The ATP-bound inward-open conformation of ABCC4 reveals asymmetric ATP binding for substrate transport.

The multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) ABCC4 facilitates substrate transport across the cytoplasmic membrane, crucial for normal physiology and mediating multidrug resistance in tumor cells. Despite intensive studies on MRPs, ABCC4's transport mechanism remains incompletely understood. In this study, we unveiled an inward-open conformation with an ATP bound to degenerate NBD1. Additionally, we captured the structure with both ATP and substrate co-bound in the inward-open state. Our findings uncover the asymmetric ATP binding in ABCC4 and provide insights into substrate binding and transport mechanisms. ATP binding to NBD1 is parallel to substrate binding to ABCC4, and is a prerequisite for ATP-bound NBD2-induced global conformational changes. Our findings shed new light on targeting ABCC4 in combination with anticancer therapy.

A telluroviologen-anchored tetraphenylporphyrin as sonosensitizer for periodontitis sonodynamic therapy.

Periodontitis is a chronic disease caused by bacteria (e.g. Porphyromonas gingivalis, P.gingivalis) that currently lacks effective non-invasive treatment options. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is an emerging non-invasive antimicrobial therapeutic strategy. Since ultrasonic tooth cleaning is widely used in dental treatments, SDT has significant potential for the facile implementation of treat periodontitis. However, hypoxia in periodontitis severely limits the effectiveness of traditional sonosensitizers. To address this issue, we have developed a new sonosensitizer termed as TPP-TeV, which combines the traditional sonosensitizer tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) with a new photosensitizer telluroviologen (TeV). Under ultrasound radiation, TPP-TeV can produce numerous cationic free radicals (TPP-TeV•), which subsequently generate ROS free radicals (O2•-, •OH) efficiently via electron transfer mechanism, resulting in the effective killing of anaerobic P.gingivalis both in vivo and in vitro. As a result, the dental environment is improved, and the inhibition rate of alveolar bone loss reaches 80 %. The introduction of tellurium into the viologen molecule induces changes in its reduction potential, resulting in increased rigidity of the molecule. This modification systematically reduces the biotoxicity of our novel sonosensitizer by 75 % at 50 µM based on bacterial experiments. These promising findings could potentially establish new options for sonodynamic therapy (SDT) in periodontitis clinical treatments.

Cocktail hepatocarcinoma therapy by a super-assembled nano-pill targeting XPO1 and ATR synergistically.

Intensive cancer treatment with drug combination is widely exploited in the clinic but suffers from inconsistent pharmacokinetics among different therapeutic agents. To overcome it, the emerging nanomedicine offers an unparalleled opportunity for encapsulating multiple drugs in a nano-carrier. Herein, a two-step super-assembled strategy was performed to unify the pharmacokinetics of a peptide and a small molecular compound. In this proof-of-concept study, the bioinformatics analysis firstly revealed the potential synergies towards hepatoma therapy for the associative inhibition of exportin 1 (XPO1) and ataxia telangiectasia mutated-Rad3-related (ATR), and then a super-assembled nano-pill (gold nano drug carrier loaded AZD6738 and 97-110 amino acids of apoptin (AP) (AA@G)) was constructed through camouflaging AZD6738 (ATR small-molecule inhibitor)-binding human serum albumin onto the AP-Au supramolecular nanoparticle. As expected, both in vitro and in vivo experiment results verified that the AA@G possessed extraordinary biocompatibility and enhanced therapeutic effect through inducing cell cycle arrest, promoting DNA damage and inhibiting DNA repair of hepatoma cell. This work not only provides a co-delivery strategy for intensive liver cancer treatment with the clinical translational potential, but develops a common approach to unify the pharmacokinetics of peptide and small-molecular compounds, thereby extending the scope of drugs for developing the advanced combination therapy.

