Fabrication of multifunctional polydopamine-coated gold nanobones for PA/CT imaging and enhanced synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy

Multimodal imaging-guided chemo-photothermal therapy is an excellent cancer treatment,which can not only efficiently against tumor,but also can offer precise treatment window and real-time monitoring of the treatment efficiency.In our work,polydopamine(PDA)-coated gold nanobones(AuNBs@PDA nanocomplexes)were designed for this approach.The AuNBs@PDA nanocomplexes have strong absorbance in the near infrared(NIR)region and higher photothermal conversion efficiency(75.48%)than gold nanobones alone,which was facilitated for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy.Besides,the loading efficiency of doxorubicin(DOX)by AuNBs@PDA nanocomplexes could be up to about 70%and DOX release from AuNBs@PDA/DOX nanocomplexes sensitively response to the lower pH environment and NIR laser irradiation,which makes them become the excellent nano-carrier for the delivery of chemotherapy drug.In vitro and in vivo studies showed significant cytotoxicity and antitumor efficacy by the AuNBs@PDA/DOX nanoplatform with negligible side effects.Meanwhile,the nanoplatform was also successfully employed for computed tomography(CT)imaging,attributing to the high atomic number and high X-ray attenuation coefficient of gold.Therefore,we believed that the proposed PDA-coated gold nanobones would be a novel multifunctional theranostic nanoagent to realize the PA/CT imaging-guided chemo-photothermal therapy of cancer.

Tim-3 mRNA expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes from asthmatic patients

The study aimed to detect the expression of the Th1-specific cell surface protein T cell Ig and mucin domain-containing molecule-3(Tim-3)mRNA peripheral blood lymphocytes isolated from asthmaticin patients and to examine the correlation among Tim-3 mRNA,interleukin-4(IL-4),interferon-γ(IFN-γ)level,and FEV1/FVC(force expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity)to explore the role of Tim-3 in the development and progression of asthmatic inflammation.Tim-3 mRNA expression was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).The IL-4 and IFN-γlevels were determined by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The correlation among Tim-3 mRNA,IL-4,IFN-γlevel,and pulmonary ventilatory capacity was analyzed.The expres-sion of Tim-3 mRNA in patients with acute asthma exacerbation was 0.39�0.06,significantly higher than that in patients at the remission stage and controls(0.18�0.05 and 0.07�0.03,P<0.05).The level of IL-4 in patients with acute asthma exacerbation was 68.42�10.54,significantly higher than that in the patients at the remission stage and controls(41.83�9.37 and 32.75�8.16,P<0.05).The level of IL-4 in patients in remission was significantly higher than that in controls(P<0.05).The level of IFN-γin patients with acute asthma exacerbation was 65.74�7.85,significantly lower than that in patients in remission and the control group(120.84�11.62 and 139.65�13.47,P<0.05).The level of IFN-γin patients in asthma remission was significantly lower than that in controls(P<0.05).Tim-3 mRNA expression was positively correlated with the level of IL-4(r=0.68,P<0.05)and negatively with the level of IFN-γand pulmonary ventilatory capacity(r=–0.85,r=–0.76,both P<0.01).The increased expression of Tim-3 mRNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes might be involved in the development and progression of asthmatic inflammation.

Expression of Syk in non-small cell lung cancer and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters

This study aims to research the expression of spleen tyrosine kinase(Syk)in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)and the relationship between Syk and clinico-pathologic factors and p53.Immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the expression of Syk and p53 protein in 39 cases of NSCLC(23 cases of lung squamous cell can-cer,16 cases of lung adenocarcinoma)and tumor-sur-rounding normal lung tissues.The positive rate of Syk was 46.15%(18/39)and 100%(39/39)in NSCLC and tumor-surrounding normal lung tissues,respectively.The expres-sion level of Syk in NSCLC was significantly lower than that in tumor-surrounding normal lung tissues(P=0.000).The Syk expression was positively correlated with the p53 expression in NSCLC specimens(P=0.025).There was no significant association between Syk expression and lymph node metastasis,differentiation degree,tumor size and tumor node metastasis(TNM).The present study demonstrated that Syk was aberrantly expressed in the NSCLC and might have a significant impact on tumor growth and progression.