Betaine-Based and Polyguanidine-Inserted Zwitterionic Micelle as a Promising Platform to Conquer the Intestinal Mucosal Barrier.

Developing nanocarriers for oral drug delivery is often hampered by the dilemma of balancing mucus permeation and epithelium absorption, since huge differences in surface properties are required for sequentially overcoming these two processes. Inspired by mucus-penetrating viruses that universally possess a dense charge distribution with equal opposite charges on their surfaces, we rationally designed and constructed a poly(carboxybetaine)-based and polyguanidine-inserted cationic micelle platform (hybrid micelle) for oral drug delivery. The optimized hybrid micelle exhibited a great capacity for sequentially overcoming the mucus and villi barriers. It was demonstrated that a longer zwitterionic chain was favorable for mucus diffusion for hybrid micelles but not conducive to cellular uptake. In addition, the significantly enhanced internalization absorption of hybrid micelles was attributed to the synergistic effect of polyguanidine and proton-assisted amine acid transporter 1 (PAT1). Moreover, the retrograde pathway was mainly involved in the intracellular transport of hybrid micelles and transcytosis delivery. Furthermore, the prominent intestinal mucosa absorption in situ and in vivo liver distribution of the oral hybrid micelle were both detected. The results of this study indicated that the hybrid micelles were capable of conquering the intestinal mucosal barrier, having a great potential for oral application of drugs with poor oral bioavailability.

Metal-Organic Frameworks Facilitate Nucleic Acids for Multimode Synergistic Therapy of Breast Cancer.

Compared with traditional medical methods, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy are the new fields of cancer treatment, and they more accurately and effectively obtain preferable therapeutic effects. In this study, a chemotherapy drug-free nanotherapeutic system based on ZIF-90 encapsulated with Ce6-G3139 and Ce6-DNAzyme for gene and photodynamic therapies was constructed. Once entering the cancer cell, the therapy system will decompose and release Zn2+, Ce6-G3139, and Ce6-DNAzyme in the acidic environment. On the one hand, G3139 binds to the antiapoptotic gene BCL-2 in tumor cells and downregulates related proteins to inhibit tumor proliferation. On the other hand, Zn2+ produced by the decomposition of ZIF-90 can be used as a cofactor to activate the cleavage activity of DNAzyme to initiate gene therapy. Proliferation and metastasis of tumors were further inhibited by DNAzyme, targeting and cutting the gene of human early growth factor-1 (EGR-1). In addition, the photosensitizer Ce6 carried by the nucleic acid will produce cytotoxic ROS to kill cancer cells after irradiation. The results of this study demonstrated that the designed nanoplatform, which synergistically combines gene and photodynamic therapies, has shown great potential for cancer treatment.

Hypoxia-responsive covalent organic framework by single NIR laser-triggered for multimodal synergistic therapy of triple-negative breast cancer.

In recent years, laser-mediated photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy have attracted widespread attention due to their minimally invasive, easy to operate characteristics and high specificity. However, the traditional photodynamic or photothermal therapy exist several shortcomings such as the hypoxic microenvironment, intracellular heat shock proteins or complex operation. In this study, covalent organic framework (COF) was used as the drug carrier to equip with the photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) and the hypoxia-activating prodrug AQ4N. The hyaluronic acid (HA) was modified on the surface of COF to obtain the HA-COF@ICG/AQ4N drug delivery system. HA-modified COF delivery systems can target tumor cells through recognize CD44 which is overexpressed in the surface of tumor cells membrane. Under the irradiation of single NIR laser, ICG that can excite the nanoplatform simultaneously produces a combined effect of photodynamic and photothermal. At the same time, photodynamic therapy through depleting intracellular oxygen exacerbates the hypoxic state of the tumor microenvironment, which in turn enhances AQ4N reduced to chemotherapeutic drug AQ4, producing a synergistic cascade antitumor effect. The results of our study by tumor cell and tumor spheroids indicated that the hypoxia-activated multi-functional nanoplatform could effectively inhibit the growth and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer.

