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of Medical History: A male infant, 8 months old, was admitted to hospital with cough and fever. The clinical symptoms were found to be mental retardation, obesity, dystonia, movement limitation, and visual retardation. Early development was normal, but after 6 months, the child developed upright head instability, difficulty grasping, and seizures. Symptoms and Signs: The child presents with mental retardation, obesity, increased muscle tone, motor dysfunction, visual impairment, and seizures. DIAGNOSIS: A whole exon test was performed to detect a neurite extension and migration factor (NEXMIF) gene mutation (NM_001008537.2: c.1042C > T (p. Arg348*)), which is known to be associated with intellectual disability and neurological symptoms. In addition, the test revealed a mutation in the Kinase D interacting substrate of 220 kDa (KIDINS220) gene (NM_020738.2: c.3242_3243insC (p. Leu1082AIafs*5)) with a heterozygous mutation in the father and wild type in the mother. TREATMENT: The patient was treated with anti-infection, aerosol inhalation, calcium supplement, and anti-epileptic drugs (levetiracetam), and the disease was controlled. Home and hospital rehabilitation is also underway. CLINICAL OUTCOME: The condition of the child improved after treatment and no seizures occurred again. The patient needs continuous rehabilitation treatment and follow-up observation. CONCLUSION: For male children with unexplained neurodevelopmental disorders and comorbidities such as obesity, dystonia, and seizures, mutations in related genes such as NEXMIF should be considered. Clinical practice should improve genetic testing as early as possible to provide a basis for genetic counseling.
Subject(s)
Epilepsy , Mutation , Neurodevelopmental Disorders , Humans , Male , Epilepsy/genetics , Infant , Neurodevelopmental Disorders/genetics , Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics , Intellectual Disability/genetics , Membrane Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
The current study aims to develop a new technique for the precise identification of Escherichia coli strains, utilizing matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) combined with a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network. A total of 48 Escherichia coli strains were isolated and cultured on tryptic soy agar medium for 24 hours for the generation of MALDI-TOF MS spectra. Eight hundred MALDI-TOF MS spectra were obtained per strain, resulting in a database of 38,400 spectra. Fifty percent of the data was utilized for LSTM neural network training, with fine-tuned parameters for strain-level identification. The other half served as the test set to assess model performance. Traditional PCA dimension reduction of MALDI-TOF MS spectra indicated 47 out of 48 strains to be unclassifiable. In contrast, the LSTM neural network demonstrated remarkable efficacy. After 20 training epochs, the model achieved a loss value of 0.0524, an accuracy of 0.999, a precision of 0.985, and a recall of 0.982. When tested on the unseen data, the model attained an overall accuracy of 92.24%. The integration of MALDI-TOF MS and LSTM neural network markedly enhances the identification of Escherichia coli strains. This innovative approach offers an effective and accurate tool for MALDI-TOF MS-based strain-level identification, thus expanding the analytical capabilities of microbial diagnostics.
Subject(s)
Escherichia coli , Neural Networks, Computer , Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization , Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization/methodsABSTRACT
Constructing carbonaceous materials with versatile surface structures still remains a great challenge due to limited self-assembly methods, especially at high temperatures. This study presents an innovative template evolution induced relay self-assembly (TEIRSA) for the fabrication of large polyoxometalate (POM)-mixed carbonaceous nanosheets featuring surface mesoporous structures through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). The method employs POM and acetone as additives, cleverly modulating the Ostwald ripening-like process of P123-based micelles, effectively addressing the instability challenges inherent in traditional soft-template methods, especially within the demanding carbohydrate HTC process. Additionally, this method allows for the independent regulation of surface architectures through the selection of organic additives. The resulting nanosheets exhibit diverse surface morphologies, including surface spherical mesopores, 1D open channels, and smooth surfaces. Their unexpectedly versatile properties have swiftly garnered recognition, showing potential in the application of lithium-sulfur batteries.