Docetaxel-induced cognitive impairment in rats can be ameliorated by edaravone dexborneol: Evidence from the indicators of biological behavior and anisotropic fraction.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Edaravone Dexborneol (ED) on impaired learning and memory in docetaxel (DTX)-treated rats using cognitive behavior assessments and magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Materials and methods: In total, 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control, low-dose DTX (L-DTX) model, and high-dose DTX(H-DTX) model groups, with eight rats in each group, numbered 1-8. The rats were intraperitoneally injected with 1.5 mL of either normal saline (control group), or 3 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg DTX (L-DTX and H-DTX groups, respectively), once a week for 4 weeks. The learning and memory abilities of each group were tested using a water maze. At the end of the water maze test, rats 1-4 in each group were treated with ED (3 mg/kg, 1 mL), and rats 5-8 were injected with an equal volume of normal saline once a day for 2 weeks. The learning and memory abilities of each group were evaluated again using the water maze test, and the image differences in the hippocampus of each group were analyzed using DTI. Results: (1) H-DTX group (32.33 ± 7.83) had the longest escape latency, followed by the L-DTX group (27.49 ± 7.32), and the Control group (24.52 ± 8.11) having the shortest, with the difference being statistically significant (p < 0.05). (2) Following ED treatment, compared to rats treated with normal saline, the escape latency of the L-DTX (12.00 ± 2.79 vs. 10.77 ± 3.97, p < 0.05), and the H-DTX (12.52 ± 3.69 vs. 9.11 ± 2.88, p < 0.05) rats were significantly shortened. The residence time in the target quadrant of H-DTX rats was significantly prolonged (40.49 ± 5.82 vs. 55.25 ± 6.78, p < 0.05). The CNS damage in the L-DTX rats was repaired to a certain extent during the interval between the two water maze tests (28.89 ± 7.92 vs. 12.00 ± 2.79, p < 0.05). (3) The fractional anisotropy (FA) value of DTI in the hippocampus of rats in the different groups showed variable trends. After treatment with ED, though the FA values of most areas in the hippocampus of rats in L-DTX and H-DTX groups were higher than before, they did not reach the normal level. Conclusion: ED can ameliorate the cognitive dysfunctions caused by DTX in rats by improving the learning and memory impairment, which is reflected in the recovery of biological behavior and DTI indicators of the hippocampus.

Metformin enhances T lymphocyte anti-tumor immunity by increasing the infiltration via vessel normalization.

Abnormal tumor vasculature blocks the extravasation of T lymphocytes into the tumor, thereby suppressing anti-tumor immunity. Recently, metformin has been shown to affect tumor vasculature and enhance T lymphocyte anti-tumor immunity. However, whether or how metformin affects T lymphocyte anti-tumor immunity via a vascular mechanism remains poorly understood. Herein, we show that a large number of CD8+ lymphocytes gathered in the peri-tumoral region, while very few infiltrated the tumor. Metformin administration increased the expression of anti-tumor immunity-associated genes and the number of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ lymphocytes. Injection of CD8 but not CD4 neutralization antibody into tumor-bearing mice significantly abrogated the anti-tumor effect of metformin. Critically, CD8+ lymphocytes were found to pass through the wall of perfused vessel. Further results of immunofluorescent staining showed that metformin greatly elevated tumor perfusion, which was accompanied by increased vascular maturity in the intratumoral region (ITR) but not peritumoral region (PTR). These findings provide evidence for the vascular mechanism involved in metformin-induced enhancement of T lymphocyte anti-tumor immunity. By remodeling the abnormal tumor vasculature, also called vessel normalization metformin increases vascular maturity and tumor perfusion, thus allowing more CD8+ lymphocytes to infiltrate the tumor.

One Stone, Two Birds: A Peptide-Au(I) Infinite Coordination Supermolecule for the Confederate Physical and Biological Radiosensitization in Cancer Radiation Therapy.

