Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Feng Li, Xiaolei Sun, Jing Yang, Jin Ren, Mengxue Huang, Shengqi Wang, Dayong Yang
Summary: A DNA-based nanomachine is developed for efficient delivery of mRNA, which can capture, store, and deliver mRNA in cells. The nanomachine is composed of a polythymidine acid-functionalized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) core, which can transform into an extension state to expose the poly-T for hybridization with mRNA, and re-assemble for mRNA encapsulation. The nanomachine achieves long-term storage of mRNA at 37°C and facilitates mRNA delivery through the endocytosis and release in the cytoplasm. This work provides a new design principle for mRNA delivery nanosystems.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yibin Liu, Fuan Deng, Rongrong Zheng, Xiayun Chen, Linping Zhao, Baixue Yu, Ali Chen, Xueyan Jiang, Hong Cheng, Shiying Li
Summary: A self-delivery nanomedicine based on a vascular disruptor and photosensitizer has been developed for synergistic tumor therapy. This nanomedicine can inhibit tumor growth through chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy, with low side effects in vivo.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ziyu Wei, Yu Yi, Zhen Luo, Xiaoyun Gong, Yuxing Jiang, Dayong Hou, Li Zhang, Zimo Liu, Mandi Wang, Jie Wang, Ruochen Guo, Jinjun Yang, Lei Wang, Hao Wang, Yuliang Zhao
Summary: Nanotechnology-based chemoimmunotherapy has shown great potential for cancer treatment, but uncontrolled transportation and synergistic responses remain challenges. In this study, a self-assembled selenopeptide nanoparticle is developed to enhance tumor chemoimmunotherapy by activating natural killer (NK) cells through the oxidative metabolite of the selenopeptide. By leveraging the advantages of size reduction and deselenization driven by reactive oxygen species, this selenopeptide can deliver therapeutics, such as doxorubicin (DOX), to solid tumors and programmatically activate NK cells. In vitro and in vivo results demonstrate the synergistic effect between DOX-induced chemotherapy and selenopeptide-induced immunotherapy, leading to improved antitumor efficacy. The selenopeptide holds promise as a stimuli-responsive immune modulator for versatile biomedical applications.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kuikun Yang, Zhiqing Yang, Guocan Yu, Zhihong Nie, Ruibing Wang, Xiaoyuan Chen
Summary: Nanomedicines, particularly polyprodrug nanomedicines, show promise in cancer therapies due to well-controlled composition and drug loading, presenting significant potential for combating tumors.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zijian Zhou, Chao Du, Qianyu Zhang, Guocan Yu, Fuwu Zhang, Xiaoyuan Chen
Summary: By modulating the self-assembly of drug amphiphiles EB-CPT with the anticancer drug PTX, ultrahigh quality nanovesicles (NVs) were produced with high drug loading efficiency and content. The ECX NVs with EB-CPT:PTX weight ratio of 1:2 exhibited remarkable anticancer activity against cancer cells and improved tumor inhibition effect in vivo.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Muhetaerjiang Mamuti, Rui Zheng, Hong-Wei An, Hao Wang
Summary: The emergence of nanomedicine has significantly improved the pharmacokinetics of conventional therapeutic agents. However, biological barriers and changes in stability and surface properties during transportation hinder its clinical translation. Therefore, a strategy of in vivo self-assembly has been proposed to overcome these challenges and enhance targeted accumulation towards disease sites.
