Synthesis of Double Trivalent Perovskite Quantum Dots Cs3BiSbX9 (X = Cl, Br, I) for Efficient CO2 Photoreduction Performance.

Non-toxic Bi halides have great potential in the field of CO2 photoreduction, but strong charge localization limits their charge separation and transfer. In this study, a series of Cs3BiSbX9 (X = Cl, Br, I) perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) are synthesized by antisolvent recrystallization at room temperature, in which Cs3BiSbBr9 PQDs has high selectivity (94.51%) and yield (15.32 µmol g-1 h-1) of CO2 to CO. In situ DRIFTS and theoretical calculations suggest that the surface charge can be tailored by halogen modulation, allowing for the customization of intermediate species. The Bi─Br─Sb symmetric charge distribution induced by the halogen Br promotes the formation of b─HCOO and reduces the reaction energy barrier of the rate-limiting step, while the weak electronegativity of Cl and the high electronegativity of I leads to m─HCOO and ─COOH production, which are detrimental to CO generation. This work provides new insights into the design of halide alloy perovskites for CO2 photoreduction.

A carrier-free tri-component nanoreactor for multi-pronged synergistic cancer therapy.

Non-invasive therapies such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) have received wide attention due to their low toxicity and side effects, but their efficacy is limited by the tumor microenvironment (TME), and monotherapy cannot achieve satisfactory efficacy. In this work, a multifunctional nanoparticle co-assembled from oleanolic acid (OA), chlorin e6 (Ce6) and hemin was developed. The as-constructed nanoparticle named OCH with diameters of around 130 nm possessed good biostability, pH/GSH dual-responsive drug release properties, and remarkable cellular internalization and tumor accumulation capabilities. OCH exhibited prominent catalytic activities to generate •OH, deplete GSH, and produce O2 to overcome the hypoxia TME, thus potentiating the photodynamic and chemodynamic effect. In addition, OCH can induce the occurrence of ferroptosis in both ferroptosis-sensitive and ferroptosis-resistant cancer cells. The multi-pronged effects of OCH including hypoxia alleviation, GSH depletion, ferroptosis induction, CDT and PDT effects jointly facilitate excellent anticancer effects in vitro and in vivo. Hence, this work will advance the development of safe and effective clinically transformable nanomedicine by employing clinically-applied agents to form drug combinations for efficient multi-pronged combination cancer therapy.

Counterion influence on near-infrared-II heptamethine cyanine salts for photothermal therapy.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted extensive attention in cancer treatment. Heptamethine cyanine dyes with near-infrared (NIR) absorption performance have been investigated for PTT. However, they are often accompanied by poor photostability, suboptimal photothermal conversion and limited therapeutic efficacy. The photophysical properties of fluorescent organic salts can be tuned through counterion pairing. However, whether the counterion can influence the photostability and photothermal properties of heptamethine cyanine salts has not been clarified. In this work, we investigated the effects of eleven counter anions on the physical and photothermal properties of NIR-II heptamethine cyanine salts with the same heptamethine cyanine cation. The anions have great impacts on the physiochemical properties of dyes in solution including aggregation, photostability and photothermal conversion efficiency. The physical tuning enables the control over the cytotoxicity and phototoxicity of the dyes. The selected salts have been demonstrated to significantly suppress 4T1 breast tumor growth with low toxicity. The findings that the counterion has great effects on the photothermal properties of cationic NIR-II heptamethine cyanine dyes will provide a reference for the preparation of improved photothermal agents through counterion pairing with possible translation to humans.

Toxoflavin analog D43 exerts antiproliferative effects on breast cancer by inducing ROS-mediated apoptosis and DNA damage.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is regarded as the deadliest subtype of breast cancer because of its high heterogeneity, aggressiveness, and limited treatment options. Toxoflavin has been reported to possess antitumor activity. In this study, a series of toxoflavin analogs were synthesized, among which D43 displayed a significant dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the proliferation of TNBC cells (MDA-MB-231 and HCC1806). Additionally, D43 inhibited DNA synthesis in TNBC cells, leading to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Furthermore, D43 consistently promoted intracellular ROS generation, induced DNA damage, and resulted in apoptosis in TNBC cells. These effects could be reversed by N-acetylcysteine. Moreover, D43 significantly inhibited the growth of breast cancer patient-derived organoids and xenografts with a favorable biosafety profile. In conclusion, D43 is a potent anticancer agent that elicits significant antiproliferation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and DNA damage effects in TNBC cells, and D43 holds promise as a potential candidate for the treatment of TNBC.

