Evaluation of secondary killing effect of Imidacloprid Gel Baits to control Blattella germanica (Linné 1767) (Blattaria: Blattellidae)

Blattella germanica (L.) (Blattodea: Blattellidae) is one of the major household pests worldwide, commonly named German cockroach. Application of gel baits is one of the most efficient management methods. This study investigated the effect of 3 commercially available Imidacloprid gel baits on the palatability of dead cockroaches and, consequently, on the efficacy of secondary killing. German cockroaches killed by the gel baits and others killed by freezing were offered to conspecifics, the numbers of cannibalistic cockroaches and dead cockroaches, as well as weight loss were recorded. Despite the content of Imidacloprid is identical in all the baits, the palatability of the cockroach killed by the gel consumption and used as food was different between the 3 commercial products, with consequences on the secondary killing effect. These results suggest as the bait co-formulants play an important role not only on the palatability of the bait but also in the palatability of the dead cockroaches which are eaten by conspecifics, and therefore, in the result of a pest control application.

Homogenous Multifunctional Microspheres Induce Ferroptosis to Promote the Anti-hepatocarcinoma Effect of Chemoembolization

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is one of the main palliative therapies for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is also regarded as a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. However, drug-loaded microspheres (DLMs), as commonly used clinical chemoembolization drugs, still have the problems of uneven particle size and unstable therapeutic efficacy. Herein, gelatin was used as the wall material of the microspheres, and homogenous gelatin microspheres co-loaded with adriamycin and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (ADM/Fe3O4-MS) were further prepared by a high-voltage electrospray technology. The introduction of Fe3O4 nanoparticles into DLMs not only provided excellent T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) properties, but also improved the anti-tumor effectiveness under microwave-induced hyperthermia. The results showed that ADM/Fe3O4-MS plus microwave irradiation had significantly better antitumor efficacy than the other types of microspheres at both cell and animal levels. Our study further confirmed that ferroptosis was involved in the anti-tumor process of ADM/Fe3O4-MS plus microwave irradiation, and ferroptosis marker GPX4 was significantly decreased and ACSL4 was significantly increased, and ferroptosis inhibitors could reverse the tumor cell killing effect caused by ADM/Fe3O4-MS to a certain extent. Our results confirmed that microwave mediated hyperthermia could amplify the antitumor efficacy of ADM/Fe3O4-MS by activating ferroptosis and the introduction of Fe3O4 nanoparticles can significantly improve TACE for HCC. This study confirmed that it was feasible to use uniform-sized gelatin microspheres co-loaded with Fe3O4 nanoparticles and adriamycin to enhance the efficacy of TACE for HCC.

Migration Inhibition Induced by Gypenosides and Its Combination Effect with 5-fluorouracil on Human Colon Cancer SW-620 Cells

In this study we investigate the migration inhibition of Gypenosides (Gyp) and its combined effects with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on human colon cancer SW-620 cells, hoping to explore more potential clinical use of Gyp. Our data implied Gyp could significantly inhibit the migration potential of SW-620 cells including down-regulating matrix Metalloproteinases expression and decreasing cells adhesion ability. What’s more, evidence showed cells treated with Gyp exerted serious microfilament network collapse as well as a significant decline in the number of microvilli. A significant migration inhibitory effect was seen in Gyp groups along with the decline of cell adhesion. Further, the combination studies suggested Gyp could synergistically enhance the antitumor effect of 5-FU in SW-620 cells through the apoptosis way. The present study indicated Gyp could prevent cell migration and further enhance the cell killing effect of 5-FU on human colon cancer SW-620 cells.

5-aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic therapy ameliorates cutaneous granuloma by killing drug-resistant Mycobacterium marinum

Although 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) has been extensively used to treat to various skin disease, the application of ALA-PDT on cutaneous infection caused by Mycobacterium marinum (M. marinum), especially by drug-resistant M. marinum is still not clear. We evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of ALA-PDT on M. marinum in a mouse infection model and tested its killing effect on M. marinumin vitro. Finally, we investigated the clinical effect of ALA-PDT in treating cutaneous granuloma caused by drug-resistant M. marinum. We isolated total 9 strains of M. marinum from patients and confirmed by morphological and molecular approaches. The strains were identified by anti-mycobacterial susceptibility. Then we evaluated the killing effect of ALA-PDT on M. marinum in vitro and in a mouse model to observe the antimycobacterial effect of ALA-PDT. Therapeutic efficacy was further assessed in patients with cutaneous granuloma caused by drug-resistant M. marinum. We demonstrated that the ALA-PDT directly killed M. marinumin vitro. The paws cutaneous lesions of mice caused by M. marinum were fully recovered 2 weeks after ALA-PDT treatment. However, there was no significant difference for immune cells in peripheral blood before and after ALA-PDT therapy. Finally, ALA-PDT proved to be effective in treat two patients with cutaneous infection caused by drug-resistant M. marinum. The results suggest that ALA-PDT is effective in treating M. marinum cutaneous infections by killing M. marinum directly, independent of systemic immune responses. The data highlight the ALA-PDT as a promising therapeutic choice for M. marinum infection, especially for drug-resistant strains.

