lncRNA-NEF regulates hepatic stellate cells proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and ECM synthesis through the ERK1/2/c-Fos axis.

In this study, we investigated the role of lncRNA-NEF in modulating hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation, a key process in liver fibrosis. Using the GSE78160 dataset, we identified lncRNA-NEF as downregulated in liver cirrhosis patients. Gene Ontology and KEGG analyses implicated it in transcriptional regulation and cell cycle control.

Solvent and monomer regulation synthesis of core-shelled magnetic β-cyclodextrin microporous organic network for efficient extraction of estrogens in biological samples prior to HPLC analysis.

The abnormal estrogens levels in human body can cause many side effects and diseases, but the quantitative detection of the trace estrogens in complex biological samples still remains great challenge. Here we reported the fabrication of a novel core-shell structured magnetic cyclodextrin microporous organic network (FeO@CD-MON) for rapid magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of four estrogens in human serum and urine samples prior to HPLC-UV determination. The uniform spherical core-shell FeO@CD-MONs was successfully regulated by altering the reactive monomers and solvents.

Inhaled nanoparticles for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting honeycomb cyst and alveoli interstitium remodeling.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease with high mortality. The Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, nintedanib and pirfenidone, could delay progressive fibrosis by inhibiting the overactivation of fibroblast, however, there was no significant improvement in patient survival due to low levels of drug accumulation and remodeling of honeycomb cyst and interstitium surrounding the alveoli. Herein, we constructed a dual drug (verteporfin and pirfenidone)-loaded nanoparticle (Lip@VP) with the function of inhibiting airway epithelium fluidization and fibroblast overactivation to prevent honeycomb cyst and interstitium remodeling.

Dual Roles of Two Malic Enzymes in Lipid Biosynthesis and Salt Stress Response in .

Triacylglycerols (TAG) from microalgae can be used as feedstocks for biofuel production to address fuel shortages. Most of the current research has focused on the enzymes involved in TAG biosynthesis. In this study, the effects of malic enzyme (ME), which provides precursor and reducing power for TAG biosynthesis, on biomass and lipid accumulation and its response to salt stress in were investigated.

Microporous Organic Network: Superhydrophobic Coating to Protect Metal-Organic Frameworks from Hydrolytic Degradation.

Despite the rapid development of versatile metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), the synthesis of water-stable MOFs remains challenging, which significantly limits their practical applications. Herein, a novel engineering strategy was developed to prepare superhydrophobic MOFs by an fluorinated microporous organic network (FMON) coating. Through controllable modification, the resulting MOF@FMON retained the porosity and crystallinity of the pristine MOFs.

[Acteoside promotes autophagy and apoptosis of hepatoma cells by regulating JNK signaling pathway].

This study explored the molecular mechanism of acteoside against hepatoma 22(H22) tumor in mice through c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK) signaling pathway. H22 cells were subcutaneously inoculated in 50 male BALB/c mice, and then the model mice were classified into model group, low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose acteoside groups, and cisplatin group. The administration lasted 2 weeks for each group(5 consecutive days/week).

A novel whole blood purifier for efficient capture and separation of circulating tumor cells.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as important biomarkers for noninvasive clinical diagnosis and prognostic evaluation are significant in predicting the overall survival and progression-free survival of cancer patients. However, the current typical CTCs separation and enrichment techniques were limited to a single collection of small-volume blood samples, which was inadequate to comprehensively profile the distribution of CTCs in the systemic blood. In addition, those techniques cannot reduce metastasis of CTCs unless adjuvant chemotherapy.

Plasma membrane lesion type total intestinal eosinophilic enteritis: a case report.

Background: Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare gastrointestinal disease that is characterized by diffuse or localized eosinophil infiltration in the gastrointestinal tract, and is accompanied by increased peripheral blood eosinophils. Herein, a case of plasma membrane lesion-type total intestinal eosinophil enteritis is reported.

Case Presentation: We report on a 20-year-old male patient who was admitted to the hospital with "abdominal distension for 15 days".

The expression pattern of β-carotene ketolase gene restricts the accumulation of astaxanthin in Dunaliella under salt stress.

