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The anti-apoptotic mechanism of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) makes it an obstacle to traditional apoptosis as the primary way of death. Ferroptosis is a recently reported mode of programmed cell death caused by the accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxidation (LPO) in cells. High dependence on iron makes BCSCs more sensitive to ferroptosis. However, the high level of the Prominin2 protein and high concentration of GSH in BCSCs make BCSCs able to efflux excess iron ions and clear LPO, which limits the therapeutic efficacy of ferroptosis in BCSCs. To overcome this obstacle, we designed a hyaluronic acid (HA)-coated siProminin2-loaded FeOOH nanoparticle (FeOOH/siPROM2@HA) to amplify ferroptosis. The FeOOH/siPROM2@HA is stable under physiologically neutral conditions but generates Fe3+ in an acidic microenvironment; meanwhile, the released siProminin2 inhibits its efflux, and then Fe3+ undergoes a redox reaction with endogenous GSH to produce Fe2+, which initiates the Fenton reaction-based ferroptosis by LPO elevation. Both in vitro and in vivo studies showed that these pH-sensitive NPs significantly inhibited tumor growth by downregulating glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). Overall, this work demonstrates a "three-pronged" strategy for amplified ferroptotic therapy by simultaneously promoting intracellular iron, inhibiting iron efflux, and depleting GSH, which presents a potential strategy for CSC-targeted cancer therapy. As the root of recurrence and metastasis, breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are resistant to traditional apoptotic death, so it is urgent to explore a new death mode for BCSCs. It has been reported that BCSCs are highly iron-dependent and, therefore, more sensitive to ferroptosis; however, the therapeutic efficacy is greatly limited by the overexpression of Prominin2 in BCSCs, which is correlated with resistance to ferroptosis by exocytosis of iron ions. In this work, we designed a hyaluronic acid-coated siProminin2-loaded FeOOH nano-drug (FeOOH/siPROM2@HA) to accelerate ferroptosis of BCSCs by simultaneously increasing iron ion content, inhibiting iron efflux, and scavenging GSH. This "three-pronged" strategy has significant implications for BCSC-targeted cancer therapy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer vaccines represent the most promising strategies in the battle against cancers. Eliciting a robust therapeutic effect with vaccines, however, remains a challenge owing to the weak immunogenicity of autologous tumor antigens and highly immunosuppressive microenvironment. In the present study, we constructed CpG oligodeoxyribonucleotide (CpG ODN)-loaded cancer cell apoptotic bodies (Abs) as cancer vaccines for enhanced immunotherapy through cascade amplification-mediated immunosuppression relief. Abs that contain an abundant source of tumor-specific neoantigens and other tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) can be regarded as vaccines with higher immunogenicity. The de novo synthesized Abs-CpG could target and polarize macrophages to improve the immunosuppressive microenvironment. More importantly, we found that the effect of immunosuppression relief was cascade amplified, which was mediated by M1 macrophage-derived exosome transportation. Our results showed that CpG ODN polarized macrophages to M1 type and produced a large amount of TNF-α, which then activated cell division control protein 42 (Cdc42). Interestingly, we found that exosomes from M1 macrophages delivered Cdc42 and CpG to adjacent macrophages and further enhanced the phagocytosis of adjacent macrophages by positive feedback. Through cascade amplification induced by Abs-CpG with macrophage exosomes, the immunogenicity and immunosuppressive microenvironment were greatly improved, which then enhanced the performance of cancer vaccine therapy. Thus, we propose that a strategy of combining the Abs-based vaccine platform with the immunomodulatory approach represents the next generation of cancer immunotherapy. 1. We discovered a relieving strategy for tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment: Abs-CpG polarized macrophages to M1 type, and M1 macrophage-derived exosomes delivered Cdc42 and CpG to adjacent macrophages, which then further enhanced the phagocytosis of adjacent macrophages by positive feedback. Through cascade amplification induced by the transfer of macrophage exosomes, the immunogenicity and immunosuppressive microenvironment were greatly improved. 2. As a vaccine, Abs contained both tumor-specific neoantigens and other tumor-associated antigens with higher immunogenicity and high clinical transformability. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A shielding nozzle for the ALMD of reactive alloys out of chamber has been designed. • Two parameters are used to quantitatively evaluate the property of shielding nozzle. • The shielding nozzle is optimized by CFD simulation and validated experimentally. • Several Ti6Al4V samples with good properties are successfully prepared out of chamber. Laser metal deposition (LMD) provides the possibility to fabricate and repair large parts. A major challenge in successfully manufacturing reactive materials is to provide a protective atmosphere to prevent oxidization. Compared to the widely implemented sealed chamber, a local protective atmosphere, which focuses only on the deposition area, not only reduces gas consumption and processing time, but the workpiece is not limited by the chamber size. In the present research, a shielding nozzle was developed and validated, to generate an efficiently local protective atmosphere for the novel annular laser metal deposition (ALMD) of reactive materials. Based on CFD simulations, the influence of shielding nozzle configuration and gas flow rate on the oxygen concentration at the nozzle exit was evaluated. The results show that the optimized design of double structure shielding nozzle can provide a laminar flow region with a low oxygen level around the working area. The shielding gas flow rate has a large impact on the effective protection diameter. In addition, several Ti6Al4V samples were manufactured to guarantee the validity of the CFD simulations. The deposited Ti6Al4V samples exhibit shiny silvery surface color, and the contents of the interstitial elements in the deposited sample are the allowance for ASTM Grade 5. The optimal shielding nozzle offers the possibility of variable direction deposition and large parts deposition for reactive materials in open environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treating wounds with multidrug-resistant bacterial infections remains a huge and arduous challenge. In this work, we prepared a "live-drug"-encapsulated hydrogel dressing for the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections and full-thickness skin incision repair. Our live dressing was comprised of photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) and extracellular matrix (ECM) gel with photothermal, antibacterial and antioxidant properties, as well as good cytocompatibility and blood compatibility. More interestingly, live PSB could be regarded as not only photothermal agents but also as anti-inflammatory agents to promote wound healing owing to their antioxidant metabolites. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that the PSB hydrogel not only had a high killing rate against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) but it also accelerated collagen deposition and granulation tissue formation by promoting cell proliferation and migration, which significantly promoted skin tissue regeneration and wound healing. We believe that the large-scale production of PSB Gel-based therapeutic dressings has the advantages of easy use and promising clinical applications. Rapid wound healing and the treatment of bacterial infections have always been the two biggest challenges in the field of wound care. We prepared a "live drug" dressing by encapsulating photosynthetic bacteria into an extracellular matrix hydrogel to sterilize the wound and promote wound healing. First, photosynthetic bacteria are not only a photothermal agent for photothermal wound sterilization, but also possess the anti-inflammatory capacity to enhance wound healing due to their antioxidant metabolites. Second, the extracellular matrix hydrogel is rich in a variety of growth factors and nutrients to promote cell migration and accelerate wound healing. Third, photosynthetic bacteria are not only green and non-toxic, but also can be obtained on a large scale, which facilitates manufacturing and clinical transformation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor recurrence after surgery is the main cause of treatment failure. However, the initial stage of recurrence is not easy to detect, and it is difficult to cure in the late stage. In order to improve the life quality of postoperative patients, an efficient synergistic immunotherapy was developed to achieve early diagnosis and treatment of post-surgical tumor recurrence, simultaneously. In this paper, two kinds of theranostic agents based on gold nanorods (AuNRs) platform were prepared. AuNRs and quantum dots (QDs) in one agent was used for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology to indicate the occurrence of in situ recurrence, while AuNRs in the other agent was used for photothermal therapy (PTT), together with anti-PDL1 mediated immunotherapy to alleviate the process of tumor metastasis. A series of assays indicated that this synergistic immunotherapy could induce tumor cell death and the increased generation of CD3+/CD4+ T-lymphocytes and CD3+/CD8+ T-lymphocytes. Besides, more immune factors (IL-2, IL-6, and IFN- γ) produced by synergistic immunotherapy were secreted than mono-immunotherapy. This cooperative immunotherapy strategy could be utilized for diagnosis and treatment of postoperative tumor recurrence at the same time, providing a new perspective for basic and clinical research. This efficient synergistic immunotherapy was developed to achieve early diagnosis and treatment of post-surgical tumor recurrence, simultaneously. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α1-antitrypsin (AAT) is a 52 kDa serine protease inhibitor that is abundant in plasma. It is synthesized mainly by hepatic cells, and widely used to treat patients with emphysema due to congenital deficiency of AAT. A new isolation method for the purification of AAT from Cohn Fraction IV (Cohn F IV) is described. Cohn F IV is usually discarded as a byproduct from Cohn process. Using Cohn F IV as starting material does not interfere with the production of other plasma proteins and the cost of purification could be reduced greatly. Parameters of each step during purification were optimized, 15% polyethyleneglycol (PEG) concentration and pH 5.2 for PEG precipitation, elution with 0.05 M sodium acetate and pH 4.7 for ion-exchange chromatography, and two steps blue sepharose affinity chromatography were chosen for AAT purification. The final protein with purity of 98.17%, specific activity of 3893.29 IU/mg, and yield of 28.35%, was achieved. Western blotting was applied for qualitative identification of final product, which specifically reacted with goat anti-human AAT antibody. LC-ESI-MS/MS was also employed to confirm the final protein. High performance liquid chromatography was used to analyze the composition of purified protein suggesting that pure protein was achieved. The molecular weight of AAT is 51062.77 Da which was identified by LC–MS-MS. The manufacturing process described here may make better use of human plasma with Cohn F IV as starting material. The simple process described in this study is simple and inexpensive, it has a potential value for large scale production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skyline query on multiple relations, known as skyline join query, finds skyline points from join results of multiple data sources. The issue of skyline join query has been extensively studied. However, most of the existing skyline join algorithms can only perform query on two relations, and ignores the common occasion which involves more than two relations. In this paper, we propose an efficient skyline join algorithm Skyjog, which is applicable for query on two or more relations. Skyjog can quickly identify most of skyline join results with simple calculation. Extensive experiments demonstrate that Skyjog outperforms the state-of-the-art skyline join algorithms on two and more than two relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidrug resistance is one of the biggest obstacles in the treatment of cancer. Recent research studies highlight that tumor microenvironment plays a predominant role in tumor cell proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance. Hence, targeting the tumor microenvironment provides a novel strategy for the evolution of cancer nanomedicine. The blooming knowledge about the tumor microenvironment merging with the design of PEG-based amphiphilic nanoparticles can provide an effective and promising platform to address the multidrug resistant tumor cells. This review describes the characteristic features of tumor microenvironment and their targeting mechanisms with the aid of PEG-based amphiphilic nanoparticles for the development of newer drug delivery systems to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer cells. From the Clinical Editor Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Many cancers develop multidrug resistance towards chemotherapeutic agents with time and strategies are urgently needed to combat against this. In this review article, the authors discuss the current capabilities of using nanomedicine to target the tumor microenvironments, which would provide new insight to the development of novel delivery systems for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual communities function not only as social settings, but also as information neighborhoods. In this study, the term e-quality was used to refer to information quality, system quality, and service quality. Following the updated information systems (IS) success model, a research model was developed to explore the effects of e-quality on information seeking as well as the direct and mediating effects of affinity with virtual communities (the degree of importance that users place on virtual communities) on information seeking. Data collected from users of virtual communities were used to test the model. Affinity with virtual communities not only had a large and direct impact on information seeking in virtual communities but also fully mediated the effects of information quality and service quality on information seeking and partially mediated the effect of system quality on information seeking. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Eight novel platinum(II)/palladium(II) complexes with 1,3-dap and 4-toluensulfonyl-l-amino acid dianion, [Pt(1,3-dap)(TsalaNO)]·0.5H2O (1a), [Pt(1,3-dap)(TsvalNO)] (1b), [Pt(1,3-dap)(TspheNO)] (1c), [Pt(1,3-dap)(TsserNO)] (1d), [Pd(1,3-dap)(TsalaNO)]·1.5H2O (2a), [Pd(1,3-dap)(TsvalNO)] (2b), [Pd(1,3-dap)(TspheNO)] (2c) and [Pd(1,3-dap)(TsileNO)] (2d) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV, 1H NMR and mass spectrometry techniques. Crystal structure of the complex 1b has been determined by X-ray diffraction. The cytotoxicity was tested by MTT and SRB assays. The complexes (1a–1d and 2a–2d) exert cytotoxicity against Bel-7402, HL-60, KB and BGC-823, but none of them is more active than cisplatin. The results suggest that metal ions, amino acids and aliphatic N-containing ligands have effect on cytotoxicity, while the IC50 values do not show definite correlation with variation of them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Accumulating evidences suggest that Herba epimedii has the potential benefits against osteoporosis. However, previous studies were focused on the crude extract, total flavonoids (TF) and icariin (ICA), and the detailed molecular mechanisms of action and structure–activity relationship (SAR) remain unclear. Herein we aimed to systematically investigate the effects of Herba epimedii flavonoids (HEF) on the activity of osteoclasts, and explore the potential SAR. Both ICA and baohuoside-1 (BS) significantly inhibited the proliferation of RAW 264.7 cells (IC50 25 μM and 67 μM, respectively). Treatment of ICA resulted in G2/M arrest and apoptosis