Fan Zhang,Changqing Mao,Siyu Cao,Runchi Zhang,Yi Guo,Guifang Chen,Chang Feng
Bio-nanomicelles based on biomaterials such as nucleic acids, peptides, glycans, and lipids have developed rapidly in the field of bioanalysis. Although DNA and peptides have unique advantages, unfortunately, there are few bio-nanomicelles integrating DNA with peptides. Here, we designed a peptide-DNA hybrid bio-nanomicelle for the activity detection of caspase-3. The detection mechanism is based on caspase-3 specific recognition and cleavage of peptide substrates, which owns high sensitivity and selectivity. Under optimal conditions, the detection of caspase-3 activity can be achieved using our designed bio-nanomicelles and the detection limit is 0.72 nM. Furthermore, the proposed method was also successfully applied for the detection of caspase-3 in cell lysate samples after apoptosis-inducing.
Background Colon cancer is a malignant gastrointestinal tumour with high incidence, mortality and metastasis rates worldwide. Aloe-emodin is a monomer compound derived from hydroxyanthraquinone. Aloe-emodin produces a wide range of antitumour effects and is produced by rhubarb, aloe and other herbs. However, the mechanism by which aloe-emodin influences colon cancer is still unclear. We hope these findings will lead to the development of a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of colon cancer in the clinic.Methods We identified the overlapping targets of aloe-emodin and colon cancer and performed protein–protein interaction (PPI), Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses. In addition, we selected apoptosis pathways for experimental verification with cell viability, cell proliferation, caspase-3 activity, DAPI staining, cell cycle and western blotting analyses to evaluate the apoptotic effect of aloe-emodin on colon cancer cells.Results The MTT assay and cell colony formation assay showed that aloe-emodin inhibited cell proliferation. DAPI staining confirmed that aloe-emodin induced apoptosis. Aloe-emodin upregulated the protein level of Bax and decreased the expression of Bcl-2, which activates caspase-3 and caspase-9. Furthermore, the protein expression level of cytochrome C increased in a time-dependent manner in the cytoplasm but decreased in a time-dependent manner in the mitochondria.Conclusion These results indicate that aloe-emodin may induce the apoptosis of human colon cancer cells through mitochondria-related pathways.
Xiaodi Gong,Xin Pu,Jinghai Gao,Jianhong Dang,Zhifeng Wang,Zhijun Jin,Jichang Liu,Yudong Wang,Xiaojun Liu
Considerable attention has been devoted to developing anti-cancer treatments targeted mitochondria. However, there is a dearth of literature on using luminescent metal–organic frameworks for the transportation of anti-cancer drugs to organelles. A luminescent nanotherapeutic platform known as UiO-DOX@FA/TPP has been engineered with a membrane-mitochondrial stepwise targeting strategy for the delivery of doxorubicin (DOX). DOX administration caused mitochondrial dysfunction, increased Caspase-3 activity, and cell apoptosis. The UiO-DOX@FA/TPP system improved drug sensitivity, requiring only 10.8 % of the free DOX dose. It showed strong anti-tumor effects in vivo, with over 98 % tumor growth inhibition and commendable biocompatibility. The system also enabled in vivo imaging by emitting fluorescence at around 500 nm, highlighting its transport and targeted distribution to tumor sites. Furthermore, treating cells with UiO-DOX@FA/TPP nanosystem led to extensive gene expression changes, primarily enriched in Ca 2+ signaling and autophagy regulation. The stepwise targeted luminescent UiO-DOX@FA/TPP nanosystem allow for the precise identification and delineation of ovarian cancer boundaries, monitoring of drug transport in real-time, and targeted delivery to mitochondria for inducing apoptosis. This innovative approach provides a theoretical and methodological basis for integrating ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment.