A Digital Score Based on Circulating-Tumor-Cells-Derived mRNA Quantification and Machine Learning for Early Colorectal Cancer Detection.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) serve as valuable biomarkers in tumor circulation, carrying essential primary tumor information. The purification of CTCs from peripheral blood samples and the analysis of their characteristic molecules enable the detection of tumors at an early stage. The noninvasive, continuous, real-time dynamic monitoring provides a promising solution for the timely diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC).

Distinct CTC Specific RNA Profile Enables NSCLC Early Detection and Dynamic Monitoring of Advanced NSCLC.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) hold significant potential as biomarkers for the diagnosis and management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, their clinical utility is limited by the heterogeneity of CTC subtypes and the need for robust, quantitative assays. In this study, a quantitative CTC RNA assay incorporating multi-antibody-based CTC isolation and specific mRNA quantification by RT-ddPCR is developed.

Deciphering the Temporal-Spatial Interactive Heterogeneity of Long Non-Coding RNAs and RNA-Binding Proteins in Living Cells at Single-Cell Resolution.

The investigation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) interactions in living cell holds great significance for elucidating their critical roles in a variety of biological activities, but limited techniques are available to profile the temporal-spatial dynamic heterogeneity. Here, we introduced a molecular beacon-functionalized nanoneedle array designed for spatially resolved profiling of lncRNA-RBP interactions (Nano-SpatiaLR). A nanoneedle array modified with a molecular beacon is employed to selectively isolate specific intracellular lncRNAs and their associated RBPs without affecting cell viability.

Purification of Circulating Tumor Cells Based on Multiantibody-Modified Magnetic Nanoparticles and Molecular Analysis toward Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Detection.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are valuable circulating biomarkers of cancer, which carry primary tumor information and may provide real-time assessment of tumor status as well as treatment response in cancer patients. Herein, we developed a novel assay for accurate diagnosis and dynamic monitoring of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) using CTC RNA analysis. Multiantibody-modified magnetic nanoparticles were prepared for purification of EOC CTCs from whole blood samples of clinical patients.

Perovskite-Type Manganese Vanadate Sonosensitizers with Biodegradability for Enhanced Sonodynamic Therapy of Cancer.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has attracted intensive attention, but is still hindered by low sonosensitization and non-biodegradability of the traditional sonosensitizers. Herein, perovskite-type manganese vanadate (MnVO ) sonosensitizers integrating high reactive oxide species (ROS) production efficiency and appropriate bio-degradability are developed for enhanced SDT. Taking advantage of the intrinsic properties of perovskites such as narrow bandgap and substantial oxygen vacancies, MnVO shows a facile ultrasound (US)-triggered electrons-holes separation and restrained recombination, thus enhancing the ROS quantum yield in SDT.

Multifaceted tannin crosslinked bioinspired dECM decorated nanofibers modulating cell-scaffold biointerface for tympanic membrane perforation bioengineering.

Tympanic membrane (TM) perforation leads to persistent otitis media, conductive deafness, and affects life quality. Ointment medication may not be sufficient to treat TM perforation (TMP) due to the lack of an underlying tissue matrix and thus requiring a scaffold-based application. The engineering of scaffold biointerface close to the matrix via tissue-specific decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) is crucial in instructing cell behaviour and regulating cell-material interaction in the bioengineering domain.

Folic Acid-Modified Fluorescent-Magnetic Nanoparticles for Efficient Isolation and Identification of Circulating Tumor Cells in Ovarian Cancer.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a lethal disease occurring in women worldwide. Due to the lack of obvious clinical symptoms and sensitivity biomarkers, OC patients are often diagnosed in advanced stages and suffer a poor prognosis. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), released from tumor sites into the peripheral blood, have been recognized as promising biomarkers in cancer prognosis, treatment monitoring, and metastasis diagnosis.

Development of Metal-Organic Framework-Based Dual Antibody Nanoparticles for the Highly Specific Capture and Gradual Release of Circulating Tumor Cells.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been well-established as promising biomarkers that can be leveraged to gauge the prognosis of patients with cancers and to guide patient treatment efforts. Although the scarcity of CTCs within peripheral circulation and the associated phenotypic changes that they exhibit owing to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process make the reliable isolation of these cells very challenging. Recently, several studies have discussed platforms capable of mediating the efficient and sensitive isolation of CTCs, but these approaches are nonetheless subject to certain limitations that preclude their clinical application.

