Advanced colorectal cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with a 5-year survival rate of only 12% for patients with the metastatic disease. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as the antibodies inhibiting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis, are among the most promising immunotherapies for patients with advanced colon cancer, but their durable response rate remains low. We herein report the use of immunogenic nanoparticles to augment the antitumour efficacy of PD-L1 antibody-mediated cancer immunotherapy. Nanoscale coordination polymer (NCP) core-shell nanoparticles carry oxaliplatin in the core and the photosensitizer pyropheophorbide-lipid conjugate (pyrolipid) in the shell (NCP@pyrolipid) for effective chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Synergy between oxaliplatin and pyrolipid-induced PDT kills tumour cells and provokes an immune response, resulting in calreticulin exposure on the cell surface, antitumour vaccination and an abscopal effect. When combined with anti-PD-L1 therapy, NCP@pyrolipid mediates regression of both light-irradiated primary tumours and non-irradiated distant tumours by inducing a strong tumour-specific immune response.

Nanoscale coordination polymers (NCPs) are self-assembled from metal ions and organic bridging ligands, and can overcome many drawbacks of existing drug delivery systems by virtue of tunable compositions, sizes, and shapes; high drug loadings; ease of surface modification; and intrinsic biodegradability. Here we report the self-assembly of zinc bisphosphonate NCPs that carry 48±3 wt% cisplatin prodrug and 45±5 wt% oxaliplatin prodrug. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies in mice show minimal uptake of pegylated NCPs by the mononuclear phagocyte system and excellent blood circulation half-lives of 16.4±2.9 and 12.0±3.9 h for the NCPs carrying cisplatin and oxaliplatin, respectively. In all tumor xenograft models evaluated, including CT26 colon cancer, H460 lung cancer, and AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer, pegylated NCPs show superior potency and efficacy compared to free drugs. As the first example of using NCPs as nanotherapeutics with enhanced antitumor activities, this study establishes NCPs as a promising drug delivery platform for cancer therapy.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of hybrid materials self-assembled from organic bridging ligands and metal ion/cluster connecting points. The combination of a variety of organic linkers, metal ions/clusters, and structural motifs can lead to an infinite array of new materials with interesting properties for many applications. In this Forum article, we discuss the design and applications of MOFs in chemical sensing and biological imaging. The first half of this article focuses on the development of MOFs as chemical sensors by highlighting how unique attributes of MOFs can be utilized to enhance sensitivity and selectivity. We also discuss some of the issues that need to be addressed in order to develop practically useful MOF sensors. The second half of this article focuses on the design and applications of nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (NMOFs) as imaging contrast agents. NMOFs possess several interesting attributes, such as high cargo loading capacity, ease of post-modification, tunable size and shape, and intrinsic biodegradability, to make them excellent candidates as imaging contrast agents. We discuss the use of representative NMOFs in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray computed tomography (CT), and optical imaging (OI). Although still in their infancy, we believe that the compositional tunability and mild synthetic conditions of NMOF imaging agents should greatly facilitate their further development for clinical translation.

Gemcitabine has long been the standard of care for treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), despite its poor pharmacokinetics/dynamics and rapid development of drug resistance. In this study, we have developed a novel nanoparticle platform based on nanoscale coordination polymer-1 (NCP-1) for simultaneous delivery of two chemotherapeutics, oxaliplatin and gemcitabine monophosphate (GMP), at 30 wt.% and 12 wt.% drug loadings, respectively. A strong synergistic therapeutic effect of oxaliplatin and GMP was observed in vitro against AsPc-1 and BxPc-3 pancreatic cancer cells. NCP-1 particles effectively avoid uptake by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) in vivo with a long blood circulation half-life of 10.1±3.3 h, and potently inhibit tumor growth when compared to NCP particles carrying oxaliplatin or GMP alone. Our findings demonstrate NCP-1 as a novel nanocarrier for the co-delivery of two chemotherapeutics that have distinctive mechanisms of action to simultaneously disrupt multiple anticancer pathways with maximal therapeutic efficacy and minimal side effects.

