One-Pot Sequential Enrichment of Urinary Extracellular Vesicle and miRNAs Identifies a Noninvasive Biomarker Panel for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) offer promising noninvasive alternatives for convenient and noninvasive prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis, but inefficient EV enrichment and cargo extraction hinder discovery and validation for their clinical applications. Here, we present an integrated pipeline based on functionalized magnetic beads to streamline and enhance the efficiency of urinary EV miRNA analysis. EVs are first enriched on amphiphilic magnetic beads through chemical affinity, followed by EV lysis and the isolation of miRNAs through solid phase extraction.

MiRS-HF: A Novel Deep Learning Predictor for Cancer Classification and miRNA Expression Patterns.

Cancer classification and biomarker identification are crucial for guiding personalized treatment. To make effective use of miRNA associations and expression data, we have developed a deep learning model for cancer classification and biomarker identification. To make effective use of miRNA associations and expression data, we have developed a deep learning model for cancer classification and biomarker identification.

Label-Free Multiple Reaction Monitoring-Mass Spectrometry for Quantifying Phosphopeptides from Extracellular Vesicles.

Increasing efforts have been made to develop proteins in circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) as potential disease markers. It is in particular intriguing to measure post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as phosphorylation, preserved and stable in EVs. To facilitate the quantitative measurement of EV protein phosphorylation for potential clinical use, a label-free (LF) multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) strategy is introduced by utilizing a synthetic phosphopeptide set (phos-iRT) as the internal standards and a local normalization method.

Assessment of urine sample collection and processing variables for extracellular vesicle-based proteomics.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in urine are a promising source for developing non-invasive biomarkers. However, urine concentration and content are highly variable and dynamic, and actual urine collection and handling often is nonideal. Furthermore, patients such as those with prostate diseases have challenges in sample collection due to difficulties in holding urine at designated time points.

Research progress in the development of 3D skin models and their application to in vitro skin irritation testing.

Toxicological assessment of chemicals is crucial for safeguarding human health and the environment. However, traditional animal experiments are associated with ethical, technical, and predictive limitations in assessing the toxicity of chemicals to the skin. With the recent development of bioengineering and tissue engineering, three-dimensional (3D) skin models have been commonly used as an alternative for toxicological studies.

Hierarchical Dendritic Photonic Crystal Beads for Efficient Isolation and Proteomic Analysis of Multiple Cell Types.

Cell types with different morphology, and function collaborate to maintain organ function. As such, analyzing proteomic differences and connections between different types of cells forms the foundation for establishing functional connectomes and developing in vitro organoid simulation experiments. However, the efficiency of cell type isolation from organs is limited by time, equipment, and cost.

Targeted Phosphoproteomics of Human Saliva Extracellular Vesicles via Multiple Reaction Monitoring Cubed (MRM).

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has become a global health problem due to its increasing incidence and high mortality rate. Early intervention through monitoring of the diagnostic biomarker levels during OSCC treatment is critical. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging surrogates in intercellular communication through transporting biomolecule cargo and have recently been identified as a potential source of biomarkers such as phosphoproteins for many diseases.

Imaging cellular forces with photonic crystals.

Current techniques for visualizing and quantifying cellular forces have limitations in live cell imaging, throughput, and multi-scale analysis, which impede progress in cell force research and its practical applications. We developed a photonic crystal cellular force microscopy (PCCFM) to image vertical cell forces over a wide field of view (1.3 mm ⨯ 1.

3D gradient printing based on digital light processing.

3D gradient printing is a type of fabrication technique that builds three-dimensional objects with gradually changing properties. Gradient digital light processing based 3D printing has garnered considerable attention in recent years. This function-oriented technology precisely manipulates the performance of different positions of materials and prints them as a monolithic structure to realize specific functions.

