Multifunctional PEG modified DOX loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle@CuS nanohybrids as photo-thermal agent and thermal-triggered drug release vehicle for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment

The combination of a multi-therapeutic mode with a controlled fashion is a key improvement in nanomedicine. Here, we synthesized polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) @CuS nanohybrids as efficient drug delivery carriers, combined with photothermal therapy and chemotherapy to enhance the therapeutic efficacy on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The physical properties of the nanohybrids were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption and desorption experiments and by the Vis-NIR absorption spectra. The results showed that the doxorubicin could be stored in the inner pores of mesoporous silica nanoparticles; the CuS nanoparticles, which are coated on the surface of a mesoporous silica nanoparticle, could serve as efficient photothermal therapy (PTT) agents; the loaded drug release could be easily triggered by NIR irradiation. The combination of the PTT treatment with controlled chemotherapy could further enhance the cancer ablation ability compared to any of the single approaches alone. Hence, the reported PEG-modified DOX-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle@CuS nanohybrids might be very promising therapeutic agents for HCC treatment.

Reduction/photo dual-responsive polymeric prodrug nanoparticles for programmed siRNA and doxorubicin delivery

Dual and multi-stimuli responsive polymeric nanoparticles that respond to two or more signals can further improve drug release performance compared with nanoparticles that respond to a single stimulus. However, usage of such nanoparticles to deliver siRNA and chemotherapeutic drugs in a sequential manner are currently very rare; meanwhile, this technology is vital to optimize the efficacy of chemotherapy towards cancer cells with multidrug resistance. By loading o-nitrobenzyl ester derivative caged DOX (DOC) into the inner poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) core and adsorbing siRNA of P-gp protein onto the cationic polymeric shell derived from a disulfide-containing alkyl modified polyethylenimine (C16-S-S-PEI), here, a reduction/photo dual responsive device (RPDRD) is successfully designed for programmed P-gp siRNA and doxorubicin delivery. The dual-stimuli design of the RPDRD allows tumor microenvironment-specific and rapid release of P-gp siRNA triggered by the enrichment of reducing agent glutathione (GSH, up to 10 mM) for reversal of drug resistance by initially suppressing P-gp protein expression in MCF/ADR cells and then selectively triggering drug release by external light for chemotherapy afterwards. The sequential release behavior of P-gp siRNA and DOX can be demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, thus enhancing the intracellular drug retention and optimizing the chemotherapy efficacy of DOX by silencing P-gp; this strategy may have extensive application prospects in MDR cancer treatment in future.

Pt/Zn-TCPP Nanozyme-Based Flexible Immunoassay for Dual-Mode Pressure-Temperature Monitoring of Low-Abundance Proteins

Pressure and temperature, as common physical parameters, are important for monitoring human health. In contrast, single-mode monitoring is prone to causing experimental errors. Herein, we innovatively designed a dual-mode flexible sensing platform based on a platinum/zinc-meso-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (Pt/Zn-TCPP) nanozyme for the quantitative monitoring of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in biological fluids with pressure and temperature readouts. The Pt/Zn-TCPP nanozyme with catalytic and photothermal efficiencies was synthesized by means of integrating photosensitizers into porous materials. The flexible sensing system after the antigen-antibody reaction recognized the pressure using a flexible skin-like pressure sensor with a digital multimeter readout, whereas the temperature was acquired via the photoheat conversion system of the Pt/Zn-TCPP nanozyme under 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) irradiation using a portable NIR imaging camera on a smartphone. Meanwhile, the dual-mode flexible sensing system was carried out on a homemade three-dimensional (3D)-printed device. Results revealed that the developed dual-mode immunosensing platform could exhibit good pressure and temperature responses within the dynamic range of 0.5-100 ng mL-1 CEA with the detection limits of 0.24 and 0.13 ng mL-1, respectively. In addition, the pressure and temperature were sensed simultaneously without crosstalk interference. Importantly, the dual-mode flexible immunosensing system can effectively avoid false alarms during the measurement, thus providing great potential for simple and low-cost development for point-of-care testing.

