bims-drudre Biomed News
on Targeted drug delivery and programmed release mechanisms
Issue of 2021‒07‒25
fifteen papers selected by
Ceren Kimna
Technical University of Munich
  1. Direct in vivo reprogramming with non-viral sequential targeting nanoparticles promotes cardiac regeneration.
  2. Highly Stable Silica-Coated Bismuth Nanoparticles Deliver Tumor Microenvironment-Responsive Prodrugs to Enhance Tumor-Specific Photoradiotherapy.
  3. Cell membrane-camouflaged liposomes for tumor cell-selective glycans engineering and imaging in vivo.
  4. Near-Infrared-Light Remote-Controlled Activation of Cancer Immunotherapy Using Photothermal Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles.
  5. Colon-Targeted Adhesive Hydrogel Microsphere for Regulation of Gut Immunity and Flora.
  6. Plasmon-Driven Catalytic Chemotherapy Augments Cancer Immunotherapy through Induction of Immunogenic Cell Death and Blockage of IDO Pathway.
  7. Lipid Nanoparticle Spherical Nucleic Acids for Intracellular DNA and RNA Delivery.
  8. Macrophage-biomimetic anti-inflammatory liposomes for homing and treating of aortic dissection.
  9. Second Near-Infrared Light-Activatable Polymeric Nanoantagonist for Photothermal Immunometabolic Cancer Therapy.
  10. Programmable site-specific functionalization of DNA origami with polynucleotide brushes.
  11. Mitochondria-targeted vitamin E succinate delivery for reversal of multidrug resistance.
  12. Secreted Expression of mRNA-Encoded Truncated ACE2 Variants for SARS-CoV-2 via Lipid-Like Nanoassemblies.
  13. Ceria Nanozyme-Integrated Microneedles Reshape the Perifollicular Microenvironment for Androgenetic Alopecia Treatment.
  14. Long Non-Coding RNAs in the Tumor Immune Microenvironment: Biological Properties and Therapeutic Potential.
  15. Mussel-Inspired Design of a Self-Adhesive Agent for Durable Moisture Management and Bacterial Inhibition on PET Fabric.
  1. Biomaterials. 2021 Jul 15. pii: S0142-9612(21)00384-7. [Epub ahead of print]276 121028
    Direct in vivo reprogramming with non-viral sequential targeting nanoparticles promotes cardiac regeneration.
    Qiaozi Wang, Yanan Song, Jing Chen, Qiyu Li, Jinfeng Gao, Haipeng Tan, Yuefei Zhu, Zhengmin Wang, Minghui Li, Hongbo Yang, Ning Zhang, Xiaomin Li, Juying Qian, Zhiqing Pang, Zheyong Huang, Junbo Ge.
      microRNA-mediated direct cardiac reprogramming, directly converts fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocyte-like cells (iCMs), which holds great promise in cardiac regeneration therapy. However, effective approaches to deliver therapeutic microRNA into cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) to induce in vivo cardiac reprogramming remain to be explored. Herein, a non-viral biomimetic system to directly reprogram CFs for cardiac regeneration after myocardial injury was developed by coating FH peptide-modified neutrophil-mimicking membranes on mesoporous silicon nanoparticles (MSNs) loaded with microRNA1, 133, 208, and 499 (miR Combo). Through utilizing the natural inflammation-homing ability of neutrophil membrane protein and FH peptide's high affinity to tenascin-C (TN-C) produced by CFs, this nanoparticle could realize sequential targeting to CFs in the injured heart and precise intracellular delivery of miRCombo, which induced reprogramming resident CFs into iCMs. In a mouse model of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, intravenous injection of the nanoparticles successfully delivered miRCombo into fibroblasts and led to efficient reprogramming, resulting in improved cardiac function and attenuated fibrosis. This delivery system is minimally invasive and bio-safe, providing a proof-of-concept for biomimetic and sequential targeting nanomedicine delivery system for microRNA-mediated reprogramming therapy in multiple diseases.
    Keywords:  Biomimetic nanoparticles; Cardiac regeneration; Direct reprogramming; Fibroblasts; Sequential targeting
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121028
  2. J Am Chem Soc. 2021 Jul 22.
    Highly Stable Silica-Coated Bismuth Nanoparticles Deliver Tumor Microenvironment-Responsive Prodrugs to Enhance Tumor-Specific Photoradiotherapy.
    Huandong Xiang, Yuanzheng Wu, Xianyu Zhu, Mengyao She, Qi An, Ruyi Zhou, Peng Xu, Feng Zhao, Liang Yan, Yuliang Zhao.
      Radiosensitizers are agents capable of amplifying injury to tumor tissues by enhancing DNA damage and fortifying production of radical oxygen species (ROS). The use of such radiosensitizers in the clinic, however, remains limited by an insufficient ability to differentiate between cancer and normal cells and by the presence of a reversible glutathione system that can diminish the amount of ROS generated. Here, to address these limitations, we design an H2O2-responsive prodrug which can be premixed with lauric acid (melting point ∼43 °C) and loaded around the surface of silica-coated bismuth nanoparticles (BSNPs) for cancer-specific photoradiotherapy. Particularly, silica coating confers BSNPs with improved chemical stability against both near-infrared light and X-rays. Upon photothermal heating, lauric acid is melted to trigger prodrug release, followed by its transformation into p-quinone methide via H2O2 stimulation to irreversibly alkylate glutathione. Concurrently, this heat boosts tumor oxygenation and helps relieve the hypoxic microenvironment. Following sequential irradiation by X-rays, BSNPs generate plentiful ROS, which act in combination with these events to synergistically induce cell death via DNA breakage and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathways, ultimately enabling effective inhibition of tumor growth in vivo with high tumor specificity and reduced side effects. Collectively, this work presents a promising approach for the improvement of other ROS-responsive proalkylating agents, while simultaneously highlighting a robust nanosystem for combining these prodrugs with photoradiosensitizers to realize precision photoradiotherapy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c03303
  3. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jul 27. pii: e2022769118. [Epub ahead of print]118(30):
    Cell membrane-camouflaged liposomes for tumor cell-selective glycans engineering and imaging in vivo.
    Zhengwei Liu, Faming Wang, Xinping Liu, Yanjuan Sang, Lu Zhang, Jinsong Ren, Xiaogang Qu.
      The dynamic change of cell-surface glycans is involved in diverse biological and pathological events such as oncogenesis and metastasis. Despite tremendous efforts, it remains a great challenge to selectively distinguish and label glycans of different cancer cells or cancer subtypes. Inspired by biomimetic cell membrane-coating technology, herein, we construct pH-responsive azidosugar liposomes camouflaged with natural cancer-cell membrane for tumor cell-selective glycan engineering. With cancer cell-membrane camouflage, the biomimetic liposomes can prevent protein corona formation and evade phagocytosis of macrophages, facilitating metabolic glycans labeling in vivo. More importantly, due to multiple membrane receptors, the biomimetic liposomes have prominent cell selectivity to homotypic cancer cells, showing higher glycan-labeling efficacy than a single-ligand targeting strategy. Further in vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that cancer cell membrane-camouflaged azidosugar liposomes not only realize cell-selective glycan imaging of different cancer cells and triple-negative breast cancer subtypes but also do well in labeling metastatic tumors. Meanwhile, the strategy is also applicable to the use of tumor tissue-derived cell membranes, which shows the prospect for individual diagnosis and treatment. This work may pave a way for efficient cancer cell-selective engineering and visualization of glycans in vivo.
    Keywords:  bioorthogonal chemistry; cell selectivity; imaging; membrane camouflage; metabolic glycoengineering
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022769118
  4. Adv Mater. 2021 Jul 18. e2102570
    Near-Infrared-Light Remote-Controlled Activation of Cancer Immunotherapy Using Photothermal Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles.
