ABSTRACT
Human pepsinogens (mainly pepsinogen I and pepsinogen II) are the major inactive precursor forms of the digestive enzyme pepsin which play a crucial role in protein digestion. The levels and ratios of human pepsinogens have demonstrated potential as diagnostic biomarkers for gastrointestinal diseases, particularly gastric cancer. Nanobodies are promising tools for the treatment and diagnosis of diseases, owing to their unique recognition properties. In this study, recombinant human pepsinogens proteins were expressed and purified as immunized antigens. We constructed a VHH phage library and identified several nanobodies via phage display bio-panning. We determined the binding potency and cross-reactivity of these nanobodies. Our study provides technical support for developing immunodiagnostic reagents targeting human pepsinogens.
Subject(s)
Pepsinogens , Single-Domain Antibodies , Humans , Pepsinogens/metabolism , Single-Domain Antibodies/genetics , Gastric Mucosa/metabolism , Pepsin AABSTRACT
We investigate the propagation dynamics of elliptic Gaussian breathers without and with orbital angular momentum (OAM) in thermal nonlocal nonlinear media with both linear and nonlinear isotropy. The beamwidths and intensity of the elliptic breather without OAM, and the beamwidths and rotation angle of the elliptic breather with the critical OAM are analytically discussed in details. In experiment, the OAM-free elliptic beam is observed to oscillate and cannot form an elliptic soliton for any input power. By contrast, the elliptic beam carrying the critical OAM can keep its ellipticity changeless during the propagation and evolve into a spiralling elliptic soliton at the critical power. Specifically, in the vicinity of the critical power, the rotation angle of the spiralling elliptic beam can be controlled linearly by the input power and exceed π/2, while its beamwidths and ellipticity remain unchanged. Such a power-controllable, profile-preserving spiralling elliptic beam may provide potential applications in all-optical manipulation.
ABSTRACT
We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first experimental observation of higher-charge vortex solitons and vector vortex solitons in lead glass with strongly thermal nonlocal nonlinearity. A higher-charge vortex soliton with a topological charge of l=4 and a vector vortex soliton consisting of two orthogonally polarized vortex components, with charges l1=1 and l2=4, were observed at several times of diffraction length. We show that the ring profiles and the carried topological charges of the two incoherently coupled vortex components can be preserved. We also numerically find that the stability of the higher-charge vortex can be enhanced by co-propagating a stable, single-charge vortex.
ABSTRACT
We report a new type of amide bond-bearing cathepsin B-sensitive gemcitabine (GEM) prodrugs, capable of in situ covalently targeting circulating albumin and then making a hitchhike to the tumor. Specially, less plasma-enzyme deactivation, long plasma half-life, independence on nucleoside transporters, outstanding tumor targeting, and site-specific drug release are achieved, and as such these multifunctional advantages contribute to the dramatically increased in vivo antitumor efficacy.
Subject(s)
Cathepsin B/metabolism , Deoxycytidine/analogs & derivatives , Drug Delivery Systems , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Prodrugs/pharmacokinetics , Serum Albumin/metabolism , Animals , Deoxycytidine/chemistry , Deoxycytidine/metabolism , Deoxycytidine/pharmacokinetics , Deoxycytidine/therapeutic use , Male , Mice , Neoplasms/metabolism , Prodrugs/chemistry , Prodrugs/metabolism , Prodrugs/therapeutic use , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , GemcitabineABSTRACT
It is demonstrated that the orbital angular momentum (OAM) carried by the elliptic beam without the phase-singularity can induce the anisotropic diffraction (AD). The quantitative relation between the OAM and its induced AD is analytically obtained by a comparison of two different kinds of (1+2)-dimensional beam propagations: the linear propagations of the elliptic beam without the OAM in an anisotropic medium and that with the OAM in an isotropic one. In the former case, the optical beam evolves as the fundamental mode of the eigenmodes when its ellipticity is the square root of the anisotropic parameter defined in the paper; while in the latter case, the fundamental mode exists only when the OAM carried by the optical beam equals a specific one called a critical OAM. The OAM always enhances the beam-expanding in the major-axis direction and weakens that in the minor-axis direction no matter the sign of the OAM, and the larger the OAM, the stronger the AD induced by it. Besides, the OAM can also make the elliptic beam rotate, and the absolute value of the rotation angle is no larger than π/2 during the propagation.
