Self-filling microwell arrays hold great promise for the production of 3D tumor spheroids and organoids for disease modeling and drug discovery.

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Functionalized graphene-based nanocomposites have opened new windows to address some challenges for increasing the sensitivity, accuracy and functionality of biosensors. Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the most potentially promising and technologically important conducting polymers, which brings together the electrical features of metals with intriguing properties of plastics including facile processing and controllable chemical and physical properties. PANI/graphene nanocomposites have attracted intense interest in various fields due to unique physicochemical properties including high conductivity, facile preparation and intriguing redox behavior. In this article, a functionalized graphene-grafted nanostructured PANI nanocomposite was applied for determining the ascorbic acid (AA) level. A significant current response was observed after treating the electrode surface with methacrylated graphene oxide (MeGO)/PANI nanocomposite. The amperometric responses showed a robust linear range of 8–5,000 µM and detection limit of 2 µM (N = 5). Excellent sensor selectivity was demonstrated in the presence of electroactive components interfering species, commonly found in real serum samples. This sensor is a promising candidate for rapid and selective determination of AA.

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Bladder cancer is one of the concerning urological malignant diseases in the world, which has a clinical need for effective targeted therapy. The development of nanotechnology-based gene delivery to bladder tumor sites is an effective strategy for targeted cancer therapy with low/no toxicity. With this view, in the present work, the mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) modified with c(RGDfK)-PLGA-PEG [c(RGDfK)-MSN NPs] were constructed for co-delivery of miR-34a and siPD-L1 within bladder cancer cells and tissues. Our findings showed that miR-34a is downregulated while PD-L1 is up-regulated in cell lines and animal studies. This nano-carrier is biocompatible in the serum environment and effectively protects miR-34a and siPD-L1 against serum degradation. However, we showed that c(RGDfK)-MSN NPs could simultaneously downregulate PD-L1 expression and up-regulate miR-34a in the T24 cells and T24 mice model and enhance anti-tumor effects both in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, these findings presented new suggestions for improving targeted therapeutic strategies with specified molecular objectives for bladder cancer treatment.

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