Cancer metastasis accounts for the high mortality of many types of cancer. Owing to the unique advantages of high specificity and minimal invasiveness, photothermal therapy (PTT) has been evidenced with great potential in treating cancer metastasis. In this review, we outline the current approaches of PTT with respect to its application in treating metastatic cancer. PTT can be used alone, guided with multimodal imaging, or combined with the current available therapies for effective treatment of cancer metastasis. Numerous types of photothermal nanotherapeutics (PTN) have been developed with encouraging therapeutic efficacy on metastatic cancer in many preclinical animal experiments. We summarize the design and performance of various PTN in PTT alone and their combinational therapy. We also point out the lacking area and the most promising approaches in this challenging field. In conclusion, PTT or their combinational therapy can provide an essential promising therapeutic modality against cancer metastasis.

Further study on the roles of thiol-dependent redox systems in the CNS will improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of many human neuronal disorders and also help to develop novel protective and therapeutic strategies against neuronal diseases. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 989-1010.

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Multidrug‐resistant (MDR) Gram‐negative bacteria account for a majority of fatal infections, and development of new antibiotic principles and drugs is therefore of outstanding importance. Here, we report that five most clinically difficult‐to‐treat MDR Gram‐negative bacteria are highly sensitive to a synergistic combination of silver and ebselen. In contrast, silver has no synergistic toxicity with ebselen on mammalian cells. The silver and ebselen combination causes a rapid depletion of glutathione and inhibition of the thioredoxin system in bacteria. Silver ions were identified as strong inhibitors of Escherichia coli thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase, which are required for ribonucleotide reductase and DNA synthesis and defense against oxidative stress. The bactericidal efficacy of silver and ebselen was further verified in the treatment of mild and acute MDR E. coli peritonitis in mice. These results demonstrate that thiol‐dependent redox systems in bacteria can be targeted in the design of new antibacterial drugs. The silver and ebselen combination offers a proof of concept in targeting essential bacterial systems and might be developed for novel efficient treatments against MDR Gram‐negative bacterial infections.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), a dynamic and complex barrier formed by endothelial cells, can impede the entry of unwanted substances – pathogens and therapeutic molecules alike – into the central nervous system (CNS) from the blood circulation. Taking into account the fact that CNS-related diseases are the largest and fastest growing unmet medical concern, many potential protein- and nucleic acid-based medicines have been developed for therapeutic purposes. However, due to their poor ability to cross the BBB and the plasma membrane, the above-mentioned bio-macromolecules have limited use in treating neurological diseases. Finding effective, safe, and convenient ways to deliver therapeutic molecules into the CNS is thus urgently required. In recent decades, much effort has been expended in the development of drug delivery technologies, of which cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have the most promising potential. The present review covers the latest advances in CPP delivery technology, and provides an update on their use in CNS-targeted drug delivery.