Focused ultrasound enhances transgene expression of intranasal hGDNF DNA nanoparticles in the sonicated brain regions.

The therapeutic potential of many gene therapies is limited by their inability to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB). While intranasal administration of plasmid DNA nanoparticles (NPs) offers a non-invasive approach to bypass the BBB, it is not targeted to disease-relevant brain regions. Here, our goal was to determine whether focused ultrasound (FUS) can enrich intranasal delivery of our plasmid DNA NPs to target deeper brain regions, in this case the regions most affected in Parkinson's disease.

Role of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Reducing Sensory Neuron Hyperexcitability and Pain Behaviors in Murine Osteoarthritis.

Objective: Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have been reported to alleviate pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We undertook this study to determine whether MSCs and/or MSC-EVs reduce OA pain through influencing sensory neuron excitability in OA joints.

Methods: We induced knee OA in adult male C57BL/6J mice through destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) surgery.

Atomic structure of human TOM core complex.

The translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (TOM) complex is the main entry gate for mitochondrial precursor proteins synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes. Here we report the single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the dimeric human TOM core complex (TOM-CC). Two Tom40 β-barrel proteins, connected by two Tom22 receptor subunits and one phospholipid, form the protein-conducting channels.

Platinum nanoworms for imaging-guided combined cancer therapy in the second near-infrared window.

Cancer imaging and therapy in the second near-infrared (NIR II) window have gained increasing interest owing to the high light penetration depth and minimal optical scattering in the NIR II region (1000-1350 nm). Meanwhile, integrating multiple diagnostic and therapeutic functions into one simple nanoparticle system is of vital significance for cancer theranostics. Herein, we prepare worm-like platinum (Pt) nanoparticles (Pt nanoworms) in a facile way.

Glucose & oxygen exhausting liposomes for combined cancer starvation and hypoxia-activated therapy.

Starvation therapy to slow down the tumor growth by cutting off its energy supply has been proposed to be an alternative therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. Herein, glucose oxidase (GOx) is loaded into stealth liposomes and act as the glucose and oxygen elimination agent to trigger the conversion of glucose and oxygen into gluconic acid and HO. Such liposome-GOx after intravenous injection with effective tumor retention is able to exhaust glucose and oxygen within the tumor, producing cytotoxic HO and enhancing hypoxia, as vividly visualized by non-invasive in vivo photoacoustic imaging.