Systematic Screening and Therapeutic Evaluation of Glyconanoparticles with Differential Cancer Affinities for Targeted Cancer Therapy

Hepatoma Metastasis-Inhibiting Supramolecular Nanoglycocalyx for Enhanced Type I Photodynamic Therapy

Type I photodynamic therapy (PDT) is well demonstrated to have low oxygen dependency. However, fully suppressing the risk of hypoxia-induced tumor metastasis during PDT remains a great challenge. In this study, a tetra-lactosylated amphiphilic Aza-BODIPY glycocluster (TLBP) is reported that self-assembles into a supramolecular nanoglycocalyx on hepatoma cell membranes, serving as an artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) to inhibit hepatoma metastasis while facilitating efficient Type I PDT. Molecular engineering demonstrates that multi-glycosylation promotes the transition of nanostructures from disordered to ordered self-assembly by regulating intermolecular interactions. This modification enables the TLBP glycocalyx to exhibit significant intermolecular electron transfer, generating superoxide anion radicals (O2 -•) for Type I PDT. Moreover, the TLBP glycocalyx inhibits the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway by reducing Na+/K+-ATPase activity, leading to decreased migration and invasion of HepG2 cells. The synergistic antitumor effect of TLBP glycocalyx is further verified in a HepG2-bearing mouse model. This work innovatively utilizes glycosylation to regulate microelectronic properties and macroscopic nanoscale self-assembly characteristics, providing a novel concept for developing efficient synergistic anti-hepatoma strategies.

Intestinal epithelial glycocalyx and intestinal disease

With the continuous research on glycobiology, more and more diseases are found to be associated with the glycocalyx. Glycocalyx can be categorized as endothelial glycocalyx and epithelial glycocalyx. Past studies mostly target endothelial glycocalyx, and this review focuses on the structure and function of intestinal epithelial glycocalyx, its degradation mechanism and biological relevance to different diseases of the intestinal tract, as well as the targeted delivery of drugs to organs by nanoparticle libraries mimicking the glycocalyx, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the study of potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets of intestinal epithelial glycocalyx in intestinal diseases.

Lysosome Targeting Chimaeras for Glut1-Facilitated Targeted Protein Degradation

Targeted protein degradation technology holds great potential in biomedicine, particularly in treating tumors and other protein-related diseases. Research on intracellular protein degradation using molecular glues and PROTAC technology is leading, while research on the degradation of membrane proteins and extracellular proteins through the lysosomal pathway is still in the preclinical stage. The scarcity of useful targets is an immense limitation to technological advancement, making it essential to explore novel, potentially effective approaches for targeted lysosomal degradation. Here, we employed the glucose transporter Glut1 as an innovative lysosome-targeting receptor and devised the Glut1-Facilitated Lysosomal Degradation (GFLD) strategy. We synthesized potential Glut1 ligands via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and acquired antibody-glycooligomer conjugates through bioorthogonal reactions as lysosome-targeting protein degradation molecules, utilized in the management of PD-L1 high-expressing triple-negative breast cancer. The glucose transporter Glut1 as a lysosome-targeting receptor exhibits potential for the advancement of a broader array of medications in the future.

Glycocalyx-Mimicking Nanoparticles with Differential Organ Selectivity for Drug Delivery and Therapy

Organ-selective drug delivery is expected to maximize the efficacy of various therapeutic modalities while minimizing their systemic toxicity. Lipid nanoparticles and polymersomes can direct the organ-selective delivery of mRNAs or gene editing machineries, but their delivery is limited to mostly liver, spleen, and lung. A platform that enables delivery to these and other target organs is urgently needed. Here, a library of glycocalyx-mimicking nanoparticles (GlyNPs) comprising five randomly combined sugar moieties is generated, and direct in vivo library screening is used to identify GlyNPs with preferential biodistribution in liver, spleen, lung, kidneys, heart, and brain. Each organ-targeting GlyNP hit show cellular tropism within the organ. Liver, kidney, and spleen-targeting GlyNP hits equipped with therapeutics effectively can alleviate the symptoms of acetaminophen-induced liver injury, cisplatin-induced kidney injury, and immune thrombocytopenia in mice, respectively. Furthermore, the differential organ targeting of GlyNP hits is influenced not by the protein corona but by the sugar moieties displayed on their surface. It is envisioned that the GlyNP-based platform may enable the organ- and cell-targeted delivery of therapeutic cargoes.

Systematic Investigation of Cellular Response to Hydroxyl Group Orientation Differences on Gold Glyconanoparticles

Nanoparticle (NP) surfaces act as the interface as they interact with living systems and play a critical role in defining their cellular response. The nature of these interactions should be well understood to design safer and more effective NPs to be used in a wide range of biomedical applications. At the moment, it is not clear how a subtle change in surface chemistry will affect an NP's behavior in a biological system. Thus, understanding the role of such a small change is critical and may allow one to fine-tune a biological response. In this study, the cellular response to -OH orientation differences generated on gold glyconanoparticles, which are recently considered promising therapeutic agents as they mimic a glycocalyx, is investigated. As model molecules, glucose and mannose (C2 epimer) as monosaccharides and lactose and maltose (galactose and glucose as free units, C4 epimer) as disaccharides were chosen to monitor the cellular response in A549, BEAS-2b, and MDA-MB-231 cells through cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and cell cycle progression. The three cell lines gave various and remarkable cellular responses to the same subtle -OH differences on gold glyconanoparticles, and it is determined that not only -OH orientation differences but also the number of saccharides on gold glyconanoparticles affect the cellular response. It was shown that mannose (C2 epimer to glucose) was significant with the promise of being a therapeutic agent for lung cancer therapy, whereas the toxicological profile of MDA-MB-231 cells was affected by AuNPs-glucose the most. This study demonstrates that clearly small chemical alterations on a NP surface can result in a significant cellular response. It can be concluded that the -OH orientation at the second and fourth carbon of a carbohydrate ring has a critical role in designing and engineering novel gold glyconanoparticles (consisting of monolayer mono- or disaccharides) for a specific cancer therapy.

Anti-inflammatory Glycocalyx-Mimicking Nanoparticles for Colitis Treatment: Construction and In Vivo Evaluation

Common medications for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have limited therapeutic efficacy and severe adverse effects. This underscores the urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches that can effectively target inflamed sites in the gastrointestinal tract upon oral administration, exerting potent therapeutic efficacy while minimizing systemic effects. Here, we report the construction and in vivo therapeutic evaluation of a library of anti-inflammatory glycocalyx-mimicking nanoparticles (designated GlyNPs) in a mouse model of IBD. The anti-inflammatory GlyNP library was created by attaching bilirubin (BR) to a library of glycopolymers composed of random combinations of the five most naturally abundant sugars. Direct in vivo screening of 31 BR-attached anti-inflammatory GlyNPs via oral administration into mice with acute colitis led to identification of a candidate GlyNP capable of targeting macrophages in the inflamed colon and effectively alleviating colitis symptoms. These findings suggest that the BR-attached GlyNP library can be used as a platform to identify anti-inflammatory nanomedicines for various inflammatory diseases.

Photothermal Nanomaterials: A Powerful Light-to-Heat Converter

All forms of energy follow the law of conservation of energy, by which they can be neither created nor destroyed. Light-to-heat conversion as a traditional yet constantly evolving means of converting light into thermal energy has been of enduring appeal to researchers and the public. With the continuous development of advanced nanotechnologies, a variety of photothermal nanomaterials have been endowed with excellent light harvesting and photothermal conversion capabilities for exploring fascinating and prospective applications. Herein we review the latest progresses on photothermal nanomaterials, with a focus on their underlying mechanisms as powerful light-to-heat converters. We present an extensive catalogue of nanostructured photothermal materials, including metallic/semiconductor structures, carbon materials, organic polymers, and two-dimensional materials. The proper material selection and rational structural design for improving the photothermal performance are then discussed. We also provide a representative overview of the latest techniques for probing photothermally generated heat at the nanoscale. We finally review the recent significant developments of photothermal applications and give a brief outlook on the current challenges and future directions of photothermal nanomaterials.

A Forward Vision for Chemodynamic Therapy: Issues and Opportunities

Since the insight to fuse Fenton chemistry and nanomedicine into cancer therapy, great signs of progress have been made in the field of chemodynamic therapy (CDT). However, the exact mechanism of CDT is obscured by the unique tumor chemical environment and inevitable nanoparticle-cell interactions, thus impeding further development. In this Scientific Perspective, the significance of CDT is clarified, the complex mechanism is deconstructed into primitive chemical and biological interactions, and the mechanism research directions based on the chemical kinetics and biological signaling pathways are discussed in detail. Moreover, beneficial outlooks are presented to enlighten the evolution of next-generation CDT. Hopefully, this Scientific Perspective can inspire new ideas and advances for CDT and provide a reference for breaking down the interdisciplinary barriers in the field of nanomedicine.