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The development of drugs with rapid distribution in the kidney and long-term retention in the renal tubule is a breakthrough for enhanced treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI). Here, l-serine–modified chitosan (SC) was synthesized as a potential AKI kidney–targeting agent due to the native cationic property of chitosan and specific interaction between kidney injury molecule–1 (Kim-1) and serine. Results indicated that SC was rapidly accumulated and long-term retained in ischemia-reperfusion–induced AKI kidneys, especially in renal tubules, which was possibly due to the specific interactions between SC and Kim-1. SC-TK-SS31 was then prepared by conjugating SS31, a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant, to SC via reactive oxygen species (ROS)–sensitive thioketal linker. Because of the effective renal distribution combined with ROS-responsive drug release behavior, the administration of SC-TK-SS31 led to an enhanced therapeutic effect of SS31 by protecting mitochondria from damage and reducing the oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell apoptosis.

Early pregnancy loss is the most common complication of human reproduction. Given the complexities of early development, it is likely that many mechanisms are involved. Knowledge of differences in protein expression in parallel profiling is essential to understand the comprehensive pathophysiological mechanism underlying early pregnancy loss. To identify proteins with different expression profiles related to early pregnancy loss, we applied a proteomic approach and performed two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) on six placental villous tissues from patients with early pregnancy loss and six from normal pregnant women, followed by comparison of the silver-stained 2-DE profiles. It was found that 13 proteins were downregulated and 5 proteins were upregulated significantly (P < 0.05) in early pregnancy loss as determined by spot volume. Among them, 10 downregulated and 2 upregulated spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Anomalies of these proteins, including three principal antioxidant enzymes (copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase, peroxiredoxin 3, and thioredoxin-like 1 protein), S100 calcium binding protein, galectin-1, chorionic somatomammotropin hormone 1, transthyretin, fas inhibitory molecule, eukaryotic translation elongation factor, RNA-binding protein, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2N, and proteasome beta-subunit, indicate widespread failure in cell regulations and processes such as antioxidative defense, differentiation, cell proliferation, metabolism, apoptosis, transcription, and proteolysis in early pregnancy loss. This study has identified several proteins that are associated with placentation and early development, shedding a new insight into the proteins that may be potentially involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying early pregnancy loss.

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Spinal cord injury (SCI) routinely causes the immediate loss and disruption of neurons followed by complicated secondary injuries, including inflammation, oxidative stress, and dense glial scar formation. Inhibitory factors in the lesion scar and poor intrinsic neural regeneration capacity restrict functional recovery after injury. Minocycline, which has neuroprotective activity, can alleviate secondary injury, but the long-term administration of this drug may cause toxicity. Polysialic acid (PSA) is a large cell-surface carbohydrate that is critical for central nervous system development and is capable of promoting precursor cell migration, axon path finding, and synaptic remodeling; thus, PSA plays a vital role in tissue repair and regeneration. Here, we developed a PSA-based minocycline-loaded nanodrug delivery system (PSM) for the synergistic therapy of spinal cord injury. The prepared PSM exerted marked anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activities both in vitro and in vivo. The administration of PSM could significantly protect neurons and myelin sheaths from damage, reduce the formation of glial scar, recruit endogenous neural stem cells to the lesion site, and promote the regeneration of neurons and the extension of long axons throughout the glial scar, thereby largely improving the locomotor function of SCI rats and exerting a superior therapeutic effect. The findings might provide a novel strategy for SCI synergistic therapy and the utilization of PSA in other central nervous system diseases.

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Some specific chemotherapeutic drugs are able to enhance tumor immunogenicity and facilitate antitumor immunity by inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD). However, tumor immunosuppression induced by the adenosine pathway hampers this effect. In this study, E-selectin-modified thermal-sensitive micelles are designed to co-deliver a chemotherapeutic drug (doxorubicin, DOX) and an A2A adenosine receptor antagonist (SCH 58261), which simultaneously exhibit chemo-immunotherapeutic effects when applied with microwave irradiation. After intravenous injection, the fabricated micelles effectively adhere to the surface of leukocytes in peripheral blood mediated by E-selectin, and thereby hitchhiking with leukocytes to achieve a higher accumulation at the tumor site. Further, local microwave irradiation is applied to induce hyperthermia and accelerates the release rate of drugs from micelles. Rapidly released DOX induces tumor ICD and elicits tumor-specific immunity, while SCH 58261 alleviates immunosuppression caused by the adenosine pathway, further enhancing DOX-induced antitumor immunity. In conclusion, this study presents a strategy to increase the tumor accumulation of drugs by hitchhiking with leukocytes, and the synergistic strategy of chemo-immunotherapy not only effectively arrested primary tumor growth, but also exhibited superior effects in terms of antimetastasis, antirecurrence and antirechallenge.