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Abstract The design of enzyme-response hydrogels has attracted increasing interest in cell therapy, biomedical research, and tissue engineering. Their rational design usually depends on the enzyme-response mechanism and have focused on behavior improvement, drug delivery, and state transition of hydrogels. However, no enzyme-response mechanism has yet been systematically investigated. Here, we construct a tunable platform of tannic acid-embedded chitosan/γ-polyglutamic acid hydrogel to study the enzyme-response mechanism. We track the roles of gallic acid hydrolyzed from tannic acid in altering the structure and properties of the hydrogel to get insights into the mechanism. The gallic acid inside the hydrogel enhances hydrogel crosslinking, increasing the mechanical properties and pH sensitivity but reducing thickness, porosity, and swelling behavior. The gallic acid outside the hydrogel increases the positive potential and superficial hydrophobicity of the hydrogel. These findings will aid the rational design of other enzyme-response hydrogels in more extensive self-adaptive fields.

Abstract The inadequate tumor accumulation of anti-cancer agents is a major shortcoming of current therapeutic drugs and remains an even more significant concern in the clinical prospects for nanomedicines. Various strategies aiming at regulating the intratumoral permeability of therapeutic drugs have been explored in preclinical studies, with a primary focus on vascular regulation and stromal reduction. However, these methods may trigger or facilitate tumor metastasis as a tradeoff. Therefore, there is an urgent need for innovative strategies that boost intratumoral drug accumulation without compromising treatment outcomes. As another important factor affecting drug tumor accumulation besides vasculature and stroma, the impact of tumor-associated lymphatic vessels (LVs) has not been widely considered. In the current research, we verified that anlotinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with anti-lymphangiogenesis activity, and SAR131675, a selective VEGFR-3 inhibitor, effectively decreased the density of tumor lymphatic vessels in mouse cancer models, further enhancing drug accumulation in tumor tissue. By combining anlotinib with therapeutic drugs, including doxorubicin (Dox), liposomal doxorubicin (Lip-Dox), and anti-PD-L1 antibody, we observed improved anti-tumor efficacy in comparison with monotherapy regimens. Meanwhile, this strategy significantly reduced tumor metastasis and elicited stronger anti-tumor immune responses. Our work describes a new, clinically transferrable approach to augmenting intratumoral drug accumulation, which shows great potential to address the current, unsatisfactory efficacies of therapeutic drugs without introducing metastatic risk.

Leucine-rich α-2 glycoprotein 1 (LRG1), a secreted glycoprotein, has been identified as significantly upregulated in renal fibrosis, potentially exacerbating the condition by enhancing TGF-β-Smad3-dependent signaling pathways. Herein, utilizing our developed LRG1-targeting peptide for LRG1 recruitment and lenalidomide for E3 ubiquitin ligase engagement, we developed an advanced proteolysis targeting chimera, ETTAC-2, specifically designed for LRG1 degradation. Our cellular degradation assays validated that ETTAC-2 effectively degraded LRG1 through a proteasome-dependent mechanism, achieving half-maximal degradation at a concentration of 8.38 µM. Furthermore, anti-fibrotic experiments conducted both in vitro and in vivo revealed that ETTAC-2 efficiently induced LRG1 degradation in fibrotic kidneys. This action effectively inhibited the TGF-β-Smad3 signaling pathway and diminished the secretion of fibrosis-associated proteins, consequently attenuating the progression of renal fibrosis. Our study highlights the pivotal role of LRG1 in renal fibrosis and positions ETTAC-2 as a promising therapeutic candidate for targeted LRG1 intervention.