Review
Polymer Science
Senbin Chen, Yanggui Wu, Frederic Lortie, Julien Bernard, Wolfgang H. Binder, Jintao Zhu
Summary: Diagnosis, complete cure, and healing of cancers are challenging due to the complexity of the disease. Supramolecular interactions, such as hydrogen-bonds, offer new possibilities for designing biomedical materials with remarkable properties. H-bonding (macro)molecules can be used as supramolecular motifs to create drug- and diagnostic carriers with assembled nanoplatforms and the responsiveness of H-bonds. H-bonded nanomedicine shows promise in early-stage diagnosis and therapy, with potential clinical translations.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Fu-An Deng, Yi-Bin Liu, Rong-Rong Zheng, Ren-Jiang Kong, Xiang Zhou, Jia-Jia Wang, Hong Cheng, Shi-Ying Li
Summary: In this study, a pure-drug-assembled nanomedicine named CeBez consisting of chlorine e6 (Ce6) and Bez235 (Bez) was designed for chemo-/photodynamic therapy. CeBez showed tumor site targeting and induced cell apoptosis through the generation of singlet oxygen. Moreover, Bez could downregulate mTOR and enhance photodynamic therapy.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hannah C. Geisler, Hannah C. Safford, Michael J. Mitchell
Summary: The placenta, a temporary organ during pregnancy, plays a vital role in regulating exchange between maternal and fetal circulation. Placental disorders such as preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, placenta accreta spectrum, and gestational trophoblastic disease arise from abnormal placental development and can lead to severe complications. Nanomedicine offers potential solutions to these disorders by selectively delivering therapeutics to the placenta while protecting the fetus. This review discusses nanomedicine strategies to diagnose and treat placental disorders and highlights novel disease targets for the rational design of precision nanocarriers.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Nishant Kumar, Sajid Fazal, Eijiro Miyako, Kazuaki Matsumura, Robin Rajan
Summary: Cancer is a leading cause of death globally, causing physical, emotional, and financial strain on individuals, families, and healthcare systems. The development of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems and synthetic biodegradable polypeptides and polymers offers new hope for cancer treatment, overcoming challenges such as harmful side effects and drug resistance. Additionally, immunotherapies and bacteria-based therapies show promising selectivity and efficacy in treating various cancers.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhen Zou, Libei He, Xiangxi Deng, Huangxiang Wang, Ziyun Huang, Qian Xue, Zhihe Qing, Yanli Lei, Ronghua Yang, Juewen Liu
Summary: The study reports the formation of Zn2+-driven RNA self-assembly forming spherical nanoparticles, while preserving the integrity and biological function of RNA, with excellent RNA-loading efficiency, pharmacokinetics, and bioavailability.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Anouk Martin, Pierre Lalanne, Amelie Weber-Vax, Angela Mutschler, Sebastien Lecommandoux
Summary: The self-assembly of PEG-b-PTMC copolymers into vesicles, also known as polymersomes, was evaluated using microfluidic systems. Two microfluidic chips with different flow regimes were used to investigate the impact of process conditions on vesicle formation. A solvent exchange approach was developed to allow direct use of the polymersomes in biological evaluation. The size of the polymersomes was influenced by the total flow rate and copolymer concentration, but not by the organic/aqueous solvent ratio.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Yan Li, Bolei Cai, Zhaoyichun Zhang, Guanlin Qu, Lu Chen, Guojun Chen, Tingxizi Liang, Chi Yang, Ling Fan, Zhiyuan Zhang
Summary: Metabolic skeletal disorders present a clinical challenge that requires addressing the effects of inflammation and impaired bone formation. MicroRNA-based gene therapy provides therapeutic advantages to address these challenges. A novel miR-21 delivery system utilizing PSA nanoparticles successfully delivered genes and improved bone microstructure in osteoporotic mice.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Courtney van Ballegooie, Nicole Wretham, Tanya Ren, Ioana-Mihaela Popescu, Donald T. Yapp, Marcel B. Bally
Summary: The research discovered that Zein nanoparticles modified with pre-functionalized PEG can maintain stability and have good cellular uptake capability in physiologically relevant conditions. These Zein:PEG-Zein nanoparticles also exhibit a long circulation half-life and suitability for single-use administration.
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Mahmood Rasool, Arif Malik, Sulayman Waquar, Mahwish Arooj, Sara Zahid, Muhammad Asif, Sumaira Shaheen, Abrar Hussain, Hamid Ullah, Siew Hua Gan
Summary: Nanomedicines have been applied as alternative treatments for anticancer agents, utilizing their small size to achieve specific site targeting and reduce toxic side effects. They also offer cost savings by requiring minute amounts of drugs. Nanotechnology has been effectively utilized in the preparation of these drugs, and large nanomaterials have been used to develop novel cancer cures.
Article
Polymer Science
Zehua Li, Amanda K. Pearce, Jianzhong Du, Andrew P. Dove, Rachel K. O'Reilly
Summary: Crystallization-driven self-assembly technique was used to prepare monodisperse cationic cylindrical nanoparticles with controllable sizes, which showed promising antibacterial activity and enhanced mechanical properties in nanocomposite hydrogels.
JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Jiang Wu, Handan Lei, Xinzi Fang, Bao Wang, Guang Yang, Rachel K. O'Reilly, Zhongkai Wang, Zan Hua, Guangming Liu
Summary: In this study, bioinspired supramolecular polymeric adhesives containing complementary nucleobase moieties have been prepared. These adhesives exhibit instant strong and responsive underwater adhesion, which can be modulated by temperature, light, and pH.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Martin Toul, Jan Mican, Veronika Slonkova, Dmitri Nikitin, Martin Marek, David Bednar, Jiri Damborsky, Zbynek Prokop
Summary: The burden of strokes is increasing, and current therapeutic drugs are not ideal. Staphylokinase has been identified as a potential thrombolytic agent that is efficient, fibrin-selective, inexpensive, and can evolve. Recent findings have shown that a nonimmunogenic variant of staphylokinase is comparable to alteplase, with a reduced risk of intracranial hemorrhage and the advantage of single bolus administration. Furthermore, detailed analysis has revealed a bottleneck in staphylokinase's activity that, if eliminated, could provide up to 1000-fold higher activity than alteplase. These limitations provide new possibilities for improvement by protein engineers.
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Jakub Pospisil, Milos Hrabovsky, Dasa Bohaciakova, Zuzana Hovadkova, Miroslav Jurasek, Jarmila Mlcouskova, Kamil Paruch, Sarka Nevolova, Jiri Damborsky, Ales Hampl, Josef Jaros
Summary: Dynamic interactions within the cell micro-environment have significant impacts on cell behavior and fate, however, pathways and mechanisms of cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix interactions at the nanoscale level are still understudied. Recent advancements in nanotechnology, particularly electron-beam lithography (EBL), offer the ability to mimic microenvironments at the nanoscale in vitro, providing insights into cellular signaling mechanisms.
ACS BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Amrita Sikder, Amanda K. Pearce, C. M. Santosh Kumar, Rachel K. O'Reilly
Summary: This study reports a rational design to fabricate antibacterial supramolecular nanoparticles with variable shape, size, and cationic group density. The systematic variation of structural parameters allowed the researchers to understand the role of each parameter in the overall antibacterial properties.
MATERIALS HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Xiaoyang Zhong, Rob Jordan, Jiun-Ruey Chen, Jeffery Raymond, Joerg Lahann
Summary: As the current top-down microchip manufacturing processes approach their resolution limits, alternative patterning technologies with high feature densities and nanometer resolution are needed. This study investigates the impact of thermodynamic processes on the area selectivity of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) polymerization of functional [2.2]paracyclophanes (PCP). Adhesion mapping by atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals the geometric features of polymer islands formed under different deposition conditions. A kinetic model is developed to predict area-selective and nonselective CVD parameters for the same polymer/substrate ensemble (PPX-C + Cu), highlighting the potential for thermodynamic control in tuning area selectivity.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Stephen D. P. Fielden, Matthew J. Derry, Alisha J. Miller, Paul D. Topham, Rachel K. O'Reilly
Summary: Biological cells are surrounded by phospholipid membranes to retain their contents. The fusion of phospholipid membranes mediates the movement of material within and between cells, allowing mixing of contents or excretion of material. While biological membrane fusion is well-studied, the controlled fusion of polymer-based membranes is largely unexplored. In this study, triggered polymersome fusion was demonstrated using out-of-equilibrium polymersomes formed by ring-opening metathesis polymerization-induced self-assembly, which persist until a specific chemical signal triggers their fusion. This research is important for developing communication methods between polymersomes and emulating life-like behaviors in synthetic nanotechnology.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zaizai Tong, Yujie Xie, Maria C. Arno, Yifan Zhang, Ian Manners, Rachel K. O'Reilly, Andrew P. Dove
Summary: The successful use of a seeded growth approach enables the preparation of nanoparticles with controlled dimensions and spatially defined functionality. By controlling core chemistry, 2D platelet micelles with compositionally distinct segmented cores are obtained, which can be selectively hydrolytically degraded.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yao Yao, Yeongun Ko, Grant Grasman, Jeffery E. Raymond, Joerg Lahann
Summary: Over the past decade, the potential of therapeutically loaded nanoparticles (NPs) has been successfully demonstrated, particularly in the field of nonviral gene delivery, as highlighted by the clinical acceptance of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. However, a major challenge in this emerging area is the lack of standardization in nanoparticle characterizations. In this article, we provide an overview of the current status and highlight the need for standardized protocols to evaluate NP uptake, NP transfection efficacy, drug dose determination, and variability of nonviral gene delivery systems. We propose the adoption of multimodal, multiparameter, and multistudy analysis of NP systems to improve transparency, enable interlaboratory comparisons, and facilitate the advancement of nonviral gene delivery.
