Recently, attempts have been made to apply graphene oxide (GO) in the field of biology and medicine, such as DNA sensing and drug delivery with some necessary modifications. Therefore, the toxicity of GO must be evaluated before it is applied further in biomedicine. In this paper, the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of GO to human lung fibroblast (HLF) cells have been assessed with methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), sub-G1 measurement and comet assays, and the mechanism of its toxicity has been explored. Various modifications of GO have been made to help us determine the factors which could affect the toxicity of GO. The results indicated that cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of GO to HLF cells were concentration dependent, and the genotoxicity induced by GO was more severe than the cytotoxicity to HLF cells. Oxidative stress mediated by GO might explain the reason of its toxic effect. Furthermore, the electronic charge on the surface of GO would play a very important role in the toxicity of GO to HLF cells.

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Immunotherapy has become a promising alternative therapeutic approach for cancer patients. Interruption of immune checkpoints, such as CTLA-4 and PD-1, has been verified to be a successful means for cancer therapy in clinical trials. mAb targeting PD-L1 has been approved to treat urothelial carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, or Merkel cell carcinoma by the FDA. However, the high cost of the antibody can limit its application. In our study, targeting PD-L1 peptide (TPP-1), which specifically binds to PD-L1 with high affinity, was identified through bacterial surface display methods. Using a T-cell activation assay and mixed lymphocyte reaction, TPP-1 was verified to interfere with the interaction of PD-1/PD-L1. To examine the inhibitory effect of TPP-1 on tumor growth , a xenograft mouse model using H460 cells was established. The growth rate of tumor masses in TPP-1 or PD-L1 antibody-treated mice was 56% or 71% lower than that in control peptide-treated mice, respectively, indicating that TPP-1 inhibits, or at least retards, tumor growth. IHC of the tumors showed that IFNγ and granzyme B expression increased in the TPP-1 or PD-L1 antibody-treated groups, indicating that TPP-1 attenuates the inhibitory effect of PD-L1 on T cells and that T cells may get reactivated. On the basis of our data, TPP-1 peptide could work as an alternative to antibodies for tumor immunotherapy..

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According to the cancer stem cell theory, cancers can be initiated by cancer stem cells. This makes cancer stem cells prime targets for therapeutic intervention. Eradicating cancer stem cells by efficient targeting agents may have the potential to cure cancer. In this review, we summarize recent breakthroughs that have improved our understanding of cancer stem cells, and we discuss the therapeutic strategy of targeting cancer stem cells, a promising future direction for cancer stem cell research.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies, and thus better understanding of its molecular pathology is crucial for us to devise more effective treatment of this deadly disease. As cancer cell line remains a convenient starting point for discovery and proof-of-concept studies, here we report the miRNA expression characteristics of two cell lines, MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1, and discovered three miRNAs (miR-7-5p, let-7d, and miR-135b-5p) that are involved in cancer stem cells (CSCs) suppression. After transfection of each miRNA’s mimic into PANC-1 cells which exhibits higher stemness feature than MIA-PaCa-2 cells, partial reduction of CSC surface markers and inhibition of tumor sphere formation were observed. These results enlighten us to consider miRNAs as potential therapeutic agents for pancreatic cancer patients via specific and effective inhibition of CSCs.