Abstract One major obstacle in the drug treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is its highly fibrotic tumor microenvironment, which is replete with activated pancreatic stellate cells (a‐PSCs). These a‐PSCs generate abundant extracellular matrix and secrete various cytokines to form biophysical and biochemical barriers, impeding drug access to tumor tissues. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a strategy for reversing PSC activation and thereby removing the barriers to facilitate PDAC drug treatment. Herein, by integrating chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)‐seq, Assays for Transposase‐Accessible Chromatin (ATAC)‐seq, and RNA‐seq techniques, this work reveals that super‐enhancers (SEs) promote the expression of various genes involved in PSC activation. Disruption of SE‐associated transcription with JQ1 reverses the activated phenotype of a‐PSCs and decreases stromal fibrosis in both orthotopic and patient‐derived xenograft (PDX) models. More importantly, disruption of SEs by JQ1 treatments promotes vascularization, facilitates drug delivery, and alters the immune landscape in PDAC, thereby improving the efficacies of both chemotherapy (with gemcitabine) and immunotherapy (with IL‐12). In summary, this study not only elucidates the contribution of SEs of a‐PSCs in shaping the PDAC tumor microenvironment but also highlights that targeting SEs in a‐PSCs may become a gate‐opening strategy that benefits PDAC drug therapy by removing stromal barriers.

As a representative chemotherapeutic drug, docetaxel (DTX) has been used for breast cancer treatment for decades. However, the poor solubility of DTX limits its efficacy, and the DTX based therapy increases the metastasis risk due to the upregulation of C–X–C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) expression during the treatment. Herein, we conjugated CXCR4 antagonist peptide (CTCE) with DTX (termed CTCE–DTX) as an anti-metastasis agent to treat breast cancer. CTCE–DTX could self-assemble to nanoparticles, targeting CXCR4-upregulated metastatic tumor cells and enhancing the DTX efficacy. Thus, the CTCE–DTX NPs achieved promising efficacy on inhibiting both bone-specific metastasis and lung metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer. Our work provided a rational strategy on designing peptide–drug conjugates with synergistic anti-tumor efficacy.

Abstract Manipulating the tumor immune contexture towards a more active state can result in better therapeutic outcomes. Here we describe an easily accessible bacterial biomineralization-generated immunomodulator, which we name Ausome (Au + [exo]some). Ausome comprises a gold nanoparticle core covered by bacterial components; the former affords an inducible hyperthermia effect, while the latter mobilizes diverse immune responses. Multiple pattern recognition receptors actively participate in Ausome-initiated immune responses, which lead to the release of a broad spectrum of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the activation of effector immune cells. Upon laser irradiation, tumor-accumulated Ausome elicits a hyperthermic response, which improves tissue blood perfusion and contributes to enhanced infiltration of immunostimulatory modules, including cytokines and effector lymphocytes. This immune-modulating strategy mediated by Ausome ultimately brings about a comprehensive immune reaction and selectively amplifies the effects of local antitumor immunity, enhancing the efficacy of well-established chemo- or immuno-therapies in preclinical cancer models in female mice.

Abstract Conformational cooperativity is a universal molecular effect mechanism and plays a critical role in signaling pathways. However, it remains a challenge to develop artificial molecular networks regulated by conformational cooperativity, due to the difficulties in programming and controlling multiple structural interactions. Herein, we develop a cooperative strategy by programming multiple conformational signals, rather than chemical signals, to regulate protein-oligonucleotide signal transduction, taking advantage of the programmability of allosteric DNA constructs. We generate a cooperative regulation mechanism, by which increasing the loop lengths at two different structural modules induced the opposite effects manifesting as down- and up-regulation. We implement allosteric logic operations by using two different proteins. Further, in cell culture we demonstrate the feasibility of this strategy to cooperatively regulate gene expression of PLK1 to inhibit tumor cell proliferation, responding to orthogonal protein-signal stimulation. This programmable conformational cooperativity paradigm has potential applications in the related fields.

Abstract Micro-nano biorobots based on bacteria have demonstrated great potential for tumor diagnosis and treatment. The bacterial gene expression and drug release should be spatiotemporally controlled to avoid drug release in healthy tissues and undesired toxicity. Herein, we describe an alternating magnetic field-manipulated tumor-homing bacteria developed by genetically modifying engineered Escherichia coli with Fe3O4@lipid nanocomposites. After accumulating in orthotopic colon tumors in female mice, the paramagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles enable the engineered bacteria to receive and convert magnetic signals into heat, thereby initiating expression of lysis proteins under the control of a heat-sensitive promoter. The engineered bacteria then lyse, releasing its anti-CD47 nanobody cargo, that is pre-expressed and within the bacteria. The robust immunogenicity of bacterial lysate cooperates with anti-CD47 nanobody to activate both innate and adaptive immune responses, generating robust antitumor effects against not only orthotopic colon tumors but also distal tumors in female mice. The magnetically engineered bacteria also enable the constant magnetic field-controlled motion for enhanced tumor targeting and increased therapeutic efficacy. Thus, the gene expression and drug release behavior of tumor-homing bacteria can be spatiotemporally manipulated in vivo by a magnetic field, achieving tumor-specific CD47 blockage and precision tumor immunotherapy.

Addressing the issue of the lack of objective quantitative evaluation in training long jump events, this study presents a normative analysis method based on human pose estimation and similarity measures. By training a lightweight human pose estimation model, this method can run on low-delay embedded devices. In line with key movements, the proposed method designs a normative analysis for long jump actions, which yields a measurement of the movements’ adherence to the standard and provides corrective suggestions. Experimental results indicate that the accuracy of this approach in analyzing the standardization of long jump action reaches 91.3%. As a result, it holds significant application value in various scenarios, including students’ long jump training and correction of long jump techniques. Furthermore, it can be extended to other practical applications beyond sports.

The rapid display and delivery method for customized tumor mRNA vaccines is limited. Herein, bacteria-derived outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are employed as an mRNA delivery platform by surface engineering of an RNA-binding protein, L7Ae. OMV-L7Ae can rapidly adsorb boxC/D sequence-labeled mRNA antigens through L7Ae-boxC/D binding and deliver them into HEK-293T and dendritic cells. This platform provides an mRNA delivery technology distinct from lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for personalized mRNA tumor vaccination and with a Plug-and-Display strategy suitable for rapid preparation of the personalized mRNA tumor vaccine against varied tumor antigens.Key features• OMVs are employed as an mRNA delivery platform through L7Ae-boxC/D binding.Graphical overview

Abstract Recently, the interest in extracellular vesicles released by bacteria has rapidly increased. Bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs) have been involved in bacteria‐bacteria and bacteria‐host interactions, which strengthen health or bring about various pathologies. However, BEV separation, characterization, and functional studies require the establishment of guidelines and further optimization in order to stimulate the development of science in BEV research and a following successful transformation into clinical applications. This position paper is authored by the Microbial Vesicles Task Force of the Chinese Society for Extracellular Vesicles (CSEV) composed of experienced medical laboratory specialists, microbiologists, virologists, biologists and material biologists who are actively engaged in BEV research. Herein, we present a concise description of BEV research and discover challenges and critical gaps in current BEV‐based analyses for clinical applications. Finally, we also offer suggestions and considerations to improve experimental reproducibility and interoperability in BEV research to promote progress in the field.

Due to the unsatisfactory therapeutic efficacy and inexorable side effects of small molecule antineoplastic agents, extensive efforts have been devoted to the development of more potent macromolecular agents with high specificity. Gelonin is a plant-derived protein toxin that exhibits robust antitumor effect via inactivating ribosomes and inhibiting protein synthesis. Nonetheless, its poor internalization ability to tumor cells has compromised the therapeutic promise of gelonin. In this study, a tumor acidity-responsive intracellular protein delivery system ─ functional gelonin (Trx-pHLIP-Gelonin, TpG) composed of a thioredoxin (Trx) tag, a pH low insertion peptide (pHLIP) and gelonin, was designed and obtained by genetic recombination technique for the first time. TpG could effectively enter into tumor cells under weakly acidic conditions and markedly suppress tumor cell proliferation via triggering cell apoptosis and inhibiting protein synthesis. Most importantly, treatment by intravenous injection into subcutaneous SKOV3 solid tumors in a mouse model showed that TpG was much more effective than gelonin in curtailing tumor growth rates with negligible toxicity. Collectively, our present work suggests that the tumor acidity-targeted delivery manner endowed by pHLIP offers a new avenue for efficient delivery of other bioactive substances to acidic diseased tissues.

