Photothermal exposure of polydopamine-coated branched Au-Ag nanoparticles induces cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy in human bladder cancer cells

Nanomaterials in crossroad of autophagy control in human cancers: Amplification of cell death mechanisms

Cancer is the result of genetic abnormalities that cause normal cells to grow into neoplastic cells. Cancer is characterized by several distinct features, such as uncontrolled cell growth, extensive spreading to other parts of the body, and the ability to resist treatment. The scientists have stressed the development of nanostructures as novel therapeutic options in suppressing cancer, in response to the emergence of resistance to standard medicines. One of the specific mechanisms with dysregulation during cancer is autophagy. Nanomaterials have the ability to specifically carry medications and genes, and they can also enhance the responsiveness of tumor cells to standard therapy while promoting drug sensitivity. The primary mechanism in this process relies on autophagosomes and their fusion with lysosomes to break down the components of the cytoplasm. While autophagy was initially described as a form of cellular demise, it has been demonstrated to play a crucial role in controlling metastasis, proliferation, and treatment resistance in human malignancies. The pharmacokinetic profile of autophagy modulators is poor, despite their development for use in cancer therapy. Consequently, nanoparticles have been developed for the purpose of delivering medications and autophagy modulators selectively and specifically to the cancer process. Furthermore, several categories of nanoparticles have demonstrated the ability to regulate autophagy, which plays a crucial role in defining the biological characteristics and response to therapy of tumor cells.

Autophagy flux in bladder cancer: Cell death crosstalk, drug and nanotherapeutics

Autophagy, a self-digestion mechanism, has emerged as a promising target in the realm of cancer therapy, particularly in bladder cancer (BCa), a urological malignancy characterized by dysregulated biological processes contributing to its progression. This highly conserved catabolic mechanism exhibits aberrant activation in pathological events, prominently featured in human cancers. The nuanced role of autophagy in cancer has been unveiled as a double-edged sword, capable of functioning as both a pro-survival and pro-death mechanism in a context-dependent manner. In BCa, dysregulation of autophagy intertwines with cell death mechanisms, wherein pro-survival autophagy impedes apoptosis and ferroptosis, while pro-death autophagy diminishes tumor cell survival. The impact of autophagy on BCa progression is multifaceted, influencing metastasis rates and engaging with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mechanism. Pharmacological modulation of autophagy emerges as a viable strategy to impede BCa progression and augment cell death. Notably, the introduction of nanoparticles for targeted autophagy regulation holds promise as an innovative approach in BCa suppression. This review underscores the intricate interplay of autophagy with cell death pathways and its therapeutic implications in the nuanced landscape of bladder cancer.

Self-Assembled Acid-Responsive Nanosystem for Synergistic Anti-Angiogenic/Photothermal/Ferroptosis Therapy against Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer (EC) treatment via anti-angiogenic therapy faces challenges due to non-cytotoxicity and non-specific biodistribution of the anti-angiogenic agents. Hence, the quest for a synergistic treatment modality and a targeted delivery approach to effectively address EC has become imperative. In this study, an acid-responsive release nanosystem (Bev-IR820@FeIII TA) that involves the conjugation of bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenic monoclonal antibody, with TA and Fe3+ to form a metal-phenolic network, followed by loading with the near-infrared photothermal agent (IR820) to achieve combinational therapy, is designed. The construction of Bev-IR820@FeIII TA can be realized through a facile self-assembly process. The Bev-IR820@FeIII TA exhibits tumor-targeting capabilities and synergistic therapeutic effects, encompassing anti-angiogenic therapy, photothermal therapy (PTT), and ferroptosis therapy (FT). Bev-IR820@FeIII TA exhibits remarkable proficiency in delivering drugs to EC tissue through its pH-responsive release properties. Consequently, bevacizumab exerts its therapeutic effects by obstructing tumor angiogenesis, thereby impeding tumor growth. Meanwhile, PTT facilitates localized thermal ablation at the tumor site, directly eradicating EC cells. FT synergistically collaborates with PTT, giving rise to the formation of a reactive oxygen species (ROS) storm, subsequently culminating in the demise of EC cells. In summary, this amalgamated treatment modality carries substantial promise for synergistically impeding EC progression and showcases auspicious prospects for future EC treatment.

Metal nanoparticle hybrid hydrogels: the state-of-the-art of combining hard and soft materials to promote wound healing

Wounds represent a grave affliction that profoundly impacts human well-being. Establishing barriers, preventing infections, and providing a conducive microenvironment constitute the crux of wound therapy. Hydrogel, a polymer with an intricate three-dimensional lattice, serves as a potent tool in erecting physical barriers and nurturing an environment conducive to wound healing. This enables effective control over exudation, hemostasis, accelerated wound closure, and diminished scar formation. As a result, hydrogels have gained extensive traction in the realm of wound treatment. Metallic nanoparticle carriers, characterized by their multifaceted responses encompassing acoustics, optics, and electronics, have demonstrated efficacy in wound management. Nevertheless, these carriers encounter challenges associated with swift clearance and nonuniform effectiveness. The hybridization of metallic nanoparticle carriers with hydrogels overcomes the shortcomings inherent in metallic nanoparticle-based wound therapy. This amalgamation not only addresses the limitations but also augments the mechanical robustness of hydrogels. It confers upon them attributes such as environmental responsiveness and multifunctionality, thereby synergizing strengths and compensating for weaknesses. This integration culminates in the precise and intelligent management of wounds. This review encapsulates the structural classifications, design strategies, therapeutic applications, and underlying mechanisms of metal nanoparticle hybrid hydrogels in the context of acute and chronic wound treatment. The discourse delves into the generation of novel or enhanced attributes arising from hybridization and how the current paradigm of wound therapy leverages these attributes. Amidst this continually evolving frontier, the potential of metal nanoparticle hybrid hydrogels to revolutionize wound treatment is underscored.

Autophagy-mediated nanomaterials for tumor therapy

Autophagy is a lysosomal self-degradation pathway that plays an important protective role in maintaining intracellular environment. Deregulation of autophagy is related to several diseases, including cancer, infection, neurodegeneration, aging, and heart disease. In this review, we will summarize recent advances in autophagy-mediated nanomaterials for tumor therapy. Firstly, the autophagy signaling pathway for tumor therapy will be reviewed, including oxidative stress, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and autophagy-associated genes pathway. Based on that, many autophagy-mediated nanomaterials have been developed and applied in tumor therapy. According to the different structure of nanomaterials, we will review and evaluate these autophagy-mediated nanomaterials' therapeutic efficacy and potential clinical application.

