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1.
Exploration (Beijing) ; 4(2): 20210146, 2024 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38855617

ABSTRACT

mRNA therapeutics have emerged as powerful tools for cancer immunotherapy in accordance with their superiority in expressing all sequence-known proteins in vivo. In particular, with a small dosage of delivered mRNA, antigen-presenting cells (APCs) can synthesize mutant neo-antigens and multi-antigens and present epitopes to T lymphocytes to elicit antitumor effects. In addition, expressing receptors like chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), T-cell receptor (TCR), CD134, and immune-modulating factors including cytokines, interferons, and antibodies in specific cells can enhance immunological response against tumors. With the maturation of in vitro transcription (IVT) technology, large-scale and pure mRNA encoding specific proteins can be synthesized quickly. However, the clinical translation of mRNA-based anticancer strategies is restricted by delivering mRNA into target organs or cells and the inadequate endosomal escape efficiency of mRNA. Recently, there have been some advances in mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy, which can be roughly classified as modifications of the mRNA structure and the development of delivery systems, especially the lipid nanoparticle platforms. In this review, the latest strategies for overcoming the limitations of mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies and the recent advances in delivering mRNA into specific organs and cells are summarized. Challenges and opportunities for clinical applications of mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy are also discussed.

2.
Sci Total Environ ; 923: 171323, 2024 May 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38438031

ABSTRACT

Particulate matter represents one of the most severe air pollutants globally. Organic aerosol (OA) comprises 30-70 % of submicron particle mass in urban areas. An effective way to mitigate OA particulate pollutants is to reduce the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Here, we studied the effect of titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalytic seeds on the formation and mitigation of SOA particles from α-pinene or toluene oxidation in chamber. For the first time, we discovered that under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, the presence of TiO2 directly removed internally mixed α-pinene SOA mass by 53.7 % within 200 mins, and also directly removed SOA matter in an externally mixed state that is not in direct contact with TiO2 surface: the mass of externally mixed α-pinene SOA was reduced by 21.9 % within 81 mins, and the toluene SOA mass was reduced by 46.6 % in 145mins. In addition, the presence of TiO2 effectively inhibited the formation of SOA particles with a SOA mass yield of zero. This study brings up an innovative concept for air pollution control - the direct photocatalytic degradation of OA with aid of TiO2-based photocatalysts. Our novel findings will potentially bring practical applications in air pollution abatement and regional, even global aerosol-climate interactions.

3.
Int J Mol Sci ; 25(2)2024 Jan 16.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38256160

ABSTRACT

Obesity is a risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases. Nutrients stimulate GLP-1 release; however, GLP-1 has a short half-life (<2 min), and only <10-15% reaches the systemic circulation. Human L-cells are localized in the distal ileum and colon, while most nutrients are absorbed in the proximal intestine. We hypothesized that combinations of amino acids and fatty acids potentiate GLP-1 release via different L-cell receptors. GLP-1 secretion was studied in the mouse enteroendocrine STC-1 cells. Cells were pre-incubated with buffer for 1 h and treated with nutrients: alpha-linolenic acid (αLA), phenylalanine (Phe), tryptophan (Trp), and their combinations αLA+Phe and αLA+Trp with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitor. After 1 h GLP-1 in supernatants was measured and cell lysates taken for qPCR. αLA (12.5 µM) significantly stimulated GLP-1 secretion compared with the control. Phe (6.25-25 mM) and Trp (2.5-10 mM) showed a clear dose response for GLP-1 secretion. The combination of αLA (6.25 µM) and either Phe (12.5 mM) or Trp (5 mM) significantly increased GLP-1 secretion compared with αLA, Phe, or Trp individually. The combination of αLA and Trp upregulated GPR120 expression and potentiated GLP-1 secretion. These nutrient combinations could be used in sustained-delivery formulations to the colon to prolong GLP-1 release for diminishing appetite and preventing obesity.