ABSTRACT
The sluggish kinetics of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries severely impedes the application in extreme conditions. Bridging the sulfur cathode and lithium anode, the electrolyte plays a crucial role in regulating kinetic behaviors of Li-S batteries. Herein, we report a multifunctional electrolyte additive of phenyl selenium bromide (PhSeBr) to simultaneously exert positive influences on both electrodes and the electrolyte. For the cathode, an ideal conversion routine with lower energy barrier can be attained by the redox mediator and homogeneous catalyst derived from PhSeBr, thus improving the reaction kinetics and utilization of sulfur. Meanwhile, the presence of Se-Br bond helps to reconstruct a loose solvation sheath of lithium ions and a robust bilayer SEI with excellent ionic conductivity, which contributes to reducing the de-solvation energy and simultaneously enhancing the interfacial kinetics. The Li-S battery with PhSeBr displays superior long cycling stability with a reversible capacity of 1164.7â mAh g-1 after 300â cycles at 0.5â C rate. And the pouch cell exhibits a maximum capacity of 845.3â mAh and a capacity retention of 94.8 % after 50â cycles. Excellent electrochemical properties are also obtained in extreme conditions of high sulfur loadings and low temperature of -20 °C. This work demonstrates the versatility and practicability of the special additive, striking out an efficient but simple method to design advanced Li-S batteries.
ABSTRACT
The crystal structure of a material is essentially determined by the nature of its chemical bonding. Consequently, the atomic coordination intimately correlates with the degree of ionicity or covalency of the material. Based on this principle, materials with similar chemical compositions can be successfully categorized into different coordination groups. However, counterexamples have recently emerged in complex ternary compounds. For instance, covalent IB-IIIA-VIA2 compounds, such as AgInS2, prefer a tetrahedrally coordinated structure (TCS), while ionic IA-VA-VIA2 compounds, such as NaBiS2, would favor an octahedrally coordinated structure (OCS). One naturally expects that IB-VA-VIA2 compounds with intermediate ionicity or covalency, such as AgBiS2, should then have a mix-coordinated structure (MCS) consisting of covalent AgS4 tetrahedra and ionic BiS6 octahedra. Surprisingly, only the experimental presence of the OCS was observed for AgBiS2. To resolve this puzzle, we perform first-principles studies of the phase stabilities of ternary compounds at finite temperatures. We find that AgBiS2 indeed prefers MCS at the ground state, in agreement with the typical expectation, but under experimental synthesis conditions, disordered OCS becomes energetically more favorable because of its low mixing energy and high configurational entropy. Our work elucidates the critical role of configurational disorder in stabilizing chemically unfavorable coordination, providing a rigorous rationale for the anomalous coordination preference in IB-VA-VIA2 compounds.
ABSTRACT
Mg-ion batteries (MIBs) are promising next-generation secondary batteries, but suffer from sluggish Mg2+ migration kinetics and structural collapse of the cathode materials. Here, an H2O-Mg2+ waltz-like shuttle mechanism in the lamellar cathode, which is realized by the coordination, adaptive rotation and flipping, and co-migration of lattice H2O molecules with inserted Mg2+, leading to the fast Mg2+ migration kinetics, is reported; after Mg2+ extraction, the lattice H2O molecules rearrange to stabilize the lamellar structure, eliminating structural collapse of the cathode. Consequently, the demo cathode of Mg0.75V10O24·nH2O (MVOH) exhibits a high capacity of 350 mAh g-1 at a current density of 50 mA g-1 and maintains a capacity of 70 mAh g-1 at 4 A g-1. The full aqueous MIB based on MVOH delivers an ultralong lifespan of 5000 cycles The reported waltz-like shuttle mechanism of lattice H2O provides a novel strategy to develop high-performance cathodes for MIBs as well as other multivalent-ion batteries.
ABSTRACT
Rechargeable magnesium-metal batteries (RMMBs) are promising next-generation secondary batteries; however, their development is inhibited by the low capacity and short cycle lifespan of cathodes. Although various strategies have been devised to enhance the Mg2+ migration kinetics and structural stability of cathodes, they fail to improve electronic conductivity, rendering the cathodes incompatible with magnesium-metal anodes. Herein, we propose a dual-defect engineering strategy, namely, the incorporation of Mg2+ pre-intercalation defect (P-Mgd) and oxygen defect (Od), to simultaneously improve the Mg2+ migration kinetics, structural stability, and electronic conductivity of the cathodes of RMMBs. Using lamellar V2O5·nH2O as a demo cathode material, we prepare a cathode comprising Mg0.07V2O5·1.4H2O nanobelts composited with reduced graphene oxide (MVOH/rGO) with P-Mgd and Od. The Od enlarges interlayer spacing, accelerates Mg2+ migration kinetics, and prevents structural collapse, while the P-Mgd stabilizes the lamellar structure and increases electronic conductivity. Consequently, the MVOH/rGO cathode exhibits a high capacity of 197 mAh g-1, and the developed Mg foil//MVOH/rGO full cell demonstrates an incredible lifespan of 850 cycles at 0.1 A g-1, capable of powering a light-emitting diode. The proposed dual-defect engineering strategy provides new insights into developing high-durability, high-capacity cathodes, advancing the practical application of RMMBs, and other new secondary batteries.