Marine Invertebrate Peptides: Antimicrobial Peptides

Antimicrobial peptides are an important component of many organisms’ innate immune system, with a good inhibitory or killing effect against the invading pathogens. As a type of biological polypeptide with natural immune activities, antimicrobial peptides have a broad spectrum of antibacterial, antiviral, and antitumor activities. Nevertheless, these peptides cause no harm to the organisms themselves. Compared with traditional antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides have the advantage of not producing drug resistance and have a unique antibacterial mechanism, which has attracted widespread attention. In this study, marine invertebrates were classified into arthropods, annelids, mollusks, cnidarians, and tunicata. We then analyzed the types, sources and antimicrobial activities of the antimicrobial peptides in each group. We also reviewed the immune mechanism from three aspects: membrane-targeted direct killing effects, non-membrane targeting effects and immunomodulatory effects. Finally, we discussed their applications and the existing problems facing antimicrobial peptides in actual production. The results are expected to provide theoretical support for future research and applications of antimicrobial peptides in marine invertebrates.

Effect of Superparamagnetic DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 Combined with Carmustine on Cervical Cancer

This study aimed to investigate the effects of DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 nanomagnetic fluid thermotherapy combined with the chemotherapy drug carmustine on cervical cancer cells under a certain intensity of alternating magnetic field. And the role of Mir-590-3P in the development and progression of cervical cancer. The optimal thermotherapy concentration of γ-Fe2O3 nanomaterials on cervical cancer cells was determined by in vitro heating. In addition, the MTT colorimetric method was used to evaluate the toxic effect of γ-Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticles on cervical cancer cells, and the optimal therapeutic concentration of carbachol on cervical cancer cells was optimized (0.015 g · L−1). The cervical cancer cells were divided into control, γ-Fe2O3 hyperthermia, chemotherapy, and DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 combined chemotherapy groups. After 2 h exposure to hypothermic conditions, flow cytometry was used to assess cell apoptosis for each group. The heating effect of the γ-Fe2O3 magnetic nanomaterials was apparent. When the concentration of γ-Fe2O3 was ≥6 g· L−1, the temperature rise above 41 °C. γ-Fe2O3 is non-toxic to cervical cancer cells and has good biocompatibility. Taking the drug concentration of IC25 as the working concentration of this study, the working concentration of carmustine was 0.015 g · L−1. Both the 41 °C heat treatment and chemotherapy alone had a killing effect on glioma and cervical cancer cells (P < 0.05). Additionally, the combined inhibitory effect of DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 nanomagnetic fluid thermotherapy and drugs at this temperature was significantly stronger than that of thermotherapy and chemotherapy alone (P < 0.05). For the control, gamma-Fe2O3 hyperthermia, chemotherapy, and DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 combined chemotherapy groups, the apoptosis rates of the cervical cancer cells were 1.4%, 18.6%, 24.12%, and 38.97%, respectively. DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 nanomagnetic fluid thermotherapy combined with the chemotherapeutic drug carmustine exerted a noticeable toxic effect on the cervical cancer cells, and DMSO@γ-Fe2O3 significantly enhanced the killing effect of carmustine on cervical cancer cells.

A new strategy based on polyethylene glycol coated gold nanoparticles to enhance the sensitivity of radiotherapy for glioma

Radiotherapy (RT), as an essential method for glioma treatment, can effectively kill tumor cells. However, radiation resistance of blood–brain barrier and glioma cells leads to poor efficacy of RT, which cannot effectively improve the survival time of patients. Therefore, designing methods to improve the sensitivity of glioma cells to radiation is the key to improve the effect of RT. We propose a novel strategy for radiosensitizing glioma cells based on gold nanoparticles coated with polyethylene glycol. Results of clone formation experiments demonstrated that the Au NPs@PEG radiosensitization ratio (SER) was as high as 1.74, which effectively improved the killing effect of X-rays on the tumor. We successfully established a glioma mouse model and applied Au NPs@PEG to RT. Results of in vivo experiments showed that Au NPs@PEG combined with X-rays can significantly reduce the expression of tumor-related molecules and effectively inhibit the process of tumor invasion, proliferation, and migration.

