Aptamer-Functionalized Binary-Drug Delivery System for Synergetic Obesity Therapy

High-content tailoring strategy to improve the multifunctionality of functional nucleic acids

Functional nucleic acids (FNAs) have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their diverse physiological functions. The understanding of their conformational recognition mechanisms has advanced through nucleic acid tailoring strategies and sequence optimization. With the development of the FNA tailoring techniques, they have become a methodological guide for nucleic acid repurposing. Therefore, it is necessary to systematize the relationship between FNA tailoring strategies and the development of nucleic acid multifunctionality. This review systematically categorizes eight types of FNA multifunctionality, and introduces the traditional FNA tailoring strategy from five aspects, including deletion, substitution, splitting, fusion and elongation. Based on the current state of FNA modification, a new generation of FNA tailoring strategy, called the high-content tailoring strategy, was unprecedentedly proposed to improve FNA multifunctionality. In addition, the multiple applications of rational tailoring-driven FNA performance enhancement in various fields were comprehensively summarized. The limitations and potential of FNA tailoring and repurposing in the future are also explored in this review. In summary, this review introduces a novel tailoring theory, systematically summarizes eight FNA performance enhancements, and provides a systematic overview of tailoring applications across all categories of FNAs. The high-content tailoring strategy is expected to expand the application scenarios of FNAs in biosensing, biomedicine and materials science, thus promoting the synergistic development of various fields.

Facile Splint-Free Circularization of ssDNA with T4 DNA Ligase by Redesigning the Linear Substrate to Form an Intramolecular Dynamic Nick

The efficient preparation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) rings, as a macromolecular construction approach with topological features, has aroused much interest due to the ssDNA rings' numerous applications in biotechnology and DNA nanotechnology. However, an extra splint is essential for enzymatic circularization, and by-products of multimers are usually present at high concentrations. Here, we proposed a simple and robust strategy using permuted precursor (linear ssDNA) for circularization by forming an intramolecular dynamic nick using a part of the linear ssDNA substrate itself as the template. After the simulation of the secondary structure for desired circular ssDNA, the linear ssDNA substrate is designed to have its ends on the duplex part (≥5 bp). By using this permuted substrate with 5'-phosphate, the splint-free circularization is simply carried out by T4 DNA ligase. Very interestingly, formation of only several base pairs (2-4) flanking the nick is enough for ligation, although they form only instantaneously under ligation conditions. More significantly, the 5-bp intramolecular duplex part commonly exists in genomes or functional DNA, demonstrating the high generality of our approach. Our findings are also helpful for understanding the mechanism of enzymatic DNA ligation from the viewpoint of substrate binding.

Therapeutic potentials of allicin in cardiovascular disease: advances and future directions

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the predominant cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Against this backdrop, finding effective drugs for the pharmacological treatment of CVD has become one of the most urgent and challenging issues in medical research. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the oldest plants and is world-renowned for its dietary and medicinal values. Allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate) is one of the primary natural active ingredients in garlic, which has been proven to have powerful cardioprotective effects and mediate various pathological processes related to CVD, such as inflammatory factor secretion, myocardial cell apoptosis, oxidative stress, and more. Therefore, allicin holds a promising application prospect in the treatment of CVD. This review summarized the biological functions of allicin and its potential mechanisms in CVD, including antioxidation, anti-inflammation, and anti-apoptosis effects. Reckoning with these, we delved into recent studies on allicin's cardioprotective effects concerning various CVDs, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, and cardiotoxicity. Further, considering the tremendous advancement in nanomedicine, nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems show promise in addressing limitations of allicin's clinical applications, including improving its solubility, stability, and bioavailability. Through this review, we hope to provide a reference for further research on allicin in cardioprotection and drug development.

Construction Strategy of Functionalized Liposomes and Multidimensional Application

Liposomes are widely used in the biological field due to their good biocompatibility and surface modification properties. With the development of biochemistry and material science, many liposome structures and their surface functional components have been modified and optimized one by one, pushing the liposome platform from traditional to functionalized and intelligent, which will better satisfy and expand the needs of scientific research. However, a main limiting factor effecting the efficiency of liposomes is the complicated environmental conditions in the living body. Currently, in order to overcome the above problem, functionalized liposomes have become a very promising strategy. In this paper, binding strategies of liposomes with four main functional elements, namely nucleic acids, antibodies, peptides, and stimuli-responsive motif have been summarized for the first time. In addition, based on the construction characteristics of functionalized liposomes, such as drug-carrying, targeting, long-circulating, and stimulus-responsive properties, a comprehensive overview of their features and respective research progress are presented. Finally, the paper critically presents the limitations of these functionalized liposomes in the current applications and also prospectively suggests the future development directions, aiming to accelerate realization of their industrialization.

Development of Recombinant High-Density Lipoprotein Platform with Innate Adipose Tissue-Targeting Abilities for Regional Fat Reduction

As an escalating public health issue, obesity and overweight conditions are predispositions to various diseases and are exacerbated by concurrent chronic inflammation. Nonetheless, extant antiobesity pharmaceuticals (quercetin, capsaicin, catecholamine, etc.) manifest constrained efficacy alongside systemic toxic effects. Effective therapeutic approaches that selectively target adipose tissue, thereby enhancing local energy expenditure, surmounting the limitations of prevailing antiobesity modalities are highly expected. In this context, we developed a temperature-sensitive hydrogel loaded with recombinant high-density lipoprotein (rHDL) to achieve targeted delivery of resveratrol, an adipose browning activator, to adipose tissue. rHDL exhibits self-regulation on fat cell metabolism and demonstrates natural targeting toward scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI), which is highly expressed by fat cells, thereby achieving a synergistic effect for the treatment of obesity. Additionally, the dispersion of rHDL@Res in temperature-sensitive hydrogels, coupled with the regulation of their degradation and drug release rate, facilitated sustainable drug release at local adipose tissues over an extended period. Following 24 days' treatment regimen, obese mice exhibited improved metabolic status, resulting in a reduction of 68.2% of their inguinal white adipose tissue (ingWAT). Specifically, rHDL@Res/gel facilitated the conversion of fatty acids to phospholipids (PA, PC), expediting fat mobilization, mitigating triglyceride accumulation, and therefore facilitating adipose tissue reduction. Furthermore, rHDL@Res/gel demonstrated efficacy in attenuating obesity-induced inflammation and fostering angiogenesis in ingWAT. Collectively, this engineered local fat reduction platform demonstrated heightened effectiveness and safety through simultaneously targeting adipocytes, promoting WAT browning, regulating lipid metabolism, and controlling inflammation, showing promise for adipose-targeted therapy.

Recent Advances in Biomedical Nanotechnology Related to Natural Products

Natural product processing via nanotechnology has opened the door to innovative and significant applications in medical fields. On one hand, plants-derived bioactive ingredients such as phenols, pentacyclic triterpenes and flavonoids exhibit significant pharmacological activities, on another hand, most of them are hydrophobic in nature, posing challenges to their use. To overcome this issue, nanoencapsulation technology is employed to encapsulate these lipophilic compounds and enhance their bioavailability. In this regard, various nano-sized vehicles, including degradable functional polymer organic compounds, mesoporous silicon or carbon materials, offer superior stability and retention for bioactive ingredients against decomposition and loss during delivery as well as sustained release. On the other hand, some naturally occurring polymers, lipids and even microorganisms, which constitute a significant portion of Earth's biomass, show promising potential for biomedical applications as well. Through nano-processing, these natural products can be developed into nano-delivery systems with desirable characteristics for encapsulation a wide range of bioactive components and therapeutic agents, facilitating in vivo drug transport. Beyond the presentation of the most recent nanoencapsulation and nano-processing advancements with formulations mainly based on natural products, this review emphasizes the importance of their physicochemical properties at the nanoscale and their potential in disease therapy.

Bioavailability, Health Benefits, and Delivery Systems of Allicin: A Review

Garlic has been used worldwide as a spice due to its pungent taste and flavor-enhancing properties. As a main biologically active component of the freshly crushed garlic extracts, allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate) is converted from alliin by alliinase upon damaging the garlic clove, which has been reported to have many potent beneficial biological functions. In this work, allicin formation, stability, bioavailability, and metabolism process are examined and summarized. The biological functions of allicin and potential underlying mechanisms are reviewed and discussed, including antioxidation, anti-inflammation, antidiabetic, cardioprotective, antineurodegenerative, antitumor, and antiobesity effects. Novel delivery systems of allicin with enhanced stability, encapsulation efficiency, and bioavailability are also evaluated, such as nanoparticles, gels, liposomes, and micelles. This study could provide a comprehensive understanding of the physiochemical properties and health benefits of allicin, with great potential for further applications in the food and nutraceutical industries.

Systematic Analysis of RNA Expression Profiles in Different Ischemic Cortices in MCAO Mice

The prognosis of ischemic stroke patients is highly associated with the collateral circulation. And the competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) generated from different compensatory supply regions may also involve in the regulation of ischemic tissues prognosis. In this study, we found the apoptosis progress of ischemic neurons in posterior circulation-supplied regions (close to PCA, cortex2) was much slower than that in anterior circulation-supplied territory (close to ACA, cortex1) in MCAO-3-h mice. Using the RNA sequencing and functional enrichment analysis, we analyzed the difference between RNA expression profile in cortex1 and cortex2 and the related biological processes. The results indicated that the differential expressed ceRNAs in cortex1 were involved in cell process under acute injury, while the differential expressed ceRNAs in cortex2 was more likely to participate in long-term injury and repair process. Besides, by establishing the miRNA-ceRNA interaction network we further sorted out two specifically distributed miRNAs, namely mmu-miR446i-3p (in cortex1) and mmu-miR3473d (in cortex2). And the specifically increased mmu-miR3473d in cortex2 mainly involved the angiogenesis and cell proliferation after ischemic stroke, which may be the critical reason for the longer therapeutic time window in cortex2. In conclusion, the present study reported the specific changes of ceRNAs in distinct compensatory regions potentially involved in the evolution of cerebral ischemic tissues and the unbalance prognosis after stroke. It provided more evidence for the collateral compensatory effects on patients' prognosis and carried out the new targets for the ischemic stroke therapy.

One-Pot Controllable Assembly of a Baicalin-Condensed Aptamer Nanodrug for Synergistic Anti-Obesity

The rapid, simple and low-cost preparation of DNA micro-nano-architectures remain challenging in biosensing and therapy. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-driven DNA micro-nano-flowers are used to construct a nanosized baicalin-compressed-aptamer-nanodrug (bcaND) via one-pot assembly for targeted and synergistic anti-obesity. In the design, the tailored Adipo-8 (tAdi-8) overhang in the PCR amplicon displays anti-obesity targeting activity, while the baicalin loaded in the bcaND by embedding the amplicon plays a three-fold role as a lipid-lowering factor, bcaND size compressor, and uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1)-raised thermogenic activator. The ingenious bcaND represents an advanced multifunctional nanomaterial capable of adjusting the morphology at an optimal 400/1 molar ratio of Mg²⁺ to phosphate groups, compressing the size from 2.699 µm to 214.76 nm using 1 mg/mL baicalin at a temperature of 70 °C, an effective payload with amplicons of up to 98.94%, and a maximum baicalin load of 86.21 g/g DNA. Responsive release in acidic conditions (pH 5.0) occurs within 72 h, accelerating thermogenesis via UCP1 up-regulation by 2.5-fold in 3T3-L1-preadipocytes and 13.7-fold in the white-adipose-tissue (WAT) of mice, targeting adipocytes and visceral white adipose tissue. It plays an efficient synergistic role in obesity therapy in vitro and in vivo, providing a new direction for DNA self-assembly nanotechnology.

DNA Framework-Programmed Ligand Positioning to Modulate the Targeting Performance

Effective targeting of nanomedicine is still an intricacy since unsatisfactory clinical trial feedback demonstrated their inadequate concentration at the desired area. However, the regulatory effect of ligand-modification patterns on the targeting effect has not been surveyed yet. Based on the superior spatial addressability of DNA frame structures, herein DNA tetrahedrons were used as templates for site-specific modification of targeting ligands. In this work, nanovectors with homogeneous ligand-modification patterns, including various valence of ligands and the precisely controlled distance between ligands at the nanoscale, were established for the first time. In vitro and in vivo targeting performance studies found that merely relying on the augment of the ligand quantity exhibited a confined promotion effect on the targeting efficiency. Notably, the space distance between ligands displayed a more important role in reforming the targeting effect, and the largest ligand distance (approximately 156.55 Å) pattern exhibited an optimal targeting effect and prominently cytostatic activity toward tumor cells. Generally, the survey of ligand-modification patterns on nanovectors provided a valid guidance to direct the optimization of nanomedicine.

