Cyclo[2]pyridine[8]pyrrole: An Expanded Porphyrinoid with Three Closed-Shell Oxidation States.

We report here an expanded porphyrinoid, cyclo[2]pyridine[8]pyrrole, 1, that can exist at three closed-shell oxidation levels. Macrocycle 1 was synthesized via the oxidative coupling of two open chain precursors and fully characterized by means of NMR and UV-vis spectroscopies, MS, and X-ray crystallography. Reduction of the fully oxidized form (1, blue) with NaBH4 produced either the half-oxidized (2, teal) or fully reduced forms (3, pale yellow), depending on the amount of reducing agent used and the presence or absence of air. Reduced products 2 or 3 can be oxidized to 1 by various oxidants (quinones, FeCl3, and AgPF6). Macrocycle 1 also undergoes proton-coupled reductions with I-, Br-, Cl-, SO32-, or S2O32- in the presence of an acid. Certain thiol-containing compounds likewise reduce 1 to 2 or 3. This conversion is accompanied by a readily discernible color change, making cyclo[2]pyridine[8]pyrrole 1 able to differentiate biothiols, such as cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy), and glutathione (GSH).

3D Hybrid Nanofiber Aerogels Combining with Nanoparticles Made of a Biocleavable and Targeting Polycation and MiR-26a for Bone Repair.

The healing of large bone defects represents a clinical challenge, often requiring some form of grafting. Three-dimensional (3D) nanofiber aerogels could be a promising bone graft due to their biomimetic morphology and controlled porous structures and composition. miR-26a has been reported to induce the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and facilitate bone formation. Introducing miR-26a with a suitable polymeric vector targeting BMSCs could improve and enhance the functions of 3D nanofiber aerogels for bone regeneration. Herein, we first developed the comb-shaped polycation (HA-SS-PGEA) carrying a targeting component, biocleavable groups and short ethanolamine (EA)-decorated poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) (abbreviated as PGEA) arms as miR-26a delivery vector. We then assessed the cytotoxicity and transfection efficiency of this polycation and cellular response to miR-26a-incorporated nanoparticles (NPs) in vitro. HA-SS-PGEA exhibited a stronger ability to transport miR-26a and exert its functions than the gold standard polyethyleneimine (PEI) and low-molecular-weight linear PGEA. We finally examined the efficacy of HA-SS-PGEA/miR-26a NPs loaded 3D hybrid nanofiber aerogels showing a positive effect on the cranial bone defect healing. Together, the combination of 3D nanofiber aerogels and functional NPs consisting of a biodegradable and targeting polycation and therapeutic miRNA could be a promising approach for bone regeneration.

Rodlike Supramolecular Nanoassemblies of Degradable Poly(Aspartic Acid) Derivatives and Hydroxyl-Rich Polycations for Effective Delivery of Versatile Tumor-Suppressive ncRNAs.

The delivery of tumor-suppressive noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) including short ncRNAs (i.e., miRNAs) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) is put forward to treat tumors. In this work, novel rodlike supramolecular nanoassemblies (CNC @CB[8] @ PGEA) of degradable poly(aspartic acid) (PAsp) derivatives-grafted cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and hydroxyl-rich polycations (ethanolamine-functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate), PGEA) are proposed via typical cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8])-based host-guest interactions for delivery of different ncRNAs to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Spindly CNCs, one kind of natural polysaccharide nanoparticles, possess good biocompatibility and unique physico-chemical properties. PGEA with abundant hydroxyl groups is one promising gene carrier with low cytotoxicity. PAsp can benefit the disassembly and degradability of nanoassemblies within cells. CNC @ CB[8]@PGEA combines the different unique properties of CNC, PGEA, and PAsp. CNC @ CB[8] @ PGEA effectively complexes the expression constructs of miR-101 (plasmid pc3.0-miR-101) and lncRNA MEG3 (plasmid pc3.0-MEG3). CNC @ CB[8] @ PGEA produces much better transfection performances than PGEA-containing assembly units. In addition, the codelivery system of CNC @ CB[8] @ PGEA/(pc3.0-MEG3+pc3.0-miR-101) nanocomplexes demonstrates better efficacy in suppressing HCC than CNC @ CB[8] @ PGEA/pc3.0-MEG3 or CNC @ CB[8] @ PGEA/pc3.0-miR-101 nanocomplexes alone. Such rodlike supramolecular nanoassemblies will provide a promising means to produce efficient delivery vectors of versatile tumor-suppressive nucleic acids.

