Low-Temperature Miniemulsion-Based Routes for Synthesis of Metal Oxides

Dedicated to Professor Gerhard Wegner on the occasion of his 80th anniversar

Cellular Uptake of siRNA-Loaded Nanocarriers to Knockdown PD-L1: Strategies to Improve T-cell Functions

T-cells are a type of lymphocyte (a subtype of white blood cells) that play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. Currently, adoptive T-cell immunotherapy is being developed to destroy cancer cells. In this therapy, T-cells are harvested from a patient’s blood. After several weeks of growth in culture, tumor-specific T-cells can be reinfused into the same cancer patient. This technique has proved highly efficient in cancer treatment. However, there are several biological processes that can suppress the anti-cancer responses of T-cells, leading to a loss of their functionality and a reduction of their viability. Therefore, strategies are needed to improve T-cell survival and their functions. Here, a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-loaded nanocarrier was used to knockdown PD-L1, one of the most important proteins causing a loss in the functionality of T-cells. The biocompatibility and the cellular uptake of siRNA-loaded silica nanocapsules (SiNCs) were investigated in CD8+ T-cells. Then, the PD-L1 expression at protein and at mRNA levels of the treated cells were evaluated. Furthermore, the effect of the PD-L1 knockdown was observed in terms of cell proliferation and the expression of specific biomarkers CD25, CD69 and CD71, which are indicators of T-cell functions. The results suggest that this siRNA-loaded nanocarrier showed a significant potential in the delivery of siRNA into T-cells. This in turn resulted in enhanced T-cell survival by decreasing the expression of the inhibitory protein PD-L1. Such nanocarriers could, therefore, be applied in adoptive T-cell immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer

Nanoscale Control of the Surface Functionality of Polymeric 2D Materials

Typically, 2D nanosheets have a homogeneous surface, making them a major challenge to structure. This study proposes a novel concept of 2D organic nanosheets with a heterogeneously functionalized surface. This work achieves this by consecutively crystallizing two precisely synthesized polymers with different functional groups in the polymer backbone in a two-step process. First, the core platelet is formed and then the second polymer is crystallized around it. As a result, the central area of the platelets has a different surface functionality than the periphery. This concept offers two advantages: the resulting polymeric 2D platelets are stable in dispersion, which simplifies further processing and makes both crystal surfaces accessible for subsequent functionalization. Additionally, a wide variety of polymers can be used, making the process and the choice of surface functionalization very flexible.</p