Migration and homeostasis of naive T cells depends on coronin 1-mediated prosurvival signals and not on coronin 1-dependent filamentous actin modulation

Coronins are WD repeat-containing proteins highly conserved in the eukaryotic kingdom implicated in the regulation of F-actin. Mammalian coronin 1, one of the most conserved isoforms expressed in leukocytes, regulates survival of T cells, which has been suggested to be due to its role in preventing F-actin-induced apoptosis. In this study, we come to a different conclusion. We show that coronin 1 does not modulate F-actin and that induction of F-actin failed to induce apoptosis. Instead, coronin 1 was required for providing prosurvival signals, in the absence of which T cells rapidly underwent apoptosis. These results argue against a role for coronin 1 in F-actin-mediated T cell apoptosis and establish coronin 1 as an essential regulator of the balance between prosurvival and proapoptotic signals in naive T cells.

In Vivo Tracking of Cell Viability for Adoptive Natural Killer Cell-Based Immunotherapy by Ratiometric NIR-II Fluorescence Imaging

The therapeutic efficacy of natural killer (NK) cells-based immunotherapy is greatly related with the survival of transplanted NK cells. However, no effective strategy was reported to monitor NK cell viability in adoptive immunotherapy in vivo. Herein, we develop a ratiometric NIR-II fluorescence imaging strategy to quantitively track and visualize the adoptive NK cell viability in vivo in real-time. The nanoprobe consists of lanthanide-based down-conversion nanoparticles (DCNP) coated with IR786s, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensitive to NIR dye, which was directly labeled with NK cells. Upon cell death, the excessive ROS generation occurred within NK cells, along with IR786s degradation, turning on NIR-II fluorescent signal at 1550 nm of DCNP under 808-nm excitation, while the fluorescent signal at 1550 nm of DCNP under 980-nm excitation was stable. Such an intracellular ROS-induced ratiometric NIR-II fluorescent signal was validated to correlate well with NK cell viability in vivo. Using this nanoreporter, we further demonstrated that co-treatment with IL-2, IL-15, and IL-21 could improve NK cell viability in vivo, achieving enhanced immunotherapy for orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma. Overall, this strategy allows for longitudinal and quantitative tracking of NK cell viability in NK cell-based immunotherapy.

Magnetite nanocluster@poly(dopamine)-PEG@ indocyanine green nanobead with magnetic field-targeting enhanced MR imaging and photothermal therapy in vivo

Multifunctional nanomaterials with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided tumor photothermal ablation ability have been extensively applied in biomedical research as one of the most exciting and challenging strategies for cancer treatment. Nevertheless, most of these nanomaterials still suffer from low accumulation in tumor tissues and insufficient photothermal ablation of tumors so far. Here, we report a novel approach to overcome these limitations using a core-shell magnetite nanocluster@poly(dopamine)-PEG@ICG nanobead compositing of magnetite nanocluster core with coating of poly(dopamine), then further conjugating with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and adsorbing indocyanine green (ICG) on the surface. The adsorbed ICG in the nanobead displays a higher photostability and photothermal conversion ability than free ICG, as well as additional photothermal effect rather than magnetite nanocluster and poly(dopamine), which endow the nanobead with enhanced photothermal killing efficiency against cancer cells under near-infrared (NIR) laser irritation. Furthermore, it is proved that these nanobeads have excellent biocompatibility, T2-weighted MR imaging and magnetic field targeting ability. By applying an external magnetic field (MF) focused on the targeted tumor, a magnetic targeting mediated enhanced accumulation is observed at tumor site as proved by a darker T2-weighted MR image. Utilizing the magnetic targeting strategy, enhanced photothermal tumor ablation was achieved under laser irradiation in vivo, which is reflected by the degree of tumor tissue damage and tumor growth delay. Therefore, this nanobead integrates the abilities of magnetic field-targeting, MR imaging and photothermal cancer therapy, and might be a promising theranostic platform for tumor treatment.

Donor-acceptor conjugated polymer-based nanoparticles for highly effective photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy in the NIR-II window

We prepared novel conjugated polymer based NIR-II nanoparticles, which display extremely high photothermal conversion efficiency (65%). Both in vitro and in vivo investigations revealed that the as-prepared nanoparticles exhibit excellent theranostic properties including an extremely high cancer cell killing ability, admirable tumor elimination efficiency (100%) and a remarkable photoacoustic imaging contrast enhancing ability.