ABSTRACT
Deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light sources are technologically highly important, but DUV light-emitting materials are extremely rare; AlN and its alloys are the only materials known so far, significantly limiting the chemical and structural spaces for materials design. Here, we perform a high-throughput computational search for DUV light emitters based on a set of carefully designed screening criteria relating to the sophisticated electronic structure. In this way, we successfully identify 5 promising material candidates that exhibit comparable or higher radiative recombination coefficients than AlN, including BeGeN2, Mg3NF3, KCaBr3, KHS, and RbHS. Further, we unveil the unique features in the atomic and electronic structures of DUV light emitters and elucidate the fundamental genetic reasons why DUV light emitters are extremely rare. Our study not only guides the design and synthesis of efficient DUV light emitters but also establishes the genetic nature of ultrawide-band-gap semiconductors in general.
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Apatinib plus chemotherapy demonstrates good efficacy in multiple advanced carcinomas; however, its use in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has not yet been assessed. The present study evaluated the potential benefits of apatinib plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced LUAD. A total of 145 patients with advanced LUAD and negative driver genes who received apatinib plus chemotherapy (n=65) or chemotherapy alone (n=80) were analyzed. The overall response rate was significantly improved by apatinib plus chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone (53.8 vs. 36.3%; P=0.034). Moreover, progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly longer in patients who received apatinib plus chemotherapy, compared with those who received chemotherapy alone [median (95% CI), 13.4 months (11.5-15.3) vs. 8.2 months (6.9-9.5); P<0.001], as was overall survival (OS) [median (95% CI), 23.1 months (not reached) vs. 17.0 months (14.6-19.4; P=0.001). Following adjustment by multivariate Cox regression analysis, apatinib plus chemotherapy was associated with a significantly longer PFS [hazard ratio (HR), 0.444; P<0.001] and OS (HR, 0.347; P<0.001), compared with chemotherapy alone. Subgroup analyses revealed that PFS and OS were significantly improved following apatinib plus chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone (all P<0.05) in patients receiving first- or second-line treatment. Notably, the incidence of hypertension was significantly increased following apatinib plus chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone (43.1 vs. 25.0%; P=0.021), whereas the incidence of other adverse events was not significantly different between the two treatment groups (all P>0.05). In conclusion, apatinib plus chemotherapy is associated with an improved treatment response and survival compared with chemotherapy alone, with a tolerable safety profile in patients with advanced LUAD.