Complexation-induced resolution enhancement of 3D-printed hydrogel constructs.

Three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel printing enables production of volumetric architectures containing desired structures using programmed automation processes. Our study reports a unique method of resolution enhancement purely relying on post-printing treatment of hydrogel constructs. By immersing a 3D-printed patterned hydrogel consisting of a hydrophilic polyionic polymer network in a solution of polyions of the opposite net charge, shrinking can rapidly occur resulting in various degrees of reduced dimensions comparing to the original pattern. This phenomenon, caused by complex coacervation and water expulsion, enables us to reduce linear dimensions of printed constructs while maintaining cytocompatible conditions in a cell type-dependent manner. We anticipate our shrinking printing technology to find widespread applications in promoting the current 3D printing capacities for generating higher-resolution hydrogel-based structures without necessarily having to involve complex hardware upgrades or other printing parameter alterations.

Decorating 3D Printed Scaffolds with Electrospun Nanofiber Segments for Tissue Engineering.

Repairing large tissue defects often represents a great challenge in clinics due to issues regarding lack of donors, mismatched sizes, irregular shapes, and immune rejection. 3D printed scaffolds are attractive for growing cells and producing tissue constructs because of the intricate control over pore size, porosity, and geometric shape, but the lack of biomimetic surface nanotopography and limited biomolecule presenting capacity render them less efficacious in regulating cell responses. Herein, a facile method for coating 3D printed scaffolds with electrospun nanofiber segments is reported. The surface morphology of modified 3D scaffolds changes dramatically, displaying a biomimetic nanofibrous structure, while the bulk mechanical property, pore size, and porosity are not significantly compromised. The short nanofibers-decorated 3D printed scaffolds significantly promote adhesion and proliferation of pre-osteoblasts and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Further immobilization of bone morphogenetic protein-2 mimicking peptides to nanofiber segments-decorated 3D printed scaffolds show enhanced mRNA expressions of osteogenic markers Runx2, Alp, OCN, and BSP in BMSCs, indicating the enhancement of BMSCs osteogenic differentiation. Together, the combination of 3D printing and electrospinning is a promising approach to greatly expand the functions of 3D printed scaffolds and enhance the efficacy of 3D printed scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Electrospinning: An enabling nanotechnology platform for drug delivery and regenerative medicine.

Electrospinning provides an enabling nanotechnology platform for generating a rich variety of novel structured materials in many biomedical applications including drug delivery, biosensing, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. In this review article, we begin with a thorough discussion on the method of producing 1D, 2D, and 3D electrospun nanofiber materials. In particular, we emphasize on how the 3D printing technology can contribute to the improvement of traditional electrospinning technology for the fabrication of 3D electrospun nanofiber materials as drug delivery devices/implants, scaffolds or living tissue constructs. We then highlight several notable examples of electrospun nanofiber materials in specific biomedical applications including cancer therapy, guiding cellular responses, engineering in vitro 3D tissue models, and tissue regeneration. Finally, we finish with conclusions and future perspectives of electrospun nanofiber materials for drug delivery and regenerative medicine.