Personalized neoantigen vaccine combined with PD-1 blockade increases CD8+ tissue-resident memory T-cell infiltration in preclinical hepatocellular carcinoma models

BACKGROUND

Personalized neoantigen vaccine could induce a robust antitumor immune response in multiple cancers, whose efficacy could be further enhanced by combining with programmed cell death 1 blockade (α-PD-1). However, the corresponding immune response and synergistic mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here, we aimed to develop clinically available combinational therapeutic strategy and further explore its potential antitumor mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

Neoantigen peptide vaccine (NeoVAC) for murine HCC cell line Hepa1-6 was developed and optimized by neoantigen screening and adjuvant optimization. Then the synergistic efficacy and related molecular mechanisms of NeoVAC combined with α-PD-1 in HCC were evaluated by orthotopic HCC mouse model, single-cell RNA sequencing, tetramer flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, etc. The tumor-killing capacity of CD8+ tissue-resident memory T cells (CD8+ TRMs) was assessed by orthotopic HCC mouse model, and autologous patient-derived cells.

RESULTS

NeoVAC, which consisted of seven high immunogenic neoantigen peptides and clinical-grade Poly(I:C), could generate a strong antitumor immune response in HCC mouse models. Significantly, its efficacy could be further improved by combining with α-PD-1, with 80% of durable tumor regression and long-term immune memory in orthotopic HCC models. Moreover, in-depth analysis of the tumor immune microenvironment showed that the percentage of CD8+ TRMs was remarkedly increased in NeoVAC plus α-PD-1 treatment group, and positively associated with the antitumor efficacy. In vitro and in vivo T-cell cytotoxicity assay further confirmed the strong tumor-killing capacity of CD8+ TRMs sorting from orthotopic mouse HCC or patient's HCC tissue.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that NeoVAC plus α-PD-1 could induce a strong antitumor response and long-term tumor-specific immune memory in HCC by increasing CD8+ TRMs infiltration, which might serve as a potential immune-therapeutic target for HCC.

Cytosolic Delivery of Thiolated Mn-cGAMP Nanovaccine to Enhance the Antitumor Immune Responses

As a stimulator of interferon gene (STING), cyclic dinucleotide activates a broad cellular immune response for anti-cancer immunotherapy (CIT). However, the inherent of instability of 2' 3'-cyclic-GMP-AMP (cGAMP) with poor cellular targeting, rapid clearance, and inefficient transport to the cytoplasm seriously hinders cGAMP potency. Here, a thiolated and Mn2+ coordinated cyclic dinucleotide nanovaccine (termed as Mn-cGAMP NVs) to enable direct cytosolic co-delivery of cGAMP and Mn2+ to potentiate the antitumor immune response is presented. In the NVs, the fixation cGAMP with Mn2+ ions not only improve its stability, but also potentiate the activation of STING. Meanwhile, the presence of polysulfides on the NVs surface allowed direct cytosolic delivery while avoiding degradation. In this way, the production of cytokines for activating T cells immunity is greatly elevated, which in turn suppressed the primary and distal tumors growth through long-term immune memory and led to long-term survival of poorly immunogenic B16F10 melanoma mice. Moreover, by further combining with anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, synergistic T cells antitumor immune response is elicited. This work offers a promising strategy to enhance the potency of cGAMP, holding a considerable potential for CIT applications.

Hyperspectral Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy Unravels Aberrant Accumulation of Saturated Fat in Human Liver Cancer

Lipid metabolism is dysregulated in human cancers. The analytical tools that could identify and quantitatively map metabolites in unprocessed human tissues with submicrometer resolution are highly desired. Here, we implemented analytical hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering microscopy to map the lipid metabolites in situ in normal and cancerous liver tissues from 24 patients. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that unsaturated lipid accumulation enhances tumor cell survival and proliferation, we unexpectedly visualized substantial amount of saturated fat accumulated in cancerous liver tissues, which was not seen in majority of their adjacent normal tissues. Further analysis by mass spectrometry confirmed significant high levels of glyceryl tripalmitate specifically in cancerous liver. These findings suggest that the aberrantly accumulated saturated fat may have great potential to be a metabolic biomarker for liver cancer.

