The cyclin-G associated kinase (GAK) is a novel mitotic kinase and therapeutic target in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the most frequently diagnosed hematologic malignancy in the United States. DLBCL exhibits significant molecular and clinical heterogeneity, and at least a third of patients are left uncured with standard frontline chemoimmunotherapy. As such, there is a critical need to identify novel targeted therapies to improve outcomes. We conducted a phenotypic screen of kinase inhibitors against DLBCL cell lines and non-malignant controls. We identified the cyclin G-associated kinase (GAK) as a tumor-selective, readily druggable target whose inhibition killed DLBCL cell lines, while sparing non-malignant blood cells. Upon investigation of GAK's cellular function, we discovered that inhibition results in G2/M-phase cell cycle arrest. Immunofluorescent confocal microscopy revealed significant chromosome misalignment and spindle distortion in DLBCL cells following GAK-inhibition, disrupting progression through mitosis. Analysis of RNA-seq data from clinical samples showed increased GAK expression associates strongly with RB1 deficiency in DLBCL cases, suggesting dependency on GAK for proper mitotic progression linked to retinoblastoma associated protein (RB) loss of function, a common DLBCL driver. In cell-cycle analyses and under microscopy, RB-deficient DLBCL cells treated with an exquisitely selective GAK inhibitor showed complete arrest at G2/M, pronounced distortion of mitotic spindles, and widespread chromosomal damage. Finally, in vivo studies of DLBCL xenograft-bearing NSG mice achieved a dramatic tumor-burden reduction in response to targeted GAK inhibition. These results reveal a novel cell cycle kinase suitable for therapeutic exploitation in DLBCL patients and linked to the common, undruggable biomarker of RB loss of function.

SpatialCTD: A Large-Scale Tumor Microenvironment Spatial Transcriptomic Dataset to Evaluate Cell Type Deconvolution for Immuno-Oncology.

Recent technological advancements have enabled spatially resolved transcriptomic profiling but at a multicellular resolution that is more cost-effective. The task of cell type deconvolution has been introduced to disentangle discrete cell types from such multicellular spots. However, existing benchmark datasets for cell type deconvolution are either generated from simulation or limited in scale, predominantly encompassing data on mice and are not designed for human immuno-oncology. To overcome these limitations and promote comprehensive investigation of cell type deconvolution for human immuno-oncology, we introduce a large-scale spatial transcriptomic deconvolution benchmark dataset named SpatialCTD, encompassing 1.8 million cells and 12,900 pseudo spots from the human tumor microenvironment across the lung, kidney, and liver. In addition, SpatialCTD provides more realistic reference than those generated from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data for most reference-based deconvolution methods. To utilize the location-aware SpatialCTD reference, we propose a graph neural network-based deconvolution method (i.e., GNNDeconvolver). Extensive experiments show that GNNDeconvolver often outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods by a substantial margin, without requiring scRNA-seq data. To enable comprehensive evaluations of spatial transcriptomics data from flexible protocols, we provide an online tool capable of converting spatial transcriptomic data from various platforms (e.g., 10× Visium, MERFISH, and sci-Space) into pseudo spots, featuring adjustable spot size. The SpatialCTD dataset and GNNDeconvolver implementation are available at https://github.com/OmicsML/SpatialCTD, and the online converter tool can be accessed at https://omicsml.github.io/SpatialCTD/.

Primary thyroid squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed with 18F-FDG PET/CT: a case report.

Primary thyroid squamous cell carcinoma is extremely rare. We report a case of primary thyroid squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed using 18F-FDG PET/CT. The patient presented with left axillary lymphadenopathy as the initial symptom. Fine-needle aspiration of the axillary lymph nodes indicated metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. To identify the primary tumor, the patient underwent an 18F-FDG PET/CT scan, which revealed a mass in the thyroid and multiple enlarged lymph nodes with abnormal FDG uptake. Pathological examination of the axillary lymph nodes and thyroid biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of primary thyroid squamous cell carcinoma with lymph node metastasis.

Cholesterol sulfate-mediated ion-pairing facilitates the self-nanoassembly of hydrophilic cationic mitoxantrone.