Subject(s)
Amino Acids , Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV Inhibitors , Humans , Animals , Mice , L Cells , Tryptophan , Antiviral Agents , Glucagon-Like Peptide 1/pharmacology , Hypoglycemic Agents , Nutrients , Obesity
4.
Int J Pharm ; 652: 123764, 2024 Mar 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38176479

ABSTRACT

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) diagnosis remains challenging without expressing critical receptors. Cancer cell membrane (CCm) coating has been extensively studied for targeted cancer diagnostics due to attractive features such as good biocompatibility and homotypic tumor-targeting. However, the present study found that widely used CCm coating approaches, such as extrusion, were not applicable for functionalizing irregularly shaped nanoparticles (NPs), such as porous silicon (PSi). To tackle this challenge, we proposed a novel approach that employs polyethylene glycol (PEG)-assisted membrane coating, wherein PEG and CCm are respectively functionalized on PSi NPs through chemical conjugation and physical absorption. Meanwhile, the PSi NPs were grafted with the bisphosphonate (BP) molecules for radiolabeling. Thanks to the good chelating ability of BP and homotypic tumor targeting of cancer CCm coating, a novel PSi-based contrast agent (CCm-PEG-89Zr-BP-PSi) was developed for targeted positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging of TNBC. The novel imaging agent showed good radiochemical purity (∼99 %) and stability (∼95 % in PBS and ∼99 % in cell medium after 48 h). Furthermore, the CCm-PEG-89Zr-BP-PSi NPs had efficient homotypic targeting ability in vitro and in vivo for TNBC. These findings demonstrate a versatile biomimetic coating method to prepare novel NPs for tumor-targeted diagnosis.


Subject(s)
Nanoparticles , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms , Humans , Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography , Polyethylene Glycols/chemistry , Silicon , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Biomimetics , Nanoparticles/chemistry , Cell Membrane/metabolism , Cell Line, Tumor
5.
Anal Chem ; 95(46): 17020-17027, 2023 Nov 21.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37923567

ABSTRACT

In drug research and development, knowledge of the precise structure of an active ingredient is crucial. However, it is equally important to know the water content of the drug molecule, particularly the number of crystal waters present in its structure. Such knowledge ensures the avoidance of drug dosage and formulation errors since the number of water molecules affects the physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties of the molecule. Several methods have been used for crystal water measurements of organic compounds, of which thermogravimetry and crystallography may be the most common ones. To the best of our knowledge, solution-state NMR spectroscopy has not been used for crystal water determination in deuterium oxide. Quantitative NMR (qNMR) method will be presented in the paper with a comparison of single-crystal X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis results. The qNMR method for water content measurement is straightforward, reproducible, and accurate, including measurement of 1H NMR spectrum before and after the addition of the analyte compound, and the result can be calculated after integration of the reference compound, analyte, and HDO signals using the given equation. In practical terms, there is no need for weighing the samples under study, which makes it simple and is a clear advantage to the current determination methods. In addition, the crystal structures of two model bisphosphonates used herein are reported: that of monopotassium etidronate dihydrate and monosodium zoledronate trihydrate.

6.
Photoacoustics ; 33: 100552, 2023 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38021288

ABSTRACT

Many fluorophores, such as indocyanine green (ICG), have poor photostability and low photothermal efficiency hindering their wide application in photoacoustic (PA) tomography. In the present study, a supramolecular assembly approach was used to develop the hybrid nanoparticles (Hy NPs) of ICG and porous silicon (PSi) as a novel contrast agent for PA tomography. ICG was assembled on the PSi NPs to form J-aggregates within 30 min. The Hy NPs presented a red-shifted absorption, improved photothermal stability, and enhanced PA performance. Furthermore, 1-dodecene (DOC) was assembled into the NPs as a 'nanospacer', which enhanced non-radiative decay for increased thermal release. Compared to the Hy NPs, adding DOC into the Hy NPs (DOC-Hy) increased the PA signal by 83%. Finally, the DOC-Hy was detectable in PA tomography at 1.5 cm depth in tissue phantom even though its concentration was as low as 6.25 µg/mL, indicating the potential for deep tissue PA imaging.

