An NIR-II Two-Photon Excitable AIE Photosensitizer for Precise and Efficient Treatment of Orthotopic Small-Size Glioblastoma.

The existence of residual small-size tumors after surgery is a major factor contributing to the high recurrence rate of glioblastoma (GBM). Conventional adjuvant therapeutics involving both chemotherapy and radiotherapy usually exhibit unsatisfactory efficacy and severe side effects. Recently, two-photon photodynamic therapy (TP-PDT), especially excited by the second near-infrared (NIR-II) light, offers an unprecedented opportunity to address this challenge, attributed to its combinational merits of PDT and TP excitation.

Fiber Optic-Mediated Type I Photodynamic Therapy of Brain Glioblastoma Based on an Aggregation-Induced Emission Photosensitizer.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most lethal human malignancies. The current standard-of-care is highly invasive with strong toxic side effects, leading to poor prognosis and high mortality. As a safe and effective clinical approach, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a suitable option for GBM.

Interstitial Optical Fiber-Mediated Multimodal Phototheranostics Based on an Aggregation-Induced NIR-II Emission Luminogen for Orthotopic Breast Cancer Treatment.

One-for-all phototheranostics based on a single molecule is recognized as a convenient approach for cancer treatment, whose efficacy relies on precise lesion localization through multimodal imaging, coupled with the efficient exertion of phototherapy. To unleash the full potential of phototheranostics, advancement in both phototheranostic agents and light delivery methods is essential. Herein, an integrated strategy combining a versatile molecule featuring aggregation-induced emission, namely tBuTTBD, with a modified optical fiber to realize comprehensive tumor diagnosis and "inside-out" irradiation in the orthotopic breast tumor, is proposed for the first time.

Recent progress in stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles for targeted delivery of functional nanoparticles.

Stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles have emerged as a revolutionary approach for enhancing the in vivo stability, biocompatibility, and targeted delivery of functional nanoparticles (FNPs) in biomedicine. This article comprehensively reviews the preparation methods of these polymer micelles, detailing the innovative strategies employed to introduce stimulus responsiveness and surface modifications essential for precise targeting. We delve into the breakthroughs in utilizing these micelles to selectively deliver various FNPs including magnetic nanoparticles, upconversion nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, and quantum dots, highlighting their transformative impact in the biomedical realm.

High-performance pyrite nano-catalyst driven photothermal/chemodynamic synergistic therapy for Osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive bone tumor with strong invasiveness, rapid metastasis, and dreadful mortality. Chemotherapy is a commonly used approach for OS treatment but is limited by the development of drug resistance and long-term adverse effects. To date, OS still lacks the curative treatment.

Conjugated Oligoelectrolyte with DNA Affinity for Enhanced Nuclear Imaging and Precise DNA Quantification.

Precise DNA quantification and nuclear imaging are pivotal for clinical testing, pathological diagnosis, and drug development. The detection and localization of mitochondrial DNA serve as crucial indicators of cellular health. We introduce a novel conjugated oligoelectrolyte (COE) molecule, COE-S3, featuring a planar backbone composed of three benzene rings and terminal side chains.

Recent Advances in Engineering Carriers for siRNA Delivery.

RNA interference (RNAi) technology has been a promising treatment strategy for combating intractable diseases. However, the applications of RNAi in clinical are hampered by extracellular and intracellular barriers. To overcome these barriers, various siRNA delivery systems have been developed in the past two decades.

NIR-II Excitable Water-Dispersible Two-Dimensional Conjugated Polymer Nanoplates for Two-Photon Luminescence Bioimaging.

While two-dimensional conjugated polymers (2DCPs) have shown great promise in two-photon luminescence (TPL) bioimaging, 2DCP-based TPL imaging agents that can be excited in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) have rarely been reported so far. Herein, we report two 2DCPs including and , with octupolar olefin-linked structures for NIR-II-excited bioimaging. The 2DCPs are customized with the fully conjugated donor-acceptor (D-A) linkage and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active building blocks, leading to good two-photon absorption into the NIR-II window with a 2PACS of ∼64.

Visualization of photothermal therapy by semiconducting polymer dots mediated photoacoustic detection in NIR II.

Visualization of photothermal therapy mediated by photothermal transduction agents (PTAs) is important to promote individual treatment of patients with low side effects. Photoacoustic detection has emerged as a promising noninvasive method for the visualization of PTAs distribution but still has limitations in temperature measurement, including poor measurement accuracy and low tissue penetration depth. In this study, we developed biocompatible semiconducting polymer dots (SPD) for in situ coupling of photothermal and photoacoustic detection in the near-infrared II window.

Building a Better Silver Bullet: Current Status and Perspectives of Non-Viral Vectors for mRNA Vaccines.

In recent years, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have exhibited great potential to replace conventional vaccines owing to their low risk of insertional mutagenesis, safety and efficacy, rapid and scalable production, and low-cost manufacturing. With the great achievements of chemical modification and sequence optimization methods of mRNA, the key to the success of mRNA vaccines is strictly dependent on safe and efficient gene vectors. Among various delivery platforms, non-viral mRNA vectors could represent perfect choices for future clinical translation regarding their safety, sufficient packaging capability, low immunogenicity, and versatility.

Overcome the "Buckets Effect": Integration of AIEgens into Proteins for Fluorescence-Enhanced Two-Photon Imaging.

Luminogens with aggregation-induced emission characteristics (AIEgens) are considered good options for two-photon (2P) probes, owing to their flexibility of design, heavy-metal-free composition, and resistance to photobleaching. However, the design principles for large 2P absorption cross-section (δ) generally require high coplanarity, strong donor-acceptor (D-A) interactions, and long conjugation, which can severely weaken the brightness of AIEgens at the aggregated state and undermine their potential in 2P fluorescence imaging (2PFI). Exploration of a feasible approach to overcome the "Buckets Effect" of AIEgen-based 2P probes is thus a fascinating yet challenging task.