Nanoarchitecture-based photothermal ablation of cancer: A systematic review

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is an emerging non-invasive method used in cancer treatment. In PTT, near-infrared laser light is absorbed by a chromophore and converted into heat within the tumor tissue. PTT for cancer usually combines a variety of interactive plasmonic nanomaterials with laser irradiation. PTT enjoys PT agents with high conversion efficiency to convert light into heat to destroy malignant tissue. In this review, published studies concerned with the use of nanoparticles (NPs) in PTT were collected by a systematic and comprehensive search of PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Scopus databases. Gold, silver and iron NPs were the most frequent choice in PTT. The use of surface modified NPs allowed selective delivery and led to a precise controlled increase in the local temperature. The presence of NPs during PTT can increase the reactive generation of oxygen species, damage the DNA and mitochondria, leading to cancer cell death mainly via apoptosis. Many studies recently used core-shell metal NPs, and the effects of the polymer coating or ligands targeted to specific cellular receptors in order to increase PTT efficiency were often reported. The effective parameters (NP type, size, concentration, coated polymers or attached ligands, exposure conditions, cell line or type, and cell death mechanisms) were investigated individually. With the advances in chemical synthesis technology, NPs with different shapes, sizes, and coatings can be prepared with desirable properties, to achieve multimodal cancer treatment with precision and specificity.

Autophagy regulation by inorganic, organic, and organic/inorganic hybrid nanoparticles: Organelle damage, regulation factors, and potential pathways

The rapid development of nanotechnology requires a more thorough understanding of the potential health effects caused by nanoparticles (NPs). As a programmed cell death, autophagy is one of the biological effects induced by NPs, which maintain intracellular homeostasis by degrading damaged organelles and removing aggregates of defective proteins through lysosomes. Currently, autophagy has been shown to be associated with the development of several diseases. A significant number of research have demonstrated that most NPs can regulate autophagy, and their regulation of autophagy is divided into induction and blockade. Studying the autophagy regulation by NPs will facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the toxicity of NPs. In this review, we will illustrate the effects of different types of NPs on autophagy, including inorganic NPs, organic NPs, and organic/inorganic hybrid NPs. The potential mechanisms by which NPs regulate autophagy are highlighted, including organelle damage, oxidative stress, inducible factors, and multiple signaling pathways. In addition, we list the factors influencing NPs-regulated autophagy. This review may provide basic information for the safety assessment of NPs.

Application of nanotechnology in bladder cancer diagnosis and therapeutic drug delivery

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the urinary system, and its high recurrence rate is a great economic burden to patients. Traditional diagnosis and treatment methods have the disadvantages of insufficient targeting, obvious side effects and low sensitivity, which seriously limit the accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of BC. Due to their small size, easy surface modification, optical properties such as plasmon resonance, and surface enhanced Raman scattering, good electrical conductivity and photothermal conversion properties, nanomaterials have great potential application value in the realization of specific diagnosis and targeted therapy of BC. At present, the application of nanomaterials in the diagnosis and treatment of BC is attracting great attention and achieving rich research results. Therefore, this paper summarizes the recent research on nanomaterials in the diagnosis and treatment of BC, clarifies the existing advantages and disadvantages, and provides theoretical guidance for promoting the accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of BC.

Nanomedicine for autophagy modulation in cancer therapy: a clinical perspective

In recent years, progress in nanotechnology provided new tools to treat cancer more effectively. Advances in biomaterials tailored for drug delivery have the potential to overcome the limited selectivity and side effects frequently associated with traditional therapeutic agents. While autophagy is pivotal in determining cell fate and adaptation to different challenges, and despite the fact that it is frequently dysregulated in cancer, antitumor therapeutic strategies leveraging on or targeting this process are scarce. This is due to many reasons, including the very contextual effects of autophagy in cancer, low bioavailability and non-targeted delivery of existing autophagy modulatory compounds. Conjugating the versatile characteristics of nanoparticles with autophagy modulators may render these drugs safer and more effective for cancer treatment. Here, we review current standing questions on the biology of autophagy in tumor progression, and precursory studies and the state-of-the-art in harnessing nanomaterials science to enhance the specificity and therapeutic potential of autophagy modulators.

The Role of Silver Nanoparticles in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer: Are There Any Perspectives for the Future?

Cancer is a fatal disease with a complex pathophysiology. Lack of specificity and cytotoxicity, as well as the multidrug resistance of traditional cancer chemotherapy, are the most common limitations that often cause treatment failure. Thus, in recent years, significant efforts have concentrated on the development of a modernistic field called nano-oncology, which provides the possibility of using nanoparticles (NPs) with the aim to detect, target, and treat cancer diseases. In comparison with conventional anticancer strategies, NPs provide a targeted approach, preventing undesirable side effects. What is more, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have shown good pharmacokinetics and precise targeting, as well as reduced multidrug resistance. It has been documented that, in cancer cells, NPs promote reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, activate ER (endoplasmic reticulum) stress, modulate various signaling pathways, etc. Furthermore, their ability to inhibit tumor growth in vivo has also been documented. In this paper, we have reviewed the role of silver NPs (AgNPs) in cancer nanomedicine, discussing numerous mechanisms by which they render anticancer properties under both in vitro and in vivo conditions, as well as their potential in the diagnosis of cancer.

Designing Intelligent Nanomaterials to Achieve Highly Sensitive Diagnoses and Multimodality Therapy of Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer (BC) is among the most common malignant tumors of the genitourinary system worldwide. In recent years, the rate of BC incidence has increased, and the recurrence rate is high, resulting in poor quality of life for patients. Therefore, how to develop an effective method to achieve synchronous precise diagnoses and BC therapies is a difficult problem to solve clinically. Previous reports usually focus on the role of nanomaterials as drug delivery carriers, while a summary of the functional design and application of nanomaterials is lacking. Summarizing the application of functional nanomaterials in high-sensitivity diagnosis and multimodality therapy of BC is urgently needed. This review summarizes the application of nanotechnology in BC diagnosis, including the application of nanotechnology in the sensoring of BC biomarkers and their role in monitoring BC. In addition, conventional and combination therapies strategy in potential BC therapy are analyzed. Moreover, different kinds of nanomaterials in BC multimodal therapy according to pathological features of BC are also outlined. The goal of this review is to present an overview of the application of nanomaterials in the theranostics of BC to provide guidance for the application of functional nanomaterials to precisely diagnose and treat BC.

Novel Development of Nanoparticles-A Promising Direction for Precise Tumor Management

Although the clinical application of nanoparticles is still limited by biological barriers and distribution, with the deepening of our understanding of nanoparticles over the past decades, people are gradually breaking through the previous limitations in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors, providing novel strategies for clinical decision makers. The transition of nanoparticles from passive targeting to active tumor-targeting by abundant surface-modified nanoparticles is also a development process of precision cancer treatment. Different particles can be used as targeted delivery tools of antitumor drugs. The mechanism of gold nanoparticles inducing apoptosis and cycle arrest of tumor cells has been discovered. Moreover, the unique photothermal effect of gold nanoparticles may be widely used in tumor therapy in the future, with less side effects on surrounding tissues. Lipid-based nanoparticles are expected to overcome the blood-brain barrier due to their special characteristics, while polymer-based nanoparticles show better biocompatibility and lower toxicity. In this paper, we discuss the development of nanoparticles in tumor therapy and the challenges that need to be addressed.