    Xuancheng Fu, Yiming Huang, Hao Zhao, Endong Zhang, Qi Shen, Yufei Di, Fengting Lv, Libing Liu, Shu Wang.
      Remote control of the therapeutic process is an ideal strategy for maximizing efficacy and avoiding side effects, especially for cancer immunotherapy. Herein, a conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs)-mediated optogenetic system for in situ activation of immunotherapy under near-infrared laser irradiation is reported. This system is composed of photothermal CPNs and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) plasmid driven by heat shock promoter HSP70. The photothermally responsive CPNs serve as a photo-heat nanotransducer to trigger the gene transcription of IFN-γ cytokine. The secreted IFN-γ from cancer cells can sufficiently elicit surrounding tumor-associated macrophages activation through IFN-γ-JAK-STAT1 transcription-factor signaling pathway and finally induce cancer cell killing by immunotherapy. Therefore, this synergetic optogenetic system provides a promising approach to remotely control the process of cancer immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  cancer immunotherapy; conjugated polymers nanoparticles; optogenetics; remote-controlled activation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202102570
  5. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2021 Jul 22. e2101619
    Colon-Targeted Adhesive Hydrogel Microsphere for Regulation of Gut Immunity and Flora.
    Hua Liu, Zhengwei Cai, Fei Wang, Liwen Hong, Lianfu Deng, Jie Zhong, Zhengting Wang, Wenguo Cui.
      Intestinal immune homeostasis and microbiome structure play a critical role in the pathogenesis and progress of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), whereas IBD treatment remains a challenge as the first-line drugs show limited therapeutic efficiency and great side effect. In this study, a colon-targeted adhesive core-shell hydrogel microsphere is designed and fabricated by the ingenious combination of advanced gas-shearing technology and ionic diffusion method, which can congregate on colon tissue regulating the gut immune-microbiota microenvironment in IBD treatment. The degradation experiment indicates the anti-acid and colon-targeted property of the alginate hydrogel shell, and the in vivo imaging shows the mucoadhesive ability of the thiolated-hyaluronic acid hydrogel core of the microsphere, which reduces the systematic exposure and prolongs the local drug dwell time. In addition, both in vitro and in vivo study demonstrate that the microsphere significantly reduces the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, induces specific type 2 macrophage differentiation, and remarkably alleviates colitis in the mice model. Moreover, 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing reveals an optimized gut flora composition, probiotics including Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus significantly augment, while the detrimental communities are inhibited, which benefits the intestinal homeostasis. This finding provides an ideal clinical candidate for IBD treatment.
    Keywords:  colitis; colon-targeted drug delivery; gut microbiota; hydrogel microsphere; oral administration
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202101619
  6. Adv Mater. 2021 Jul 18. e2102188
    Plasmon-Driven Catalytic Chemotherapy Augments Cancer Immunotherapy through Induction of Immunogenic Cell Death and Blockage of IDO Pathway.
    Yuan Ding, Zhongquan Sun, Yong Gao, Sitong Zhang, Caixia Yang, Zhefeng Qian, Lulu Jin, Jiaojiao Zhang, Cheng Zeng, Zhengwei Mao, Weilin Wang.
