A Programmed Nanoparticle with Self-Adapting for Accurate Cancer Cell Eradication and Therapeutic Self-Reporting.

To achieve the best therapeutic efficacy and good prognosis, the drugs necessitate tailored profiles of excellent spatiotemporal control and therapeutic monitoring. Here we introduce a programmed theranostic nanoparticle with self-adapting properties for tumor-specific systemic treatment, including stealthy surface to prolong circulation time in blood, surface charge-reversion for tumor targeting, receptor-mediated internalization to increase intracellular accumulation, "proton sponge effect" for controllable drug release and escape from endo/lysosome. Encouragingly, in the process of drug-induced apoptosis, the therapeutic efficacy can be reported by fluorescence imaging in vivo, in situ and in real time. Therefore, this work provides a new paradigm for design of programmed theranositc nanomedicine and offers promising prospects for precise tumor treatment.

Protective Effects of Sheng-Mai-San on Right Ventricular Dysfunction during Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia in Mice.

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and failure contribute to the increasing morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases; however, current treatment strategies are grossly inadequate. Sheng-Mai-San (SMS) has been used to treat heart diseases for hundreds of years in China, and its protective effects on RV have not been observed. The present study was to investigate the protective effects of SMS aqueous extract on RV dysfunction in chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) mice model. The results showed that CIH mice model presented RV dysfunction and maladaptive compensation after 28-day-CIH and SMS treatment significantly reversed these changes. Diastolic function of RV was restored and systolic dysfunction was attenuated, including elevation of RV stroke volume and fractional shortening, as well as pulmonary circulation. Structurally, SMS treatment inhibited RV dilation, cardiomyocytes vacuolization, ultrastructure abnormalities, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3. Of importance, SMS showed remarkable antioxidant activity by decreasing the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), increasing the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), as well as inhibiting the overexpression of 3-NT in RV. Our results indicate that SMS preserve RV structure and function in CIH-exposed mice by involving regulation in both ROS and Reactive Nitrogen Species (RNS) production.