Enzyme‐Encapsulated Protein Trap Engineered Metal–Organic Framework‐Derived Biomineral Probes for Non‐Invasive Prostate Cancer Surveillance

A paper‐based naked‐eye recognition assay with enzyme‐encapsulated protein engineered metal–organic framework‐derived biominerals is developed for direct quantification of sarcosine in urine samples for screening of prostate cancer individuals. The detection strategy stems from the successful construction of a cascade response model, which involves the introduction of a cascade enzymatic catalytic reaction on Pt nanoparticles (NPs)‐loaded porous CeO2 by integrating a sarcosine oxidase as a special recognition unit and a chromogenic substrate as a signal molecule reporter. Pt NPs‐loaded CeO2 is subjected to a one‐step thermal treatment based on multilayered mesoporous Ce‐based metal–organic framework, and the calcined CeO2 exhibits the same distinct porous graded structure. Importantly, introduction of Pt NPs sharply enhances the peroxidase‐like activity of CeO2, which is considered to be caused by the difference in the adsorption behavior of hydrogen peroxide on the CeO2 surface and Pt/CeO2 obtained by density functional theory calculations. On the basis of this, the probe is used on a mass‐producible paper‐based working platform and 3D‐printed device to specifically screen for minor differences in sarcosine between urine samples from cancer patients and normal individuals. Enzyme‐assisted cascade catalytic reaction can be extended by replacing different recognition units for multiple analytes.

RBC Membrane Camouflaged Semiconducting Polymer Nanoparticles for Near-Infrared Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

Semiconducting conjugated polymer nanoparticles (SPNs) represent an emerging class of phototheranostic materials with great promise for cancer treatment. In this report, low-bandgap electron donor-acceptor (D-A)-conjugated SPNs with surface cloaked by red blood cell membrane (RBCM) are developed for highly effective photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy. The resulting RBCM-coated SPN (SPN@RBCM) displays remarkable near-infrared light absorption and good photostability, as well as high photothermal conversion efficiency for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy. Particularly, due to the small size (< 5 nm), SPN@RBCM has the advantages of deep tumor penetration and rapid clearance from the body with no appreciable toxicity. The RBCM endows the SPNs with prolonged systematic circulation time, less reticuloendothelial system uptake and reduced immune-recognition, hence improving tumor accumulation after intravenous injection, which provides strong photoacoustic signals and exerts excellent photothermal therapeutic effects. Thus, this work provides a valuable paradigm for safe and highly efficient tumor photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy for further clinical translation.

Self-Luminescing Theranostic Nanoreactors with Intraparticle Relayed Energy Transfer for Tumor Microenvironment Activated Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy

The low tissue penetration depth of external excitation light severely hinders the sensitivity of fluorescence imaging (FL) and the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in vivo; thus, rational theranostic platforms that overcome the light penetration depth limit are urgently needed. To overcome this crucial problem, we designed a self-luminescing nanosystem (denoted POCL) with near-infrared (NIR) light emission and singlet oxygen (1O2) generation abilities utilizing an intraparticle relayed resonance energy transfer strategy. Methods: Bis[3,4,6-trichloro-2-(pentyloxycarbonyl) phenyl] oxalate (CPPO) as a chemical energy source with high reactivity toward H2O2, poly[(9,9'-dioctyl-2,7-divinylene-fluorenylene)-alt-2-methoxy- 5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene] (PFPV) as a highly efficient chemiluminescence converter, and tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) as a photosensitizer with NIR emission and 1O2 generation abilities were coencapsulated by self-assembly with poly(ethyleneglycol)-co-poly(caprolactone) (PEG-PCL) and folate-PEG-cholesterol to form the POCL nanoreactor, with folate as the targeting group. A series of in vitro and in vivo analyses, including physical and chemical characterizations, tumor targeting ability, tumor microenvironment activated imaging and photodynamic therapy, as well as biosafety, were systematically investigated to characterize the POCL. Results: The POCL displayed excellent NIR luminescence and 1O2 generation abilities in response to H2O2. Therefore, it could serve as a specific H2O2 probe to identify tumors through chemiluminescence imaging and as a chemiluminescence-driven PDT agent for inducing tumor cell apoptosis to inhibit tumor growth due to the abnormal overproduction of H2O2 in the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, the folate ligand on the POCL surface can further improve the accumulation at the tumor site via a receptor-mediated mechanism, thus enhancing tumor imaging and the therapeutic effects both in vitro and in vivo but without any observable systemic toxicity. Conclusion: The nanosystem reported here might serve as a targeted, smart, precise, and noninvasive strategy triggered by the tumor microenvironment rather than by an outside light source for cancer NIR imaging and PDT treatment without limitations on penetration depth.

Hypoxia-responsive nanoreactors based on self-enhanced photodynamic sensitization and triggered ferroptosis for cancer synergistic therapy

BACKGROUND

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a typical reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent treatment with high controllability, has emerged as an alternative cancer therapy modality but its therapeutic efficacy is still unsatisfactory due to the limited light penetration and constant oxygen consumption. With the development of another ROS-dependent paradigm ferroptosis, several efforts have been made to conquer the poor efficacy by combining these two approaches; however the biocompatibility, tumor-targeting capacity and clinical translation prospect of current studies still exist great concerns. Herein, a novel hypoxia-responsive nanoreactor BCFe@SRF with sorafenib (SRF) loaded inside, constructed by covalently connecting chlorin e6 conjugated bovine serum albumin (BSA-Ce6) and ferritin through azobenzene (Azo) linker, were prepared to offer unmatched opportunities for high-efficient PDT and ferroptosis synergistic therapy.

RESULTS

The designed BCFe@SRF exhibited appropriate size distribution, stable dispersity, excellent ROS generation property, controllable drug release capacity, tumor accumulation ability, and outstanding biocompatibility. Importantly, the BCFe@SRF could be degraded under hypoxia environment to release BSA-Ce6 for laser-triggered PDT, ferritin for iron-catalyzed Fenton reaction and SRF for tumor antioxidative defense disruption. Meanwhile, besides PDT effects, it was found that BCFe@SRF mediated treatment upon laser irradiation in hypoxic environment not only could accelerate lipid peroxidation (LPO) generation but also could deplete intracellular glutathione (GSH) and decrease glutathione peroxidase (GPX4) expression, which was believed as three symbolic events during ferroptosis. All in all, the BCFe@SRF nanoreactor, employing multiple cascaded pathways to promote intracellular ROS accumulation, presented remarkably outstanding antitumor effects both in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSION

BCFe@SRF could serve as a promising candidate for synergistic PDT and ferroptosis therapy, which is applicable to boost oxidative damage within tumor site and will be informative to future design of ROS-dependent therapeutic nanoplatforms.

Engineered Red Blood Cell Biomimetic Nanovesicle with Oxygen Self-Supply for Near-Infrared-II Fluorescence-Guided Synergetic Chemo-Photodynamic Therapy against Hypoxic Tumors

The low bioavailability of photosensitizers (PSs) and the hypoxia nature of tumors often limit the efficacy of current photodynamic therapy (PDT). Therefore, improving the utilization of three essential components (PS, light, and O2) in tumors will enhance PDT efficacy substantially. Herein, we have developed a red blood cell (RBC) biomimetic theranostic nanovesicle (named SPN-Hb@RBCM) with improved photostability, accumulation of PSs, and oxygen self-supply ability to enhance PDT efficacy upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Such a biomimetic nanovesicle was prepared by a red blood cell membrane (RBCM)-camouflaged hemoglobin (Hb)-linked semiconducting polymer nanoparticle (SPN-Hb). The RBCM coating enables the long-term circulation of SPN-Hb due to the membrane-mediated immune evasion, allowing for more effective PS accumulation in tumors. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, the photostable SPN can serve as both a photodynamic and a second-near-infrared-window (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging agent; meanwhile, the conjugated Hb can be used as an oxygen carrier to relieve tumor hypoxia for enhancing PDT efficacy. In addition, Hb can also react with the tumor microenvironment overproduced H2O2 to generate cytotoxic hydroxyl radicals (•OHs) for chemodynamic therapy (CDT), which further achieve synergistic effects for PDT. Thus, this study proposed a promising biomimetic theranostic nanoagent for enhancing tumor oxygenation and NIR-II fluorescence-guided synergetic CDT/PDT against hypoxic tumors.