Mitophagy Induced by Metal Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment

Research on nanoparticles, especially metal nanoparticles, in cancer therapy is gaining momentum. The versatility and biocompatibility of metal nanoparticles make them ideal for various applications in cancer therapy. They can bring about apoptotic cell death in cancer cells. In addition to apoptosis, nanoparticles mediate a special type of autophagy facilitated through mitochondria called mitophagy. Interestingly, nanoparticles with antioxidant properties are capable of inducing mitophagy by altering the levels of reactive oxygen species and by influencing signaling pathways like PINK/Parkin pathway and P13K/Akt/mTOR pathway. The current review presents various roles of metal nanoparticles in inducing mitophagy in cancer cells. We envision this review sheds some light on the blind spots in the research related to mitophagy induced by nanoparticles for cancer treatment.

Metal Cluster Triggered-Assembling Heterogeneous Au-Ag Nanoclusters with Highly Loading Performance and Biocompatible Capability

In this work, we firstly report the preparation of heterogeneously assembled structures Au-Ag nanoclusters (NCs) as good drug carriers with high loading performance and biocompatible capability. As glutathione-protected Au and Ag clusters self-assembled into porous Au-Ag NCs, the size value is about 1.358 (±0.05) nm. The morphology characterization revealed that the diameter of Au-Ag NCs is approximately 120 nm, as well as the corresponding potential ability in loading performance of the metal cluster triggered-assembling process. Compared with individual components, the stability and loading performance of heterogeneous Au-Ag NCs were improved and exhibit that the relative biocompatibility was enhanced. The exact information about this is that cell viability was approximately to 98% when cells were incubated with 100 µg mL−1 particle solution for 3 days. The drug release of Adriamycin from Au-Ag NCs was carried out in PBS at pH = 7.4 and 5.8, respectively. By simulating in vivo and tumor microenvironment, the release efficiency could reach over 65% at pH = 5.8 but less than 30% at pH = 7.2. Using an ultrasound field as external environment can accelerate the assembling process while metal clusters triggered assembling Au-Ag NCs. The size and morphology of the assembled Au-Ag NCs can be controlled by using different power parameters (8 W, 13 W, 18 W) under ambient atmosphere. Overall, a novel approach is exhibited, which conveys assembling work for metal clusters triggers into heterogeneous structures with porous characteristic. Its existing properties such as water-solubility, stability, low toxicity and capsulation can be considered as dependable agents in various biomedical applications and drug carriers in immunotherapies.

PDA-Based Drug Delivery Nanosystems: A Potential Approach for Glioma Treatment

Glioma is characterized by high mortality and low postoperative survival. Despite the availability of various therapeutic approaches and molecular typing, the treatment failure rate and the recurrence rate of glioma remain high. Given the limitations of existing therapeutic tools, nanotechnology has emerged as an alternative treatment option. Nanoparticles, such as polydopamine (PDA)-based nanoparticles, are embodied with reliable biodegradability, efficient drug loading rate, relatively low toxicity, considerable biocompatibility, excellent adhesion properties, precisely targeted delivery, and strong photothermal conversion properties. Therefore, they can further enhance the therapeutic effects in patients with glioma. Moreover, polydopamine contains pyrocatechol, amino and carboxyl groups, active double bonds, catechol, and other reactive groups that can react with biofunctional molecules containing amino, aldehyde, or sulfhydryl groups (main including, self-polymerization, non-covalent self-assembly, π-π stacking, electrostatic attraction interaction, chelation, coating and covalent co-assembly), which form a reversible dynamic covalent Schiff base bond that is extremely sensitive to pH values. Meanwhile, PDA has excellent adhesion capability that can be further functionally modified. Consequently, the aim of this review is to summarize the application of PDA-based NPs in glioma and to acquire insight into the therapeutic effect of the drug-loaded PDA-based nanocarriers (PDA NPs). A wealthy understanding and argument of these sides is anticipated to afford a better approach to develop more reasonable and valid PDA-based cancer nano-drug delivery systems. Finally, we discuss the expectation for the prospective application of PDA in this sphere and some individual viewpoints.

The effect of surface modification of dendronized gold nanoparticles on activation and release of pyroptosis-inducing pro-inflammatory cytokines in presence of bacterial lipopolysaccharide in monocytes

Biomedical applications of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) may be limited by their toxicological effects. Although surface-modified AuNPs can induce apoptosis, less is known about whether they can induce other types of cell death. Pyroptosis, an inflammatory type of programmed cell death, can be induced in immune cells, especially macrophages, by bacterial endotoxins. Therefore, in this study, dendronized AuNPs were combined with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) as the main stimulators of pro-inflammatory responses to test the induction of pyroptosis in THP-1 myeloid cell line. These AuNPs induced caspase-1 activity (3-4 times more compared to control) and enhanced the release of interleukin (IL)-18 and IL-1β without inducing gasdermin D cleavage and related pore formation. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokines occurred mainly visible during LPS treatment, although their secretion was observed only after administration of dendronized AuNPs (release of IL-1β to supernatant up to 80 pg/mL). These findings suggest that dendronized AuNPs can induce pyroptosis-like inflammatory mechanisms and that these mechanisms are enhanced in the presence of bacterial LPS. The intensity of this effect was dependent on AuNP surface modification. These results shed new light on the cytotoxicity of metal NPs, including immune responses, indicating that surface modifications play crucial roles in their nanotoxicological effects.

(Nano)platforms in bladder cancer therapy: Challenges and opportunities

Urological cancers are among the most common malignancies around the world. In particular, bladder cancer severely threatens human health due to its aggressive and heterogeneous nature. Various therapeutic modalities have been considered for the treatment of bladder cancer although its prognosis remains unfavorable. It is perceived that treatment of bladder cancer depends on an interdisciplinary approach combining biology and engineering. The nanotechnological approaches have been introduced in the treatment of various cancers, especially bladder cancer. The current review aims to emphasize and highlight possible applications of nanomedicine in eradication of bladder tumor. Nanoparticles can improve efficacy of drugs in bladder cancer therapy through elevating their bioavailability. The potential of genetic tools such as siRNA and miRNA in gene expression regulation can be boosted using nanostructures by facilitating their internalization and accumulation at tumor sites and cells. Nanoparticles can provide photodynamic and photothermal therapy for ROS overgeneration and hyperthermia, respectively, in the suppression of bladder cancer. Furthermore, remodeling of tumor microenvironment and infiltration of immune cells for the purpose of immunotherapy are achieved through cargo-loaded nanocarriers. Nanocarriers are mainly internalized in bladder tumor cells by endocytosis, and proper design of smart nanoparticles such as pH-, redox-, and light-responsive nanocarriers is of importance for targeted tumor therapy. Bladder cancer biomarkers can be detected using nanoparticles for timely diagnosis of patients. Based on their accumulation at the tumor site, they can be employed for tumor imaging. The clinical translation and challenges are also covered in current review.

