Exploring cancer metastasis prevention strategy: interrupting adhesion of cancer cells to vascular endothelia of potential metastatic tissues by antibody-coated nanomaterial

Background: Cancer metastasis caused by circulating tumor cells (CTCs) accounts for 90% cancer-related death worldwide. Blocking the circulation of CTCs in bloodstream and their hetero-adhesion to vascular endothelia of the distant metastatic organs may prevent cancer metastasis. Nanomaterial-based intervention with adhesion between CTCs and endothelia has not been reported. Driven by the novel idea that multivalent conjugation of EpCAM and Slex antibodies to dendrimer surface may enhance the capacity and specificity of the nanomaterial conjugates for capturing and down-regulating colorectal CTCs, we conjugated the dendrimer nanomaterial with the EpCAM and Slex antibodies, and examined the capacity of the dual antibody-coated nanomaterial for their roles in interrupting CTCs-related cancer metastasis. Results: The antibody-coated nanomaterial was synthesized and characterized. The conjugates specifically bound and captured colon cancer cells SW620. The conjugate inhibited the cells? viability and their adhesion to fibronectin (Fn)-coated substrate or human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in a concentration-dependent manner. In comparison with SW480 and LoVo cell lines, the activity and adhesion of SW620 to Fn-coated substrate and HUVECs were more specifically inhibited by the dual antibody conjugate because of the higher levels of EpCAM and Slex on SW620 cell surface. The hetero-adhesion between SW620 and Fn-coated substrate, or HUVECs was inhibited by about 60-70%. The dual conjugate showed the inhibition capacity more significant than its corresponding single antibody conjugates. Conclusions: The present study provides the new evidence that coating nanomaterials with more than one antibody against CTCs may effectively interfere with the interaction between SW620 and HUVECs.

Jingjing Xie

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Facile synthesis of fluorescent Au/Ce nanoclusters for high-sensitive bioimaging

Background: Tumor-target fluorescence bioimaging is an important means of early diagnosis, metal nanoclusters have been used as an excellent fluorescent probe for marking tumor cells due to their targeted absorption. We have developed a new strategy for facile synthesis of Au/Ce nanoclusters (NCs) by doping trivalent cerium ion into seed crystal growth process of gold. Au/Ce NCs have bright fluorescence which could be used as fluorescent probe for bioimaging. Results: In this study, we synthesized fluorescent Au/Ce NCs through two-step hydrothermal reaction. The concentration range of 25?350??M, Au/Ce NCs have no obvious cell cytotoxicity effect on HeLa, HepG2 and L02 cells. Furthermore, normal cells (L02) have no obvious absorption of Au/Ce NCs. Characterization of synthesized Au/Ce NCs was done by using TEM, EDS and XPS. Then these prepared Au/Ce NCs were applied for in vitro / in vivo tumor-target bioimaging due to its prolonged fluorescence lifetime and bright luminescence properties. Conclusions: The glutathione stabilized Au/Ce NCs synthesized through hydrothermal reaction possess stable and bright fluorescence that can be readily utilized for high sensitive fluorescence probe. Our results suggest that Au/Ce NCs are useful candidate for in vitro / in vivo tumor bioimaging in potential clinical application.

Wei Ge

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Lactosaminated mesoporous silica nanoparticles for asialoglycoprotein receptor targeted anticancer drug delivery

Background: Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have several attractive properties as a drug delivery system, such as ordered porous structure, large surface area, controllable particle size as well as interior and exterior dual-functional surfaces. The purpose of this study was to develop novel lactosaminated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Lac-MSNs) for asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) targeted anticancer drug delivery. Results: Lac-MSNs with an average diameter of approximately 100?nm were prepared by conjugation of lactose with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane modified MSNs. Characterization of Lac-MSNs indicated a huge Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (1012?m2/g), highly ordered 2D hexagonal symmetry, an unique mesoporous structure with average pore size of 3.7?nm. The confocal microscopy and flow cytometric analysis illustrated Lac-MSNs were effectively endocytosed by ASGPR-positive hepatoma cell lines, HepG2 and SMMC7721. In contrast, non-selective endocytosis of Lac-MSNs was found in ASGPR-negative NIH 3T3 cells. The cellular uptake study showed the internalization process was energy-consuming and predominated by clathrin-mediated pathway. Model drug docetaxel (DTX) was loaded in the mesopores of Lac-MSNs by wetness impregnation method. In vitro cytotoxicity assay showed that DTX transported by Lac-MSNs effectively inhibited the growth of HepG2 and SMMC7721 cells in a time- and concentration- dependent manner. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that Lac-MSNs could be a promising inorganic carrier system for targeted intracellular anti-cancer drug delivery.

Guilan Quan

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Investigating the immunomodulatory nature of zinc oxide nanoparticles at sub-cytotoxic levels in vitro and after intranasal instillation in vivo