HYPOTHESIS: Hydrophilic cationic drugs such as mitoxantrone hydrochloride (MTO) pose a significant delivery challenge to the development of nanodrug systems. Herein, we report the use of a hydrophobic ion-pairing strategy to enhance the nano-assembly of MTO. EXPERIMENTS: We employed biocompatible sodium cholesteryl sulfate (SCS) as a modification module to form stable ion pairs with MTO, which balanced the intermolecular forces and facilitated nano-assembly. PEGylated MTO-SCS nanoassemblies (pMS NAs) were prepared via nanoprecipitation. We systematically evaluated the effect of the ratio of the drug module (MTO) to the modification module (SCS) on the nanoassemblies. FINDINGS: The increased lipophilicity of MTO-SCS ion pair could significantly improve the encapsulation efficiency (∼97 %) and cellular uptake efficiency of MTO. The pMS NAs showed prolonged blood circulation, maintained the same level of tumor antiproliferative activity, and exhibited reduced toxicity compared with the free MTO solution. It is noteworthy that the stability, cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and in vivo pharmacokinetic behavior of the pMS NAs increased in proportion to the molar ratio of SCS to MTO. This study presents a self-assembly strategy mediated by ion pairing to overcome the challenges commonly associated with the poor assembly ability of hydrophilic cationic drugs.

Probing the Impact of Surface Functionalization Module on the Performance of Mitoxantrone Prodrug Nanoassemblies: Improving the Effectiveness and Safety.

Prodrug nanoassemblies are emerging as a novel drug delivery system for chemotherapy, comprising four fundamental modules: a drug module, a modification module, a response module, and a surface functionalization module. Among these modules, surface functionalization is an essential process to enhance the biocompatibility and stability of the nanoassemblies. Here, we selected mitoxantrone (MTO) as the drug module and DSPE-PEG2K as surface functionalization module to develop MTO prodrug nanoassemblies. We systematically evaluated the effect of surface functionalization module ratios (10%, 20%, 40%, and 60% of prodrug, WDSPE-mPEG2000/Wprodrug) on the prodrug nanoassemblies. The results indicated that 40% NPs significantly improved the self-assembly stability and cellular uptake of prodrug nanoassemblies. Compared with MTO solution, 40% NPs showed better tumor specificity and pharmacokinetics, resulting in potent antitumor activity with a good safety profile. These findings highlighted the pivotal role of the surface functionalization module in regulating the performance of mitoxantrone prodrug nanoassemblies for cancer treatment.

Integration of hepatitis B virus into patients' sperm genome and its clinical risks.

BACKGROUND: Like the coronavirus disease 2019, the hepatitis B virus is also wreaking havoc worldwide, which has infected over 2 billion people globally. Using an experimental animal model, our previous research observed that the hepatitis B virus genes integrated into human spermatozoa can replicate and express after being transmitted to embryos. However, as of now, this phenomenon has not been confirmed in clinical data from patients. OBJECTIVES: To explore the integration of the hepatitis B virus into patients' sperm genome and its potential clinical risks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection were categorized into two groups: Test Group-1 comprised 23 patients without integration of hepatitis B virus DNA within the sperm genome. Test Group-2 comprised 25 patients with integration of hepatitis B virus DNA within the sperm genome. Forty-eight healthy male donors were included as control. The standard semen parameter analysis, real-time polymerase chain reaction, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, sperm chromatin structure assay, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and immunofluorescence assays were utilized. RESULTS: The difference in the median copy number of hepatitis B virus DNA per mL of sera between Test Group-1 and Group-2 was not statistically significant. In Test Group-2, the integration rate of hepatitis B virus DNA was 0.109%, which showed a significant correlation with the median copy number of hepatitis B virus DNA in motile spermatozoa (1.18 × 103 /mL). Abnormal semen parameters were found in almost all these 25 patients. The integrated hepatitis B virus S, C, X, and P genes were detected to be introduced into sperm-derived embryos through fertilization and retained their function in replication, transcription, and translation. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that hepatitis B virus infection can lead to sperm quality deterioration and reduced fertilization capacity. Furthermore, viral integration causes instability in the sperm genome, increasing the potential risk of termination, miscarriage, and stillbirth. This study identified an unconventional mode of hepatitis B virus transmission through genes rather than virions. The presence of viral sequences in the embryonic genome poses a risk of liver inflammation and cancer.

Tetrasulfide bond boosts the anti-tumor efficacy of dimeric prodrug nanoassemblies.