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Interaction between programmed death-1 (PD-1) ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells and PD-1 on T cells allows tumor cells to evade T cell-mediated immune surveillance. Strategies targeting PD-1/PD-L1 have shown clinical benefits in a variety of cancers. However, limited response rates in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have prompted us to investigate the molecular regulation of PD-L1. Here, we identify B cell lymphoma-2-associated transcription factor 1 (BCLAF1) as a key PD-L1 regulator in HCC. Specifically, BCLAF1 interacts with SPOP, an E3 ligase that mediates the ubiquitination and degradation of PD-L1, thereby competitively inhibiting SPOP-PD-L1 interaction and subsequent ubiquitination and degradation of PD-L1. Furthermore, we determined an SPOP-binding consensus (SBC) motif mediating the BCLAF1-SPOP interaction on BCLAF1 protein and mutation of BCLAF1-SBC motif disrupts the regulation of the SPOP-PD-L1 axis. In addition, BCLAF1 expression was positively correlated with PD-L1 expression and negatively correlated with biomarkers of T cell activation, including CD3 and CD8, as well as with the level of immune cell infiltration in HCC tissues. Besides, BCLAF1 depletion leads to a significant reduction of PD-L1 expression in vitro, and this reduction of PD-L1 promoted T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Notably, overexpression of BCLAF1 sensitized tumor cells to checkpoint therapy in an in vitro HCC cells-Jurkat cells co-culture model, whereas BCLAF1-SBC mutant decreased tumor cell sensitivity to checkpoint therapy, suggesting that BCLAF1 and its SBC motif serve as a novel therapeutic target for enhancing anti-tumor immunity in HCC.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular , Liver Neoplasms , Humans , B7-H1 Antigen/genetics , B7-H1 Antigen/metabolism , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Cell Line , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Nuclear Proteins/genetics , Nuclear Proteins/metabolism , Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor , Repressor Proteins/genetics , Tumor Suppressor Proteins , Immune Evasion/geneticsABSTRACT
Single-crystal semiconductor-based photocatalysts exposing unique crystallographic facets show promising applications in energy and environmental technologies; however, crystal facet engineering through solid-state synthesis for photocatalytic overall water splitting is still challenging. Herein, we develop a novel crystal facet engineering strategy through solid-state recrystallization to synthesize uniform SrTiO3 single crystals exposing tailored {111} facets. The presynthesized low-crystalline SrTiO3 precursors enable the formation of well-defined single crystals through kinetically improved crystal structure transformation during solid-state recrystallization process. By employing subtle Al3+ ions as surface morphology modulators, the crystal surface orientation can be precisely tuned to a controlled percentage of {111} facets. The photocatalytic overall water splitting activity increases with the exposure percentage of {111} facets. Owing to the outstanding crystallinity and favorable anisotropic surface structure, the SrTiO3 single crystals with 36.6% of {111} facets lead to a 3-fold enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rates up to 1.55 mmol·h-1 in a stoichiometric ratio of 2:1 than thermodynamically stable SrTiO3 enclosed with isotropic {100} facets.
ABSTRACT
As a prototypical photocatalyst, TiO[Formula: see text] has been extensively studied. An interesting yet puzzling experimental fact was that P25-a mixture of anatase and rutile TiO[Formula: see text]-outperforms the individual phases; the origin of this mysterious fact, however, remains elusive. Employing rigorous first-principles calculations, here we uncover a metastable intermediate structure (MIS), which is formed due to confinement at the anatase/rutile interface. The MIS has a high conduction-band minimum level and thus substantially enhances the overpotential of the hydrogen evolution reaction. Also, the corresponding band alignment at the interface leads to efficient separation of electrons and holes. The interfacial confinement additionally creates a wide distribution of the band gap in the vicinity of the interface, which in turn improves optical absorption. These factors all contribute to the enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in P25. Our insights provide a rationale to the puzzling superior photocatalytic performance of P25 and enable a strategy to achieve highly efficient photocatalysis via interface engineering.
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The beneficial effects of probiotics have been studied in inflammatory bowel disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Probiotic supplements are safer and more effective; however, their potential mechanisms are unclear. An objective of the current study was to examine the effects of extracellular products of Lactobacillus plantarum on acute alcoholic liver injury. Mice on a standard chow diet were supplemented with Lactobacillus plantarum ST-III culture supernatant (LP-cs) for two weeks and administered alcohol at 6 g/kg body weight by gavage. Alcohol-induced liver injury was assessed by measuring plasma alanine aminotransferase activity levels and triglyceride content determined liver steatosis. Intestinal damage and tight junctions were assessed using histochemical staining. LP-cs significantly inhibited alcohol-induced fat accumulation, inflammation, and apoptosis by inhibiting oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress. LP-cs significantly inhibited alcohol-induced intestinal injury and endotoxemia. These findings suggest that LP-cs alleviates acute alcohol-induced liver damage by inhibiting oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress via one mechanism and suppressing alcohol-induced increased intestinal permeability and endotoxemia via another mechanism. LP-cs supplements are a novel strategy for ALD prevention and treatment.