Background Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is an uncommon and serious subtype of stroke, which leads to the loss of the patient's ability to produce and live for many years. Objective To investigate the clinical effect of nimodipine in the treatment of SAH. Methods Electronic databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP, SinoMed, China Master's Theses Full-text Database (CMFD), China Doctoral Dissertations Full-text Database (CDFD), Cochrane Library, PubMed and Embase were searched from 2010 and 2021. All randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of nimodipine in the treatment of SAH were included in our meta-analysis. The patients were divided into control group and treatment group. Meta-analysis was performed with Stata16.0 software. Results A total of 10 studies were included. Compared with the control group, the treatment group had higher effective rate (OR = 3.21, 95% CI: 2.25, 4.58; p

Reversal of cancer drug resistance remains a critical challenge in chemotherapy. Mitochondria-targeted drug delivery has been suggested to mitigate drug resistance in cancer. To overcome the intrinsic limitations in conventional mitochondrial targeting strategies, we develop mitochondrial temperature-responsive drug delivery to reverse doxorubicin (DOX) resistance in lung cancer. Results demonstrate that the thermoresponsive nanocarrier can prevent DOX efflux and facilitate DOX accumulation and mitochondrial targeting in DOX-resistant tumors. As a consequence, thermoresponsive nanocarrier enhances the cytotoxicity of DOX and reverses the drug resistance in tumor-bearing mice. This work represents the first example of mitochondrial temperature-responsive drug delivery for reversing cancer drug resistance.

Abstract In the past decade, nucleic acid‐based drugs have emerged as an extremely promising approach for silencing specific disease‐related genes and targeting undruggable ones. However, most nucleic acid drug therapies have not advanced to clinical practice due to their poor stability against serum enzyme degradation and cytotoxicity. Nanoscale drug delivery vehicles show potential to improve efficacy of nucleic acid drugs via targeted delivery to disease‐causing genes, yet, safe and efficient nanocarriers remain elusive. Lipid‐based nanoparticles such as liposomes (LSs) and extracellular vesicles (EVs) are among the most extensively exploited nanoscale vehicles for therapeutic cargo delivery. LS‐based nucleic acid therapies have been used for several years, with many already adopted to the clinic. More recently, EVs hold considerable promise as nucleic acid delivery vehicles due to their high biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and the inherent abilities to interact with target cells and cross biological barriers. Moreover, a novel LS/EV hybrid gene delivery system has been engineered to preserve the benefits of both systems and generate an advanced drug delivery system. The current review focuses specifically on LS‐ and EV‐based gene therapies and provides the key advantages and shortcomings of these systems with particular emphasis on their potential use as therapeutic vectors.

Abstract The advent of immunotherapy has revolutionized the treating modalities of cancer. Cancer vaccine, aiming to harness the host immune system to induce a tumor‐specific killing effect, holds great promises for its broad patient coverage, high safety, and combination potentials. Despite promising, the clinical translation of cancer vaccines faces obstacles including the lack of potency, limited options of tumor antigens and adjuvants, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Biomimetic and bioinspired nanotechnology provides new impetus for the designing concepts of cancer vaccines. Through mimicking the stealth coating, pathogen recognition pattern, tissue tropism of pathogen, and other irreplaceable properties from nature, biomimetic and bioinspired cancer vaccines could gain functions such as longstanding, targeting, self‐adjuvanting, and on‐demand cargo release. The specific behavior and endogenous molecules of each type of living entity (cell or microorganism) offer unique features to cancer vaccines to address specific needs for immunotherapy. In this review, the strategies inspired by eukaryotic cells, bacteria, and viruses will be overviewed for advancing cancer vaccine development. Our insights into the future cancer vaccine development will be shared at the end for expediting the clinical translation.

Nanocarriers with intrinsic immune adjuvant properties can activate the innate immune system while delivering tumor antigen, thus efficiently facilitating antitumor adaptive immunity. Bacteria-derived outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are an excellent candidate due to their abundance of pathogen associated molecular patterns. However, during the uptake of OMVs by dendritic cells (DCs), the interaction between lipopolysaccharide and toll-like receptor 4 induces rapid DC maturation and uptake blockage, a phenomenon we refer to as “maturation-induced uptake obstruction” (MUO). Herein we decorated OMV with the DC-targeting αDEC205 antibody (OMV-DEC), which endowed the nanovaccine with an uptake mechanism termed as “not restricted to maturation via antibody modifying” (Normandy), thereby overcoming the MUO phenomenon. We also proved the applicability of this nanovaccine in identifying the human tumor neoantigens through rapid antigen display. In summary, this engineered OMV represents a powerful nanocarrier for personalized cancer vaccines, and this antibody modification strategy provides a reference to remodel the DC uptake pattern in nanocarrier design.