Dimeric prodrug nanoassemblies (DPNAs) stand out as promising strategies for improving the efficiency and safety of chemotherapeutic drugs. The success of trisulfide bonds (-SSS-) in DPNAs makes polysulfide bonds a worthwhile focus. Here, we explore the comprehensive role of tetrasulfide bonds (-SSSS-) in constructing superior DPNAs. Compared to trisulfide and disulfide bonds, tetrasulfide bonds endow DPNAs with superlative self-assembly stability, prolonged blood circulation, and high tumor accumulation. Notably, the ultra-high reduction responsivity of tetrasulfide bonds make DPNAs a highly selective "tumor bomb" that can be ignited by endogenous reducing agents in tumor cells. Furthermore, we present an "add fuel to the flames" strategy to intensify the reductive stress at tumor sites by replenishing exogenous reducing agents, making considerable progress in selective tumor inhibition. This work elucidates the crucial role of tetrasulfide bonds in establishing intelligent DPNAs, alongside the combination methodology, propelling DPNAs to new heights in potent cancer therapy.

Scalable Superhydrophilic Solar Evaporators for Long-Term Stable Desalination, Fresh Water Collection and Salt Collection by Vertical Salt Deposition.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SIE) is very promising to solve the issue of fresh water shortage, however, poor salt resistance severely hinders long-term stable SIE and fresh water collection. Here, we report design of superhydrophilic solar evaporators for long-term stable desalination, fresh water collection and salt collection by vertical salt deposition. The evaporators are prepared by sequentially deposition of silicone nanofilaments, polypyrrole and Au nanoparticles on a polyester fabric composed of microfibers. The evaporators feature excellent photothermal effect and ultrafast water transport, due to their unique micro-/nanostructure and superhydrophilicity. As a result, during SIE the salt gradually deposits vertically rather than occupies larger area on the evaporators. Consequently, long-term stable SIE with high evaporation rates of 2.4-2.1 kg m-2 h-1 for 3.5-20 wt % brine in continuous 10 h is achieved under 1 sun illumination. Meanwhile, the loosely deposited salt can be easily collected, realizing zero brine discharge. Moreover, scalable preparation of the evaporator is achieved, which exhibits efficient collection of high quality fresh water (10.08 kg m-2 in 8 h) via SIE desalination under weak natural sunlight (0.46~0.66 sun). This strategy sheds a new light on the design of high-performance solar evaporators and their real-world fresh water collection.

MiR-223-3p promotes genomic stability of hematopoietic progenitors after radiation.

When hematopoietic cells are overwhelmed with ionizing radiation (IR) DNA damage, the alternative non-homologous end-joining (aNHEJ) repair pathway is activated to repair stressed replication forks. While aNHEJ can rescue cells overwhelmed with DNA damage, it can also mediate chromosomal deletions and fusions, which can cause mis-segregation in mitosis and resultant aneuploidy. We previously reported that a hematopoietic microRNA, miR-223-3p, normally represses aNHEJ. We found that miR-223-/- mice have increased survival of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) after sublethal IR. However, this came at the cost of significantly more genomic aberrancies, with miR-223-/- hematopoietic progenitors having increased metaphase aberrancies, including chromothripsis, and increased sequence abnormalities, especially deletions, which is consistent with aNHEJ. These data imply that when an HSPC is faced with substantial DNA damage, it may trade genomic damage for its own survival by choosing the aNHEJ repair pathway, and this choice is regulated in part by miR-223-3p.

Satellite-Type Sulfur Atom Distribution in Trithiocarbonate Bond-Bridged Dimeric Prodrug Nanoassemblies: Achieving Both Stability and Activatability.

Homodimeric prodrug nanoassemblies (HDPNs) hold promise for improving the delivery efficiency of chemo-drugs. However, the key challenge lies in designing rational chemical linkers that can simultaneously ensure the chemical stability, self-assembly stability, and site-specific activation of prodrugs. The "in series" increase in sulfur atoms, such as trisulfide bond, can improve the assembly stability of HDPNs to a certain extent, but limits the chemical stability of prodrugs. Herein, trithiocarbonate bond (─SC(S)S─), with a stable "satellite-type" distribution of sulfur atoms, is developed via the insertion of a central carbon atom in trisulfide bonds. ─SC(S)S─ bond effectively addresses the existing predicament of HDPNs by improving the chemical and self-assembly stability of homodimeric prodrugs while maintaining the on-demand bioactivation. Furthermore, ─SC(S)S─ bond inhibits antioxidant defense system, leading to up-regulation of the cellular ROS and apoptosis of tumor cells. These improvements of ─SC(S)S─ bond endow the HDPNs with in vivo longevity and tumor specificity, ultimately enhancing the therapeutic outcomes. ─SC(S)S─ bond is, therefore, promising for overcoming the bottleneck of HDPNs for efficient oncological therapy.

