Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has been recognized as a spatial–temporal and noninvasive modality for the treatment of deep-seated tumors. However, current sonosensitizers suffer from low sonodynamic efficacy. Herein, we reported the design of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) targeting sonosensitizers (TR1, TR2, and TR3) by integrating a resveratrol motif into a conjugated electron donor–acceptor (triphenylamine benzothiazole) skeleton. Among these sonosensitizers, TR2 with two resveratrol units in one molecule was the most potent for inhibiting NF-κB signaling. Owing to the synergy of high sonodynamic efficacy and NF-κB activation inhibition, TR2 displayed a remarkable sonocytotoxicity to MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Xenograft mice studies demonstrated that TR2 had excellent anticancer potency and biosafety. This study thus opens up a new avenue for the development of efficient organic sonosensitizers for cancer ablation.

Background Early diagnostic indicators and the identification of possible progression to severe or critical COVID-19 in children are unknown. To investigate the immune characteristics of early SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and possible key prognostic factors for early identification of critical COVID-19, a retrospective study including 121 children with COVID-19 was conducted. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subset counts, T cell-derived cytokine concentrations, inflammatory factor concentrations, and routine blood counts were analyzed statistically at the initial presentation. Results The T lymphocyte subset and natural killer cell counts decreased with increasing disease severity. Group III (critical cases) had a higher Th/Tc ratio than groups I and II (common and severe cases); group I had a higher B cell count than groups II and III. IL-6, IL-10, IFN-γ, SAA, and procalcitonin levels increased with disease severity. Hemoglobin concentration, and RBC and eosinophil counts decreased with disease severity. Groups II and III had significantly lower lymphocyte counts than group I. T, Th, Tc, IL-6, IL-10, RBC, and hemoglobin had relatively high contribution and area under the curve values. Conclusions Decreased T, Th, Tc, RBC, hemoglobin and increased IL-6 and IL-10 in early SARS-CoV-2 infection in children are valuable indices for early diagnosis of disease severity. The significantly reduced Th and Tc cells and significantly increased IL-6, IL-10, ferritin, procalcitonin, and SAA at this stage in children with critical COVID-19 may be closely associated with the systemic cytokine storm caused by immune dysregulation.

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Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment for pediatric high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (HR-AML). The timing of HSCT for HR-AML remains controversial. Few studies have reported the outcomes in pediatric AML patients treated with allo-HSCT with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) regimen.