Recently, mosaicism for genome-wide paternal uniparental disomy (patUPD), attributed to androgenetic/biparental mosaicism, has been shown to underlie placental mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD), a distinctive cystic placental phenotype. Manifestations of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) have been observed in approximately one-third of fetuses or liveborn infants from pregnancies complicated by PMD. There are very few reports describing liveborn individuals with proven mosaicism for genome-wide patUPD in somatic tissues. We report two further children with complex phenotypes including some findings of BWS, congenital hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, prolonged feeding difficulty and failure to thrive in infancy. The first developed short stature, bilateral pheochromocytomas and progressive arterial stenoses, and the second had congenital adrenal cysts, and later developed hepatoblastoma and patchy hyperpigmentation. Leukocyte DNA methylation studies of KCNQ1OT1/LIT1 and H19 loci (11p15.5) showed almost complete loss of maternal methylation (LOM) in patient 1 and partial LOM in patient 2. Microsatellite marker panels showed whole chromosome 11 patUPD. SNP array studies in both were consistent with mosaic genome-wide patUPD in leukocytes, while fibroblast DNA in Patient 1 showed biparental inheritance. This report further illustrates the clinical consequences of mosaicism for genome-wide patUPD, which results in complex and variable phenotypes. Studies for genome-wide UPD should be considered in individuals with atypical UPD phenotypes.

No abstract

Drug resistance impedes the successful treatment of many types of cancers, especially ovarian cancer (OCa). To counter this problem, we developed novel long-circulating, self-assembled core–shell nanoscale coordination polymer (NCP) nanoparticles that efficiently deliver multiple therapeutics with different mechanisms of action to enhance synergistic therapeutic effects. These NCP particles contain high payloads of chemotherapeutics cisplatin or cisplatin plus gemcitabine in the core and pooled siRNAs that target multidrug resistant (MDR) genes in the shell. The NCP particles possess efficient endosomal escape via a novel carbon dioxide release mechanism without compromising the neutral surface charge required for long blood circulation and effectively downregulate MDR gene expression in vivo to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy by several orders of magnitude. Even at low doses, intraperitoneal injections of nanoparticles led to effective and long-lasting tumor regression/eradication in subcutaneous and intraperitoneal xenograft mouse models of cisplatin-resistant OCa. By silencing MDR genes in tumors, self-assembled core–shell nanoparticles promise a more effective chemotherapeutic treatment for many challenging cancers.

Impact statementAs atherosclerosis remains the leading cause of death, there is an urgent need to develop better tools for treatment of the disease. The ability to improve current treatments relies on enhancing the accuracy of in vitro and in vivo atherosclerotic models. While in vivo models provide all the relevant testing parameters, variability between animals and among models used is a barrier to reproducible results and comparability of NP efficacy. In vitro cultures isolate cells into microenvironments that fail to take into account flow separation and shear stress, which are characteristics of atherosclerotic lesions. Flow-based in vitro models provide more physiologically relevant platforms, bridging the gap between in vivo and 2D in vitro models. This is the first review that presents recent advances regarding endothelial cell-targeting using adhesion molecules in light of in vivo and flow-based in vitro models, providing insights for future development of optimal strategies against atherosclerosis. AbstractAtherosclerosis is a leading cause of death worldwide; in addition to lipid dysfunction, chronic arterial wall inflammation is a key component of atherosclerosis. Techniques that target cell adhesion molecules, which are overexpressed during inflammation, are effective methods to detect and treat atherosclerosis. Specifically, research groups have identified vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule, and selectins (E-selectin and P-selectin) as correlated to atherogenesis. In this review, we discuss recent strategies both in vivo and in vitro that target cell adhesion molecules. First, we discuss peptide-based and antibody (Ab)-based nanoparticles utilized in vivo for diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic applications. Second, we discuss flow-based in vitro models that serve to reduce the traditional disadvantages of in vivo studies such as variability, time to develop the disease, and ethical burden, but preserve physiological relevance. The knowledge gained from these targeting studies can be translated into clinical solutions for improved detection, prevention, and treatment of atherosclerosis.