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Photocatalytic organic synthesis is mostly limited by the shortcomings of insufficient light absorption, high photogenerated electron–hole recombination rate and inadequate reactive sites of photocatalysts. To solve these problems, phosphorus-doped g-C3N4 with a porous structure was constructed. Benefiting from enhanced light absorption and electron–hole separation efficiency, PCNT has intensive oxygen activation ability to generate superoxide radicals, and is highly active in organic synthesis. In addition, PCNT has enhanced surface nucleophilicity, which is conducive to the carbon–carbon coupling process of the intermediate product benzaldehyde molecules and benzyl alcohol molecules in the benzoin condensation reaction. Metal-free PCNT is expected to replace the previously used highly toxic cyanide catalysts and provide a new way for the low-cost and efficient photocatalytic synthesis of benzoin.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is still one of the leading causes of cancer-associated death in the modern society. The biological function of miR-202-5p for CRC development remains controversial, largely due to the fact that miR-202-5p can be tumor-suppressive or oncogenic in different contexts. Obtained results indicated that aberrant expression of miR-202-5p was observed in majority of human CRC samples and miR-202-5p was transcriptionally up-regulated by c-Myc. In addition, miR-202-5p functions to promote the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by directly suppressing PTEN. Silencing or enforced expression of miR-202-5p resulted in CRC cell proliferation inhibition and enhancement, respectively. Importantly, decreased PTEN level and increased phosphorylation of Akt were frequently associated with elevated miR-202-5p expression in colorectal cancer tissues. Increased miR-202-5p expression may serve as a tumor promoter by directly targeting PTEN in colorectal cancer.

Around 70 % of patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survive less than 5 years due to drug resistance and disease relapse. Consequently, improved clinical treatments are urgently needed. Some but not all AML patients benefit from the combination of the BCL-2 inhibitor Venetoclax with the hypomethylation agent Azacitidine. Here we investigated the utility of employing the cyclin dependent kinase (CDK6) inhibitor Palbociclib to improve the efficacy of Venetoclax/Azacitidine combination therapy. Our analysis of publicly available RNA sequencing datasets showed CDK6 was highly expressed in the major acute forms of leukemia including AML. Consistently, using qPCR and flow cytometry we found that CDK6 was overexpressed in bone marrow mononuclear cells from AML patients compared to healthy controls. Subsequent in vitro testing of Palbociclib, Venetoclax and Azacitidine, alone and in combination against CDK6-overexpressing AML cells lines THP-1 and KG-1 and primary AML cells showed that the Palbociclib/Venetoclax/Azacitidine combination improved treatment efficacy compared to Venetoclax/Azacitidine treatment alone. Additional investigations in a subcutaneous KG-1 mouse model showed similarly the three-drug combination produced the most significant reductions in tumor load together with the least amount of spleen infiltration. We established Palbociclib functioned in combination with Venetoclax/Azacitidine by increasing the rates of apoptosis in AML cells. Further investigations revealed that Palbociclib does not affect BCL-2 activity but downregulated the anti-apoptotic proteins MCL-1 and BCL-X

The visible-light-driven CO2 reduction efficiency is largely restrained by the negative photo-absorption and highly recombination rate of electron-hole pairs. It is an effective method to increase ...

Fascin actin-bundling protein 1 (FSCN1) is an actin-bundling protein that is capable of inducing membrane protrusions and plays critical roles in cell migration, motility, adhesion, and other cellular interactions. FSCN1 also plays a role in forming and stabilizing filopodia or microspikes, which assist during cell migration. Furthermore, FSCN1 is a downstream target of several microRNAs and participates in various biological processes, such as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and autophagy, which regulate the invasion and migration ability of cells in various cancers. Increased FSCN1 levels have been associated with enhanced migration and invasion of multiple cancers as well as poor patient prognosis. Promising results from

Photocatalytic organic synthesis is mostly limited by the shortcomings of insufficient light absorption, high photogenerated electron-hole recombination rate and inadequate reactive sites of photocatalysts. To solve these problems, phosphorus-doped g-C

