ZnO@C Coated Cellulose-Based Separators Control Lithium Deposition Direction to Stable Lithium Metal Batteries.

Li metal anodes have attracted attention due to their high specific capacity and low electrochemical potential. Nevertheless, the uncontrolled growth of Li dendrites hinders the practical application of Li metal batteries. Although the various approaches have made performance improvements, safety hazards still exist since Li dendrites are still growing along the anode to the separator during the continuous plating/stripping process. Herein, a straightforward method is proposed to achieve stable Li metal batteries with directional growth control by using a functional ZnO@C/cellulose membrane as a separator. The abundant pore structure and functional groups of biomass cellulose enhance the Li-ion transport and interface compatibility. The ZnO transforms in situ to form a Li-Zn alloy layer which is uniformly coated to the separator to direct uniform ion concentration polarization and charge distribution polarization, control the growth direction of Li, significantly improve the cycling stability, and promote the reversibility of the Li plating/exfoliation process. As a result, the symmetric cell exhibits an extreme lifetime of more than 4500 h and low polarization at 3 mA cm-2 . The cycling performance of the Li||LiFePO4 full cell reaches a capacity retention of 98% after 270 cycles at a mass loading of 10 mg cm-2 .

Therapeutic efficacy of a novel self-assembled immunostimulatory siRNA combining apoptosis promotion with RIG-I activation in gliomas.

BACKGROUND: Current cancer therapies often fall short in addressing the complexities of malignancies, underscoring the urgent need for innovative treatment strategies. RNA interference technology, which specifically suppresses gene expression, offers a promising new approach in the fight against tumors. Recent studies have identified a novel immunostimulatory small-interfering RNA (siRNA) with a unique sequence (sense strand, 5'-C; antisense strand, 3'-GGG) capable of activating the RIG-I/IRF3 signaling pathway. This activation induces the release of type I and III interferons, leading to an effective antiviral immune response. However, this class of immunostimulatory siRNA has not yet been explored in cancer therapy. METHODS: IsiBCL-2, an innovative immunostimulatory siRNA designed to suppress the levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2), contains a distinctive motif (sense strand, 5'-C; antisense strand, 3'-GGG). Glioblastoma cells were subjected to 100 nM isiBCL-2 treatment in vitro for 48 h. Morphological changes, cell viability (CCK-8 assay), proliferation (colony formation assay), migration/invasion (scratch test and Transwell assay), apoptosis rate, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were evaluated. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses were performed to assess RIG-I and MHC-I molecule levels, and ELISA was utilized to measure the levels of cytokines (IFN-ß and CXCL10). In vivo heterogeneous tumor models were established, and the anti-tumor effect of isiBCL-2 was confirmed through intratumoral injection. RESULTS: IsiBCL-2 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on glioblastoma cell growth and induced apoptosis. BCL-2 mRNA levels were significantly decreased by 67.52%. IsiBCL-2 treatment resulted in an apoptotic rate of approximately 51.96%, accompanied by a 71.76% reduction in MMP and a 41.87% increase in ROS accumulation. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses demonstrated increased levels of RIG-I, MAVS, and MHC-I following isiBCL-2 treatment. ELISA tests indicated a significant increase in IFN-ß and CXCL10 levels. In vivo studies using nude mice confirmed that isiBCL-2 effectively impeded the growth and progression of glioblastoma tumors. CONCLUSIONS: This study introduces an innovative method to induce innate signaling by incorporating an immunostimulatory sequence (sense strand, 5'-C; antisense strand, 3'-GGG) into siRNA, resulting in the formation of RNA dimers through Hoogsteen base-pairing. This activation triggers the RIG-I signaling pathway in tumor cells, causing further damage and inducing a potent immune response. This inventive design and application of immunostimulatory siRNA offer a novel perspective on tumor immunotherapy, holding significant implications for the field.

The Characteristics of Tumor Microenvironment in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a special subtype of breast cancer, accounting for 10-20% of breast cancers with high intrinsic heterogeneity. Its unique immune microenvironment, including high expression of vascular endothelial growth factors, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and other molecules that promote the growth and migration of tumor cells, has been shown to play a dual role in the occurrence, growth, and metastasis of TNBC. Understanding the TNBC microenvironment is of great significance for the prognosis and treatment of TNBC. In this article, we describe the composition and function of immune cells in the TNBC microenvironment and summarize the major cytokine growth factors and chemokines in the TNBC microenvironment. Finally, we discuss the progress of TNBC, cytokine-induced killer cell therapy, and immune checkpoint therapy.

Gut Microbiome Alterations Affect Glioma Development and Foxp3 Expression in Tumor Microenvironment in Mice.