MicroRNA-140-5p inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma by directly targeting the unique isomerase Pin1 to block multiple cancer-driving pathways

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer related-death. As a major common regulator of numerous cancer-driving pathways and a unique therapeutic target, the prolyl isomerase Pin1 is overexpressed in a majority of HCCs, whereas the mechanism underlying Pin1 overexpression remains elusive. Here we find that miR-140-5p inhibits HCC by directly targeting Pin1 to block multiple cancer-driving pathways. Bioinformatics analysis, miRNA binding and functional assays identify that miR-140-5p directly interacts with the 3'UTR of Pin1 and inhibits Pin1 translation. Furthermore, like stable Pin1 knockdown, moderate overexpression of miR-140-5p not only eliminates Pin1, but also inhibits cells growth and metastasis. Importantly, these effects of miR-140-5p are largely rescued by reconstitution of Pin1. Moreover, miR-140-5p inhibits multiple Pin1-dependent cancer pathways and suppresses tumor growth in mice. The clinical significance of these findings has been substantiated by the demonstrations that miR-140-5p is frequently down-regulated and inversely correlated with Pin1 overexpression in HCC tissues and cell lines. Given prevalent miR-140-5p downregulation in other cancers and major impact of Pin1 overexpression on activating numerous cancer-driving pathways including global miRNA downregulation, the miR-140-5p/Pin1 axis may play a major role in tumorigenesis and offer promising therapeutic targets for HCC and other cancers.

Proteomics-driven noninvasive screening of circulating serum protein panels for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lacks highly sensitive and specific protein biomarkers. Here, we describe a staged mass spectrometry (MS)-based discovery-verification-validation proteomics workflow to explore serum proteomic biomarkers for HCC early diagnosis in 1002 individuals. Machine learning model determined as P4 panel (HABP2, CD163, AFP and PIVKA-II) clearly distinguish HCC from liver cirrhosis (LC, AUC 0.979, sensitivity 0.925, specificity 0.915) and healthy individuals (HC, AUC 0.992, sensitivity 0.975, specificity 1.000) in an independent validation cohort, outperforming existing clinical prediction strategies. Furthermore, the P4 panel can accurately predict LC to HCC conversion (AUC 0.890, sensitivity 0.909, specificity 0.877) with predicting HCC at a median of 11.4 months prior to imaging in prospective external validation cohorts (No.: Keshen 2018_005_02 and NCT03588442). These results suggest that proteomics-driven serum biomarker discovery provides a valuable reference for the liquid biopsy, and has great potential to improve early diagnosis of HCC.

Polydopamine doped reduced graphene oxide/mesoporous silica nanosheets for chemo-photothermal and enhanced photothermal therapy

The nanoplatform of synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy has superior advantages on antitumor. It is urgently needed to explore novel nanocarrier for improving photothermal performance in drug delivery process. Herein, we synthesized polydopamine doped mesoporous silica-coated reduced graphene oxide (rGO/MSN/PDA) by simply adding dopamine hydrochloride into the oil-water biphasic reaction system as a multifunctional drug carrier for anticancer treatment, which combines chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. The rGO/MSN/PDA showed nearly twice the photothermal conversion efficiency of mesoporous silica-coated graphene oxide (GO/MSN) due to the reduction of GO and doping with PDA. In addition, the rGO/MSN/PDA showed pH-response DOX release abilities, which means higher release of DOX in tumor cells. The cell experiments in vitro proved that rGO/MSN/PDA with better biocompatibility compare to GO/MSN might offer a promising tool for improving the therapeutic effects of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy.

Antioxidant preconditioning improves therapeutic outcomes of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells through enhancing intrahepatic engraftment efficiency in a mouse liver fibrosis model

BACKGROUND

Although it has been preclinically suggested that adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell (ADSC)-based therapy could effectively treat chronic liver diseases, the hepatic engraftment of ADSCs is still extremely low, which severely limits their long-term efficacy for chronic liver diseases. This study was designed to investigate the impact of antioxidant preconditioning on hepatic engraftment efficiency and therapeutic outcomes of ADSC transplantation in liver fibrotic mice.