Selective occlusion of tumor vasculature has proven to be an effective strategy for cancer therapy. Among vascular coagulation agents, the extracellular domain of coagulation-inducing protein tissue factor, truncated tissue factor (tTF), is the most widely used. Since the truncated protein exhibits no coagulation activity and is rapidly cleared in the circulation, free tTF cannot be used for cancer treatment on its own but must be combined with other moieties. We here developed a novel, tumor-specific tTF delivery system through coupling tTF with the DNA aptamer, AS1411, which selectively binds to nucleolin receptors overexpressing on the surface of tumor vascular endothelial cells and is specifically cytotoxic to target cells. Systemic administration of the tTF-AS1411 conjugates into tumor-bearing animals induced intravascular thrombosis solely in tumors, thus reducing tumor blood supply and inducing tumor necrosis without apparent side effects. This conjugate represents a uniquely attractive candidate for the clinical translation of vessel occlusion agent for cancer therapy.

Abstract The limited efficacy of radiotherapy leads to radio‐resistance and high rates of tumor recurrence and metastasis, which is caused by tumor hypoxia, rapid DNA damage repair, and especially the suppressive immune microenvironment of tumor. Lots of immune cell‐derived exosomes can regulate antitumor immunity, but their application in enhancing radiotherapy is rarely studied. Herein, as a model of concept, M1 macrophage‐derived exosomes (M1Exos) is engineered as effective radiotherapy sensitizers, realizing the trilogy of radiotherapy sensitization: 1) M1Exos is engineered to express catalases on the inside of membrane, which can effectively relieve tumor hypoxia, and enhance DNA damage. 2) The DNA damage repair inhibitor is loaded in M1Exos to effectively inhibit DNA damage repair. 3) M1Exos can polarize M2 macrophages into M1 phenotypes, and the anti‐PD‐L1 nanobody engineered on the outside of M1Exos can relieve the immunosuppression of T cells, both ultimately leading to the remodeling of the tumor suppressive microenvironment. The trilogy of radiotherapy sensitization achieves excellent antitumor efficacy, exhibiting the good utility of engineering immune cell‐derived exosomes as radiotherapy sensitizers, inspiring the future efforts to explore different kinds of immune cell‐derived exosomes for enhanced radiotherapy.

Abstract New strategies to decrease risk of relapse after surgery are needed for improving 5‐year survival rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To address this need, a wound‐targeted nanodrug is developed, that contains an immune checkpoint inhibitor (anti‐PD‐L1)and an angiogenesis inhibitor (sorafenib)). These nanoparticles consist of highly biocompatible mesoporous silica (MSNP) that is surface‐coated with platelet membrane (PM) to achieve surgical site targeting in a self‐amplified accumulation manner. Sorafenib is introduced into the MSNP pores while covalently attaching anti‐PD‐L1 antibody on the PM surface. The resulting nano‐formulation, abbreviated as a‐PM‐S‐MSNP, can effectively target the surgical margin when intraperitoneally (IP) administered into an immune competent murine orthotopic HCC model. Multiple administrations of a‐PM‐S‐MSNP generate potent anti‐HCC effect and significantly prolong overall mice survival. Immunophenotyping and immunochemistry staining reveal the signatures of favorable anti‐HCC immunity and anti‐angiogenesis effect at tumor sites. More importantly, microscopic inspection of a‐PM‐S‐MSNP treated mice shows that 2 out 6 are histologically tumor‐free, which is in sharp contrast to the control mice where tumor foci can be easily identified. The data suggest that a‐PM‐S‐MSNP can efficiently inhibit post‐surgical HCC relapse without obvious side effects and holds considerable promise for clinical translation as a novel nanodrug.

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), non-replicative particles secreted by Gram-negative bacteria, are known for their immunostimulatory and adjuvant properties. Here, by employing a Plug-and-Display technology, the authors engineer OMVs to display tumor antigens on the surface, a platform that promotes anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical cancer models.