      Clinical trials confirm the combination of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) blockade and immunogenic chemotherapy represents a brilliant future in cancer therapy. However, it remains challenging to precisely activate chemo-immunotherapy in situ to avoid side effects from the systemic administrations and reverse the poor immunogenicity and immunosuppressive microenvironment in tumor sites. Herein, a hybrid nanomedicine ("RPMANB NPs") to co-deliver an IDO inhibitor (NLG919) and a chemotherapeutic prodrug to amplify the therapeutic benefits are designed. Attributed to the delicate surface engineering, the RPMANB NPs possess excellent pharmacokinetics and tumor accumulation. The loaded NLG919 are released inside cancer tissues/cells due to the collapse of the metal-organic framework platform triggered by the highly concentrated phosphate, reversing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment by suppressing IDO activity. The potent chemotherapeutic drug is precisely activated through a highly efficient plasmon-driven catalysis in the presence of near-infrared light, eliciting antitumor immunity by triggering immunogenic cell death and avoiding side effects through in situ activation of chemotherapy. In vivo studies demonstrate that the chemo-immunotherapy greatly suppresses the tumor growth by promoting intratumoral accumulation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and downregulating regulatory T cells. This work establishes a robust delivery platform to overcome the current obstacles of tumor treatments by combining precisely activatable chemotherapy with immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  'immunogenic cell death; drug delivery; immunotherapy; plasmon-driven catalysis; stimuli-activation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202102188
  7. Nano Lett. 2021 Jul 21.
    Lipid Nanoparticle Spherical Nucleic Acids for Intracellular DNA and RNA Delivery.
    Andrew J Sinegra, Michael Evangelopoulos, Jungsoo Park, Ziyin Huang, Chad A Mirkin.
      Lipid nanoparticle SNAs (LNP-SNAs) have been synthesized for the delivery of DNA and RNA to targets in the cytoplasm of cells. Both the composition of the LNP core and surface-presented DNA sequences contribute to LNP-SNA activity. G-rich sequences enhance the activity of LNP-SNAs compared to T-rich sequences. In the LNP core, increased cholesterol content leads to greater activity. Optimized LNP-SNA candidates reduce the siRNA concentration required to silence mRNA by 2 orders of magnitude compared to liposome-based SNAs. In addition, the LNP-SNA architectures alter biodistribution and efficacy profiles in mice. For example, mRNA within LNP-SNAs injected intravenously is primarily expressed in the spleen, while mRNA encapsulated by LNPs (no DNA on the surface) was expressed primarily in the liver with a relatively small amount in the spleen. These data show that the activity and biodistribution of LNP-SNA architectures are different from those of conventional liposomal SNAs and therefore potentially can be used to target tissues.
    Keywords:  RNA; Spherical nucleic acids; drug delivery; lipid nanoparticles
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01973
  8. J Control Release. 2021 Jul 20. pii: S0168-3659(21)00375-8. [Epub ahead of print]
    Macrophage-biomimetic anti-inflammatory liposomes for homing and treating of aortic dissection.
    Jingxuan Liu, Yueying Yang, Xiao Liu, Andy Samuel Widjaya, Baohong Jiang, Yanyan Jiang.
      Aortic dissection (AD) is a life-threatening disease featured by the dissection of intimal layer and the formation of a blood-filled false lumen within the aortic wall. Recent studies revealed that the formation and progression of AD lesions is closely related to vascular inflammation and macrophage infiltration. However, the potential efficacy of anti-inflammatory therapy on the prevention and treatment of AD has not been extensively investigated. Herein, we proposed a biomimetic anti-inflammatory liposome (PM/TN-CCLP) co-loaded with curcumin and celecoxib (CC), modified with cell-penetrating TAT-NBD fusion peptide (TN), and further camouflaged by isolated macrophage plasma membrane (PM), as a potential nanotherapy for AD. In vitro results showed that PM/TN-CCLP exhibited low cytotoxicity and elevated cellular uptake by inflammatory macrophages, and prominently inhibited the transendothelial migration, inflammatory responses and ROS generation of macrophages. Moreover, the PM/TN-CCLP treatment significantly prevented the H2O2-induced smooth muscle cell apoptosis. In vivo experiments were performed on the acute and chronic AD mouse models, respectively. The results verified the elevated accumulation of PM-camouflaged liposome at the aorta lesions. Further, the anti-inflammatory liposomes, especially PM/TN-CCLP, could reduce the rupture rate of dissection, prevent the loss of elastic fibers, and reduce MMP-9 expression as well as macrophage infiltration in the aortic lesions. Notably, as compared with free drugs and TN-CCLP, the PM/TN-CCLP treatment displayed the longest survival period along with the minimal aortic injury on both acute and chronic AD mice. Taken together, the present study suggested that the macrophage-biomimetic anti-inflammatory nanotherapy would be a promising strategy for the prevention and therapy of aortic dissection.
