Although a number of therapeutic
strategies have been applied in
cancer therapy, treatment for cancer metastasis is challenging due
to unsatisfactory cure rate and easy cancer recurrence. In our work,
nanocomposites (NCs) based on polypyrrole-coated mesoporous TiO2 with a suitable size are prepared through a modified soft-templating
strategy, which integrates double prodrugs (doxorubicin (DOX) prodrug
and aspirin prodrug) with superior drug loading capacity. Under external
stimulation of near-infrared (NIR) and ultrasound (US), the prepared
nanocomposites have an excellent photothermal conversion efficiency
(over 50.8%) and a satisfactory sonodynamic therapeutic effect, and
simultaneous prodrug activation and drug release occur rapidly under
external stimulation. Through intravenous injection, the tumor area
can be clearly seen through thermal imaging, benefiting from the enhanced
permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Through synergistic therapy,
cancer cell toxicity and the tumor inhibition effect are significantly
enhanced. Moreover, downregulated inflammatory factors also reduce
the risk of cancer recurrence. In general, the designed NCs provide
a potential alternative for synergistic therapy as well as downregulation
of inflammatory cytokines.
The Drosophila Toll signaling pathway mainly responds to Gram-positive (G+) bacteria or fungal infection, which is highly conserved with mammalian TLR signaling pathway. Although many positive and negative regulators involved in the immune response of the Toll pathway have been identified in Drosophila, the roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in Drosophila Toll immune responses are poorly understood to date. In this study, our results demonstrate that lncRNA-CR33942 is mainly expressed in the nucleus and upregulated after Micrococcus luteus infection. Especially, lncRNA-CR33942 not only modulates differential expressions of multiple antimicrobial peptide genes but also affects the Drosophila survival rate during response to G+ bacterial infection based on the transiently overexpressing and the knockdown lncRNA-CR33942 assays in vivo. Mechanically, lncRNA-CR33942 interacts with the NF-κB transcription factors Dorsal-related immunity factor/Dorsal to promote the transcriptions of antimicrobial peptides drosomycin and metchnikowin, thus enhancing Drosophila Toll immune responses. Taken together, this study identifies lncRNA-CR33942 as a positive regulator of Drosophila innate immune response to G+ bacterial infection to facilitate Toll signaling via interacting with Dorsal-related immunity factor/Dorsal. It would be helpful to reveal the roles of lncRNAs in Toll immune response in Drosophila and provide insights into animal innate immunity.
In recent years, more and more research enthusiasm has been devoted to the development of emerging two‐dimensional (2D) monoelement materials (Xenes) and explored potential applications in various fields, especially biomedicine and bioimaging. The inspiring results attribute to their excellent physicochemical properties, including adjustable band gap, surface electronic layout characteristics, and so on, making it easier for surface modification in order to meet designated needs. As a popular interdisciplinary research frontier, a variety of methods for fabricating 2D Xenes have recently been adopted for pre‐preparing future practical bioimaging applications, which implies that these materials will have broad clinical application prospects in the future. In this review, we will concentrate on the family of 2D Xenes and summarize their fabrication and modification methods firstly. Then, their applications in bioimaging as nanocarriers will be described according to the Periodic Table of Elements. In addition, current challenges and prospects for further clinical applications will be under discussion and use black phosphorus as a typical example. At last, general conclusion will be made that it is worth expecting that 2D Xenes will play a key role in the next generation of oncologic bioimaging in the future.
This article is categorized under:
Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease
Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Toxicology of Nanomaterials
Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Regulatory and Policy Issues in Nanomedicine
Intractable cancer has threatened
human health all the time. Emerging
sonodynamic and photothermal therapy based on biocompatible black
phosphorus (BP) nanomaterials have become an attractive strategy due
to the satisfactory synergistic effect, low side effect, and good
biocompatibility. However, sonodynamic therapy of pure black phosphorus
nanosheets (BPS) is limited for fast electron recombination owing
to its special band gap. To solve this challenge, the modified nanocomposites
(NCs) integrating gold nanoparticles and polypyrrole (PPy) with BPS
were harvested through a moderate approach. The nanocomposites showed
the superior in vitro sonodynamic and photothermal conversion effect
through tumor cells. Moreover, compared with most of the reported
two-dimensional nanomaterials, it was demonstrated that Au-BPS-PPy-PEG
nanocomposites (i.e., GBP-PEG NCs) have the advantages of the synergistic
therapeutic effect and ignorable side effect through the 4T1-bearing
tumor model and biocompatible evaluation, respectively, attributing
to the enhanced electron transfer capacity, good biocompatibility
of BPS, and prominent photothermal conversion capacity of PPy. The
above results indicate that the prepared NCs have good application
prospects in the field of biomaterials for cancer therapy.
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