Macrophage Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles Sensitize Glioblastoma to Radiation by Suppressing Proneural–Mesenchymal Transformation in Glioma Stem Cells

Radiotherapy is identified as a crucial treatment for patients with glioblastoma, but recurrence is inevitable. The efficacy of radiotherapy is severely hampered partially due to the tumor evolution. Growing evidence suggests that proneural glioma stem cells can acquire mesenchymal features coupled with increased radioresistance. Thus, a better understanding of mechanisms underlying tumor subclonal evolution may develop new strategies. Herein, data highlighting a positive correlation between the accumulation of macrophage in the glioblastoma microenvironment after irradiation and mesenchymal transdifferentiation in glioblastoma are presented. Mechanistically, elevated production of inflammatory cytokines released by macrophages promotes mesenchymal transition in an NF-κB-dependent manner. Hence, rationally designed macrophage membrane-coated porous mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MMNs) in which therapeutic anti-NF-κB peptides are loaded for enhancing radiotherapy of glioblastoma are constructed. The combination of MMNs and fractionated irradiation results in the blockage of tumor evolution and therapy resistance in glioblastoma-bearing mice. Intriguingly, the macrophage invasion across the blood-brain barrier is inhibited competitively by MMNs, suggesting that these nanoparticles can fundamentally halt the evolution of radioresistant clones. Taken together, the biomimetic MMNs represent a promising strategy that prevents mesenchymal transition and improves therapeutic response to irradiation as well as overall survival in patients with glioblastoma.     

Separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with aqueous short-chain alcohol solvent

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) with aqueous organic solvent has been developed to separate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Methanol, ethanol or propanol as an organic modifier was added to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micellar solution in order to increase the solubility of very hydrophobic solutes in mobile phase. Both methanol and ethanol can be used as co-solvents for the separation of PAHs. Use of ethanol resulted in a shorter analysis time than use of methanol. The separations of some PAHs were unsatisfactory using propanol although the analysis time was much shorter than with ethanol. The influence of ethanol content, SDS concentration and temperature on the separations was studied. Benzene and nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were successfully separated using 50 mM SDS-20 mM phosphate-5 mM borate, containing 40% (v/v) ethanol at 35 degrees C. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of t(R) ranged from 0.5 to 1.5% for six repeat injections.     

E-olefin dipeptide isostere incorporation into a polypeptide backbone enables hydrogen bond perturbation: probing the requirements for Alzheimer's amyloidogenesis

Herein, we report a stereospecific E-olefin dipeptide isostere synthesis that can be used to make gram quantities of the Phe-Phe isostere desired for eliminating a specific backbone H-bond donor and acceptor in the Alzheimer's disease related Abeta peptide. The Phe19-Phe20 E-olefin analogue of Abeta(1-40) was prepared by solid-phase peptide synthesis and was subjected to amyloidogenesis conditions. This analogue can aggregate into spherical morphologies but does not progress on to form protofibrils or fibrils as is the case for the all-amide sequence, providing insight into the structural requirements for amyloidogenesis.     

8-Arylpurines and their ultraviolet absorption spectra

Dehydrocyclization of 4-amino-5-arylamidopyrimidines in polyphosphoric acid to 8-arylpurines was further investigated. Various other 8-arylpurines were synthesized by this new procedure in high purity and yield. The ultraviolet absorption spectra of the arylpurines and the corresponding acylamidopyrimidines were measured at pH 1, 7, and 13 at 0.1 molar ionic strength. The spectra of the purines resemble those of the corresponding acylamidopyrimidines and, to a lesser extent, the corresponding 4,5-diaminopyrimidines. The bathochromic shifts caused by different substituting groups in monosubstituted purines, in general, parallel the inductive effect of the substituting groups. The hyperchromicity and the inductive constant of the substituting groups assume a linear relationship, for substitution at either the 2 or 6 position. These changes in the wave length of maximum absorption and in the molar extinction coefficient caused by 2, 6 and 8 substitutions of the purines reported here are in agreement with previous studies by Mason.     

Spontaneous Vesicle Formation in Aqueous Mixtures of Cationic Surfactants and Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide

Spontaneous vesicle formation was observed in aqueous mixtures of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and single-tailed cationic surfactants. The influences of pH, addition of long-chain alcohols, variation of hydrocarbon chain length, and head group size of the cationic surfactants were investigated systematically. It was found that 30-50% hydrolyzed degree of polyacrylamide and cationic surfactants with 10 or 12 methylene groups are suitable for vesicle formation in the mixed aqueous systems at pH 9.2. Addition of long-chain alcohols was found to be helpful for vesicle formation in some cases. The vesicle stability was also investigated at various temperatures and amounts of ethanol addition. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Molecular orbital theoretical prediction of the isomeric products formed from reactions of arene oxides and related metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

MO theoretical calculations based on the perturbational method of Dewar provide good correlation between predicted and observed structures of products formed during: (1) isomerization of arene oxides to phenols; (2) hydration and nucleophilic addition to arene oxides; and (3) dehydration of arene dihydrodiols. The method is equally applicable to the arene oxides, dihydrodiols, etc. derived from carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons. Extension to the related enzymatic reactions occurring during metabolism of carcinogenic hydrocarbons and to the reactions of the biologically active arene diolepoxides and aryloxirenes suggests the potential utility of this approach in predicting (a) metabolite structure and (b) the structural requirements for carcinogenic and mutagenic activity.     

Neutron activation analysis of gold and iridium in steel

A method of determination of trace gold and iridium in steel is presented. The samples were preconcentrated with an anion exchanger. The chemical recoveries were determined by an isotope tracer technique using¹⁹⁸Au and¹⁹²Ir.     

Investigation of the hydrogen bonds between formaldehyde and hydrogen halides by pseudopotential Ab Initio method

The weak hydrogen bonded systems H₂CO ?HX (X = F, Cl, Br, and I) have been studied by means of ab initio MO method with pseudopotential approximation. The stabilization energies of these hydrogen bonds are 8.96, 4.12, 3.00, and 2.21 kcal/mol, respectively. The interaction eneraction energies are farther decomposed according to Morokuma's energy decomposing scheme. It is found that the title complexes are mainly electrostatic, although the contribution of charge transfer is also significant.