ABSTRACT
Drug resistance of bacteria has become a global health problem, as it makes conventional antibiotics less efficient. It is urgently needed to explore novel antibacterial materials and develop effective treatment strategies to overcome the drug resistance of antibiotics. Herein, we successfully synthesized silver decorated sandwich-like mesoporous silica/reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO/MSN/Ag) as a novel antibacterial material through facile method. The rGO and Ag nanoparticles can be reduced in the reaction system without adding any other reductants. In addition, the rGO/MSN/Ag showed higher photothermal conversion capacity due to the modification of silver nanoparticles and exhibited excellent antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas putida, Escherichia coli and Rhodococcus at relatively low dosages, which was confirmed by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test. Meanwhile, the E. coli with a high concentration was selected for exposure using an 808 nm laser, and the antibacterial effect was obviously enhanced by the near-infrared irradiation induced photothermal effect. Moreover, the hepatocyte LO2 were used for the cytotoxicity evaluation, and the rGO/MSN/Ag showed low toxicity and were without detectable cytotoxicity at the antimicrobial dose. As the prepared rGO/MSN/Ag nanosheets have the advantages of low-cost and high antibacterial activity, they might be of promising and useful antibacterial agents for different applications.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the expression and clinical significance of budding uninhibited by benzimidazole 1 (BUB1) and BUB1 mitotic checkpoint serine/threonine kinase B (BUB1B) in endometrial carcinoma (EC). BUB1 and BUBIB expressions were evaluated by bioinformatics. Protein expression, clinical features, prognosis and immune cell infiltration were explored in 20 EC tumors. siRNA was used to evaluate BUB1 and BUBIB function in EC cells. BUB1 and BUBIB were highly expressed in 26 cancers. BUB1 was associated with overall survival (OS) in eight cancers and disease-free survival in ten; BUB1B was associated with OS in nine cancers and DFS in eleven. BUB1 and BUBIB exhibited high frequencies of gene changes (mainly mutations, > 5%) in cancer. BUB1 was negatively correlated and BUB1B was positively correlated with cancer-associated fibroblasts and endothelial cell infiltration. BUB1 and BUBIB knockdown decreased migration and invasion in EC cells. High BUB1 expression correlated with tumor malignant phenotypes (P < 0.05). High BUB1 mRNA expression reduced OS (P = 0.00036) and recurrence-free survival (P = 0.0011). High BUB1B mRNA expression reduced OS (P = 0.0024). BUB1/BUB1B correlated with activated CD8 + T and CD4 + T cell infiltration. BUB1 and BUBIB are highly expressed and correlated with clinicopathological characteristics in EC. BUB1 and BUBIB are potential prognosis markers and immunotherapy targets.
Subject(s)
Endometrial Neoplasms , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases , Humans , Female , Endometrial Neoplasms/genetics , Endometrial Neoplasms/pathology , Endometrial Neoplasms/mortality , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Prognosis , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Cell Line, Tumor , Middle Aged , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , Cell Movement/genetics , Disease-Free Survival , Cell Cycle ProteinsABSTRACT
Tissue adhesives are promising alternatives to sutures and staples to achieve wound closure and hemostasis. However, they often do not work well on tissues that are soaked in blood or other biological fluids, and organs that are typically exposed to a variety of harsh environments such as different pH values, nonhomogeneous distortions, continuous expansions and contractions, or high pressures. In this study, a nature-derived multilayered hetero-bioadhesive patch (skin secretion of Andrias davidianus (SSAD)-Patch) based on hydrophilic/hydrophobic pro-healing bioadhesives derived from the SSAD is developed, which is designed to form pressure-triggered strong adhesion with wet tissues. The SSAD-Patch is successfully applied for the sealing and healing of tissue defects within 10 s in diverse extreme injury scenarios in vivo including rat stomach perforation, small intestine perforation, fetal membrane defect, porcine carotid artery incision, and lung lobe laceration. The findings reveal a promising new type of self-adhesive regenerative SSAD-Patch, which is potentially adaptable to broad applications (under different pH values and air or liquid pressures) in sutureless wound sealing and healing.
Subject(s)
Tissue Adhesives , Wound Healing , Animals , Wound Healing/drug effects , Tissue Adhesives/chemistry , Tissue Adhesives/pharmacology , Rats , Swine , Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions , Skin , StomachABSTRACT
Hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels have been broadly used in medical applications due to their remarkable properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, super hydroscopicity, non-immunogenic effect, etc. However, the inherent weak and hydrophilic polysaccharide structure of pure hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels has limited their potential use in muco-adhesiveness, wound dressing, and 3D printing. In this research, we developed in-situ forming of catechol-modified HA hydrogels with improved mechanical properties involving blue-light curing crosslinking reaction. The effect of catechol structure on the physicochemical properties of HA hydrogels was evaluated by varying the content (0-40 %). The as-synthesized hydrogel demonstrated rapid prototyping, excellent wetting adhesiveness, and good biocompatibility. Furthermore, an optimized hydrogel precursor solution was used as a blue light-cured bio-ink with high efficiency and good precision and successfully prototyped a microstructure that mimicked the human hepatic lobule by using DLP 3D printing method. This catechol-modified HA hydrogel with tunable physicochemical and rapid prototyping properties has excellent potential in biomedical engineering.
Subject(s)
Catechols , Hyaluronic Acid , Hydrogels , Hyaluronic Acid/chemistry , Hydrogels/chemistry , Catechols/chemistry , Humans , Printing, Three-Dimensional , Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , AdhesivenessABSTRACT
The Farm Animal Genotype-Tissue Expression (FarmGTEx) project has been established to develop a public resource of genetic regulatory variants in livestock, which is essential for linking genetic polymorphisms to variation in phenotypes, helping fundamental biological discovery and exploitation in animal breeding and human biomedicine. Here we show results from the pilot phase of PigGTEx by processing 5,457 RNA-sequencing and 1,602 whole-genome sequencing samples passing quality control from pigs. We build a pig genotype imputation panel and associate millions of genetic variants with five types of transcriptomic phenotypes in 34 tissues. We evaluate tissue specificity of regulatory effects and elucidate molecular mechanisms of their action using multi-omics data. Leveraging this resource, we decipher regulatory mechanisms underlying 207 pig complex phenotypes and demonstrate the similarity of pigs to humans in gene expression and the genetic regulation behind complex phenotypes, supporting the importance of pigs as a human biomedical model.
Subject(s)
Gene Expression Profiling , Gene Expression Regulation , Swine/genetics , Animals , Humans , Genotype , Phenotype , Sequence Analysis, RNAABSTRACT
Bone tissue engineering (BTE) is a promising approach for repairing and regenerating damaged bone tissue, using stem cells and scaffold structures. Among various stem cell sources, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) have emerged as a potential candidate due to their multipotential capabilities, ability to undergo osteogenic differentiation, low immunogenicity, and ease of isolation. This article reviews the biological characteristics of DPSCs, their potential for BTE, and the underlying transcription factors and signaling pathways involved in osteogenic differentiation; it also highlights the application of DPSCs in inducing scaffold tissues for bone regeneration and summarizes animal and clinical studies conducted in this field. This review demonstrates the potential of DPSC-based BTE for effective bone repair and regeneration, with implications for clinical translation.
