Bis-conjugation of Bioactive Molecules to Cisplatin-like Complexes through (2,2'-Bipyridine)-4,4'-Dicarboxylic Acid with Optimal Cytotoxicity Profile Provided by the Combination Ethacrynic Acid/Flurbiprofen.

A facile route to PtII complexes doubly functionalized with bioactive molecules through a bipyridine-type ligand is described. Initially, ligands LEE (containing two ethacrynic acid units), LEF (ethacrynic acid+flurbiprofen) and LEB (ethacrynic acid+biotin) were obtained in moderate to good yields from 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid. Subsequent reaction of the ligands with [PtCl2 (DMSO)2 ] afforded complexes [PtCl2 (LEE )] (2), [PtCl2 (LEF )] (3) and [PtCl2 (LEB )] (4) in high yields. All compounds were fully characterized by analytical and spectroscopic methods. Complexes 2-4 are highly stable in water/DMSO solution at 37 °C after 72 h, whereas progressive release of the bioactive fragments was detected in a cell culture medium. The compounds were assessed for their in vitro antiproliferative activity towards tumorigenic A2780, A2780cisR and Y79 cells and non-tumourigenic HEK293 cells. In particular, the combination of ethacrynic acid and flurbiprofen in 3 overcomes cisplatin-based resistance and provides strong cancer cell selectivity. Enzyme inhibition assays on human GST P1 and human COX-2 and cross-experiments with complex 1, analogous to 2-4 but lacking bio-groups, revealed a clear synergy between the PtII frame and the bioactive organic components.

Manganese-doped green tea-derived carbon quantum dots as a targeted dual imaging and photodynamic therapy platform.

In this work, manganese-doped carbon quantum dots (Mn-CQDs) have been synthesized through a one-pot hydrothermal method by using waste green tea. The Mn2+ dopants were introduced to impart magnetic resonance capability. Upon optimization of the experimental conditions, magnetofluorescent Mn-CQDs exhibit an excitation-dependent blue emission. The abundant functional groups on Mn-CQDs not only promote water solubility but also allow straightforward functionalization with amine groups. The amine-terminated Mn-CQDs were then subsequently conjugated to folic acid (FA) and chlorin e6 (Ce6) to obtain the Mn-CQDs@FA/Ce6 magnetofluorescent photodynamic therapy (PDT) agent. in vitro studies using three different cells indicated specific targeting of Mn-CQDs@FA/Ce6 to the overexpressing folate receptor human epithelial carcinoma cell line (HeLa) cancer cells. Furthermore, Mn-CQDs@FA/Ce6 enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal with an r2 /r1 ratio of 5.77. Favorably, by using the Mn-CQDs@FA delivery system, active Ce6 can reach the cellular interior while its red fluorescence (FL) and reactive oxygen species generation can be retained, as has been verified by confocal microscopy. in vitro cell viability studies verified the biocompatibility of Mn-CQDs@FA/Ce6 nanohybrid with no significant toxicity up to 500 ppm while PDT treatment with 5 min irradiation (671 nm, 1 W cm-2 ) was effective in killing >90% of cells. The light-triggered Mn-CQDs@FA/Ce6 multifunctional hybrid can serve as a dual-modal FL/MRI probe and as an efficient PDT agent to detect and eradicate cancer cells remotely.

Synthesis of Cisplatin(IV) Prodrug-Tethered CuFeS2 Nanoparticles in Tumor-Targeted Chemotherapy and Photothermal Therapy.

In this study, for the first time, CuFeS2 nanocrystals were successfully prepared through a facile noninjection-based synthetic strategy, by reacting Cu and Fe precursors with dodecanethiol in a 1-octadecene solvent. This one-pot noninjection strategy features easy handling, large-scale production, and high synthetic reproducibility. Following hyaluronic acid (HA) encapsulation, CuFeS2 nanocrystals coated with HA (CuFeS2@HA) not only readily dispersed in water and showed improved biocompatibility but also possessed a tumor-specific targeting ability of cancer cells bearing the cluster determinant 44 (CD44) receptors. The encapsulated CuFeS2@HA showed broad optical absorbance from the visible to the near-infrared (NIR) region and high photothermal conversion efficiencies of about 74.2%. They can, therefore, be utilized for the photothermal ablation of cancer cells with NIR light irradiation. In addition, toxicity studies in vitro (B16F1 and HeLa) and in vivo (zebrafish embryos), as well as in vitro blood compatibility studies, indicated that CuFeS2@HA show low cytotoxicity at the doses required for photothermal therapy. More importantly, CuFeS2@HA can be used as delivery vehicles for chemotherapy cisplatin(IV) prodrug forming CuFeS2@HA-Pt(IV). Their release profile revealed pH- and glutathione-mediated drug release from CuFeS2@HA-Pt(IV), which may minimize the side effects of the drug to normal tissues during therapy. Subsequent in vitro experiments confirmed that the use of CuFeS2@HA-Pt(IV) provides an enhanced and synergistic therapeutic effect compared to that from the use of either chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone.