Many cancer cells maintain enhanced aerobic glycolysis due to irreversible defective mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). This phenomenon, known as the Warburg effect, is recently challenged because most cancer cells maintain OXPHOS. However, how cancer cells coordinate glycolysis and OXPHOS remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that OMA1, a stress‐activated mitochondrial protease, promotes colorectal cancer development by driving metabolic reprogramming. OMA1 knockout suppresses colorectal cancer development in AOM/DSS and xenograft mice models of colorectal cancer. OMA1‐OPA1 axis is activated by hypoxia, increasing mitochondrial ROS to stabilize HIF‐1α, thereby promoting glycolysis in colorectal cancer cells. On the other hand, under hypoxia, OMA1 depletion promotes accumulation of NDUFB5, NDUFB6, NDUFA4, and COX4L1, supporting that OMA1 suppresses OXPHOS in colorectal cancer. Therefore, our findings support a role for OMA1 in coordination of glycolysis and OXPHOS to promote colorectal cancer development and highlight OMA1 as a potential target for colorectal cancer therapy.

Radioresistance is a major cause of treatment failure in tumor radiation therapy, and the underlying mechanisms of radioresistance are still elusive. Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) has been reported to associate tightly with cancer progression and chemoresistance. Herein, we explored whether GOLPH3 mediated radioresistance of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and whether targeted suppression of GOLPH3 sensitized LUAD to radiation therapy.The aberrant expression of GOLPH3 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in LUAD clinical samples. To evaluate the association between GOLPH3 and radioresistance, colony formation and apoptosis were assessed in control and GOLPH3 knockdown cells. γ-H2AX foci and level determination and micronucleus test were used to analyze DNA damage production and repair. The rescue of GOLPH3 knockdown was then performed by exogenous expression of small interfering RNA-resistant mutant GOLPH3 to confirm the role of GOLPH3 in DNA damage repair. Mechanistically, the effect of GOLPH3 on regulating stability and nuclear accumulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the activation of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) were investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blot, immunofluorescence, and coimmunoprecipitation. The role of GOLPH3 in vivo in radioresistance was determined in a xenograft model.In tumor tissues of 33 patients with LUAD, the expression of GOLPH3 showed significant increases compared with those in matched normal tissues. Knocking down GOLPH3 reduced the clonogenic capacity, impaired double-strand break (DSB) repair, and enhanced apoptosis after irradiation. In contrast, reversal of GOLPH3 depletion rescued the impaired repair of radiation-induced DSBs. Mechanistically, loss of GOLPH3 accelerated the degradation of EGFR in lysosome, causing the reduction in EGFR levels, thereby weakening nuclear accumulation of EGFR and attenuating the activation of DNA-PK. Furthermore, adenovirus-mediated GOLPH3 knockdown could enhance the ionizing radiation response in the LUAD xenograft model.GOLPH3 conferred resistance of LUAD to ionizing radiation via stabilizing EGFR, and targeted suppression of GOLPH3 might be considered as a potential therapeutic strategy for sensitizing LUAD to radiation therapy.

As a pharmaceutical excipient, dextran serves as an efficient ligand for stabilizing some clinically available inorganic nanomaterials such as iron oxide nanocrystals. Herein, dextran-capped nanosized europium(III) hydroxides [Eu(OH)3] nanoclusters (NCs) composed of 5 nm Eu(OH)3 nanoparticles have been large-scale synthesized via a microwave-accelerated hydrothermal reaction. The as-synthesized Eu(OH)3 NCs exhibited excellent physiological stability and biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo and possessed considerable pro-proliferative activities in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). To investigate the epigenetic modulation of Eu(OH)3 NCs-elicited proliferation, the newly developed high-throughput next generation sequencing technology was employed herein. As a result, we have screened 371 dysregulated miRNAs in Eu(OH)3 NCs-treated HUVECs and obtained 26 potentially functional miRNAs in promoting cell proliferation. Furthermore, upregulated miR-199a-3p was predicted, validated, and eventu...

