Emulation and evaluation of tumor cell combined chemotherapy in isotropic/anisotropic collagen fiber microenvironments.

The rapid emergence of anisotropic collagen fibers in the tissue microenvironment is a critical transition point in late-stage breast cancer. Specifically, the fiber orientation facilitates the likelihood of high-speed tumor cell invasion and metastasis, which pose lethal threats to patients. Thus, based on this transition point, one key issue is how to determine and evaluate efficient combination chemotherapy treatments in late-stage cancer.

Lysine demethylase 1B (Kdm1b) enhances somatic reprogramming through inducing pluripotent gene expression and promoting cell proliferation.

Lysine demethylase 1B (Kdm1b) is known as an epigenetic modifier with demethylase activity against H3K4 and H3K9 histones and plays an important role in tumor progression and tumor stem cell enrichment. In this study, we attempted to elucidate the role of Kdm1b in somatic cell reprogramming. We found that exogenous expression of Kdm1b in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) can influence the epigenetic modifications of histones.

LMCD1 facilitates the induction of pluripotency via cell proliferation, metabolism, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Somatic cell reprogramming was achieved by lentivirus mediated overexpression of four transcription factors called OSKM: OCT3/4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC but it was not very efficient. Here, we reported that the transcription factor, LMCD1 (LIM and cysteine rich domains 1) together with OSKM can induce reprogramming of human dermal fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) more efficiently than OSKM alone. At the same time, the number of iPSCs clones were reduced when we knocked down LMCD1.

An intermediate state in trans-differentiation with proliferation, metabolic, and epigenetic switching.

Although TGF-β signaling can effectively activate fibroblasts to transform to myofibroblasts, the underlying mechanisms involved in the cell fate switching for trans-differentiation have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we found the evidence of an intermediate state in the process of trans-differentiation. In the early stage of trans-differentiation, cells enter the intermediate state first with multiple characteristics such as accelerating cell cycle, metabolic switching, enhanced anti-apoptotic ability, and pluripotency, which is very similar to the early stage of reprogramming.

Highly efficient nanomedicine from cationic antimicrobial peptide-protected Ag nanoclusters.

Designing the homogeneous assembly of the bio-nano interface to fine-tune the interactions between the nanoprobes and biological systems is of prime importance to improve the antimicrobial efficiency of nanomedicines. In this work, highly luminescent silver nanoclusters with the homogeneous conjugation of an antimicrobial peptide (referred to as Dpep-Ag NCs) were achieved via the reduction-decomposition-reduction process as a single package. The as-designed Dpep-Ag NCs inherited the two distinctive features of bactericides from the Ag+ species and the antimicrobial peptide of Dpep, and exhibited enhanced bacterial killing efficiency compared with other control groups including BSA-capped Ag NCs and the original antimicrobial peptide bactenecin (Opep)-protected Ag nanoparticles (Opep-Ag NPs).

Functionalized Graphene@Gold Nanostar/Lipid for Pancreatic Cancer Gene and Photothermal Synergistic Therapy under Photoacoustic/Photothermal Imaging Dual-Modal Guidance.

Nanomaterial-based pancreatic cancer treatment has received widespread attention and rapid development in the past few years. The major challenges include the poor combination of diagnosis and therapy, the difficulty in targeting therapy from the root and the unsatisfactory antitumor efficiency, which is accompanied by a great risk of relapse and metastasis. In this work, a positively charged lipid bilayer membrane is coated on reduced graphene oxide@gold nanostar (rGO@AuNS) for photoacoustic/photothermal dual-modal imaging-guided gene/photothermal synergistic therapy of pancreatic cancer.