Effects of carbon nanotube-mediated Caspase3 gene silencing on cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac function during early acute myocardial infarction

Breaking barriers: Innovative approaches for skin delivery of RNA therapeutics

RNA therapeutics represent a rapidly expanding platform with game-changing prospects in personalized medicine. The disruptive potential of this technology will overhaul the standard of care with reference to both primary and specialty care. To date, RNA therapeutics have mostly been delivered parenterally via injection, but topical administration followed by intradermal or transdermal delivery represents an attractive method that is convenient to patients and minimally invasive. The skin barrier, particularly the lipid-rich stratum corneum, presents a significant hurdle to the uptake of large, charged oligonucleotide drugs. Therapeutic oligonucleotides need to be engineered for stability and specificity and formulated with state-of-the-art delivery strategies for efficient uptake. This review will cover various passive and active strategies deployed to enhance permeation through the stratum corneum and achieve effective delivery of RNA therapeutics to treat both local skin disorders and systemic diseases. Some strategies to achieve selectivity between local and systemic administration will also be discussed.

Advanced Nanomedicine Approaches for Myocardial Infarction Treatment

Myocardial infarction, usually caused by the rupture of atherosclerotic plaque, leads to irreversible ischemic cardiomyocyte death within hours followed by impaired cardiac performance or even heart failure. Current interventional reperfusion strategies for myocardial infarction still face high mortality with the development of heart failure. Nanomaterial-based therapy has made great progress in reducing infarct size and promoting cardiac repair after MI, although most studies are preclinical trials. This review focuses primarily on recent progress (2016-now) in the development of various nanomedicines in the treatment of myocardial infarction. We summarize these applications with the strategy of mechanism including anti-cardiomyocyte death strategy, activation of neovascularization, antioxidants strategy, immunomodulation, anti-cardiac remodeling, and cardiac repair.

Specificity of carbon nanotube accumulation and distribution in cancer cells revealed by K-means clustering and principal component analysis of Raman spectra

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) show great potential for their application as cancer therapeutic nanodrugs, but the efficiency and mechanism of their accumulation in the cell, the modulation of cell activity, and the strong dependence of the results on the type of capping molecule still hinder the transfer of SWCNTs to the clinic. In the present study, we determined the mechanism and sequence of accumulation, distribution and type discrimination of SWCNTs in glioma cells by applying K-means clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) of Raman spectra of cells exposed to SWCNTs capped with either DNA or oligonucleotides (ON). Based on the specific biochemical information uncovered by PCA and further applied to K-means, we show that the accumulation of SWCNT-DNA occurs in two phases. The first phase involves the transport of SWCNT-DNA through vesicles and its redistribution in the cytoplasm, which is reflected in two SWCNT-related clusters. The second phase begins after 18 hours of interaction between cells and SWCNT-DNA. PCA shows the appearance of two SWCNT-associated PC loadings, reflected by the addition of a new cluster of SWCNTs with a narrowed and shifted G-peak in the spectra. It is caused by the loss of DNA capping and clumping of SWCNTs and triggered by the acidic conditions in autolysosomes resulting from the fusion of transport vesicles with lysosomes. SWCNTs penetrate all cellular compartments after 42-66 hours and lead to cell death. The clumped SWCNTs are released to the outside. In contrast, SWCNT-ON is hardly accumulated in glioma cells and after 72 hours of exposure to SWCNT-ON, the accumulation of SWCNTs corresponds to the first stage without reaching the second. PCA made it possible to separate the characteristics of cellular components against the high-intensity Raman signal from nanotubes and, thus, to propose the mechanism of accumulation and metabolism of nanomaterials in living cells without the use of additional research approaches. Our results elucidate the time dependence of the accumulation of SWCNTs on the capping molecule. We expect that our results can make an important contribution to the use of these nanomaterials in the clinic.

A Review on Carbon Nanotubes Family of Nanomaterials and Their Health Field

The use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which are nanometric materials, in pathogen detection, protection of environments, food safety, and in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, as efficient drug delivery systems, is relevant for the improvement and advancement of pharmacological profiles of many molecules employed in therapeutics and in tissue bioengineering. It has contributed to the advancement of science due to the development of new tools and devices in the field of medicine. CNTs have versatile mechanical, physical, and chemical properties, in addition to their great potential for association with other materials to contribute to applications in different fields of medicine. As, for example, photothermal therapy, due to the ability to convert infrared light into heat, in tissue engineering, due to the mechanical resistance, flexibility, elasticity, and low density, in addition to many other possible applications, and as biomarkers, where the electronic and optics properties enable the transduction of their signals. This review aims to describe the state of the art and the perspectives and challenges of applying CNTs in the medical field. A systematic search was carried out in the indexes Medline, Lilacs, SciELO, and Web of Science using the descriptors "carbon nanotubes", "tissue regeneration", "electrical interface (biosensors and chemical sensors)", "photosensitizers", "photothermal", "drug delivery", "biocompatibility" and "nanotechnology", and "Prodrug design" and appropriately grouped. The literature reviewed showed great applicability, but more studies are needed regarding the biocompatibility of CNTs. The data obtained point to the need for standardized studies on the applications and interactions of these nanostructures with biological systems.