Glioma is the most common malignant tumor of the central nervous system (CNS), with high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis. The gut microbiome (GM) is composed of microorganisms with different properties and functions, which play an important role in human physiology and biological activities. It has been proved that GM can affect the development of glioma through natural immunity, but whether GM can affect glioma through adaptive immunity and whether there are some microorganisms in the GM that may affect glioma growth still remain unclear. In our study, we evaluated the relationship between GM and glioma. We proved that (I) glioma growth can induce structural changes of mouse GM, including the decreased abundance of Bacteroidia and increased abundance of Firmicutes. (II) GM dysbiosis can downregulate Foxp3 expression in the brain and promote glioma growth. A balanced environment of GM can upregulate the expression of Foxp3 in the brain and delay the development of glioma. (III) The increased abundance of Bacteroidia is associated with accelerated glioma progression, while its decreased abundance is associated with delayed glioma progression, which may be one of the key microorganisms affecting glioma growth. This study is helpful to reveal the relationship between GM and glioma development and provide new ideas for adjuvant therapy of glioma.

Architectures and Applications of BODIPY-Based Conjugated Polymers.

Conjugated polymers generally contain conjugated backbone structures with benzene, heterocycle, double bond, or triple bond, so that they have properties similar to semiconductors and even conductors. Their energy band gap is very small and can be adjusted via chemical doping, allowing for excellent photoelectric properties. To obtain prominent conjugated materials, numerous well-designed polymer backbones have been reported, such as polyphenylenevinylene, polyphenylene acetylene, polycarbazole, and polyfluorene. 4,4'-Difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY)-based conjugated polymers have also been prepared owing to its conjugated structure and intriguing optical properties, including high absorption coefficients, excellent thermal/photochemical stability, and high quantum yield. Most importantly, the properties of BODIPYs can be easily tuned by chemical modification on the dipyrromethene core, which endows the conjugated polymers with multiple functionalities. In this paper, BODIPY-based conjugated polymers are reviewed, focusing on their structures and applications. The forms of BODIPY-based conjugated polymers include linear, coiled, and porous structures, and their structure-property relationship is explored. Also, typical applications in optoelectronic materials, sensors, gas/energy storage, biotherapy, and bioimaging are presented and discussed in detail. Finally, the review provides an insight into the challenges in the development of BODIPY-based conjugated polymers.

Amphiphilic Rhomboidal Organoplatinum(II) Metallacycles with Encapsulated Doxorubicin for Synergistic Cancer Therapy.

Synergistic therapy with nanocarriers is a promising strategy for effective cancer treatment. Here, we synthesized an amphiphilic rhomboidal metallacycle M, in which a glucose-modified pyridine ligand was used to improve water-solubility and an organoplatinum(II) receptor acted as a platinum-based anticancer agent. Moreover, because of the amphiphilic properties, M self-assembled into micelles or nanobelts at different concentrations, and a drug delivery system (DDS) was developed by encapsulating the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) into the micelles. The morphology, cell uptake, cytotoxicity, internalization, and antitumor effect of the DDS were investigated. Under low intracellular pH conditions, the DDS disassembled to release the loaded DOX in situ. The designed DDS exhibited good biocompatibility, synergistic antitumor efficacy, and negligible adverse effects in a U87 tumor-bearing mice model.

Recent developments in the construction of metallacycle/metallacage-cored supramolecular polymers via hierarchical self-assembly.

Supramolecular polymers have received considerable attention during the last few decades due to their scientific value in polymer chemistry and profound implications for future developments of advanced materials. Discrete supramolecular coordination complexes (SCCs) with well-defined size, shape, and geometry have been widely employed to construct hierarchical systems by coordination-driven self-assembly with the spontaneous formation of metal-ligand bonds, which results in the formation of well-defined two-dimensional (2D) metallacycles or three-dimensional (3D) metallacages with high functionalities. The incorporation of discrete SCCs into supramolecular polymers by the orthogonal combination of metal-ligand coordination and other noncovalent interactions or covalent bonding could further facilitate the construction of novel supramolecular polymers with hierarchical architectures and multiple functions including controllable uptake and release of guest molecules, providing a flexible platform for the development of smart materials. In this review, the recent progress in metallacycle/metallacage-cored supramolecular polymers that were constructed by the combination of metal-ligand interactions and other orthogonal interactions (including hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, π-π stacking, electrostatic interactions, host-guest interactions and covalent bonding) has been discussed. In addition, the potential applications of metallacycle/metallacage-cored supramolecular polymers in the areas of light emitting, sensing, bio-imaging, delivery and release, etc., are also presented.