Platinum based drugs like cisplatin are common chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Here, the authors report on the in situ formation of platinum nanoparticles in patients and demonstrated how platinum nanoparticles can be synthesized using patients’ blood and provide effective drug delivery and cancer treatments.

Biopolymer-based hydrogel beads possessing intrinsic low-toxicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability have gained widespread utility in several applications. Among the biopolymers, cellulose is one of the most abundant renewable biomaterials. Herein cellulose hydrogel beads have been prepared by dissolving cellulose in 68% ZnCl2 solution and then crosslinking the polymer chains through calcium ions. The water and ethanol washing of the beads profoundly influences the beads architecture as characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy. The total crystallinity index of the beads increases with the amount of calcium ions that is further enhanced by water washing. These beads, possessing a layer-like nanoporous structure, are capable of loading bovine serum albumin (BSA) and releasing in a sustained manner. The outcome promises a large-scale production of cellulose beads having the potential to be eco-friendly and inexpensive delivery carriers in food, pharmaceutical, medical and agriculture applications.

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide due to its aggressiveness and the challenge to early diagnosis and treatment. In recent decades, nanomaterials have received increasing attention for diagnosis and therapy of PDAC. However, these designs are mainly focused on the macroscopic tumor therapeutic effect, while the crucial nano–bio interactions in the heterogeneous microenvironment of PDAC remain poorly understood. As a result, the majority of potent nanomedicines show limited performance in ameliorating PDAC in clinical translation. Therefore, exploiting the unique nature of the PDAC by detecting potential biomarkers together with a deep understanding of nano–bio interactions that occur in the tumor microenvironment is pivotal to the design of PDAC‐tailored effective nanomedicine. This review will introduce tailor‐made nanomaterials‐enabled laboratory tests and advanced noninvasive imaging technologies for early and accurate diagnosis of PDAC. Moreover, the fabrication of a myriad of tailor‐made nanomaterials for various PDAC therapeutic modalities will be reviewed. Furthermore, much preferred theranostic multifunctional nanomaterials for imaging‐guided therapies of PDAC will be elaborated. Lastly, the prospects of these nanomaterials in terms of clinical translation and potential breakthroughs will be briefly discussed.

Abstract Antithrombotic therapy has long been a trade‐off between antithrombotic effects and hemorrhagic risk. With the aid of nanotechnology, antithrombotic drugs have realized and will further realize highly controllable targeting, disease microenvironment responsive release, imaging‐guided treatment, and reversal agents’ development in parallel with novel antithrombotics. Preclinical studies have indicated that intelligent antithrombotic nanomedicines show potential in preventing hemorrhagic risk, evading the balancing act of current antithrombotic treatments. However, none of these nanomedicines have come into clinical trials. In this review, we present a strategic summary of the field of nanoantithrombotics, which is needed to guide the design and application of the next generation of antithrombotic nanomedicines. Herein, we present the recent progress in the preclinical studies of this field, which can be divided into three categories: fibrinolytic, anticoagulant, and antiplatelet therapies. In addition, we provide an outlook on how future antithrombotic nanomedicine design can better overcome the current translational challenges for clinical use.

Hydrogels have been widespreadly used in various fields. But weak toughness has limited their further applications. In this study, Dendrobium officinale enzyme (DOE) was explored to improve chitosan/γ-poly(glutamic acid) (CS/γ-PGA) hydrogel in the structure and properties. The results indicated that DOE with various sizes of ingredients can make multiple noncovalent crosslinks with the skeleton network of CS/γ-PGA, significantly changing the self-assembly of CS/γ-PGA/DOE hydrogel to form regular protuberance nanostructures, which exhibits stronger toughness and better behaviors for skin care. Particularly, 4% DOE enhanced the toughness of CS/γ-PGA/DOE hydrogel, increasing it by 116%. Meanwhile, water absorption, antioxygenation, antibacterial behavior and air permeability were increased by 39%, 97%, 27% and 52%.

