细胞的联合治疗

以介孔聚多巴胺(MPDA)的制备为出发点,通过搭载化疗药物阿霉素(DOX)和包覆相变材料 1-十四醇(PCM),构建了 pH/光热双重响应的 MPDA-DOX@PCM 纳米递送系统,实现了对耐药膀胱癌细胞(BIU-87/ADR)的光热治疗(PTT)和化疗。结果表明,MPDA-DOX@PCM 尺寸约为 179 nm,DOX的最大搭载率为 22%,光热转换效率高达 49.1%。在 pH=7.4和温度为 25 ℃的条件下,DOX的累积释放率为4.57%;当pH值降为5.5和温度升高到45 ℃时,DOX的累积释放率可提高到60.13%。在808 nm激光辐照下,MPDA-DOX@PCM孵育的BIU-87/ADR细胞存活率降低至9.5%,证明了其优异的PTT/化疗联合治疗性能。     

Constitutive expression of 4-1BB on T cells enhances CD4+ T cell responses

4-1BB, a transmembrane molecule, member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, is an important costimulatory molecule in the immune response, plays a key role in the clonal expansion and survival of CD8(+) T cells. In this study, we investigated 4-1BB regulation of CD4(+) T cell responses using 4-1BB transgenic (TG) mice that constitutively expressed 4-1BB on mature T cells. We first showed that CD4(+) T cells of 4-1BB TG mice had more sustained proliferative capacity in response to TCR/4-1BB stimulation in vitro compared to WT mice. Secondly, 4-1BB TG mice exhibited a more elevated contact hypersensitivity (CHS) response mediated by CD4+ Th1 cells due to more vigorous expansion of and apoptotic inhibition of CD4(+) T cells. Finally, CD4(+) T cells of 4-1BB TG mice had a heightened capacity for T cell priming. Overall, our results demonstrate the involvement of 4-1BB in CD4(+) Th1 cell responses by regulating the clonal expansion and survival of CD4(+) T cells as seen in CD8(+) T cells.     

A light-controlled multi-step drug release nanosystem targeting tumor hypoxia for synergistic cancer therapy

Hypoxia is a major obstacle for cancer therapy due to its association with cell proliferation, tumor distant metastasis, and treatment resistance. In this study, a hypoxia-activated bifunctional prodrug (CC5) was designed, synthesized and encapsulated by a photo-responsive ruthenium complex-derived polymer to yield a light-controlled multi-step drug release system (CC5-RuCa) for synergistic therapy against tumor hypoxia. Under NIR irradiation, CC5-RuCa not only generated ROS to kill the cancer cells in the exterior of the tumor but also released the prodrug CC5 with enhanced intratumoral penetration in the severe hypoxia region inside the tumor tissue. In vivo studies on MDA-MB-231 xenograft models revealed that CC5-RuCa with preferential accumulation in the tumor exhibited highly efficient tumor regression through the synergistic effect of photodynamic therapy and hypoxia-activated chemotherapy.

A photo-responsive ruthenium complex-derived micelle (CC5-RuCa) loaded with CC5 was prepared for light and tumor microenvironment-controlled multistage drug-release.     

Sirtuins are crucial regulators of T cell metabolism and functions

It is well known that metabolism underlies T cell differentiation and functions. The pathways regulating T cell metabolism and function are interconnected, and changes in T cell metabolic activity directly impact the effector functions and fate of T cells. Thus, understanding how metabolic pathways influence immune responses and ultimately affect disease progression is paramount. Epigenetic and posttranslational modification mechanisms have been found to control immune responses and metabolic reprogramming. Sirtuins are NAD⁺-dependent histone deacetylases that play key roles during cellular responses to a variety of stresses and have recently been reported to have potential roles in immune responses. Therefore, sirtuins are of significant interest as therapeutic targets to treat immune-related diseases and enhance antitumor immunity. This review aims to illustrate the potential roles of sirtuins in different subtypes of T cells during the adaptive immune response.Subject terms: Acetylation, T cells     

Total syntheses of amphidinolide T1, T3, T4, and T5

A concise, flexible, and high yielding entry into the family of amphidinolide T macrolides, a series of cytotoxic natural products of marine origin, has been developed. All individual members, except amphidinolide T3 (3), derive from compound 39 as a common synthetic intermediate which is formed from three building blocks of similar size and complexity. The fragment coupling steps involve a highly diastereoselective SnCl(4) mediated reaction of the furanosyl sulfone derivative 11 with the silyl enol ether 18 and a palladium-catalyzed Negishi type coupling reaction between the polyfunctional organozinc reagent derived from iodide 32a and the enantiopure acid chloride 24b. The 19-membered macrocyclic ring is then formed by a high yielding ring closing metathesis (RCM) reaction of diene 33 catalyzed by the "second generation" ruthenium carbene complex 34. The efficiency of the RCM transformation stems, to a large extent, from the conformational bias introduced by the syn-syn-configured stereotriad at C12-C14 of the substrate which constitutes a key design element of the synthesis plan. The use of Nysted's reagent 38 in combination with TiCl(4) was required for the olefination of the sterically hindered ketone group in 36, whereas more conventional alkene formations were unsuccessful for this elaboration. Finally, it is shown that the inversion of a single and seemingly remote stereocenter (C12) in one of the building blocks not only affects the efficiency and stereochemical outcome of the RCM step but also exerts a significant influence on the course of the acyl-Negishi reaction, allowing a radical manifold to compete with productive cross coupling.     

A dendritic cell-like biomimetic nanoparticle enhances T cell activation for breast cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy has remarkably improved the therapeutic effect of melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer in the clinic. Nevertheless, it showed disappointing clinical outcomes for treating immunosuppressive tumors, wherein aggressive T cells are rather limited in tumor sites. Therefore, regulating the behavior of T cells in tumor sites to increase their attack ability for suppressing the immunosuppressive tumor is highly desirable. Inspiringly, we designed a dendritic cell-like biomimetic nanoparticle (DMSNs³@HA) to regulate the behavior of T cells for improving the immunotherapy effect against immunosuppressive tumors. In this work, anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 were responsible for mimicking dendritic cells to activate T cells, and anti-PD-1 for blocking the pathway of PD-1/PD-L1 to break the immune “brake”, which synergistically regulated the behavior of T cells to attack cancer cells. Experimental results indicated that DMSNs³@HA can effectively activate T cells and improve their immune response to significantly inhibit the growth of breast cancer. Moreover, it also proved that T cell activation combining immune checkpoint blocking induced the “1 + 1 >2” immunotherapy effect against immunosuppressive tumors. We expect that this strategy will provide new insights into tumor immunotherapy by modulating T cell behavior.

A dendritic cell-like biomimetic nanoparticle has been designed to regulate the behavior of T cells for improving the immunotherapy effect against immunosuppressive tumors.     

A method for preparation of magnetizable cellulose and its application in radioimmunoassays for T3 and T 4 1

An easy adoptable technique has been developed to prepare magnetizable cellulose by the process of wet grinding of a mixture of iron oxide (magnetite) and cellulose in a stirred ball mill. Anti rabbit IgG was covalently coupled to this magnetizable cellulose. The immunosorbent thus prepared has been used in radioimmunoassays of T₃ and T₄ for the separation of bound and free antigens. The reliability of the above immunosorbent has been validated by studying assay parameters such as non-specific binding (NSB), maximum binding (B ₀), CV etc. The single step process of wet grinding adopted here not only firmly binds magnetite and cellulose physically, but also lowers the size of the resulting magnetizable cellulose. The conventional method of preparation involves the coprecipitation of cellulose dissolved in cuprammonium hydroxide solution along with iron oxide, followed by extensive grinding and sieving of the iron oxide impregnated cellulose.     

Proteome database of unsensitized CD4 positive T lymphocytes in T cell receptor transgenic mice

We established a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) mapping database of splenic CD4 T cells prepared from I-A(d)-restricted ovalbumin (OVA)(323-339) specific T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice (OVA23-3). First we examined the purification of CD4 T cells and found that the high purity of cells produced more accurate protein maps. The first dimension utilized narrow-range immobilized pH gradients (IPGs), pH 4.0-5.0, pH 4.5-5.5, pH 5.0-6.0, and pH 5.5-6.7. Approximately 1300 spots were detected by silver staining. Detection was performed by in-gel tryptic digestion of the spots, matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) technology and database searches via the world wide web (WWW). We have so far identified 255 proteins on 2-DE gels of whole cell lysates. This is the first construction of a proteome database for murine unsensitized CD4 T lymphocytes. To examine this further, 2-DE mapping was utilized for splenic CD4 T cells from another TCR transgenic mouse strain (DO11.10 TCR transgenic mice). Mapping patterns were found to be almost identical to those from CD4 T cells from OVA23-3 mice. These results indicated that the 2-DE maps in this study could be used for mouse CD4 T cells to examine protein changes in cells given certain stimuli.     