Subject(s)
Endotoxemia , Lactobacillus plantarum , Liver Diseases, Alcoholic , Mice , Animals , Liver , Ethanol/toxicity , Liver Diseases, Alcoholic/prevention & controlABSTRACT
The electronic structure of halide perovskites is central to their carrier dynamics, enabling the excellent optoelectronic performance. However, the experimentally resolved transient absorption spectra exhibit large discrepancies from the commonly computed electronic structure by density functional theory. Using pseudocubic CsPbI3 as a prototype example, here, it is unveiled with both ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and transmission electron microscopy that there exists pronounced dynamical lattice distortion in the form of disordered instantaneous octahedral tilting. Rigorous first-principles calculations reveal that the lattice distortion substantially alters the electronic band structure through renormalizing the band dispersions and the interband transition energies. Most notably, the electron and hole effective masses increase by 65% and 88%, respectively; the transition energy between the two highest valence bands decreases by about one half, agreeing remarkably well with supercontinuum transient-absorption measurements. This study further demonstrates how the resulting electronic structure modulates various aspects of the carrier dynamics such as carrier transport, hot-carrier relaxation, Auger recombination, and carrier multiplication in halide perovskites. The insights provide a pathway to engineer carrier transport and relaxation via lattice distortion, enabling the promise to achieve ultrahigh-efficiency photovoltaic devices.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Brachial plexus avulsion (BPA) animally involves the separation of spinal nerve roots themselves and the correlative spinal cord segment, leading to formidable neuropathic pain of the upper limb. METHODS: The right seventh cervical (C7) ventral and dorsal roots were avulsed to establish a neuropathic pain model in rats. After operation, rats were treated with quercetin (QCN) by intragastric administration for 1 week. The effects of QCN were evaluated using mechanical allodynia tests and biochemical assay kits. RESULTS: QCN treatment significantly attenuated the avulsion-provoked mechanical allodynia, elevated the levels of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in the C7 spinal dorsal horn. In addition, QCN administration inhibited the activations of macrophages, microglia and astrocytes in the C6 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and C6-8 spinal dorsal horn, as well as attenuated the release of purinergic 2X (P2X) receptors in C6 DRG. The molecular mechanism underlying the above alterations was found to be related to the suppression of the PKC/MAPK/NOX signal pathway. To further study the anti-oxidative effects of QCN, we applied QCN on the H2O2-induced BV-2 cells in vitro, and the results attested that QCN significantly ameliorated the H2O2-induced ROS production in BV-2 cells, inhibited the H2O2-induced activation of PKC/MAPK/NOX pathway. CONCLUSION: Our study for the first time provided evidence that QCN was able to attenuate pain hypersensitivity following the C7 spinal root avulsion in rats, and the molecular mechanisms involve the reduction of both neuro-inflammatory infiltration and oxidative stress via suppression of P2X receptors and inhibition of the activation of PKC/MAPK/NOX pathway. The results indicate that QCN is a natural compound with great promise worthy of further development into a novel therapeutic method for the treatment of BPA-induced neuropathic pain.
Subject(s)
Brachial Plexus , Neuralgia , Rats , Animals , Hyperalgesia/drug therapy , Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Quercetin/pharmacology , Quercetin/therapeutic use , Hydrogen Peroxide , Brachial Plexus/metabolism , Brachial Plexus/surgery , Neuralgia/drug therapy , Spinal Cord Dorsal Horn/metabolism , Oxidative StressABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignant disease with low overall survival; chemotherapy and immunotherapy have limited efficacy. Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2), a type II transmembrane protein, contributes to the development and progression of several tumors. In this study, we elucidated the effect and molecular mechanisms of TNFR2. METHOD: We used The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Genotype-Tissue Expression database to compare the expression of the TNFR2 gene between normal and malignant pancreatic tissue. Using immunohistochemical staining, we divided the patients into high and low-expression groups, then investigated clinicopathologic data and survival curves of pancreatic cancer patients. We measured TNFR2 protein expression in PANC-1 and ASPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells subjected to TNFR2 small interfering RNA or negative control treatment. We performed proliferation, invasion, and migration assays to study the biological effects of TNFR2 in PDAC. The molecular mechanisms were validated using western blotting. RESULTS: TNFR2 was more highly expressed in PDAC cells and tissues than controls. Abundant expression of TNFR2 was associated with aggressive clinicopathologic characteristics and poor outcomes. Overexpression of TNFR2 promoted PDAC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Mechanistically, TNFR2 binds to TNF-α and activates the NF-κB signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: TNFR2 is a prognostic marker that facilitates the proliferation, migration, and invasion of PDAC via the NF-κB signaling pathway. TNFR2 may become a therapeutic target.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal , Pancreatic Neoplasms , Humans , Cell Proliferation , NF-kappa B , Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type II , Signal Transduction , Pancreatic NeoplasmsABSTRACT