Dunaliella salina can accumulate a large amount of β-carotene which is generally considered to be its terminal product of carotenoid metabolism. In this study, it was proved that D. salina has the ketolase (DsBKT) of catalyzing the synthesis of astaxanthin, the downstream products of β-carotene.

Regulation of carotenoid degradation and production of apocarotenoids in natural and engineered organisms.

Carotenoids are important precursors of a wide range of apocarotenoids with their functions including: hormones, pigments, retinoids, volatiles, and signals, which can be used in the food, flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. This article focuses on the formation of these multifaceted apocarotenoids and their diverse biological roles in all living systems. Carotenoid degradation pathways include: enzymatic oxidation by specific carotenoid cleavage oxygenases (CCOs) or nonspecific enzymes such as lipoxygenases and peroxidases and non-enzymatic oxidation by reactive oxygen species.

Monocyte-derived multipotent cell delivered programmed therapeutics to reverse idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a highly heterogeneous and fatal disease. However, IPF treatment has been limited by the low drug delivery efficiency to lungs and dysfunctional "injured" type II alveolar epithelial cell (AEC II). Here, we present surface-engineered nanoparticles (PER NPs) loading astaxanthin (AST) and trametinib (TRA) adhered to monocyte-derived multipotent cell (MOMC) forming programmed therapeutics (MOMC/PER).

Fenton reaction-independent ferroptosis therapy via glutathione and iron redox couple sequentially triggered lipid peroxide generator.

Ferroptosis, a newfound non-apoptotic cell death pathway, results from the accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxide (LPO). Recently, emerging iron-based nanomaterials have been extensively developed to induce Fenton reaction-dependent ferroptosis for cancer therapy. However, insufficient amount of HO and limited acidity of tumor could not satisfy the optimal conditions for Fenton reaction, which extremely limited the efficacy of ferroptosis therapy.

Amplification of tumor antigen presentation by NLGplatin to improve chemoimmunotherapy.

Oxaliplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent widely used in cancer treatment whereas its immunosuppressive effect hinders the progress of immunotherapy. Here we have synthesized a new compound NLGplatin constructed by combining oxaliplatin (OXA) and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) inhibitor NLG919. The NLGplatin acquires chemotherapeutic properties of OXA and can activate the immune system, and also retains the ability to inhibit IDO enzyme activity without affecting the proliferation of immune cells.

Dex-Aco coating simultaneously increase the biocompatibility and transfection efficiency of cationic polymeric gene vectors.

Cationic polymeric vectors attracted plenty of attentions in gene therapy due to nonimmunogenicity, easy to synthesis and flexible properties. However, biocompatibility challenge such as nonspecific interactions with blood cells and serum proteins, may affect the delivery efficiency of cationic vectors; besides, inefficient endosomal escape causes low transfection efficiency. Herein, we synthesized an anionic coating polymer dextran-g-aconic anhydride (Dex-Aco, DA) through a simple esterification reaction, which can protect cationic polymer poly(cystamine-bis-acrylamide)-agmatine-histamine (PCAH, PC) constructed nanomedicine against interactions with blood cells and serum proteins, improving biocompatibility.

An energy-blocking nanoparticle decorated with anti-VEGF antibody to reverse chemotherapeutic drug resistance.

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) of tumor cells has greatly hindered the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs, resulting in chemotherapy failure, while overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in cell membranes is the leading cause of MDR. In this study, we reported novel self-assembled triphenylphosphine-quercetin-polyethylene glycol-monoclonal antibody nanoparticles (TQ-PEG-mAb NPs) for overcoming MDR primarily through mitochondrial damage to block ATP supply to ABC transporters both and . The doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded NPs (TQ/DOX-PEG-mAb) were composed of two drugs (TQ and DOX) and an outer shielding shell of the PEG-mAb conjugate.

A novel design of a polynuclear co-delivery system for safe and efficient cancer therapy.

We report a novel and easy-to-fabricate polynuclear nanoparticle based on the collaborative re-assembly of nanoparticles as a robust chemogene co-delivery platform. Specifically, the polynuclear nanoparticle carrying DOX and siBcl-2 exerts remarkable co-delivery efficiency, increases tumour cell apoptosis and inhibits tumour cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo.

A new strategy for hydrophobic drug delivery using a hydrophilic polymer equipped with stacking units.