p53 is one of the most important tumor suppressor proteins, functioning to preventtumor development by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducingapoptosis, and promoting DNA damage repair in response to various intracellular and intercellular stimuli. More than 50% of human cancers harbor TP53 gene deletions or mutations, indicating that mutant p53 ishighly associated with tumor development. Many recentstudieshave revealed an additional role of p53 in the regulation of cellular energy and glucose metabolism. In this short review, we summarizethe functional roles and regulatory mechanisms of p53 characterized in our laboratory during the last 10 years. Topics include, but are not limited to, the regulation of p53 stability, roles of p53 in tumorigenesis and metabolic reprogramming, andfunctions of noncoding RNAs. Moreover, we point out the directions that will be important to the future of p53 research.

The tumor suppressor gene Tp53 encodes p53, a pivotal transcription factor with a broad target gene repertoire. Induction and stabilization of p53 during DNA damage and oncogene activation function to induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, or senescence. These actions are a failsafe to counteract carcinogenesis but Tp53 also plays a key role in regulating different aspects of cell metabolism including autophagy. Autophagy or cellular "self-eating" involves the dismantling and remodeling of cellular components, activities which are fundamental in maintaining cellular homeostasis and in supporting cell growth. After providing an historical overview of Tp53 research, the purpose of this chapter is to review the different mechanistic aspects of Tp53's role in autophagy and to highlight the key challenges which lie ahead. Tp53 functions are regulated by tight control of its cellular levels and notably, Tp53 can be both an activator or inhibitor of autophagy. Under stress conditions such as nutrient depletion or hypoxia, Tp53 contributes to autophagic activation by inhibiting mTOR signaling. Alternatively, p53 can interact with death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1), acting to stabilize nuclear p53 amongst other functions including activation of the key autophagic mediator, Beclin-1. Under normal physiological conditions, Tp53 can inhibit autophagosome formation but stress conditions can also result in Tp53-mediated promotion of autophagy, demonstrating that Tp53 actions are highly context dependent. Tp53 target genes also play key opposing roles in autophagy induction or inhibition such as DRAM and TIGAR, respectively. Finally, the role of Tp53 mutants in autophagy regulation are discussed.

The incidence of melanoma is increasing rapidly worldwide. Additionally, new and effective candidates for treating melanoma are needed because of the increase in drug resistance and the high metastatic potential of this cancer. The STAT3 signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in pathogenesis of melanoma, making STAT3 a promising anticancer target for melanoma therapy. Niclosamide, an FDA-approved anti-helminthic drug, has been identified as a potent STAT3 inhibitor that suppresses STAT3 phosphorylation at Tyr705 and its transcript activity. In this study, we evaluated the biological activities of niclosamide in melanoma in vitro and in vivo. Niclosamide potently inhibited the growth of four melanoma cell lines and induced the apoptosis of melanoma cells via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Further, western blot analysis indicated that cell apoptosis was correlated with activation of Bax and cleaved caspase-3 and decreased expression of Bcl-2. Moreover, niclosamide markedly impaired melanoma cell migration and invasion, reduced phosphorylated STAT3Tyr705 levels, and inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 expression. Additionally, in a xenograft model of A375, intraperitoneal administration of niclosamide inhibited tumor growth and tumor weight in a dose-dependent manner without obvious side effects. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses revealed a decrease in Ki-67-positive cells and p-STAT3Try705-positive cells and increase in cleaved caspase-3-positive cells. Notably, niclosamide significantly inhibited pulmonary metastasis in a B16-F10 melanoma lung metastasis model, including the number of lung metastatic nodules and lung/body coefficient. Importantly, a marked reduction in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (Gr1+CD11b+) infiltration in the pulmonary metastasis tissue was observed. Taken together, these results demonstrate that niclosamide is a promising candidate for treating melanoma.

