Nanomedicine strategies for sustained, controlled, and targeted treatment of cancer stem cells of the digestive system.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) constitute a small proportion of the cancer cells that have self-renewal capacity and tumor-initiating ability. They have been identified in a variety of tumors, including tumors of the digestive system. CSCs exhibit some unique characteristics, which are responsible for cancer metastasis and recurrence.

[Research progress of layer-by-layer self-assembly technique in drug delivery].

Now the layer-by-layer self-assembling (LbL) technique has become an attention-getting reparative methodology for ultrathin film formation. Many scientists in different academic areas including bioengieering, medical science, drug controlled release, optoelectronics dive into this technology. Among of them, carriers with structures which can be flexibly controlled are more useful since functional structure units can be assembled in layer-by-layer fashion, which is simplicity, chemical mildness, concealment, can achieve targeted drug delivery and so on.

[Long-acting injectable microspheres of glucagon-like peptide-1].

Aim: To prepare glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) loaded long-acting injectable microspheres and to evaluate their in vitro release behavior as well as its pharmacodynamics.

Methods: GLP-1 loaded microspheres were prepared with poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) as carrier materials by dowble emulsion (W/O/W) method. Physical and chemical characteristics of microspheres, such as mean diameter, morphology and drug loading were evaluated.