Minor Changes in Response Modules Leading to a "U-Shaped" Conversion Rate of Docetaxel Prodrug Nanoassemblies.

The prodrug-based nanoassemblies offer an alternative to settle the deficiencies of traditional chemotherapy drugs. In this nanosystem, prodrugs typically comprise drug modules, modification modules, and response modules. The response modules are crucial for facilitating the accurate conversion of prodrugs at specific sites. In this work, we opted for differentiated disulfide bonds as response modules to construct docetaxel (DTX) prodrug nanoassemblies. Interestingly, a subtle change in response modules leads to a "U-shaped" conversion rate of DTX-prodrug nanoassemblies. Prodrug nanoassemblies with the least carbon numbers between the disulfide bond and ester bond (PDONα) offered the fastest conversion rate, resulting in powerful treatment outcomes with some unavoidable toxic effects. PDONß, with more carbon numbers, possessed a slow conversion rate and poor antitumor efficacy but good tolerance. With most carbon numbers in PDONγ, it demonstrated a moderate conversion rate and antitumor effect but induced a risk of lethality. Our study explored the function of response modules and highlighted their importance in prodrug development.

Identification of Candidate Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease via Multiplex Cerebrospinal Fluid and Serum Proteomics.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia among elderly people worldwide. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the optimal fluid source for AD biomarkers, while serum biomarkers are much more achievable. To search for novel diagnostic AD biomarkers, we performed a quantitative proteomic analysis of CSF and serum samples from AD and normal cognitive controls (NC). CSF and serum proteomes were analyzed via data-independent acquisition quantitative mass spectrometry. Our bioinformatic analysis was based on Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment. In comparison to the controls, 8 proteins were more abundant in AD CSF, and 60 were less abundant in AD CSF, whereas 55 proteins were more and 10 were less abundant in the serum samples. ATPase-associated activity for CSF and mitochondrial functions for CSF and serum were the most enriched GO terms of the DEPs. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the most significant pathways for the differentially expressed proteins were the N-glycan biosynthesis pathways. The area under the curve (AUC) values for CSF sodium-/potassium-transporting ATPase subunit beta-1 (AT1B1), serglycin (SRGN), and thioredoxin-dependent peroxide reductase, mitochondrial (PRDX3) were 0.867 (p = 0.004), 0.833 (p = 0.008), and 0.783 (p = 0.025), respectively. A panel of the above three CSF proteins accurately differentiated AD (AUC = 0.933, p = 0.001) from NC. The AUC values for serum probable phospholipid-transporting ATPase IM (AT8B4) and SRGN were moderate. The AUC of the CSF SRGN + serum SRGN was 0.842 (p = 0.007). These novel AD biomarker candidates are mainly associated with inflammation, ATPase activity, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Further studies are needed to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which these potential biomarkers are involved in AD.

Cabazitaxel prodrug nanoassemblies with branched chain modifications: Narrowing the gap between efficacy and safety.

The clinical application of cabazitaxel (CTX) is restricted by severe dose-related toxicity, failing to considering therapeutic efficacy and safety together. Self-assembled prodrugs promote new drug delivery paradigms as they can self-deliver and self-formulate. However, the current studies mainly focused on the use of straight chains to construct self-assembled prodrugs, and the role of branched chains in prodrug nanoassemblies remains to be clarified. In this study, we systematically explored the structure-function relationship of prodrug nanoassemblies using four CTX prodrugs that contained branched chain aliphatic alcohols (BAs) with different alkyl lengths. Overall, CTX-SS-BA20 NPs with the proper alkyl length exhibited significant improvements in both antitumor efficacy and biosafety. Furthermore, compared with straight chain (SC) modified prodrug nanoassemblies (CTX-SS-SC20 NPs), CTX-SS-BA20 NPs still hold great therapeutic promise due to its good biosafety. These findings illustrated the significance of BAs as modified chains in designing prodrug nanoassemblies for narrowing the efficacy-to-safety gap of cancer therapy.

Ultrastable Aluminum Nanoparticles with Enhanced Combustion Performance Enabled by a Polydopamine/Polyethyleneimine Nanocoating.

In national defense, aluminum nanoparticles (Al NPs) have better combustion performance than Al microparticles but are easily oxidized during processing, especially in oxidative liquids. Although some protective coatings have been reported, it is still challenging to obtain Al NPs stable in oxidative liquids (e.g., hot liquids) without scarifying combustion performance. Here, we report ultrastable Al NPs with enhanced combustion performance enabled by the crosslinked polydopamine/polyethyleneimine (PDA/PEI) nanocoating merely ∼15 nm in thickness and ∼0.24 wt % in mass. The Al@PDA/PEI NPs are fabricated by one-step rapid graft copolymerization of dopamine and PEI on Al NPs at room temperature. The formation mechanism of the nanocoating is discussed including reactions between dopamine and PEI and interactions of the nanocoating with Al NPs. The Al@PDA/PEI NPs show excellent stability in hot water, and the mechanism is interpreted by molecular dynamics simulation. The PDA/PEI nanocoating can also enhance the combustion heat and burning rate of Al NPs.

Highly Salt-Resistant interfacial solar evaporators based on Melamine@Silicone nanoparticles for stable Long-Term desalination and water harvesting.

Interfacial solar-driven evaporation (ISE) is one of the most promising solutions for collecting fresh water, however, poor salt-resistance severely limits the long-term stability of solar evaporators. Here, highly salt-resistant solar evaporators for stable long-term desalination and water harvesting were fabricated by depositing silicone nanoparticles onto melamine sponge, and then modifying the hybrid sponge sequentially with polypyrrole and Au nanoparticles. The solar evaporators have a superhydrophilic hull for water transport and solar desalination, and a superhydrophobic nucleus for reducing heat loss. Spontaneous rapid salt exchange and reduction in salt concentration gradient were achieved due to ultrafast water transport and replenishment in the superhydrophilic hull with a hierachical micro-/nanostructure, which effectively prevents salt deposition during ISE. Consequently, the solar evaporators have long-term stable evaporation performance of 1.65 kg m-2h-1 for 3.5 wt% NaCl solution under 1 sun illumination. Moreover, 12.87 kg m-2 fresh water was collected during consecutive 10 h ISE of 20 wt% brine under 1 sun without any salt precipitation. We believe that this strategy will shed a new light on the design of long-term stable solar evaporators for fresh water harvesting.

Rational Engineering Docetaxel Prodrug Nanoassemblies: Response Modules Guiding Efficacy Enhancement and Toxicity Reduction.

Prodrug-based nanoassemblies have been developed to solve the bottlenecks of chemotherapeutic drugs. The fabricated prodrugs usually consist of active drug modules, response modules, and modification modules. Among three modules, the response modules play a vital role in controlling the intelligent drug release at tumor sites. Herein, various locations of disulfide bond linkages were selected as response modules to construct three Docetaxel (DTX) prodrugs. Interestingly, the small structural difference caused by the length of response modules endowed corresponding prodrug nanoassemblies with unique characteristic. α-DTX-OD nanoparticles (NPs) possessed the advantages of high redox-responsiveness due to their shortest linkages. However, they were too sensitive to retain the intact structure in the blood circulation, leading to severe systematic toxicity. ß-DTX-OD NPs significantly improved the pharmacokinetics of DTX but may induce damage to the liver. In comparison, γ-DTX-OD NPs with the longest linkages greatly ameliorated the delivery efficiency of DTX as well as improved DTX's tolerance dose.

Structure-Activity Relationship of pH-Sensitive Doxorubicin-Fatty Acid Prodrug Albumin Nanoparticles.

