A tunable fluorescent probe for superoxide anion detection during inflammation caused by Treponema pallidum.

Syphilis, caused by Treponema pallidum (T. pallidum), is associated with the oxidative stress due to its inflammation-like symptom, and detecting the reactive oxygen species (ROS) is crucial for monitoring the infectious process. Herein, we design and synthesize a perylene-based tunable fluorescent probe, PerqdOH, which can detect endogenous O2˙- during T. pallidum infection. The fluorescence peak shifted from 540 nm to 750 nm with increasing O2˙- levels. Besides, both decreased green fluorescence and enhanced red fluorescence could be observed simultaneously during the in vitro infection, providing the real-time monitoring of intracellular O2˙- caused by T. pallidum. Furthermore, the probe exhibited a remarkable signal in the treponemal lesions on the back of a rabbit model. Taken together, our synthesized PerqdOH holds great potential for application in clarifying the infectious process caused by T. pallidum in real time.

Tumor-Homing and Immune-Reprogramming Cellular Nanovesicles for Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Phototriggered Precise Chemoimmunotherapy.

Many studies have focused on developing effective therapeutic strategies to selectively destroy primary tumors, eliminate metastatic lesions, and prevent tumor recurrence with minimal side effects on normal tissues. In this work, we synthesized engineered cellular nanovesicles (ECNVs) with tumor-homing and immune-reprogramming functions for photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided precision chemoimmunotherapy. M1-macrophage-derived cellular nanovesicles (CNVs) were loaded with gold nanorods (GNRs), gemcitabine (GEM), CpG ODN, and PD-L1 aptamer. The good histocompatibility and tumor-homing effect of CNVs improved drug retention in the bloodstream and led to their enrichment in tumor tissues. Furthermore, the photothermal ability of GNRs enabled PA imaging-guided drug release. GEM induced tumor immunogenic cell death (ICD), and CpG ODN promoted an immune response to the antigens released by ICD, leading to long-term specific antitumor immunity. In addition, the PD-L1 aptamer relieved the inhibitory effect of the PD1/PD-L1 checkpoint on CD8+ T-cells and augmented the immunotherapeutic effect. The synergistic innate and adaptive immune responses enhanced the antitumor effect of ECNVs. In summary, this nanoplatform integrates local targeted photothermal therapy with extensive progressive chemotherapy and uses ICD to reshape the immune microenvironment for tumor ablation.

Platinum-crosslinking polymeric nanoparticle for synergetic chemoradiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Despite extensive use of radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treatment because of its high radiosensitivity, there have been huge challenges in further improving therapeutic effect, meanwhile obviously reducing radiation damage. To this end, synergistic chemoradiotherapy has emerged as a potential strategy for highly effective NPC therapy. Here, we developed RGD-targeted platinum-based nanoparticles (RGD-PtNPs, denoted as RPNs) to achieve targeted chemoradiotherapy for NPC. Such nanoparticles consist of an RGD-conjugated shell and a cis-platinum (CDDP) crosslinking core. Taking advantage of RGD, the RPNs may effectively accumulate in tumor, penetrate into tumor tissues and be taken by cancer cells, giving rise to a high delivery efficiency of CDDP. When they are fully enriched in tumor sites, the CDDP loaded RPNs can act as radiotherapy sensitizer and chemotherapy agents. By means of X-ray-promoted tumor cell uptake of nanoparticle and CDDP-induced cell cycle arrest in radiation-sensitive G2/M phases, RPNs may offer remarkable therapeutic outcome in the synergistic chemoradiotherapy for NPC.

Combating COVID-19 as a designated hospital: Experience from Shanghai, China.

Many large international cities, such as Shanghai, are facing the threat of more imported cases of COVID-19 because of the frequent flow of people and objects at home and abroad. In the face of the complex and changing disease status of the international community, dealing with this disease effectively is a great challenge to the city's existing public health emergency response capacity and also a major test of designated COVID-19 hospitals. Here, we share our experience as a designated COVID-19 hospital in Shanghai, China in terms of i) A Professional Multi-disciplinary Team, ii) Personalized Treatment Plans for Patients in Severe or Critically Ill Condition, iii) Well-organized Classification of Patients, iv) Establishment of Transitional Wards, v) Nosocomial Infection Prevention and Control, and vi) Identification and Reporting of the Asymptomatic in the hopes that these approaches can serve as a reference for healthcare providers and medical staff who are fighting the pandemic.

Ultrasensitive cloth-based microfluidic chemiluminescence detection of Listeria monocytogenes hlyA gene by hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme and hybridization chain reaction signal amplification.

In this work, a cloth-based chemiluminescence (CL) biosensor has been firstly presented for highly sensitive determination of long PCR amplicons. Under the action of a hybridization chain reaction, a good deal of hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme molecules are produced, which can effectively enhance the CL signal. Moreover, effective cloth-based DNA biosensors can be fabricated by sequential wax screen-printing and surface-modification processes. Especially, the integration of a desirable hydrophobic barrier and gravity/capillary flow onto the flow channel of the cloth-based device makes the biosensor easy to be fabricated and to be associated with a flow CL. For the luminol/H2O2-based CL system, the signals are triggered by the hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme and are recorded by a low-cost CCD. Under optimized conditions, the determination range of target DNA is 0.002-20,000 pM and its limit of detection is calculated to be 1.1 fM. The results show that the proposed CL biosensor has a good analytical performance, such as high detectability and specificity, wide linear range, and receivable reproducibility and stability. Finally, the proposed biosensor is proven by the fact that this method can successfully detect the target DNA prepared from the Listeria monocytogenes-spiked milk samples. Therefore, it is believed to have the potential application prospects in food safety and environmental monitoring. Graphical abstract.

Sensitivity enhancement of cloth-based closed bipolar electrochemiluminescence glucose sensor via electrode decoration with chitosan/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/graphene quantum dots-gold nanoparticles.

In this work, a novel facile closed bipolar electrochemiluminescence (C-BP-ECL) sensor has been developed for highly sensitive detection of glucose based on the integration of chitosan (CS), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)-functioned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PDDA-MWCNTs) and graphene quantum dots-gold nanoparticles (GQDs-AuNPs) on the wax/carbon ink-screen-printed cloth-based device. When CS, PDDA-MWCNTs and GQDs-AuNPs are successively decorated onto the cathode of closed bipolar electrode (C-BPE), the C-BPE anode can emit much stronger C-BP-ECL signals. Moreover, the cathodic decoration of the C-BPE can generate a stronger ECL signal in comparison with its anodic decoration. Under optimized conditions, glucose can be detected in the range of 0.1-5000 µM, and the limit of detection is estimated to be 64 nM, which is about three orders of magnitude lower than that in case of the bare C-BPE cathode (31 µM). It has been shown that the proposed sensor has high detection sensitivity, wide dynamic range, and as well acceptable reproducibility, selectivity and stability. Finally, the applicability and validity of the C-BP-ECL sensor are demonstrated for the detection of glucose in human serum samples. We believe that this novel highly-sensitive sensor will have potential applications in various areas such as clinical diagnosis, food analysis and environmental monitoring.