BEILSTEIN JOURNAL OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Mirella Wawryszyn, Robin Wilhelm, John Kim, Xiaoyang Zhong, Jeffery E. Raymond, Richard Thelen, Vanessa Trouillet, Matthias Schwotzer, Stefan Braese, Do Hoon Kim, Nicholas L. Abbott, Joerg Lahann
Summary: In the past decade, the phosphorescence of metal-free confined polymer structures has gained attention due to their sustainability, low toxicity, and usage in sensing applications. This study presents the preparation of a free-standing array of nanofibers and compares their optical properties to films with identical composition. The nanofibers form laterally aligned membranes with a high internal order, hourglass-shaped features, and a long-lived emission in the blue region. This research is significant as it constitutes the first report of long-lived emission from solid-state poly(p-xylylenes) nanofibers, and these controlled polymer arrays have potential applications in organic sensors and optoelectronic devices.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Petr Kouba, Pavel Kohout, Faraneh Haddadi, Anton Bushuiev, Raman Samusevich, Jiri Sedlar, Jiri Damborsky, Tomas Pluskal, Josef Sivic, Stanislav Mazurenko
Summary: Recent progress has been made in engineering biocatalysts using machine learning methods. These methods utilize experimental and simulation data to discover and annotate enzymes, as well as suggest beneficial mutations. The field is expanding to cover various aspects of protein engineering, but there are still challenges to overcome. This Perspective provides an overview of ongoing trends, highlights case studies, and discusses limitations of machine learning-based methods.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ondrej Vavra, Jakub Beranek, Jan Stourac, Martin Surkovsky, Jiri Filipovic, Jiri Damborsky, Jan Martinovic, David Bednar
Summary: Access pathways are critical for substrate and product transport in enzymes. A Python3 API called pyCaverDock is introduced to enhance the user experience and facilitate ligand transport analysis. This API simplifies the steps needed to use CaverDock and allows for automation of setup processes.
Correction
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Amrita Sikder, Amanda K. Pearce, C. M. Santosh Kumar, Rachel K. O'Reilly
Summary: This study demonstrates the synthesis of diversified supramolecular nanostructures through templated assembly and investigates the role of multivalency, shape, size, and functional group density on antibacterial activity.
MATERIALS HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jan Mican, Da 'san M. M. Jaradat, Weidong Liu, Gert Weber, Stanislav Mazurenko, Uwe T. Bornscheuer, Jiri Damborsky, Ren Wei, David Bednar
Summary: Enzymatic PET recycling is a promising alternative to conventional methods, but requires optimization of PET hydrolases through engineering. A workflow integrating various methods can accelerate the discovery of PET-degrading enzymes, leading to the development of innovative plastic recycling techniques.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
(2024)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Spackova, Ondrej Vavra, Tomas Racek, Vaclav Bazgier, David Sehnal, Jiri Damborsky, Radka Svobodova, David Bednar, Karel Berka
Summary: ChannelsDB 2.0 is an updated database that provides structural information about the position, geometry, and physicochemical properties of protein channels and pores. It incorporates data calculated by CAVER and MOLE tools, as well as additional information from AlphaFill database, resulting in significantly expanded channel annotations. The database stores information such as geometrical features and physico-chemical properties based on channel-lining amino acids, and is interlinked with UniProt mutation annotation data. ChannelsDB 2.0 serves as an important resource for in-depth analysis of the role of biomacromolecular tunnels and pores.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)