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced apoptosis and autophagy flux blockade significantly contribute to neuronal pathology of spinal cord injury (SCI). Yet, the molecular interplay between these two distinctive pathways in mediating the pathology of SCI remains largely unexplored. Currently, we aimed at exploring the crucial role of Stub1 in maintaining ER homeostasis and regulating autophagic flux after SCI. Our results demonstrate that Stub1 reduces ER stress induced neuronal apoptosis, promotes axonal regeneration, inhibits glial scar formation and fosters functional recovery by restoring autophagic flux following SCI. Stub1 enhances autophagic flux following SCI by alleviating the permeabilization of lysosomal membrane through activating TFEB. Importantly, we showed that Stub1 promotes the activation of TFEB by targeting HDAC2 for ubiquitination and degradation. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effect of Stub1 on SCI was abrogated by chloroquine administration, underscoring the essential role of Stub1-mediated enhancement of autophagic flux in its protective effects against SCI. Collectively, our data highlights the vital role of Stub1 in regulating ER stress and autophagy flux after SCI, and propose its potential as a promising target for neuroprotective interventions in SCI.
Subject(s)
Apoptosis , Spinal Cord Injuries , Rats , Animals , Humans , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Spinal Cord Injuries/pathology , Autophagy , Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress/physiology , Spinal Cord/pathologyABSTRACT
The organic molecules in hybrid perovskites can easily rotate within the inorganic lattice at room temperature, leading to a crystal-liquid duality. The liquid-like behavior of the organic molecules is commonly believed to play a critical role in the dynamical stability, but the microscopic mechanism remains unclear. Furthermore, the presence of dynamically rotating molecules raises concerns regarding the reliability of assessing the stability of hybrid perovskites based on simple yet commonly used descriptors such as the Goldschmidt tolerance factor. Here we assess the finite-temperature phonons of hybrid perovskites by mapping ab initio molecular dynamics configurations onto an equivalent dynamical pseudo-inorganic lattice and extracting the effective force constants. We find that as compared to the formamidinium or cesium cations, stronger anisotropy and wider range of the thermal motion of the methylammonium molecule are essential for enhancing the dynamical stability of hybrid perovskites. The cation radius that determines the tolerance factor is, in fact, less important. This work not only enables a pathway to further improve the stability of hybrid perovskites, but also provides a general scheme to assess the stability of hybrid materials with dynamical disorder.
Subject(s)
Bezoars , Lithotripsy, Laser , Lithotripsy , Humans , Bezoars/diagnostic imaging , Bezoars/therapy , Endoscopy , Duodenum/surgeryABSTRACT
Nanoparticle technologies offer a non-invasive means to deliver basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the inability of bFGF to accumulate at the injury site and inefficient penetration across the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) remain challenges. The present study describes a dual-targeting liposome (bFGF@Lip-Cp&Rp) with injury lesion targeting and BSCB-penetrating capability to deliver bFGF for SCI treatment. The CAQK peptide (Cp) with injury lesion targeting ability and R2KC peptide (Rp) with BSCB-penetrating capability were grafted onto the liposomes for a flexible and non-invasive drug delivery systems preparation. Results exhibit that the dual-targeted liposomes could significantly cross the BSCB and accumulate at the injury site. During the early stage of SCI, bFGF@Lip-Cp&Rp promotes repair of BSCB and facilitates M2-polarization of macrophages. Regular delivery of bFGF@Lip-Cp&Rp increase HUVECs tube formation and angiogenesis, ameliorate the microenvironment of lesion site, suppress the neuronal apoptosis and axonal atrophy in SCI rats. Importantly, continuous treatment of bFGF@Lip-Cp&Rp supports the restoration of limb motor function in SCI rats. In summary, this research implies that the injury site-targeting and BSCB-penetrating liposomes could be a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of SCI.