Acid-responsive liposomal nanodrug with promoted tumor penetration for photoacoustic imaging-guided sonodynamic therapy.

Herein, an acid-responsive liposomal nanodrug was developed for photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided oxygen (O)-independent sonodynamic therapy (SDT). This liposomal nanodrug offers several advantages: (i) it facilitates O-independent alkyl radical generation upon ultrasound irradiation, (ii) it exhibits acid-responsive charge reversion that enhances tumor penetration, and (iii) it enables activated PA imaging for therapeutic feedback.

Tumor Cell-Specific Signal Processing Platform Controlled by ATP for Non-invasive Modulation of Cellular Behavior.

Regulating the spatial distribution of membrane receptors can artificially reprogram cellular behaviors, which play a critical biological role in various physiological and pathological processes. Herein, we construct a tumor cell-specific signal processing platform (TCS-SPP) for controlled promotion/inhibition of cellular-mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-Met) receptor dimerization to noninvasively modulate cellular behaviors. Upon the dual-aptamer recognition in the upstream input signal circuit (UISC) to discriminate target cancer cells, the membrane-anchored DNA signal processor (DSP) is activated for signal amplification via rolling circle amplification (RCA) followed by the working of an ATP molecular switch for signal conversion, achieving receptor modulation in the downstream output signal circuit (DOSC).

Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dot-intensified tungsten oxide nanosheets as a SERS substrate for antibiotics detection.

In this study, tungsten oxide nanosheets loaded with nitrogen-doped graphene oxide quantum dots (NGQDs/WO NSs) were fabricated as SERS substrates. The promoted photo-induced charge transfer (PICT) and the strong π-π stacking effect resulting from the unique structure of the NGQDs contributed to the enhanced SERS signal.

Copper ions coordination-promoted self-assembly of DNA nanoflowers as cascade catalytic nanoreactor for colorimetric biosensor.

The controllable geometry and multifunctionality of DNA nano-bioreactors hold immense promise for disease diagnosis. Herein, a facile rolling circle amplification (RCA)-based crystallization method has been developed for highly efficient self-assembly of three-dimensional (3D) DNA nano-bioreactors, which show excellent cascade catalytic performance by confining bio-enzyme (glucose oxidase (GOx) used in this case) and copper ions (Cu) in DNA nanoflowers (DNFs) structure. The participation of Cu during the self-assembly process not only endows the nano-bioreactors (designated as GOx/Cu@DNFs) with inspiring peroxidase-like activity but also greatly improves the assembly efficiency and yield via the effective coordination between Cu and RCA-generated long concatemeric DNAs.

Multi-Shell Nanourchin-Integrated Dual Mode Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Sensitive and Rapid Detection of Clinical Cardiac Myosin-Binding Protein C.

Cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C) is a novel cardiac marker of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute cardiac injuries (ACI). Construction of point-of-care testing techniques capable of sensing cMyBP-C with high sensitivity and precision is urgently needed. Herein, we synthesized an Au@NGQDs@Au/Ag multi-shell nanoUrchins (MSNUs), and then applied it in a colorimetric/SERS dual-mode immunoassay for detection of cMyBP-C.

Self-Regenerating Photothermal Agents for Tandem Photothermal and Thermodynamic Tumor Therapy.

Small molecule-based photothermal agents (PTAs) hold promising future for photothermal therapy; however, unexpected inactivation exerts negative impacts on their application clinically. Herein, a self-regenerating PTA strategy is proposed by integrating 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical cation (ABTS) with a thermodynamic agent (TDA) 2,2'-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl) propane] dihydrochloride (AIPH). Under NIR laser, the photothermal effect of ABTS accelerates the production of alkyl radicals by AIPH, which activates the regeneration of ABTS, thus creating a continuous positive feedback loop between photothermal and thermodynamic effects.

Enhancing charge transfer in a WO/g-CN heterostructure band structure engineering for effective SERS detection and flexible substrate applications.

