Hyperactivated Ras regulates many oncogenic pathways in several malignant human cancers including glioblastoma and it is an attractive target for cancer therapies. Ras activation in cancer cells drives protein internalization via macropinocytosis as a key nutrient-gaining process. By utilizing this unique endocytosis pathway, here we create a biologically inspired nanostructure that can induce cancer cells to ‘drink drugs' for targeting activating transcription factor-5 (ATF5), an overexpressed anti-apoptotic transcription factor in glioblastoma. Apolipoprotein E3-reconstituted high-density lipoprotein is used to encapsulate the siRNA-loaded calcium phosphate core and facilitate it to penetrate the blood–brain barrier, thus targeting the glioblastoma cells in a macropinocytosis-dependent manner. The nanostructure carrying ATF5 siRNA exerts remarkable RNA-interfering efficiency, increases glioblastoma cell apoptosis and inhibits tumour cell growth both in vitro and in xenograft tumour models. This strategy of targeting the macropinocytosis caused by Ras activation provides a nanoparticle-based approach for precision therapy in glioblastoma and other Ras-activated cancers.

Amyloid beta (Aβ) and its aggregation forms in the brain have been suggested as key targets for the therapy of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, the development of nanocarriers that possess both blood-brain barrier permeability and Aβ-targeting ability is of great importance for the intervention of AD. Here we constructed a biomimetic nanocarrier named apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-reconstituted high density lipoprotein nanocarrier (ANC) from recombinant ApoE and synthetic lipids to achieve the above goals. α-Mangostin (α-M), a polyphenolic agent that can inhibit the formation of Aβ oligomers and fibrils and accelerate Aβ cellular degradation, was used as the model drug. Compared with the control liposome, ANC demonstrated about 54-fold higher cellular uptake in brain endothelial cell line in vitro in an ApoE-dependent manner and much higher brain delivery efficiency in vivo. Confocal microscopy analysis witnessed the penetration of ANC across the brain vessels and its accumulation at the surrounding of Aβ aggregates. Following the loading of α-M, the Aβ-binding affinity of the nanoformulation (ANC-α-M) was not reduced but even enhanced. The effect of ANC-α-M on facilitating the microglia-mediated uptake and degradation of Aβ was enhanced by 336% and 29-fold when compared with that of the nontreated control and also much higher than that of ANC. Following intravenous administration for 2 to 4 weeks, ANC-α-M exhibited the most efficient efficacy in decreasing amyloid deposition, attenuating microgliosis, and rescuing memory defect in SAMP8 mice, an AD mouse model. Taken together, the findings of this work provided strong evidence that the ApoE-based biomimetic nanocarrier could provide a promising platform for brain drug delivery toward the treatment of AD.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) exerts a heavy health burden for modern society and has a complicated pathological background. The accumulation of extracellular β-amyloid (Aβ) is crucial in AD pathogenesis, and Aβ-initiated secondary pathological processes could independently lead to neuronal degeneration and pathogenesis in AD. Thus, the development of combination therapeutics that can not only accelerate Aβ clearance but also simultaneously protect neurons or inhibit other subsequent pathological cascade represents a promising strategy for AD intervention. Here, we designed a nanostructure, monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GM1)-modified reconstituted high density lipoprotein (GM1-rHDL), that possesses antibody-like high binding affinity to Aβ, facilitates Aβ degradation by microglia, and Aβ efflux across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), displays high brain biodistribution efficiency following intranasal administration, and simultaneously allows the efficient loading of a neuroprotective peptide, NAP, as a nanoparticulate drug delivery system for the combination therapy of AD. The resulting multifunctional nanostructure, αNAP-GM1-rHDL, was found to be able to protect neurons from Aβ(1-42) oligomer/glutamic acid-induced cell toxicity better than GM1-rHDL in vitro and reduced Aβ deposition, ameliorated neurologic changes, and rescued memory loss more efficiently than both αNAP solution and GM1-rHDL in AD model mice following intranasal administration with no observable cytotoxicity noted. Taken together, this work presents direct experimental evidence of the rational design of a biomimetic nanostructure to serve as a safe and efficient multifunctional nanoplatform for the combination therapy of AD.

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Background and Objective: Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and its incidence rate is high. Traditional methods of lung cancer screening, such as those based on X-ray, lowdose computed tomography (LDCT), positron emission computed tomography (PET/CT), electronic bronchoscopy, and serum tumor markers were not satisfied with the urgent need in improving the patient survival rate. Thus, biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer are extremely needed.Studies have identified a variety of long-chain non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that are expressed at abnormal levels in patients with lung cancer which was believed as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of lung cancer. This review aims to discuss the role of lncRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), so as to provide insights into the prognosis of lung cancer. Methods:We searched PubMed database of the related scientific researches with outcomes from 09/16/2011 to 05/02/2022 focusing on lncRNA application in lung cancer via searching terms of "lncRNA AND lung cancer", "lncRNA AND non-small cell lung cancer", "lncRNA AND drug resistance", "lncRNA AND radio sensitivity". Published articles written in English available to readers were considered.