Over half of cancer patients are subjected to radiotherapy, but owing to the deficient amount of reactive oxygen radicals (ROS) and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), a fair number of them suffer from radiotherapy resistance and the subsequent short-term survival opportunity. To overcome it, many successes have been achieved in radiosensitizer discovery using physical strategy and/or biological strategy, but significant challenges remain regarding developing clinically translational radiosensitizers. Herein, a peptide-Au(I) infinite coordination supermolecule termed PAICS is developed that combined both physical and biological radiosensitization and possessed pharmaceutical characteristics including adequate circulatory stability, controllable drug release, tumor-prioritized accumulation, and the favorable body eliminability. As expected, monovalent gold ion endowed this supermolecule with high X-ray absorption and the subsequent radiosensitization. Furthermore, a peptide targeting CRM1, is assembled into the supermolecule, which successfully activates p53 and apoptosis pathway, thereby further sensitizing radiotherapy. As a result, PAICS showed superior ability for radiotherapy sensitization in vivo and maintained a favorable safety profile. Thus, the PAICS reported here will offer a feasible solution to simultaneously overcome both the pharmaceutical obstacles of physical and biological radiosensitizers and will enable the development of a class of nanomedicines for tumor radiotherapy sensitization.

An innovative gene expression modulating strategy by converting nucleic acids into HNC therapeutics using carrier-free nanoparticles.

Background: Cell fate and microenvironmental changes resulting from aberrant expression of specific proteins in tumors are one of the major causes of inadequate anti-tumor immune response and poor prognosis in head and neck cancer (HNC). Eukaryotic initiation factor 3C (eIF3c) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for HNC due to its ability to regulate protein expression levels in tumor cells, but its drug development is difficult to achieve by targeting traditional protein-protein interactions. siRNA has emerged as a highly promising modality for drug development targeting eIF3c, while its application is hindered by challenges pertaining to inadequate stability and insufficient concentration specifically within tumor sites. Method: We employed a method to convert flexible siRNAs into stable and biologically active infinite Auric-sulfhydryl coordination supramolecular siRNAs (IacsRNAs). Through coordinated self-assembly, we successfully transformed eIF3C siRNAs into the carrier-free HNC nanotherapeutic agent Iacs-eif3c-RNA. The efficacy of this agent was evaluated in vivo using HNC xenograft models, demonstrating promising antitumor effects. Results: Iacs-eif3c-RNA demonstrated the ability to overcome the pharmacological obstacle associated with targeting eIF3C, resulting in a significant reduction in eIF3C expression within tumor tissues, as well as effective tumor cell proliferating suppression and apoptosis promotion. In comparison to monotherapy utilizing the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin, Iacs-eif3c-RNA exhibited superior anti-tumor efficacy and favorable biosafety. Conclusion: The utilization of Iacs-eif3c-RNA as a carrier-free nanotherapeutic agent presents a promising and innovative approach for addressing HNC treating challenges. Moreover, this strategy demonstrates potential for the translation of therapeutic siRNAs into clinical drugs, extending its applicability to the treatment of other cancers and various diseases.

Targeting EIF3C to suppress the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma occurs in many parts of the pars nasalis pharyngis, and the pathological type is mainly squamous cell carcinoma. Because of the special position of nasopharynx, breathing, pronunciation and daily life will be seriously affected. At present, the research direction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is mainly to explore the law of tumor cell proliferation and migration, study the molecular mechanism, master its biological behavior and clinical significance, try to find therapeutic targets, and further improve the level of tumor treatment. However, the pathologic structure and molecular mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma have not been fully elucidated. In this study, the Lentivirus-mediated EIF3C shRNA vector (L.V-shEIF3C) was constructed to down-regulate the expression of EIF3C in human pharyngeal squamous carcinoma cell FaDu and the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell 5-8F, it was found that down-regulation of EIF3C could significantly inhibit the cell proliferation, promote cell apoptosis, induce cell cycle arrest, and inhibit the formation and growth of tumors in mouse models. This study provides strong evidence that EIF3C is a key gene driving the development and progression of head and neck cancer, which is of great significance for the diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of tumors, suggesting that EIF3C may become a valuable therapeutic development and intervention target.

