A study on the accuracy of a new fluorescent detection method for vaginal fungi.

Background: To investigate the positive rate and clinical applicability of liquid-based fungal method for detecting of vaginal fungi. We collect the secretions from the posterior vaginal fornix and the vaginal wall of 198 patients with clinically suspected fungi vaginitis patients for study.

Methods: The vaginal fungi of vaginal discharge were detected by fluorescence method, i.

Suppress orthotopic colon cancer and its metastasis through exact targeting and highly selective drug release by a smart nanomicelle.

The treatment of metastatic cancer is a huge challenge at the moment. Highly precise targeting delivery and drug release in tumor have always been our pursuit in cancer therapy, especially to advance cancer with metastasis, for increasing the efficacy and biosafety. We established a smart nanosized micelle, formed by tocopherol succinate (TOS) conjugated hyaluronic acid (HA) using a disulfide bond linker.

Specifically Increased Paclitaxel Release in Tumor and Synergetic Therapy by a Hyaluronic Acid-Tocopherol Nanomicelle.

Recently, interest in tumor-targeted and site-specific drug release from nanoparticles as a means of drug delivery has increased. In this study, we report a smart nanosized micelle formed by hyaluronic acid (HA) conjugated with d-α-tocopherol succinate (TOS) using a disulfide bond as the linker (HA-SS-TOS, HSST). HSST micelles can specifically bind to the CD44 receptors that are overexpressed by cancer cells.

Overcoming photodynamic resistance and tumor targeting dual-therapy mediated by indocyanine green conjugated gold nanospheres.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) have captured much attention due to the great potential to cure malignant tumor. Nevertheless, photodynamic resistance of cancer cells has limited the further efficacy of PDT. Unfortunately, the resistance mechanism and efforts to overcome the resistance still have been rarely reported so far.

External Magnetic Field-Enhanced Chemo-Photothermal Combination Tumor Therapy via Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.

The development of multifunctional nanoplatforms based on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) has attracted increasing attention. MNPs especially exhibit excellent responsiveness under the guidance of an external magnetic field (MF), resulting in tumor-specific, targeted delivery. The behavior and magnetic-targeting efficiency of MNPs largely depend on their physiochemical properties, especially the particle size; however, the optimal size range may vary across the multiple bioapplications associated with multifunctional nanoparticles.

Low molecular weight polyethylenimine-conjugated gold nanospheres: a platform for selective gene therapy controlled by near-infrared light.

Aim: Whether PEI-HAuNS could promote gene transfection efficiency controlled by near-infrared (NIR) light.

Materials & Methods: This safe nonviral gene delivery system was obtained by conjugating low molecular weight (2 kDa) polyethylenimine (PEI) onto hollow gold nanospheres (PEI-HAuNS). Upon NIR laser irradiation, there was a conspicuous increase both in the in vitro and in vivo transfection achieved by the nanocomplexes.

Specific Photothermal Ablation Therapy of Endometriosis by Targeting Delivery of Gold Nanospheres.

Endometriosis is difficult to treat since the side effects of the current therapeutic method and the high recurrence rate; thus, newer and safer therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. This work investigates the enhanced permeability and retention effect of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and hollow gold nanospheres (HAuNS) in endometriosis to increase the delivery of HAuNS into lesion cells. The surface of HAuNS is successfully conjugated with a TNYL peptide that has specific affinity for the EphB4 receptor, which is a member of the Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases.

Gold Nanospheres-Stabilized Indocyanine Green as a Synchronous Photodynamic-Photothermal Therapy Platform That Inhibits Tumor Growth and Metastasis.

Both photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) are phototherapeutic approaches, which have been widely investigated for cancer therapy mediated by an external light source. Here, a nanosystem presenting the synchronous PTT and PDT effect realized through one-step near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation is reported. This system was fabricated by conjugating indocyanine green (ICG) on hollow gold nanospheres (HAuNS) using branched-polyethylenimine (PEI, MW = 10 kDa) as optimal linker, which provided a high ICG payload as well as a covering layer with suitable thickness on HAuNS to maintain ICG fluorescence and reactive oxygen species (ROS) productivity.

Smart Carbon Nanotubes with Laser-Controlled Behavior in Gene Delivery and Therapy through a Non-Digestive Trafficking Pathway.

Near-infrared (NIR) laser-controlled gene delivery presents some benefits in gene therapy, inducing enhanced gene transfection efficiency. In this study, a "photothermal transfection" agent is obtained by wrapping poly(ethylenimine)-cholesterol derivatives (PEI-Chol) around single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The PEI-Chol modified SWNTs (PCS) are effective in compressing DNA molecules and protecting them from DNaseI degradation.

Appropriate Size of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Various Bioapplications in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy.

The development of multifunctional nanoparticles has attracted increasing attention. The versatility of nanoparticles largely depends on their physiochemical properties (especially size). However, the optimized size range may be different for the bioapplications of each function associated with multifunctional nanoparticles.

Dual-core@shell-structured FeO-NaYF@TiO nanocomposites as a magnetic targeting drug carrier for bioimaging and combined chemo-sonodynamic therapy.

Multifunctional dual-core@shell (FeO-NaYF@TiO) nanocomposite (DCSNC) loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) have been developed for synergetic sonodynamic cancer chemotherapy, where titanium dioxide (TiO) is employed as a sonosensitizer for sonodynamic therapy (SDT) of the tumor in deep tissues, and NaYF is used for upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging. After being coated with hyaluronic acid (HA), the nanocomposites exhibit a time dependent cellular uptake and an excellent nucleus targeting effect in KB and MCF-7 cells. The ultrasound of HA-DCSNCs obviously enhances the apoptosis rate of MCF-7 cells.

CMCTS stabilized Fe3O4 particles with extremely low toxicity as highly efficient near-infrared photothermal agents for in vivo tumor ablation.

With the potential uses of photothermal therapy (PTT) in cancer treatment with excellent efficacy, and the growing concerns about the nanotoxicity of hyperthermia agents such as carbon nanotubes and gold-based nanomaterials, the importance of searching for a biocompatible hyperthermia agent cannot be emphasized too much. In this work, a novel promising hyperthermia agent employing magnetic Fe3O4 particles with fairly low toxicity was proposed. This hyperthermia agent showed rapid heat generation under NIR irradiation.