Multi-color two-photon scanning structured illumination microscopy imaging of live cells.

Multi-color two-photon microscopy imaging of live cells is essential in biology. However, the limited diffraction resolution of conventional two-photon microscopy restricts its application to subcellular organelle imaging. Recently, we developed a laser scanning two-photon non-linear structured illumination microscope (2P-NLSIM), whose resolution improved three-fold.

Molecular Insights into the Improved Bioactivity of Interferon Conjugates Attached to a Helical Polyglutamate.

Attaching polymers, especially polyethylene glycol (PEG), to protein drugs has emerged as a successful strategy to prolong circulation time in the bloodstream. The hypothesis is that the flexible chain wobbles on the protein's surface, thus resisting potential nonspecific adsorption. Such a theoretical framework may be challenged when a helical polyglutamate is used to conjugate with target proteins.

Machine-learning screening of luminogens with aggregation-induced emission characteristics for fluorescence imaging.

Due to the excellent biocompatible physicochemical performance, luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIEgens) characteristics have played a significant role in biomedical fluorescence imaging recently. However, screening AIEgens for special applications takes a lot of time and efforts by using conventional chemical synthesis route. Fortunately, artificial intelligence techniques that could predict the properties of AIEgen molecules would be helpful and valuable for novel AIEgens design and synthesis.

Superior biocompatible carbon dots for dynamic fluorescence imaging of nucleoli in living cells.

The nucleolus is a newly developed and promising target for cancer diagnosis and therapy, and its imaging is extremely significant for fundamental research and clinical applications. The unique feature, , high resolution at the subcellular level, makes the fluorescence imaging method a powerful tool for nucleolus imaging. However, the fluorescence imaging of nucleoli in living cells is restricted by the limited availability of fluorescent agents with specific nucleolus-targeting capability and superior biocompatibility.

In-situ construction of fluorescent probes for hydrogen peroxide detection in mitochondria and lysosomes with on-demand modular assembling and double turn-on features.

Due to the diverse HO distribution in organelles, fluorescent probes were usually required to be prepared separately, which limited the convenience and practicability. Herein, we reported a flexible strategy to in-situ construct HO fluorescent probes in different organelles. A tetrazine fused probe TP was developed with rapid click reaction capacity and sensitive HO response.

Highly biocompatible chlorin e6-poly(dopamine) core-shell nanoparticles for enhanced cancer phototherapy.

Cancer is a life-threatening disease worldwide. Although several approaches, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, have been proven effective for many patients in clinics, they usually suffer from drug resistance, severe toxic-side effects, patient discomfort, and sometimes, unsatisfactory efficacies. In recent years, phototherapy, as a less invasive but effective therapeutic method, has brought hope for cancer treatment.

Recent advances in nanotechnology approaches for non-viral gene therapy.

Gene therapy has shown great potential in the treatment of many diseases by downregulating the expression of certain genes. The development of gene vectors as a vehicle for gene therapy has greatly facilitated the widespread clinical application of nucleic acid materials (DNA, mRNA, siRNA, and miRNA). Currently, both viral and non-viral vectors are used as delivery systems of nucleic acid materials for gene therapy.

Polarimetric fiber laser for relative humidity sensing based on graphene oxide-coated D-shaped fiber and beat frequency demodulation.

We first propose and demonstrate a polarimetric fiber laser system for relative humidity (RH) sensing based on the beat frequency demodulation. A graphene oxide-coated D-shaped fiber (GDF) with a low insertion loss of 0.8 dB was embedded into a laser cavity to form an RH sensing probe.

A biocompatible ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe for intracellular hydrogen sulfide accurate detection based on rare earth nanoparticle.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is an important signal molecule involved in intracellular activities. To understand the role of HS in cellular physiological and pathological process, the development of sensitive and selective methods, especially biocompatible assays, for efficient monitoring the level of HS is necessary. Herein, we modified novel rare earth element europium (EU) based fluorescent nanospheres with azide (-N) based sensor to construct an ingenious ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe EU-N3.

Fabry-Perot Interferometer Based on a Fiber-Tip Fixed-Supported Bridge for Fast Glucose Concentration Measurement.

Blood glucose concentration is important for metabolic homeostasis in humans and animals. Many diabetic patients need to detect blood glucose daily which burdens community hospitals and family healthcare. Optical fiber sensors are widely used in biomedical detection because of their compact structure, fast response, high sensitivity, low cost, and ease of operation.

A potent luminogen with NIR-IIb excitable AIE features for ultradeep brain vascular and hemodynamic three-photon imaging.

Three-photon excited fluorescence microscopy (3PEFM) has emerged as a promising protocol for visualizing deep-brain vasculature and hemodynamics. However, the current situation is still far from satisfactory, due to small excitation action cross-section and short excitation wavelength of those previously reported 3PEFM luminogens. Herein, we manipulated molecular engineering by subtly regulating structural planarization/twisting to achieve ingenious integration of large three-photon absorption cross-section, high fluorescence quantum yield, ultralong near-infrared IIb excitation, and aggregation-induced emission features.

A Wearable Breath Sensor Based on Fiber-Tip Microcantilever.

Respiration rate is an essential vital sign that requires monitoring under various conditions, including in strong electromagnetic environments such as in magnetic resonance imaging systems. To provide an electromagnetically-immune breath-sensing system, we propose an all-fiber-optic wearable breath sensor based on a fiber-tip microcantilever. The microcantilever was fabricated on a fiber-tip by two-photon polymerization microfabrication based on femtosecond laser, so that a micro Fabry-Pérot (FP) interferometer was formed between the microcantilever and the end-face of the fiber.