Phosphoproteome analysis of cerebrospinal fluid extracellular vesicles in primary central nervous system lymphoma.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare but highly aggressive extra-nodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, mostly of the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) type. The present invasive diagnosis and poor prognosis of PCNSL propose an urgent need to develop molecular markers for early detection, real-time monitoring and treatment evaluation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are promising biomarker carriers for liquid biopsy of CNS diseases and brain tumors; however, research remains challenging due to the low concentration of EVs in the limited available volume of CSF from each individual patient and the low efficiency of existing methods for EV enrichment.

A small pore black TiO/-large pore FeO cascade nanoreactor for chemodynamic/photothermal synergetic tumour therapy.

Various unique spatial structures are often found in the enzymes of biological systems. From the consideration of bionics, it is challenging but meaningful to design nanozymes with distinctive structures to enhance their bioactivities. To explore the relationship between the structure and activity of nanozymes, in this work, a special structural nanoreactor, namely small pore black TiO coated/doped large pore FeO (TiO/-FeO) loaded with lactate oxidase (LOD), was constructed for chemodynamic and photothermal synergistic therapy.

Proteomic and phosphoproteomic landscape of salivary extracellular vesicles to assess OSCC therapeutical outcomes.

Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as an appealing source for surrogates to evaluate the disease status. Herein, we present a novel proteomic strategy to identify proteins and phosphoproteins from salivary EVs to distinguish oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients from healthy individuals and explore the feasibility to evaluate therapeutical outcomes. Bi-functionalized magnetic beads (BiMBs) with Ti (IV) ions and a lipid analog, 1,2-Distearoyl-3-sn-glycerophosphoethanolamine (DSPE) are developed to efficiently isolate EVs from small volume of saliva.

Macrophage-Derived Exosomal miR-31-5p Promotes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tumourigenesis Through the Large Tumor Suppressor 2-Mediated Hippo Signalling Pathway.

Tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) are thought to contribute to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) initiation and progression. However, the underlying mechanism through which TAMs foster OSCC progression is still unclear. This study intended to determine whether there are exclusively exosomal miRNAs-derived macrophages that are functionally necessary for OSCC progression.

Robust Carbonated Structural Color Barcodes with Ultralow Ontology Fluorescence as Biomimic Culture Platform.

Photonic crystal (PC) barcodes are a new type of spectrum-encoding microcarriers used in multiplex high-throughput bioassays, such as broad analysis of biomarkers for clinical diagnosis, gene expression, and cell culture. Unfortunately, most of these existing PC barcodes suffered from undesired features, including difficult spectrum-signal acquisition, weak mechanical strength, and high ontology fluorescence, which limited their development to real applications. To address these limitations, we report a new type of structural color-encoded PC barcodes.

Radiotherapy Enhancement for Human Pancreatic Carcinoma Using a Peptide-Gold Nanoparticle Hybrid.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is radioresistant. Due to their strong X-ray absorption capacity, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been used as radiosensitizers for cancer therapeutics. Herein, we describe a novel conjugate complex consisting of a peptide for targeting plectin-1 (PTP) specifically expressed on the PDAC cell membrane and AuNPs, termed AuNP-PTP, to be used for PDAC radiotherapy and .

Self-assembled colloidal arrays for structural color.

Structural color materials that are colloidally assembled as inspired by nature are attracting increased interest in a wide range of research fields. The assembly of colloidal particles provides a facile and cost-effective strategy for fabricating three-dimensional structural color materials. In this review, the generation mechanisms of structural colors from colloidally assembled photonic crystalline structures (PCSs) and photonic amorphous structures (PASs) are first presented, followed by the state-of-the-art and detailed technologies for their fabrication.

Photonic crystal enhanced laser desorption and ionization substrate for detection of stress biomarkers under atmospheric pressure.

Enhanced efficiency for generating molecular ions is essential for high-throughput and sensitive detection using mass spectrometry in clinical diagnostics and biomarker discovery. In this study, we developed a novel strategy to promote laser desorption and ionization by using photonic crystals as substrates. The WO-TiO inverse opal photonic crystal, with a coupling stop band and laser wavelength, significantly enhanced the efficiency of laser desorption and ionization owing to the slow light effect and the porous structure of the inverse opal, which increased the interaction between the laser and WO-TiO.