Anticancer Effects of Gold Nanoparticles by Inducing Apoptosis in Bladder Cancer 5637 Cells

Nanotechnology is a developing and revolutionary science that has been widely recommended for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Among the various nanoparticles used in nanotechnology, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have attracted much attentions due to their promising anticancer properties. Despite the potential advantages of AuNPs, their apoptotic and anti-angiogenic effects have not yet been reported on human bladder cancer 5637 cells. This motivated us to evaluate (reactive oxygen species) ROS-mediated apoptosis in 5637 cells. For this task, inhibitory effect of AuNPs was investigated after 24-h exposure to different concentrations of AuNPs by MTT assay. Also, apoptosis level was assessed by ROS production, flow cytometry, and Hoechst 33,258 staining. Besides, mRNA expression of B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X (Bax), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) genes, and caspase-3,7 activity were determined by qRT-PCR and colorimetric assay, respectively. Moreover, migration rate was evaluated by wound healing assay. MTT results demonstrate that AuNPs can reduce 5637-cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, while fluorimetric assay data show significant increased ROS production in 25 and 50 µg/ml-treated cells. It is also observed that AuNPs lead to Bax overexpression and downregulation of Bcl-2 and VEGFA genes. In line with this, flow cytometry results show increased levels of apoptosis in 25 and 50 µg/ml AuNP-treated cells (p < 0.05). Similarly, Hoechst staining indicates a remarkable increase in cells with apoptotic morphology after treating with AuNPs. Overall, our findings show that AuNPs significantly provoke ROS production, induce apoptosis, and suppress cell migration in bladder cancer 5637 cells.

Perturbation of autophagy: An intrinsic toxicity mechanism of nanoparticles

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used for various purposes due to their unique physicochemical properties. Such widespread applications greatly increase the possibility of human exposure to NPs in various ways. Once entering the human body, NPs may interfere with cellular homeostasis and thus affect the physiological system. As a result, it is necessary to evaluate the potential disturbance of NPs to multiple cell functions, including autophagy. Autophagy is an important cell function to maintain cellular homeostasis, and minimizing the disturbance caused by NP exposures to autophagy is critical to nanosafety. Herein, we summarized the recent research progress in nanotoxicity with particular focuses on the perturbation of NPs to cell autophagy. The basic processes of autophagy and complex relationships between autophagy and major human diseases were further discussed to emphasize the importance of keeping autophagy under control. Moreover, the most recent advances on perturbation of different types of NPs to autophagy were also reviewed. Last but not least, we also discussed major research challenges and potential coping strategies and proposed a safe-by-design strategy towards safer applications of NPs.

Cinnamomi Ramulus inhibits the growth of colon cancer cells via Akt/ERK signaling pathways

Background

Colon cancer (CC) ranks the second highest mortality rate among malignant tumors worldwide, and the current mainstream treatment regimens are not very effective. The unique efficacy of Chinese herb medicine (CHM) for cancer has recently attracted increasing attention. Cinnamomi Ramulus (CR), as a classic CHM, has been widely used in the treatment of a variety of diseases for hundreds of years in China, but its specific pharmacological mechanism against CC needs to be fully evaluated.

Methods

TCMSP and China National Knowledge Infrastructure database were utilized to predict the candidate ingredients of CR, and TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction database were also employed to predict the drug targets of the candidate ingredients from CR. We subsequently evaluated the therapeutic effect of CR by orally administrating it on CC-bearing mice. Next, we further identified the potential CC-related targets by using Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Based on these obtained targets, the drug/disease-target PPI networks were constructed using Bisogenet plugin of Cytoscape. The potential core therapeutic targets were then identified through topological analysis using CytoNCA plugin. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to predict the underlying mechanism of CR against CC. Furthermore, these in silico analysis results were validated by a series of cellular functional and molecular biological assays. UPLC–MS/MS method and molecular docking analysis were employed to identify the potential key components from CR.

Results

In this study, we firstly found that CR has potential therapeutic effect on cancer. Then, oral administration of CR could inhibit the growth of CC cells in C57BL/6 mice, while inhibiting the viability and motility of CC cells in vitro. We obtained 111 putative core therapeutic targets of CR. Subsequent enrichment analysis on these targets showed that CR could induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in CC cells by blocking Akt/ERK signaling pathways, which was further experimentally verified. We identified 5 key components from the crude extract of CR, among which taxifolin was found most likely to be the key active component against CC.

Conclusions

Our results show that CR as well as its active component taxifolin holds great potential in treatment of CC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13020-022-00588-6.

Advances and Potentials of Polydopamine Nanosystem in Photothermal-Based Antibacterial Infection Therapies

Bacterial infection remains one of the most dangerous threats to human health due to the increasing cases of bacterial resistance, which is caused by the extensive use of current antibiotics. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is similar to photodynamic therapy (PDT), but PTT can generate heat energy under the excitation of light of specific wavelength, resulting in overheating and damage to target cells or sites. Polydopamine (PDA) has been proved to show plenty of advantages, such as simple preparation, good photothermal conversion effects, high biocompatibility, and easy functionalization and adhesion. Taking these advantages, dopamine is widely used to synthesize the PDA nanosystem with excellent photothermal effects, good biocompatibility, and high drug loading ability, which therefore play more and more important roles for anticancer and antibacterial treatment. PDA nanosystem-mediated PTT has been reported to induce significant tumor inhibition, as well as bacterial killings due to PTT-induced hyperthermia. Moreover, combined with other cancer or bacterial inhibition strategies, PDA nanosystem-mediated PTT can achieve more effective tumor and bacterial inhibitions. In this review, we summarized the progress of preparation methods for the PDA nanosystem, followed by advances of their biological functions and mechanisms for PTT uses, especially in the field of antibacterial treatments. We also provided advances on how to combine PDA nanosystem-mediated PTT with other antibacterial methods for synergistic bacterial killings. Moreover, we further provide some prospects of PDA nanosystem-mediated PTT against intracellular bacteria, which might be helpful to facilitate their future research progress for antibacterial therapy.

YQFM alleviated cardiac hypertrophy by apoptosis inhibition and autophagy regulation via PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

As a traditional compound preparation of Chinese medicine, Yiqi Fumai lyophilized injection (YQFM) has protective effects on various cardiac diseases including cardiac hypertrophy, which is the primary cause of arrhythmia. However, the involved mechanism remains unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study was projected to investigate whether YQFM could prevent cardiac hypertrophy and arrhythmia concurrence.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The cardiac hypertrophy rats were established by transverse aortic ligation and the H9c2 hypertrophy cardiomyocyte was induced by angiotensin II (AngII). The electrocardiogram (ECG) was conducted to estimate the arrhythmia occurrence of cardiac hypertrophy rats under isoprenaline (iso) treatment. The cardiac related indicators and histopathology were also detected. The protective effects of YQFM on H9c2 hypertrophy cardiomyocyte were determined by the cell size measurement, apoptosis detection and mitochondrial membrane potential measurement. The cardiac hypertrophy relative proteins (ANP and BNP), autophagy related factors (LC3II, p62 and Beclin-1), apoptosis related markers (p53, caspase 3, Bax and Bcl-2) and the PI₃K/AKT/mTOR pathway expressions were all measured by Western blot.

RESULTS

YQFM decreased the arrhythmia occurrence and improved cardiac function in cardiac hypertrophy rats. YQFM also reduced the H9c2 cardiomyocyte size and alleviated the cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by AngII. In addition, YQFM inhibited cell apoptosis by increasing Bcl-2/Bax ratio and decreasing caspase 3 and p53 expressions in vitro and vivo. Meanwhile, YQFM regulated the autophagy pathway by down-regulating of LC3II and Beclin-1 expressions, as well as up-regulating of p62 expression. Finally, the results showed that YQFM could activate the PI₃K/AKT/mTOR pathway by enhancing the p-AKT, p-PI₃K and p-mTOR expressions.

CONCLUSION

Our results displayed that YQFM attenuated the cardiac hypertrophy by apoptosis inhibition and autophagy regulation via PI₃K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

Application of Carbon Ion and Its Sensitizing Agent in Cancer Therapy: A Systematic Review

Carbon ion radiation therapy (CIRT) is the most advanced radiation therapy (RT) available and offers new opportunities to improve cancer treatment and research. CIRT has a unique physical and biological advantage that allow them to kill tumor cells more accurately and intensively. So far, CIRT has been used in almost all types of malignant tumors, and showed good feasibility, safety and acceptable toxicity, indicating that CIRT has a wide range of development and application prospects. In addition, in order to improve the biological effect of CIRT, scientists are also trying to investigate related sensitizing agents to enhance the killing ability of tumor cells, which has attracted extensive attention. In this review, we tried to systematically review the rationale, advantages and problems, the clinical applications and the sensitizing agents of the CIRT. At the same time, the prospects of the CIRT in were prospected. We hope that this review will help researchers interested in CIRT, sensitizing agents, and radiotherapy to understand their magic more systematically and faster, and provide data reference and support for bioanalysis, clinical medicine, radiotherapy, heavy ion therapy, and nanoparticle diagnostics.

Sulforaphane Impact on Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in Bladder Carcinoma

Sulforaphane (SFN) is a natural glucosinolate found in cruciferous vegetables that acts as a chemopreventive agent, but its mechanism of action is not clear. Due to antioxidative mechanisms being thought central in preventing cancer progression, SFN could play a role in oxidative processes. Since redox imbalance with increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is involved in the initiation and progression of bladder cancer, this mechanism might be involved when chemoresistance occurs. This review summarizes current understanding regarding the influence of SFN on ROS and ROS-related pathways and appraises a possible role of SFN in bladder cancer treatment.

Nanotechnology in Bladder Cancer: Diagnosis and Treatment

Bladder cancer (BC) is the second most common cancer of the urinary tract in men and the fourth most common cancer in women, and its incidence rises with age. There are many conventional methods for diagnosis and treatment of BC. There are some current biomarkers and clinical tests for the diagnosis and treatment of BC. For example, radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy and surgical, but residual tumor cells mostly cause tumor recurrence. In addition, chemotherapy after transurethral resection causes high side effects, and lack of selectivity, and low sensitivity in sensing. Therefore, it is essential to improve new procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of BC. Nanotechnology has recently sparked an interest in a variety of areas, including medicine, chemistry, physics, and biology. Nanoparticles (NP) have been used in tumor therapies as appropriate tools for enhancing drug delivery efficacy and enabling therapeutic performance. It is noteworthy, nanomaterial could be reduced the limitation of conventional cancer diagnosis and treatments. Since, the major disadvantages of therapeutic drugs are their insolubility in an aqueous solvent, for instance, paclitaxel (PTX) is one of the important therapeutic agents utilized to treating BC, due to its ability to prevent cancer cell growth. However, its major problem is the poor solubility, which has confirmed to be a challenge when improving stable formulations for BC treatment. In order to reduce this challenge, anti-cancer drugs can be loaded into NPs that can improve water solubility. In our review, we state several nanosystem, which can effective and useful for the diagnosis, treatment of BC. We investigate the function of metal NPs, polymeric NPs, liposomes, and exosomes accompanied therapeutic agents for BC Therapy, and then focused on the potential of nanotechnology to improve conventional approaches in sensing.

Synthesis of Ultrasmall Single-Crystal Gold-Silver Alloy Nanotriangles and Their Application in Photothermal Therapy

Photothermal therapy has always been a very attractive anti-cancer strategy, drawing a lot of attention thanks to its excellent performance as a non-invasive and pretty safe technique. Lately, nanostructures have become the main characters of the play of cancer therapy due to their ability to absorb near-infrared radiation and efficient light-to-heat conversion. Here we present the synthesis of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-stabilized hybrid ultrasmall (<20 nm) gold-silver nanotriangles (AuAgNTrs) and their application in photothermal therapy. The obtained AuAgNTrs were deeply investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The cell viability assay was performed on U-87 glioblastoma multiforme cell model. Excellent photothermal performance of AuAgNTrs upon irradiation with NIR laser was demonstrated in suspension and in vitro, with >80% cell viability decrease already after 10 min laser irradiation with a laser power P = 3W/cm² that was proved to be harmless to the control cells. Moreover, a previous cell viability test had shown that the nanoparticles themselves were reasonably biocompatible: without irradiation cell viability remained high. Herein, we show that our hybrid AuAgNTrs exhibit very exciting potential as nanostructures for hyperthermia cancer therapy, mostly due to their easy synthesis protocol, excellent cell compatibility and promising photothermal features.

Mitochondrial heat shock protein mortalin as potential target for therapies based on oxidative stress

BACKGROUND

Treatments based on production of reactive oxygen species for bladder cancer such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been marginalized due to low specificity and the existence of resistance mainly associated with the up-regulation of Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs). To overcome these barriers, the establishment of strategies combining PDTs with HSP inhibitors may be promising and the identification of HSPs involved with oxidative stress from bladder tumors in animal models represents a key step in this direction.

MATERIALS

Thus, the present study aims to identify cytosolic and mitochondrial HSPs up expressed in murine bladder tumors and in the urothelial carcinoma cell line MB49 by qRT-PCR screening, and to analyze the importance of the activity of the HSPs associated with oxidative stress protection in the survival of the MB49 using strategy of inhibition in vitro.

RESULTS

Results showed that both tumor tissues and MB49 cells in culture had significant overexpression of the mitochondrial HSPA9 (mortalin) and HSP60 mRNAs, while the cytosolic HSP90 was overexpressed only in the tumor. The effect of mortalin in the MB49 cells survival under oxidative stress was evaluated in vitro in presence of the specific inhibitor MKT-077 and H₂O₂. The findings showed that MB49 viability was permanently reduced by the MKT-077 in a dose-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis or necrosis, mainly under oxidative stress conditions.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that mortalin is preferentially expressed in the MB49 cancer model and plays a key role in tumoral survival, especially under oxidative stress, making this HSP a potential target for an alternative treatment combining PDT with HSP inhibitors.

