An Urchin-Shaped Copper-Based Metalloporphyrin Nanosystem as a Sonosensitizer for Sonodynamic Therapy

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), as a novel cancer therapy strategy, might be a promising approach due to the depth-penetration property in tissue. Sonosensitizers are the key element for efficient SDT. However, the development of sonosensitizers with strong sonosensitization efficacy is still a significant challenge. Herein, an urchin-shaped copper-based metalloporphyrin liposome nanosystem (FA–L–CuPP) is constructed and identified as an excellent sonosensitizer. Under ultrasound (US) irradiation, FA–L–CuPP can be highly excited to generate several reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as singlet oxygen (1O2) and free radicals (⋅OH). The molecular orbital distribution calculations reveal that a strong intramolecular charge transfer might occur in the CuPP complex under US irradiation, which could afford enough energy to the surrounding O2 and H2O to concert 1O2, O2− and ⋅OH. Working as “ammunitions”, the largely produced ROS can kill 4T1 tumor cells, effectively inhibiting tumor growth. This work provides an urchin-shaped nanosonosensitizer based on a copper complex, which might provide an idea to design a novel sonosensitizer for noninvasive and precise SDT antitumor applications.

Efficacy Analysis of In Situ Synthesis of Nanogold via Copper/Iodonium/Amine/Gold System under a Visible Light

This article presents, for the first time, the kinetics and the general features of a photopolymerization system (under visible light), copper-complex/Iodonium/triethylamine/gold-chloride (orA/B/N/G), with initial concentrations of A0, B0, N0 and G0, based on the proposed mechanism of Tar et al. Analytic formulas were developed to explore the new features, including: (i) both free radical photopolymerization (FRP) efficacy and the production of nanogold (NG), which are proportional to the relative concentration ratios of (A0 + B0 + N0)/G0 and may be optimized for maximum efficacy; (ii) the two competing procedures of NG production and the efficacy of FRP, which can be tailored for an optimal system with nanogold in the polymer matrix; (iii) the FRP efficacy, which is contributed by three components given by the excited state of copper complex (T), and the radicals (R and S) produced by iodonium and amine, respectively; (iv) NG production, which is contributed by the coupling of T and radical (S) with gold ion; and (v) NG production, which has a transient state proportional to the light intensity and the concentration ratio A0/G0) + (N0/(K’M0), but also a steady-state independent of the light intensity.

Re-reporting the Crystal Structure of Copper Complex from Another Point of View

We faced an example of re-reporting of the crystal structure, which was studied from another perspective. With the development of data-driven science, the efficiency of all researchers may be improved if the rules of data "reuse", which are different from "novelty", are established. In this context, the crystal structure of a copper(II) complex with 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid, C14H8O8CuN2.H2O (monohydrate), was re-determined by us again. It has a different number of crystalline water molecules in a crystal of the same copper(II) complex previously reported (trihydrate). Interestingly, both crystal structures have been reported again and again by many researchers for a long time. What’s novelty for each report?