    Keywords:  Anti-inflammation; Aortic dissection; Biomimetic liposome; Cardiovascular inflammation; Monocytes/macrophages
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.07.032
  9. Adv Mater. 2021 Jul 23. e2101410
    Second Near-Infrared Light-Activatable Polymeric Nanoantagonist for Photothermal Immunometabolic Cancer Therapy.
    Cheng Xu, Yuyan Jiang, Jingsheng Huang, Jiaguo Huang, Kanyi Pu.
      Immunometabolic modulation offers new opportunities to treat cancers as it is highly associated with cancer progression and immunosuppressive microenvironment. However, traditional regimens using nonselective small-molecule immunomodulators lead to the off-target adverse effects and insufficient therapeutic outcomes. Herein a second near-infrared (NIR-II) photothermally activatable semiconducting polymeric nanoantagonist (ASPA) for synergistic photothermal immunometabolic therapy of cancer is reported. ASPA backbone is obtained by conjugating vipadenant, an antagonist to adenosine A2A receptor, onto NIR-II light-absorbing semiconducting polymer via an azo-based thermolabile linker. Under deep-penetrating NIR-II photoirradiation, ASPA induces tumor thermal ablation and subsequently immunogenic cell death, triggers the cleavage of thermolabile linker, and releases the antagonist to block the immunosuppressive adenosinergic pathway. Such a remotely controlled immunometabolic regulation potentiates cytotoxic T cell functions while suppresses regulatory T cell activities, leading to efficient primary tumor inhibition, pulmonary metastasis prevention, and long-term immunological memory. Thereby, this work provides a generic polymeric approach for precise spatiotemporal regulation of cancer immunometabolism.
    Keywords:  cancer therapy; photoactivation; polymer nanoparticles; second near-infrared photothermal therapy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202101410
  10. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Jul 23.
    Programmable site-specific functionalization of DNA origami with polynucleotide brushes.
    Yunqi Yang, Qinyi Lu, Chao-Min Huang, Hongji Qian, Yunlong Zhang, Sonal Deshpande, Gaurav Arya, Yonggang Ke, Stefan Zauscher.
      Combining surface-initiated, TdT (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase) catalyzed enzymatic polymerization (SI-TcEP) with precisely engineered DNA origami nanostructures (DONs) presents an innovative pathway for the generation of stable, polynucleotide brush-functionalized origami nanostructures. We demonstrate that SI-TcEP can site-specifically pattern DONs with brushes containing both natural and non-natural nucleotides. The brush functionalization can be precisely controlled in terms of the location of initiation sites on the origami core and the brush height and composition. Coarse-grained simulations predict the conformation of the brush-functionalized DONs that agree well with the experimentally observed morphologies. We find that polynucleotide brush-functionalization increases the nuclease resistance of DONs significantly, and that this stability can be spatially programmed through the site-specific growth of polynucleotide brushes. The ability to site-specifically decorate DONs with brushes of natural and non-natural nucleotides provides access to a large range of functionalized DON architectures that would allow for further supramolecular assembly, and for potential applications in smart nanoscale delivery systems.
    Keywords:  DNA nanotechnology; Molecular dynamics simulations; drug delivery; nuclease resistance; surface-initiated polymerization
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202107829
  11. J Control Release. 2021 Jul 16. pii: S0168-3659(21)00366-7. [Epub ahead of print]337 117-131
    Mitochondria-targeted vitamin E succinate delivery for reversal of multidrug resistance.
    Lina Liang, Yan Peng, Liyan Qiu.