Polydopamine-Based Nanoparticles for Photothermal Therapy/Chemotherapy and their Synergistic Therapy with Autophagy Inhibitor to Promote Antitumor Treatment

Polydopamine (PDA) has attracted much attention recently due to its strong adhesion capability to most substrates. After combining with organic (such as organic metal framework, micelles, hydrogel, polypeptide copolymer) or inorganic nanomaterials (such as gold, silicon, carbon), polydopamine-based nanoparticles (PDA NPs) exhibit the merging of characteristics. Until now, the preparation methods, polymerization mechanism, and photothermal therapy (PTT) or chemotherapy (CT) applications of PDA NPs have been reported detailly. Since the PTT or CT treatment process is often accompanied by exogenous stimuli, tumor cells usually induce pro-survival autophagy to protect the cells from further damage, which will weaken the therapeutic effect. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of PDA NPs modulated PTT, CT, and autophagy is required. However, this association is rarely reviewed. Herein, we briefly described the relationship between PTT/CT, autophagy, and tumor treatment. Then, the outstanding performances of PDA NPs in PTT/CT and their combination with autophagy inhibitors for tumor synergistic therapy have been summarized. This work is expected to shed light on the multi-strategy antitumor therapy applications of PDA NPs.

GRPr-mediated photothermal and thermodynamic dual-therapy for prostate cancer with synergistic anti-apoptosis mechanism

Conventional prostate cancer treatment strategies, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, cannot effectively eradicate prostate cancer, especially castration resistance prostate cancer. Herein, we developed a novel nanotherapy platform that consists of synergic photothermal and photodynamic therapy via the unique properties of photothermal conversion by gold nanorods and free radicals generation by encapsulated initiators (AIPH). Mesoporous silica was employed as a coating material, and the bombesin peptide was conjugated onto the mesoporous silica coating layer as the targeting moiety to prostate cancer via its overexpressed gastrin-releasing peptide receptors. An in vitro study with the castration resistance prostate cancer cell exhibited a significant photothermal therapeutic effect as well as enhanced thermodynamic therapy via generating free radicals. P-p38 and p-JNK proteins, as key proteins involved in the cells' stress responses, were found to be upregulated by the synergetic treatment. The in vivo study demonstrated that a significant eradication of prostate tumour could be achieved by the nanoparticle therapeutic platform with a good biocompatibility profile. This work pioneers a novel approach for high-efficient castration resistance prostate cancer treatment by combining photothermal, thermodynamic, and site-specific drug delivery directed by an integrated nanoparticle system.

Human small intestine cancer cell membrane-camouflaged quercetin-melanin for antibacterial and antitumor activity

E. coli has become an important factor that can lead to cancer because of its ability to cause diverse intestinal changes. Nano-polymer materials provide ideal drug delivery systems for preparing antibacterial and anti-cancer drugs because of their unique structure, easy modification, and high drug loading. The modified natural melanin has the potential to be an excellent nano-carrier. By improving the water-solubility and biocompatibility of the loaded natural drug quercetin, the antibacterial effect of quercetin can be fully played. Here, natural melanin was extracted from frozen squid to synthesize carrier polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles, and the natural drug quercetin (Q) was modified on the surface of PDA by π-π bond and covalent bond action to produce melanin-quercetin (PDA-Q). We also developed human small intestinal cancer cells (HIC) membrane-camouflaged melanin-Quercetin (PDA-Q) nanoparticles as an anti-cancer platform in vivo. The potential bacteriostatic mechanism was likely driven by the penetration of PDA-Q in E. coli cells, damaging the integrity of the membranes of E. coli and inducing cell death. The mice wound experiment and bacteremia model experiment revealed that C@PDA-Q had a strong inhibitory effect on E. coli in vivo. In addition, the results of the in vitro tumor test also revealed that C@PDA-Q had strong anti-tumor activity against HIC cells of human small intestinal cancer, and the IC50 value was 12.3 ± 0.7 μg/ml, which was slightly better than that for cisplatin. As both melanin nanoparticles and HIC membrane are natural biomaterials, the synthesized C@PDA-Q nano-polymer material shows great potential for use in anti-cancer nano-drug loading.

Membrane engineering of cell membrane biomimetic nanoparticles for nanoscale therapeutics

In recent years, cell membrane camouflaging technology has emerged as an important strategy of nanomedicine, and the modification on the membranes is also a promising approach to enhance the properties of the nanoparticles, such as cancer targeting, immune evasion, and phototherapy sensitivity. Indeed, diversified approaches have been exploited to re-engineer the membranes of nanoparticles in several studies. In this review, first we discuss direct modification strategy of cell membrane camouflaged nanoparticles (CM-NP) via noncovalent, covalent, and enzyme-involved methods. Second, we explore how the membranes of CM-NPs can be re-engineered at the cellular level using strategies such as genetic engineering and membranes fusion. Due to the innate biological properties and excellent biocompatibility, the functionalized cell membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles have been widely applied in the fields of drug delivery, imaging, detoxification, detection, and photoactivatable therapy.

Polyamidoamine Dendrimers Decorated Multifunctional Polydopamine Nanoparticles for Targeted Chemo- and Photothermal Therapy of Liver Cancer Model

The development of multifunctional drug delivery systems combining two or more nanoparticle-mediated therapies for efficient cancer treatment is highly desired. To face this challenge, a photothermally active polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticle-based platform was designed for the loading of chemotherapeutic drug and targeting of cancer cells. PDA spheres were first functionalized with polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers followed by the conjugation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) moieties and folic acid (FA) targeting ligand. The anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) was then absorbed on the particle surface. We performed the physico-chemical characterization of this versatile material and we assessed further its possible application in chemo- and photothermal therapy using liver cancer cell model. These nanoparticles exhibited high near-infrared photothermal conversion efficacy and allowed for loading of the drug, which upon release in specifically targeted cancer cells suppressed their growth. Using cell proliferation, membrane damage, apoptosis, and oxidative stress assays we demonstrated high performance of this nanosystem in cancer cell death induction, providing a novel promising approach for cancer therapy.