Exploring the mechanism of action of Sparganii Rhizoma-Curcumae Rhizoma for in treating castration-resistant prostate cancer: a network-based pharmacology and experimental validation study.

Sparganii Rhizoma-Curcumae Rhizoma (SR-CR) is a classic drug pair for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), but its mechanism has not been clarified. The study aims to elucidate the potential mechanism of SR-CR in the management of CRPC. The present study employed the TCMSP as well as the SwissTargetPrediction platform to retrieve the chemical composition and targets of SR-CR. The therapeutic targets of CRPC were identified through screening the GeneCards, Disgenet, and OMIM databases. Subsequently, the Venny online platform was utilized to identify the shared targets between the SR-CR and CRPC. The shared targets were enrichment analysis using the Bioconductor and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) databases. The active ingredients and core targets were verified through molecular docking and were validated using PC3 cells in the experimental validation phase. A total of 7 active ingredients and 1126 disease targets were screened from SR-CR, leading to a total of 59 shared targets. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis resulted in 1309 GO entries. KEGG pathways analysis yielded 121 pathways, primarily involving cancer-related signaling pathways. The results from molecular docking revealed stable binding interactions between the core ingredients and the core targets. In vitro cellular assays further demonstrated that SR-CR effectively suppressed the activation of the Prostate cancer signaling pathway in PC3 cells, leading to the inhibition of cell proliferation and promotion of apoptosis. The SR-CR exert therapeutic effects on CRPC by inhibiting cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis through the Prostate cancer signaling pathway.

Inactivation of antibiotic resistant bacteria by Fe3O4 @MoS2 activated persulfate and control of antibiotic resistance dissemination risk.

Antibiotic resistance poses a global environmental challenge that jeopardizes human health and ecosystem stability. Antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) significantly promote the spreading and diffusion of antibiotic resistance. This study investigated the efficiency and mechanism of inactivating tetracycline-resistant Escherichia coli (TR E. coli) using Fe3O4 @MoS2 activated persulfate (Fe3O4 @MoS2/PS). Under optimized conditions (200 mg/L Fe3O4 @MoS2, 4 mM PS, 35 °C), TR E. coli (∼7.5 log CFU/mL) could be fully inactivated within 20 min. The primary reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for TR E. coli inactivation in the Fe3O4 @MoS2/PS system were hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and superoxide radicals (•O2-). Remarkably, the efflux pump protein was targeted and damaged by the generated ROS during the inactivation process, resulting in cell membrane rupture and efflux of cell content. Additionally, the horizontal transmission ability of residual antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) harboring in the TR E. coli was also reduced after the inactivation treatment. This study offers an efficient approach for TR E. coli inactivation and substantial mitigation of antibiotic resistance dissemination risk.

Facile and green synthesis of chlorophyll-derived multi-color fluorescent carbonized polymer dots and their use for sensitive detection of hemin.

Due to the very important role in physiological process, a simple and sensitive hemin detection method is necessarily required. Biomass-based carbonized polymer dots (CPDs) have been widely studied especially as fluorescence probe owing to the advantages of low toxicity and the variety of fluorescence color, yet there are still challenges in developing their multi-color emission property from the same raw materials. In this work, red, white and blue emissive CPDs derived from chlorophyll have been synthesized via hydrothermal method. Then white-emitted CPDs (white-CPDs) with the Commission International d'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates at (0.34, 0.32) were used to develop a fluorescence quenched sensing system for hemin determination. There is a good linear relationship between (F0-F)/F0 and concentration of hemin in the range of 0.1-0.95 µM with a detection limit of 0.043 µM, and the quenching mechanism was considered to be caused by inner filter effect (IFE). Moreover, it has been successfully used for hemin detection in serum and also for visual determination, which indicating great potential in applications of disease diagnoses and trace identification.

Exploring Different Ultrasonic Parameters and Treatment Conditions to Optimize In Vitro Sonodynamic Therapeutic Effects in Cancer Cells.

The effects of ultrasonic parameters and treatment conditions on the in vitro cellular experiments of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) have not been fully studied. Exploring the factors that affect the efficacy of SDT can provide a reference for screening effective sonosensitizers in vitro. The aim of this work is to investigate the factors that affected the SDT effects in cancer cells. Cancer cells in culture plates were exposed to ultrasound and sonosensitizers. The intracellular drug concentration was measured by using flow cytometry and the cell viability was determined by MTT assay. The SDT effects of cancer cells treated with different ultrasonic parameters under the same sonosensitizer concentration were different. The ultrasonic parameters, intracellular drug concentration, drug treatment time, cell amount, and cell status could affect the sonodynamic therapeutic effects. It is necessary to select appropriate ultrasound conditions and optimize the cellular status to make the results of the in vitro cellular experiments more reliable.