ABSTRACT
Obesity is a complex disease characterized by excessive fat accumulation which is caused by genetic, environmental and other factors. In recent years, there has been an increase in the morbidity, disability rate,and mortality due to obesity, making it great threat to people's health and lives, and increasing public health care expenses. Evidence from previous studies show that weight loss can significantly reduce the risk of obesity-related complications and chronic diseases. Diet control, moderate exercise, behavior modification programs, bariatric surgery and prescription drug treatment are the major interventions used to help people lose weight. Among them, anti-obesity drugs have high compliance rates and cause noticeable short-term effects in reducing obese levels. However, given the safety or effectiveness concerns of anti-obesity drugs, many of the currently used drugs have limited clinical use. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are a group of drugs that targets incretin hormone action, and its receptors are widely distributed in nerves, islets, heart, lung, skin, and other organs. Several animal experiments and clinical trials have demonstrated that GLP-1R agonists are more effective in treating or preventing obesity. Therefore, GLP-1R agonists are promising agents for the treatment of obese individuals. This review describes evidence from previous research on the effects of GLP-1R agonists on obesity. We anticipate that this review will generate data that will help biomedical researchers or clinical workers develop obesity treatments based on GLP-1R agonists.
Subject(s)
Anti-Obesity Agents , Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor , Animals , Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor/agonists , Obesity/etiology , Incretins , Anti-Obesity Agents/therapeutic use , Weight LossABSTRACT
A 37-year-old Chinese man was admitted to the department of cardiology of the First Hospital of Jilin University for intermittent palpitation for 9 months, aggravating with chest pain for 3 days. After several examinations, he was diagnosed with giant left ventricular fistula of the diagonal branch of the left coronary artery. After routine treatment, which included improving circulation and administration of dual antiplatelet as well as hypolipidemic drugs among others, the patient's symptoms did not improve. The fistula was too big for transcatheter occlusion to be performed. A multi-disciplinary suggestion was that the patient be subjected to "surgical closure treatment"; however, for personal reasons, he refused the operation. After discharge, oral beta-blockers were prescribed for the patient. Incidences of congenital coronary arterial fistula in congenital cardiovascular disease are rare, and incidences of the giant fistula being located in the left heart system are even rarer. We report an adult male with a giant left anterior descending diagonal coronary artery left ventricular fistula and show various accessory examination results. Non-invasive ultrasonic cardiography was the first diagnostic option for the disease and pre-admission evaluation. Auxiliary diagnosis and exclusion value of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) were revealed for the first time. Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) was demonstrated to be the gold standard method again and it was also found that computed tomography angiography (CTA) might be used instead of ICA for determining the exact relationships among anatomic structures. Furthermore, we performed a literature review on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with this condition.
ABSTRACT
Influenza with a tendency to cause pandemic and epidemic is an infectious disease with a high of morbidity and mortality. Neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors are proved to prevent and treat influenza. Among the four Neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) licensed, oseltamivir is most commonly used. With the extensive usage, several variants containing mutant NAs especially H274Y point mutation exhibit reduced susceptibility. In this review, we covered the current drugs available for influenza, the analysis of active site of NA, the mutant types of NAs and the molecular mechanism of drug resistance brought by H274Y mutant NAs. For recovering the susceptibility to oseltamivir, many series of oseltamivir analogues were designed. We present the details of the strategies of strengthening the interactions with S2 via introducing strong basic fragment, targeting additional subpockets and making full use of Zone X by modifying 3-pentyl of OC. PROTAC targeting NA and combination therapies are also introduced. Further, the advantages and disadvantages of these methods are also discussed.