Nanocarriers for gene delivery to the cardiovascular system

Cardiovascular diseases have posed a great threat to human health. Fortunately, gene therapy holds great promise in the fight against cardiovascular disease (CVD). In gene therapy, it is necessary to select the appropriate carriers to deliver the genes to the target cells of the target organs. There are usually two types of carriers, viral carriers and non-viral carriers. However, problems such as high immunogenicity, inflammatory response, and limited loading capacity have arisen with the use of viral carriers. Therefore, scholars turned their attention to non-viral carriers. Among them, nanocarriers are highly valued because of their easy modification, targeting, and low toxicity. Despite the many successes of gene therapy in the treatment of human diseases, it is worth noting that there are still many problems to be solved in the field of gene therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we give a brief introduction to the common nanocarriers and several common cardiovascular diseases (arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarction, myocardial hypertrophy). On this basis, the application of gene delivery nanocarriers in the treatment of these diseases is introduced in detail.

Application of locally responsive design of biomaterials based on microenvironmental changes in myocardial infarction

Morbidity and mortality caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are on the rise, posing a grave threat to the health of the general population. Up to now, interventional, surgical, and pharmaceutical therapies have been the main treatment methods for AMI. Effective and timely reperfusion therapy decreases mortality, but it cannot stimulate myocardial cell regeneration or reverse ventricular remodeling. Cell therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy, anti-inflammatory therapy, and several other techniques are utilized by researchers to improve patients' prognosis. In recent years, biomaterials for AMI therapy have become a hot spot in medical care. Biomaterials furnish a microenvironment conducive to cell growth and deliver therapeutic factors that stimulate cell regeneration and differentiation. Biomaterials adapt to the complex microenvironment and respond to changes in local physical and biochemical conditions. Therefore, environmental factors and material properties must be taken into account when designing biomaterials for the treatment of AMI. This article will review the factors that need to be fully considered in the design of biological materials.

Modified Linggui Zhugan Decoction protects against ventricular remodeling through ameliorating mitochondrial damage in post-myocardial infarction rats

Introduction

Modified Linggui Zhugan Decoction (MLZD) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine prescription developed from Linggui Zhugan Decoction (LZD) that has been used for the clinical treatment of ischemic cardiovascular diseases. However, the cardioprotective mechanism of MLZD against post-myocardial infarction (MI) ventricular remodeling remains unclear.

Methods

We explored the effects of MLZD on ventricular remodeling and their underlying mechanisms, respectively, in SD rats with MI models and in H9c2 cardiomyocytes with oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) models. The cardiac structure and function of rats were measured by echocardiography, HE staining, and Masson staining. Apoptosis, inflammation, mitochondrial structure and function, and sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) expression were additionally examined.

Results

MLZD treatment significantly ameliorated cardiac structure and function, and thus reversed ventricular remodeling, compared with the control. Further research showed that MLZD ameliorated mitochondrial structural disruption, protected against mitochondrial dynamics disorder, restored impaired mitochondrial function, inhibited inflammation, and thus inhibited apoptosis. Moreover, the decreased expression level of SIRT3 was enhanced after MLZD treatment. The protective effects of MLZD on SIRT3 and mitochondria, nevertheless, were blocked by 3-TYP, a selective inhibitor of SIRT3.

Discussion

These findings together revealed that MLZD could improve the ventricular remodeling of MI rats by ameliorating mitochondrial damage and its associated apoptosis, which might exert protective effects by targeting SIRT3.

Icariside II, a Naturally Occurring SIRT3 Agonist, Protects against Myocardial Infarction through the AMPK/PGC-1α/Apoptosis Signaling Pathway

Myocardial infarction (MI) refers to the death of cardiomyocytes triggered by a lack of energy due to myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, and silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 3 (SIRT3) plays an essential role in protecting against myocardial oxidative stress and apoptosis, which are deemed to be the principal causes of MI. Icariside II (ICS II), one of the main active ingredients of Herbal Epimedii, possesses extensive pharmacological activities. However, whether ICS II can protect against MI is still unknown. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect and possible underlying mechanism of ICS II on MI both in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that pretreatment with ICS II not only dramatically mitigated MI-induced myocardial damage in mice but also alleviated H9c2 cardiomyocyte injury elicited by oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD), which were achieved by suppressing mitochondrial oxidative stress and apoptosis. Furthermore, ICS II elevated the phosphorylation level of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) expression, thereby activating SIRT3. However, these protective effects of ICS II on MI injury were largely abolished in SIRT3-deficient mice, manifesting that ICS II-mediated cardioprotective effects are, at least partly, due to the presence of SIRT3. Most interestingly, ICS II directly bound with SIRT3, as reflected by molecular docking, which indicated that SIRT3 might be a promising therapeutic target for ICS II-elicited cardioprotection in MI. In conclusion, our findings illustrate that ICS II protects against MI-induced oxidative injury and apoptosis by targeting SIRT3 through regulating the AMPK/PGC-1α pathway.