7.
Pharmaceutics ; 15(10)2023 Oct 22.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37896267

ABSTRACT

Mesoporous silicon nanoparticles (PSi NPs) are promising platforms of nanomedicine because of their good compatibility, high payload capacities of anticancer drugs, and easy chemical modification. Here, PSi surfaces were functionalized with bisphosphonates (BP) for radiolabeling, loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) for chemotherapy, and the NPs were coated with cancer cell membrane (CCm) for homotypic cancer targeting. To enhance the CCm coating, the NP surfaces were covered with polyethylene glycol prior to the CCm coating. The effects of the BP amount and pH conditions on the radiolabeling efficacy were studied. The maximum BP was (2.27 wt%) on the PSi surfaces, and higher radiochemical yields were obtained for 99mTc (97% ± 2%) and 68Ga (94.6% ± 0.2%) under optimized pH conditions (pH = 5). The biomimetic NPs exhibited a good radiochemical and colloidal stability in phosphate-buffered saline and cell medium. In vitro studies demonstrated that the biomimetic NPs exhibited an enhanced cellular uptake and increased delivery of DOX to cancer cells, resulting in better chemotherapy than free DOX or pure NPs. Altogether, these findings indicate the potential of the developed platform for cancer treatment and diagnosis.

8.
Waste Manag ; 167: 31-38, 2023 Jul 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37230876

ABSTRACT

Landfill gas (LFG) is formed by microorganisms within a landfill; it can be utilized as a renewable fuel in power plants. Impurities such as hydrogen sulfide and siloxanes can cause significant damage to gas engines and turbines. The aim of this study was to determine the filtration efficiencies of biochar products made of birch and willow to remove hydrogen sulfides, siloxanes, and volatile organic compounds from the gas streams compared to activated carbon. Experiments were conducted on a laboratory scale with model compounds and in a real LFG power plant where microturbines are used to generate power and heat. The biochar filters removed heavier siloxanes effectively in all of the tests. However, the filtration efficiency for volatile siloxane and hydrogen sulfide declined quickly. Biochars are promising filter materials but require further research to improve their performance.


Subject(s)
Hydrogen Sulfide , Gases , Charcoal , Siloxanes , Biofuels , Waste Disposal Facilities
9.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int ; 30(7): 16947-16983, 2023 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36609763

ABSTRACT

The introduction of unintended oil spills into the marine ecosystem has a significant impact on aquatic life and raises important environmental concerns. The present review summarizes the recent studies where nanocomposites are applied to treat oil spills. The review deals with the techniques used to fabricate nanocomposites and identify the characteristics of nanocomposites beneficial for efficient recovery and treatment of oil spills. It classifies the nanocomposites into four categories, namely bio-based materials, polymeric materials, inorganic-inorganic nanocomposites, and carbon-based nanocomposites, and provides an insight into understanding the interactions of these nanocomposites with different types of oils. Among nanocomposites, bio-based nanocomposites are the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The grafting or modification of magnetic nanoparticles with polymers or other organic materials is preferred to avoid oxidation in wet conditions. The method of synthesizing magnetic nanocomposites and functionalization polymer is essential as it influences saturation magnetization. Notably, the inorganic polymer-based nanocomposite is very less developed and studied for oil spill treatment. Also, the review covers some practical considerations for treating oil spills with nanocomposites. Finally, some aspects of future developments are discussed. The terms "Environmentally friendly," "cost-effective," and "low cost" are often used, but most of the studies lack a critical analysis of the cost and environmental damage caused by chemical alteration techniques. However, the oil and gas industry will considerably benefit from the stimulation of ideas and scientific discoveries in this field.


Subject(s)
Nanocomposites , Petroleum Pollution , Petroleum Pollution/analysis , Ecosystem , Oils , Polymers
10.
Equine Vet J ; 55(2): 315-324, 2023 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35353399

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic osteoarthritis is a frequent joint disease in the horse. Currently, equine medicine lacks effective methods to diagnose the severity of chondral defects after an injury. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the capability of dual-contrast-enhanced computed tomography (dual-CECT) for detection of chondral lesions and evaluation of the severity of articular cartilage degeneration in the equine carpus ex vivo. STUDY DESIGN: Pre-clinical experimental study. METHODS: In nine Shetland ponies, blunt and sharp grooves were randomly created (in vivo) in the cartilage of radiocarpal and middle carpal joints. The contralateral joint served as control. The ponies were subjected to an 8-week exercise protocol and euthanised 39 weeks after surgery. CECT scanning (ex vivo) of the joints was performed using a micro-CT scanner 1 hour after an intra-articular injection of a dual-contrast agent. The dual-contrast agent consisted of ioxaglate (negatively charged, q = -1) and bismuth nanoparticles (BiNPs, q = 0, diameter ≈ 0.2 µm). CECT results were compared to histological cartilage proteoglycan content maps acquired using digital densitometry. RESULTS: BiNPs enabled prolonged visual detection of both groove types as they are too large to diffuse into the cartilage. Furthermore, proportional ioxaglate diffusion inside the tissue allowed differentiation between the lesion and ungrooved articular cartilage (3 mm from the lesion and contralateral joint). The mean ioxaglate partition in the lesion was 19 percentage points higher (P < 0.001) when compared with the contralateral joint. The digital densitometry and the dual-contrast CECT findings showed good subjective visual agreement. MAIN LIMITATIONS: Ex vivo study protocol and a low number of investigated joints. CONCLUSIONS: The dual-CECT methodology, used in this study for the first time to image whole equine joints, is capable of effective lesion detection and simultaneous evaluation of the condition of the articular cartilage.


Subject(s)
Cartilage Diseases , Cartilage, Articular , Horse Diseases , Animals , Horses , X-Ray Microtomography/veterinary , Ioxaglic Acid , Contrast Media , Cartilage, Articular/diagnostic imaging , Cartilage, Articular/pathology , Cartilage Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Cartilage Diseases/veterinary , Horse Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Horse Diseases/pathology
11.
Nat Commun ; 13(1): 6181, 2022 10 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36261418

ABSTRACT

Cell membrane (CM) coating technology is increasingly being applied in nanomedicine, but the entire coating procedure including adsorption, rupture, and fusion is not completely understood. Previously, we showed that the majority of biomimetic nanoparticles (NPs) were only partially coated, but the mechanism underlying this partial coating remains unclear, which hinders the further improvement of the coating technique. Here, we show that partial coating is an intermediate state due to the adsorption of CM fragments or CM vesicles, the latter of which could eventually be ruptured under external force. Such partial coating is difficult to self-repair to achieve full coating due to the limited membrane fluidity. Building on our understanding of the detailed coating process, we develop a general approach for fixing the partial CM coating: external phospholipid is introduced as a helper to increase CM fluidity, promoting the final fusion of lipid patches. The NPs coated with this approach have a high ratio of full coating (~23%) and exhibit enhanced tumor targeting ability in comparison to the NPs coated traditionally (full coating ratio of ~6%). Our results provide a mechanistic basis for fixing partial CM coating towards enhancing tumor accumulation.