Albumin has emerged as a versatile drug carrier. To harness albumin as a carrier for doxorubicin (DOX), we synthesized three acid-labile DOX prodrugs using stearic acid (SA), oleic acid (OA), and linoleic acid (LA) as the albumin-binding motif, respectively. Different from conventional albumin nanodrugs (such as Abraxane, with a drug loading of 10%), the DOX prodrugs assembled albumin nanoparticles (NPs) have an ultrahigh drug loading (>35%). Noteworthy, we demonstrated that the saturation of fatty acids exerted great influence on colloidal stability of prodrug NPs, thus affecting their in vivo pharmacokinetics, tumor accumulation and antitumor efficacy. Furthermore, the hydrazone bond-bridged DOX prodrugs could remain intact in the bloodstream but allow DOX to be released in the acidic tumor environment, resulting in improved antitumor efficacy and safety. Our work gives novel insights into the structure-to-efficacy relationship of albumin-bound fatty acid prodrugs and provides a simple strategy for advanced albumin-bound nanomedicines.

Extracellular matrix physical properties govern the diffusion of nanoparticles in tumor microenvironment.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are confronted with limited and disappointing delivery efficiency in tumors clinically. The tumor extracellular matrix (ECM), whose physical traits have recently been recognized as new hallmarks of cancer, forms a main steric obstacle for NP diffusion, yet the role of tumor ECM physical traits in NP diffusion remains largely unexplored. Here, we characterized the physical properties of clinical gastric tumor samples and observed limited distribution of NPs in decellularized tumor tissues. We also performed molecular dynamics simulations and in vitro hydrogel experiments through single-particle tracking to investigate the diffusion mechanism of NPs and understand the influence of tumor ECM physical properties on NP diffusion both individually and collectively. Furthermore, we developed an estimation matrix model with evaluation scores of NP diffusion efficiency through comprehensive analyses of the data. Thus, beyond finding that loose and soft ECM with aligned structure contribute to efficient diffusion, we now have a systemic model to predict NP diffusion efficiency based on ECM physical traits and provide critical guidance for personalized tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Critical roles of linker length in determining the chemical and self-assembly stability of SN38 homodimeric nanoprodrugs.

Homodimeric prodrug nanoassemblies (HDPNs) have been widely studied for efficient cancer therapy by virtue of their ultra-high drug loading and distinct nanostructure. However, the development of SN38 HDPNs is still a great challenge due to the rigid planar aromatic ring structure. Improving the structural flexibility of homodimeric prodrugs by increasing the linker length may be a potential strategy for constructing SN38 HDPNs. Herein, three SN38 homodimeric prodrugs with different linker lengths were synthesized. The number of carbon atoms from the disulfide bond to the adjacent ester bond is 1 (denoted as α-SN38-SS-SN38), 2 (ß-SN38-SS-SN38), and 3 (γ-SN38-SS-SN38), respectively. Interestingly, we found that α-SN38-SS-SN38 exhibited extremely low yield and poor chemical stability. Additionally, ß-SN38-SS-SN38 demonstrated suitable chemical stability but poor self-assembly stability. In comparison, γ-SN38-SS-SN38 possessed good chemical and self-assembly stability, thereby improving the tumor accumulation and antitumor efficacy of SN38. We developed the SN38 HDPNs for the first time and illustrated the underlying molecular mechanism of increasing the linker length to enhance the chemical and self-assembly stability of homodimeric prodrugs. These findings would provide new insights for the rational design of HDPNs with superior performance.

The effects of serum albumin pre-adsorption of nanoparticles on protein corona and membrane interaction: A molecular simulation study.

As a platform to deliver imaging and therapeutic agents to targeted sites in vivo, nanoparticles (NPs) have widespread applications in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. However, the poor in vivo delivery efficiency of nanoparticles limits its potential for further application. Once enter the physiological environment, nanoparticles immediately interact with proteins and form protein corona, which changes the physicochemical properties of nanoparticle surface and further affects their transport. In this study, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to study the adsorption mechanism of nanoparticles with various surface modifications and different proteins (e.g., human serum albumin, complement protein C3b), and their interactions with cell membrane. The results show that protein human serum albumin prefers to interact with hydrophobic and positively charged nanoparticles, while the protein C3b prefers the hydrophobic and charged nanoparticles. The pre-adsorption of human serum albumin on the nanoparticle surface obviously decreases the interaction of nanoparticle with C3b. Furthermore, the high amount of protein pre-adsorption could decrease the probability of nanoparticle-membrane interaction. These results indicate that appropriate modification of nanoparticles with protein provides nanoparticles with better capability of targeting, which could be used to guide nanoparticle design and improve transport efficiency.