METHODS

Liver fibrosis model was established by using intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in the male C57BL/6 mice. Subsequently, the ADSCs with or without antioxidant pretreatment (including melatonin and reduced glutathione (GSH)) were administrated into fibrotic mice via tail vein injection. Afterwards, the ADSC transplantation efficiency was analyzed by ex vivo imaging, and the liver functions were assessed by biochemical analysis and histopathological examination, respectively. Additionally, a typical hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cell injury model was applied to mimic the cell oxidative injury to further investigate the protective effects of antioxidant preconditioning on cell migration, proliferation, and apoptosis of ADSCs.

RESULTS

Our data showed that antioxidant preconditioning could enhance the therapeutic effects of ADSCs on liver function recovery by reducing the level of AST, ALT, and TBIL, as well as the content of hepatic hydroxyproline and fibrotic area in liver tissues. Particularly, we also found that antioxidant preconditioning could enhance hepatic engraftment efficiency of ADSCs in liver fibrosis model through inhibiting oxidative injury.

CONCLUSIONS

Antioxidant preconditioning could effectively improve therapeutic effects of ADSC transplantation for liver fibrosis through enhancing intrahepatic engraftment efficiency by reducing oxidative injuries. These findings might provide a practical strategy for enhancing ADSC transplantation and therapeutic efficiency.

Tumor Microenvironment-Responsive Yolk-Shell NaCl@Virus-Inspired Tetrasulfide-Organosilica for Ion-Interference Therapy via Osmolarity Surge and Oxidative Stress Amplification

Ion-interference therapy, which utilizes ions to disturb intracellular biological processes, provides inspiration for tumor therapy. Artificially reversing osmotic pressure by transporting large amounts of physiological ions to tumor cells is a straightforward yet low-toxic strategy for ion-interference therapy. However, it is hard to achieve due to the serious limitations of single-ion delivery. Herein, we skillfully deliver NaCl nanocrystals to tumor sites and sequentially realize the explosive release of Na+/Cl- inside tumor cells by utilizing a virus-mimicking and glutathione (GSH)-responsive hollow mesoporous tetrasulfide-bridged organosilica (ssss-VHMS). Once the ssss-VHMS-wrapped NaCl nanocrystals (NaCl@ssss-VHMS) accumulate in the tumors, they would rapidly invade tumor cells via spike surface-assisted endocytosis, thus bypassing Na+/K+-ATPase transmembrane ion transporters. Afterward, the intracellular overproduced GSH of tumor cells would trigger the rapid degradation of ssss-VHMS via thiol-tetrasulfide exchange, which could not only remarkably deplete the GSH but also explosively release the Na+/Cl-, leading to the osmolarity surge accompanied by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The cell swelling, ROS storm, and GSH exhaustion of NaCl@ssss-VHMS effectively eradicated tumor cells by caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis, caspase-3-dependent apoptosis, and GPX4-dependent ferroptosis, respectively, thus synergistically inhibiting tumor growth. We believe that NaCl@ssss-VHMS would be a potential cancer therapeutic agent, and this discovery could provide a perspective for exploring synergistic ion-interference therapy.

Poly (dopamine) coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocluster for noninvasive labeling, tracking, and targeted delivery of adipose tissue-derived stem cells

Tracking and monitoring of cells in vivo after transplantation can provide crucial information for stem cell therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with contrast agents is believed to be an effective and non-invasive technique for cell tracking in living bodies. However, commercial superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) applied to label cells suffer from shortages such as potential toxicity, low labeling efficiency, and low contrast enhancing. Herein, the adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were efficiently labeled with SPIONs coated with poly (dopamine) (SPIONs cluster@PDA), without affecting their viability, proliferation, apoptosis, surface marker expression, as well as their self-renew ability and multi-differentiation potential. The labeled cells transplanted into the mice through tail intravenous injection exhibited a negative enhancement of the MRI signal in the damaged liver-induced by carbon tetrachloride, and subsequently these homed ADSCs with SPIONs cluster@PDA labeling exhibited excellent repair effects to the damaged liver. Moreover, the enhanced target-homing to tissue of interest and repair effects of SPIONs cluster@PDA-labeled ADSCs could be achieved by use of external magnetic field in the excisional skin wound mice model. Therefore, we provide a facile, safe, noninvasive and sensitive method for external magnetic field targeted delivery and MRI based tracking of transplanted cells in vivo.