Repurposing econazole as a pharmacological autophagy inhibitor to treat pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by the highest mortality among carcinomas. The pathogenesis of PDAC requires elevated autophagy, inhibition of which using hydroxychloroquine has shown promise. However, current realization is impeded by its suboptimal use and unpredictable toxicity. Attempts to identify novel autophagy-modulating agents from already approved drugs offer a rapid and accessible approach. Here, using a patient-derived organoid model, we performed a comparative analysis of therapeutic responses among various antimalarial/fungal/parasitic/viral agents, through which econazole (ECON), an antifungal compound, emerged as the top candidate. Further testing in cell-line and xenograft models of PDAC validated this activity, which occurred as a direct consequence of dysfunctional autophagy. More specifically, ECON boosted autophagy initiation but blocked lysosome biogenesis. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that this autophagic induction was largely attributed to the altered expression of activation transcription factor 3 (ATF3). Increased nuclear import of ATF3 and its transcriptional repression of inhibitor of differentiation-1 (ID-1) led to inactivation of the AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, thus giving rise to autophagosome accumulation in PDAC cells. The magnitude of the increase in autophagosomes was sufficient to elicit ER stress-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, ECON, as an autophagy inhibitor, exhibited synergistic effects with trametinib on PDAC. This study provides direct preclinical and experimental evidence for the therapeutic efficacy of ECON in PDAC treatment and reveals a mechanism whereby ECON inhibits PDAC growth.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 28 deubiquitinates TCF7L2 to govern the action of the Wnt signaling pathway in hepatic carcinoma.

Overexpression of ubiquitin-specific protease 28 (USP28) is found in hepatic carcinoma. It is unclear whether the deubiquitinase plays a role in hepatocarcinogenesis. Deregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway is frequently associated with liver cancer. Transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) is an important downstream transcription factor of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, but the mechanisms by which TCF7L2 itself is regulated have not yet been revealed. Here, we report that USP28 promotes the activity of the Wnt signaling pathway through maintaining the stability of TCF7L2. We further show that FBXW7 is the E3 ubiquitin ligase for TCF7L2. By regulating the levels of TCF7L2, USP28 modulates the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in liver cancer and USP28 depletion or inhibition by a small molecule inhibitor leads to a halt of growth in liver cancer cells. These results suggest that USP28 could be a potential therapeutic target for liver cancer.

Immune-Associated Gene Signatures Serve as a Promising Biomarker of Immunotherapeutic Prognosis for Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma.

As the most common type of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the renal clear cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is highly malignant and insensitive to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Although systemic immunotherapies have been successfully applied to ccRCC in recent years, screening for patients who can benefit most from these therapies is still essential and challenging due to immunological heterogeneity of ccRCC patients. To this end, we implemented a series of deep investigation on the expression and clinic data of ccRCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) International Consortium for Cancer Genomics (ICGC). We identified a total of 946 immune-related genes that were differentially expressed. Among them, five independent genes, including SHC1, WNT5A, NRP1, TGFA, and IL4R, were significantly associated with survival and used to construct the immune-related prognostic differential gene signature (IRPDGs). Then the ccRCC patients were categorized into high-risk and low-risk subgroups based on the median risk score of the IRPDGs. IRPDGs subgroups displays distinct genomic and immunological characteristics. Known immunotherapy-related genes show different mutation burden, wherein the mutation rate of VHL was higher than 40% in the two IRPDGs subgroups, and SETD2 and BAP1 mutations differed most between two groups with higher frequency in the high-risk subgroup. Moreover, IRPDGs subgroups had different abundance in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) with distinct immunotherapy efficacy. Plasma cells, regulatory cells (Tregs), follicular helper T cells (Tfh), and M0 macrophages were enriched in the high-risk group with a higher tumor immune dysfunction and rejection (TIDE) score. In contrast, the low-risk group had abundant M1 macrophages, mast cell resting and dendritic cell resting infiltrates with lower TIDE score and benefited more from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) treatment. Compared with other biomarkers, such as TIDE and tumor inflammatory signatures (TIS), IRPDGs demonstrated to be a better biomarker for assessing the prognosis of ccRCC and the efficacy of ICI treatment with the promise in screening precise patients for specific immunotherapies.