MicroRNA-mediated silence of onco-lncRNA MALAT1 in different ESCC cells via ligand-functionalized hydroxyl-rich nanovectors.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal malignancies worldwide. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) MALAT1 acts as an essential oncogene lncRNA (onco-lncRNA) in the development of ESCC. Down-regulation of onco-lncRNA MALAT1 mediated by microRNA-101 (miR-101) and microRNA-217 (miR-217) has been proved to effectively suppress ESCC. In this study, poly(glycidyl methacrylate)-based star-like polycations with flanking folic acid (FA) ligands and rich hydrophilic hydroxyl groups (denoted as s-PGEA-FA) were proposed as efficient nanovectors to deliver miR-101 and miR-217 for silencing onco-lncRNA MALAT1 in different ESCC cells. The inhibition of ESCC by s-PGEA-FA/miRNA nanocomplexes would be achieved via subsequently targeting onco-lncRNA MALAT1 in ESCC cells. To evaluate the ESCC tumor-suppressing efficacy mediated by s-PGEA-FA/miRNA nanocomplexes, a series of assays were carried out, including gene transfection, cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell invasion. The results revealed that s-PGEA-FA-mediated miR-101 and miR-217 delivery effectively inhibited ESCC development, indicating the s-PGEA-FA nanovector was promising for future ESCC therapy.

Versatile Types of MRI-Visible Cationic Nanoparticles Involving Pullulan Polysaccharides for Multifunctional Gene Carriers.

Owing to the low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility, polysaccharides are good candidates for the development of promising biomaterials. In this paper, a series of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-visible cationic polymeric nanoparticles involving liver cell-targeting polysaccharides were flexibly designed for multifunctional gene delivery systems. The pullulan-based vector (PuPGEA) consisting of one liver cell-targeting pullulan backbone and ethanolamine-functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (denoted by BUCT-PGEA) side chains with abundant hydroxyl units and secondary amine was first prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization. The resultant cationic nanoparticles (PuPGEA-GdL or PuPGEA-GdW) with MRI functions were produced accordingly by assembling PuPGEA with aminophenylboronic acid-modified Gd-DTPA (GdL) or GdW10O36(9-) (GdW) via the corresponding etherification or electrostatic interaction. The properties of the PuPGEA-GdL and PuPGEA-GdW nanoparticles including pDNA condensation ability, cytotoxicity, gene transfection, cellular uptake, and in vitro and in vivo MRI were characterized in details. Such kinds of cationic nanoparticles exhibited good performances in gene transfection in liver cells. PuPGEA-GdW demonstrated much better MRI abilities. The present design of PuPGEA-based cationic nanoparticles with the liver cell-targeting polysaccharides and MRI contrast agents would shed light on the exploration of tumor-targetable multifunctional gene delivery systems.

PGMA-Based Star-Like Polycations with Plentiful Hydroxyl Groups Act as Highly Efficient miRNA Delivery Nanovectors for Effective Applications in Heart Diseases.

Poly(glycidyl methacrylate)-based star-like polycations with rich hydrophilic hydroxyl groups can efficiently transfer miRNA into primary cardiac fibroblasts for effective applications in cardiac diseases, such as inhibition of cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy.

Well-defined reducible cationic nanogels based on functionalized low-molecular-weight PGMA for effective pDNA and siRNA delivery.