CRISPR-Cas13a mediated nanosystem for attomolar detection of canine parvovirus type 2

The CPV-2 DNA extracted from dog's intestine was amplified using RPA and transcribed into an RNA copy. The RNA copy was incubated with Cas13a and crRNA, upon activation collateral cleavage activity of Cas13a cleaves all the target RNA and nonspecific RNA in the vicinity producing fluorescent signals within 30 min.     

A microfluidic device for practical label-free CD4(+) T cell counting of HIV-infected subjects

Practical HIV diagnostics are urgently needed in resource-limited settings. While HIV infection can be diagnosed using simple, rapid, lateral flow immunoassays, HIV disease staging and treatment monitoring require accurate counting of a particular white blood cell subset, the CD4(+) T lymphocyte. To address the limitations of current expensive, technically demanding and/or time-consuming approaches, we have developed a simple CD4 counting microfluidic device. This device uses cell affinity chromatography operated under differential shear flow to specifically isolate CD4(+) T lymphocytes with high efficiency directly from 10 microliters of unprocessed, unlabeled whole blood. CD4 counts are obtained under an optical microscope in a rapid, simple and label-free fashion. CD4 counts determined in our device matched measurements by conventional flow cytometry among HIV-positive subjects over a wide range of absolute CD4 counts (R(2) = 0.93). This CD4 counting microdevice can be used for simple, rapid and affordable CD4 counting in point-of-care and resource-limited settings.     

Fenton-reaction-triggered metabolism of acetaminophen for enhanced cancer therapy

Acetaminophen (APAP), a classic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has attracted much attention due to the overdose-induced hepatotoxicity in the past several decades. N-Acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI), the P450-dependent metabolism of APAP, leads to GSH depletion, protein binding, mitochondrial oxidative stress, and eventually the liver injury. Herein, we develop a Fe-based metal-organic framework (MOF) to deliver and transform acetaminophen into toxic “chemo” drug through the cascade reaction for enhanced cancer therapy. In the acidic tumor microenvironment, the Fe-based MOF collapses and releases abundant Fe ions to generate hydroxyl radicals (^?OH) via Fenton reaction, subsequently catalyzing nontoxic APAP into toxic NAPQI. Meanwhile, NAPQI depletes intracellular glutathione (GSH) rapidly, leading to alleviating the antioxidant ability of cancer cells and amplifying Fenton activity. The intracellular oxidative stress and the toxic metabolite of APAP can provide a synergistic effect on antitumor activity.     

Clinical implications of proliferation activity in T1 or T2 male gastric cancer patients

Proliferation activity has already been established as a prognostic marker or as a marker for anticancer drug sensitivity. In gastric cancer, however, the prognostic significance of proliferation activity is still being debated. Several studies evaluating proliferation activity using Ki-67 have shown controversial results in terms of the relationship between proliferation activity and overall survival (OS) or drug sensitivity in gastric cancer patients. Because cytoskeleton-associated protein 2 (CKAP2) staining has recently been introduced as a marker of proliferation activity, we analyzed 437 gastric cancer tissues through CKAP2 immunohistochemistry, and we evaluated the chromatin CKAP2-positive cell count (CPCC) for proliferation activity. Although the CPCC did not show any significant correlation with OS in the male, female or total number of cases, it did show a significant correlation in the T1 or T2 male patient subgroup, according to log-rank tests (P=0.001) and univariate analysis (P=0.045). Additionally, multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazard regression model showed a significant correlation between the CPCC and OS (P=0.039) for the co-variables of age, gender, T stage, N stage, histology, tumor location, tumor size and adjuvant chemotherapy. In male gastric cancer cell lines, faster-growing cancer cells showed higher sensitivity to cisplatin than slow-growing cells. Thus our study indicates that CPCC-measured proliferation activity demonstrates a significantly worse prognosis in T1 or T2 male gastric cancer patients. The CPCC will help to more precisely classify gastric cancer patients and to select excellent candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy, which in turn will facilitate further clinical chemotherapeutic trials.     

Iridium(III) complex-coated nanosystem for ratiometric upconversion luminescence bioimaging of cyanide anions

Chromophoric iridium(III) complex-coated NaYF(4): 20%Yb, 1.6%Er, 0.4%Tm nanocrystals are demonstrated as a ratiometric upconversion luminescence (UCL) probe for highly selective detection of cyanide anion and bioimaging of CN(-) in living cells through inhibition of the energy transfer from the UCL of the nanocrystals to the absorbance of the chromophoric complex. The UCL probe provides a very low detection limit of 0.18 μM CN(-) in the aqueous solution.     

