Yiyao Liu

Nanomedicine for drug delivery and imaging: A promising avenue for cancer therapy and diagnosis using targeted functional nanoparticles

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer or tumor at the cellular level will be greatly improved with the development of techniques that enable the delivery of analyte probes and therapeutic agents into cells and cellular compartments. Organic and inorganic nanoparticles that interface with biological systems have recently attracted widespread interest in the fields of biology and medicine. The new term nanomedicine has been used recently. Nanoparticles are considered to have the potential as novel intravascular or cellular probes for both diagnostic (imaging) and therapeutic purposes (drug/gene delivery), which is expected to generate innovations and play a critical role in medicine. Target‐specific drug/gene delivery and early diagnosis in cancer treatment is one of the priority research areas in which nanomedicine will play a vital role. Some recent breakthroughs in this field recently also proved this trend. Nanoparticles for drug delivery and imaging have gradually been developed as new modalities for cancer therapy and diagnosis. In this article, we review the significance and recent advances of gene/drug delivery to cancer cells, and the molecular imaging and diagnosis of cancer by targeted functional nanoparticles.

Emodin suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced pro-inflammatory responses and NF-κB activation by disrupting lipid rafts in CD14-negative endothelial cells

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Emodin [1,3,8‐trihydroxy‐6‐methylanthraquinone] has been reported to exhibit vascular anti‐inflammatory properties. However, the corresponding mechanisms are not well understood. The present study was designed to explore the molecular target(s) of emodin in modifying lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐associated signal transduction pathways in endothelial cells.

Multifunctional Core/Shell Nanoparticles Cross-linked Polyetherimide-folic Acid as Efficient Notch-1 siRNA Carrier for Targeted Killing of Breast Cancer

In gene therapy, how genetic therapeutics can be efficiently and safely delivered into target tissues/cells remains a major obstacle to overcome. To address this issue, nanoparticles consisting of non-covalently coupled polyethyleneimine (PEI) and folic acid (FA) to the magnetic and fluorescent core/shell of Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) was tested for their ability to deliver Notch-1 shRNA. Our results showed that Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC)/PEI-FA/Notch-1 shRNA nanoparticles are 64 nm in diameter with well dispersed and superparamagnetic. These nanoparticles with on significant cytotoxicity are capable of delivering Notch-1 shRNA into human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells with high efficiency while effectively protected shRNA from degradation by exogenous DNaseI and nucleases. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and fluorescence microscopy showed significant preferential uptake of Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC)/PEI-FA/Notch-1 shRNA nanocomplex by MDA-MB-231 cells. Transfected MDA-MB-231 cells exhibited significantly decreased expression of Notch-1, inhibited cell proliferation, and increased cell apoptosis, leading to the killing of MDA-MB-231 cells. In light of the magnetic targeting capabilities of Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC)/PEI-FA, our results show that by complexing with a second molecular targeting therapeutic, such as Notch-1 shRNA in this report, Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC)/PEI-FA can be exploited as a novel, non-viral, and concurrent targeting delivery system for targeted gene therapy as well as for MR imaging in cancer diagnosis.

Notch-1 Signaling Promotes the Malignant Features of Human Breast Cancer through NF-κB Activation

The aberrant activation of Notch-1 signaling pathway has been proven to be associated with the development and progression of cancers. However, the specific roles and the underlying mechanisms of Notch-1 signaling pathway on the malignant behaviors of breast cancer are poorly understood. In this study, using multiple cellular and molecular approaches, we demonstrated that activation of Notch-1 signaling pathway promoted the malignant behaviors of MDA-MB-231 cells such as increased cell proliferation, colony formation, adhesion, migration, and invasion, and inhibited apoptosis; whereas deactivation of this signaling pathway led to the reversal of the aforementioned malignant cellular behaviors. Furthermore, we found that activation of Notch-1 signaling pathway triggered the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway and up-regulated the expression of NF-κB target genes including MMP-2/-9, VEGF, Survivin, Bcl-xL, and Cyclin D1. These results suggest that Notch-1 signaling pathway play important roles in promoting the malignant phenotype of breast cancer, which may be mediated partly through the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. Our results further suggest that targeting Notch-1 signaling pathway may become a newer approach to halt the progression of breast cancer.

