Human serum albumin (HSA) serves as a crucial indicator for therapeutic monitoring and biomedical diagnosis. In this study, a near infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe, termed BTPA, characterized a donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) structure based on bridged triphenylamine (TPA) was developed. BTPA exhibited outstanding sensitivity and selectivity towards HSA among various analysts, with a remarkable 50-fold fluorescence enhancement with a significant Stokes shift (∼190 nm) and a wide linear detection range of 0-20 μM of HSA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMesangial cell (MC)-mediated glomerulonephritis is a frequent cause of end-stage renal disease, with immune inflammatory damage and fibrosis as its basic pathological processes. However, the treatment of glomerulonephritis remains challenging owing to limited drug accumulation and serious side effects. Hence, the specific codelivery of "anti-inflammatory/antifibrosis" drugs to the glomerular MC region is expected to yield better therapeutic effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFColloids Surf B Biointerfaces
January 2022
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells with the capacity to differentiate into several cell types under appropriate conditions. They also possess remarkable antitumor features that make them a novel choice to treat cancers. Accumulating evidence suggest that the MSCs-derived extracellular vesicles, known as exosomes, play an essential role in the therapeutic effects of MSCs mainly by carrying biologically active factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnrofloxacin (ENR), a broad-spectrum antibacterial drug, has extremely poor water solubility contributing to low bioavailability, which prevents drug formulation design and limits its wide application in livestock farming and aquaculture. Compared to conventional formulations of ENR, casein (Cas)-based drug delivery system has been reported to have significant advantages in the improvement of solubility and bioavailability of drugs. In this paper, we report the preparation process of ENR-loaded Cas nanoparticles (ENR-Cas) using magnetic agitation without any organic agent and the optimization of the formulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer vaccines represent among the most promising strategies in the battle against cancers. However, the clinical efficacy of current cancer vaccines is largely limited by the lack of optimized delivery systems to generate strong and persistent antitumor immune responses. Moreover, most cancer vaccines require multiple injections to boost the immune responses, leading to poor patient compliance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs an acidic, ocean colloid polysaccharide, alginate is both a biopolymer and a polyelectrolyte that is considered to be biocompatible, nontoxic, nonimmunogenic, and biodegradable. A significant number of studies have confirmed the potential use of alginate-based platforms as effective vehicles for drug delivery for cancer-targeted treatment. In this review, the focus is on the formation of alginate-based cancer-targeted delivery systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFColloids Surf B Biointerfaces
September 2020
Surfactants can improve the hydrophobicity of poorly water-soluble drugs and increase the stability of microparticles by reducing surface tension. This study describes that surfactant-engineered florfenicol instant microparticles (FIMs) increase bioavailability through a micellar solubilization mechanism. The FIMs were prepared by a modified emulsification method, and the optimal prescription was obtained by a combination of single factor investigation and response surface methodology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrological cancer refers to cancer in organs of the urinary system and the male reproductive system. It mainly includes prostate cancer, bladder cancer, renal cancer, etc., seriously threatening patients' survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRenal cell carcinoma (RCC) is an intractable genitourinary malignancy that accounts for approximately 4% of adult malignancies. Currently, there is no approved targeted therapy for RCC that has yielded durable remissions, and they remain palliative in intent. Emerging evidence has indicated that renal tumorigenesis and RCC treatment-resistance may originate from renal cancer stem cells (CSCs) with tumor-initiating capacity (CSC hypothesis).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug combination is a common method for clinical disease treatment. Whether the combination of drugs is reasonable often affects the result of the disease treatment. Many methods have been used to evaluate interaction between drugs to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development and identification of novel potential targeting sites for intervention therapy are essential in the search for improved treatment methods for gastric cancer (GC). Previously, it has been reported that hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a potential target gene involved in the endogenous hypoxic response and bioenergetic metabolism of GC cells. In the present study, with the assumption of a close interplay among HIF-1α, glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and lactate dehydrogenase-5 (LDH-5), 85 patients with GC were recruited and the protein and gene expression levels of