Multifunctional "Add-On" Module Enabled NIR-II Imaging-Guided Synergistic Photothermal and Chemotherapy of Drug-Resistant Lung Cancer.

Imaging-guided chemo-photothermal combination therapy (chemo-PTT) is recognized for its synergistic therapeutic effects, reduced side effects, and minimal drug resistance, while the development of such theranostics has been hampered by poor imaging and therapy performance and tedious formulation. Herein, we introduce an all-in-one "add-on" module () for the convenient construction of doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded nanoparticles (DOX@BBT) and efficient second near-infrared (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging (FLI)-guided synergistic chemo-PTT of drug-resistant lung cancer. The delicate Janus amphiphilic structure of enables multifunctionality, including NIR-II FLI, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics, moderate photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE), excellent photostability, and polyethylene glycolation (PEGylation), which could improve the NIR-II FLI and PTT performance, relieve the complexity in theranostics, and enable high reproducibility of the multifunctional theranostics.

Periostracum Cicadae Extract and N-Acetyldopamine Regulate the Sleep-Related Neurotransmitters in PCPA-Induced Insomnia Rats.

Insomnia is the second most prevalent mental illness worldwide. Periostracum cicadae (PC), as an animal traditional Chinese medicine with rich pharmacological effects, has been documented as a treatment for children's night cries, and later extended to treat insomnia. This study aimed to investigate the effects of PC extract and N-acetyldopamine compounds in ameliorating insomnia.

Two New Isospirostanol-Type Saponins from the Bulbs of Lilium Brownii and Their Anti-Hepatocarcinogenic Activity.

Bulbs of Lilium brownii, commonly known as "Bai-he" in China, serve both edible and medicinal purposes in clinical practice. In this study, two new isospirostanol-type saponins were isolated from L. brownii, and their structures were identified by spectroscopic method, and absolute configurations were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of spectral data obtained from combined acid hydrolysis.

Anticancer activity of oleanolic acid and its derivatives modified at A-ring and C-28 position.

Oleanolic acid (OA) is a five-ring triterpenoid compound, which is widely present in plants. Due to a wide range of pharmacological activities, oleanolic acid has attracted more and more attention. However, oleanolic acid is insoluble in water and has low bioavailability, which limits its clinical application.

Partially fluorinated nanoemulsions for F MRI-fluorescence dual imaging cell tracking.

Fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (F MRI) has been a technology of choice for in vivo cell tracking, in which perfluorocarbons (PFCs) nanoemulsions are the most used F MRI agents. However, the peculiar physicochemical properties of PFCs may lead to poor cell uptake and misleading cell tracking results. Herein, we employed partially fluorinated aromatic agents to formulate paramagnetic nanoemulsions as novel F MRI-fluorescence (FL) dual imaging agents for cell tracking.

Synthesis of trifluoromethylated aza-BODIPYs as fluorescence-F MRI dual imaging and photodynamic agents.

Dual-imaging agents with highly sensitive fluorescence (FL) imaging and highly selective fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (F MRI) are valuable for biomedical research. At the same time, photosensitizers with a high reactive oxygen species (ROS) generating capability are crucial for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. Herein, a series of tetra-trifluoromethylated aza-boron dipyrromethenes (aza-BODIPYs) were conveniently synthesized from readily available building blocks and their physicochemical properties, including ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption, FL emission, photothermal efficacy, ROS generating efficacy, and F MRI sensitivity, were systematically investigated.

Hydrofluorocarbon nanoparticles for F MRI-fluorescence dual imaging and chemo-photodynamic therapy.

The synergistic chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) may significantly improve the cancer therapeutic efficacy, in which fluorinated nanoemulsions are highly advantageous for their ability to deliver oxygen to hypoxic tumors and provide fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (F MRI). The low solubility of chemotherapy drugs and photosensitizers in current perfluorocarbon (PFC)-based F MRI agents usually leads to complicated formulations or chemical modifications and low nanoemulsion stability and performance. Herein, we employ readily available partially fluorinated ethyl 2-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)acetate as the F MRI agent and the solvent to dissolve the cancer stem cell inhibitor salinomycin and the photosensitizer ICG for the convenient preparation of F MRI-fluorescence dual imaging and synergistic chemotherapy, photothermal and photodynamic therapy nanoemulsions.

Perfluoro--butanol: a cornerstone for high performance fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging.

As a versatile quantification and tracking technology, 19F magnetic resonance imaging (19F MRI) provides quantitative "hot-spot" images without ionizing radiation, tissue depth limit, and background interference. However, the lack of suitable imaging agents severely hampers its clinical application. First, because the 19F signals are solely originated from imaging agents, the relatively low sensitivity of MRI technology requires high local 19F concentrations to generate images, which are often beyond the reach of many 19F MRI agents.

Quantitatively Fine-Tuning the Physicochemical and Biological Properties of Peptidic Polymers through Monodisperse PEGylation.

In biomedicine, PEGylation is one of the most successful strategies to modify the physicochemical and biological properties of peptides, proteins, and other biomacromolecules. Because of the polydisperse nature of regular PEGs and limited PEGylation strategies, it is challenging to quantitatively fine-tune and accurately predict the properties of biomacromolecules after PEGylation. However, such fine-tuning and prediction may be crucial for their biomedical applications.

[Effects of global change on soil fauna diversity: A review].

Terrestrial ecosystem consists of aboveground and belowground components, whose interaction affects the ecosystem processes and functions. Soil fauna plays an important role in biogeochemical cycles. With the recognizing of the significance of soil fauna in ecosystem processes, increasing evidences demonstrated that global change has profound effects on soil faunima diversity.

Specificity responses of grasshoppers in temperate grasslands to diel asymmetric warming.

Background: Global warming is characterized by not only an increase in the daily mean temperature, but also a diel asymmetric pattern. However, most of the current studies on climate change have only concerned with the mean values of the warming trend. Although many studies have been conducted concerning the responses of insects to climate change, studies that address the issue of diel asymmetric warming under field conditions are not found in the literature.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in bipolar patients initiating acute-phase treatment: a 6-month follow up.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its correlates in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) during acute-phase treatment in southern China.

Methods: This study included 148 BD patients presenting with acute mood symptoms and 65 healthy controls at entry. Sociodemographic characteristics were noted for all participants.