Recent progress in utilizing near-infrared J-aggregates for imaging and cancer therapy

Author(s):  
Shuai Xu ◽  
Hong-Wen Liu ◽  
Shuang-Yan Huan ◽  
Lin Yuan ◽  
Xiao-Bing Zhang

Schematic diagram of NIR J-aggregates of various organic dyes as effective bioimaging (fluorescence (FL) or photoacoustic (PA)) and therapeutic agents (PDT or PTT).

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhipeng Liu ◽  
Kang Li ◽  
Xingchen Duan ◽  
Zhiyong Jiang ◽  
Dan Ding ◽  
...  

Abstract J-aggregation has been proved to be an efficient strategy for the development of fluorescent imaging agents in the second near-infrared (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) window. However, the design of NIR-II fluorescent J-aggregates is challenging due to the lack of suitable J-aggregation dyes. Herein, we report meso-[2.2]paracyclophanyl-3,5-bis-N,N-dimethylaminostyrl BODIPY (PCP-BDP2) as the first example of BODIPY dye with J-aggregation induced NIR-II fluorescence. PCP-BDP2 shows emission maximum at 795 nm in diluted solution and NIR-II emission at 1010 nm in the J-aggregation state. Mechanism studies reveal that the steric and conjugation effect of the PCP group on the BODIPY core plays key roles in the J-aggregation behavior and NIR-II fluorescence tuning. Notably, NIR-II emissive J-aggregates of PCP-BDP2 can be efficiently stabilized in the assembled nanoparticle. Taking advantage of high quantum yield and good photo-/chemo-stability, J-aggregates of PCP-BDP2 show high-resolution and long-term in vivo NIR-II imaging ability. Furthermore, J-aggregates of PCP-BDP2 can be utilized for lymph node imaging and fluorescence-guided surgery in the nude mouse, which demonstrates their potential clinical application. This study not only demonstrates BODIPY dye as a new J-aggregation platform for developing NIR-II imaging agents but also encourages further exploration on J-aggregation induced NIR-II emission of the other conventional organic dyes.


Author(s):  
Chang Du ◽  
Xingjie Wu ◽  
Meng He ◽  
Yongming Zhang ◽  
Rong Zhang ◽  
...  

Over the past decades, near infrared light (NIR) sensitive photothermal agents (PTAs) that can efficiently absorb light and generate heat have been investigated worldwide for cancer photothermal therapy (PTT) and...


Author(s):  
Shuangling Wang ◽  
Jie Lv ◽  
Yu Pang ◽  
Shuyang Hu ◽  
Yulong Lin ◽  
...  

Despite significant achievement in chemotherapy, the off-target actions and low pharmaceutical selectivity of the therapeutic agents still limit their clinical efficacy. Herein, a multifunctional nanoplatform which integrates chemotherapy, chemodynamic therapy...


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 904-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yidan Gao ◽  
Hengtong Fang ◽  
Lu Fang ◽  
Dawei Liu ◽  
Jinsong Liu ◽  
...  

The antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a group of unique naturally occurring anti-microbial compounds with around 50 amino acids. It represents promising therapeutic agents to the infectious disease without concerning about drug resistance. However, commercial development of these peptides for even the simplest application has been hindered by the limitations of sources, instability, toxicity and bioavailability. To improve the properties of the artificial synthesized AMPs, the modification and design are the hotspots of the AMPs research. In fact, more than half of the known AMPs are naturally modified. In this review, two types of modification strategies, biochemical modification and chemical modification were summarized. Although, the chemical modification is versatile and direct, the manufacturing cost is greatly increased compared to the antibiotics. With the recent progress of the protein modification enzyme, the biochemical modification of the antimicrobial peptide followed by heterologous expression has great application prospects.


Author(s):  
Xiaowei Luan ◽  
Yongchun Pan ◽  
Yanfeng Gao ◽  
Yujun Song

Light has witnessed the history of mankind and even the universe. It is of great significances to the life of human society, contributing to energy, agriculture, communication, and much more....