A Novel Necroptosis-Related lncRNA Signature Predicts the Prognosis of Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Background: Necroptosis is closely related to the tumorigenesis and development of cancer. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that targeting necroptosis could be a novel treatment strategy for cancer. However, the predictive potential of necroptosis-related long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) still needs to be clarified. This study aimed to construct a prognostic signature based on necroptosis-related lncRNAs to predict the prognosis of LUAD. Methods: We downloaded RNA sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Co-expression network analysis, univariate Cox regression, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator were adopted to identify necroptosis-related prognostic lncRNAs. We constructed the predictive signature by multivariate Cox regression. Kaplan-Meier analysis, time-dependent receiver operating characteristics, nomogram, and calibration curves were used to validate and evaluate the signature. Subsequently, we used gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) to explore the relationship between the predictive signature and tumor immune microenvironment of risk groups. Finally, the correlation between the predictive signature and immune checkpoint expression of LUAD patients was also analyzed. Results: We constructed a signature composed of 7 necroptosis-related lncRNAs (AC026355.2, AC099850.3, AF131215.5, UST-AS2, ARHGAP26-AS1, FAM83A-AS1, and AC010999.2). The signature could serve as an independent predictor for LUAD patients. Compared with clinicopathological variables, the necroptosis-related lncRNA signature has a higher diagnostic efficiency, with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve being 0.723. Meanwhile, when patients were stratified according to different clinicopathological variables, the overall survival of patients in the high-risk group was shorter than that of those in the low-risk group. GSEA showed that tumor- and immune-related pathways were mainly enriched in the low-risk group. ssGSEA further confirmed that the predictive signature was significantly related to the immune status of LUAD patients. The immune checkpoint analysis displayed that low-risk patients had a higher immune checkpoint expression, such as CTLA-4, HAVCR2, PD-1, and TIGIT. This suggested that immunological function is more active in the low-risk group LUAD patients who might benefit from checkpoint blockade immunotherapies. Conclusion: The predictive signature can independently predict the prognosis of LUAD, helps elucidate the mechanism of necroptosis-related lncRNAs in LUAD, and provides immunotherapy guidance for patients with LUAD.

All-In-One Biomimetic Nanoplatform Based on Hollow Polydopamine Nanoparticles for Synergistically Enhanced Radiotherapy of Colon Cancer.

Even though radiotherapy is the most important therapeutic strategy for colon cancer treatment, there is an enormous demand to improve radiosensitivity in solid tumor destruction. For this purpose, a biomimetic nanoplatform based on hollow polydopamine nanoparticles (HP) with homologous targeting and pH-responsive drug release properties is designed. In this work, HP is constructed by using a chelation competition-induced polymerization strategy and then modified with the cancer cell membrane. Hollow polydopamine integrated with Pt nanoparticles (Pt@HP) has a catalase-like activity, which can be used to trigger endogenous H2 O2 into O2 , relieving hypoxia of the tumor microenvironment (TME). With mesoporous shells and large cavities, Pt@HP shows efficient apoptin100-109 (AP) and verteporfin (VP) loading to form AVPt@HP@M. Under X-ray irradiation, AVPt@HP@M exerts a radiosensitization effect via multiple strategies, including relieving hypoxia (Pt NPs), enhancing tumor apoptosis (AP), and X-ray-induced photodynamic therapy (X-PDT) (VP). Further metabonomics analysis shows that the specific mechanism of the AVPt@HP@M is through influencing purine metabolism. Without appreciable systemic toxicity, this nanoplatform highlights a new strategy for effective radiosensitization and provides a reference for treating malignant tumors.

A Novel Immune Gene-Related Prognostic Score Predicts Survival and Immunotherapy Response in Glioma.