The tumor suppressor gene Tp53 encodes p53, a pivotal transcription factor with a broad target gene repertoire. Induction and stabilization of p53 during DNA damage and oncogene activation function to induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, or senescence. These actions are a failsafe to counteract carcinogenesis but Tp53 also plays a key role in regulating different aspects of cell metabolism including autophagy. Autophagy or cellular “self-eating” involves the dismantling and remodeling of cellular components, activities which are fundamental in maintaining cellular homeostasis and in supporting cell growth. After providing an historical overview of Tp53 research, the purpose of this chapter is to review the different mechanistic aspects of Tp53’s role in autophagy and to highlight the key challenges which lie ahead. Tp53 functions are regulated by tight control of its cellular levels and notably, Tp53 can be both an activator or inhibitor of autophagy. Under stress conditions such as nutrient depletion or hypoxia, Tp53 contributes to autophagic activation by inhibiting mTOR signaling. Alternatively, p53 can interact with death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1), acting to stabilize nuclear p53 amongst other functions including activation of the key autophagic mediator, Beclin-1. Under normal physiological conditions, Tp53 can inhibit autophagosome formation but stress conditions can also result in Tp53-mediated promotion of autophagy, demonstrating that Tp53 actions are highly context dependent. Tp53 target genes also play key opposing roles in autophagy induction or inhibition such as DRAM and TIGAR, respectively. Finally, the role of Tp53 mutants in autophagy regulation are discussed.

// Haili Wu 1 , Peng Yang 1 , Wanglai Hu 3 , Yingying Wang 1 , Yangxu Lu 4 , Lichao Zhang 1 , Yongsheng Fan 2 , Hong Xiao 5 , Zhuoyu Li 1, 2 1 Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of National Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China 2 College of Life Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China 3 Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China 4 College of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China 5 The first hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030006, China Correspondence to: Haili Wu, email: wuhaili0819@163.com Zhuoyu Li, email: lzy@sxu.edu.cn Keywords: PKM2, Drp1, mitochondrial fusion, p53 stability Received: January 28, 2016 Accepted: October 16, 2016 Published: October 27, 2016 ABSTRACT M2-type pyruvate kinase (PKM2) contributes to the Warburg effect. However, it remains unknown as to whether PKM2 has an inhibitory effect on mitochondrial function. We report in this work that PKM2 overexpression inhibits the expression of Drp1 and results in the mitochondrial fusion. The ATP production was found to be decreased, the mtDNA copy number elevated and the expression level of electron transport chain (ETC) complex I, III, V depressed in PKM2 overexpressed cells. PKM2 overexpression showed a decreased p53 protein level and a shorter p53 half-life. In contrast, PKM2 knockdown resulted in increased p53 expression and prolonged half-life of p53. PKM2 could directly bind with both p53 and MDM2 and promote MDM2-mediated p53 ubiquitination. The dimeric PKM2 significantly suppressed p53 expression compared with the other PKM2 mutants. The reverse relationship between PKM2 and Drp1 was further confirmed in a large number of clinical samples. Taken together, the present results highlight a new mechanism that link PKM2 to mitochondrial function, based on p53-Drp1 axis down regulation, revealing a novel therapeutic target in patients with abnormal mitochondria.

// Qun Li 1, * , Yan Zhu 2, * , Lili Hou 3, * , Juan Wang 4 , Guilin Hu 5 , Xing Fang 6 , Yamin Hu 6 , Tingting Tao 6 , Xin Wei 6 , Haitao Tang 6 , Baojun Huang 1 , Wanglai Hu 1 1 Department of Immunology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 2 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 3 Department of Clinical Nutriology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 4 Department of Molecular Biology, Shanxi Cancer Hospital and Institute, Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China 5 School of Life Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 6 School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Wanglai Hu, email: wanglaihu@ahmu.edu.cn Keywords: C23, p53, tumorigenesis Received: February 03, 2016 Accepted: July 18, 2016 Published: August 05, 2016 ABSTRACT C23 is an abundant and multi-functional protein, which plays an important role in various biological processes, including ribosome biogenesis and maturation, cell cycle checkpoints and transcriptional regulation [ 1 , 2 ]. However, the role of C23 in controlling tumorigenesis has not been well defined. Here we report that C23 is highly expressed in cancer cells and the elevated expression of C23 facilitates cancer cell proliferation in vitro and tumor xenograft growth in vivo . Notably, C23 binds to p53 through its GAR domain and suppresses the transcriptional activity of p53 under DNA damage and hypoxia. Moreover, the GAR domain is critical for C23-mediated tumor cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo . Our findings reveal a novel role of C23 in tumorigenesis and suggest that C23 may represent a potential therapeutic target for treating malignancy.