Graphene Oxide Biosensors Based on Hybridization Chain Reaction Signal Amplification for Detecting Biomarkers of Radiation-Resistant Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and Imaging in Living Cells.

Since microRNA-205 (miRNA-205) is a predictive biomarker for antiradiation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), quantitative detection of miRNA-205 is important for developing personalized strategies for the treatment of NPC. In this investigation, based on the graphene oxide (GO) sensor and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) for fluorescence signal amplification, a highly sensitive and selective detection method for miRNA-205 was designed. A target-recycling mechanism is employed, where a single miRNA-205 target triggers the signal amplification of many DNA signal probes. The biosensor shows the ability to analyze miRNA-205 in solution, and it can detect miRNA-205 at concentrations as low as 311.96 pM. Furthermore, the method is specific in that it distinguishes between a target miRNA and a sequence with single-, double-, and three-base mismatches, as well as other miRNAs. Considering its simplicity and superior sensitivity, it was also verified in 1‰ serum with a detection limit of 111.65 pM. Importantly, the method successfully demonstrated that miRNA-205 could be imaged in living cells, which provided the possibility of localizing target molecules in live cell imaging applications. This method has great clinical application potential in the determination of miRNA-205, a biomarker for radiation-resistant NPC.

Simultaneous Delivery of antimiR-21 and Doxorubicin by Graphene Oxide for Reducing Toxicity in Cancer Therapy.

Graphene oxide (GO) has been studied by many researchers for its potential drug-delivery value. In order to reduce the side effects of anticancer drugs by decreasing the dosage and maintain the therapeutic effects, a dual drug-delivery system that used GO as a carrier and simultaneously loaded with antitumor drugs and antimir-21 was rationally designed for the cooperative treatment of tumors. Results obtained from our studies have found that MDA-MB-231 cells were inhibited in low Dox dose. The outcomes of confocal microscopy indicated that Dox and antimiR-21 could be released rapidly in cancer cells, which is good for killing cancer cells. In addition, qRT-PCR further demonstrated that miR-21 was silenced by antimiR-21. Consequently, GO has a great potential to codeliver chemotherapeutic drugs and gene drugs in cancer combination therapy for reducing toxicity.

A graphene oxide fluorescent sensing platform for sensitive and specific detecting biomarker of radiation-resistant nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Since microRNA-205 (miR-205) is predictive biomarkers for radiation-resistant of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, monitoring of the dynamic variation of miR-205 is of great interest for developing a personalized strategy for the treatment of NPC. Herein, a method for detection of miR-205 was designed based on graphene oxide (GO) and fluorescent probe. The method was successfully used to sensitively and selectively assay miR-205 in aqueous solution, and a low limit of detection of 1.18 nM was obtained in the range 0-300 nM and R2 = 0.990. In addition, the designed platform is specific in that it can distinguish the target miRNA from non-target miRNAs, and even the sequences with single base, double base and three base mismatches. Considering the simplicity and superior sensitivity, it has great potential for clinical application in determining biomarker of radiation-resistant nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Signal amplification method for miR-205 assay through combining graphene oxide with duplex-specific nuclease.

Since microRNA-205 (miR-205) is a predictive biomarker for anti-radiation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), quantitative detection of miR-205 is important for developing personalized strategies for the treatment of NPC. In this investigation, based on the graphene oxide sensor and duplex specific nuclease (DSN) for fluorescence signal amplification, a highly sensitive detection method for miR-205 was designed. A target-recycling mechanism is employed, where a single miR-205 target triggers the cleavage of many DNA signal probes. The method shows the ability to analyze miR-205 in solution, and it can detect miR-205 at concentrations as low as 132 pmol L-1 with a linear range of 5-40 nmol L-1. Furthermore, the method is specific in that it distinguishes between a target miRNA and a sequence with single base, double base and three base mismatches, as well as other miRNAs. Considering simplicity and excellent sensitivity/specificity, it is promising for applications in radioresistance studies as well as the early clinical diagnosis of NPC.