Discovery and characterization of hydroxylysine O-glycosylation in an engineered IL-2 fusion protein.

In the present study, an engineered interleukin-2 (IL-2) fusion protein consisting of an anti-human serum albumin nanobody linked by ASTKG and a (GS) linker to IL-2 was constructed. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) characterization was performed on the intact molecule and at the peptide level. The LC-MS molecular mass analysis for the engineered fusion protein showed the appearance of unreported +340 Da peaks, apart from the expected O-glycosylation-related peaks in the IL-2 domain.

Aptamer-functionalized targeted siRNA delivery system for tumor immunotherapy.

Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) overexpressed on the surface of tumor cells is one of the reasons for tumor immune escape. Reducing PD-L1 expression has been proved to be an effective strategy to facilitate immune system activation and inhibit tumor progression. RNA interference (RNAi) is a promising technology for gene regulation in tumor therapy.

Tumor Acid Microenvironment-Triggered Self-Assembly of ESIONPs for T/T Switchable Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Smart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents (CAs), whose MRI contrasting enhancement is variable in response to the specific stimulus from tumor tissues, possess great potential in precise tumor diagnosis. Herein, we design a type of extremely small iron oxide nanoparticle (ESIONP)-based pH-responsive system for activatable T MRI in the tumor acid microenvironment. The ESIONP system is composed of ESIONP-PEG-PGA and ESIONP-PEG-PDC, which were respectively constructed through the surface modification with poly (l-glutamic acid) (PGA) and poly(-{'-[″-(2-carbox aminoethyl)]-2-aminoethyl}glutamide) (PDC) on the surface of ESIONP.

Metal-Organic Frameworks with Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy: Synthesis, Erythrocyte Membrane Camouflage, and Aptamer-Targeted Aggregation.

Here, ferric oxide-loaded metal-organic framework (FeTCPP/FeO MOF) nanorice was designed and constructed by the liquid diffusion method. The introduction of iron metal nodes and the loading of FeO can effectively catalyze the Fenton reaction to produce hydroxyl radicals (OH) and overcome the hypoxic environment of tumor tissue by generating oxygen. The monodispersity and porosity of the porphyrin photosensitizers in the MOF structure exposed more active sites, which promoted energy exchange between porphyrin molecules and oxygen molecules for photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment.

Self-Assembled saRNA Delivery System Based on Rolling Circle Transcription for Aptamer-Targeting Cancer Therapy.

With the capacity of gene promotion, RNA activation (RNAa) has been supposed to be a powerful technique in the field of biomedicine, especially in an antitumor aspect. However, one of the pressing challenges for clinical application is how to efficiently deliver therapeutic probes to cancer. Herein, we synthesized a carrier through rolling circle transcription (RCT) to deliver p21 saRNA with high loading rate and targeting capacity.

Aptamer-Based Erythrocyte-Derived Mimic Vesicles Loaded with siRNA and Doxorubicin for the Targeted Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Tumors.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains one of the most important challenges to clinical chemotherapeutics. In this study, versatile mimic vesicles (MVs) derived from erythrocytes were investigated as delivery systems for siRNA and doxorubicin (DOX) to treat MDR tumors. The carriers could be readily obtained through extruding erythrocyte membranes and had the advantages of biological homogeneity, high output, controllable size, low cost, and excellent biocompatibility.

Exploration of Catalytic Nucleic Acids on Porphyrin Metalation and Peroxidase Activity by in Vitro Selection of Aptamers for N-Methyl Mesoporphyrin IX.

To develop a novel light-up probe and DNAzyme, we selected aptamers for N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM), a common fluorogenic analogue of coenzyme hemin, by a modified affinity chromatography-based systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Two truncated aptamers Nm1 and Nm2 with low micromolar dissociation constants (0.75 and 13.