As a pharmaceutical excipient, dextran serves as an efficient ligand for stabilizing some clinically available inorganic nanomaterials such as iron oxide nanocrystals. Herein, dextran-capped nanosized europium(III) hydroxides [Eu(OH)

The dysregulation of cellular metabolism, particularly lipid metabolism, is essential for cancer progress. Monoglyceride lipase (MGLL) is an important fatty acid metabolism enzyme, which converts monoacylglycerides to free fatty acids and glycerol. Despite the expression level of MGLL was reported to be downregulated in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the clinical significances and molecular mechanism of MGLL downregulation remains unknown. In the current study, the clinical significances of MGLL expression were investigated in 95 patients with HCC and the transcription factors of MGLL were identified in HCC cells. We found that MGLL was frequently downregulated in HCC samples, especially in metastatic tumor tissues. Patients with low MGLL expression owned remarkably lower 5 year-overall survival (5-OS). Functionally, we found that MGLL played an important role in HCC cell migration. Overexpression of MGLL suppressed cell migration and depletion of MGLL by shRNA promoted cell migration. Further studies indicated that KLF4 directly bound to the promoter of MGLL and accelerated MGLL expression, which then led to HCC cell migration decrease. Additionally, the expression levels of KLF4 were positive association with MGLL expression in HCC tissues. Collectively, our data suggest that KLF4 is a key regulator of MGLL. The KLF4-MGLL axis plays an essential role in suppressing HCC cell migration.

p53蛋白被认为是迄今为止最著名的肿瘤抑制因子之一, 在肿瘤发生发展过程中发挥复杂而重要的调控作用. 在正常生理情况下, 细胞内的p53维持在很低的水平, 当细胞受到多种刺激后, p53被翻译后修饰, 蛋白因稳定而活性被激活, 参与细胞周期阻滞、细胞凋亡、细胞衰老、细胞代谢等生命活动过程. p53翻译后修饰的类型很多, 本文重点就磷酸化修饰对p53功能及其在细胞生命活动过程中的作用予以探讨, 以期为p53本身的修饰研究及其在肿瘤等疾病治疗中的作用提供参考.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase1 (IDH1) is of great importance in cell metabolism and energy conversion. However, alterations in IDH1 in response to stress and excise-regulated mechanisms are not well described. Here we investigated gene expression profiles under ER stress in melanoma cells and found that IDH1 was dramatically increased with ER stress induced by tunicamycin. Elevated IDH1 subsequently sensitized human melanoma cells to hypoxia-induced apoptosis and promoted HIF-1α degradation. In addition, we revealed that CHOP and C/EBPβ were involved in hypoxia-induced apoptosis via transcriptional regulation of IDH1 expression. Our data indicate that IDH1, regulated by CHOP and C/EBPβ in response to ER stress treatment, inhibits survival of melanoma cells under hypoxia and promotes HIF-1α degradation. Therefore, we propose that IDH1 may serve as a valuable target for melanoma therapy.

Reprogramming of adult somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells holds great promise in clinical therapy. Increasing evidences have shown that p53 and its target genes play important roles in somatic cell reprogramming. In this study, we report that PHLDA3, a p53 target gene, functions as a blockage of iPSCs generation by activating the Akt-GSK3β pathway. Furthermore, PHLDA3 is found to be transcriptionally regulated by Oct4. These findings reveal that PHLDA3 acts as a new member of the regulatory network of somatic cell reprogramming.

