Publications by authors named "Zhi-Jia Wang"

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  • * bsProbe shows significantly improved tumor accumulation—about six times more than traditional probes—enhancing detection capabilities for small tumors and providing a clearer distinction between malignant and benign tissues.
  • * With a specificity of 90.48% and sensitivity of 92.22% based on analysis of 195 bladder cancer specimens, the bsProbe could improve early diagnosis and may aid in imaging-guided surgeries for tumors that are not visible.
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  • - Recent research highlights the potential of using GPX4 inhibitors to trigger ferroptosis as a cancer treatment, although practical application is limited by poor delivery and lack of specificity.
  • - A new peptide-ferriporphyrin conjugate (Gi-F-CAA) has been developed that activates specifically within the tumor environment, enhancing its ability to penetrate and target cancer cells effectively.
  • - This conjugate significantly inhibits GPX4 and increases oxidative stress, leading to better tumor-killing effects and offering a promising strategy to combat treatment resistance in various cancer models.
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  • PROTACs are a new drug development approach that targets and degrades specific proteins, but face challenges like off-target effects and the "hook effect."
  • Researchers have introduced Nano-PROTACs, which can self-assemble inside tumor cells and effectively degrade proteins in a controlled manner, avoiding the hook effect.
  • These Nano-PROTACs have shown a high degradation rate (95%) for proteins like EGFR and AR in lab tests, and have successfully inhibited tumor growth in mice models, suggesting potential for clinical applications.
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  • Anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies have shown success in empowering T-cells for tumor immunotherapy, but challenges remain due to low T-cell infiltration and high levels of extracellular matrix hindering effectiveness.
  • A new peptide-based bispecific nanoblocker (BNB) strategy is designed to target CXCR4 and PD-L1, helping increase T-cell infiltration and activation by forming nanoclusters directly on tumor cells.
  • The BNB demonstrates a significantly longer half-life in tumors compared to plasma, leading to better tumor accumulation and fewer side effects, ultimately improving immunotherapy outcomes by reducing tumor stress from matrix components.
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  • Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory condition treated using heat-clearing and toxin-removing substances like Coptidis Rhizoma and Bovis Calculus, which contain active compounds berberine (BBR) and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA).
  • Researchers developed a new treatment method using UDCA-BBR supramolecular nanoparticles, which were created through a co-decocting process and characterized as tetrahedral nanoparticles with an average size of 180 nm.
  • In experimental studies on mice with UC, these nanoparticles significantly improved various health metrics, including body weight and inflammation markers, while outperforming a standard mechanical mixture of the components.
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  • * A new treatment called bispecific glycopeptide (bsGP) targets both tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and tumor cells, helping to convert harmful TAMs into beneficial immune cells.
  • * In bladder tumor models, bsGP significantly decreased the recurrence rate to 22%, compared to much higher rates with traditional treatments, suggesting it may effectively combat cancer spread and improve immune response.
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Lysosome-targeting self-assembling prodrugs had emerged as an attractive approach to overcome the acquisition of resistance to chemotherapeutics by inhibiting lysosomal sequestration. Taking advantage of lysosomal acidification induced intracellular hydrolytic condensation, we developed a lysosomal-targeting self-condensation prodrug-nanoplatform () system for overcoming lysosome-mediated drug resistance. Briefly, the designed hydroxycamptothecine (HCPT)-silane conjugates self-assembled into silane-based nanoparticles, which were taken up into lysosomes by tumor cells.

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  • Tumor cells modify their metabolism to increase glycolytic metabolites, which aids in their growth and proliferation.
  • The study focuses on a new PKM2 nano-activator that promotes the conversion of the PKM2 enzyme from dimers to tetramers, effectively slowing down glycolysis and inhibiting tumor growth and spread.
  • This glycopeptide-based nano-activator targets tumors directly and enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy in treating prostate and breast cancers by disrupting tumor metabolism.
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  • * A new imaging strategy was developed that utilizes MMP-2 to enhance how these agents stick to tumors, improving their retention time and increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during imaging.
  • * Tests showed this advanced strategy successfully accumulated at tumor sites in models of renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, making it a promising tool for better tumor imaging in complex surgeries.
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Intravesical administration of first-line drugs has shown failure in the treatment of bladder cancer owing to the poor tumor retention time of chemotherapeutics. Herein, we report an intracellular hydrolytic condensation (IHC) system to construct long-term retentive nano-drug depots in situ, wherein sustained drug release results in highly efficient suppression of bladder cancer. Briefly, the designed doxorubicin (Dox)-silane conjugates self-assemble into silane-based prodrug nanoparticles, which condense into silicon particle-based nano-drug depots inside tumor cells.

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Jiyuan Oridonin A (JOA) is a naturally occurring ent-kaurane diterpenoid that exhibits significant potential in the field of anti-tumor drug development. However, its detailed anti-cancer mechanism of action has not been fully understood. In order to investigate its anticancer mode of action, two series of novel fluorescent derivatives of JOA conjugated with naphthalimide dyes were synthesized, and their antitumor activity against five selected cancer cell lines (MGC-803, SW1990, PC-3, TE-1 and HGC-27) was evaluated.

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  • Peptide drug conjugates (PDCs) are a new type of cancer treatment that offer better targeting and fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy, but they struggle with penetrating tumor cells.
  • The research presents a new PDC design that includes a targeting motif, an assembly motif, and a cytotoxic payload, which creates nanoclusters that enhance the drug's effectiveness in entering cells.
  • Testing in breast and bladder cancer models showed that this PDC not only improves treatment efficacy but also allows for higher doses of the drug to be tolerated, highlighting its potential for advancing PDC development.
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The Src homology-2 domain containing-protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP2) is a convergent node for oncogenic cell-signaling cascades including the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway. As an oncoprotein as well as a potential immunomodulator, SHP2 has now emerged as an attractive target for novel anti-cancer agents. Although significant progress has been made in identifying chemotypes of SHP2 inhibitors, these specific compounds might not be clinically useful to inhibit frequently encountered mutated SHP2 variants.

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As a continuation of our research on developing potent and potentially safe androgen receptor (AR) degrader, a series of novel proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) containing the phthalimide degrons with different linker were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their AR degradation activity against LNCaP (AR+) cell line. Most of the synthesized compounds displayed moderate to satisfactory AR binding affinity and might lead to antagonist activity against AR. Among them, compound A16 exhibited the best AR binding affinity (85%) and degradation activity against AR.

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A series of 2-ethoxycarbonylthieno[2,3-]quinolines were synthesized in the bio-derived "green" solvent γ-valerolactone (GVL) and evaluated for their inhibitory activities against PTP1B, the representative compound 6a displayed an IC value of 8.04 ± 0.71 μM with 4.

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Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most widespread type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). As the most aggressive form of the DLBCL, the activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype is often resistant to standard chemotherapies. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib provides a potential therapeutic approach for the DLBCL but fails to improve the outcome in the phase III trial.

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Objective: To study the alterations and relationship of surfactant protein (SP)-A, SP-D and KL-6 in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP).

Method: Self-control method was used for the study on SP-A, SP-D and KL-6 in serum, infected and non-infected BALFs in 32 MMP children with only one side of MPP.

Result: The contents of SP-A, SP-D and KL-6 in infected BALF were [mg/L;M (IQR) ]: 243 (90-468) , 187 (43-333) , 148 (47-426) ;104 (37-257) , 56 (25-131) , 35 (12-147) in non-infected BALF; 35 (25-69) , 33 (9-149) and 24 (15-62) in serum.

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