TPGS-Galactose-Modified Polydopamine Co-delivery Nanoparticles of Nitric Oxide Donor and Doxorubicin for Targeted Chemo-Photothermal Therapy against Drug-Resistant Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The lack of cancer cell specificity and the occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR) are two major obstacles in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To tackle these challenges, a novel nanoparticle (NP)-based drug delivery system (DDS) with a core/shell structure consisted of d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS)-galactose (Gal)/polydopamine (PDA) is fabricated. The NP is loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) and a nitric oxide (NO) donor N,N'-di-sec-butyl-N,N'-dinitroso-1,4-phenylenediamine (BNN) sensitive to heat to afford NO-DOX@PDA-TPGS-Gal. The unique binding of Gal to asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) and the pH-sensitive degradation of NP ensure the targeted transportation of NP into liver cells and the release of DOX in HCC cells. The near-infrared (NIR) light further facilitates DOX release and initiates NO generation from BNN due to the photothermal property of PDA. In addition to the cytotoxicity contributed by DOX, NO, and heat, TPGS and NO act as MDR reversal agents to inhibit P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-related efflux of DOX by HepG2/ADR cells. The combined chemo-photothermal therapy (chemo-PTT) by NO-DOX@PDA-TPGS-Gal thus shows potent anti-cancer activity against drug-resistant HCC cells in vitro and in vivo and significantly prolongs the life span of drug-resistant tumor-bearing mice. The present work provides a useful strategy for highly targeted and MDR reversal treatment of HCC.

Environmental factors influencing mucilage accumulation of the endangered Brasenia schreberi in China.

Brasenia schreberi J. F. Gmel. (Cabombaceae), a perennial freshwater macrophyte characterized by a thick mucilage on all underwater organs and especially young buds, has been widely cultivated as an aquatic vegetable in China for many years but is now listed as an endangered species due to anthropogenic impacts and habitat loss. Recent studies have demonstrated that different B. schreberi populations in China have low levels of genetic diversity but significantly different mucilage contents (MucC). Considering the importance of mucilage on both economic and ecological aspects, we examined mucilage-environment relationships in three B. schreberi cultivation sites. The results indicated that water permanganate index (CODMn), total N (TNw), electrical conductivity (ECw), dissolved oxygen (DOw), sediment organic carbon (SOC) and total N (TNs) were significant factors, which explained 82.2% of the variation in mucilage accumulation. The MucC and mucilage thickness (MucT) as well as single bud weight (SBW) of B. schreberi showed negative relationships with CODMn, TNw and ECw but positive relationships with SOC and TNs. Besides, high temperature may have a negative impact on mucilage accumulation of the species. Our study demonstrated that the mucilage accumulation of B. schreberi required good water quality and nutrient-enriched sediments, suggesting that habitat conservation, especially the quality of water, is important for maintaining B. schreberi populations.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of PEGylated Xenopus glucagon-like peptide-1 derivatives as long-acting hypoglycemic agents.

In order to develop novel long-acting GLP-1 derivatives, a peptide hybrid (1a) from human GLP-1 and Xenopus GLP-1 discovered in our previous research was selected as the lead compound. Exendin-4 inspired modification resulted in peptide 1b with enhanced glucose-lowering activity. Cysteine mutated 1b derivatives with reserved bioactivity were further site-specifically connected with mPEG2000-MAL to provide conjugates 3a-h, among which 3d and 3e were found to have significantly improved hypoglycemic activity and insulinotropic ability than GLP-1. The hypoglycemic durations of 3d and 3e were remarkably prolonged to ∼20 h in type 2 diabetic db/db mice, compared with the 5.3 h of exendin-4 in the same test. Finally, chronic in vivo studies revealed that a once-daily treatment of 3d or 3e for five weeks resulted in recovered glucose-controlling ability of type 2 diabetic db/db mice, along with other benefits, such as reduced body weight gains, food intake amounts and HbA1c values. Collectively, our results suggest 3d and 3e as potential long-acting glucose-lowering agents for treating type 2 diabetes.

Isolation and analysis of water stress induced genes in maize seedlings by subtractive PCR and cDNA macroarray.

In order to identify genes induced during the water stress response in maize (Zea mays) seedlings, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was performed using mixed cDNAs prepared from maize seedlings treated with 20% PEG as testers and cDNAs from unstressed maize seedlings as drivers. A forward subtractive cDNA library was constructed, from which 960 recombinant colonies were picked and amplified. Through differential screening of the subtractive cDNA library, 533 clones were identified as water stress induced. After sequencing, 190 unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were obtained by clustering and blast analysis, which included transcripts that had previously been reported as responsive to stress as well as some functionally unknown transcripts. The ESTs with significant protein homology were sorted into 13 functional categories. A cDNA marcoarray containing the 190 unique ESTs was used to analyze their expression profiles in maize seedling during both PEG treatment and natural drought. The results indicated that 67 ESTs in leaves and 113 ESTs in roots were significantly up-regulated by PEG-stress. 123 ESTs were found to be up-regulated for at least one time-course point in either maize leaves or roots. Correspondingly, 163 ESTs were significantly up-regulated by drought stress. Results from the hierarchical cluster analysis suggest that the leaves and roots of maize seedlings had different expression profiles after PEG treatment and that there was a lot of overlap between PEG- and drought-stress induced up-regulated transcripts. A set of transcripts has been identified, which have significantly increased expression and probably involved in water stress signaling pathway based on data analysis.