// Wu Shuang 1, * , Lili Hou 2, * , Yan Zhu 3, * , Qun Li 1 and Wanglai Hu 1 1 Department of Immunology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 2 Department of Clinical Nutriology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 3 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Wanglai Hu, email: wanglaihu@ahmu.edu.cn Keywords: Mcl-1, PI3K/Akt, Taxol-resistance Received: March 08, 2017 Accepted: July 26, 2017 Published: August 12, 2017 ABSTRACT Taxol has been extensively used as an antineoplastic drug to treat human gastric cancer. However, the acquired drug resistance invariably develops and greatly limits the therapeutic efficacy of Taxol. Identification of the underlying resistance mechanisms may inform the development of new therapies of gastric cancers to Taxol treatment. Here we report that upregulation of Mcl-1 (Myeloid cell leukemia-1) confers acquired resistance to Taxol in human gastric cancer. Mcl-1 is shown to be stabilized in Taxol -resistant gastric cancer cells because of the hyper-activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. The increased Mcl-1 prevents of the permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane, thereby blocking the Taxol-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibition of Mcl-1 or PI3K/Akt pathway significantly reversed the resistant phenotype of Taxol-resistant human gastric cancer cells. Taken together, our findings broaden the view of PI3K/Akt pathway as an important regulator in Taxol acquired resistance, and implicate Mcl-1 as a specific therapeutic target for the treatment of Taxol-resistant human gastric cancer.

We report that circACC1, a circular RNA derived from human ACC1, plays a critical role in cellular responses to metabolic stress. CircACC1 is preferentially produced over ACC1 in response to serum deprivation by the transcription factor c-Jun. It functions to stabilize and promote the enzymatic activity of the AMPK holoenzyme by forming a ternary complex with the regulatory β and γ subunits. The cellular levels of circACC1 modulate both fatty acid β-oxidation and glycolysis, resulting in profound changes in cellular lipid storage. In a tumor xenograft model, silencing or enforced expression of circACC1 resulted in growth inhibition and enhancement, respectively. Moreover, increased AMPK activation in colorectal cancer tissues was frequently associated with elevated circACC1 expression. We conclude that circACC1 serves as an economic means to elicit AMPK activation and moreover propose that cancer cells exploit circACC1 during metabolic reprogramming.

MDM2 expression is down-regulated upon E2F1 over-expression, but the mechanism is not well defined. In the current study, we found that E2F1 inhibits MDM2 expression by suppressing its promoter activity. Although E2F1 binds to the MDM2 promoter, the inhibitory effect of E2F1 on the MDM2 promoter does not require the direct binding. We demonstrate that E2F1 inhibits MDM2 promoter activity in a p53-dependent manner. Knockdown of p53 in U2OS cells impairs the inhibitory effect of E2F1 on the MDM2 promoter. Consistent with this observation, E2F1 does not inhibit MDM2 promoter activity in p53-deficient H1299 cells, and the inhibition is restored when p53 is expressed exogenously. Both E2F1 and p53 are up-regulated after DNA damage stimulation. We show that such stimulation induces E2F1 to inhibit MDM2 promoter activity and promote p53 accumulation. Furthermore, inhibition of MDM2 by E2F1 promotes E2F1 induced apoptosis. These data suggest that E2F1 regulates the MDM2-p53 pathway by inhibiting p53 induced up-regulation of MDM2.

Herein, we report the rational design of a DEVD-based heptapeptide hydrogelator 1 which is susceptible to caspase-3 (CASP3), and its isomeric control hydrogelator 2 with a DEDV-based heptapeptide sequence. Self-assembly of 1 in water results in flexuous, long nanofibers to form supramolecular hydrogel I with higher mechanical strength than that of hydrogel II which is composed of rigid, short nanofibers of 2. In vitro enzymatic analysis indicated that 1 is susceptive to CASP3 while 2 is not. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and Western blot analyses indicated that DEDV-based hydrogelator 2 induces cell death via apoptotic pathway while the DEVD-based hydrogelator 1 minimizes cellular apoptosis induction.

By employing fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) quenching, we rationally designed two new FITC-quencher based nanoprobes for effectively sensing caspase 3 (Casp3) in vitro and in cells. Our nanoprobes hold promise for assessing the chemotherapeutic effect of cancer treatment.