Bifunctional Microbead Carriers with Magnetic Response and Plasmonic Fluorescence Enhancement.

In this work, we combine the magnetic microbeads fabricated by microfluidics with nanoplasmonic-assisted fluorescence enhancement for the first time. These bifunctional microbeads not only have high fluorescence enhancement factor but also have magnetic response. The magnetic polymer microbeads were generated by capillary microfluidic device and then coated uniformly by the gold nano-islands layer.

Clickable Colloidal Photonic Crystals for Structural Color Pattern.

Patterning colloidal photonic crystals have broad important applications in optical devices, functional coatings, full color displays, and colorimetric sensors. In this paper, a clickable colloidal photonic crystal using vinyl-modified sub-micrometer silica particles as building blocks was proposed to pattern photonic crystals. By click chemistry, different chemical groups were simply grafted to the clickable photonic crystals film and obtained wettability-encoded structure color patterns.

Self-Reporting Colorimetric Analysis of Drug Release by Molecular Imprinted Structural Color Contact Lens.

As a prospective ophthalmic drug delivery device, contact lenses attract a lot of attention because of the improved drug residence time and bioavailability. Herein, we proposed and fabricated a molecular imprinted structural color contact lens for sustained timolol release which could self-report the release process by color change. The specific recognition of target timolol by molecular imprinted sites can not only increase the loading amount and the residence time of the drug but also endow the structure color of lens remarkable blue shift with the accumulative release of timolol.

Morphology, Migration, and Transcriptome Analysis of Schwann Cell Culture on Butterfly Wings with Different Surface Architectures.

It has been shown that material surface topography greatly affects cell attachment, growth, proliferation, and differentiation. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms for cell-material interactions are still not understood well. Here, two kinds of butterfly wings with different surface architectures were employed for addressing such an issue.

Robust, Highly Visible, and Facile Bioconjugation Colloidal Crystal Beads for Bioassay.

High mechanical strength, highly visible, and admirable grafting molecular ability is the key challenge for colloidal photonic crystal (CPC) barcode beads in multiplex analysis fields. To achieve this goal, we proposed self-adhesion particles, polydopamine-coated SiO nanoparticles (PDA@SiO), to construct CPC barcode beads by droplet-based microfluidic approach. Because of the adhesion, broad absorption of light, and "active" functional groups of PDA, the beads are endowed with high robustness, visibility, and excellent biomolecule immobilization.

Effect of verbascoside on apoptosis and metastasis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Despite significant advances in therapy, the 5-year survival rates for patients with advanced stage oral cancers still remains poor as an appropriate treatment has not been found yet, due to side effects of chemo/radiotherapy. Verbascoside (VB), a major bioactive constituent of the Tsoong herb, displays pharmacological properties by exhibiting anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. However, the underlining function and mechanism of VB in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear.

Bio-inspired robust non-iridescent structural color with self-adhesive amorphous colloidal particle arrays.

Here we propose a new method for constructing highly color fast non-iridescent structural color materials by assembling self-adhesive poly-dopamine coated SiO nanoparticles (PDA@SiO) for amorphous colloidal arrays through a "spraying" process. Simply by alkaline vapor treatment, the adhesive forces and fastness of the amorphous colloidal arrays were significantly improved. This was demonstrated by lap shear tests of tape tearing and cohesive failure as well as a series of fastness tests like sandpaper abrasion, finger wiping and ultrasonic cleaning.

Single-Step Fabrication of High-Throughput Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrates.

The combination of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with high-throughput screening (HTS) has significant importance for highly sensitive and massive workload assays. Although fabrication of HTS-SERS substrates can be achieved by several methods, the high cost as well as large-equipment dependence limit their applications. Here, we report a simple method to fabricate HTS-SERS substrates within one-step process.