Co-Occurrence of tet(X4) and blaNDM-5 in Escherichia coli Isolates of Inpatient Origin in Guangzhou, China.

Tigecycline, one of the last-resort therapeutic options for complicated infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens, especially carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and Acinetobacter in recent years. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes has threatened the effectiveness of antibiotics and public health with the excessive use of antibiotics in clinics. However, the emergence and dissemination of high-level mobile tigecycline-resistance gene tet(X) is challenging for clinical effectiveness of antimicrobial agent. This study aimed to characterize an E. coli strain T43, isolated from an inpatient in a teaching hospital in China. The E. coli T43 was resistant to almost all antimicrobials except colistin and consisted of a 4,774,080 bp chromosome and three plasmids. Plasmids pT43-1 and pT43-2 contained tigecycline-resistance gene tet(X4). Plasmid pT43-1 had a size of 152,423 bp with 51.05% GC content and harbored 151 putative open reading frames. pT43-1 was the largest plasmid in strain T43 and carried numerous resistance genes, especially tigecycline resistance gene tet(X4) and carbapenemase resistance gene blaNDM-5. The tet(X) gene was associated with IS26. Co-occurrence of numerous resistance genes in a single plasmid possibly contributed to the dissemination of these genes under antibiotics stress. It might explain the presence of clinically crucial resistance genes tet(X) and blaNDM-5 in clinics. This study suggested the applicable use of antibiotics and continued surveillance of tet(X) and blaNDM-5 in clinics are imperative.

Exploring BODIPY derivatives as sonosensitizers for anticancer sonodynamic therapy.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is an emerging non-invasive and effective therapeutic modality for cancer treatment bearing benefit of deep tissue-penetration in comparison to photo-inspired therapy. However, exploring novel sonosensitizers with high sonosensitivity and desirable biosafety remains a significant challenge. Although boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes have been widely used in biomedical filed, no BODIPY-based sonosensitizers have been reported yet. Herein, we synthesized four BODIPY dyes (BDP1-BDP4) and investigated their potential applications in SDT. BDP4 exhibited superb sonosensitivity and high SDT efficiency against cancer cells and tumors in tumor-bearing mice. The types of the generated reactive oxygen species, cavitation effect, and cell apoptosis were investigated to figure out the sonodynamic therapeutic mechanisms of BDP4. This work for the first time demonstrates the potential of BODIPY dyes as novel sonosensitizers for SDT, which may pave an avenue for developing more efficient and safer sonosensitizers in future.

The progress of autoimmune hepatitis research and future challenges.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver inflammatory disease with various immune system manifestations, showing a global trend of increased prevalence. AIH is diagnosed through histological abnormalities, clinical manifestations, and biochemical indicators. The biochemical markers involve interfacial hepatitis, transaminase abnormalities, positive autoantibodies, etc. Although AIH pathogenesis is unclear, gene mutations and immunological factors could be the leading factors. AIH usually presents as a chronic liver disease and sometimes as acute hepatitis, making it challenging to distinguish it from drug-related hepatitis due to similar clinical symptoms. Normalizing transaminases and serum IgG levels is essential in assessing the remission status of AIH treatment. Glucocorticoids and azathioprine are the first-line AIH treatment, with lifelong maintenance therapy in some patients. The quality of life and survival can be improved after appropriate treatment. However, certain limitations jeopardize the quality of treatment, including long treatment cycles, side effects, poor patient compliance, and inability to inhibit liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Accurate AIH animal models will help us understand the pathophysiology of the disease while providing fresh perspectives for avoiding and treating AIH. This review will help us understand AIH better, from the cellular and molecular causes to the clinical features, and will provide insight into new therapy techniques with fewer side effects.

Ultrasmall iron-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles for ferroptosis assisted sono-chemodynamic cancer therapy.

The efficacy and biosafety of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) are closely related to the properties of sonosensitizers. Inorganic sonosensitizers with high chemical stability and low dark toxicity are generally limited by slow metabolism and accumulation in vivo. Combined treatment strategies by inducing more redox imbalance are expected to improve the efficacy of sonodynamic antitumor therapy. Herein, we report the development of ultra-small iron-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (FZO NPs) to achieve synergistic sono-chemodynamic therapy and low accumulation in vivo. The surface of FZO NPs with diameter of 5 nm was modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and polyethylene glycol 600 to obtain FZO-ASP with good aqueous stability. FZO-ASP with iron doping could trigger Fenton reaction and induce ferroptosis in cancer cells. With the assistance of ultrasonic energy, FZO-ASP demonstrated enhanced inhibitory effects on proliferation of various cancer cells and murine breast tumor growth than undoped counterpart. In addition, FZO-ASP injected intravenously could be effectively excreted in vivo and showed no obvious cumulative toxicity to the treated mice. Hence, this type of ultra-small iron-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles could serve as a safe and efficient sonosensitizer agent for synergistic sono-chemodynamic cancer therapy.

Resistome and Genome Analysis of an Extensively Drug-Resistant Klebsiella michiganensis KMIB106: Characterization of a Novel KPC Plasmid pB106-1 and a Novel Cointegrate Plasmid pB106-IMP Harboring blaIMP-4 and blaSHV-12.

Klebsiella michiganensis is a recently emerging human pathogen causing nosocomial infections. This study aimed to characterize the complete genome sequence of a clinical Klebsiella michiganensis strain KMIB106 which exhibited extensive drug-resistance. The whole genome of the strain was sequenced using PacBio RS III systems and Illumina Nextseq 500. Annotation, transposable elements and resistance gene identification were analyzed by RAST, prokka and Plasmid Finder, respectively. According to the results, KMIB106 was resistant to multiple antimicrobials, including carbapenems, but it remained susceptible to aztreonam. The genome of KMIB106 consisted of a single chromosome and three predicted plasmids. Importantly, a novel KPC plasmid pB106-1 was found to carry the array of resistance genes in a highly different order in its variable regions, including mphA, msrE, mphE, ARR-3, addA16, sul1, dfrA27, tetD and fosA3. Plasmid pB106-2 is a typical IncFII plasmid with no resistant gene. Plasmid pB106-IMP consists of the IncN and IncX3 backbones, and two resistance genes, blaIMP-4 and blaSHV-12, were identified. Our study for the first time reported an extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella michiganensis strain recovered from a child with a respiratory infection in Southern China, which carries three mega plasmids, with pB106-1 firstly identified to carry an array of resistance genes in a distinctive order, and pB106-IMP identified as a novel IncN-IncX3 cointegrate plasmid harboring two resistance genes blaIMP-4 and blaSHV-12.

Raman-Based Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing on Antibiotics of Last Resort.

Background: Antibiotic resistance represents a serious global health challenge, particularly with the emergence of strains resistant to last-resort antibiotics such as tigecycline, polymyxin B, and vancomycin. Urgent measures are required to alleviate this situation. To facilitate the judicious use of antibiotics, rapid and precise antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is essential. Heavy water (deuterium oxide, D2O)-labeled Raman spectroscopy has emerged as a promising time-saving tool for microbiological testing. Methods: Deuterium incorporation and experimental conditions were examined to develop and apply a Raman-based AST method to evaluate the efficacy of last-resort antibiotics, including tigecycline, polymyxin B, and vancomycin, against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus faecium. Essential agreement and categorical agreement were used to assess the metabolism inactivation concentration based on Raman spectroscopy (R-MIC)-a new metric developed in this study-and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determined via the traditional microdilution broth method. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was employed to measure the association between R-MIC and MIC values. Results: The Raman-based AST method achieved a 100% categorical agreement (92/92) with the traditional microdilution broth method within five hours, while the traditional method required approximately 24 h. The R-MIC values shared 68.5% (63/92) consistency with the MIC values. In addition, the R-MIC and MIC values were highly correlated (Spearman's r=0.96), resulting in an essential agreement of 100%. Conclusion: Our optimized experimental method and conditions indicate that Raman-based AST holds great promise as a solution to overcome the time-consuming challenges of traditional AST methods.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Acetaminophen in Aqueous Environments: A Mini Review.

Over the past few decades, acetaminophen (ACT), a typical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has gained global usage, positioning itself as one of the most extensively consumed medications. However, the incomplete metabolism of ACT leads to a substantial discharge into the environment, classifying it as an environmental contaminant with detrimental effects on non-target organisms. Various wastewater treatment technologies have been developed for ACT removal to mitigate its potential environmental risk. Particularly, photocatalytic technology has garnered significant attention as it exhibits high efficiency in oxidizing and degrading a wide range of organic pollutants. This comprehensive review aims to systematically examine and discuss the application of photocatalytic technology for the removal of ACT from aqueous environments. Additionally, the study provides a detailed overview of the limitations associated with the photocatalytic degradation of ACT in practical applications, along with effective strategies to address these challenges.

Study of the mechanism of ultrasound-induced enhanced therapeutic effects of a chitosan-based nanoplatform.

Ultrasound (US) has been used in drug delivery systems for controlling drug release and activation of US-sensitive drugs for sonodynamic therapy of cancer. In our previous work, we found that erlotinib-grafted chitosan nanocomplexes loading perfluorooctyl bromide and hematoporphyrin under US irradiation showed satisfactory therapeutic effects for non-small cell lung cancer treatment. However, the underlying mechanism of US-mediated delivery and therapy has not been fully explored. In this work, the underlying mechanisms of the US-induced effects of the nanocomplexes were evaluated at the physical and biological levels after the chitosan-based nanocomplexes were characterized. The results showed that US could activate the cavitation effects and promote nanocomplexes penetrating into the depth of three-dimensional multicellular tumor spheroids (3D MCTSs) when nanocomplexes were selectively uptaken by targeted cancer cells, but push the extracellular nanocomplexes out of the 3D MCTSs. US demonstrated strong tissue penetration ability to effectively induce obvious reactive oxygen species production deep inside the 3D MCTSs. Under the US condition of 0.1 W cm-2for 1 min, US caused little mechanical damage and weak thermal effect to avoid severe cell necrosis, whereas cell apoptosis could be induced by collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential and the nucleus damage. The present study indicates that US can potentially be used jointly with nanomedicine to improve targeted drug delivery and combination therapy of deep-seated tumors.

Synthesis, structure-activity relationship, and biological evaluation of quinolines for development of anticancer agents.

Tetrahydro-ß-carbolines (THßCs) are a kind of natural alkaloids with multiple pharmaceutical activities. Herein, a focused compound library derived from THßCs was synthesized and their anticancer activities were studied in several cancer cell lines. Among them, three compounds showed considerable anticancer activities with low micromolar to submicromolar IC50 values. The abilities to induce apoptosis and alter mitochondrial membrane potential levels, which are comparable to those of the commercial anticancer drug adriamycin, were confirmed by one representative compound (21) on the B16/F10 cell line. Our preliminary structure-activity relationship studies indicated that alkylamines with suitable lengths are very important for potency improvement.

An iron-containing ferritin-based nanosensitizer for synergistic ferroptosis/sono-photodynamic cancer therapy.

Ferroptosis is a newly detected iron-dependent form of regulated cell death. Sono-photodynamic therapy (SPDT) can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell death under light and ultrasound. Due to the complexity of tumor physiology and pathology, single-modality often fails to achieve a satisfactory therapeutic effect. The development of a formulation platform with integration of multiple therapeutic modalities using a simple and convenient method is still a challenge. Here, we report the facile construction of a ferritin-based nanosensitizer FCD by co-encapsulating chlorin e6 (Ce6) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in horse spleen ferritin, and was employed for synergistic ferroptosis and SPDT. Ferritin in FCD can release Fe3+ under acidic conditions and Fe3+ can be reduced to Fe2+ in the presence of glutathione (GSH). The Fe2+ can react with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to produce harmful hydroxyl radicals. Furthermore, a large amount of ROS can be generated via the reaction of Fe2+ with DHA and by simultaneously irradiation of FCD with both light and ultrasound. More importantly, the depletion of GSH by FCD could decrease glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and increase lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels, thereby inducing ferroptosis. Therefore, by integrating the advantageous GSH-depletion capacity, ROS generation ability, and ferroptosis induction capability into one single nanosystem, FCD can serve as a promising platform for combined chemo-sono-photodynamic therapy of cancer.

BODIPY-Based NO Probe for Macrophage-Targeted Immunotherapy Response Monitoring.

Precise and rapid detection of immune responses is critical for timely therapeutic regimen adjustment. Immunomodulation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) from a protumorigenic phenotype (M2) to an antitumorigenic phenotype (M1) is crucial in macrophage-targeted immunotherapy. Herein, we developed a boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-based fluorescence probe BDP3 to detect the immune responses after immunotherapy by monitoring the nitric oxide (NO) released by M1 TAMs. With an aromatic primary monoamine structure and a p-methoxyanilin electron donor in the meso-position, BDP3 not only specifically activates stable and sensitive fluorescence by NO via a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process but also achieves a long emission wavelength for efficient in vitro and in vivo imaging. Such NO-induced fluorescence signals of BDP3 are validated to correlate well with the phenotypes of TAMs detected in macrophage cell lines and tumor tissues. The distinct sensing effects toward two types of clinically used immunotherapeutic drugs further confirm the ability of BDP3 for specific monitoring of the M1/M2 switch in response to the macrophage-targeted immunotherapy. By virtue of good biocompatibility and appropriate tumor retention time, BDP3 could be a potential fluorescent probe for noninvasive evaluation of the immunotherapeutic efficacy of macrophage-targeted immunotherapy in living animals.