in RAW 264.7 cells as early as 12 h. Besides, HEF remarkably suppressed vitamin D-induced differentiation of osteoclasts in rabbit bone marrow cells and the bone resorption of rabbit mature osteoclasts in vitro. It is notable that the inhibitory effect of 100 μM ICA and BS on osteoclast formation is almost 90%; and the inhibition rate on bone resorption is 50% and 80%, respectively. Besides, RANKL-induced osteoclast formation from RAW 264.7 cells and the expression of TRAP, CA II, CTSK and MMP-9 was significantly reduced by the treatment of 25 μM HEF and 17β-estradiol (ES), and the inhibitory strength increases in the order TF < ES < ICA < BS, which was blocked by ICI182780 suggesting that the regulation of osteoclast activity might be ER dependent. Furthermore, the free hydroxyl group at C-7 of BS played an important role in the SAR for anti-osteoclast action. To conclude, HEF could regulate the formation and activity of osteoclasts by inhibiting the proliferation and differentiation, inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest and suppressing bone resorption of osteoclasts. Changes in osteoclast activity are probably mediated predominantly by interaction with nuclear estrogen receptors and via mitochondrial pathway. HEF, especially BS, has great potential for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Seven new palladium(II) complexes (1–7) with 4-toluenesulfonyl-L-amino acid dianion and 2, 2′-biquinoline (bqu)/1,4-diaminobutane (dab) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR, and mass spectra techniques. Crystal structure of the complex (7) has been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The cytotoxicity was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and sulforhodamine B (SRB) assays. The results indicate that the complexes exert cytotoxic effects with selectivity against tested carcinoma cell lines, but their cytotoxicity is less than that of cisplatin. It suggests that all the amino acids, N-containing ligands and metal ions have important effect on cytotoxicity, but the IC50 values do not show definite correlation with variation of amino acids, N-containing ligands and metal ions, the cytotoxicity of complexes is related to tumor cell species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Eight new palladium(II) complexes (1a–2d) with 4-toluenesulfonyl-l-amino acid dianion and diimine (bipy and phen) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectra techniques. Crystal structure of the complex (2d) has been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The cytotoxicity was tested by MTT and SRB assays. The results indicate that the complexes (1a–2d) have selectivity against tested carcinoma cell lines. The complex (2c) has the best cytotoxicity among the eight complexes, moreover its cytotoxicity is better than that of cisplatin against BGC-823, Bel-7402 and KB cell lines. It suggests that both aromatic diimine and 4-toluenesulfonyl-l-amino acid have important effect on cytotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Seven new iodo-bridged binuclear platinum(II) complexes [Pt(L)I2]2 (1–7) (L = n-butylamine, isopropylamine, m-toluidine, p-toluidine, diethylamine, N-methylaniline and aniline) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity, thermal analysis, IR, 1H NMR and mass spectra techniques. The cytotoxicity was tested by MTT assay. The results indicate that they have selectivity against tested carcinoma cell lines. For example, the complexes (3 and 7) have better cytotoxicity than cisplatin against Bel-7402 cell line, the complexes (2–5 and 7) have better cytotoxicity than cisplatin against Hela cell line. The results suggest that the species of amine has important effect on cytotoxicity, when L = m-toluidine, p-toluidine and aniline, the complexes have better cytotoxicity against tested carcinoma cell lines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Six new type binuclear platinum(II) complexes (a–f) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity, thermal analysis, IR, UV, 1H NMR and mass spectra techniques. The cytotoxicity of the complexes was tested by MTT and SRB assays. The cell cycle analysis and the levels of total platinum bound to DNA were measured by flow cytometry and ICP-MS, respectively. The results indicate that the complex (a) has no cytotoxicity against HL-60, BGC-823, Bel-7402, KB and Hela, the complexes (b, c, e and f) have weaker cytotoxicity against some tested carcinoma cell lines, the complex (d) has better cytotoxicity against HL-60, BGC-823, Bel-7402, KB, MCF-7, HCT-8 and Hela with respect to the IC50 values obtained. The cytotoxicity of the complex (d) is equal to that of cisplatin against HL-60 and Bel-7402 (P >0.05), but it has better cytotoxicity than that of cisplatin against BGC-823 and MCF-7 (P <0.05). The complex (d) causes significant G2/M arrest and a concomitant decrease of cell population in G1 and S phases, and the total DNA platination levels of the complex (d) are higher than those of cisplatin under the same experimental conditions. It suggests that the bridging linker has important effect on their cytotoxicity. Indeed, when the bridging linker is dicarboxylic acid, their cytotoxicity is better than that of platinum complexes with an amino acid as bridging linker. The new type binuclear platinum(II) complexes represent a novel class of anticancer agents, which deserves further attention in search of anticancer lead compounds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]