Orthogonally Engineered Albumin with Attenuated Macrophage Phagocytosis for the Targeted Visualization and Phototherapy of Liver Cancer.

The five-year survival rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unsatisfactory. This reflects, in part, the paucity of effective methods that allow the target-specific diagnosis and therapy of HCC. Here, we report a strategy based on engineered human serum albumin (HSA) that permits the HCC-targeted delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Covalent cysteine conjugation combined with the exploitation of host-guest chemistry was used to effect the orthogonal functionalization of HSA with two functionally independent peptides. One of these peptides targets glypican-3 (GPC-3), an HCC-specific biomarker, while the second reduces macrophage phagocytosis through immune-checkpoint stimulation. This orthogonally engineered HSA proved effective for the GPC-3-targeted delivery of near-infrared fluorescent and phototherapeutic agents, thus permitting target-specific optical visualization and photodynamic ablation of HCC in vivo. This study thus offers new insights into specificity-enhanced fluorescence-guided surgery and phototherapy of HCC through the orthogonal engineering of biocompatible proteins.

Targeted photothermal release of antibiotics by a graphene nanoribbon-based supramolecular glycomaterial.

Here, we report the simple construction of a supramolecular glycomaterial for the targeted delivery of antibiotics to P. aeruginosa in a photothermally-controlled manner. A galactose-pyrene conjugate (Gal-pyr) was developed to self-assemble with graphene nanoribbon-based nanowires via π-π stacking to produce a supramolecular glycomaterial, which exhibits a 1250-fold enhanced binding avidity toward a galactose-selective lectin when compared to Gal-pyr. The as-prepared glycomaterial when loaded with an antibiotic that acts as an inhibitor of the bacterial folic acid biosynthetic pathway eradicated P. aeruginosa-derived biofilms under near-infrared light irradiation due to the strong photothermal effect of the nanowires accelerating antibiotic release.

A Supramolecular-Based Dual-Wavelength Phototherapeutic Agent with Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Activity Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria.

With the ever-increasing threat posed by the multi-drug resistance of bacteria, the development of non-antibiotic agents for the broad-spectrum eradication of clinically prevalent superbugs remains a global challenge. Here, we demonstrate the simple supramolecular self-assembly of structurally defined graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with a cationic porphyrin (Pp4N) to afford unique one-dimensional wire-like GNR superstructures coated with Pp4N nanoparticles. This Pp4N/GNR nanocomposite displays excellent dual-modal properties with significant reactive-oxygen-species (ROS) production (in photodynamic therapy) and temperature elevation (in photothermal therapy) upon light irradiation at 660 and 808 nm, respectively. This combined approach proved synergistic, providing an impressive antimicrobial effect that led to the complete annihilation of a wide spectrum of Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and drug-resistant bacteria both in vitro and in vivo. The study also unveils the promise of GNRs as a new platform to develop dual-modal antimicrobial agents that are able to overcome antibiotic resistance.

[Low-phosphorus tolerance and related physiological mechanism of Xieqingzao B//Xieqingzao B/Dongxiang wild rice BC1F9 populations].

By the method of water culture, the low-phosphorus tolerance of 221 lines of Xieqingzao B//Xieqingzao B/Dongxiang wild rice BC1 F9 populations was indentified. The morphological indices including plant height, leaf age, yellow leaf number, and shoot dry mass as well as the physiological indices including MDA, soluble sugar, and shoot phosphorus content were measured, also, the phosphorus efficiency was calculated, and the correlations among the indices were analyzed. All the 221 lines had differences in the seven test indices, and the low-phosphorus tolerance lines under low-phosphorus stress had higher values of relative leaf age, relative plant height, relative shoot dry mass, and relative soluble sugar content, but lower values of relative yellow leaf number and relative malondialdehyde content. The relative shoot phosphorus content had less difference. Phosphorus efficiency was positively correlated with phosphorus utilization efficiency and phosphorus uptake efficiency, and the correlation between phosphorus efficiency and phosphorus utilization efficiency was at significant level (P < 0.01), suggesting that the low-phosphorus tolerance capability of the low-phosphorus tolerance lines was mainly attributed to the high phosphorus utilization efficiency of the lines, namely, low-phosphorus tolerance lines had stronger capability in synthesizing dry mass with per unit phosphorus uptake.