Abiotic Mimic of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Inhibitor against Advanced Metastatic Cancer

Morusin-Cu(II)-indocyanine green nanoassembly ignites mitochondrial dysfunction for chemo-photothermal tumor therapy

Nanoscale drug delivery systems derived from natural bioactive materials accelerate the innovation and evolution of cancer treatment modalities. Morusin (Mor) is a prenylated flavonoid compound with high cancer chemoprevention activity, however, the poor water solubility, low active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) loading content, and instability compromise its bioavailability and therapeutic effectiveness. Herein, a full-API carrier-free nanoparticle is developed based on the self-assembly of indocyanine green (ICG), copper ions (Cu2+) and Mor, termed as IMCNs, via coordination-driven and π-π stacking for synergistic tumor therapy. The IMCNs exhibits a desirable loading content of Mor (58.7 %) and pH/glutathione (GSH)-responsive motif. Moreover, the photothermal stability and photo-heat conversion efficiency (42.8 %) of IMCNs are improved after coordination with Cu2+ and help to achieve photothermal therapy. Afterward, the released Cu2+ depletes intracellular overexpressed GSH and mediates Fenton-like reactions, and further synergizes with ICG at high temperatures to expand oxidative damage. Furthermore, the released Mor elicits cytoplasmic vacuolation, expedites mitochondrial dysfunction, and exerts chemo-photothermal therapy after being combined with ICG to suppress the migration of residual live tumor cells. In vivo experiments demonstrate that IMCNs under laser irradiation could excellently inhibit tumor growth (89.6 %) through the multi-modal therapeutic performance of self-enhanced chemotherapy/coordinated-drugs/ photothermal therapy (PTT), presenting a great potential for cancer therapy.

Synthetic Polymer Nanoparticles as an Abiotic Artificial Inhibitor of Tyrosinase

An innovative methodology is presented for synthesizing synthetic polymer nanoparticles (TINPs) as potent tyrosinase inhibitors. This inhibition strategy combines the integration of two distinct functionalities, phenol, and phenylboronic acid, within the TINPs structure. The phenyl group mimics the natural monophenol substrate, forming a strong coordination with the catalytic copper ion, significantly inhibiting tyrosinase activity. Additionally, phenylboronic acid interacts with catechol, another tyrosinase substrate, further reducing enzyme efficiency. The shared benzene ring in phenyl and phenylboronic acid enhances binding to tyrosinase's hydrophobic pocket near its copper active site, contributing to potent inhibition. TINPs exhibit exceptional performance, boasting an impressive IC50 value of 3.5×10-8 m and an inhibition constant of 9.8×10-9 m. Validation of the approach is unequivocally demonstrated through the successful inhibition of tyrosinase activity and melanin production, substantiated in both in vitro and in vivo scenarios. The mechanism of TINP inhibition is elucidated through circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This study introduces a versatile design approach for developing abiotic polymer-based enzyme inhibitors, expanding possibilities in enzyme inhibition research.

Rapid Screening and Synthesis of Abiotic Synthetic Receptors for Selective Bacterial Recognition

The major challenges that impede the preparation of abiotic synthetic receptors designed to feature selective bacterial recognition properties are the complexity, nonrobustness, and environmental adaptability of live microbes. Here, we describe a new rapid screening strategy to determine the optimal polymer formulation on 96-well plates and then produce abiotic synthetic receptors by imprinting the surface marker lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria. The resulting LPS-imprinted nanoparticles reveal remarkable affinity toward LPS with an equilibrium dissociation constant (K_D) value of 10^-12 M and can distinguish and selectively recognize specific bacteria in whole blood at concentrations down to 10 cells/mL. The incorporation of gold nanorods into imprinted nanoparticles allows selective microbial inactivation based on photothermal treatment. We have also demonstrated that the imprinted nanoparticles with high affinity for bacteria could induce bacteria clustering, drive the expression of quorum-sensing-controlled signal molecules, and eventually enhance the productivity of the cell factory.

