Targeting antitumoral proteins to breast cancer by local administration of functional inclusion bodies

Biofabrication; Cancer therapy; Functional amyloidsBiofabricación; Terapia contra el cáncer; Amiloides funcionalesBiofabricació; Teràpia contra el càncer; Amiloides funcionalsTwo structurally and functionally unrelated proteins, namely Omomyc and p31, are engineered as CD44-targeted inclusion bodies produced in recombinant bacteria. In this unusual particulate form, both types of protein materials selectively penetrate and kill CD44+ tumor cells in culture, and upon local administration, promote destruction of tumoral tissue in orthotropic mouse models of human breast cancer. These findings support the concept of bacterial inclusion bodies as versatile protein materials suitable for application in chronic diseases that, like cancer, can benefit from a local slow release of therapeutic proteins.This study has been supported by La Fundacio Marato TV3 and NanoCanTri (CIBER-BBN) to E.V. and I.A., and partially by ISCIII (PI15/00272 and PI1702242 co-founded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), to E.V. and S.S., respectively), and Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and FEDER (BIO2016-76063-R, AEI/FEDER, UE), AGAUR (2017SGR-229) and CIBER-BBN (VENOM4CANCER) granted to A.V. Protein production and DLS have been partially performed by the ICTS "NANBIOSIS," more specifically by the Protein Production Platform of CIBER-BBN/IBB () and the Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit (), respectively. Biodistribution and immunohistochemistry assays were performed at the ICTS "NANBIOSIS," specifically by U20/FVPR (). L.S.-G. was supported by predoctoral fellowship from AGAUR (2018FI_B2_00051). L.S. was supported by the European Research Council (CoG #617473) and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS #PI16/01224). J.S.-F. was supported by an AECC post-doctoral fellowship. A.V. received an ICREA ACADEMIA awar

Anionic redox chemistry in Na-rich Na2Ru1−ySnyO3 positive electrode material for Na-ion batteries

The synthesis and Na- electrochemical activity of Na-rich layered Na2Ru1−ySnyO3 compounds is reported. Like their Li-analogue, Na2Ru1−ySnyO3 shows capacities that exceed theoretical capacity calculated from the cationic redox species. The high capacity was found, by means of XPS analysis, to be associated to the accumulation of both cationic (Ru4+/Ru5+) and anionic (O2−/O2n−) redox processes. The structural evolutions during cycling have been followed and found to be associated with the cation disordering and loss of crystallinity on cycling

Targeting antitumoral proteins to breast cancer by local administration of functional inclusion bodies

Altres ajuts de l'Instituto de Salud Carlos III: PI15/00272, PI1702242FIS i #PI16/01224Two structurally and functionally unrelated proteins, namely Omomyc and p31, are engineered as CD44-targeted inclusion bodies produced in recombinant bacteria. In this unusual particulate form, both types of protein materials selectively penetrate and kill CD44 tumor cells in culture, and upon local administration, promote destruction of tumoral tissue in orthotropic mouse models of human breast cancer. These findings support the concept of bacterial inclusion bodies as versatile protein materials suitable for application in chronic diseases that, like cancer, can benefit from a local slow release of therapeutic protein

Earthquake location and detection modeling for a future seafloor observatory along Mayotte's volcanic ridge

The volcano-seismic crisis afflicting Mayotte since May 2018 has motivated France-based seismologists to consider the installment of a permanent seafloor observatory with one or more seismometers for monitoring surfacing magma and the associated seismicity. In general, deploying a seismometer offshore is known to improve earthquake location – particular in depth – and lower magnitude detection. However, how true are these claims for Mayotte when a land-based seismic network already exists? To address this, we investigate location and detection performance when deploying permanent seismometers offshore Mayotte. We modeled location and detection performance using both real and synthetic data in different network configurations. We found that, in the case of Mayotte, only longitude error is significantly reduced by adding seismometers offshore, perhaps due to the North-South configuration of the land network. Moreover, the size of the Mayotte volcano monitoring area, which spans depths and distances up to 50 km for both, prevents accurate location and detection performance with less than 2 permanent seismometers offshore. Therefore, we would need at least 2 cabled seismometers to monitor this volcanic system, i.e. locate and detect events in real-time. Overall, our modeling suggests that a one-side land network can perform relatively well by itself in location (errors 1.3) so long as the seismicity occurs at epicentral distances and depths <20 km. However, beyond this distance, one or more seafloor seismometers would be needed to improve location and detection performance.

Direct Quantification of Anionic Redox over Long Cycling of Li-Rich NMC via Hard X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy

International audienceCumulative anionic/cationic bulk redox processes lead to the outstanding specific energy (1000 Wh kg-1) of Li-rich Mn-based layered oxides as lithium-ion battery cathodes. Previous attempts to quantify redox processes in these materials were either limited to initial cycles or relied solely on the transition metals. It thus remains unclear to what extent does oxygen redox persist over cycling. This study provides an answer via synchrotron-based bulk-sensitive hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES) by directly following the changes in the electronic state of lattice oxygen. We find that oxygen redox contribution stabilizes after initial cycles in Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 (Li-rich NMC), and even after 70 cycles, it accounts for more than one-third of the overall capacity. Consequently, we observe a gradual but limited growth of Mn3+/4+ redox, instead of a complete activation. Partial degradation of the Ni2+/3+/4+ redox is also detected. This fundamental study generates optimism for the concept of anionic redox in long-cycling batteries and also highlights the capability of HAXPES for understanding bulk versus surface effects in energy materials

Zero volt storage of Na-ion batteries: Performance dependence on cell chemistry!

International audienceSodium-ion batteries (NIBs) are regaining their importance in recent years as a sustainable complementary energy storage device for Li-ion batteries. Although, they cannot compete in terms of energy density with respect to Li-ion, they present a few advantages, namely the 0 V stability that makes them safe during external short and/or over-discharge. When the cell is discharged to 0 V, the negative electrode potential shoots up high during which the copper current collector in use for Li-ion cells could oxidize, dissolve and leads to internal short. In contrast, Na-ion cells utilize an aluminium current collector that is strongly resistant against oxidation, hence enabling their 0 V stability. However, apart from the current collector stability, the negative electrode potential rise could cause interphase instability which is not well elucidated. Hence, herein, we explored two different Na-ion chemistries, namely polyanionic Na3V2(PO4)2F3-hard carbon and sodium layered oxide-hard carbon using different electrolyte formulations. Combined impedance analyses, ex-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and operando optical sensing indicate the 0 V discharge involves SEI degradation thereby deteriorating the cell performance, the extent of which depends on the positive electrode potential and the electrolyte in use. Overall, the 0 V stability is not an in-built property of Na-ion cells and a careful selection of cell chemistry is mandatory to achieve 0 V stable Na-ion cells