Subject(s)
Nanoparticles , Neoplasms , Humans , Cell Membrane/metabolism , Adsorption , Phospholipids/metabolism , Neoplasms/therapy , Neoplasms/metabolism
12.
Chemistry ; 28(68): e202200947, 2022 Dec 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36116117

ABSTRACT

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of negatively stained cell membrane (CM)-coated polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) reveal a characteristic core-shell structure. However, negative staining agents can create artifacts that complicate the determination of the actual NP structure. Herein, it is demonstrated with various bare polymeric core NPs, such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-PLGA, and poly(caprolactone), that certain observed core-shell structures are actually artifacts caused by the staining process. To address this issue, fluorescence quenching was applied to quantify the proportion of fully coated NPs and statistical TEM analysis was used to identify and differentiate whether the observed core-shell structures of CM-coated PLGA (CM-PLGA) NPs are due to artifacts or to the CM coating. Integrated shells in TEM images of negatively stained CM-PLGA NPs are identified as artifacts. The present results challenge current understanding of the structure of CM-coated polymeric NPs and encourage researchers to use the proposed characterization approach to avoid misinterpretations.


Subject(s)
Cell Membrane
13.
Acta Biomater ; 152: 473-483, 2022 10 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36087872

ABSTRACT

Photothermal therapy (PTT) in combination with other treatment modalities has shown great potential to activate immunotherapy against tumor metastasis. However, the nanoparticles (NPs) that generate PTT have served as the photothermal agent only. Moreover, researchers have widely utilized highly immunogenic tumor models to evaluate the immune response of these NPs thus giving over-optimistic results. In the present study black porous silicon (BPSi) NPs were developed to serve as both the photothermal agent and the adjuvant for PTT-based antitumor immunotherapy. We found that the poorly immunogenic tumor models such as B16 are more valid to evaluate NP-based immunotherapy than the widely used immunogenic models such as CT26. Based on the B16 cancer model, a cocktail regimen was developed that combined BPSi-based PTT with doxorubicin (DOX) and cytosine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG). BPSi-based PTT was an important trigger to activate the specific immunotherapy to inhibit tumor growth by featuring the selective upregulation of TNF-α. Either by adding a low dose DOX or by prolonging the laser heating time, a similar efficacy of immunotherapy was evoked to inhibit tumor growth. Moreover, BPSi acted as a co-adjuvant for CpG to significantly boost the immunotherapy. The present study demonstrates that the BPSi-based regimen is a potent and safe antitumor immunotherapy modality. Moreover, our study highlighted that tuning the laser heating parameters of PTT is an alternative to the toxic cytostatic to evoke immunotherapy, paving the way to optimize the PTT-based combination therapy for enhanced efficacy and decreased side effects. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Tumor metastasis causes directly or indirectly more than 90% of cancer deaths. Combination of photothermal therapy (PTT), chemotherapy and immunotherapy based on nanoparticles (NPs) has shown great potential to inhibit distant and metastatic tumors. However, these NPs typically act only as photothermal agents and many of them have been evaluated with immunogenic tumor models. The present study developed black porous silicon working as both the photothermal conversion agent and the immunoadjuvant to inhibit distant tumor. It was recognized that the poorly immunogenic tumor model B16 is more appropriate to evaluate immunotherapy than the widely used immunogenic model CT26. The coordination mechanism of the PTT-based combination therapy regimen was discovered in detail, paving the way to optimize cancer immunotherapy for enhanced efficacy and decreased side effects.


Subject(s)
Cytostatic Agents , Hyperthermia, Induced , Nanoparticles , Neoplasms , Adjuvants, Immunologic , Cell Line, Tumor , Cytosine , Doxorubicin/pharmacology , Doxorubicin/therapeutic use , Guanosine , Humans , Immunotherapy/methods , Nanoparticles/therapeutic use , Neoplasms/therapy , Phosphates , Phototherapy , Porosity , Silicon/pharmacology , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
14.
Mol Nutr Food Res ; 66(19): e2200192, 2022 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35938221