UNLABELLED: Nucleic acid-based gene therapy is a promising treatment option to cure numerous intractable diseases. For non-viral gene carriers, low-molecular-weight polymeric vectors generally demonstrate poor transfection performance, but benefit their final removals from the body. Recently, it was reported that aminated poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) is one potential gene vector. Based on ethylenediamine (ED)-functionalized low-molecular-weight PGMA (denoted by PGED), a flexible strategy was herein proposed to design new well-defined reducible cationic nanogels (denoted by PGED-NGs) with friendly crosslinking reagents for highly efficient nucleic acid delivery. α-Lipoic acid (LA), one natural antioxidant in human body, was readily introduced into ED-functionalized PGMA and crosslinked to produce cationic PGED-NGs with plentiful reducible lipoyl groups. PGED-NGs could effectively complex plasmid DNA (pDNA) and short interfering RNA (siRNA). Compared with pristine PGED, PGED-NGs exhibited much better performance of pDNA transfection. PGED-NGs also could efficiently transport MALAT1 siRNA (siR-M) into hepatoma cells and significantly suppressed the cancer cell proliferation and migration. The present work indicated that reducible cationic nanogels involving LA crosslinking reagents are one kind of competitive candidates for high-performance nucleic acid delivery systems. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Recently, the design of new types of high-performance nanoparticles is of great significance in delivering therapeutics. Nucleic acid-based therapy is a promising treatment option to cure numerous intractable diseases. A facile and straightforward strategy to fabricate safe nucleic acid delivery nanovectors is highly desirable. In this work, based on ethylenediamine-functionalized low-molecular-weight poly(glycidyl methacrylate), a flexible strategy was proposed to design new well-defined reducible cationic nanogels (denoted by PGED-NGs) with α-Lipoic acid, one friendly crosslinking reagent, for highly efficient nucleic acid delivery. Such PGED-NGs possess plentiful reducible lipoyl groups, effectively encapsulated pDNA and siRNA and exhibited excellent abilities of nucleic acid delivery. The present work indicated that reducible cationic nanogels involving α-lipoic acid crosslinking reagents are one kind of competitive candidates for high-performance nucleic acid delivery systems.

A general strategy to prepare different types of polysaccharide-graft-poly(aspartic acid) as degradable gene carriers.

Owing to their unique properties such as low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility, poly(aspartic acid) (PAsp) and polysaccharides are good candidates for the development of new biomaterials. In order to construct better gene delivery systems by combining polysaccharides with PAsp, in this work, a general strategy is described for preparing series of polysaccharide-graft-PAsp (including cyclodextrin (CD), dextran (Dex) and chitosan (CS)) gene vectors. Such different polysaccharide-based vectors are compared systematically through a series of experiments including degradability, pDNA condensation capability, cytotoxicity and gene transfection ability. They possess good degradability, which would benefit the release of pDNA from the complexes. They exhibit significantly lower cytotoxicity than the control 'gold-standard' polyethylenimine (PEI, ∼25kDa). More importantly, the gene transfection efficiency of Dex- and CS-based vectors is 12-14-fold higher than CD-based ones. This present study indicates that properly grafting degradable PAsp from polysaccharide backbones is an effective means of producing a new class of degradable biomaterials.

Ligand-functionalized degradable polyplexes formed by cationic poly(aspartic acid)-grafted chitosan-cyclodextrin conjugates.

Polypeptide-based degradable polyplexes attracted considerable attention in drug delivery systems. Polysaccharides including cyclodextrin (CD), dextran, and chitosan (CS) were readily grafted with cationic poly(aspartic acid)s (PAsps). To further enhance the transfection performances of PAsp-based polyplexes, herein, different types of ligand (folic acid, FA)-functionalized degradable polyplexes were proposed based on the PAsp-grafted chitosan-cyclodextrin conjugate (CCPE), where multiple ß-CDs were tied on a CS chain. The FA-functionalized CCPE (i.e., CCPE-FA) was obtained via a host-guest interaction between the CD units of CCPE and the adamantane (Ad) species of Ad-modified FA (Ad-FA). The resulting CCPE/pDNA, CCPE-FA/pDNA, and ternary CCPE-FA/CCPE/pDNA (prepared by layer-by-layer assembly) polyplexes were investigated in detail using different cell lines. The CCPE-based polyplexes displayed much higher transfection efficiencies than the CS-based polyplexes reported earlier by us. The ternary polyplexes of CCPE-FA/CCPE/pDNA produced excellent gene transfection abilities in the folate receptor (FR)-positive tumor cells. This work would provide a promising means to produce highly efficient polyplexes for future gene therapy applications.