Modular coupling MOF nanozyme with natural enzyme on hollow fiber membrane for rapid and reusable detection of H2O2 and glucose

A novel strategy based on gradient porous hollow fiber membrane (GPF) is proposed for the modular assembly of enzyme-nanozyme cascade systems. The porous structure of GPF provided sufficient specific surface area, while the gradient structure effectively minimized the leaching of enzymes and nanozymes. To enhance stability, we prepared and immobilized metal-organic framework (MOF) nanozymes, resulting in the fabrication of GPF-MOF with excellent stability and reusability for colorimetric H2O2 detection. To improve specificity and expand the detection range, micro-crosslinked natural enzymes were modularly assembled, using glucose oxidase as the model enzyme. The assembled system, GPF-mGOx@MOF, achieved a low detection limit of 0.009 mM and a linear range of 0.2 to 11 mM. The sensor retained 87.2% and 80.7% of initial activity after being stored for 49 days and 9 recycles, respectively. Additionally, the reliability of the biosensor was validated through glucose determination of human blood and urine samples, yielding comparable results to a commercial glucose meter.

High-resolution liquid level sensor utilizing a microwave photonics interrogated multicore fiber interferometer

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a high-resolution, high-sensitivity liquid level sensor based on a multicore fiber (MCF) Michelson interferometer (MI), where the sensing fiber is securely affixed to a cantilever beam, such that liquid level variations will change the beam's curvature, meanwhile leading to a substantial phase difference between the two interfering arms of the MI, and the sensor is interrogated using a microwave photonics filter (MPF) system, which can provide greatly enhanced measurement resolution compared to the traditional optical wavelength demodulation methods. The angular position of the MCF is precisely calibrated to ensure optimal sensitivity of the MI sensor. As a result, within a measurement range of up to ±14 cm, the proposed liquid level sensor achieves a sensitivity of 10.35 MHz/cm and an impressive resolution of 0.04835 cm. The proposed sensor has unique advantages of high sensitivity, superior resolution, long-term stability, etc.

C-176 loaded Ce DNase nanoparticles synergistically inhibit the cGAS-STING pathway for ischemic stroke treatment

The neuroinflammatory responses following ischemic stroke cause irreversible nerve cell death. Cell free-double strand DNA (dsDNA) segments from ischemic tissue debris are engulfed by microglia and sensed by their cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), which triggers robust activation of the innate immune stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway and initiate the chronic inflammatory cascade. The decomposition of immunogenic dsDNA and inhibition of the innate immune STING are synergistic immunologic targets for ameliorating neuroinflammation. To combine the anti-inflammatory strategies of STING inhibition and dsDNA elimination, we constructed a DNase-mimetic artificial enzyme loaded with C-176. Nanoparticles are self-assembled by amphiphilic copolymers (P[CL₃₅-b-(OEGMA_20.7-co-NTAMA_14.3)]), C-176, and Ce⁴⁺ which is coordinated with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) group to form corresponding catalytic structures. Our work developed a new nano-drug that balances the cGAS-STING axis to enhance the therapeutic impact of stroke by combining the DNase-memetic Ce⁴⁺ enzyme and STING inhibitor synergistically. In conclusion, it is a novel approach to modulating central nervus system (CNS) inflammatory signaling pathways and improving stroke prognosis.

Evaluation of QSAR models for predicting mutagenicity: outcome of the Second Ames/QSAR international challenge project

Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models are powerful in silico tools for predicting the mutagenicity of unstable compounds, impurities and metabolites that are difficult to examine using the Ames test. Ideally, Ames/QSAR models for regulatory use should demonstrate high sensitivity, low false-negative rate and wide coverage of chemical space. To promote superior model development, the Division of Genetics and Mutagenesis, National Institute of Health Sciences, Japan (DGM/NIHS), conducted the Second Ames/QSAR International Challenge Project (2020-2022) as a successor to the First Project (2014-2017), with 21 teams from 11 countries participating. The DGM/NIHS provided a curated training dataset of approximately 12,000 chemicals and a trial dataset of approximately 1,600 chemicals, and each participating team predicted the Ames mutagenicity of each trial chemical using various Ames/QSAR models. The DGM/NIHS then provided the Ames test results for trial chemicals to assist in model improvement. Although overall model performance on the Second Project was not superior to that on the First, models from the eight teams participating in both projects achieved higher sensitivity than models from teams participating in only the Second Project. Thus, these evaluations have facilitated the development of QSAR models.

Record-High Ultrasound-Sensitive NO Nanogenerators for Cascade Tumor Pyroptosis and Immunotherapy

Pyroptosis is a pro-inflammatory cell death that is associated with innate immunity promotion against tumors. Excess nitric oxide (NO)-triggered nitric stress has potential to induce pyroptosis, but the precise delivery of NO is challenging. Ultrasound (US)-responsive NO production has dominant priority due to its deep penetration, low side effects, noninvasion, and local activation manner. In this work, US-sensitive NO donor N-methyl-N-nitrosoaniline (NMA) with thermodynamically favorable structure is selected and loaded into hyaluronic acid (HA)-modified hollow manganese dioxide nanoparticles (hMnO2 NPs) to fabricate hMnO2 @HA@NMA (MHN) nanogenerators (NGs). The obtained NGs have a record-high NO generation efficiency under US irradiation and can release Mn2+ after targeting the tumor sites. Later on, cascade tumor pyroptosis and cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING)-based immunotherapy is achieved and tumor growth is effectively inhibited.

Stimuli-responsive nanozymes for biomedical applications

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, nanozymes are regarded as excellent substitutes for natural enzymes due to their high activity, convenient preparation, low cost, robust stability and other unique properties of nanomaterials. In biomedical applications, the always-on activity of nanozymes is undesirable as it poses a potential threat to normal tissues. Stimuli-responsive nanozymes were designed to manipulate the activities of nanozymes. This review introduces two types of stimuli-responsive nanozymes. One is smart responsive nanozymes with stimuli-switchable activities, further divided into those with on/off switchable activity and one/another switchable activity. Another is nanozymes exhibiting responsive release from specific carriers. Additionally, the biomedical applications of stimuli-responsive nanozymes in cancer therapy, antibacterial therapy, biosensing and anti-inflammatory therapy are briefly reviewed. Finally, we address the challenges and prospects in this field.

Distributed twist sensing using frequency-scanning φ-OTDR in a spun fiber

In this paper, a novel distributed twist sensor based on frequency-scanning phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (φ-OTDR) in a spun fiber is proposed and demonstrated. Owing to the unique helical structure of the stress rods in the spun fiber, fiber twist gives rise to the variation of the effective refractive index of the transmitting light, which can be quantitatively retrieved through frequency shift using frequency-scanning φ-OTDR. The feasibility of distributed twist sensing has been verified by both simulation and experiment. For proof of concept, distributed twist sensing over a 136 m spun fiber with a 1 m spatial resolution is demonstrated, and the measured frequency shift shows a quadratic fitting dependence on the twist angle. In addition, the responses of both clockwise and counterclockwise twist directions have also been explored and the experiment result indicates that the twist direction can be discriminated since the frequency shift directions are opposite in the correlation spectrum. The proposed twist sensor possesses some outstanding advantages, including high sensitivity, distributed twist measurement and twist direction recognition capability, etc., which is very promising for specific applications in industry, e.g., structural health monitoring, bionic robots, etc.

A nanomedicine based on stoichiometric coordination of camptothecin and organoplatinum (II) for synergistic antitumor therapy

Precise combination therapy, involving multiple chemotherapeutics with pharmacologically synergistic antitumor effects, is a promising approach to address the challenge of monotherapy with insufficient activity towards their targets of interest. We employed Pt←pyridine coordination-driven assembly to construct a stoichiometric coordination complex of camptothecin and organoplatinum (II) (Pt-CPT). The Pt-CPT complex exhibited a remarkable synergistic effect toward several tumor cell lines, which is equal to the optimal synergistic effect of (PEt3)2Pt(OTf)2 (Pt) and CPT mixture at various ratios. An amphiphilic polymer with H2O2-responsiveness and glutathione (GSH)-depleting ability (PO) was used to encapsulate Pt-CPT complex to enable the nanomedicine (Pt-CPT@PO) with prolonged blood circulation and elevated tumor accumulation. The Pt-CPT@PO nanomedicine exhibited remarkable synergistic antitumor efficacy and antimetastatic effect on a mice orthotopic breast tumor model. This work demonstrated the potential of stoichiometric coordination-driven assembly of organic therapeutics with metal-based drugs in developing advanced nanomedicine with optimal synergistic antitumor activity. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: : In this study, for the first time, we employed Pt←pyridine coordination-driven assembly to construct a stoichiometric coordination complex of camptothecin and organoplatinum (II) (Pt-CPT), with an optimal synergistic effect at various ratios. Then it was encapsulated into an amphiphilic polymer with H2O2-responsiveness and glutathione (GSH)-depleting ability (PO) to enable the nanomedicine (Pt-CPT@PO) with prolonged blood circulation and elevated tumor accumulation. The Pt-CPT@PO nanomedicine exhibited remarkable synergistic antitumor efficacy and antimetastatic effect on a mice orthotopic breast tumor model.

Robotic versus laparoscopic left colectomy with complete mesocolic excision for left-sided colon cancer: a multicentre study with propensity score matching analysis

BACKGROUND

Robotic surgery for right-sided colon and rectal cancer has rapidly increased; however, there is limited evidence in the literature of advantages of robotic left colectomy (RLC) for left-sided colon cancer. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of RLC versus laparoscopic left colectomy (LLC) with complete mesocolic excision (CME) for left-sided colon cancer.

METHODS

Patients who had RLC or LLC with CME for left-sided colon cancer at 5 hospitals in China between January 2014 and April 2022 were included. A one-to-one propensity score matched analysis was performed to decrease confounding. The primary outcome was postoperative complications occurring within 30 days of surgery. Secondary outcomes were disease-free survival, overall survival and the number of harvested lymph nodes.

RESULTS

A total of 292 patients (187 males; median age 61.0 [20.0-85.0] years) were eligible for this study, and propensity score matching yielded 102 patients in each group. The clinical-pathological characteristics were well-matched between groups. The two groups did not differ in estimated blood loss, conversion to open rate, time to first flatus, reoperation rate, or postoperative length of hospital stay (p > 0.05). RLC was associated with a longer operation time (192.9 ± 53.2 vs. 168.9 ± 52.8 minutes, p=0.001). The incidence of postoperative complications did not differ between the RLC and LLC groups (18.6% vs. 17.6%, p = 0.856). The total number of lymph nodes harvested in the RLC group was higher than that in the LLC group (15.7 ± 8.3 vs. 12.1 ± 5.9, p< 0.001). There were no significant differences in 3-year and 5-year overall survival or 3-year and 5-year disease-free survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to laparoscopic surgery, RLC with CME for left-sided colon cancer was found to be associated with higher numbers of lymph nodes harvested and similar postoperative complications and long-term survival outcomes.

Angular dependence of spin-flop transition in triangular lattice antiferromagnet Cu2(OH)3Br

We report angular dependence of spin-flop transition in triangular lattice antiferromagnet Cu₂(OH)₃Br by angle-dependent magnetization and ESR measurements. The results show that the antiferromagnetic easy magnetization axis is the diagonal direction (θ= 45°) of theac^*plane, i.e., the orientation of Cu1 spins based on the magnetic structure (2020Phys. Rev. Lett.125037204), whereas the spin-flop axis is thebaxis. A phenomenological model is proposed to describe the angle-dependent spin-flop transitions. Based on this model, Cu1 spins are sensitive to external magnetic field, while Cu2 spins are robust against to the field, showing partial decoupling. The model is expected to be used in other uniaxial antiferromagnets with a more general easy axis and complex spin-flop transitions.

Combined transabdominal-transanal surgical approach for iatrogenic rectovaginal fistula: two case reports

Rectovaginal fistula (RVF) is a type of anastomotic leakage that may occur after low anterior resection for rectal cancer. The repair of RVF can be challenging because of the scar tissue stenosis and incomplete obstruction. Two patients presented in our department with vaginal faecal discharge almost 7 months after the radical resection of rectal cancer. On vaginal examination, titanium nails related to the rectal surgery were found in the vaginal wall. The patients were diagnosed with RVF. Considering that RVF positions in the patients were high and might adhere to the pelvic tissue, a combined transabdominal-transanal resection and vaginal repair surgery was performed. About 3 months after surgery, both patients underwent colonic closure surgery, with consequent good recovery. A combined transabdominal-transanal approach may provide distinct advantages in surgical repair of difficult cases of RVF.

Reactive oxygen species-scavenging hollow MnO2 nanozymes as carriers to deliver budesonide for synergistic inflammatory bowel disease therapy

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is related to excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and high expression of proinflammatory cytokines. An enzymatically active drug carrier that can simultaneously scavenge excessive ROS and deliver anti-inflammatory drugs to inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines may lead to improved therapeutic effects. Herein, nanoparticles (NPs) that can target activated macrophages, remove ROS and release anti-inflammatory drugs are fabricated by loading budesonide (Bud) into dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-coated hollow mesoporous manganese dioxide (hMnO₂) NPs. This strategy can treat IBD better through the synergistic effect of the ROS-scavenging hMnO₂ carriers and anti-inflammatory drug by blocking the amplification effect of inflammation. In addition, compared with free Bud, the drug delivery system can reduce side effects of Bud and improve its treatment outcome at the same dosage. Therefore, this study provides a new method for the design of highly effective synergistic anti-inflammatory nanomedicines.

Hypoxia-alleviated nanoplatform to enhance chemosensitivity and sonodynamic effect in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a severe disease that threatens human health. The hypoxic tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer leads to resistance to conventional therapies and helps to maintain tumor malignancy. First-line drugs present the disadvantage of systemic side effects, and a synergistic method with sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has been established as an emerging approach. In this study, we produced hypoxia-alleviating nanoplatforms (denoted as PZGI NPs) with zeolitic imidazolate frameworks-90 (ZIF-90) nanoparticles nucleating on platinum (Pt) nanoparticles and co-loaded with gemcitabine and IR780. This platform can catalyze peroxide to oxygen with loaded Pt nanoparticles to alleviate tumor hypoxia. Moreover, the loaded drugs could be quickly released in the lysosome microenvironment, which has a low pH value and high ATP level microenvironment in the mitochondria. This strategy could enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy. Further, under ultrasound exposure, it could transfer the produced oxygen into a highly cytotoxic singlet oxygen for the augmented sonodynamic effect. Therefore, this multifunctional hypoxia-alleviating nanoplatform offers a promising strategy for chemo-sonodynamic therapy against pancreatic cancer.

Combined transabdominal-transanal surgical approach for iatrogenic rectovaginal fistula: two case reports

Rectovaginal fistula (RVF) is a type of anastomotic leakage that may occur after low anterior resection for rectal cancer. The repair of RVF can be challenging because of the scar tissue stenosis and incomplete obstruction. Two patients presented in our department with vaginal faecal discharge almost 7 months after the radical resection of rectal cancer. On vaginal examination, titanium nails related to the rectal surgery were found in the vaginal wall. The patients were diagnosed with RVF. Considering that RVF positions in the patients were high and might adhere to the pelvic tissue, a combined transabdominal-transanal resection and vaginal repair surgery was performed. About 3 months after surgery, both patients underwent colonic closure surgery, with consequent good recovery. A combined transabdominal-transanal approach may provide distinct advantages in surgical repair of difficult cases of RVF.

