A brief review on DNA vaccines in the era of COVID-19

This article provides a brief overview of DNA vaccines. First, the basic DNA vaccine design strategies are described, then specific issues related to the industrial production of DNA vaccines are discussed, including the production and purification of DNA products such as plasmid DNA, minicircle DNA, minimalistic, immunologically defined gene expression (MIDGE) and Doggybone (TM). The use of adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines is then discussed. In addition, different delivery routes and several physical and chemical methods to increase the efficacy of DNA delivery into cells are explained. Recent preclinical and clinical trials of DNA vaccines for COVID-19 are then summarized. Lastly, the advantages and obstacles of DNA vaccines are discussed

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin

A brief review on DNA vaccines in the era of COVID-19

This article provides a brief overview of DNA vaccines. First, the basic DNA vaccine design strategies are described, then specific issues related to the industrial production of DNA vaccines are discussed, including the production and purification of DNA products such as plasmid DNA, minicircle DNA, minimalistic, immunologically defined gene expression (MIDGE) and Doggybone. The use of adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines is then discussed. In addition, different delivery routes and several physical and chemical methods to increase the efficacy of DNA delivery into cells are explained. Recent preclinical and clinical trials of DNA vaccines for COVID-19 are then summarized. Lastly, the advantages and obstacles of DNA vaccines are discussed

Mesoporous bioactive glasses in cancer diagnosis and therapy: stimuli-responsive, toxicity, immunogenicity, and clinical translation

Cancer is one of the top life-threatening dangers to the human survival, accounting for over 10 million deaths per year. Bioactive glasses have developed dramatically since their discovery 50 years ago, with applications that include therapeutics as well as diagnostics. A new system within the bioactive glass family, mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), has evolved into a multifunctional platform, thanks to MBGs easy-to-functionalize nature and tailorable textural properties—surface area, pore size, and pore volume. Although MBGs have yet to meet their potential in tumor treatment and imaging in practice, recently research has shed light on the distinguished MBGs capabilities as promising theranostic systems for cancer imaging and therapy. This review presents research progress in the field of MBG applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy, including synthesis of MBGs, mechanistic overview of MBGs application in tumor diagnosis and drug monitoring, applications of MBGs in cancer therapy (particularly, targeted delivery and stimuli-responsive nanoplatforms), and immunological profile of MBG-based nanodevices in reference to the development of novel cancer therapeutics

Phenethyl isothiocyanate hampers growth and progression of HER2-positive breast and ovarian carcinoma by targeting their stem cell compartment

© 2019, International Society for Cellular Oncology. Purpose: Isothiocyanates elicit anticancer effects by targeting cancer stem cells (CSCs). Here, we tested the antitumor activity of phenethyl-isothiocyanate (PEITC), either alone or in combination with trastuzumab, in HER2-positive tumor models. Methods: We assessed the in vitro anticancer activity of PEITC, alone or combined with trastuzumab, in HER2-positive BT474, SKBR3, HCC1954 and SKOV3 cancer cells by measuring their sphere forming efficiency (SFE). The expression of the human/rodent CSC biomarkers aldehyde-dehydrogenase (ALDH) and CD29High/CD24+/Sca1Low was evaluated by cytofluorimetric analysis. The expression of wild type HER2 (WTHER2), its splice variant d16HER2 and NOTCH was analysed by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting. The in vivo activity of PEITC and trastuzumab was evaluated in mice orthotopically implanted with MI6 tumor cells transgenic for the human d16HER2 splice isoform. Magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy and immunohistochemistry were used to assess morpho-functional and metabolic profiles of treated versus untreated mice. Results: We found that PEITC significantly impaired the SFE of HER2-positive human cancer cells by decreasing their ALDH-positive compartments. The anti-CSC activity of PEITC was demonstrated by a reduced expression/activation of established cancer-stemness biomarkers. Similar results were obtained with MI6 cells, where PEITC, alone or in combination with trastuzumab, significantly inhibited their SFE. We also found that PEITC hampered the in vivo growth of MI6 nodules by inducing hemorrhagic and necrotic intra-tumor areas and, in combination with trastuzumab, by significantly reducing spontaneous tumor development in d16HER2 transgenic mice. Conclusions: Our results indicate that PEITC targets HER2-positive CSCs and that its combination with trastuzumab may pave the way for a novel therapeutic strategy for HER2-positive tumors