Precise sensorimotor control impacts reproductive fitness of C. elegans in 3D environments.

The ability of animals to sense and navigate towards relevant cues in complex and elaborate habitats is paramount for their survival and reproductive success. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans uses a simple and elegant sensorimotor program to track odors in its environments. Whether this allows the worm to effectively navigate a complex environment and increase its evolutionary success has not been tested yet.

A siRNA targets and inhibits a broad range of SARS-CoV-2 infections including Delta variant.

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants has altered the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic and raised some uncertainty on the long-term efficiency of vaccine strategy. The development of new therapeutics against a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants is imperative. We, here, have designed an inhalable siRNA, C6G25S, which covers 99.

Facile Transformation of Murine and Human Primary Dendritic Cells into Robust and Modular Artificial Antigen-Presenting Systems by Intracellular Hydrogelation.

The growing enthusiasm for cancer immunotherapies and adoptive cell therapies has prompted increasing interest in biomaterials development mimicking natural antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for T-cell expansion. In contrast to conventional bottom-up approaches aimed at layering synthetic substrates with T-cell activation cues, transformation of live dendritic cells (DCs) into artificial APCs (aAPCs) is demonstrated herein using a facile and minimally disruptive hydrogelation technique. Through direct intracellular permeation of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA) hydrogel monomer and UV-activated radical polymerization, intracellular hydrogelation is rapidly accomplished on DCs with minimal influence on cellular morphology and surface antigen display, yielding highly robust and modular cell-gel hybrid constructs amenable to peptide antigen exchange, storable by freezing and lyophilization, and functionalizable with cytokine-releasing carriers for T-cell modulation.

Consumption of Oleic Acid During Matriphagy in Free-Living Nematodes Alleviates the Toxic Effects of the Bacterial Metabolite Violacein.

Maternal behaviors benefit the survival of young, contributing directly to the mother's reproductive fitness. An extreme form of this is seen in matriphagy, when a mother performs the ultimate sacrifice and offers her body as a meal for her young. Whether matriphagy offers only a single energy-rich meal or another possible benefit to the young is unknown.

Odor-dependent temporal dynamics in adaptation and aversive learning behavior.

Animals sense an enormous number of cues in their environments, and, over time, can form learned associations and memories with some of these. The nervous system remarkably maintains the specificity of learning and memory to each of the cues. Here we asked whether the nematode adjusts the temporal dynamics of adaptation and aversive learning depending on the specific odor sensed.

Hypergravity hinders axonal development of motor neurons in .

As space flight becomes more accessible in the future, humans will be exposed to gravity conditions other than our 1G environment on Earth. Our bodies and physiology, however, are adapted for life at 1G gravity. Altering gravity can have profound effects on the body, particularly the development of muscles, but the reasons and biology behind gravity's effect are not fully known.

NGT-3D: a simple nematode cultivation system to study Caenorhabditis elegans biology in 3D.

The nematodeCaenorhabditiselegansis one of the premier experimental model organisms today. In the laboratory, they display characteristic development, fertility, and behaviors in a two dimensional habitat. In nature, however,C.

Two Endogenous Antiangiogenic Inhibitors, Endostatin and Angiostatin, Demonstrate Biphasic Curves in their Antitumor Profiles.

Angiogenesis refers to growth of blood vessels from pre-existing ones. In 1971, Folkman proposed that by choking off the blood supply to tumors, they are starved, leading to their demise. A few years ago, the monoclonal antibody Avastin became the first antiangiogenic biological approved by FDA, for treatment of cancer patients.

HSPG-binding peptide corresponding to the exon 6a-encoded domain of VEGF inhibits tumor growth by blocking angiogenesis in murine model.

Vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF(165) is a critical element for development of the vascular system in physiological and pathological angiogenesis. VEGF isoforms have different affinities for heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG) as well as for VEGF receptors; HSPGs are important regulators in vascular development. Therefore, inhibition of interactions between VEGF and HSPGs may prevent angiogenesis.

Angiostatin regulates the expression of antiangiogenic and proapoptotic pathways via targeted inhibition of mitochondrial proteins.

Angiostatin, a proteolytic fragment of plasminogen, is a potent endogenous antiangiogenic agent. The molecular mechanisms governing angiostatin's antiangiogenic and antitumor effects are not well understood. Here, we report the identification of mitochondrial compartment as the ultimate target of angiostatin.

Linking antibody Fc domain to endostatin significantly improves endostatin half-life and efficacy.

Purpose: The half-life of the antiangiogenic molecule endostatin that has been used in clinical trial is short ( approximately 2 h). In addition, approximately 50% of the clinical grade endostatin molecules lack four amino acids at their NH(2) termini. Lack of these amino acids gives rise to a molecule that is devoid of zinc, resulting in no antitumor activity.

Peptide-mediated targeting to tumor blood vessels of lung cancer for drug delivery.

Antiangiogenesis therapies for the treatment of cancers hold the promise of high efficacy and low toxicity. In vivo phage display was used to identify peptides specifically targeting tumor blood vessels. The peptide SP5-52 recognized tumor neovasculature but not normal blood vessels in severe combined immunodeficiency mice bearing human tumors.

A novel peptide specifically binding to nasopharyngeal carcinoma for targeted drug delivery.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common cancer among Chinese living in southern China, Taiwan, and Singapore. The 5-year survival rate in the early stage of NPC has been reported as high as 90 to 95% with the use of radiotherapy, but in the advanced cases, even with the use of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the survival rate is still <50%. To improve the survival rate, we identify a 12-mer peptide (L-peptide) specifically binding to NPC cells with a phage displayed random peptide library.