Local gene delivery via endovascular stents coated with dodecylated chitosan–plasmid DNA nanoparticles

Development of efficacious therapeutic strategies to prevent and inhibit the occurrences of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is critical for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, the feasibility and efficiency of stents coated with dodecylated chitosan–plasmid DNA nanoparticles (DCDNPs) were evaluated as scaffolds for localized and prolonged delivery of reporter genes into the diseased blood vessel wall. Dodecylated chitosan–plasmid DNA complexes formed stable positive charged nanospheres with mean diameter of approximately 90–180 nm and zeta potential of +28 ± 3 mV. As prepared DCDNPs were spray-coated on stents, a thin layer of dense DCDNPs was successfully distributed onto the metal struts of the endovascular stents as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy. The DCDNP stents were characterized for the release kinetics of plasmid DNA, and further evaluated for gene delivery and expression both in vitro and in vivo. In cell culture, DCDNP stents containing plasmid EGFP-C1 exhibited high level of GFP expression in cells grown on the stent surface and along the adjacent area. In animal studies, reporter gene activity was observed in the region of the artery in contact with the DCDNP stents, but not in adjacent arterial segments or distal organs. The DCDNP stent provides a very promising strategy for cardiovascular gene therapy

Global genome expression analysis of rice in response to drought and high-salinity stresses in shoot, flag leaf, and panicle

To elucidate genome-level responses to drought and high-salinity stress in rice, a 70mer oligomer microarray covering 36,926 unique genes or gene models was used to profile genome expression changes in rice shoot, flag leaf and panicle under drought or high-salinity conditions. While patterns of gene expression in response to drought or high-salinity stress within a particular organ type showed significant overlap, comparison of expression profiles among different organs showed largely organ-specific patterns of regulation. Moreover, both stresses appear to alter the expression patterns of a significant number of genes involved in transcription and cell signaling in a largely organ-specific manner. The promoter regions of genes induced by both stresses or induced by one stress in more than one organ types possess relative enrichment of two cis-elements (ABRE core and DRE core) known to be associated with water stress. An initial computational analysis indicated that novel promoter motifs are present in the promoters of genes involved in rehydration after drought. This analysis suggested that rice might possess a mechanism that actively detects rehydration and facilitates rapid recovery. Overall, our data supports a notion that organ-specific gene regulation in response to the two abiotic stresses may primarily be mediated by organ-specific transcription responses. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11103-006-9111-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

China’s “Embedded Neoliberal” Home-Based Elderly Care? A State-Organised System of Neighbourhood Governance

Embedding the program of elderly care into community-based service system seems to imply that China is reorganising capacities of neighbourhood governance. The program, created by transformation of neighbourhood governance, represented the state government’s frustration with the institutional embodiment of neoliberalism. However, stimulating neighbourhood organisations in elderly care service through involvement of market instruments demonstrated the neoliberal approach. In this study, we provided a research framework in the context of embedded neoliberalism to explore the dilemma of neighbourhood governance in China. By interviewing 100 elderly people in five neighbourhoods in Nanjing, China, we examined the home-based elderly care (HEC) model to analyse the changes in socio-spatial relationships of neighbourhoods. We argued that the state-organised system of market instruments as a form of neighbourhood system weaken the spontaneity of elderly residents in developing social capitals. Moreover, the emerging program is struggling to operate because the devolution of conservative governance capacity from the state to the neighbourhood does not provide resources, leading to the restrained market provision. Thus, this transformation of neighbourhood governance can only be effective if there is a clear complementarity relationship between the role of state and market instruments. The attention of further studies on neighbourhood governance needs to re-examine the reciprocal relationships in the context of declining neoliberalism

China’s “Embedded Neoliberal” Home-Based Elderly Care? A State-Organised System of Neighbourhood Governance

Embedding the program of elderly care into community-based service system seems to imply that China is reorganising capacities of neighbourhood governance. The program, created by transformation of neighbourhood governance, represented the state government’s frustration with the institutional embodiment of neoliberalism. However, stimulating neighbourhood organisations in elderly care service through involvement of market instruments demonstrated the neoliberal approach. In this study, we provided a research framework in the context of embedded neoliberalism to explore the dilemma of neighbourhood governance in China. By interviewing 100 elderly people in five neighbourhoods in Nanjing, China, we examined the home-based elderly care (HEC) model to analyse the changes in socio-spatial relationships of neighbourhoods. We argued that the state-organised system of market instruments as a form of neighbourhood system weaken the spontaneity of elderly residents in developing social capitals. Moreover, the emerging program is struggling to operate because the devolution of conservative governance capacity from the state to the neighbourhood does not provide resources, leading to the restrained market provision. Thus, this transformation of neighbourhood governance can only be effective if there is a clear complementarity relationship between the role of state and market instruments. The attention of further studies on neighbourhood governance needs to re-examine the reciprocal relationships in the context of declining neoliberalism

