Stepwise Size Shrinkage Cascade-Activated Supramolecular Prodrug Boosts Antitumor Immunity by Eliciting Pyroptosis.

Effective pyroptosis induction is a promising approach to potentiate cancer immunotherapy. However, the actual efficacy of the present pyroptosis inducers can be weakened by successive biological barriers. Here, a cascaded pH-activated supramolecular nanoprodrug (PDNP) with a stepwise size shrinkage property is developed as a pyroptosis inducer to boost antitumor immune response.

Multi-chamber petaloid root-growth chip for the non-destructive study of the development and physiology of the fibrous root system of Oryza sativa.

The root system of plants is a major component of their bodies in terms of both function and bulk. The investigation of root system development is greatly assisted by microfluidic devices, which improve the spatial and temporal resolution of observations without destroying tissue. In the present study, a multi-chamber petaloid root-growth chip was developed for studying the development and physiology of root systems that have thin branching structures (i.

Spontaneous formation of tumor spheroid on a hydrophilic filter paper for cancer stem cell enrichment.

Emerging evidence has demonstrated that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play critical roles in tumor invasion, metastasis and recurrence. The specific targeting capability on CSCs is of high importance for the development of effective anti-tumor therapeutics. However, isolation, enrichment and cultivation of these special and rare groups of tumor cells for in vitro analyses is a nontrivial job and requires particular culture medium and environmental control.

3D-Printed seed planter and well array for high-throughput seed germination screening.

Seed germination is an important means of evaluating seed quality. In the present study, a well array for a seed germination experiment was designed and fabricated by 3D printing for the first time. Each hollow cone-shaped well can hold one seed, which not only prevented the seed from falling out of the well but also ensured that part of the seed was fully exposed to the sublayer of wet filter paper, allowing it to receive water for germination.