Genetic Interference of FGFR3 Impedes Invasion of Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Cells by Alleviating RAS/MAPK Signal Activity

Upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) is a less common disease in Western countries but has a high level of prevalence in Asian populations. Compared to bladder cancer, unique etiologic and genomic factors are involved in UTUC. Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) up-regulation has been proposed as a promising target for bladder cancer therapy. In this study, we aimed to profile the expression of FGFR3 in Asian and Caucasian UTUC tissues and to evaluate the in vitro therapeutic efficacy of small interference RNA (siRNA)-mediated FGFR3 silencing in UTUC treatment. The FGFR3 expression levels in renal pelvis tissues and microarray sections from Asian and Caucasian patients with UTUC, respectively, were measured via immunohistochemistry. The BFTC-909 and UM-UC-14 UTUC cell lines were used to examine the effects of FGFR3 silencing on proliferation, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker expression, and signaling machinery. FGFR3 expression increased as the TNM stage increased in both Asian and Caucasian UTUC tumors, and no statistical difference was identified between the two groups. In vitro studies demonstrated that FGFR3 siRNA delivery significantly inhibited proliferation and migration and suppressed the expression of EMT markers and transcription factors in UTUC cells. Mechanistically, FGFR3 silencing alleviated the constitutive expression of RAS and the phosphorylation of MAPK signaling mediators, including ERK1/2 and JNK1/2. FGFR3 silencing elicited an apoptosis-inducing effect similar to that of FGFR inhibition. Conclusion: siRNA-targeted FGFR3 expression may impede the expansion and invasion of UTUC cells by alleviating the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway. The genetic interference of FGFR3 expression via siRNA in UTUC cells may constitute a useful therapeutic strategy.

Greenificated Molecularly Imprinted Materials for Advanced Applications

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) produces artificial binding sites with precise complementarity to substrates and thereby is capable of exquisite molecular recognition. Over five decades of evolution, it is predicted that the resulting host imprinted materials will overtake natural receptors for research and application purposes, but in practice, this has not yet been realized due to the unsustainability of their life cycles (i.e., precursors, creation, use, recycling, and end-of-life). To address this issue, greenificated molecularly imprinted polymers (GMIPs) are a new class of plastic antibodies that have approached sustainability by following one or more of the greenification principles, while also demonstrating more far-reaching applications compared to their natural counterparts. In this review, the most recent developments in the delicate design and advanced application of GMIPs in six fast-growing and emerging fields are surveyed, namely biomedicine/therapy, catalysis, energy harvesting/storage, nanoparticle detection, gas sensing/adsorption, and environmental remediation. In addition, their distinct features are highlighted, and the optimal means to utilize these features for attaining incredibly far-reaching applications are discussed. Importantly, the obscure technical challenges of the greenificated MIT are revealed, and conceivable solutions are offered. Lastly, several perspectives on future research directions are proposed.

Binding of Proteins to Copolymers of Varying Charges and Hydrophobicity: A Molecular Mechanism and Computational Strategies

Because of their ability to selectively bind to a target protein, copolymer nanoparticles (NPs) containing a selected combination of hydrophobic and charged groups have been frequently reported as potent antibody-like analogues. However, due to the intrinsic disorder of the copolymer NP in terms of its random monomer sequence and the cross-linked copolymer matrix, the copolymer NP is indeed strikingly different from a well-folded protein antibody and the complexation between the copolymer NP and a target protein is likely not due to a lock-key type of interaction but possibly due to a novel and unexplored molecular mechanism. Here, we study a key biomarker protein, vimentin, interacting with a set of random copolymer chains using implicit-water explicit-ion coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations along with biolayer interferometry (BLI) analysis. Due to the charge and hydrophobicity anisotropy on the vimentin dimer (VD) surface, a set of bound copolymers are found inhomogenously adsorbed on the VD, with energetic heterogeneity for different binding sites and cooperative effect in the adsorption. Increasing the charge or hydrophobicity of the copolymer may have different consequences on the adsorption. In this study, we found that with more copolymer charges, the protein coverage increases for copolymers of low hydrophobicity and decreases of high hydrophobicity, which is explained by the distribution and size of various functional patches on the VD in loading those copolymers. Employing a coverage-dependent Langmuir model, we propose a simulation protocol to address the full profile of the copolymer binding free energy through the fit to the simulated binding isotherm. The obtained results correlate well with those from the BLI experiment, indicating the significance of this method for the rational design of the copolymer NP with engineered protein binding affinity.

Fighting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria : Promising Strategies Orchestrated by Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are difficult and sometimes impossible to treat, making them one of the major public health problems of our time. We highlight how one unique material , molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), can orchestrate several strategies to fight this major societal issue. MIPs are tailor-made biomimetic supramolecular receptors that recognize and bind target molecules with a high affinity and selectivity, comparable to those of antibodies. While research on MIPs for combatting cancer has been constantly flourishing, comprehensive work on their involvement in combatting resistant superbugs has been rather scarce. This review aims at filling this gap. We will describe what are the causes of bacterial resistance and at which level MIPs can deploy their weapons. MIPs' targets can be biofilm constituents, quorum sensing messengers, bacterial surface proteins and antibiotic-deactivating enzymes, among others. We will conclude on the current challenges and future developments in this field.