Subject(s)
Influenza, Human , Oseltamivir , Humans , Oseltamivir/pharmacology , Oseltamivir/chemistry , Neuraminidase/genetics , Neuraminidase/chemistry , Zanamivir/pharmacology , Mutation , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Guanidines/pharmacology , Glycoside Hydrolases , Drug Resistance, ViralABSTRACT
After the outbreak of COVID-19, billions of vaccines with different types have been administrated, including recombinant protein vaccines and mRNA vaccines. Although both types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine can protect people from viral infection, their differences in humoral and cellular immune responses are still not clearly understood. In this study, we made a head-to-head comparison between an mRNA vaccine candidate and a recombinant protein vaccine we developed previously. Results demonstrated that both vaccine candidates could elicit high specific binding and neutralizing antibody titers in BALB/c mice, but with bias towards different IgG subtypes. Besides, the mRNA vaccine candidate induces higher cellular immune responses than the recombinant protein vaccine. To date, this is the first reported study to directly compare the immune responses of both arms between SARS-CoV-2 mRNA and recombinant vaccines.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Vaccines , COVID-19 , Animals , Antibodies, Neutralizing , Antibodies, Viral , COVID-19/prevention & control , Humans , Immunity, Cellular , Immunogenicity, Vaccine , Mice , RNA, Messenger/genetics , SARS-CoV-2 , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics , Vaccination , Vaccines, Synthetic , mRNA VaccinesABSTRACT
With-no-lysine (WNK) kinases play vital roles in abiotic stress response, circadian rhythms, and regulation of flowering time in rice, Arabidopsis, and Glycine max. However, there are no previous reports of WNKs in the Bambusoideae, although genome sequences are available for diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid bamboo species. In the present study, we identified 41 WNK genes in five bamboo species and analysed gene evolution, phylogenetic relationship, physical and chemical properties, cis-elements, and conserved motifs. We predicted the structure of PeWNK proteins of moso bamboo and determined the exposed, buried, structural and functional amino acids. Real-time qPCR analysis revealed that PeWNK5, PeWNK7, PeWNK8, and PeWNK11 genes are involved in circadian rhythms. Analysis of gene expression of different organs at different developmental stages revealed that PeWNK genes are tissue-specific. Analysis of various abiotic stress transcriptome data (drought, salt, SA, and ABA) revealed significant gene expression levels in all PeWNKs except PeWNK11. In particular, PeWNK8 and PeWNK9 were significantly down- and up-regulated, respectively, after abiotic stress treatment. A co-expression network of PeWNK genes also showed that PeWNK2, PeWNK4, PeWNK7, and PeWNK8 were co-expressed with transcriptional regulators related to abiotic stress. In conclusion, our study identified the PeWNKs of moso bamboo involved in circadian rhythms and abiotic stress response. In addition, this study serves as a guide for future functional genomic studies of the WNK genes of the Bambusoideae.
Subject(s)
Oryza , Poaceae , Oryza/genetics , Phylogeny , Poaceae/genetics , Stress, Physiological/genetics , Transcriptome/genetics , Protein Kinases/metabolism , Plant Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
Rationale: The efficacy and mechanism of hydroxyurea in the treatment of atherosclerosis have rarely been reported. The goal of this study was to investigate the efficacy of hydroxyurea in high-fat diet-fed ApoE-/- mice against atherosclerosis and examine the possible mechanism underlying treatment outcomes. Methods: ApoE-/- mice were fed a high-fat diet for 1 month and then administered hydroxyurea by gavage continuously for 2 months. Aortic root hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and oil red O staining were used to verify the efficacy of hydroxyurea; biochemical methods and ELISA were used to detect changes in relevant metabolites in serum. 16S rRNA was used to detect composition changes in the intestinal bacterial community of animals after treatment with hydroxyurea. Metabolomics methods were used to identify fecal metabolites and their changes. Immunohistochemical staining and ELISA were used for the localization and quantification of intestinal NPC1L1. Results: We showed that aortic root HE staining and oil red O staining determined the therapeutic efficacy of hydroxyurea in the treatment of atherosclerosis in high-fat diet-fed ApoE-/- mice. Serological tests verified the ability of hydroxyurea to lower total serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. The gut microbiota was significantly altered after HU treatment and was significantly different from that after antiplatelet and statin therapy. Meanwhile, a metabolomic study revealed that metabolites, including stearic acid, palmitic acid and cholesterol, were significantly enriched in mouse feces. Further histological and ELISAs verified that the protein responsible for intestinal absorption of cholesterol in mice, NPC1L1, was significantly reduced after hydroxyurea treatment. Conclusions: In high-fat diet-fed ApoE-/- mice, hydroxyurea effectively treated atherosclerosis, lowered serum cholesterol, modulated the gut microbiota at multiple levels and affected cholesterol absorption by reducing NPC1L1 in small intestinal epithelial cells.