ABSTRACT

Obesity is one of the major global threats to human health and risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases and certain cancers. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays a major role in appetite and glucose homeostasis and recently the USFDA approved GLP-1 agonists for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 is secreted from enteroendocrine L-cells in the distal part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in response to nutrient ingestion. Endogenously released GLP-1 has a very short half-life of <2 min and most of the nutrients are absorbed before reaching the distal GI tract and colon, which hinders the use of nutritional compounds for appetite regulation. The review article focuses on nutrients that endogenously stimulate GLP-1 and peptide YY (PYY) secretion via their receptors in order to decrease appetite as preventive action. In addition, various delivery technologies such as pH-sensitive, mucoadhesive, time-dependent, and enzyme-sensitive systems for colonic targeting of nutrients delivery are described. Sustained colonic delivery of nutritional compounds could be one of the most promising approaches to prevent obesity and associated metabolic diseases by, e.g., sustained GLP-1 release.


Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 , Peptide YY , Appetite , Colon/metabolism , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/metabolism , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/prevention & control , Glucagon-Like Peptide 1/metabolism , Glucose/metabolism , Humans , Nutrients , Obesity/metabolism , Obesity/prevention & control , Peptide YY/metabolism
16.
Anal Chem ; 94(34): 11739-11744, 2022 08 30.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35972396

ABSTRACT

Strict regulations are in place to control the effluents of mining sites and other industries. Heavy metal contamination of aquatic systems caused by leakages is difficult to mitigate as it takes time to detect and localize the leak. Dynamic sampling would drastically reduce the time to locate leakages and allow faster actions to reduce the impact on the environment. The present study introduces a novel portable multielement water analysis system to simultaneously measure Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, and U in water samples from natural sources within 15 min from the sampling. The metals are preconcentrated from a 10 mL water sample into a nanoporous filter based on bisphosphonate-modified thermally carbonized porous silicon. The metals can be conveniently analyzed from the filter with a portable XRF analyzer in field conditions. The system was empirically calibrated for a lake water matrix with neutral pH and low alkaline metal concentration. A strong correlation between the XRF intensities and the ICP-MS results was obtained in a concentration range from 50 to 10 000 µg/L. With a DPO-2000C XRF analyzer, the detection limits were 103, 86, 92, 35, 44, and 43 µg/L for Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, and U, respectively. The corresponding values with X-MET8000 Expert Geo were 137, 46, 62, 38, 29, and 54. The system was successfully validated with simulated multielement lake water samples and piloted in field conditions. The system provides an efficient way to monitor metals in environmental waters in cases where quick on-site results are needed.


Subject(s)
Metals, Heavy , Water Pollutants, Chemical , Environmental Monitoring/methods , Fluorescence , Lead/analysis , Metals, Heavy/analysis , Water/analysis , Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis , X-Rays
17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35848997

ABSTRACT

Functional colloidal nanoparticles capable of converting between various energy types are finding an increasing number of applications. One of the relevant examples concerns light-to-heat-converting colloidal nanoparticles that may be useful for localized photothermal therapy of cancers. Unfortunately, quantitative comparison and ranking of nanoheaters are not straightforward as materials of different compositions and structures have different photophysical and chemical properties and may interact differently with the biological environment. In terms of photophysical properties, the most relevant information to rank these nanoheaters is the light-to-heat conversion efficiency, which, along with information on the absorption capacity of the material, can be used to directly compare materials. In this work, we evaluate the light-to-heat conversion properties of 17 different nanoheaters belonging to different groups (plasmonic, semiconductor, lanthanide-doped nanocrystals, carbon nanocrystals, and metal oxides). We conclude that the light-to-heat conversion efficiency alone is not meaningful enough as many materials have similar conversion efficiencies─in the range of 80-99%─while they significantly differ in their extinction coefficient. We therefore constructed their qualitative ranking based on the external conversion efficiency, which takes into account the conventionally defined light-to-heat conversion efficiency and its absorption capacity. This ranking demonstrated the differences between the samples more meaningfully. Among the studied systems, the top-ranking materials were black porous silicon and CuS nanocrystals. These results allow us to select the most favorable materials for photo-based theranostics and set a new standard in the characterization of nanoheaters.