Chemical mechanism (CM)-related surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has received tremendous interest due to its exceptional stability and excellent uniformity. Nevertheless, there remains a demand for ingenious methodologies for promoting effective charge transfer (CT) to improve SERS sensitivity further. Herein, a band structure engineered WO/g-CN heterostructure (WCN) was first employed as a CM-based SERS substrate with remarkable enhancement and sensitivity.

[Holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency induced by gene mutations: a rare disease study].

A boy, aged 16 months, attended the hospital due to head and facial erythema for 15 months and vulva erythema for 10 months with aggravation for 5 days. The boy developed perioral and periocular erythema in the neonatal period and had erythema and papules with desquamation and erosion in the neck, armpit, and trigone of vulva in infancy. Blood gas analysis showed metabolic acidosis; the analysis of amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles for inherited metabolic diseases and the analysis of organic acid in urine suggested multiple carboxylase deficiency; genetic testing showed a homozygous mutation of c.

[Recurrent systemic sporadic rash for 10 years in a girl aged 11 years].

A girl, aged 11 years, was admitted due to recurrent rash on the whole body and mucosa for 10 years, and typical rash was erythema at the perioral region, hand-foot joints, vulva, and perianal region, with blisters, erosions, and ulcers on the erythema. The girl was improved after zinc supplementation. Her younger brother had similar rash and medical history.

Endogenous microRNA triggered enzyme-free DNA logic self-assembly for amplified bioimaging and enhanced gene therapy via in situ generation of siRNAs.

Background: Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has emerged as a kind of promising therapeutic agents for cancer therapy. However, the off-target effect and degradation are the main challenges for siRNAs delivery. Herein, an enzyme-free DNA amplification strategy initiated by a specific endogenous microRNA has been developed for in situ generation of siRNAs with enhanced gene therapy effect on cervical carcinoma.

Dual-mode glucose nanosensor as an activatable theranostic platform for cancer cell recognition and cascades-enhanced synergetic therapy.

Integration of disease diagnosis and therapy is crucial in precise medicine, while the "always on" mode often hinders its clinical applications. Herein, inspired by cascaded catalysis, an integrated dual-mode glucose nanosensor as an activable theranostic platform is developed, which is further exploited for cancer cell recognition and enhanced synergistic therapy of lymph cancer. This nanosensor is prepared through the in-situ growth of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with the synergetic reduction of tannic acid (TA) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs), which are further decorated with glucose oxidase (GOx).

Rolling Circle Replication for Biosensing, Bioimaging, and Biomedicine.

Rolling circle replication (RCR), including rolling circle amplification (RCA) and rolling circle transcription (RCT), is an isothermal enzymatic reaction. Because of its high amplification efficiency, RCR is a powerful biosensing tool for detecting biomolecules. In recent years, RCR has also been extended to the field of bioimaging to better understand biological pathways.

pH-responsive DNA nanomicelles for chemo-gene synergetic therapy of anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Chemo-gene therapy is an emerging synergetic modality for the treatment of cancers. Herein, we developed pH-responsive multifunctional DNA nanomicelles (DNMs) as delivery vehicles for controllable release of doxorubicin (Dox) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-specific siRNA for the chemo-gene synergetic therapy of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). DNMs were synthesized by performing in situ rolling circle amplification (RCA) on the amphiphilic primer-polylactide (PLA) micelles, followed by functionalization of pH-responsive triplex DNA via complementary base pairing.

[Recurrent skin blisters for more than 7 months in a girl aged 15 months].

A girl, aged 15 months, attended the hospital due to recurrent skin erythema, blisters, and desquamation for more than 7 months. Giemsa staining and immunohistochemical staining showed mast cell infiltration and degranulation. Hematoxylin staining showed spinous layer edema and blister formation under the epidermis, with a large amount of serous fluid and a small number of inflammatory cells in the blister.

Target-triggered dynamic hairpin assembly for signal amplification of microRNA and oncogenes and its application in live-cell imaging.

Based on target-triggered dynamic hairpin assembly (DHA) in both unidirectional and bilateral growth manners DNA nanobrushes are constructed, which realize sensitive and selective detection of short miRNA (miR-21) and long DNA (BRCA1), respectively. Moreover, the unidirectional DHA strategy is readily applied to in situ imaging of miR-21 in different live cells.