Precisely selective interactions of peptides with their unique binding partners represent an out-standing starting point for designing novel therapeutics. It is well established that peptides with a variety of critical physiological functions and specific mechanisms of action offer distinct ad-vantages, including excellent safety and higher efficiency over traditional small molecule thera-peutics. Certain intrinsic weaknesses of naturally occurring peptides such as negligible plasma half-life, low bioavailability, and potential immunogenicity have limited their administration as medicines. Nanotechnology has expanded several promising strategies to address the limitations associated with therapeutic peptides. This review aims to perform a state-of-the-art summary of the strategies that are actively used to develop efficient formulations of nanosystem based pep-tide medicines. We first focus on the recent advances and updates on peptide-based nanomedi-cines. Then we indicate how nanosystems improved the functionality of therapeutic peptides and what the future opportunities and challenges of developments in the field of therapeutic pep-tides are. Potential noninvasive delivery platforms for peptide incorporated nanoparticles through alternative administration routes are also discussed.

Stromal-tumour interactions play an important role in pancreatic cancer progression. Here, they describe the development of a tumour microenvironment-responsive gold nanoparticle system incorporating all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and siRNA against heat shock protein 47 (HSP47), for use in pancreatic cancer treatment.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this work was to study the co-production of nattokinase and poly (γ-glutamic acid) by Bacillus subtilis natto with soybean and rice husk under solid-state fermentation (SSF). The results showed that the size of soybean particle and rice husk significantly improved the co-production of nattokinase and poly (γ-glutamic acid), yielding 2503.4 IU/gs and 320 mg/gs, respectively in the improved culture medium composed of 16.7% soybean flour and 13.3% rice husk with 70% water content. The yields increased by approximate 7- and 2-fold factor relative to their original ones. Thus, the co-production of nattokinase and poly (γ-glutamic acid) under SSF could be considered as an efficient method to exploit agro-residues for economical production of some higher-value products.

This work aimed to improve tannase yield of Aspergillus niger through N+ ion beam implantation in submerged fermentation. The energy and dose of N+ ion beam implantation were investigated. The results indicated that an excellent mutant was obtained through nine successive implantations under the conditions of 10 keV and 30-40 (×2.6×10(13)) ions/cm², and its tannase yield reached 38.5 U/mL, which was about five-time higher than the original strain. The study on the genetic stability of the mutant showed that its promising performance in tannase production could be stable. The studies of metal ions and surfactants affecting tannase yield indicated that manganese ions, stannum ions, xylene and SDS contained in the culture medium had positive effects on tannase production under submerged fermentation. Magnesium ions, in particular, could enhance the tannase yield by the mutant increasing by 42%, i.e. 53.6 U/mL. Accordingly, low-energy ion implantation could be a desirable approach to improve the fungal tannase yield for its commercial application.

Au–Ft, as a green synthesized nanoparticle, is composed of a ferritin nanocage enclosing a pair of Au nanoclusters inside. Our previous study has demonstrated that Au–Ft can be an excellent fluorescent probe for whole body imaging of mice with kidney specific targeting. But, the accurate localization of Au–Ft in kidney is still absent. In the current study, we detected and assessed the cellular and subcellular localization of Au–Ft in renal cortex and medulla of nu/nu mice after tail vein injection by using Nuance optical system (CRi, Woburn, USA) and inForm intelligent image analysis software based on single cell segmentation. We obtained the fluorescence intensity and cellular location of kidney-targeting Au–Ft probe in particular cell of renal glomerulus or renal tubules, which provided valuable proofs to clarify the mechanism of Au–Ft selective enrichment in kidney and the associated metabolic processes.

China's aging demographic poses a challenge for treating prevalent bone diseases impacting life quality. As bone regeneration capacity diminishes with age due to cellular dysfunction and inflammation, advanced biomaterials-based approaches offer hope for aged bone regeneration. This review synthesizes materiobiology principles, focusing on biomaterials that target specific biological functions to restore tissue integrity. It covers strategies for stem cell manipulation, regulation of the inflammatory microenvironment, blood vessel regeneration, intervention in bone anabolism and catabolism, and nerve regulation. The review also explores molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying aged bone regeneration and proposes a database-driven design process for future biomaterial development. These insights may also guide therapies for other age-related conditions, contributing to the pursuit of 'healthy aging'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]