CaCO-Encapsulated polydopamine with an adsorbed TLR7 agonist for improved tumor photothermal immunotherapy.

Because of the tumor's recurrence and significant metastasis, the standard single-therapy paradigm has failed to meet clinical requirements. Recently, researchers have focused their emphasis on phototherapy and immunogenic cell death (ICD) techniques. In response to the current problems of immunotherapy, a multifunctional drug delivery nanosystem (PDA-IMQ@CaCO-blinatumomab, PICB) was constructed by using high physiological compatibility of polydopamine (PDA) and calcium carbonate (CaCO).

A magnetic calcium phosphate for selective capture of multi-phosphopeptides.

The specific enrichment of multi-phosphopeptides in the presence of non-phosphopeptides and mono-phosphopeptides was still a challenge for phosphoproteomics research. Most of these enrichment materials relied on Zn, Ti, Sn, and other rare precious metals as the bonding center to enrich multi-phosphopeptides while ignoring the use of common metal elements. The addition of rare metals increased the cost of the experiment, which was not conducive to their large-scale application in biomedical proteomics laboratories.

A multi-functional drug delivery nanosystem release of TLR-7 immunostimulant and OKT3 induced efficient cancer immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy has some shortcomings such as off-target toxicity, treatment time and poor immunogenicity, which limit its therapeutic effect. Nanomaterials are particularly attractive in immunotherapy due to their drug delivery capabilities. Nano drug delivery system loaded with Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonist imiquimod (IMQ) and CD3 immune antibody OKT3 is constructed by using polydopamine (PDA) and CaCO.

Hypericin nanoparticles for self-illuminated photodynamic cytotoxicity based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the self-sensitization of photosensitizer without an external light source to produce a photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect based on the principle of bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (PDT-BRET). First, we demonstrated that HeLa cells could efficiently express firefly luciferase (FLase) after the firefly luciferase gene was transfected with the FLase-gene plasmid (FLase-GP), and proved that FLase could act on the substrate firefly D-luciferin (FLuc) to produce photons. The generated photons activate the photosensitizer hypericin (Hyp) and induce cytotoxicity.

A Dual Functional Drug Delivery System that Combines Photothermal Therapy and Immunotherapy to Treat Tumors.

Cancer is one of the main diseases threatening human health. Immunotherapy, in which cancer is treated by activating immune cells and inducing the body's immune response, has rapidly developed. Photothermal therapy (PTT), a new treatment method that ablates tumors by light irradiation, has attracted great attention for its good therapeutic effect and low toxic side effects.

A new Ti-based IMAC nanohybrid with high hydrophilicity and enhanced absorption capacity for the selective enrichment of phosphopeptides.

Ti-based immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) nanomaterial has shown high potential in phosphoproteome mass-spectrometric (MS) analysis. However, the limited surface area and poor solubility will greatly restrict its use in phosphoproteome research. To overcome these two key drawbacks, a novel Ti-based IMAC nanomaterial was prepared by Ti-bonded β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) anchored on the surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (denoted as COOH-CNTs-CD-Ti) and successfully applied as a biofunctional adsorbent for selectively enriching trace phosphopeptides.

Breaking the reduced glutathione-activated antioxidant defence for enhanced photodynamic therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been applied in cancer treatment by utilizing reactive oxygen species (ROSs) to kill cancer cells. However, a high concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) is present in cancer cells and can consume ROSs and sharply reduce the PDT activity. To address this problem, herein, we synthesized a thymine modified Zn phthalocyanine (ZnPc, a monomer and an active form for PDT) and prepared its nanoparticle form (an aggregator and an inactive form) with Hg providing the driving force for the "thymine-Hg-thymine" interaction.

Study on the conformation changes of Lysozyme induced by Hypocrellin A: the mechanism investigation.

The interactions between Lysozyme and Hypocrellin A are investigated in details using time-resolved fluorescence, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), three-dimensional fluorescence spectra, and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. The results of time-resolved fluorescence suggest that the quenching mechanism is static quenching. FTIR and CD spectroscopy provide evidences of the reducing of α-helix after interaction.

Characterization and photodynamic activity of a new phthalocyanine nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles of a hydrophobic photosensitizer, tetrakis (3-trifluoromethylphenoxy) zinc phthalocyanine (FPcZn) have been synthesized by using a simple reprecipitation technique. The resulting drug nanoparticles (FPcZn-NP) were spherical, highly monodispersed and stable in aqueous system, without an additional stabilizer. Comparative studies with FPcZn-NP and FPcZn indicated that after the formation of nanoparticles, FPcZn-NP maintained the efficiency of (1)O(2) generation.

Graphene oxide noncovalent photosensitizer and its anticancer activity in vitro.

Graphene oxide (GO) was investigated as a potential drug-delivery system due to its special properties and biocompatibility. Thus far, little has been done to use GO as a photosensitive drug-delivery system and to explore its anticancer activity in vitro in photodynamic therapy applications. Here, a novel GO-hypocrellin A (GO-HA) hybrid was prepared by a simple noncovalent method and its photodynamic activity was studied for the first time.

[Spectroscopic studies on the interaction of Elsinochrome A with myoglobin].