A highly hydrophilic polymer equipped with guanidinium groups was used to load aromatic ring-containing hydrophobic agent doxorubicin (DOX) via π-π interaction. The results have shown that the delivery system exhibited enhanced cellular uptake and antitumor efficiency compared with free drugs. This study opens new avenues for the application of hydrophilic polymers in drug delivery.

Regulating the Golgi apparatus by co-delivery of a COX-2 inhibitor and Brefeldin A for suppression of tumor metastasis.

Finding a cure for breast cancer currently remains a medical challenge in due to the failure of common treatment methods to inhibit invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, which eventually leads to recurrence of breast cancer. Many secreted proteins are overexpressed and play crucial roles in tumorigenesis and development. The Golgi apparatus is a key protein processing and secretion factory in which metastasis-associated proteins are modified, transported and secreted; thus, regulating the Golgi apparatus of tumor cells is a viable strategy to inhibit tumor metastasis.

Vitamin A-decorated biocompatible micelles for chemogene therapy of liver fibrosis.

Liver fibrosis refers to excessive accumulation of hepatic collagen, which is primarily produced by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). No effective drugs are clinically available to treat this condition, reflecting the fact that antifibrotic drugs do not specifically target activated HSCs. Here, we report the synthesis and evaluation of poly (lactide-co-glycolide)-polyspermine-poly (ethylene glycol)-vitamin A (PLGA-PSPE-PEG-VA), and activated HSC-targeted, biocompatible amphiphilic polymers for co-delivery of chemical (silibinin) and genetic (siCol1α1) drugs that synergistically suppress collagen I accumulation in fibrogenesis.

Intraperitoneal hypertension, a novel risk factor for sepsis-associated encephalopathy in sepsis mice.

Sepsis associated encephalopathy (SAE), appears often indicates the deterioration of the sepsis disease and which have high risk of death. Although several mechanism and hypotheses have been proposed and studied, there is no breakthrough in the treatment of SAE. We performed a systematic research to evaluate the effect of intraperitoneal pressure on SAE.

Biocompatible fluorinated poly(β-amino ester)s for safe and efficient gene therapy.

Cationic polymers have been widely used as one of the most promising non-viral vehicles for gene delivery due to their potential safety and ease of large-scale production. Here, we report the design and synthesis of a series of novel biodegradable fluorinated poly(β-amino ester)s (FPBAEs) by simple Michael-addition reaction as safe and efficient gene carrier. The results of transfection efficacy assay demonstrated the optimal FPBAE could mediated much higher GFP expression than the commercial transfection agents, polyethyleneimine (PEI, M = 25K) and Lipo 2000, as well as the non-fluorinated poly(β-amino ester)s (PBAE) on both HeLa and HEK-293T cell lines (higher than 70 and 90%, respectively), which was largely attributed to fluorination.

pH-Responsive de-PEGylated nanoparticles based on triphenylphosphine-quercetin self-assemblies for mitochondria-targeted cancer therapy.

We have developed mitochondria-targeted self-assembled nanoparticles (NPs) based on amphiphilic triphenylphosphine-quercetin (TPP-Que) conjugates, which were further modified by poly(ethylene glycol) via a pH-responsive coordination bond to form TQ-PEG NPs. And it is revealed that the TQ-PEG NPs were more effective therapeutic agents compared with Que in vitro and in vivo.

MnO-Based Nanoplatform Serves as Drug Vehicle and MRI Contrast Agent for Cancer Theranostics.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) greatly impedes the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents. Overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, such as P-gp, on the surface of tumor cells is a major mechanism in MDR. In this study, we fabricated manganese dioxide (MnO)/doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded albumin nanoparticles (BMDN) for magnetic resonance imaging and reversing MDR in resistant tumor.

Degradable Polyethylenimine-Based Gene Carriers for Cancer Therapy.

Gene therapy using recombinant DNA or gene silencing using siRNA have become a prominent area of research in cancer therapy. However, their use in clinical applications is limited due to overall safety concerns and suboptimal efficacy. Although non-viral vectors such as polycationic polymers do not offer the same level of transfection efficiency as their viral counterparts, they still demonstrate immense potential as alternatives to viral vectors, given their versatility, low immunogenicity, ease of large-scale production, and ability to accelerate gene transfer with well-designed delivery platforms.