Broad-Spectrum Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging and Activated Macrophage-Targeting Microparticles Ameliorate Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a refractory chronic inflammatory disease. An excessively high level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the colon is one of the characteristics and pathogenic factors of IBD. Therefore, scavenging excessive ROS is a feasible method to treat IBD. Because ROS include many types of species, scavenging a single kind of ROS is not enough to reduce the ROS level and cure IBD effectively. Herein, broad-spectrum ROS scavenging and activated macrophage-targeting microparticles (MPs) are successfully fabricated by coprecipitation of catalase (CAT) and bovine serum albumin into a MnCO₃ template followed by deposition of polydopamine (PDA), assembly of targeting molecules on the surface, and finally removal of MnCO₃. The CAT content of MPs is about 34.1%. The obtained MPs can effectively scavenge the broad spectrum of ROS and retain 88% of the radical scavenging activity even after the treatment of simulated gastric fluid. The surface-modified dextran sulfate endows MPs with the targeting ability toward activated macrophages, achieving a better therapeutic effect. The MPs with components mostly derived from natural substances exhibit good biocompatibility and can show excellent ROS scavenging ability in cell experiments. In animal experiments, oral administration of a proper dosage of MPs can substantially mitigate colonic inflammation, as evidenced by disease activity index scores reduced by ∼40%, reduced body weight loss, and the production of typical proinflammatory cytokines in the inflammatory colon. This kind of MP can also be utilized for the treatment of other inflammatory diseases.

Erythrocyte Membrane-Camouflaged PCN-224 Nanocarriers Integrated with Platinum Nanoparticles and Glucose Oxidase for Enhanced Tumor Sonodynamic Therapy and Synergistic Starvation Therapy

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a promising method for tumor treatment, but self-quenching property, low loading efficiency of sonosensitizers, and hypoxia tumor microenvironment (TME) hinder the efficiency of SDT. Herein, an erythrocyte membrane (EM)-camouflaged metal-organic framework (MOF) of PCN-224 nanoparticles (NPs) integrated with platinum (Pt) NPs as well as glucose oxidase (GOx) has been developed to overcome these limits. Porphyrin-based PCN-224 NPs are synthesized as a sonosensitizer with a large amount of well-organized porphyrin molecules while simultaneously acting as the nanocarriers (NCs) for Pt NPs and GOx. When the NCs are internalized by tumor cells, Pt NPs on their surface are able to utilize endogenous hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) to produce oxygen for the relief of tumor hypoxia, thus enhancing the SDT effect. After EM cloaking, the longer circulation time can improve biocompatibility in vivo and enhance accumulation in tumor tissue. Loaded GOx is beneficial to local glucose consumption and can realize the tumor starvation therapy effect. Consequently, these multifunctional NCs show amplified synergistic therapeutic effects of tumor SDT and starvation therapy, which can efficiently inhibit the tumor growth.

Synergistic Effects of Acoustics-based Therapy and Immunotherapy in Cancer Treatment

Cancer is an intractable disease and has ability to escape immunological recognition. Cancer immunotherapy to enhance the autogenous immune response to cancer tissue is reported to be the most promising method for cancer treatment. After the release of damage-associated molecular patterns, dendritic cells come mature and then recruit activated T cells to induce immune response. To trigger the release of cancer associated antigens, cancer acoustics-based therapy has various prominent advantages and has been reported in various research. In this review, we classified the acoustics-based therapy into sonopyrolysis-, sonoporation-, and sonoluminescence-based therapy. Then, detailed mechanisms of these therapies are discussed to show the status of cancer immunotherapy induced by acoustics-based therapy in quo. Finally, we express some future prospects in this research field and make some predictions of its development direction

LncRNA CASC11 promotes the development of lung cancer through targeting microRNA-302/CDK1 axis

OBJECTIVE

To elucidate whether long non-coding RNA cancer susceptibility candidate 11 (lncRNA CASC11) could participate in the development of lung cancer through targeting microRNA-302/CDK1 axis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Expression levels of CASC11, microRNA-302 and CDK1 in lung cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). CASC11 expression in lung cancer cell lines was also determined. The regulatory effect of CASC11 on proliferative potential of lung cancer cells was accessed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assay. The binding condition between microRNA-302 to CASC11 and CDK1 was evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. CDK1 expression in lung cancer cells with CASC11 or microRNA-302 knockdown was detected by Western blot. The proliferation of lung cancer cells was determined after transfection of microRNA-302 inhibitor or co-transfection of microRNA-302 inhibitor and si-CASC11.

RESULTS

CASC11 and CDK1 were highly expressed, whereas microRNA-302 was lowly expressed in lung cancer tissues. Identically, CASC11 was highly expressed in lung cancer cell lines (A547, H157 and SPC-A-1) than controls as well. CASC11 knockdown attenuated proliferative capacity of lung cancer cells. The opposite trend was observed by microRNA-302 knockdown. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay verified that CASC11 could bind to microRNA-302 and microRNA-302 could bind to CDK1. CDK1 expression in lung cancer cells was negatively regulated by CASC11. MicroRNA-302 knockdown reversed the inhibitory effect of CASC11 on CDK1 expression. The proliferation of lung cancer cells co-transfected with microRNA-302 inhibitor and si-CASC11 decreased compared with those transfected with microRNA-302 inhibitor.

CONCLUSIONS

High expression of CASC11 promotes the development of lung cancer through upregulating CDK1 expression by binding to microRNA-302.

Finely tuned Prussian blue-based nanoparticles and their application in disease treatment

The Prussian blue (PB) based nanostructure is a mixed-valence coordination network with excellent biosafety, remarkable photothermal effect and multiple enzyme-mimicking behaviours. Compared with other nanomaterials, PB-based nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit several unparalleled advantages in biomedical applications. This review begins with the chemical composition and physicochemical properties of PB-based NPs. The tuning strategies of PB-based NPs and their biomedical properties are systemically demonstrated. Afterwards, the biomedical applications of PB-based NPs are comprehensively recounted, mainly focusing on treatment of tumors, bacterial infection and inflammatory diseases. Finally, the challenges and future prospects of PB-based NPs and their application in disease treatment are discussed.

Value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the diagnosis of breast US-BI-RADS 3 and 4 lesions with calcifications

AIM

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System for Ultrasound (US-BI-RADS) 3 and 4 lesions with calcifications.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective study of 168 breast lesions with calcifications detected on both mammography and conventional ultrasonography (US) in 152 patients were categorised as US-BI-RADS 3-4 at US between June 2009 and June 2018. CEUS scores were obtained based on a CEUS five-point scoring system. The combination of US-BI-RADS and CEUS scores created the Rerated BI-RADS (referred to as CEUS-BI-RADS). All results were compared with the histological findings. The diagnostic performances of US and CEUS-BI-RADS were compared.

RESULTS

The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of US were 81.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 71.6%, 92%), 85% (95% CI: 78.4%, 91.5%), and 83.9% (95% CI: 78.4%, 89.5%), respectively, while those for CEUS-BI-RADS were 98.2% (95% CI: 94.7%, 100%), 90.3% (95% CI: 84.8%, 95.7%), and 92.9% (95% CI: 89%, 96.8%), respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy values of CEUS-BI-RADS greatly improved compared with those of US (p=0.003 and p=0.004, respectively). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for US and CEUS-BI-RADS were 0.888 (95% CI: 0.840, 0.936) and 0.963 (95% CI: 0.936, 0.989), respectively. The diagnostic efficacy of CEUS-BI-RADS was significantly higher than that of US alone (p=0.004).

CONCLUSION

CEUS-BI-RADS significantly improves the diagnostic accuracy for breast US-BI-RADS 3 and 4 lesions with calcifications compared with US.

Encapsulation of Methylene Blue in Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-90 Nanoparticles to Protect Its Photodynamic Activity

Methylene blue (MB) is widely used as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy applications. However, it is easily reduced by reductases in biological environments, which hampers its further applications. Here, we developed a one-pot method to synthesize MB-encapsulated and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)-modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-90 (ZIF-90) nanoparticles (MB@ZIF-90/PVP NPs). The NPs show intact crystalline structure with improved colloidal dispersity and stability both in water and in the medium for cell culture. The size of the enzymes is much larger than the pore size of ZIF-9; thus, the access of reductive enzymes to encapsulated MB is prohibited, resulting in the protection of MB's photodynamic activity. Furthermore, cell experiments confirm that MB@ZIF-90/PVP NPs have lower dark cytotoxity than equivalent free MB but can efficiently induce photodynamic damage to tumor cells even in the presence of reductive enzymes upon light irradiation.

Long noncoding RNA CRNDE promotes proliferation, migration and invasion in prostate cancer through miR-101/Rap1A

Prostate cancer (Pca) is the second frequent malignancy in men. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play essential roles in the progression of cancers, including Pca. LncRNA colorectal neoplasia differentially expressed (CRNDE) has been found to affect tumorigenesis in many cancers. However, the exact role and mechanism of CRNDE in Pca remain poorly understood. 64 Pca patients were recruited in this study. PC3 and 22RV1 cells were used in vitro experiments. The expressions of CRNDE, microRNA-101 (miR-101), and Ras-related protein 1A (Rap1A) were detected in vivo and in vitro by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot, respectively. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were investigated through cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry, and Transwell assays, respectively. The interaction between miR-101 and CRNDE or Rap1A was explored by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay. High expression of CRNDE was shown in Pca tissues and cells and predicted poor outcomes of patients. Overexpression of CRNDE promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion but decreased apoptosis in Pca cells, while its knockdown showed an opposite effect. CRNDE was a decoy of miR-101 and its effect on Pca progression was reversed by miR-101. Rap1A was identified as a target of miR-101 and it attenuated the effect of miR-101 on Pca development. Moreover, the Rap1A protein level was positively regulated by CRNDE, which was weakened by miR-101. CRNDE contributed to cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by regulating the miR-101/Rap1A axis in Pca, providing a novel strategy for Pca treatment.