The interaction between Elsinochrome A (EA) and myoglobin (Mb) was investigated using UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results suggested that there was a strong interaction between EA and Mb. In the dark, the interaction occurred on the surfaces amidic acid of Mb, but when illuminated, the interactions happened both on amidic acid and the interior structure of hemachrome of Mb.

Isolation and anti-inflammatory activity evaluation of triterpenoids and a monoterpenoid glycoside from Harpagophytum procumbens.

A new triterpenoid glycoside, designated harproside (1), and a new iridoid glycoside, named pagide (2), along with six known triterpenoids (3-8), were obtained from the tubers of Harpagophytum procumbens D. C. (devil's claw), and their structures were established through chemical methods and spectroscopic analyses.

A nanoencapsulated hypocrellin A prepared by an improved microemulsion method for photodynamic treatment.

A new hypocrellin A (HA) encapsulated silica nanoparticles was prepared by an improved microemulsion method based on the unique character of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). Stable aqueous dispersions of the HA-loaded nanoparticles, with the diameter about 50 nm, owned superior photo-stability and singlet oxygen generation ability to free HA. In vitro studies demonstrated the active uptake of HA-doped nanoparticles into the cytosol of HeLa (human cervix epithelioid carcinoma) cells.

Mitochondria-targeting photosensitizer-encapsulated amorphous nanocage as a bimodal reagent for drug delivery and biodiagnose in vitro.

The use of ceramic nano-carriers containing anti-cancer drugs for targeted delivery that span both fundamental and applied research has attracted the interest of the scientific community. In this paper, a hydrophobic photodynamic therapy drug, hypocrellin A (HA), was successfully encapsulated in water-soluble amorphous silica nanocage (HANC) by an improved sol-gel method. These nanocages are of ultrasmall size, highly monodispersed, stable in aqueous suspension, and retain the optical properties of HA.

[Study on interaction of caffeine with myoglobin by fluorescence spectroscopy].

The interaction of caffein and myoglobin was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. The intrinsic fluorescence of myoglobin was significantly quenched by caffein under the physiological condition (pH 7.4).

A new sol-gel silica nanovehicle preparation for photodynamic therapy in vitro.

We report a facile silica nanovehicle preparation procedure for hydrophobic drug delivery, which is carried out in water without adding any surfactant and additional catalyst. This strategy includes hydrophobic drug nanopaticle preparation by reprecipitation method and in situ hydrolyzation and polymerization to encapsulate this naoparticle using only N-(beta-amimoethyl)-gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AETPS). To demonstrate this technique hypocrellin A (HA), a hydrophobic photosensitizing anticancer drug, is embedded into silica nanovehicle using this simple method.

[Study on the interaction between p-HPcZn and myoglobin].

The interaction of p-HPcZn and myoglobin was studied by fluorescence spectra and synchronous fluorescence spectra methods under the physiological condition. The p-HPcZn can quench the fluorescence of myoglobin effectively, and it is indicated that there is a strong interaction occurring between p-HPcZn and myoglobin. The results of the fluorescence spectra with changing temperature proved that the interaction can lead to the formation of complex of p-HPcZn with myoglobin, and quench the fluorescence of myoglobin through the static quenching mechanism.

[Study on interaction between hypocrellin A and hemoglobin or myoglobin using synchronous fluorescence spectra].

The effects of hypocrellin A (HA) on the conformational changes of hemoglobin and myoglobin were studied using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. The results indicated that HA can change the conformation of these two proteins, leading to the change in the micro-environment of tryptophane and tyrosine residues from hydrophobic environment to hydrophilic environment to different extent.

Iridoid glycosides from Harpagophytum procumbens D.C. (devil's claw).

Iridoid glycosides, harprocumbide A (6''-O-alpha-D-galactopyranosylharpagoside, 1) and harprocumbide B (6''-O-(cis-p-coumaroyl)-procumbide, 2) were isolated from the tubers of Harpagophytum prucumbens D.C., along with nine known iridoid glycosides 6-O-alpha-D-galactopyranosylharpagoside (3), and harpagoside (4), harpagide (5), 8-cinnamoylmyoporoside (6), 8-O-feruloylhapagide (7), procumbide (8), 6''-O-(p-coumaroyl)-procumbide (9), 8-O-(p-coumaroyl)-harpagide (10) and 8-O-(cis-p-coumaroyl)-harpagide (11).

[Study on interaction between CT-DNA and cytochrome C using UV-vis spectroscopy and electrochemistry].

The interaction between CT-DNA immobilized on the positively charged nylon membrane and cytochrome C was studied using UV-Vis reflectance absorption spectroscopy and electrochemistry. It was found that cytchrome C can be adsorbed on the negative charged CT-DNA surface with the active positive charge area. Therefore, CT-DNA can promote the direct electrochemical reaction of cytochrome C.

A tyrosine-modified hypocrellin B with affinity for and photodamaging ability towards calf thymus DNA.

An enhanced photodamaging ability towards CT-DNA was achieved in a tyrosine-modified hypocrellin B by improving the affinity of the sensitizer to DNA.

The photodynamic property improvement of hypocrellin A by chelation with lanthanum ions.

A 1:1 complex of lanthanum ion with hypocrellin A (La3+-HA) possessing high singlet oxygen generation efficiency, large absorbance in the phototherapeutic window, and great water solubility exhibits promising photodynamic properties.