Light- and Redox-Responsive Block Copolymers of mPEG-SS-ONBMA as a Smart Drug Delivery Carrier for Cancer Therapy.

The development of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles for targeted drug delivery has attracted much research interest in improving therapeutic outcomes. This study designs copolymers responsive to ultraviolet (UV) light and glutathione (GSH). A disulfide linkage is positioned between a hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether (mPEG) and a hydrophobic o-nitrobenzyl methacrylate (ONBMA) to yield amphiphilic copolymers termed mPEG-SS-pONBMA. Three copolymers with different ONBMA lengths are synthesized and formulated into micelles. An increase in particle size and a decrease in critical micelle concentration go together with increasing ONBMA lengths. The ONB cleavage from mPEG-SS-pONBMA-formed micelles results in the transformation of hydrophobic cores into hydrophilic ones, accelerating drug release from the micelles. Obvious changes in morphology and molecular weight of micelles upon combinational treatments account for the dual-stimuli responsive property. Enhancement of a cell-killing effect is clearly observed in doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded micelles containing disulfide bonds compared with those containing dicarbon bonds upon UV light irradiation. Collectedly, the dual-stimuli-responsive mPEG-SS-pONBMA micelle is a better drug delivery carrier than the single-stimuli-responsive mPEG-CC-pONBMA micelle. After HT1080 cells were treated with the DOX-loaded micelles, the high expression levels of RIP-1 and MLKL indicate that the mechanism involved in cell death is mainly via the DOX-induced necroptosis pathway.

Fluoxetine ameliorates high-fat diet-induced metabolic abnormalities partially via reduced adipose triglyceride lipase-mediated adipocyte lipolysis.

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have more risk to develop depression. Fluoxetine (FLX), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is drug for mood and anxiety disorders. Previous studies showed that FLX could induce weight loss in non-depressed clinically overweight individuals. Although the anti-appetite effect of FLX is well-documented, its potential effects on metabolic abnormalities have not been investigated. In this study, we want to investigate whether FLX could be a therapeutic drug against high fat diet (HFD)-induced metabolic disorder. We generated metabolic disorders and depressed mouse model by feeding HFD for 12 weeks at the age of 8 weeks. Then, mice were intraperitoneally injected once daily with FLX (10 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg) for four weeks. Our results showed that FLX alleviated the HFD-induced metabolic dysfunctions and depressive phenotypes in mice. FLX improved systemic glucose homeostasis, at least in part, by improving visceral white adipose tissue (vWAT) insulin signaling. Moreover, FLX reduced circulating plasma leptin level, and decreased the expression of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) in vWAT. Our data revealed that FLX also reduced the triglyceride (TG) accumulation in vWAT. Therefore, these findings suggest that FLX exhibits significant potential on comorbidity of metabolic disorder and depression in mice.