Background and Objectives: The clinical prognosis and survival prediction of glioma based on gene signatures derived from heterogeneous tumor cells are unsatisfactory. This study aimed to construct an immune gene-related prognostic score model to predict the prognosis of glioma and identify patients who may benefit from immunotherapy. Methods: 23 immune-related genes (IRGs) associated with glioma prognosis were identified through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Univariate Cox regression analysis based on large-scale RNA-seq data. Eight IRGs were retained as candidate predictors and formed an immune gene-related prognostic score (IGRPS) by multifactorial Cox regression analysis. The potential efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy of different subgroups was compared by The Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm. We further adopted a series of bioinformatic methods to characterize the differences in clinicopathological features and the immune microenvironment between the different risk groups. Finally, a nomogram integrating IGRPS and clinicopathological characteristics was built to accurately predict the prognosis of glioma. Results: Patients in the low-risk group had a better prognosis than those in the high-risk group. Patients in the high-risk group showed higher TIDE scores and poorer responses to ICB therapy, while patients in the low-risk group may benefit more from ICB therapy. The distribution of age and tumor grade between the two subgroups was significantly different. Patients with low IGRPS harbor a high proportion of natural killer cells and are sensitive to ICB treatment. While patients with high IGRPS display relatively poor prognosis, a higher expression level of DNA mismatch repair genes, high infiltrating of immunosuppressive cells, and poor ICB therapeutic outcomes. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the IGRPS model can independently predict the clinical prognosis as well as the ICB therapy responses of glioma patients, thus having important implications on the design of immune-based therapeutic strategies.

The deubiquitinase USP28 stabilizes the expression of RecQ family helicases and maintains the viability of triple negative breast cancer cells.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks significant expression of the estrogen receptor, the progesterone receptor, and of human epidermal growth factor receptor. It is the most aggressive and malignant of all breast cancers, and for which, there are currently no effective targeted therapies. We have shown previously that the RecQ helicase family member RECQL5 is essential for the proliferation and survival of TNBC cells; however, the mechanism of its involvement in cell viability has not been shown. Here, we report that the expression of RecQ family helicases, including RECQL5, is regulated by the deubiquitinase USP28. We found using genetic depletion or a small molecule inhibitor that like RECQL5, USP28 is also essential for TNBC cells to proliferate in vitro and in vivo. Compromising the function of USP28 by shRNA knockdown or the inhibitor caused TNBC cells to arrest in S/G2 phases, concurrent with DNA-damage checkpoint activation. We further showed that the small molecule inhibitor of USP28 displayed anti-tumor activity against xenografts derived from TNBC cells. Our results suggest that USP28 could be a potential therapeutic target for triple negative breast cancer.

A Tumor-Targeting Metal-Organic Nanoparticle Constructed by Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry toward Accurately Redressing Carcinogenic Wnt Cascade.

Targeted and immunological therapy have revolutionized the malignancy treatment, but is suffering from the dose-limiting side effects and inadequate responsiveness. The emerging nanoscale infinite coordination polymers provide a feasible strategy for tumor targeting and immune sensitization. Herein, a "one-pot" self-assembled strategy based on dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) principle is designed to construct a tumor-targeting metal-organic nanoparticle (MOICP) through a spontaneous co-assembling among three metal-organic coordination polymers tuned by a Wnt-inhibitor carnosic acid (CA). Responding to the tumor microenvironment, MOICP presents an optimized tumor-preferential accumulation and the satisfactory biosafety. MOICP is more active in vitro and in vivo than CA in suppressing of Wnt signaling pathway, and potently inhibits tumor growth in a patient-derived xenograft model of Wnt-activated pancreatic carcinoma. Moreover, MOICP reverses the lack of intratumoral infiltration of T lymphocytes, and hence augments the action of Anti-PD1 (programmed cell death protein 1) immunotherapy in B16F10 melanoma allograft mice model. This clinically viable MOICP can not only be applied to Wnt inhibition for cancer targeted therapy and immunotherapeutic sensitization, but also provides a de novo pattern for nanomedicine architecture with cargo-initiated co-self-assembly guided by DCC, thereby bringing new inspiration in general for disease intervention.

Preparation, toxicity reduction and radiation therapy application of gold nanorods.

Gold nanorods (GNRs) have a broad application prospect in biomedical fields because of their unique properties and controllable surface modification. The element aurum (Au) with high atomic number (high-Z) render GNRs ideal radiosensitive materials for radiation therapy and computed tomography (CT) imaging. Besides, GNRs have the capability of efficiently converting light energy to heat in the near-infrared (NIR) region for photothermal therapy. Although there are more and more researches on GNRs for radiation therapy, how to improve their biocompatibility and how to efficiently utilize them for radiation therapy should be further studied. This review will focuse on the research progress regarding the preparation and toxicity reduction of GNRs, as well as GNRs-mediated radiation therapy.