Nanoscale ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Xiong ◽  
Qinghuan Bian ◽  
Shuijin Lei ◽  
Yatian Deng ◽  
Kehan Zhao ◽  
...  

Near-infrared (NIR) light induced photothermal cancer therapy using nanomaterials as photothermal agents has attracted considerable research interest over the past few years. As the key factor in the photothermal therapy...


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Thashini Moodley ◽  
Moganavelli Singh

With increasing incidence and mortality rates, cancer remains one of the most devastating global non-communicable diseases. Restricted dosages and decreased bioavailability, often results in lower therapeutic outcomes, triggering the development of resistance to conventionally used drug/gene therapeutics. The development of novel therapeutic strategies using multimodal nanotechnology to enhance specificity, increase bioavailability and biostability of therapeutics with favorable outcomes is critical. Gated vectors that respond to endogenous or exogenous stimuli, and promote targeted tumor delivery without prematurely cargo loss are ideal. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are effective delivery systems for a variety of therapeutic agents in cancer therapy. MSNs possess a rigid framework and large surface area that can incorporate supramolecular constructs and varying metal species that allow for stimuli-responsive controlled release functions. Its high interior loading capacity can incorporate combination drug/gene therapeutic agents, conferring increased bioavailability and biostability of the therapeutic cargo. Significant advances in the engineering of MSNs structural and physiochemical characteristics have since seen the development of nanodevices with promising in vivo potential. In this review, current trends of multimodal MSNs being developed and their use in stimuli-responsive passive and active targeting in cancer therapy will be discussed, focusing on light, redox, pH, and temperature stimuli.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 359
Author(s):  
Hsiang-Hao Chuang ◽  
Yen-Yi Zhen ◽  
Yu-Chen Tsai ◽  
Cheng-Hao Chuang ◽  
Ming-Shyan Huang ◽  
...  

Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase NIMA-interacting 1 (Pin1) specifically binds and isomerizes the phosphorylated serine/threonine-proline (pSer/Thr-Pro) motif, which leads to changes in protein conformation and function. Pin1 is widely overexpressed in cancers and plays an important role in tumorigenesis. Mounting evidence has revealed that targeting Pin1 is a potential therapeutic approach for various cancers by inhibiting cell proliferation, reducing metastasis, and maintaining genome stability. In this review, we summarize the underlying mechanisms of Pin1-mediated upregulation of oncogenes and downregulation of tumor suppressors in cancer development. Furthermore, we also discuss the multiple roles of Pin1 in cancer hallmarks and examine Pin1 as a desirable pharmaceutical target for cancer therapy. We also summarize the recent progress of Pin1-targeted small-molecule compounds for anticancer activity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 791
Author(s):  
Qi Liu ◽  
Bayonle Aminu ◽  
Olivia Roscow ◽  
Wei Zhang

Tumor microenvironments are composed of a myriad of elements, both cellular (immune cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, mesenchymal stem cells, etc.) and non-cellular (extracellular matrix, cytokines, growth factors, etc.), which collectively provide a permissive environment enabling tumor progression. In this review, we focused on the regulation of tumor microenvironment through ubiquitination. Ubiquitination is a reversible protein post-translational modification that regulates various key biological processes, whereby ubiquitin is attached to substrates through a catalytic cascade coordinated by multiple enzymes, including E1 ubiquitin-activating enzymes, E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes and E3 ubiquitin ligases. In contrast, ubiquitin can be removed by deubiquitinases in the process of deubiquitination. Here, we discuss the roles of E3 ligases and deubiquitinases as modulators of both cellular and non-cellular components in tumor microenvironment, providing potential therapeutic targets for cancer therapy. Finally, we introduced several emerging technologies that can be utilized to develop effective therapeutic agents for targeting tumor microenvironment.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document