An enzyme-free molecular catalytic device: dynamically self-assembled DNA dendrimers for imaging of microRNAs in live cells.

DNA has become a promising material to construct high-order structures and molecular devices owing to its sequence programmability. Herein, a DNA machine based on branched catalytic hairpin assembly (bCHA) is introduced for dynamic self-assembly of DNA dendrimers. For this system, a Y-shaped hairpin trimer tethered with three kinds of hairpins (H1, H2 and H3) is constructed.

DNA logic assembly powered by a triplex-helix molecular switch for extracellular pH imaging.

We demonstrate a strategy for pH-programmable self-assembly of DNA nanostructures by taking advantage of the pH dependence of reverse Hoogsteen interactions for a triplex-helix molecular switch. This strategy is successfully applied to the construction of molecular logic gates and imaging of extracellular pH.

Isothermal exponential amplification techniques: From basic principles to applications in electrochemical biosensors.

As a conventional amplification technique, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been widely applied to detect a variety of analytes with exponential amplification efficiency. However, the requirement of thermocycling procedures largely limits the application of PCR-based methods. Alternatively, several isothermal amplification techniques have been developed since the early 1990s.

Exonuclease-assisted target recycling amplification for label-free chemiluminescence assay and molecular logic operations.

A versatile exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted target recycling amplification (Exo-TRA) strategy is demonstrated to achieve label-free and homogeneous chemiluminescence (CL) detection of target DNA. Inspired by this principle, a series of logic gates are constructed using DNA molecules as "inputs" to activate the Exo-TRA system.

Programmable strand displacement-based magnetic separation for simultaneous amplified detection of multiplex microRNAs by chemiluminescence imaging array.

High throughput analysis of miRNAs is of great significance to clinical and biomedical applications. In this work, we have developed a highly sensitive and selective chemiluminescence imaging array (CLIA) for simultaneous detection of three miRNAs with high throughput, easy operation and low cost. In this assay, three kinds of hairpins that can specially recognize respective miRNAs (miR-155, miR-let-7a and miR-141) are parallel modified on the magnetic beads (MBs).

Hybridization chain reaction: a versatile molecular tool for biosensing, bioimaging, and biomedicine.

Developing powerful, simple and low-cost DNA amplification techniques is of great significance to bioanalysis and biomedical research. Thus far, many signal amplification strategies have been developed, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), rolling circle amplification (RCA), and DNA strand displacement amplification (SDA). In particular, hybridization chain reaction (HCR), a type of toehold-mediated strand displacement (TMSD) reaction, has attracted great interest because of its enzyme-free nature, isothermal conditions, simple protocols, and excellent amplification efficiency.

Cross-catalytic hairpin assembly-based exponential signal amplification for CRET assay with low background noise.

A toehold-mediated strand displacement (TMSD)-based cross-catalytic hairpin assembly (C-CHA) is demonstrated in this study, achieving exponential amplification of nucleic acids. Functionally, this system consists of four hairpins (H1, H2, H3 and H4) and one single-stranded initiator (I). Upon the introduction of I, the first CHA reaction (CHA1) is triggered, leading to the self-assembly of hybrid H1·H2 that then initiates the second CHA reaction (CHA2) to obtain the hybrid H3·H4.

A target-initiated DNA network caged on magnetic particles for amplified chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer imaging of microRNA and targeted drug delivery.

Chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) DNA networks are constructed on magnetic particles initiated by target microRNA, which are further functionalized with aptamers for targeted drug delivery.

Initiator-catalyzed self-assembly of duplex-looped DNA hairpin motif based on strand displacement reaction for logic operations and amplified biosensing.

Here we program an initiator-catalyzed self-assembly of duplex-looped DNA hairpin motif based on strand displacement reaction. Due to the recycling of initiator and performance in a cascade manner, this system is versatilely extended to logic operations, including the construction of concatenated logic circuits with a feedback function and a biocomputing keypad-lock security system. Compared with previously reported molecular security systems, the prominent feature of our keypad lock is that it can be spontaneously reset and recycled with no need of any external stimulus and human intervention.