Possible magnetic correlation above the ferromagnetic phase transition temperature in Cr2Ge2Te6

Cr₂Ge₂Te₆ has recently emerged as a new two-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor (2DFMS) that is promising for spintronic applications. The origin of the ferromagnetism is a debatable point. In this study, ac/dc susceptibility and electronic spin resonance (ESR) measurements are performed to explore the origin of the ferromagnetism in Cr₂Ge₂Te₆. Through the ac susceptibility scaling, the critical temperature T_C = 62.84 K and δ = 5.24 from the critical isotherm, γ + β = 1.78 from the temperature dependence of the crossover line and γ = 1.43 from the temperature dependence of the susceptibility along the same line. Unlike Cr₂Si₂Te₆ whose magnetism can be well described by the 2D-Ising model, Cr₂Ge₂Te₆ cannot be simply described by a single theory model. Meanwhile, the origin of the abnormal critical behavior has been explored and it may be related to the presence of the possible magnetic correlation around the high temperature T* ∼ 160 K, which is confirmed by different probing measurements. The magnetic correlation at high temperature accompanied by the strong magnetic-crystalline anisotropy at low temperature plays an important role in the origin of the abnormal ferromagnetism in Cr₂Ge₂Te₆. Our results may supply a typical reference to investigate the abnormal ferromagnetism of 2DFMSs.

Realization of linear-mapping between polarization Poincaré sphere and orbital Poincaré sphere based on stress birefringence in the few-mode fiber

Based on the spatial profiles and polarization states evolution process of the first-order modes resulted from stress-induced birefringence in the few-mode fiber (FMF), we analyze the mapping relationship between the input polarization states represented on polarization PS and the output spatial profiles represented on the orbital PS of the FMF with respect to the magnitude and orientation of birefringence. When the input mode lobe orientation and the phase differences between the four eigenmodes of FMF induced by the stress birefringence satisfy a given condition, the mapping relationship between the input polarization PS and the output orbital PS is linear. Thus, the arbitrary points on the orbit PS can be generated at the output of stressed FMF by controlling the polarization state of the input modes. Then we experimentally verify that, an electrical single-mode polarization controller, a mode converter for converting fundamental mode to higher-order mode, a polarization controller mounting a coil of two-mode fiber and a polarizer can be employed to generate arbitrary first-order spatial modes on the orbital PS by controlling the input single-mode polarization states. The positions on the orbital PS of the generated first-order modes, which are obtained by calculating the three normalized Stokes parameters of output modes, agree well with the simulation ones. The correlation coefficients between the theoretical mode profiles and the experimental ones are higher than 80%. Since the spatial profile evolutions depend on the variations of the input polarization states, a potential advantage of this method is high-speed switching among desired first-order modes by using the commercial devices switching the state of polarization.

Kernel mapping for mitigating nonlinear impairments in optical short-reach communications

Nonlinear impairments induced by the opto-electronic components are one of the fundamental performance-limiting factors in high-speed optical short-reach communications, significantly hindering capacity improvement. This paper proposes to employ a kernel mapping function to map the signals in a Hilbert space to its inner product in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space, which has been successfully demonstrated to mitigate nonlinear impairments in optical short-reach communication systems. The operation principle is derived. An intensity modulation/direct detection system with 1.5-µm vertical cavity surface emitting laser and 10-km 7-core fiber achieving 540.68-Gbps (net-rate 505.31-Gbps) has been carried out. The experimental results reveal that the kernel mapping based schemes are able to realize comparable transmission performance as the Volterra filtering scheme even with a high order.

Long-period fiber gratings inscribed in few-mode fibers for discriminative determination

We successfully fabricated the long-period fiber gratings in few-mode fibers (FMF-LPFGs) with micro-tapered method, which are different from the traditional LPFGs that only couple the fundamental mode to different cladding modes to obtain multiple resonant dips. There are two resonant dips on the transmission spectrum of the FMF-LPFGs, which are induced by the coupling between the fundamental mode and the low-order cladding mode LP₀₃ (dip 1) and the coupling between the fundamental mode and the high-order core mode LP₁₁ (dip 2). Due to the difference of the coupling mechanism involved in two dips, the shift of resonant wavelengths has different characteristics with the variation of the external environment parameter. The corresponding wavelength of dip 1 exhibits a red shift as the temperature increased. But for dip 2, the resonant wavelength has a blue shift. In addition, the two dips have different temperature and strain sensitivities. Therefore, discriminative determination of temperature and strain is realized by establishing the cross coefficient matrix, and the relative measurement error is less than 3%. What's more, we theoretically analyzed the reason why the two resonant wavelengths shift toward opposite direction with the increase of temperature and toward the same direction with the increase of strain.

Kidney-targeted rhein-loaded liponanoparticles for diabetic nephropathy therapy via size control and enhancement of renal cellular uptake

The optimization of nanoparticle size for passing through glomerular filtration membrane, inefficient renal cellular uptake and rapid urinary excretion of nanoparticles are the major obstacles for renal disease treatment via a nanoparticle delivery system. Herein, we propose a concept of a two-step nanoparticular cascade of size control and enhancement of renal cellular uptake to overcome the renal delivery obstacles. Methods: We prepared kidney-targeted rhein (RH)-loaded liponanoparticles (KLPPR) with a yolk-shell structure composed by polycaprolactone-polyethyleneimine (PCL-PEI)-based cores and kidney targeting peptide (KTP)-modified lipid layers. The KLPPR size within the range of 30 ~ 80 nm allowed KLPPR distribute into kidney by passing through the glomerular filtration membrane and the KTP (sequence: CSAVPLC) decoration promoted the renal cellular uptake and endocytosis via a non-lysosomal pathway. Results: The KLPPR had an average size of 59.5±6.2 nm and exhibited high RH loading, sustained release, good stability and biocompatibility, rapid cellular uptake in HK-2 cells. In addition, intravenous administration of KLPPR resulted in excellent kidney-targeted distribution and low urinary excretion in mice with streptozocin-induced diabetic nephropathy (DN), lowered the parameters of urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and kidney index, as well as facilitated the recovery of renal physiological function in improving the levels of urinary creatinine and the creatinine clearance rate by suppressing secretion and accumulation of fibronectin and TGF-β1. Conclusion: Definitely, KLPPR were able to target the diseased kidney and improve the therapeutic effect of RH on DN by exploiting the two-step nanoparticular cascade of size control and enhancement of cellular uptake. This study offers a promising strategy for renal diseases treatment using liponanoparticle delivery system.

Supramolecular peptide constructed by molecular Lego allowing programmable self-assembly for photodynamic therapy

Peptide self-assemblies with multiple nanostructures have great potentials in functional biomaterials, and yet the tedious and costly covalent peptide modification and the lack of facile controllability on self-assembly morphology retard the peptide-related exploration. Here we report a simple approach to fabricate a supramolecular peptide that shows programmable self-assembly with multiple morphologies and application in photodynamic therapy. Pillar[5]arene-based host-guest recognition is used to construct a supramolecular peptide, which simplify the peptide modification and promote the controllability of the self-assembly behavior. Due to the ERGDS sequences on the exterior surfaces and hydrophobic cores of self-assemblies, the nanoparticles formed from the supramolecular peptide are suitable vehicles to encapsulate a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that the inherent targeting capability and supramolecular strategy greatly boost its photodynamic therapeutic efficiency. This supramolecular peptide holds promising potentials in precise cancer therapy and perspectives for the peptide modification.

Femtosecond laser enabled selective micro-holes drilling on the multicore-fiber facet for displacement sensor application

We experimentally demonstrate a femtosecond laser enabled selective micro-holes drilling technique on the multicore-fiber facet. The precise position of individual cores at the seven-core fiber facet is initially locked by the image processing algorithm, and then six micro-holes are successfully fabricated after the pulse energy of femtosecond laser is optimized. Meanwhile, the use of fabricated seven-core fiber for the application of reflective intensity-modulated fiber optics displacement sensor (RIM-FODS) is comprehensively investigated. By using the beam propagation method (BPM), we theoretically investigate the effect of micro-hole depth on the RIM-FODS performance, in terms of both dead zone and measurement range. We identify that, with the increase of micro-hole depth, the dead zone range can be substantially reduced at the expense of measurement range reduction. However, multiple micro-holes with a successive depth difference can overcome such problem. When the micro-holes with depths of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 μm are fabricated on the seven-core fiber facet, and the dead zone range can be substantially reduced from 150 μm to 20 μm, together with an extension of measurement range from 250 μm to 400 μm.

Construction of Microreactors for Cascade Reaction and Their Potential Applications as Antibacterial Agents

Enzymatic cascade reactions in confined microenvironments play important roles in cellular chemical transformation. They also have important biotechnological and therapeutic applications. Here, enzymatic cascade microreactors (MRs) coupling glucose oxidase (GOx) and hemoglobin (Hb) (GOx-Hb MRs) were successfully fabricated by co-precipitation of GOx and Hb into a MnCO₃ template, followed by the assembly of a multilayer film on a template surface, slight cross-linking, and final removal of MnCO₃. In the presence of glucose with blood-relevant concentration, the GOx-Hb MRs exhibited a higher cascade reaction activity under mild acidic conditions than that under neutral conditions at physiological temperature. The GOx-Hb MRs effectively consumed glucose to generate HO^· at pH = 5, which significantly inhibited bacterial growth and biofilm formation. This kind of enzymatic cascade microreactors might be useful for applications in biomedical fields.

Performance enhancement of free-space optical communications under atmospheric turbulence using modes diversity coherent receipt

This paper numerically and experimentally investigates the performance of free-space optical receiver using modes diversity coherent receipt under moderate-to-strong turbulence. By utilizing a three-mode photonic lantern with digital maximum ratio combining, a 40 Gbps QPSK optical signal is received. The turbulence strength is measured by the ratio of beam diameter to atmospheric coherence length, D/r0. The larger the D/r0, the stronger the turbulence is, and vice versa. Compared with conventional single mode fiber based receipt, the required transmitted power can reduce by 4.6 dB and 4 dB at 10% interruption probability under turbulence strength D/r0 = 8 and 16. The required transmitted power at bit error ratio of 2.2 × 10^-2 can relax by 4.2 dB and 5 dB under turbulence strength D/r0 = 8 and 16.

All-fiber orbital angular momentum mode multiplexer based on a mode-selective photonic lantern and a mode polarization controller

We demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, an all-fiber orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexer that multiplexes both OAM modes of -l and +l up to the second order by using a mode-selective photonic lantern and a mode polarization controller. The experimentally obtained mode profiles are close to the theoretical results, and the mode purities are higher than 89% for all the OAM modes at 1550 nm. The losses for all mode generations are less than 3.8 dB in the C-band.