HIF-1α, GLUT1 and LDH-5 in tumor tissues were evaluated in order to assess clinical correlations and co-expression patterns, using Immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe antioxidant effect of salidroside has been proven, but its role in liver injury is poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the protective effects and mechanism of salidroside on liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl) in vivo. Mice were pretreated with salidroside (60 mg/kg, intraperitoneally injected, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWith continuous emergence and widespread of multidrug-resistant infections, common antibiotics have become ineffective in treating these infections in the clinical setting. Anti-virulence strategies could be novel, effective therapeutic strategies against drug-resistant bacterial infections. Sortase A (srtA), a transpeptidase in gram-positive bacteria, can anchor surface proteins that play a vital role in pathogenesis of these bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKidney diseases have become a global public health problem. The application of kidney-targeted drug-delivery systems in the management of kidney diseases has profound transformative potential. Kidney-targeted drug delivery can reduce the undesired side effects of often potent drugs and enhance drug efficacy in alleviating the kidney disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNowadays, the potential scope of nanotechnology in uro-oncology (cancers of the prostate, bladder, and kidney) is broad, ranging from drug delivery, prevention, and diagnosis to treatment. Novel drug delivery methods using magnetic nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, and polymeric nanoparticles have been investigated in prostate cancer. Additionally, renal cancer treatment may be profoundly influenced by applications of nanotechnology principles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe success of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in differentiation therapy for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) highly encourages researches to apply a new combination therapy based on ATRA. Therefore, research strategies to further sensitize cells to retinoids are urgently needed. In this study, we showed that Dihydromyricetin (DMY), a 2,3-dihydroflavonol compound, exhibited a strong synergy with ATRA to promote APL NB4 cell differentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to optimize the extraction process of phloridzin from Lithocarpus polystachyus Rehd. leaves using response surface methodology and to determine the antioxidant capacity of the extract. A Box-Behnken design was used to analyze the effects of ethanol concentration, liquid-solid ratio, soak time and extraction time on the extraction yield of phloridzin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Nanomedicine
February 2018
Previously, 3,5-dipentadecyloxybenzamidine hydrochloride (TRX-20)-modified liposomes were reported to specifically target mesangial cells (MCs) in glomeruli. To further gain a better understanding of the characteristics and potential application for glomerular diseases of TRX-20-modified liposomes, we synthesized TRX-20 and prepared TRX-20-modified liposomes (TRX-LPs) with different molar ratios - 6% (6%-TRX-LP), 11% (11%-TRX-LP), and 14% (14%-TRX-LP) - of TRX-20 to total lipid in the present study. All TRX-LPs exhibited concentration-dependent toxicity against the MCs at a lipid concentration ranging from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe goal of this research was to evaluate the anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activities of three compounds extracted and purified from seeds (HS) on HepG2.2.15 cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRenal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common form of urologic tumor that originates from the highly heterogeneous epithelium of renal tubules. Over the last decade, targeting therapies to renal cancer cells have transformed clinical care for RCC. Recently, it was proposed that renal cancer stem cells (CSCs) isolated from renal carcinomas were responsible for driving tumor growth and resistance to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, according to the theory of CSCs; this has provided the rationale for therapies targeting this aggressive cell population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccumulating evidences have suggested the existence of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), which possess the potential of both self-renewal and differentiation. The origin of BCSCs might have relationship to the development of normal mammary stem cells. BCSCs are believed to play a key role in the initiation, recurrence and chemo-/radiotherapy resistances of breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA modular p-phosphonated calix[4]arene vesicle (PCV) loaded with paclitaxel (PTX) and conjugated with folic acid as a cancer targeting ligand has been prepared using a thin film-sonication method. It has a pH-responsive capacity to trigger the release of the encapsulated PTX payload under mildly acidic conditions. PTX-loaded PCV conjugated with alkyne-modified PEG-folic acid ligands prepared via click ligation (fP-PCVPTX) has enhanced potency against folate receptor (FR)-positive SKOV-3 ovarian tumour cells over FR-negative A549 lung tumour cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF