Xiaoru Shao

Insight into the Interaction of Graphene Oxide with Serum Proteins and the Impact of the Degree of Reduction and Concentration.

As novel applied nanomaterials, both graphene oxide (GO) and its reduced form (rGO) have attracted global attention, because of their excellent properties. However, the lack of comprehensive understanding of their interactions with biomacromolecules highly limits their biomedical applications. This work aims to initiate a systematic study on the property changes of GO/rGO upon interaction with serum proteins and on how their degree of reduction and exposure concentration affect this interaction, as well as to analyze the possible biomedical impacts of the interaction. We found that the adsorption of proteins on GO/rGO occurred spontaneously and rapidly, leading to significant changes in size, zeta potential, and morphology. Compared to rGO, GO showed a higher ability in quenching intrinsic fluorescence of serum proteins in a concentration-dependent manner. The protein adsorption efficiency and the types of associated proteins varied, depending on the degree of reduction and concentration of graphene. Our findings indicate the importance of evaluating the potential protein adsorption before making use of GO/rGO in drug delivery, because the changed physicochemical properties after protein adsorption will have significant impacts on safety and effectiveness of these delivery systems. On the other hand, this interaction can also be used for the separation, purification, or delivery of certain proteins.

Effects of low oxygen tension on gene profile of soluble growth factors in co-cultured adipose-derived stromal cells and chondrocytes

Moving towards development of optimized cartilage regeneration with adipose‐derived stromal cells (ASCs), the focus of this study was on investigating the influence of hypoxia on soluble factors secreted by ASCs and chondrocytes after crosstalk.

Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructure: A Potential Promoter for Cartilage Tissue Regeneration via Regulating Chondrocyte Phenotype and Proliferation.

Utilizing biomaterials to regulate the phenotype and proliferation of chondrocytes is a promising approach for effective cartilage tissue regeneration. Recently, a significant amount of effort has been invested into directing chondrocytes toward a desired location and function by utilizing biomaterials to control the dedifferentiation and phenotypic loss of chondrocytes during in vitro monolayer culture. Here, the transmission signals resulting from tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) in the regulation of chondrocyte phenotype and proliferation are exploited. TDNs, new DNA nanomaterials, have been considered as promising materials in biomedical fields. Upon exposure to TDNs, chondrocyte phenotype is significantly enhanced, accompanied by lower gene expression related to Notch signaling pathway and higher expression of type II collagen. In addition, the cell proliferation and morphology of chondrocytes are changed after exposure to TDNs. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that TDNs are potentially useful mechanism in cartilage tissue regeneration from chondrocytes, whereby chondrocyte phenotype and proliferation can be retained.

Enhanced biostability of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems by albumin corona.

AIMS The long-term efficacy of nanoparticles is limited by their rapid metabolism in tissues. In this work, we aim to enhance nanoparticle biostability by preforming a bovine serum albumin (BSA) corona. MATERIALS & METHODS A BSA corona was formed by incubating poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate nanoparticles with BSA solution and confirmed by SDS-PAGE and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The impacts of the BSA corona on the drug release, biostability and biodistribution of nanoparticles were investigated. RESULTS In the presence of the BSA corona, the drug release (coumarin-6 was used as the model drug) of nanoparticles was significantly slower and their stability in liver homogenate and in organs was enhanced. CONCLUSION Preformation of a BSA corona may be a promising approach for enhancing drug biostability and for developing long-acting nanoparticle formulations.

Self-Assembled Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructures Promote Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Migration via lncRNA XLOC 010623 and RHOA/ROCK2 Signal Pathway

Self-assembled tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) with precise sizes have been extensively applied in various fields owing to their exceptional mechanical rigidity, structural stability, and modification versatility. In addition, TDNs can be internalized by mammalian cells and remain mainly intact within the cytoplasm by escaping degradation by nucleases. Here, we studied the effects of TDNs on cell migration and the underlying molecular mechanisms. TDNs remarkably enhanced the migration of rat adipose-derived stem cells and down-regulated the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) XLOC 010623 to activate the mRNA expression of Tiam1 and Rac1. Furthermore, TDNs highly up-regulated the mRNA and protein expression of RHOA, ROCK2, and VCL. These results indicate that TDNs suppressed the transcription of lncRNA XLOC 010623 and activated the TIAM1/RAC1 and RHOA/ROCK2 signaling pathways to promote cell migration. On the basis of these findings, TDNs show a high potential for application in tissue repair and regenerative medicine as a functional three-dimensional DNA nanomaterial.

Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ: Master Regulator of Adipogenesis and Obesity.

Obesity, which is a key risk for the development of hyperglycemia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance and is totally referred to as the metabolic disorders, has aroused peoples great attention because of its alarming increase rate around the world. It is widely known that the occurrence of obesity can be attributed to both environmental and genetic factors. Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR), a member of ligand-dependent receptor, is one of the important genetic factors. PPAR includes three isoforms: PPAR-α, PPAR- β and PPAR- γ, all of which are exerting critical influences on the maintenance of the metabolism of saccharides, lipids and proteins. PPAR-γ is of great importance in the regulation of adipogenesis; in addition, it is essential in the prevention of adiposis and the treatment of 2-diabetes mellitus. In this review, we focus on giving a brief introduction about PPAR family, the indispensible function of PPAR-γ in adipogenesis and the inseparable relationship between PPAR-γ and obesity, deriving from the understanding of how these receptors activated will provide windows of opportunities for the treatment of obesity and associated metabolism syndromes.

The JAK/STAT3 signalling pathway regulated angiogenesis in an endothelial cell/adipose-derived stromal cell co-culture, 3D gel model

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of the JAK/STAT3 signalling pathway in angiogenesis.

The Effect of shape on Cellular Uptake of Gold Nanoparticles in the forms of Stars, Rods, and Triangles

Gold nanomaterials have attracted considerable interest as vehicles for intracellular drug delivery. In our study, we synthesized three different shapes of methylpolyethylene glycol coated-anisotropic gold nanoparticles: stars, rods, and triangles. The cellular internalization of these nanoparticles by RAW264.7 cells was analyzed, providing a parametric evaluation of the effect of shape. The efficiency of cellular uptake of the gold nanoparticles was found to rank in the following order from lowest to highest: stars, rods, and triangles. The possible mechanisms of cellular uptake for the three types of gold nanoparticles were examined, and it was found that different shapes tended to use the various endocytosis pathways in different proportions. Our study, which has demonstrated that shape can modulate the uptake of nanoparticles into RAW264.7 cells and that triangles were the shape with the most efficient cellular uptake, provides useful guidance toward the design of nanomaterials for drug delivery.

Independent effect of polymeric nanoparticle zeta potential/surface charge, on their cytotoxicity and affinity to cells.

Up to now, little research has been focussed on discovering how zeta potential independently affects polymeric nanoparticle (NP) cytotoxicity.

Modulation of chondrocyte motility by tetrahedral DNA nanostructures

Contemporarily, a highly increasing attention was paid to nanoconstructs, particularly DNA nanostructures possessing precise organization, functional manipulation, biocompatibility and biodegradability. Amongst these DNA nanomaterials, tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) are a significantly ideal bionanomaterials with focusing on the property that can be internalized into cytoplasm in the absence of transfection. Therefore, the focus of this study was on investigating the influence of TDNs on the chondrocytes locomotion.