Heparosan-based self-assembled nanocarrier for zinc(II) phthalocyanine for use in photodynamic cancer therapy.

Zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) is a promising photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for melanoma treatment. However, the poor solubility of ZnPc limits its application. To overcome this limitation, heparosan (HP)-based nanoparticles were prepared by anchoring the l-lysine-linked α-linolenic acid branch to the carboxylic acid group to produce amphiphilic conjugates named heparosan with an l-lysine-linked α-linolenic acid branch (HLA). HLA conjugates could self-assemble into spherical nanoparticles in aqueous media and encapsulate ZnPc to form HLA-ZnPc nanoparticles. The cellular uptake of ZnPc could be improved by HLA carriers. These nanoparticles presented excellent photodynamic-mediated toxicity against mouse melanoma cells (B16) by markedly upregulating the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels while showing no cytotoxicity to either B16 or normal cells (L02 and HK-2 cells) in the dark. Furthermore, HLA-ZnPc displayed excellent stability in both powder and Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 medium, indicating its promise for application in drug delivery and PDT. These results revealed a strategy for HP-based enhancement of ZnPc in PDT efficacy.

Discussing the Effect of Students' Crisis Awareness on Emotion During the COVID-19 Pandemic From the Perspective of Trust.

The effects of crises vary among individuals, societies, and nations. Governments' crisis management is quite different from that of non-governmental organizations, especially in terms of "publicity," since it involves bureaucracy to address people's accountability concerns. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between students' crisis awareness, trust, and emotions in the event of a major public health emergency. A questionnaire survey was conducted for this study. A total of 500 copies of questionnaires were distributed to the college students in Jiangxi. Among those, 437 valid copies were retrieved, with a retrieval rate of 87%. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to conduct the statistical analyses. The research results were summarized as follows: (1) At the stage of epidemic spread, people can easily fall into the negative emotion. (2) The society with a good trust relationship considers schools less responsible for critical incidents and more helpful for crisis communication. (3) Reducing the negative emotions of the public after the occurrence of critical incidents can effectively reduce the damage of critical incidents to the organization. Avoiding a loss of student confidence and increasing anger, protecting the school's reputation, having a good communication effect, and minimizing the impact of the crisis can help the students develop better trust toward the school. When a crisis occurs on campus, this can reduce the possibility of students' showing negative emotions and spreading rumors. It is considered that the findings provide guidance on how to optimize the management of public health crisis situations and improve students' mental health.

Preparation and characterization of 2-deacetyl-3-O-sulfo-heparosan and its antitumor effects via the fibroblast growth factor receptor pathway.

Heparosan, with a linear chain of disaccharide repeating units of â†’ 4) ß-D-glucuronic acid (GlcA) (1 â†’ 4)-α-D-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) (1→, is a potential starting chemical for heparin synthesis. However, the chemoenzymatic synthesis of single-site sulfated heparosan and its antitumor activity have not been studied. In this study, 2-deacetyl-3-O-sulfo-heparosan (DSH) was prepared successively by the N-deacetylation chemical reaction and enzymatic modification of human 3-O-sulfotransferase-1 (3-OST-1). Structural characterization of DSH was shown the success of the sulfation with the sulfation degree of 0.87. High performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC) analysis revealed that DSH had only one symmetrical sharp peak with a molecular weight of 9.6334 × 104 Da. Biological function studies showed that DSH could inhibit tumor cell (A549, HepG2 and HCT116) viability and induce the apoptosis of A549 cells. Further in vitro mechanistic studies showed that DSH may induce apoptosis via the JNK signaling pathway, and the upstream signal of this process may be fibroblast growth factor receptors. These results indicated that DSH could be developed as one of a potential chemical for tumor treatment.

An orally administered butyrate-releasing xylan derivative reduces inflammation in dextran sulphate sodium-induced murine colitis.

Butyrate has been shown to be effective in ulcerative colitis (UC). However, its oral administration is rare due to its rancid odour and unpleasant taste. In this study, the effect of a butyrate-releasing polysaccharide derivative, xylan butyrate ester (XylB), was evaluated in a dextran sodium sulphate (DSS)-induced UC model in C57BL/6 mice. Linear xylan was extracted from corn cobs. The C-2 and C-3 positions of the linear xylan were esterified with butyrate, forming XylB. The protective and therapeutic effects of XylB against UC were determined in a DSS-induced mouse model. The results showed that XylB treatments reversed the imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, XylB rebalanced the gut microbiota that interfered with DSS treatment and significantly decreased the relative abundance of the genera Oscillibacter, Ruminococcaceae UCG-009, Erysipelatoclostridium, and Defluviitaleaceae UCG-01. XylB increased butyrate content in the colon, upregulated G-protein coupled receptor 109A protein expression, inhibited histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity, and exerted anti-inflammatory activity through autophagy pathway activation and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibition. XylB reduces inflammatory intestinal damage in mice, suggesting that it would be a potential drug for the treatment of UC and could be used to overcome the limitations of the oral administration of sodium butyrate.