Aza-BODIPY with two efficacious fragments for NIR light-driven photothermal therapy by triggering cancer cell apoptosis.

The reasonable structure of aza-BODIPY renders it as an efficient photothermal reagent for photothermal therapy. Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of aza-BODIPY NMeBu with the free rotating tert-butyl group and the dimethylamino-substituted segment to promote the photothermal conversion via the excited state non-radiative transition. NMeBu was found to be the π-π stacking form in the unit cell based on X-ray analysis. NMeBu-NPs by self-assembly possessed a near-infrared absorption (λabs = 772 nm), and once activated by near-infrared light, the photothermal efficiency in aqueous solution can reach 49.3%. NMeBu-NPs can penetrate the cell and trigger cell death via the apoptosis pathway under low concentration and low light power irradiation, thereby avoiding dark toxicity. Aza-BODIPY created using this procedure has excellent photothermal efficiency and could serve as a potential candidate for the treatment of cancer cells and tumors.

Effect of dietary Bacillus coagulans supplementation on growth performance and immune responses of broiler chickens challenged by Salmonella enteritidis.

This study was conducted to evaluate the protective efficacy of dietary Bacillus coagulans (B. coagulans) supplementation in birds receiving Salmonella enteritidis (SE). Two hundred and forty 1-day-old Cobb broilers were randomly assigned to 2 × 2 factorial arrangements of treatments with 2 levels of dietary B. coagulans (0 or 400 mg/kg) and 2 levels of SE challenge (0 or 1 × 109 SE between d 9 to 11). Results showed that SE infection did not affect growth performance, but caused intestinal inflammation and barrier function impairment by reducing intestinal goblet cells and beneficial bacteria numbers, increasing cecal Salmonella colonization and liver Salmonella invasion, downregulating jejunal mucin-2 (at 7 and 17 d post-infection, DPI), TLR2 (at 7 and 17 DPI), TLR4 (at 17 DPI), TNFSF15 (at 7 and 17 DPI) gene mRNA levels, and upregulating jejunal IFN-γ mRNA levels (at 17 DPI) compared to uninfected birds. Moreover, SE infection also elevated the concentration of jejunal anti-Salmonella IgA and sera anti-Salmonella IgG compared to uninfected birds. However, chickens received B. coagulans diets showed significant increase in body weight gain and weight gain to feed intake ratio from d 15 to 21, alkaline phosphatase activity (at 7 DPI), cecal Lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium numbers (at 7 DPI; at 17 DPI), villous height: crypt ratio (at 17 DPI), and goblet cell numbers (at 7 and 17 DPI), whereas exhibiting reduced jejunal crypt depth (at 17 DPI), cecal Escherichia coli (at 7, 17, and 31 DPI), and Salmonella (at 7 and 17 DPI) levels compared with the non-supplemented birds, regardless of SE infection. In addition, B. coagulans supplement upregulated lysozyme mRNA levels (at 17 DPI), downregulated IFN-γ mRNA levels (at 7 and 17 DPI), showed an increased trend in Fowlicidin-2 mRNA levels (at 7 DPI) and a reduced trend in liver Salmonella load compared to the non-supplemented control. These data indicated that B. coagulans has a protective effect in SE infected broilers.