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Gas sensor-embedded smartphones would offer the opportunity of on-site tracking of gas molecules for various applications, for example, harmful air pollutant alarms or noninvasive assessment of health status. Nevertheless, high power consumption and difficulty in replacing malfunctioned sensors as well as limited space in the smartphone to host the sensor restrain the relevant advancements. In this article, we create a smartphone case-based sensing platform by integrating the functional units into a smartphone case, which performs a low detection limit of 117 ppb to acetone and high specificity. Particularly, dimming glass-regulated light fidelity (Li-Fi) communication is successfully developed, allowing the sensing platform to operate with relatively low power consumption (around 217 mW). Experimental proof on harmful gas sensing and potential clinic application is implemented with the sensing platform, demonstrating satisfactory sensing performance and acceptable health risk pre-warning accuracy (87%). Thus, the developed smartphone case-based sensing platform would be a good candidate for realizing harmful gas alarms and noninvasive assessment of health status.

Neuroblastoma(NB) is a common childhood solid tumor, and most patients in the high-risk group with MYCN gene amplification have a poor prognosis. Inhibition of bromodomain and extra terminal (BET) proteins has shown considerable promise in the investigation of MYCN-driven malignancies in recent years. MZ1 is a novel BET inhibitor that employs proteolytic-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology for proteasomal degradation of target proteins and has shown excellent effects in some tumors, but its role in neuroblastoma remains poorly understood. Herein, we observed that MZ1 suppressed MYC-amplified NB cell proliferation and normal cell cycle, while simultaneously boosting cell apoptosis. MZ1 also provides a significant therapeutic impact in vivo. Mechanistically, MZ1 exhibits anti-tumor effect in NB cells by suppressing the expression of N-Myc or C-Myc as well as the MAPK signaling pathway. Overall, our data imply that MZ1 might be exploited as a possible therapeutic method for NB therapy.

Paper-based immunoassays are effective methods that employ microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) for the rapid, simple, and accurate quantification of analytes in point-of-care diagnosis. In this study, we developed a wax-printed multilayered μPAD for the colorimetric detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), where the device contained a movable and rotatable detection layer to allow the μPAD to switch the state of the sample solutions, i.e., flowing or storing in the sensing zones. A smartphone with a custom-developed program served as an automated colorimetric reader to capture and analyze images from the μPAD, before calculating and displaying the test results. After optimizing the crucial conditions for the assay, the proposed method exhibited a wide linear dynamic range from 0.5 to 70 ng/mL, with a low CEA detection limit of 0.015 ng/mL. The clinical performance of this method was successfully validated using 50 positive and 40 negative human serum samples, thereby demonstrating the high sensitivity of 98.0% and specificity of 97.5% in the detection of CEA. The proposed method is greatly simplified compared with the cumbersome steps required for traditional immunoassays, but without any loss of accuracy and stability, as well as reducing the time needed to detect CEA. Complex and bulky instruments are replaced with a smartphone. The proposed detection platform could potentially be applied in point-of-care testing. Graphical abstract.

Over last decades, the complexity and variability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has significantly interfered with the effectiveness of traditional treatment, and has gradually become a main obstacle and bottleneck for HCC therapy. In order to explore the innovative therapeutic strategy to further improve the cancer diagnosis and treatment, we herein proposed a thermal-induced magnetic nanosystem with good biocompatibility that therapeutic cargo controllable release relies on 808 nm laser irradiation. This nanosystem was designed by co-loaded the manganese-doped magnetic nanoparticles and photosensitizer indocyanine green into the matrix of temperature sensitive polymer, with further capturing negatively charged YAP1 siRNA on the surface, to finally obtain the heat-induced manganese-doped magnetic nanocarriers (HMM-siRNA NCs). Our study found that the photosensitizer on the exposure of 808 nm laser irradiation could generate continuous heat to rupture the thermal-sensitive polymer matrix, that controllable release the embedded ICG and Mn0.8Fe2.2O4 NPs for NIR/MR imaging, ICG-mediated heat and ROS could induce the thermal expansion and rupture of HMM-siRNA NCs, causing the evident thermal swelling of lysosomes to induce the cell apoptosis. Besides, YAP1 siRNA can decrease the YAP1 expression in HCC down to approximately 35%, reducing the cell proliferation and migration. Such NIR/MRI guided low-temperature PTT and siRNA-mediated gene therapy strategy lead to tumor cell death by using various and complementary approach, thereby achieving controllable and effective comprehensive treatment in the presence of 808 nm laser irradiation. Our designed delivery complex can accomplish the precise cancer treatment on the tumor site by responding to the external 808 nm laser, and its non-toxic metabolites demonstrate the excellent biocompability for extensive use either anti-cancer therapy or various disease from clinical research.

Inhibition of tumor vasculature is an effective strategy for cancer therapy. Angiostatin could suppress tumor growth and metastasis by binding and inhibiting F1F0 ATP synthase on the endothelial cell surface. We previously screened a monoclonal antibody (McAb, McAb178-5G10), which specifically bound to ATPase on the surface of cells and showed an angiostatin-like activity. Here, we further generated a panel of CHO-mAb subclone stable expressing a humanized chimeric antibody from hybridoma cell McAb178-5G10 by gene engineer. And then, we successfully expressed the humanized antibody Hai178 at high level in a 5-L wave bioreactor. The vitro results showed that Hai178 retained the specific binding and antitumor activity of murine antibody. Furthermore, Hai178 also had a tumor therapeutic effect in tumor xenografts. These results paved the way for Hai178 as a therapeutic antibody in clinic.