Self-Assembled PEGylated Nanocubes Based on Hydrophobic Camptothecin and Doxorubicin for Combinational Therapy of Colorectal Cancer.

Nanoassemblies based on drug conjugates with high drug loading efficiency and stability have been regarded as promising candidates for the next generation of drug formulations. However, they are mostly amphiphilic. Here, a dual-hydrophobic drug conjugate-based nanoassembly has been created for enhanced synergistic antiproliferation against colorectal cancer cells. Camptothecin (CPT) and doxorubicin (DOX) were chosen as the hydrophobic drugs and covalently linked with a disulfide bond (-ss-). The synthesized CPT-ss-DOX can self-assemble into nanocubes (NCs) in an aqueous solution with the assistance of a small amount of polyethylene glycol (PEG), named PEGylated CPT-ss-DOX NCs. The PEGylated CPT-ss-DOX NCs were approximately 111.8 nm, possessing a crystal structure and a very low critical aggregation concentration (8.36 µg·mL-1). The self-assembly mechanism was studied using molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation methods. The NCs demonstrated excellent storage stability and improved water solubility of CPT and DOX. These NCs could be taken up by cancer cells and gradually release the drugs. In addition, they had higher toxicity to cancer cells than a mixture of CPT and DOX, while they displayed reduced toxicity to normal cells. Due to assembly and PEG modification, the NCs improved drug retention time and enhanced accumulation at the tumor site. More importantly, they significantly inhibited colorectal tumor growth (58.37%) in vivo, superior to the CPT+DOX mix (42.63%). Moreover, the NCs reduced the cardiac toxicity of free drugs. Therefore, the prepared PEGylated CPT-ss-DOX NCs hold great potential for clinical transformation and provide a novel method for the self-delivery of hydrophobic molecules in cancer therapy.

DNA nanoassembly based turn-on amplification probe for sensitive colorimetric CRISPR/Cas12a-mediated detection of pathogen DNA.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) system has been explored as an efficient tool for nucleic acid diagnostics. However, it normally needs instrumentation or produces turn-off signals. Herein, a bulged Y-shape DNA (Y-DNA) nanoassembly was designed and synthesized as a novel turn-on probe. A CRISPR/Cas12a and Y-DNA probe mediated colorimetric assay (named as CYMCOA) strategy was developed for visual detection of pathogen DNA. Upon activating Cas12a with pathogen DNA, the Y-DNA bulge is catalytically trans-cleaved, releasing the G-quadruplex sequence embedded in the Y-DNA nanoassembly as a peroxidase-like DNAzyme. Visible signals with chromogen substrates are thus produced. The CYMCOA strategy was combined with recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), an isothermal amplification technique, in detecting Helicobacter pylori (Hp) bacteria and SARS-CoV-2 N plasmids as two model pathogens. The bioassay has very excellent detection sensitivity and specificity, owing to the triple cascade amplification reactions and the very low mismatch tolerance. The lower limit of detection values were 0.16 cfu⋅mL-1, 1.5 copies⋅µL-1, and 0.17 copies⋅µL-1 for Hp bacteria, Hp plasmids, and SARS-CoV-2 N plasmids respectively. The detection is fast and accurate. The colorimetric bioassay strategy provides to be a simple, accurate, fast and instrumentation-free platform for nucleic acids detections in various settings, including crude and emergent situations.

Transcriptomic Analysis of mRNA Expression Profiles in the Microglia of Mouse Brains Infected with Rabies Viruses of Varying Virulence.

Rabies is a lethal encephalitis caused by the rabies virus (RABV) with a fatality rate near 100% after the onset of clinical symptoms in humans and animals. Microglia are resident immune cells in the central nervous system. Few studies have been conducted on the functional role of microglia in RABV infection. Here, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of mRNA expression profiles in the microglia of mouse brains intracerebrally infected with RABV. We successfully isolated single microglial cells from the mouse brains. The survival rate of dissociated microglial cells was 81.91%-96.7%, and the purity was 88.3%. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 22,079 differentially expressed mRNAs identified in the microglia of mouse brains infected with RABV strains (rRC-HL, GX074, and CVS-24) of varying virulence at 4 and 7 days post-infection (dpi) compared to the control group. The numbers of DEGs versus the control at 4 and 7 dpi in mice infected with rRC-HL, GX074, and CVS-24 were 3622 and 4590, 265 and 4901, and 4079 and 6337. The GO enrichment analysis showed that response to stress, response to external stimulus, regulation of response to stimulus, and immune system process were abundant during RABV infection. The KEGG analysis indicated that the Tlr, Tnf, RIG-I, NOD, NF-κB, MAPK, and Jak-STAT signaling pathways were involved in RABV infection at both 4 and 7 dpi. However, some phagocytosis and cell signal transduction processes, such as endocytosis, p53, phospholipase D, and oxidative phosphorylation signaling pathways, were only expressed at 7 dpi. The involvement of the Tnf and Tlr signaling pathways prompted us to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of these pathways. The PPI revealed 8 DEGs, including Mmp9, Jun, Pik3r1, and Mapk12. Notably, Il-1b interacted with Tnf and Il-6 with combined scores of 0.973 and 0.981, respectively. RABV causes significant changes in mRNA expression profiles in the microglia in mice. 22,079 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified in the microglia of mice infected with RABV strains of varying virulence at 4 and 7 dpi. The DEGs were evaluated using GO, KEGG, and PPI network analysis. Many immune pathways were up-regulated in RABV-infected groups. The findings will help elucidate the microglial molecular mechanisms of cellular metabolism dysregulated by RABV and may provide important information for investigating RABV pathogenesis and therapeutic methods.

Removal of Neutral Red from aqueous solution by adsorption on spent cottonseed hull substrate.

Cottonseed hull, a low-cost widely available agricultural waste in China, after used as substrate for the white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation, was tested for the removal of Neutral Red (NR), a cationic dye, from aqueous solution. A batch adsorption study was carried out with varied solution pH, adsorbent dosage, reaction time and initial NR concentration. The results show that the kinetics of dye removal by the spent cottonseed hull substrate (SCHS) is prompt in the first 5 min and the adsorption equilibrium can be attained after 240 min. The biosorption kinetics and equilibrium follow typical pseudo-second-order and Langmuir adsorption models. Thermodynamic parameters of ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° show that the adsorption is a spontaneous and endothermic process. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used for the characterization of possible dye-biosorbent interaction. This study provides a facile method to produce low-cost biosorbent for the purification of dye contaminated water.