To explore immune synergistic function of Quercetin in inhibiting breast cancer cells

Background The precancerous disease of breast cancer is an inevitable stage in the tumorigenesis and development of breast neoplasms. Quercetin (Que) has shown great potential in breast cancer treatment by inhibiting cell proliferation and regulating T cell function. γδ T cells are a class of nontraditional T cells that have long attracted attention due to their potential in immunotherapy. In this study, we revealed the immunomodulatory function of Que through regulation of the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway, which was followed by the synergistic killing of breast cancer cells. Methods In the experimental design, we first screened target genes with or without Que treatment, and we intersected the Que target with the disease target by functional enrichment analysis. Second, MCF-10A, MCF-10AT, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines were treated with Que for 0 h, 24 h and 48 h. Then, we observed the expression of its subsets by coculturing Que and γδ T cells and coculturing Que and γδ T cells with breast tumor cells to investigate their synergistic killing effect on tumor cells. Finally, Western blotting was used to reveal the changes in proteins related to the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway after Que treatment in MCF-10AT and MCF-7 cells for 48 h. Results The pathway affected by Que treatment was the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway and was associated with precancerous breast cancer, as shown by network pharmacology analysis. Que induced apoptosis of MCF-10AT, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner (P < 0.05). Most importantly, Que promoted the differentiation of γδ T cells into the Vδ2 T cell subpopulation. The best ratio of effector cells to target cells (E/T) was 10:1, the killing percentages of γδ T cells against MCF-10A, MCF-10AT, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 were 61.44 ± 4.70, 55.52 ± 3.10, 53.94 ± 2.74, and 53.28 ± 1.73 (P = 0.114, P = 0.486, and P = 0.343, respectively), and the strongest killing effect on precancerous breast cancer cells and breast cancer cells was found when the Que concentration was 5 μM and the E/T ratio was 10:1 (64.94 ± 3.61, 64.96 ± 5.45, 55.59 ± 5.98, and 59.04 ± 5.67, respectively). In addition, our results showed that Que increased the protein levels of IFNγ-R, p-JAK2 and p-STAT1 while decreasing the protein levels of PD-L1 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, Que plays a synergistic role in killing breast cancer cells and promoting apoptosis by regulating the expression of IFNγ-R, p-JAK2, p-STAT1 and PD-L1 in the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway and promoting the regulation of γδ T cells. Que may be a potential drug for the prevention of precancerous breast cancer and adjuvant treatment of breast cancer.

Nanozyme-Natural Enzymes Cascade Catalyze Cholesterol Consumption and Reverse Cancer Multidrug Resistance

Multidrug resistance is still a major obstacle to cancer treatment. The most studies are to inhibit the activity of the drug transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp), but the effect is not ideal. Herein, a nanosystem was built based on cascade catalytic consumption of cholesterol. Cholesterol oxidase (natural enzyme, COD) was immobilized on the carrier (NH2-MIL-88B, MOF) through amide reaction, COD catalyzed the consumption of cholesterol, the reaction product H2O2 was further produced by the MOF with its peroxidase-like activity to produce hydroxyl radicals (•OH) with killing effect. Due to the high expression of CD44 receptor on the surface of tumor cells, we encapsulated chondroitin sulfate gel shell (CS-shell) with CD44 targeting and apoptosis promoting effect on the surface of DOX@MOF-COD nanoparticles, which can accurately and efficiently deliver the drugs to the tumor site and improve the effect of reversing drug resistance. Taking drug-resistant cell membrane as "breakthrough", this paper will provide a new idea for reversing multidrug resistance of tumor.

To the question of the action of salvarsan preparations

Szeutkirlye (Derm. Ztschr., Bd. 56, H. 2/3, 29) used various solutions of myosalvarsan, injecting them at the sites of manifestations of lues I and II under the skin near efflorescence. It turned out that strong solutions (up to 15%) of this drug, injected locally, do not have their strong killing effect on pale spirochetes. When using neosalvarsan at the same time intravenously, the spirochetes disappeared after 24 hours.