Spatial Production of Chengdu Bamboo Craft Village in "Post-Rural" Context: From the Perspective of Three-Fold Model of Rural Space

The transformation and reconstruction of traditional villages into "post-rural" tourism communities constitute a primary pathway for achieving modernization in rural areas on the outskirts of large metropolitan areas and advancing countryside revitalization. The evolutionary process of this transition also serves as an important perspective for understanding the socio-economic development of rural areas in China. We selected Chengdu Bamboo Craft Village as a case study, employing a comprehensive rural spatial framework based on the "rural locality-representations of the rural-everyday lives of the rural." Grounded in a multi-dimensional analysis perspective of "capital-power-individual," it dissects the multi-dimensional spatial reproduction process of "post-rural" tourism communities, aiming to provide support for exploring the spatial evolution, relational changes, and governance practices of rural tourism destinations under the backdrop of capital invest in rural areas. The main conclusions drawn are as follows: (1) The tourism development and governance of Bamboo Craft Village went through two phases and two models, transitioning from the lease-operation tourism model formed by early external enterprises to the later community-based tourism model established by social work organizations. The convergence of these two models achieved the synergy of internal and external driving forces, promoting sustainable tourism development in Bamboo Craft Village. (2) Under the lease-operation tourism model, external enterprises became the dominant power in the representations of the rural, shaping the representation of the rural as the main dimension in the triple space. Through top-down institutional construction, village space production was guided to realize the tourism concept of external enterprises. (3) The community-based tourism model clarified the position of the community as the major subject of everyday life in the tourism development of Bamboo Craft Villages. Under the empowerment and co-power philosophy, the introduction of social work organizations enhanced the tourism participation efficiency and governance level of the village subject, ensuring its discourse power in rural space production. (4) The spatial production system of "post-rural" tourism communities is jointly driven by order discourse subjects and everyday lives subjects. The issuance and response to rural revitalization policies from the national to local levels serve as external opportunities driving the transformation of traditional villages into tourism, where external enterprises intervene in rural space reconstruction for capital appreciation and recycling under policy guidance, constructing the envisioned development prospects of rural tourism communities at a macro level. Facing increased urban-rural migration, "post-rural" communities are actively adapting to both the benefits and drawbacks of modern influences. Additionally, the guiding role of short video media in the visual consumption era promotes landscape production and visual consumption in the Bamboo Craft Village. The fundamental driving force of "post-rural" spatial production is formed by the combined feedback of bottom-up subject actions and the visual consumption demands of tourists at the micro level. This study further expands the localization empirical research of the three-fold model of rural space, which helps guide the healthy development of rural tourism communities in the suburbs of metropolitan areas and achieves the dual purpose of promoting rural economic development and optimizing social ecology

Local gene delivery via endovascular stents coated with dodecylated chitosan–plasmid DNA nanoparticles

Dunwan Zhu1*, Xu Jin2*, Xigang Leng1, Hai Wang1, Junbo Bao1, Wenguang Liu3, Kangde Yao3, Cunxian Song11Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China; 2Department of Anesthesia and Pain Therapy, Capital Medical University Affiliated Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing, China; 3Research Institute of Polymeric Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China; *Both investigators contributed equally to this work and are senior authors.Abstract: Development of efficacious therapeutic strategies to prevent and inhibit the occurrences of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is critical for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, the feasibility and efficiency of stents coated with dodecylated chitosan–plasmid DNA nanoparticles (DCDNPs) were evaluated as scaffolds for localized and prolonged delivery of reporter genes into the diseased blood vessel wall. Dodecylated chitosan–plasmid DNA complexes formed stable positive charged nanospheres with mean diameter of approximately 90–180 nm and zeta potential of +28 ± 3 mV. As prepared DCDNPs were spray-coated on stents, a thin layer of dense DCDNPs was successfully distributed onto the metal struts of the endovascular stents as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy. The DCDNP stents were characterized for the release kinetics of plasmid DNA, and further evaluated for gene delivery and expression both in vitro and in vivo. In cell culture, DCDNP stents containing plasmid EGFP-C1 exhibited high level of GFP expression in cells grown on the stent surface and along the adjacent area. In animal studies, reporter gene activity was observed in the region of the artery in contact with the DCDNP stents, but not in adjacent arterial segments or distal organs. The DCDNP stent provides a very promising strategy for cardiovascular gene therapy.Keywords: gene delivery, endovascular stent, chitosan, gene nanoparticle