Link optimized few-mode fiber Raman distributed temperature sensors

A link optimized few-mode fiber-based Raman distributed temperature sensor is proposed to enhance the temperature resolution of the long-distance sensing system. Comprehensive theoretical analysis and experimental validation in contrast with the traditional single-mode fiber-based sensing link have been conducted to reveal the benefits provided by the optimization scheme. The temperature resolutions are about 3.8°C for the proposed fiber link at 20 km distance, leading to about 6.2°C improvement compared with the single-mode fiber (SMF) link. The total measurement is completed within 80 s over 20 km with a spatial resolution of 3 m.

Design of highly mode group selective photonic lanterns with geometric optimization

Highly mode group selective photonic lanterns (PLs) are desired for mode-division multiplexing transmission systems. Usually, mode selectivity is achieved by using input fibers with different core diameters or refractive indices to break degeneracy between mode groups. We demonstrate that mode group selectivity can be greatly improved by optimizing core geometry of PLs. For three-mode PLs with optimized core geometry, based on beam propagation method (BPM) simulation results, mode selectivity is improved from 23.8 dB to 43.9 dB for LP₀₁ mode, and mode selectivity of LP₁₁ mode is improved from 26.8 dB to 45.5 dB. The reason is the optimized core geometry can significantly slow down the changing of mode profile along the taper of the PL; thus adiabatic tapering requirement can be greatly alleviated. It can also be observed that the simulation results by the BPM are in good agreement with calculation of coupled-mode theory.

Long-range Raman distributed temperature sensor with high spatial and temperature resolution using graded-index few-mode fiber

We designed and fabricated a graded-index few-mode fiber (GI-FMF) with large effective mode area and low intermodal dispersion for Raman distributed temperature sensor (RDTS) to simultaneously achieve high spatial and temperature resolution over long distance. In experiment, we measured the spatial and temperature resolution of the RDTS using different types of fibers under different launch conditions based on a commercially available RDTS system. By using the GI-FMF under the overfilled launch condition, we achieved a 1 °C temperature resolution with a spatial resolution of 1.13 m at the distance of 25 km. The spatial resolution using the standard MMF degraded to 2.58 m with only a 0.3 °C higher temperature resolution in comparison. As a result, the GI-FMF under the few-mode operation condition can provide a desirable temperature resolution comparable with that of the MMF with a negligible degradation on spatial resolution. Moreover, the RDTS using the GI-FMF under the quasi-single mode operation condition achieved a temperature resolution of 4.7 °C at the distance of 25 km with a 2.2 °C improvement and no degradation on spatial resolution compared with that using the standard SMF.

Few-mode multicore fiber enabled integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometers for temperature and strain discrimination

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated paralleled Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) in few-mode multicore fiber (FM-MCF) for temperature and strain discriminative sensing. A section of FM-MCF is sandwich-spliced between two single-mode multicore fiber (SM-MCF) with a rotational offset. The arbitrarily controlled angular misalignment generates intentional intermodal interferences in outer cores of the FM-MCF thus multiple MZI structures are implemented. Experimental results show that the temperature sensitivities are 105.8 pm/°C and 223.6 pm/°C for two outer cores, strain sensitivity is 13.96 pm/με for the outer core 1 and 11.7 pm/με for the outer core 2, respectively. Due to the low condition number of the cross coefficient matrix dependent on the temperature and strain response indexes, the temperature-strain cross sensitivity can be efficiently eliminated. In addition, the structure's fabrication process is simple, cost effective, and repeatable. The sensing structure can be applied to a wide range of measurements and is expected to develop potentials by building a higher dimensional matrix with more cores.

Review article: therapeutic bile acids and the risks for hepatotoxicity

BACKGROUND

Bile acids play important roles in cholesterol metabolism and signal through farnesoid X receptor and G protein-coupled receptors. Given their importance in liver biology, bile acid therapy enables therapeutic applications beyond the treatment of cholestatic liver disease. However, predicting hepatotoxicity of bile acids in humans is obscured due to inconsistent extrapolations of animal data to humans.

AIM

To review the evidence that could explain discordant bile acids hepatotoxicity observed in humans and animals.

METHOD

Literature search was conducted in PubMed using keywords "bile acid," "transporter," "hepatotoxicity," "clinical study," "animal study," "species difference," "mechanism," "genetic disorder." Relevant articles were selected for review.

RESULTS

Clinically significant hepatotoxicity was reported in response to certain bile acids, namely chenodeoxycholic acid, which was given a boxed warning for potential hepatotoxicity. The chemical structure, specifically the number and orientation of hydroxyl groups, significantly affects their hydrophobicity, an important factor in bile acid toxicity. Experimental studies show that hydrophobic bile acids can lead to liver injury through various mechanisms, such as death receptor signalling, mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation. Although animal studies play a central role in investigating bile acid safety, there are considerable differences in bile acid composition, metabolism and hepatobiliary disposition across species. This does not allow appropriate safety inference, especially for predicting hepatotoxicity in humans. Exploring evidences stemming from inborn errors, genetic models of disease and toxicology studies further improves an understanding of bile acid hepatotoxicity.

CONCLUSION

Species differences should be considered in the development of bile acid related therapeutics. Although the mechanism of bile acid hepatotoxicity is still not fully understood, continued mechanistic studies will deepen our understanding.