Subject(s)
Atherosclerosis , Gastrointestinal Microbiome , Mice , Animals , Hydroxyurea , Niemann-Pick C1 Protein , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , Apolipoproteins E/genetics , Atherosclerosis/drug therapyABSTRACT
A novel and efficient adsorbent (TM-MoSe2, TM = Fe, Co, Ni) for mercury removal was developed and studied. The adsorption of mercury species (Hg0, HgCl, and HgCl2) and the oxidation of Hg0 by HCl on TM-MoSe2 (001) surface were explored at molecular level by density functional theory (DFT). The results shown that the Hg0 adsorption capacity of MoSe2 was improved by the doping of Fe/Co/Ni, which was also confirmed by experiments. The initial Hg0 removal efficiency of MoSe2-based adsorbents reached 96.4-100.0%. In addition, HgCl was mainly adsorbed on TM-MoSe2 (001) surface in the form of dissociation. The escape of Hg atom from HgCl resulted in the release of Hg0 again. However, HgCl2 could be fixed well on the surface of adsorbent through molecular adsorption or dissociative adsorption. For the oxidation process of Hg0 by HCl, it abided with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. In comparison with direct oxidation (Hg â HgCl2), two-step pathway (Hg â HgCl â HgCl2) was an achievable reaction route with lower energy. Furthermore, the Hg â HgCl process was the rate-limiting step of the two-step pathway. The proposed adsorption and oxidation mechanism of mercury species on TM-MoSe2 (001) provide advanced strategies on the development of adsorbents for industrial mercury removal.
ABSTRACT
Neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors play a prime role in treating influenza. However, a variety of viruses containing mutant NAs have developed severe drug resistance towards NA inhibitors, so it is of crucial significance to solve this problem. Encouraged by urea-containing compound 12 disclosed by our lab, we designed a series of oseltamivir derivatives bearing hydrazide fragment for targeting the 150 cavity. Among the synthesized compounds, compound 17a showed 8.77-fold, 4.12-fold, 203-fold and 6.23-fold more potent activity than oseltamivir carboxylate against NAs from H5N1, H1N1, H5N1-H274Y, H1N1-H274Y, respectively. Meanwhile, the best compound 17a exhibited satisfactory metabolic stability in vitro. This study offers an important reference for the structural optimization of oseltamivir aiming at potent inhibition against H274Y mutant of NAs.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Drug Discovery , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Hydrazines/pharmacology , Influenza A virus/drug effects , Neuraminidase/antagonists & inhibitors , Oseltamivir/pharmacology , Viral Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Antiviral Agents/chemical synthesis , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , Humans , Hydrazines/chemical synthesis , Hydrazines/chemistry , Influenza A virus/enzymology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Molecular Structure , Mutation , Neuraminidase/genetics , Neuraminidase/metabolism , Oseltamivir/chemical synthesis , Oseltamivir/chemistry , Structure-Activity Relationship , Viral Proteins/genetics , Viral Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
Multifunctional nanocarriers have been widely accepted and utilized for biomedical applications, because of their structural regularity, convenient post-modification and controllable structure and morphology. Herein, we reported polydopamine-doped virus-like mesoporous silica coated reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO@PVMSNs) nanocomposites by a facile oil-water biphase stratification method. The synthesized rGO@PVMSNs nanocomposites performed excellent biocompatibility and photothermal performance. They could be employed as photoacoustic imaging contrast in vivo. Furthermore, the rGO@PVMSNs nanocarriers were used for loading the antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX), the rGO@PVMSNs@DOX nanocomposites were also demonstrated to be with high inhibition of HepG2 cancer cells, especially with the help of near-infrared irradiation, which were more efficient than single chemotherapy or photothermal therapy. The rGO@PVMSNs@DOX nanocomposites of this work could be used as photoacoustic imaging and chemo-photothermal synergetic therapy agents, which show a new perspective for clinical tumor diagnosis and therapy.