Construction of a Silk Fibroin/Polyethylene Glycol Double Network Hydrogel with Co-Culture of HUVECs and UCMSCs for a Functional Vascular Network.

The success of complex tissue and internal organ reconstruction relies principally on the fabrication of a 3D vascular network, which guarantees the delivery of oxygen and nutrients in addition to the disposal of waste. In this study, a rapidly forming cell-encapsulated double network (DN) hydrogel is constructed by an ultrasonically activated silk fibroin network and bioorthogonal-mediated polyethylene glycol network. This DN hydrogel can be solidified within 10 s, and its mechanical property gradually increases to ∼20 kPa after 30 min.

Circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer in the era of precision medicine.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main causes of cancer-related morbidity and mortality across the globe. Although serum biomarkers such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA-199) have been prevalently used as biomarkers in various cancers, they are neither very sensitive nor highly specific. Repeated tissue biopsies at different times of the disease can be uncomfortable for cancer patients.

Investigation and improvement of catalytic activity of G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzymes using designed terminal G-tetrads with deoxyadenosine caps.

It is generally acknowledged that G-quadruplexes (G4s) acquire peroxidase activity upon interaction with hemin. Hemin has been demonstrated to bind selectively to the 3'-terminal G-tetrad of parallel G4s end-stacking; however, the relationships between different terminal G-tetrads and the catalytic functions of G4/hemin DNAzymes are not fully understood. Herein, the oligonucleotide d(AGGGGA) and its three analogues, d(AGGGGA), d(AGGGGA) and d(AGGGGA) (G indicates 8-bromo-2'-deoxyguanosine), were designed.

Selective capture of circulating tumor cells by antifouling nanostructure substrate made of hydrogel nanoparticles.

The detection and analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from cancer patients' blood samples present a powerful means to monitor cancer progression. In this work, an antifouling nanostructure substrate made of hydrogel nanoparticles was fabricated for an effective capture of CTCs from the blood samples. The hydrogel nanoparticles were synthesized by zwitterionic sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA), methacrylic acid (MAA) and N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) through a simple polymerization.

A PLGA nanofiber microfluidic device for highly efficient isolation and release of different phenotypic circulating tumor cells based on dual aptamers.

The isolation of specific and sensitive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is significant for applying them in cancer diagnosis and monitoring. In this work, dual aptamer-modified poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanofiber-based microfluidic devices were fabricated to achieve the highly efficient capture and specific release of epithelial and mesenchymal CTCs of ovarian cancer. Dual aptamer targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecules (EpCAM) and N-cadherin proteins to improve the capture sensitivity, bovine serum albumin (BSA) to guarantee the capture purity and the nanofibers to increase the capture efficiency via synchronously and effectively capturing the epithelial and mesenchymal CTCs with good capture specificity and sensitivity from blood samples were used.

The isolation of a DNA aptamer to develop a fluorescent aptasensor for the thiamethoxam pesticide.

Aptamers, which are called chemical antibodies for their high affinity and specificity to targets, have great potential as analytical tools to detect pesticides. In this work, a DNA aptamer for thiamethoxam was isolated by an improved SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) strategy, in which the ssDNA library was fixed on streptavidin-agarose beads through a short biotin labeled complementary strand. After 13 rounds of selection, the random ssDNA pool was successfully enriched.

Tannic Acid (TA)-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles for EpCAM-Independent Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Isolation from Patients with Different Cancers.

The majority of current methods of isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) rely on a biomarker. However, the isolation efficiency may be compromised due to the heterogeneity of CTCs. In this work, a simple and broad-spectrum method is established to efficiently isolate the heterogeneous CTCs from patient blood samples using tannic acid (TA)-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs).

Isolation of DNA aptamers targeting N-cadherin and high-efficiency capture of circulating tumor cells by using dual aptamers.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) acquire mesenchymal markers (e.g., N-cadherin) and lose epithelial markers (e.

Ligand Selectivity by Inserting GCGC-Tetrads into G-Quadruplex Structures.

G-Quadruplexes (G4s) assembled from tandem G-rich repeat sequences exhibit significant biological functions and applications, which may well depend on their structural features, such as the planar arrangement of G-tetrads and flexibility of loop regions. It has been found that cytosine-intercalated G-repeat sequences also assemble to be quadruplex structures, involving the formation of nonplanar GCGC-tetrads. Herein, to investigate the effect of GCGC-tetrads on structural properties of G4s, some previously studied quadruplexes with or without GCGC-tetrads were selected, and were used to interact with various developed G4 ligands.