Influence of ultrasonic stimulation on the growth and proliferation of Oryza sativa Nipponbare callus cells

Ultrasound acts as an alternative stress on cells or tissues. In this study it is aimed to investigate the effect of ultrasonic stimulation on the growth and proliferation of Oryza sativa Nipponbare cells (rice callus) in suspension culture. After the samples were stimulated by ultrasound at 28 kHz, we measured their growth and proliferation by using a colorimetric MTT ((3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay as well as fresh weights of the cells. Growth curves were obtained by fresh weights in the suspension culture after ultrasonic agitation for different time from 2 to 120 s. In MTT method, the optical density was determined at 570 nm in the cell suspension on 10 days after the ultrasonic agitation. Up to 5 s agitation OD570 increased; it decreased for more prolonged stimulation. We found that ultrasonic stimulation could promote the growth and proliferation of O. sativa Nipponbare cells in suspension culture with the optimal stimulation of 5 s, while with longer agitation, its growth and proliferation was inhibited. The mechanism may be that the ultrasound activated or destroyed the cellular structure, such as cell membrane, cytoskeleton and mitochondria in which many enzymes and ion channels are affected. In addition, the enhancement of cell wall and cell membrane fluidity might be one of the factors to promote the cell growth in 5-s ultrasonic stimulation.

Effects of ultrasound on the growth and vacuolar H+-ATPase activity of aloe arborescens callus cells

Abstract Effects of ultrasound on the growth and vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) activity of aloe arborescens callus cells were investigated. The callus cells cultured in suspension were agitated by an ultrasonic bath at 28 kHz from the exposure time ts=2–60 s, and the cell growth was the highest at ts=5 s as measured by the fresh weight of the callus. The callus cells cultured in solid were exposed by a digital sonifier at 20 kHz in 2 s

VCAM-1-targeted core/shell nanoparticles for selective adhesion and delivery to endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation under shear flow and cellular magnetic resonance imaging in vitro.

Multifunctional nanomaterials with unique magnetic and luminescent properties have broad potential in biological applications. Because of the overexpression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) receptors in inflammatory endothelial cells as compared with normal endothelial cells, an anti-VCAM-1 monoclonal antibody can be used as a targeting ligand. Herein we describe the development of multifunctional core-shell Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles with the ability to target inflammatory endothelial cells via VCAM-1, magnetism, and fluorescence imaging, with efficient magnetic resonance imaging contrast characteristics. Superparamagnetic iron oxide and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) were loaded successfully inside the nanoparticle core and the silica shell, respectively, creating VCAM-1-targeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) nanoparticles that were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence spectrometry, zeta potential assay, and fluorescence microscopy. The VCAM-1-targeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) nanoparticles typically had a diameter of 355 ± 37 nm, showed superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature, and cumulative and targeted adhesion to an inflammatory subline of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC-CS) activated by lipopolysaccharide. Further, our data show that adhesion of VCAM-1-targeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) nanoparticles to inflammatory HUVEC-CS depended on both shear stress and duration of exposure to stress. Analysis of internalization into HUVEC-CS showed that the efficiency of delivery of VCAM-1-targeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) nanoparticles was also significantly greater than that of nontargeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC)-NH2 nanoparticles. Magnetic resonance images showed that the superparamagnetic iron oxide cores of the VCAM-1-targeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) nanoparticles could also act as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. Taken together, the cumulative adhesion and uptake potential of these VCAM-1-targeted Fe3O4@SiO2(FITC) nanoparticles targeted to inflammatory endothelial cells could be used in the transfer of therapeutic drugs/genes into these cells or for diagnosis of vascular disease at the molecular and cellular levels in the future.

