Co-Delivery of Curcumin and Paclitaxel by "Core-Shell" Targeting Amphiphilic Copolymer to Reverse Resistance in the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer.

Background: Ovarian cancer is a common malignancy in the female reproductive system with a high mortality rate. The most important reason is multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer chemotherapy. To reduce side effects, reverse resistance and improve efficacy for the treatment of ovarian cancer, a "core-shell" polymeric nanoparticle-mediated curcumin and paclitaxel co-delivery platform was designed.

Multifractal vector optical fields.

We introduce the concept of multifractal into vector optical fields (VOFs). We propose, design and generate new fractal VOFs-multifractal VOFs (MF-VOFs), in which multifractal structure and VOF act as the lattice and the base, respectively. We generate two kinds of MF-VOFs experimentally and explore their focusing behaviors.

Pseudo-topological property of Julia fractal vector optical fields.

Polarization singularities have topological properties, because they can maintain their features invariably during propagation. The topological property can be destroyed by shifting the polarization singularities away from the central axis, and this destruction originates from the space separation of spin angular momentum components. We find that paired centrosymmetric off-axis polarization singularities can recover the topological property in the Fourier plane (reciprocal space), which belongs to the pseudo-topological property.

Inverse method to engineer uniform-intensity focal fields with arbitrary shape.

We present an inverse method to engineer uniform-intensity focal fields with arbitrary shape. Amplitude, phase, and polarization states, as adjustable parameters, are used to seek the desired focal fields in the non-iterative computational procedure. Our method can be applied to the cases with low and moderate numerical aperture (NA), in which case the feasibility and validity of our approach have been demonstrated in theory, simulation and experiment, respectively.

Focusing behavior of the fractal vector optical fields designed by fractal lattice growth model.

We introduce a general fractal lattice growth model, significantly expanding the application scope of the fractal in the realm of optics. This model can be applied to construct various kinds of fractal "lattices" and then to achieve the design of a great diversity of fractal vector optical fields (F-VOFs) combinating with various "bases". We also experimentally generate the F-VOFs and explore their universal focusing behaviors.

Efficient delivery of Notch1 siRNA to SKOV3 cells by cationic cholesterol derivative-based liposome.

A novel cationic cholesterol derivative-based small interfering RNA (siRNA) interference strategy was suggested to inhibit Notch1 activation in SKOV3 cells for the gene therapy of ovarian cancer. The cationic cholesterol derivative, -(cholesterylhemisuccinoyl-amino-3-propyl)-, -dimethylamine (DMAPA-chems) liposome, was incubated with siRNA at different nitrogen-to-phosphate ratios to form stabilized, near-spherical siRNA/DMAPA-chems nanoparticles with sizes of 100-200 nm and zeta potentials of 40-50 mV. The siRNA/DMAPA-chems nanoparticles protected siRNA from nuclease degradation in 25% fetal bovine serum.

Hyaluronic acid reagent functional chitosan-PEI conjugate with AQP2-siRNA suppressed endometriotic lesion formation.

To identify a new drug candidate for treating endometriosis which has fewer side effects, a new polymeric nanoparticle gene delivery system consisting of polyethylenimine-grafted chitosan oligosaccharide (CSO-PEI) with hyaluronic acid (HA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) was designed. There was no obvious difference in sizes observed between (CSO-PEI/siRNA)HA and CSO-PEI/siRNA, but the fluorescence accumulation in the endometriotic lesion was more significant for (CSO-PEI/siRNA)HA compared with CSO-PEI/siRNA due to the specific binding of HA to CD44. In addition, the (CSO-PEI/siRNA)HA nanoparticle gene therapy significantly decreased the endometriotic lesion sizes with atrophy and degeneration of the ectopic endometrium.

TNYL peptide functional chitosan-g-stearate conjugate micelles for tumor specific targeting.

Nowadays, a real challenge in cancer therapy is to design drug delivery systems that can achieve high concentrations of drugs at the target site for improved therapeutic effect with reduced side effects. In this research, we designed and synthesized a homing peptide-(TNYLFSPNGPIA, TNYL) modified chitosan-g-stearate (CS) polymer micelle (named T-CS) for targeting delivery. The peptide displayed specific binding affinity to EphB4 which is a member of the Eph family of receptor tyrosine protein kinases.

Efficacy and safety profile of celecoxib for treating advanced cancers: a meta-analysis of 11 randomized clinical trials.

Purpose: Evidence on the benefits of combining celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, in treating advanced cancer is still controversial. This study aimed to establish the efficacy and safety profile of celecoxib in treating advanced cancers.

Methods: The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases and abstracts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and European Society for Medical Oncology were searched for reports dated up to January 31, 2014, to find relevant randomized clinical trials.

[Chemical constituents from leaves of Aglaia testicularis].

To study the chemical constituents from the leaves of Aglaia testicularis. The methanol extract was isolated and purified by silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. Their chemical structures were elucidated by MS and spectral data (1H, 13C-NMR).

Receptor-mediated gene delivery by folic acid-modified stearic acid-grafted chitosan micelles.

Background: Cationic polymers have been accepted as effective nonviral vectors for gene delivery with low immunogenicity unlike viral vectors. However, the lack of organ or cell specificity sometimes hampers their application and the modification of polymeric vectors has also shown successful improvements in achieving cell-specific targeting delivery and in promoting intracellular gene transfer efficiency.

Methods: A folic acid-conjugated stearic acid-grafted chitosan (FA-CS-SA) micelle, synthesized by a 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide-coupling reaction, was designed for specific receptor-mediated gene delivery.

Coadministration of glycolipid-like micelles loading cytotoxic drug with different action site for efficient cancer chemotherapy.

To reduce the side effects and drug resistance in cancer chemotherapy, we have examined the in vitro efficacy of the combination of paclitaxel (PTX) and doxorubicin (DOX) loaded in nanosized polymeric micelles with glycolipid-like structure, which formed by lipid grafted chitosan. The cytotoxicities of PTX and DOX, either as single agents or in combination, were examined using drug sensitive tumor cells and drug resistant cells. It was found that the 50% inhibition of cellular growth (IC(50)) of PTX and DOX in micelles against drug sensitive cells was lowered about 20-fold and 4-7-fold compared to that of Taxol and DOX solution, respectively.

A novel chitosan oligosaccharide-stearic acid micelles for gene delivery: properties and in vitro transfection studies.

Stearic acid (SA) grafted chitosan oligosaccharide (CSO) (CSO-SA), which was synthesized by an 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC)-mediated coupling reaction, was demonstrated to form micelle like structure by self-aggregation in aqueous solution. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of CSO-SA with 15.4% amino substituted degree of CSO was about 0.