Acid-facilitated G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzymes: accompanied by the assembly of quadruplex supramolecules.

Four types of quadruplex supramolecules containing G-quadruplex (G4)-I-motif interfaces were assembled under slightly acidic conditions, which can interact with hemin to form I-motif-linked G4/hemin DNAzymes. Our data demonstrated that some I-motif-linked DNAzymes are highly acid-dependent due to the stabilization of hemiprotonated cytosine-cytosine (C˙CH) pairs for the G4 units.

One Terminal Guanosine Flip of Intramolecular Parallel G-Quadruplex: Catalytic Enhancement of G-Quadruplex/Hemin DNAzymes.

Numerous studies have shown compelling evidence that incorporation of an inversion of polarity site (IPS) in G-rich sequences can affect the topological and structural characteristics of G-quadruplexes (G4s). Herein, the influence of IPS on the formation of a previously studied intramolecular parallel G4 of d(G TG TG TG ) (TTT) and its stacked higher-order structures is explored. Insertion of 3'-3' or 5'-5' IPS did not change the parallel folding pattern of TTT.

Metal-Organic Frameworks with Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy: Synthesis, Erythrocyte Membrane Camouflage, and Aptamer-Targeted Aggregation.

Here, ferric oxide-loaded metal-organic framework (FeTCPP/FeO MOF) nanorice was designed and constructed by the liquid diffusion method. The introduction of iron metal nodes and the loading of FeO can effectively catalyze the Fenton reaction to produce hydroxyl radicals (OH) and overcome the hypoxic environment of tumor tissue by generating oxygen. The monodispersity and porosity of the porphyrin photosensitizers in the MOF structure exposed more active sites, which promoted energy exchange between porphyrin molecules and oxygen molecules for photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment.

Natural Biointerface Based on Cancer Cell Membranes for Specific Capture and Release of Circulating Tumor Cells.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are an important part of liquid biopsy as they represent a potentially rich source of information for cancer diagnosis, monitoring, prognosis, and treatment guidance. It has been proved that the nanotopography interaction between cells and the surface of CTC detection platforms can significantly improve the capture efficiency of CTCs, whereas many mature nanostructure substrates have been developed based on chemistry materials. In this work, a natural biointerface with unique biological properties is fabricated for efficient isolation and nondestructive release of CTCs from blood samples using the cancer cell membranes.

Fabrication of aptamer modified TiO nanofibers for specific capture of circulating tumor cells.

Herein, we developed an inexpensive titanium dioxide (TiO) nanofiber substrate for efficient and selective capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from mimic patients' samples. The TiO nanofiber substrates were fabricated by electrospinning in combination with the calcination process. The surface of nanofiber substrates was modified with the anti-adhesion molecule, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the nucleolin aptamer AS1411, wherein, aptamer AS1411 specifically binds to the nucleolin protein overexpressed on the membrane surface of cancer cells.

Aptamer-based nanostructured interfaces for the detection and release of circulating tumor cells.

Analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can provide significant clinical information for tumors, which has proven to be helpful for cancer diagnosis, prognosis monitoring, treatment efficacy, and personalized therapy. However, CTCs are an extremely rare cell population, which challenges the isolation of CTCs from patient blood. Over the last few decades, many strategies for CTC detection have been developed based on the physical and biological properties of CTCs.

High-Efficiency Isolation and Rapid Identification of Heterogeneous Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) Using Dual-Antibody-Modified Fluorescent-Magnetic Nanoparticles.

Extreme rarity and inherent heterogeneity of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) result in a tremendous challenge for the CTC isolation from patient blood samples with high efficiency and purity. Current CTC isolation approaches mainly rely on the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), which may significantly reduce the ability to capture CTCs when the expression of EpCAM is lost or down-regulated in epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Here, a rapid and highly efficient method is developed to isolate and identify heterogeneous CTCs with high efficiency from patient blood samples using the fluorescent-magnetic nanoparticles (F-MNPs).

Dual-antibody Modified PLGA Nanofibers for Specific Capture of Epithelial and Mesenchymal CTCs.

CTC detection has great potential to provide crucial clinical information for early cancer diagnosis, patient prognosis, personalized therapy, and cancer progress monitoring etc. It has been proved that the disease progress is associated with an increase in mesenchymal CTCs, while most mature techniques have been developed based on epithelial CTC detection. In present work, a dual-antibody nanointerface against EpCAM and N-Cadherin was developed to capture epithelial CTCs as well as mesenchymal CTCs from blood samples.