Array-Based Protein Sensing Using an Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) Light-Up Probe

Protein detection and identification are important for the diagnosis of diseases; however, the development of facile sensing probes still remains challenging. Here, we present an array-based "turn on" protein-sensing platform capable of detecting and identifying proteins using aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens). The water-soluble AIEgens in which fluorescence was initially turned off showed strong fluorescence in the presence of nanomolar concentrations of proteins via restriction of the intramolecular rotation of the AIEgens. The binding affinities between the AIEgens and proteins were associated with various chemical functional groups on AIEgens, resulting in distinct fluorescent-signal outcomes for each protein. The combined fluorescence outputs provided sufficient information to detect and discriminate proteins of interest by linear discriminant analysis. Furthermore, the array-based sensor enabled classification of different concentrations of specific proteins. These results provide novel insight into the use of the AIEgens as a new type of sensing probe in array-based systems

Directions for and prospects of the Environmental Health Study in Korean National Industrial Complexes (EHSNIC): A proposal for the third phase of the EHSNIC

The Environmental Health Study in the Korean National Industrial Complexes (EHSNIC) is a project that aims to monitor the exposure and health effects of environmental pollution among residents of national industrial complexes, as well as propose appropriate environmental health measures. Since its launch in 2003, this project has been initiated in eight national industrial complexes. Currently, it is necessary to review the accomplishments and limitations of the phases 1 and 2 of this project, and establish the direction of the upcoming the phase 3. Thus, the present study has developed principles and goals for the phase 3, considering the rationale and justification of the EHSNIC, and presented specific research contents accordingly. In the phase 3, it is important to improve the methods for exposure assessment and evaluation of health effects, in order to identify clearly the association between the pollutants released from industrial complexes and their health impacts, to develop and to reinforce communication strategies to promote participation of residents of communities near industrial complexes. Nonetheless, it is also important to maintain the basic goal of continuously monitoring the level of exposure to and health effects of environmental pollutants

Array-based Protein Sensing using an Aggregation Induced Emission Light-Up Probe

Protein detection and identification is important for diagnosis of diseases but the development of facile sensing probes still remains challenging. Herein, we present an array-based ???turn on??? protein sensing platform that can detect and identify proteins using aggregation induced emission luminogens (AIEgens). The water-soluble AIEgens that the fluorescence are initially turned-off, showed strong fluorescence in the presence of nanomolar concentration of proteins via the restriction of the intramolecular rotation (RIR) of the AIEgens. The binding affinities between the AIEgens and proteins were associated with various chemical functional groups on AIEgens, resulting in the distinct fluorescent signal outcomes for each protein. The combining fluorescence outputs provided sufficient information to detect and discriminate proteins of interest by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Furthermore, the array-based sensor could be used to classify different concentration of specific proteins. This study provides a new sight into the use of the AIEgens as a new type of sensing probe installable in an array-based system

Self-assembly inside cellular organelles: Aspects of functions and various strategies for cancer therapy

Self-assembly generates three-dimensional architectures through the non-covalent interactions of building blocks of various sizes, ranging from nanometers to micrometers, and the assembled structures may have new functions that the building blocks do not have. Cell self-assembly has attracted considerable attention in cancer treatment because it can overcome the side effects of conventional chemotherapy and the low therapeutic effect on drug-resistant cells. In addition, the trigger in the building block reacts with the specific environment of the cancer, such as pH, ions, redox reactions, enzymes, or receptors, facilitating cancer-targeted therapy. However, the precise control of self-assembly for the construction of nanostructures is difficult in harsh intracellular environments. To overcome this challenge, various researchers have investigated intracellular self-assembly. In particular, the self-assembly in cellular organelles is of great interest. Compared with self-assembly in the cytoplasm of cells, organelle-targeting self-assembly has the advantage of being able to self-assemble without side effects under more stable conditions with a relatively low concentration of building blocks. In this mini-review, we discuss the latest research on self-assembly inside or near organelles for cancer treatment

Spatiotemporal Self-Assembly of Peptides Dictates Cancer-Selective Toxicity

The intracellular or pericellular self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides is emerging as a potent cancer therapeutic strategy. Achieving the self-assembly of amphiphilic peptides inside a cell or cellular organelle is challenging due to the complex cellular environment, which consists of many amphiphilic biomolecules that may alter the self-assembling propensity of the synthetic peptides. Herein, we show that the hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance of the amphiphilic peptides determines the self-assembling propensity, thereby controlling the fate of the cell. A series of peptides were designed to target and self-assemble inside the mitochondria of cancer cells. The hydrophobicity of the peptides was tuned by varying their N-terminus capping. The analysis showed that the largest hydrophobic peptide was self-assembled before reaching the mitochondria and showed no selectivity toward cancer cells, whereas hydrophilic peptides could not self-assemble inside the mitochondria. Optimum balance between hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity is a critical factor for achieving self-assembly inside the mitochondria, thereby providing greater selectivity against cancer cells

The HA-incorporated nanostructure of a peptide-drug amphiphile for targeted anticancer drug delivery

A simple peptide based prodrug of camptothecin (CPT) has been synthesised in which the CPT is conjugated to a tripeptide (KCK) via a disulfide linkage (KCK-CPT) and self-assembled into well-defined nanostructures in water depending on the concentration. The hyaluronic acid (HA) complex of KCK-CPT exhibited target specific toxicity with excellent antitumour efficiency.clos

Supramolecular protection-mediated one-pot synthesis of cationic gold nanoparticles

Despite the extended use of cationic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in biomedical applications, direct one-pot synthesis of AuNPs with tunable size in aqueous media is limited due to the deleterious electrostatic attraction between AuCl4-anions and positively charged ligands. This paper describes the one-pot synthesis of cationic gold nanoparticles with size tunability based on host-guest chemistry. As the host molecule, cucurbit[7]uril inhibits self-aggregation in aqueous solution by threading positively charged guest ligands, which provides a shielding effect on the ligands. Reduction of the mixtures by directly adding NaBH4 generates cationic AuNPs with narrow size distributions. Furthermore, their potential in biomedical applications is demonstrated by siRNA transfection experiments. This approach relying on supramolecular-mediated interactions may provide new insights into organic/inorganic reactions that involve electrostatic disturbance

Targeting senescent retinal pigment epithelial cells facilitates retinal regeneration in mouse models of age-related macular degeneration

Although age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial disorder with angiogenic, immune, and inflammatory components, the most common clinical treatment strategies are antiangiogenic therapies. However, these strategies are only applicable to neovascular AMD, which accounts for less than 20% of all AMD cases, and there are no FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of dry AMD, which accounts for ~ 80% of AMD cases. Here, we report that the elimination of senescent cells is a potential novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of all types of AMD. We identified senescent retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in animal models of AMD and determined their contributions to retinal degeneration. We further confirmed that the clearance of senescent RPE cells with the MDM2-p53 inhibitor Nutlin-3a ameliorated retinal degeneration. These findings provide new insights into the use of senescent cells as a therapeutic target for the treatment of AMD