Suppressed Migration and Enhanced Cisplatin Chemosensitivity in Human Cancer Cell Lines by Tuning the Molecular Mobility of Supramolecular Biomaterials

Cancer cells recognize physical cues transmitted from the surrounding microenvironment, and accordingly alter the migration and chemosensitivity. Cell adhesive biomaterials with tunable physical properties can contribute to the understanding of cancer cell responses, and development of new cancer therapies. Previously, it was reported that polyrotaxane-based surfaces with molecular mobility effectively modulate cellular functions via the yes-associated protein (YAP)-related signaling pathway. In the present study, the impact of molecular mobility of polyrotaxane surfaces on the migration and chemosensitivity of lung (A549), pancreatic (BxPC-3), and breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines is investigated, and it is found that the cellular spreading of adherent A549 and BxPC-3 cells and nuclear YAP translocation are promoted on low-mobility surfaces, suggesting that cancer cells alter their subcellular YAP localization in response to molecular mobility. Furthermore, low-mobility surfaces suppress cellular migration more than high-mobility surfaces. Additionally, low-mobility surfaces promote the cisplatin chemosensitivity of each cancer cell line to a greater extent than high-mobility surfaces. These results suggest that the molecular mobility of polyrotaxane surfaces suppresses cellular migration and enhances chemosensitivity via the subcellular translocation of YAP in cancer cells. Biointerfaces based on polyrotaxanes can thus be a new platform for elucidating cancer cell migration and chemoresistance mechanisms.     

Thermodynamics of polymeric fluids – effect of volume on the configurational entropy of chain molecules

Various conformation‐dependent properties of chain molecules have been successfully treated within the rotational isomeric state approximation. The conformation entropy is one of such properties which can be readily defined by the partition function, the sum of all possible configurations of the chain. Flexible polymers often exhibit crystallization and in some cases liquid‐crystallization as well. In these first‐order transitions, changes in the spatial arrangement of polymer chains are considered to be a major factor involved. In order to explicitly determine the conformational contribution to the melting entropy, the latent entropy observed under the isobaric condition must be corrected for the volume change. The entropy separation involves a hypothetical assumption that the volume of the isotropic fluid may be compressed to that of the solid state without affecting the configurational part of the entropy of molecules. Finally thermodynamic significance of the conformation entropy in these transitions is emphasized on the basis of the critical studies of the entropy‐volume relation of chain molecules in the liquid state.     

Polarization imaging by use of optical scanning holography

Optical Review - Polarization information is useful for various applications such as remote sensing and biomedical imaging. In general, polarization information is obtained using a polarization...     

Fluorogenic Granzyme A Substrates Enable Real-Time Imaging of Adaptive Immune Cell Activity

Cytotoxic immune cells, including T lymphocytes (CTLs) and natural killer (NK) cells, are essential components of the host response against tumors. CTLs and NK cells secrete granzyme A (GzmA) upon recognition of cancer cells; however, there are very few tools that can detect physiological levels of active GzmA with high spatiotemporal resolution. Herein, we report the rational design of the near-infrared fluorogenic substrates for human GzmA and mouse GzmA. These activity-based probes display very high catalytic efficiency and selectivity over other granzymes, as shown in tissue lysates from wild-type and GzmA knock-out mice. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the probes can image how adaptive immune cells respond to antigen-driven recognition of cancer cells in real time.