      Inducing mitochondrial malfunction is an appealing strategy to overcome tumor multidrug resistance (MDR). Reported here a versatile mitochondrial-damaging molecule, vitamin E succinate (VES), is creatively utilized to assist MDR reversal of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX·HCl) via a nanovesicle platform self-assembled from amphiphilic polyphosphazenes containing pH-sensitive 1H-benzo-[d]imidazol-2-yl) methanamine (BIMA) groups. Driven by multiple non-covalent interactions, VES is fully introduced into the hydrophobic membrane of DOX·HCl-loaded nanovesicles with loading content of 23.5%. The incorporated VES also offers robust anti-leakage property toward DOX·HCl under normal physiological conditions. More importantly, upon release within acidic tumor cells, VES can target mitochondria and result in various dysfunctions including excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) loss, and inhibited adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, which contribute to cell apoptosis and insufficient energy supply for drug efflux pumps. Consequently, the killing-effect of DOX·HCl is significantly enhanced toward drug resistant cancer cells at the optimal mass ratio of DOX·HCl to VES. Further in vivo antitumor investigation on nude mice bearing xenograft drug-resistant human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562/ADR tumors verifies the extremely enhanced anti-tumor efficacy of the dual drug-loaded nanovesicle with the tumor inhibition rate (TIR) of 82.38%. Collectively, this study provides a s safe, facile and promising strategy for both precise drug delivery and MDR eradication to improve cancer therapy.
    Keywords:  Doxorubicin; Mitochondrial targeting; Multidrug resistance; Vitamin E succinate; pH-sensitive nanovesicle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.07.023
  12. Adv Mater. 2021 Jul 18. e2101707
    Secreted Expression of mRNA-Encoded Truncated ACE2 Variants for SARS-CoV-2 via Lipid-Like Nanoassemblies.
    Min Li, Sanpeng Li, Yixuan Huang, Haixia Chen, Songya Zhang, Zhicheng Zhang, Weigang Wu, Xiaobin Zeng, Boping Zhou, Bin Li.
      The transfer of foreign synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) into cells is essential for mRNA-based protein-replacement therapies. Prophylactic mRNA COVID-19 vaccines commonly utilize nanotechnology to deliver mRNA encoding SARS-CoV-2 vaccine antigens, thereby triggering the body's immune response and preventing infections. In this study, a new combinatorial library of symmetric lipid-like compounds is constructed, and among which a lead compound is selected to prepare lipid-like nanoassemblies (LLNs) for intracellular delivery of mRNA. After multiround optimization, the mRNA formulated into core-shell-structured LLNs exhibits more than three orders of magnitude higher resistance to serum than the unprotected mRNA, and leads to sustained and high-level protein expression in mammalian cells. A single intravenous injection of LLNs into mice achieves over 95% mRNA translation in the spleen, without causing significant hematological and histological changes. Delivery of in-vitro-transcribed mRNA that encodes high-affinity truncated ACE2 variants (tACE2v mRNA) through LLNs induces elevated expression and secretion of tACE2v decoys, which is able to effectively block the binding of the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 to the human ACE2 receptor. The robust neutralization activity in vitro suggests that intracellular delivery of mRNA encoding ACE2 receptor mimics via LLNs may represent a potential intervention strategy for COVID-19.
    Keywords:  SARS-CoV-2; lipid-like nanoassemblies; messenger RNA; spleen-targeted delivery systems; truncated ACE2 decoys
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202101707
  13. ACS Nano. 2021 Jul 19.
    Ceria Nanozyme-Integrated Microneedles Reshape the Perifollicular Microenvironment for Androgenetic Alopecia Treatment.
    Anran Yuan, Fan Xia, Qiong Bian, Haibin Wu, Yueting Gu, Tao Wang, Ruxuan Wang, Lingling Huang, Qiaoling Huang, Yuefeng Rao, Daishun Ling, Fangyuan Li, Jianqing Gao.
      Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is highly prevalent in current society but lacks effective treatments. The dysregulation of the hair follicle niche induced by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and insufficient vascularization in the perifollicular microenvironment is the leading cause of AGA. Herein, we designed a ceria nanozyme (CeNZ)-integrated microneedles patch (Ce-MNs) that can alleviate oxidative stress and promote angiogenesis simultaneously to reshape the perifollicular microenvironment for AGA treatment. On the basis of the excellent mechanical strength of Ce-MNs, the encapsulated CeNZs with catalase- and superoxide-mimic activities can be efficiently delivered into skin to scavenge excessive ROS. Moreover, the mechanical stimulation induced by the administration of MNs can remodel the microvasculature in the balding region. Compared with minoxidil, a widely used clinical drug for AGA treatment, Ce-MNs exhibited accelerated hair regeneration in the AGA mouse model at a lower administration frequency without inducing significant skin damage. Consequently, such a safe and perifollicular microenvironment-shaping MNs patch shows great potential for clinical AGA treatment.
    Keywords:  angiogenesis; ceria nanozymes; hair regeneration; microneedles; reactive oxygen species
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c05272
  14. Front Immunol. 2021 ;12 697083
    Long Non-Coding RNAs in the Tumor Immune Microenvironment: Biological Properties and Therapeutic Potential.
    Ya-Nan Pi, Wen-Cai Qi, Bai-Rong Xia, Ge Lou, Wei-Lin Jin.
      Cancer immunotherapy (CIT) is considered a revolutionary advance in the fight against cancer. The complexity of the immune microenvironment determines the success or failure of CIT. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is an extremely versatile molecule that can interact with RNA, DNA, or proteins to promote or inhibit the expression of protein-coding genes. LncRNAs are expressed in many different types of immune cells and regulate both innate and adaptive immunity. Recent studies have shown that the discovery of lncRNAs provides a novel perspective for studying the regulation of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Tumor cells and the associated microenvironment can change to escape recognition and elimination by the immune system. LncRNA induces the formation of an immunosuppressive microenvironment through related pathways, thereby controlling the escape of tumors from immune surveillance and promoting the development of metastasis and drug resistance. Using lncRNA as a therapeutic target provides a strategy for studying and improving the efficacy of immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  LncRNA; immune escape; immunosuppression; therapeutic target; tumor microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.697083
  15. Adv Mater. 2021 Jul 23. e2100140
    Mussel-Inspired Design of a Self-Adhesive Agent for Durable Moisture Management and Bacterial Inhibition on PET Fabric.
    Yuanfeng Wang, Gang Xia, Hui Yu, Baitai Qian, Yuk Ha Cheung, Lan Heung Wong, John H Xin.
      Functional textiles with advanced moisture management can enhance human comfort and physiological health. However, conventional wet finishing processes used for textiles are usually highly polluting and exhibit poor fastness. Inspired by the strong underwater adhesion properties of mussels based on cation-π interaction, a novel superhydrophilic polymeric molecule with strong cohesion and adhesion property is designed on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabric. The cation-π hydrophilic agent (CPHA) can efficiently transform the hydrophobic PET fabric to a superhydrophilic one, and its superhydrophilicity can withstand 150 home laundry cycles. In addition, the cationic moieties in the CPHA self-adhere to the PET fabric without any finishing auxiliary that would cause pollution. Due to its strong adhesion, CPHA can be applied to one side of the PET fabric via spray coating and curing to form a Janus hydrophobic/superhydrophilic fabric capable of diode-like one-way sweat transportation (with forward transportation capability of 1115% and backward transportation capability of -1509%). Moreover, the Janus fabric inhibits bacterial growth and invasion, while simultaneously preserving the inner ecological healthy balance of the skin's microflora. This work opens up a pathway to develop adhesives in textile wet processing for more diverse, smarter applications, e.g., quick-dry sportswear, protective suits, or air-conditioning fabrics.
    Keywords:  bacterial inhibition; cation-π interactions; moisture management; self-adhesives; textiles
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202100140
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