An Optogenetic Controllable T Cell System for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Immunotherapy

Rationale: T-cell based immunotherapy increasingly shows broad application prospects in cancer treatment, but its performance in solid tumors is far from our expectation, partly due to the re-inhibition of infiltrated T cells by immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Here we presented an artificial synthetic optogenetic circuit to control the immune responses of engineered T cells on demand for promoting and enhancing the therapeutic efficiency of cancer immunotherapy. Methods: We designed and synthesized blue-light inducible artificial immune signaling circuit and transgene expression system. The blue light triggered transgene expression was investigated by luciferase activity assay, qPCR and ELISA. The in vitro cytotoxicity and proliferation assays were carried out on engineered T cells. The in vivo anti-tumor activity of engineered T cells was investigated on xenograft model of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Results: Blue light stimulation could spatiotemporally control gene expression of specific cytokines (IL2, IL15, and TNF-α) in both engineered 293T cells and human primary T cells. This optogenetic engineering strategy significantly enhanced the expansion ability and cytolytic activity of primary T cells upon light irradiation, and the light activated T cells showed high-efficiency of elimination against xenograft of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Conclusions: The current study represented an engineered remotely control T cell system for solid tumor treatment, and provided a potential strategy to partially overcome the intrinsic shortages of current immune cell therapy.

Converting Immune Cold into Hot by Biosynthetic Functional Vesicles to Boost Systematic Antitumor Immunity

Immune cold tumor characterized by low immunogenicity, insufficient and exhausted tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and immunosuppressive microenvironment is the main bottleneck responsible for low patient response rate of immune checkpoint blockade. Here, we developed biosynthetic functional vesicles (BFVs) to convert immune cold into hot through overcoming hypoxia, inducing immunogenic cell death, and immune checkpoint inhibition. The BFVs present PD1 and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) on the surface, whereas load catalase into their inner core. The TRAIL can specifically induce immunogenic death of cancer cells to initiate immune response, which is further synergistically strengthened by blocking PD1/PDL1 checkpoint signal through ectogenic PD1 proteins on BFVs. The catalase can produce O2 to overcome tumor hypoxia, in turn to increase infiltration of effector T cells while deplete immunosuppressive cells in tumor. The BFVs elicit robust and systematic antitumor immunity, as demonstrated by significant regression of tumor growth, prevention of abscopal tumors, and excellent inhibition of lung metastasis.

Tumor Microenvironment Cascade-Responsive Nanodrug with Self-Targeting Activation and ROS Regeneration for Synergistic Oxidation-Chemotherapy

Carrier-free nanodrug with exceptionally high drug payload has attracted increasing attentions. Herein, we construct a pH/ROS cascade-responsive nanodrug which could achieve tumor acidity-triggered targeting activation followed by circularly amplified ROS-triggered drug release via positive-feedback loop. The di-selenide-bridged prodrug synthesized from vitamin E succinate and methotrexate (MTX) self-assembles into nanoparticles (VSeM); decorating acidity-cleavable PEG onto VSeM surface temporarily shields the targeting ability of MTX to evade immune clearance and consequently elongate circulation time. Upon reaching tumor sites, acidity-triggered detachment of PEG results in targeting recovery to enhance tumor cell uptake. Afterward, the VSeM could be dissociated in response to intracellular ROS to trigger VES/MTX release; then the released VES could produce extra ROS to accelerate the collapse of VSeM. Finally, the excessive ROS produced from VES could synergize with the released MTX to efficiently suppress tumor growth via orchestrated oxidation-chemotherapy. Our study provides a novel strategy to engineer cascade-responsive nanodrug for synergistic cancer treatment.

Highly efficient loading of doxorubicin in Prussian Blue nanocages for combined photothermal/chemotherapy against hepatocellular carcinoma

Doxorubicin-loaded Prussian Blue-based nanoparticles for combined photothermal/chemotherapy against hepatocellular carcinoma.