Use of porous biodegradable polymer implants in meniscus reconstruction. 1) Preparation of porous biodegradable polyurethanes for the reconstruction of meniscus lesions

Porous biodegradable poly(urethanes) for reconstructing menisci have been prepared using two different combinations of techniques: freeze-drying/salt-leaching and in-situ polymerization/salt-leaching. Using these methods, homogenous porous materials with a controllable and reproducible morphology can be prepared. The materials were made of three different poly(urethanes): a methylenediphenyldiisocyanate-based polyurethane, a lysine diisocyanate-based poly(urethane), and a poly(-caprolactone)-based poly(urethane). The compressive stress-strain behavior of the Estane foams was determined. Foams made by the freeze-drying/salt-leaching technique implanted in dogs showed healing and good ingrowth of fibrocartilaginous tissue.     

Determination of 4-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione metabolism in breast cancer patients using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A sensitive procedure for studying the metabolism of the steroidal aromatase inhibitor 4-hydroxy-androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (4OHA) was developed based on enzyme hydrolysis, liquid-liquid extraction and reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer (LC-MS) using a thermospray interface. Seven metabolites were identified from the hydrolysed urine samples together with the parent drug. The major routes of metabolism were via dehydrogenation, reduction of the ketone functional groups, reduction at the C-4-C-5 double bond and hydroxylation at the C-5 position. Confirmation of the identity of 4OHA and its metabolites isolated from female patients' urine samples was accomplished by comparison of the retention times of their corresponding synthetic standards on LC-MS. We have demonstrated that this technique is particularly suitable for studying the metabolism of steroidal drugs.     

Cancer cell metabolism: implications for therapeutic targets

Cancer cell metabolism is characterized by an enhanced uptake and utilization of glucose, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. The persistent activation of aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells can be linked to activation of oncogenes or loss of tumor suppressors, thereby fundamentally advancing cancer progression. In this respect, inhibition of glycolytic capacity may contribute to an anticancer effect on malignant cells. Understanding the mechanisms of aerobic glycolysis may present a new basis for cancer treatment. Accordingly, interrupting lactate fermentation and/or other cancer-promoting metabolic sites may provide a promising strategy to halt tumor development. In this review, we will discuss dysregulated and reprogrammed cancer metabolism followed by clinical relevance of the metabolic enzymes, such as hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase M2, lactate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase and glutaminase. The proper intervention of these metabolic sites may provide a therapeutic advantage that can help overcome resistance to chemotherapy or radiotherapy.     

Total syntheses of amphidinolides T1 and T4 via catalytic, stereoselective, reductive macrocyclizations

Described in this work are total syntheses of amphidinolides T1 and T4 using two nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling reactions of alkynes, with an epoxide in one case (intermolecular) and with an aldehyde in another (intramolecular). The latter was used to effect a macrocyclization, form a C-C bond, and install a stereogenic center with >10:1 selectivity in both natural product syntheses. Alternative approaches in which intermolecular alkyne-aldehyde reductive coupling reactions would serve to join key fragments were investigated and are also discussed; it was found that macrocyclization (i.e. intramolecular alkyne-aldehyde coupling) was superior in several respects (diastereoselectivity, yield, and length of syntheses). Alkyne-epoxide reductive couplings were instrumental in the construction of key fragments corresponding to approximately half of the molecule of both natural products. In one case (T4 series), the alkyne-epoxide coupling exhibited very high site selectivity in a coupling of a diyne. A model for the stereoselectivity observed in the macrocyclizations is also proposed.     

Interaction of T1 and S1 States of h4- and d4-Acetaldehyde Using a Quantum-Beat Technique

Decays of fluorescence of h₄- and d₄-acetaldehyde are measured. The quantum-beat structure is observed for both isotopic species. This oscillatory phenomenon is due to interaction of the state S₁ (Ã′ A″) and T₁. Below the dissociation threshold to form products methyl and formyl radicals, an upper limit of a lifetime is set at 195-800 ns for perturbed triplet states of CD₃CDO; the lifetime is calculated directly from the linewidth of Fourier-transformed spectra. At excitation wavelength shorter than 316.12 nm, the transformed linewidth increases, indicating the onset of CD₃ + DCO formation.