Optimal scheduling of the nanoparticle-mediated cancer photo-thermo-radiotherapy

Maximal synergistic effect between photothermal therapy and radiotherapy (RT) may be achieved when the interval between these two modalities is optimal. In this study, we tried to determine the optimal schedule of the combined regime of RT and nano-photothermal therapy (NPTT), based on the cell cycle distribution and kinetics of cell death. To this end, alginate-coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@Au/Alg NPs) were synthesized, characterized, and their photo-radio sensitization potency was evaluated on human nasopharyngeal cancer KB cells. Our results demonstrated that synthesized NPs have a good potential in radiotherapy and near-infrared (NIR) photothermal therapy. However, results from flow cytometry analysis indicated that a major portion of KB cells were accumulated in the most radiosensitive phases of cell cycle (G2/M) 24 h after NPTT. Moreover, the maximal synergistic anticancer efficacy (12.3% cell viability) was observed when RT was applied 24 h following the administration of NPTT (NPs [30 μg/mL, 4 h incubation time] + Laser [808 nm, 1 W/cm², 5 min] + RT [6 Gy]). It is noteworthy that apoptosis was the dominant cell death pathway in the group of cells treated by combination of NPTT and RT. This highly synergistic anticancer efficacy provides a mechanistic basis for Fe₃O₄@Au/Alg NPs-mediated photothermal therapy combined with RT. Knowing such a basis is helpful to promote novel nanotechnology cancer treatment strategies.

Photothermally Modulatable and Structurally Disintegratable Sub-8-nm Au1Ag9 Embedded Nanoblocks for Combination Cancer Therapy Produced by Plug-in Assembly

As well as the exploration of translatable delivery nanosystems for cancer therapeutic agents, the development of automatable continuous-flow manufacturing technology comprising digitally controlled reactions for the on-demand production of pharmaceuticals is an important challenge in anticancer nanomedicine. Most attempts to resolve these issues have involved the development of alternative reactions, formulations, or constructs containing stimulus components aimed at producing multiple approaches for highly efficacious combination cancer therapies. However, there has been no report of a platform based on plug-in execution that enables continuous-flow manufacture in a compact, reconfigurable manner, although an optimal platform technology may be a prerequisite for the timely translation of recently developed nanomedicines. To this end, we describe the development of a platform toward digitizable, continuous manufacture by a serial combination of plug-in reactionwares (heating plates, a spraying cup, and a photochamber) for single-pass flow fabrication. Specifically, we fabricated three different composite nanoblocks consisting of Au₁Ag₉ (<8 nm; stimulus component), docetaxel (an anticancer drug), and bovine serum albumin (a protective and targeting agent) using our system, with the result of producing nanoblocks with photothermally modulatable and structurally disintegratable properties. These were examined for effectiveness in near-infrared-induced chemothermal cancer therapy and renal excretion of Au₁Ag₉ particles and exhibited high anticancer efficacy and warrantable biosafety.

Silver Nanoparticle-Induced Apoptosis in ARPE-19 Cells Is Inhibited by Toxoplasma gondii Pre-Infection Through Suppression of NOX4-Dependent ROS Generation

Purpose

External and internal stimuli easily affect the retina. Studies have shown that cells infected with Toxoplasma gondii are resistant to multiple inducers of apoptosis. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in biomedical fields; however, little is known about cytotoxicity caused by NPs in the retina and the modulators that inhibit nanotoxicity.

Materials and Methods

ARPE-19 cells from human retinal pigment epithelium were treated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) alone or in combination with T. gondii. Then, the cellular toxicity, apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, autophagy, ROS generation, NOX4 expression, and MAPK/mTOR signaling pathways were investigated. To confirm the AgNP-induced cytotoxicity in ARPE-19 cells and its modulatory effects caused by T. gondii infection, the major experiments carried out in ARPE-19 cells were performed again using human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) cells and bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from NOX4^−/− mice.

Results

AgNPs dose-dependently induced cytotoxicity and cell death in ARPE-19 cells. Apoptosis, sub-G1 phase cell accumulation, autophagy, JNK phosphorylation, and mitochondrial apoptotic features, such as caspase-3 and PARP cleavages, mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization, and cytochrome c release into the cytosol were observed in AgNP-treated cells. AgNP treatment also increased the Bax, Bik, and Bim protein levels as well as NOX4-dependent ROS generation. However, T. gondii-infected ARPE-19 cells inhibited AgNP-induced apoptosis, JNK phosphorylation, sub-G1 phase cell accumulation, autophagy, NOX4-mediated ROS production, and mitochondrial apoptosis. Furthermore, mitochondrial apoptosis was found in AgNP-treated HFF cells and BMDMs, and AgNP-induced mitochondrial apoptosis inhibition via NOX4-dependent ROS suppression in T. gondii pre-infected HFF cells and BMDMs was also confirmed.

Conclusion

AgNPs induced mitochondrial apoptosis in human RPE cells combined with cell cycle dysregulation and autophagy; however, these effects were significantly inhibited by T. gondii pre-infection by suppression of NOX4-mediated ROS production, suggesting that T. gondii is a strong inhibitory modulator of nanotoxicity in in vitro models.

Docetaxel-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles prevent tumor growth and lung metastasis of 4T1 murine mammary carcinoma cells

BACKGROUND

Metastasis causes the most breast cancer-related deaths in women. Here, we investigated the antitumor effect of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN-DTX) when used in the treatment of metastatic breast tumors using 4T1-bearing BALB/c mice.

RESULTS

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were produced using the high-energy method. Compritol 888 ATO was selected as the lipid matrix, and Pluronic F127 and Span 80 as the surfactants to stabilize nanoparticle dispersion. The particles had high stability for at least 120 days. The SLNs' dispersion size was 128 nm, their polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.2, and they showed a negative zeta potential. SLNs had high docetaxel (DTX) entrapment efficiency (86%), 2% of drug loading and showed a controlled drug-release profile. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of SLN-DTX against 4T1 cells was more than 100 times lower than that of free DTX after 24 h treatment. In the cellular uptake test, SLN-DTX was taken into the cells significantly more than free DTX. The accumulation in the G2-M phase was significantly higher in cells treated with SLN-DTX (73.7%) than in cells treated with free DTX (23.0%), which induced subsequent apoptosis. TEM analysis revealed that SLN-DTX internalization is mediated by endocytosis, and fluorescence microscopy showed DTX induced microtubule damage. In vivo studies showed that SLN-DTX compared to free docetaxel exhibited higher antitumor efficacy by reducing tumor volume (p < 0.0001) and also prevented spontaneous lung metastasis in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. Histological studies of lungs confirmed that treatment with SLN-DTX was able to prevent tumor. IL-6 serum levels, ki-67 and BCL-2 expression were analyzed and showed a remarkably strong reduction when used in a combined treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that DTX-loaded SLNs may be a promising carrier to treat breast cancer and in metastasis prevention.

Synthesis of dual functional procaine-derived carbon dots for bioimaging and anticancer therapy

Aim: Procaine-derived carbon dots, termed P-dots, expectedly offer both fluorescent biomarker function and anticancer activity. Materials & methods: P-dots were synthesized by condensing procaine, citric acid and ethylenediamine via hydrothermal synthesis and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The cellular uptake behavior and the bioimaging performance of P-dots were assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Their antitumor activity was evaluated using the CCK-8 assays and in vivo antitumor experiments, and the underlying mechanism was evaluated by flow cytometry and western blotting. Results: P-dots exhibited excellent luminescence properties suitable for bioimaging and considerable anticancer activity associated with caspase-3-related cell apoptosis. Conclusion: The synthesized procaine-derived carbon dots presented a dual function consisting of bioimaging and anticancer activity, which may enable their implementation as safe and effective clinical nanotherapeutics.