Biomaterial-Based Therapeutic Strategies for Obesity and Its Comorbidities

Obesity is a global public health issue that results in many health complications or comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver. Pharmacotherapy alone or combined with either lifestyle alteration or surgery represents the main modality to combat obesity and its complications. However, most anti-obesity drugs are limited by their bioavailability, target specificity, and potential toxic effects. Only a handful of drugs, including orlistat, liraglutide, and semaglutide, are currently approved for clinical obesity treatment. Thus, there is an urgent need for alternative treatment strategies. Based on the new revelation of the pathogenesis of obesity and the efforts toward the multi-disciplinary integration of materials, chemistry, biotechnology, and pharmacy, some emerging obesity treatment strategies are gradually entering the field of preclinical and clinical research. Herein, by analyzing the current situation and challenges of various new obesity treatment strategies such as small-molecule drugs, natural drugs, and biotechnology drugs, the advanced functions and prospects of biomaterials in obesity-targeted delivery, as well as their biological activities and applications in obesity treatment, are systematically summarized. Finally, based on the systematic analysis of biomaterial-based obesity therapeutic strategies, the future prospects and challenges in this field are proposed.

Traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients-based selenium nanoparticles regulate antioxidant selenoproteins for spinal cord injury treatment

Background

As Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) drugs, Huangqi and Danshen are always applied in combination for spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment based on the compatibility theory of TCM. Astragalus Polysaccharidesis (APS) and Tanshinone IIA (TSIIA) are the main active ingredients of Huangqi and Danshen, and they both possess neuroprotective effects through antioxidant activities. However, low solubility and poor bioavailability have greatly limited their application. In recent years, selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have drawn enormous attention as potential delivery carrier for antioxidant drugs.

Results

In this study, TCM active ingredients-based SeNPs surface decorated with APS and loaded with TSIIA (TSIIA@SeNPs-APS) were successfully synthesized under the guidance of the compatibility theory of TCM. Such design improved the bioavailability of APS and TSIIA with the benefits of high stability, efficient delivery and highly therapeutic efficacy for SCI treatment illustrated by an improvement of the antioxidant protective effects of APS and TSIIA. The in vivo experiments indicated that TSIIA@SeNPs-APS displayed high efficiency of cellular uptake and long retention time in PC12 cells. Furthermore, TSIIA@SeNPs-APS had a satisfactory protective effect against oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells by inhibiting excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, so as to alleviate mitochondrial dysfunction to reduce cell apoptosis and S phase cell cycle arrest, and finally promote cell survival. The in vivo experiments indicated that TSIIA@SeNPs-APS can protect spinal cord neurons of SCI rats by enhancing GSH-Px activity and decreasing MDA content, which was possibly via the metabolism of TSIIA@SeNPs-APS to SeCys₂ and regulating antioxidant selenoproteins to resist oxidative stress-induced damage.

Conclusions

TSIIA@SeNPs-APS exhibited promising therapeutic effects in the anti-oxidation therapy of SCI, which paved the way for developing the synergistic effect of TCM active ingredients by nanotechnology to improve the efficacy as well as establishing novel treatments for oxidative stress-related diseases associated with Se metabolism and selenoproteins regulation.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-022-01490-x.

Cell-specific aptamers as potential drugs in therapeutic applications: A review of current progress

Cell-specific aptamers are a promising emerging player in the field of disease therapy. This paper reviews the multidimensional research progress made in terms of their classification, modification, and application. Based on the target location of cell-specific aptamers, it is defined and classified cell-specific aptamers into three groups including aptamers for cell surface markers, aptamers for intracellular components, and aptamers for extracellular components. Moreover, the modification methods of aptamers to achieve improved stability and affinity are concluded. In addition, recent advances in the application of cell-specific aptamers are discussed, mainly focusing on the increasing research attraction of cell state improving helpers and cell recruitment mediators in the improvement of cellular microenvironments to achieve successful disease therapy. This review also highlights 11 types of clinical aptamer drugs. Finally, the challenges and future directions of potential clinical applications are presented. In summary, we believe that cell-specific aptamers are promising drugs in disease therapy.

Smart Nucleic Acid Hydrogels with High Stimuli-Responsiveness in Biomedical Fields

Due to their hydrophilic, biocompatible and adjustability properties, hydrogels have received a lot of attention. The introduction of nucleic acids has made hydrogels highly stimuli-responsiveness and they have become a new generation of intelligent biomaterials. In this review, the development and utilization of smart nucleic acid hydrogels (NAHs) with a high stimulation responsiveness were elaborated systematically. We discussed NAHs with a high stimuli-responsiveness, including pure NAHs and hybrid NAHs. In particular, four stimulation factors of NAHs were described in details, including pH, ions, small molecular substances, and temperature. The research progress of nucleic acid hydrogels in biomedical applications in recent years is comprehensively discussed. Finally, the opportunities and challenges facing the future development of nucleic acid hydrogels are also discussed.