Synergistic Anticancer Activity of Photo- and Chemoresponsive Nanoformulation Based on Polylysine-Functionalized Graphene

Multimodal therapeutic agents based on nanomaterials for cancer combination therapy have attracted increasing attention. In this report, a novel photo- and chemoactive nanohybrid was fabricated by assembling photosensitizer Zn(II)-phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) on the biocompatible poly-l-lysine (PLL)-grafted graphene (G-PLL). This nanocomplex of G-PLL/DOX/ZnPc showed excellent physiochemical properties, including high solubility and stability in biological solutions, high drug loading efficiency, pH-triggered drug release, and ability to generalize (1)O2 under light excitation. Compared to free drug molecules, cells treated with G-PLL/DOX/ZnPc showed a higher cellular uptake. In particular, G-PLL/DOX/ZnPc elicited a remarkable synergistic anticancer activity owing to combined photodynamic and chemotherapeutic effects. The combination dose reduction indexes revealed that combining DOX with ZnPc provided strong synergistic effects (combination index < 0.1) against three cancer cell lines tested (HeLa, MCF-7, and B16). Thus, this study demonstrates programmable dual-modality therapy exemplified by G-PLL/DOX/ZnPc to synergistically treat cancers.

Silica Nanoparticles as Promising Drug/Gene Delivery Carriers and Fluorescent Nano-Probes: Recent Advances

The application of nanotechnology to biomedical research is expected to have a major impact leading to the development of new types of diagnostic and therapeutic tools. One focus in nanobiotechnology is to develop safe and efficient drug/gene delivery vehicles. Research into the rational delivery and targeting of pharmaceutical, therapeutic and diagnostic agents is at the forefront of projects in nanomedicine. Silica, as a major and natural component of sand and glass, is a versatile material due to the variety of available chemical and physical modifications that are available, and recently have been widely applied in nanobiotechnology as drug/gene carriers or fluorescent nano-probes. The goal of this brief review is to illustrate selected examples of various functionalized silica nanoparticles as drug/gene delivery systems that have been applied to the arenas of human disease therapy or detection (molecular and cellular imaging).

Roles for GP IIb/IIIa and αvβ3 integrins in MDA-MB-231 cell invasion and shear flow-induced cancer cell mechanotransduction

Adhesion of cancer cell to endothelial cells and the subsequent trans-endothelial migration are key steps in hematogenous metastasis. However, the molecular mechanisms of cancer cell/endothelial cell interaction under hemodynamic shear flow and how shear flow-induced cancer cell mechanotransduction are yet to be fully defined. In this study, we identified that the integrins of both platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GP IIb/IIIa) and αvβ3 were crucial for hematogenous metastasis of human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells. The cell migration and invasion were studied by using Millicell cell culture insert system. The numbers of invaded MDA-MB-231 cells significantly increased by thrombin-activated platelets and reduced by eptifibatide, a platelet inhibitor. Meanwhile, RGDWE peptides, a specific inhibitor of αvβ3 integrin, also inhibited MDA-MB-231 cell invasion. We further used a parallel-plate flow chamber to investigate MDA-MB-231 cell adhesion under flow conditions. Alike in static condition, the adhesion capability of MDA-MB-231 cells to endothelial monolayer was also significantly affected by GP IIb/IIIa and αvβ3 integrins. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-9 and αvβ3 integrin in MDA-MB-231 cells were up-regulated after low shear stress exposure (1.84 dynes/cm(2), 2 h). Moreover, we also demonstrated that low shear stress induced a sustained activation of p85 (a regulatory subunit of PI3K) and Akt. Pre-treating MDA-MB-231 cells with the specific PI3K inhibitor of LY294002 abolished the shear stress induced-Akt activation, and the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and αvβ3 integrin were also down-regulated. Immunofluorescence assay showed that low shear stress also induced αvβ3 integrin clustering and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. Interestingly, shear stress-induced activation of Akt and NF-κB was attenuated by LM609, a specific antibody of αvβ3 integrin. It suggests that αvβ3 integrin might be as a mechanosensor to trigger both PI3K/Akt and NF-κB signaling pathways. Taken together, these results establish that GP IIb/IIIa and αvβ3 integrins are essential mediators, and provide insight into how shear stress-induced αvβ3 integrin activation and the downstream pathways for contribution to MDA-MB-231 cell adhesion, migration and invasion.