Bioelectricity-coupling patches for repairing impaired myocardium

Cardiac abnormalities, which account for extensive burdens on public health and economy, drive necessary attempts to revolutionize the traditional therapeutic system. Advances in cardiac tissue engineering have expanded a highly efficacious platform to address cardiovascular events, especially cardiac infarction. Current efforts to overcome biocompatible limitations highlight the constructs of a conductive cardiac patch to accelerate the industrial and clinical landscape that is amenable for patient-accurate therapy, regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and drug delivery. With the notion that cardiac tissue synchronically contracts triggered by electrical pulses, the cardiac patches based on conductive materials are developed and treated on the dysfunctional heart. In this review, we systematically summarize distinct conductive materials serving as the most promising alternatives (conductive nanomaterials, conductive polymers, piezoelectric polymers, and ionic electrolytes) to achieve electric signal transmission and engineered cardiac tissues. Existing applications are discussed considering how these patches containing conductive candidates are fabricated into diverse forms with major strategies. Ultimately, we try to define a new concept as a bioelectricity-coupling patch that provides a favorable cardiac micro-environment for cardiac functional activities. Underlying challenges and prospects are presented regarding industrial processing and cardiovascular treatment of conductive patch progress. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Cardiovascular Disease.

New diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for myocardial infarction via nanomaterials

Myocardial infarction is lethal to patients because of insufficient blood perfusion to vital organs. Several attempts have been made to improve its prognosis, among which nanomaterial research offers an opportunity to address this problem at the molecular level and has the potential to improve disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment significantly. Up to now, nanomaterial-based technology has played a crucial role in broad novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for cardiac repair. This review summarizes various nanomaterial applications in myocardial infarction from multiple aspects, including high precision detection, pro-angiogenesis, regulating immune homeostasis, and miRNA and stem cell delivery vehicles. We also propose promising research hotspots that have not been reported much yet, such as conjugating pro-angiogenetic elements with nanoparticles to construct drug carriers, developing nanodrugs targeting other immune cells except for macrophages in the infarcted myocardium or the remote region. Though most of those strategies are preclinical and lack clinical trials, there is tremendous potential for their further applications in the future.

Extrinsically Conductive Nanomaterials for Cardiac Tissue Engineering Applications

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the consequence of coronary artery thrombosis resulting in ischemia and necrosis of the myocardium. As a result, billions of contractile cardiomyocytes are lost with poor innate regeneration capability. This degenerated tissue is replaced by collagen-rich fibrotic scar tissue as the usual body response to quickly repair the injury. The non-conductive nature of this tissue results in arrhythmias and asynchronous beating leading to total heart failure in the long run due to ventricular remodelling. Traditional pharmacological and assistive device approaches have failed to meet the utmost need for tissue regeneration to repair MI injuries. Engineered heart tissues (EHTs) seem promising alternatives, but their non-conductive nature could not resolve problems such as arrhythmias and asynchronous beating for long term in-vivo applications. The ability of nanotechnology to mimic the nano-bioarchitecture of the extracellular matrix and the potential of cardiac tissue engineering to engineer heart-like tissues makes it a unique combination to develop conductive constructs. Biomaterials blended with conductive nanomaterials could yield conductive constructs (referred to as extrinsically conductive). These cell-laden conductive constructs can alleviate cardiac functions when implanted in-vivo. A succinct review of the most promising applications of nanomaterials in cardiac tissue engineering to repair MI injuries is presented with a focus on extrinsically conductive nanomaterials.

Non-viral Vectors in Gene Therapy: Recent Development, Challenges, and Prospects

Gene therapy has been experiencing a breakthrough in recent years, targeting various specific cell groups in numerous therapeutic areas. However, most recent clinical studies maintain the use of traditional viral vector systems, which are challenging to manufacture cost-effectively at a commercial scale. Non-viral vectors have been a fast-paced research topic in gene delivery, such as polymers, lipids, inorganic particles, and combinations of different types. Although non-viral vectors are low in their cytotoxicity, immunogenicity, and mutagenesis, attracting more and more researchers to explore the promising delivery system, they do not carry ideal characteristics and have faced critical challenges, including gene transfer efficiency, specificity, gene expression duration, and safety. This review covers the recent advancement in non-viral vectors research and formulation aspects, the challenges, and future perspectives.

Myocardial Infarction: The Protective Role of MiRNAs in Myocardium Pathology

Cardiovascular diseases have been regarded as the leading cause of death around the world, with myocardial infarction (MI) being the most severe form. MI leads to myocardial apoptosis, cardiomyocyte fibrosis, and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, ultimately leading to heart failure, and death. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) participate in the genesis and progression of myocardial pathology after MI by playing an important regulatory role. This review aims to summarize all available knowledge on the role of miRNAs in the myocardial pathological process after MI to uncover potential major target pathways. In addition, the main therapeutic methods and their latest progress are also reviewed. miRNAs can regulate the main signaling pathways as well as pathological processes. Thus, they have the potential to induce therapeutic effects. Hence, the combination of miRNAs with recently developed exosome nanocomplexes may represent the future direction of therapeutics.