Sequential enzymatic derivatization coupled with online microdialysis sampling for simultaneous profiling of mouse tumor extracellular hydrogen peroxide, lactate, and glucose.

Probing tumor extracellular metabolites is a vitally important issue in current cancer biology. In this study an analytical system was constructed for the in vivo monitoring of mouse tumor extracellular hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), lactate, and glucose by means of microdialysis (MD) sampling and fluorescence determination in conjunction with a smart sequential enzymatic derivatization scheme-involving a loading sequence of fluorogenic reagent/horseradish peroxidase, microdialysate, lactate oxidase, pyruvate, and glucose oxidase-for step-by-step determination of sampled H2O2, lactate, and glucose in mouse tumor microdialysate. After optimization of the overall experimental parameters, the system's detection limit reached as low as 0.002 mM for H2O2, 0.058 mM for lactate, and 0.055 mM for glucose, based on 3 µL of microdialysate, suggesting great potential for determining tumor extracellular concentrations of lactate and glucose. Spike analyses of offline-collected mouse tumor microdialysate and monitoring of the basal concentrations of mouse tumor extracellular H2O2, lactate, and glucose, as well as those after imparting metabolic disturbance through intra-tumor administration of a glucose solution through a prior-implanted cannula, were conducted to demonstrate the system's applicability. Our results evidently indicate that hyphenation of an MD sampling device with an optimized sequential enzymatic derivatization scheme and a fluorescence spectrometer can be used successfully for multi-analyte monitoring of tumor extracellular metabolites in living animals.

Online open-tubular fractionation scheme coupled with push-pull perfusion sampling for profiling extravasation of gold nanoparticles in a mouse tumor model.

The extravasation of administered nano-drug carriers is a critical process for determining their distributions in target and non-target organs, as well as their pharmaceutical efficacies and side effects. To evaluate the extravasation behavior of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), currently the most popular drug delivery system, in a mouse tumor model, in this study we employed push-pull perfusion (PPP) as a means of continuously sampling tumor extracellular AuNPs. To facilitate quantification of the extravasated AuNPs through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, we also developed a novel online open-tubular fractionation scheme to allow interference-free determination of the sampled extracellular AuNPs from the coexisting biological matrix. After optimizing the flow-through volume and flow rate of this proposed fractionation scheme, we found that (i) the system's temporal resolution was 7.5h(-1), (ii) the stability presented by the coefficient of variation was less than 10% (6-h continuous measurement), and (iii) the detection limits for the administered AuNPs were in the range 0.057-0.068µgL(-1). Following an intravenous dosage of AuNPs (0.3mgkg(-1) body weight), in vivo acquired profiles indicated that the pegylated AuNPs (PEG-AuNPs) had greater tendency toward extravasating into the tumor extracellular space. We also observed that the accumulation of nanoparticles in the whole tumor tissues was higher for PEG-AuNPs than for non-pegylated ones. Overall, pegylation appears to promote the extravasation and accumulation of AuNPs for nano-drug delivery applications.

Using copper ions to amplify ROS-mediated fluorescence for continuous online monitoring of extracellular glucose in living rat brain.

In this study we developed a facile and sensitive method for continuous monitoring of extracellular glucose concentration in living rat brain through microdialysis (MD) sampling in conjunction with (i) online sample derivatization using glucose oxidase to generate H2O2, which converted a reactive oxygen species-responsive fluorescent dye, 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCFH), into fluorescent species, and (ii) a novel non-immobilized enzyme-based fluorescence assay strategy, featuring copper ion (Cu(2+))-facilitated amplification of the fluorescence intensity. After evaluating the experimental conditions for glucose oxidation and fluorescence generation, the introduction of Cu(2+) ions to this system resulted in an additional 51-fold amplification of the net fluorescence intensity. By sequentially loading brain microdialysate into the dual sample collection loops, the sampling frequency was 7.5h(-1). Based on a 40-µL sample volume, the system's detection limit reached as low as 0.18 mM, sufficiently accurate to determine the extracellular glucose concentrations in living rat brains. To demonstrate the proposed system's practical performance and applicability, we conducted (i) spike analyses of biomolecule-rich fetal bovine serum sample, confirming that the analytical reliability was similar to that of a commercial glucose kit, and (ii) in vivo dynamic monitoring of the extracellular glucose concentrations in living rat brains after inducing neural depolarization by perfusing a high-K(+) medium from the MD probe.