18.
Int J Pharm ; 624: 122040, 2022 Aug 25.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35902052

ABSTRACT

Nuclear medicine imaging plays an important role in nanomedicine. However, it is still challenging to develop a versatile platform to make the nonviral nanovectors used in cancer therapy biotraceable. In the present study, a robust approach to radiolabel inorganic nanovectors for SPECT and PET imaging was developed. The approach was based on the bisphosphonates (BP) conjugated on the nanovector, mesoporous silicon (PSi) nanoparticles. BP served as an efficient chelator for various radionuclides. For both of the 99mTc and 68Ga radionuclides utilized, the radiochemical purity and radiochemical yield were ∼99% and ∼90%, respectively. Because of the short decay time of the radionuclides, an easy, fast and effective PEGylation method was developed to improve the residence time in systemic circulation. Both PEG-99mTc-BP-PSi and PEG-68Ga-BP-PSi NPs, where PEGylation was performed after the labeling, had excellent colloidal and radiochemical stability in vitro. The plain particles without PEGylation accumulated fast in the reticuloendothelial system organs upon intravenous administration, while PEGylation prolonged the residence time of the particles in systemic circulation. Overall, the developed approach proved to be applicable for labeling nonviral nanovectors with various radionuclides easily and robustly. Considering the nature of mesoporous nanoparticles, the approach does not hamper the addition of other functionalities on the vector, nor its capability to carry high payloads.


Subject(s)
Gallium Radioisotopes , Nanoparticles , Nanomedicine , Radiopharmaceuticals , Silicon , Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
19.
Front Chem ; 10: 882081, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35601553

ABSTRACT

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the most preferred energy storage devices today for many high-performance applications. Recently, concerns about global warming and climate change have increased the need and requirements for LIBs used in electric vehicles, and thus more advanced technologies and materials are urgently needed. Among the anode materials under development, silicon (Si) has been considered the most promising anode candidate for the next generation LIBs to replace the widely used graphite. Si cannot be used as such as the electrode of LIB, and thus, carbon is commonly used to realize the applicability of Si in LIBs. Typically, this means forming a-Si/carbon composite (Si/C). One of the main challenges in the industrial development of high-performance LIBs is to exploit low-cost, environmentally benign, sustainable, and renewable chemicals and materials. In this regard, bio-based Si and carbon are favorable to address the challenge assuming that the performance of the LIB anode is not compromised. The present review paper focuses on the development of Si and carbon anodes derived from various types of biogenic sources, particularly from plant-derived biomass resources. An overview of the biomass precursors, process/extraction methods for producing Si and carbon, the critical physicochemical properties influencing the lithium storage in LIBs, and how they affect the electrochemical performance are highlighted. The review paper also discusses the current research challenges and prospects of biomass-derived materials in developing advanced battery materials.

20.
Acta Pharmacol Sin ; 43(11): 2749-2758, 2022 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35484402

ABSTRACT

Immunotherapy, in particular immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy targeting the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) axis, has remarkably revolutionized cancer treatment in the clinic. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy is designed to restore the antitumor response of cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) by blocking the interaction between PD-L1 on tumour cells and PD-1 on CTLs. Nevertheless, current anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy suffers from poor therapeutic outcomes in a large variety of solid tumours due to insufficient tumour specificity, severe cytotoxic effects, and the occurrence of immune resistance. In recent years, nanosized drug delivery systems (NDDSs), endowed with highly efficient tumour targeting and versatility for combination therapy, have paved a new avenue for cancer immunotherapy. In this review article, we summarized the recent advances in NDDSs for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. We then discussed the challenges and further provided perspectives to promote the clinical application of NDDS-based anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.


Subject(s)
B7-H1 Antigen , Neoplasms , Humans , B7-H1 Antigen/metabolism , Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor , Nanomedicine , Immunotherapy , Neoplasms/therapy
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