Autophagy Modulated by Inorganic Nanomaterials

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, inorganic nanomaterials (NMs) have been widely applied in modern society. As human exposure to inorganic NMs is inevitable, comprehensive assessment of the safety of inorganic NMs is required. It is well known that autophagy plays dual roles in cell survival and cell death. Moreover, inorganic NMs have been proven to induce autophagy perturbation in cells. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of inorganic NMs-modulated autophagy is required for the safety assessment of inorganic NMs. This review presents an overview of a set of inorganic NMs, consisting of iron oxide NMs, silver NMs, gold NMs, carbon-based NMs, silica NMs, quantum dots, rare earth oxide NMs, zinc oxide NMs, alumina NMs, and titanium dioxide NMs, as well as how each modulates autophagy. This review emphasizes the potential mechanisms underlying NMs-induced autophagy perturbation, as well as the role of autophagy perturbation in cell fate determination. Furthermore, we also briefly review the potential roles of inorganic NMs-modulated autophagy in diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Light-triggered selective ROS-dependent autophagy by bioactive nanoliposomes for efficient cancer theranostics

Light-responsive nanoliposomes are being reported to induce cancer cell death through heat and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Nanoliposomes (CIR NLPs) encapsulating a near-infrared (NIR) light-sensitive dye, IR780, and a bioactive chlorophyll-rich fraction of Anthocephalus cadamba (CfAc) were synthesized and characterized. These CIR NLPs, when activated by NIR light, displayed localized synergistic cancer cell death under in vitro and in vivo conditions. We demonstrated a NIR light-mediated release of CfAc in cancer cells. The bioactive CfAc was selective in causing ROS generation (leading to autophagic cell death) in cancer cells, while normal healthy cells were unaffected. An increase in the intracellular ROS leading to enhanced lipidation of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3-II) was observed only in cancer cells, while normal cells showed no increase in either ROS or LC3-II. In vivo analysis of CIR NLPs in an orthotopic mouse model showed better anti-tumorigenic potential through a combined effect (i.e. via heat and CfAc). We reported for the first time induction of selective and localized, bioactive phyto fraction-mediated autophagic cancer cell death through an NIR light trigger. The synergistic activation of ROS-mediated autophagy by light-triggered nanoliposomes can be a useful strategy for enhancing the anticancer potential of combinational therapies.

Functionalized theranostic nanocarriers with bio-inspired polydopamine for tumor imaging and chemo-photothermal therapy

Nanocarriers sensitive to near infrared light (NIR) are useful templates for chemo-photothermal therapy (PTT) and imaging of tumors due to the ability to change the absorbed NIR energy to heat. The conventional photo-absorbing reagents lack the efficient loading and release of drug before reaching the target site leading to insufficient therapeutic outcomes. To overcome these limitations, the surface of nanocarriers can be modified with different polymers with wide functionalities to provide systems with diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic capabilities. Among various polymers, polydopamine (PDA) has been more interested due to complex structure with various chemical moieties, and the capacity to be used through different coating mechanism. In this review, we describe the complex structure, chemical properties, and coating mechanisms of PDA. Moreover, the advantage and surface modification of some relevant nanosystems based on carbon materials, gold, iron oxide, manganese, and upconverting nanomaterials by using PDA will be discussed, in detail.

Cell membrane camouflaged nanoparticles: a new biomimetic platform for cancer photothermal therapy

Targeted drug delivery by nanoparticles (NPs) is an essential technique to achieve the ideal therapeutic effect for cancer. However, it requires large amounts of work to imitate the biomarkers on the surface of the cell membrane and cannot fully retain the bio-function and interactions among cells. Cell membranes have been studied to form biomimetic NPs to achieve functions like immune escape, targeted drug delivery, and immune modulation, which inherit the ability to interact with the in vivo environments. Currently, erythrocyte, leukocyte, mesenchymal stem cell, cancer cell and platelet have been applied in coating photothermal agents and anti-cancer drugs to achieve increased photothermal conversion efficiency and decreased side effects in cancer ablation. In this review, we discuss the recent development of cell membrane-coated NPs in the application of photothermal therapy and cancer targeting. The underlying biomarkers of cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (CMNPs) are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.

UNBS5162 as a novel naphthalimide holds efficacy in human gastric carcinoma cell behaviors mediated by AKT/ERK signaling pathway

Purpose: Studies have determined that UNBS5162, recognized as a new naphthalimide, holds inhibitory effects in prostate and breast tumors; however, its functional implication on gastric carcinoma is currently undetermined. Based on this, this study designed to assess the functional role of it on human gastric carcinoma and underlying mechanism of action. Methods: Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, transwell assay, and flow cytometry were used to assess capabilities of SGC-7901 cell proliferation, invasion/migration, and apoptosis, respectively. Moreover, western blot was performed to determine the relative expression of protein related to autophagy and protein kinase B (AKT)/extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) signaling pathway. Results: We found SGC-7901 cells proliferation, invasion, and migration were significantly inhibited after treatment of UNBS5162. Moreover, the expression levels of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 decreased while the expression of pro-apoptotic protein active caspase 3 and Bax increased concurrently after UNBS5162 stimulation. Further, upregulated LC3 II/I and Beclin-1 and downregulated P62 were induced by UNBS5162 addition. Mechanically, the ratios of phosphorylated-(p-)AKT/AKT, p-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/mTOR, and p-ERK/ERK were hampered by UNBS5162 application. Conclusion: UNBS5162 could restrain gastric carcinoma cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, which maybe induced by enhancement of apoptosis, autophagy manipulated through AKT/ERK signaling pathway.

Irisin ameliorates angiotensin II-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis through autophagy

Cardiac hypertrophy is the main cause of heart failure and sudden death in patients. But the pathogenesis is unclear. Angiotensin II may contribute to cardiac hypertrophy in response to pressure overload. In angiotensin II-treated cardiomyocytes, there is a larger cross-sectional area, more apoptosis cells, and a reduction of irisin expression. An increase in P62, an autophagy flux index, as well as LC3II, were observed in cardiomyocytes after angiotensin II-induced injury. Surprisely, irisin supplementation increased LC3II expression and decreased P62 expression, consisted of results of RFP-GFP-LC3B adenovirus transfection, and reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis, meanwhile, the protection of irisin was reversed by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine. In animal experiments, overexpression of irisin reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and alleviated myocardial hypertrophy caused by pressure overload. The above results indicate that irisin-induced protective autophagy and alleviated the apoptosis signaling pathway in cardiomyocytes, consequently reducing cardiomyocyte apoptosis after angiotensin II-induced injury. Hence, increasing irisin expression may be a new way to improve cardiac function and quality of life in patients with cardiac hypertrophy.