Background: This study evaluates the time-dependent pro-inflammatory response of the model human lung epithelial cells (A549) to industrially relevant zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). In terms of toxicity, ZnO-NPs are categorised into the group of high toxicity nanomaterials. However information on pro-inflammatory potential of these NPs at sub-toxic concentrations is limited. Understanding how cellular defense mechanisms function in the presence of sub-cytotoxic concentrations of these NPs is vital. Moreover, there is an urgent need for additional in vivo studies addressing pulmonary toxicity due to accidental inhalation of ZnO NPs. Results: Exposure to sub-cytotoxic ZnO NP concentrations (20??g/mL) induced significant up-regulation of mRNA for the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 and redox stress marker heme oxygenase-1, along with increased release of IL-8. The highest pro-inflammatory response was recorded after 4 to 6?hr exposure to ZnO NPs over a 24?hr period. Pre-treatment of A549 cells with the sulfhydryl antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine (at 5?mM) resulted in significant reduction of the up-regulation of inflammatory markers, confirming the role of reactive oxygen species in the observed immunomodulatory effects, independent of cytotoxicity. Furthermore, we report for the first time that, intranasal instillation of a single dose (5?mg/kg) of pristine or surfactant-dispersed ZnO NPs can cause pulmonary inflammation, already after 24?hr in a murine model. This was confirmed by up-regulation of eotaxin mRNA in the lung tissue and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the sera of mice exposed to ZnO NPs. Conclusion: Our study highlights that even at sub-cytotoxic doses ZnO NPs can stimulate a strong inflammatory and antioxidant response in A549 cells. ZnO NP mediated cytotoxicity may be the outcome of failure of cellular redox machinery to contain excessive ROS formation. Moreover exposure to a single but relatively high dose of ZnO NPs via intranasal instillation may provoke acute pulmonary inflammatory reactions in vivo.

Shruti Saptarshi

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Optical Magnetism and Plasmonic Fano Resonances in Metal–Insulator–Metal Oligomers

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504802r

R. Verre, Z. J. Yang, T. Shegai and M. Käll

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Tuning the Optical, Magnetic, and Electrical Properties of ReSe2 by Nanoscale Strain Engineering

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504276u

Shengxue Yang, Cong Wang, Hasan Sahin, Hui Chen, Yan Li, Shu-Shen Li, Aslihan Suslu, Francois M. Peeters, Qian Liu, Jingbo Li and Sefaattin Tongay

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Degradation and Bio-Safety Evaluation of mPEG-PLGA-PLL Copolymer-Prepared Nanoparticles

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp510183s

Zelai He, Ying Sun, Qi Wang, Ming Shen, Mingjie Zhu, Fengqian Li and Yourong Duan

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Epitaxy of Li3xLa2/3–xTiO3 Films and the Influence of La Ordering on Li-Ion Conduction

Chemistry of Materials

DOI: 10.1021/cm504033r

Tsuyoshi Ohnishi, Kazutaka Mitsuishi, Kazunori Nishio and Kazunori Takada

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Understanding and Controlling Nucleation and Growth of TiO2 Deposited on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes by Atomic Layer Deposition

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp511004h

Yucheng Zhang, Carlos Guerra-Nuñez, Ivo Utke, Johann Michler, Marta D. Rossell and Rolf Erni

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Dynamic Jahn–Teller Effect in the Metastable High-Spin State of Solvated [Fe(terpy)2]2+

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp5117068

X. Zhang, M. L. Lawson Daku, J. Zhang, K. Suarez-Alcantara, G. Jennings, C. A. Kurtz and S. E. Canton

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A Power Pack Based on Organometallic Perovskite Solar Cell and Supercapacitor

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn506651m

Xiaobao Xu, Shaohui Li, Hua Zhang, Yan Shen, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Michael Graetzel, Yi-Bing Cheng and Mingkui Wang

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Columnar Liquid Crystals in Cylindrical Nanoconfinement

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn506605p

Ruibin Zhang, Xiangbing Zeng, Bongseock Kim, Richard J. Bushby, Kyusoon Shin, Patrick J. Baker, Virgil Percec, Pawaret Leowanawat and Goran Ungar

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Fano Resonance-Induced Negative Optical Scattering Force on Plasmonic Nanoparticles

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn506835j

Huajin Chen, Shiyang Liu, Jian Zi and Zhifang Lin

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Sol–Gel Synthesis and Electrospraying of Biodegradable (P2O5)55–(CaO)30–(Na2O)15 Glass Nanospheres as a Transient Contrast Agent for Ultrasound Stem Cell Imaging

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn506789y

Farzad Foroutan, Jesse V. Jokerst, Sanjiv S. Gambhir, Ophir Vermesh, Hae-Won Kim and Jonathan C. Knowles

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From Inorganic to Organic Strategy To Design Porous Aromatic Frameworks for High-Capacity Gas Storage

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp5128404

Lan Huang, Xiaoping Yang and Dapeng Cao

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Improving Performance in Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells by Tuning Band Alignment through Surface Dipole Moments

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00341

Pralay K. Santra, Axel F. Palmstrom, Jukka T. Tanskanen, Nuoya Yang and Stacey F. Bent

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Structural and Chemical Evolution of Li- and Mn-Rich Layered Cathode Material

Chemistry of Materials

DOI: 10.1021/cm5045978

Jianming Zheng, Pinghong Xu, Meng Gu, Jie Xiao, Nigel D. Browning, Pengfei Yan, Chongmin Wang and Ji-Guang Zhang

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Position-Controlled Growth of GaN Nanowires and Nanotubes on Diamond by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504446r

Fabian Schuster, Martin Hetzl, Saskia Weiszer, Jose A. Garrido, María de la Mata, Cesar Magen, Jordi Arbiol and Martin Stutzmann

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Electron Pairing in Designer Materials: A Novel Strategy for a Negative Effective Hubbard U

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl5041176

Melanie R. Butler, Bijan Movaghar, Tobin J. Marks and Mark A. Ratner

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Biomimetic Selective Ion Transport through Graphene Oxide Membranes Functionalized with Ion Recognizing Peptides

Chemistry of Materials

DOI: 10.1021/cm504212j

Sunho Kim, Jeasun Nham, Yo Sub Jeong, Chang Sun Lee, Sung Hoon Ha, Ho Bum Park and Yun Jung Lee

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