Most cancer patients succumb to disseminated disease because conventional systemic therapies lack spatiotemporal control of their toxic effects in vivo, particularly in a complicated milieu such as bone marrow where progenitor stem cells reside. Here, we demonstrate the treatment of disseminated cancer by photoactivatable drugs using radiopharmaceuticals. An orthogonal-targeting strategy and a contact-facilitated nanomicelle technology enabled highly selective delivery and co-localization of titanocene and radiolabelled fluorodeoxyglucose in disseminated multiple myeloma cells. Selective ablation of the cancer cells was achieved without significant off-target toxicity to the resident stem cells. Genomic, proteomic and multimodal imaging analyses revealed that the downregulation of CD49d, one of the dimeric protein targets of the nanomicelles, caused therapy resistance in small clusters of cancer cells. Similar treatment of a highly metastatic breast cancer model using human serum albumin-titanocene formulation significantly inhibited cancer growth. This strategy expands the use of phototherapy for treating previously inaccessible metastatic disease.

The enormous prevalence of infections caused by parasitic nematodes worldwide, coupled to the rapid emergence of their resistance to commonly used anthelmintic drugs, presents an urgent need for the discovery of new drugs. Herein, we have identified several classes of small molecules with broad spectrum activity against these pathogens. Previously, we reported the identification of carnitine palmitoyltransferases (CPTs) as a representative class of enzymes as potential targets for metabolic chokepoint intervention that was elucidated from a combination of chemogenomic screening and experimental testing in nematodes. Expanding on these previous findings, we have discovered that several chemical classes of known small molecule inhibitors of mammalian CPTs have potent activity as anthelmintics. Cross-clade efficacy against a broad spectrum of adult parasitic nematodes was demonstrated for multiple compounds from different series. Several analogs of these initial hit compounds were designed and synthesized. The compounds we report represent a good starting point for further lead identification and optimization for development of new anthelmintic drugs with broad spectrum activity and a novel mechanism of action.

A facile iterative synthesis of 2,5-terpyrimidinylenes that are structurally analogous to α-helix mimics is presented. Condensation of amidines with readily prepared α,β-unsaturated α-cyanoketones gives 5-cyano substituted pyrimidines. Iterative transformation of the 5-cyano group into an amidine allows synthesis of 2,5-terpyrimidinylenes with variable groups at the 4-, 4′-, and 4″- positions. These compounds are designed to mimic the i, i+4, and i+7 sites of an α-helix.

A novel dynamic soft template solution route has been developed for the preparation of micrometre-sized In2S3 half-shells, assembled by fine nanoparticles. This novel half-shell nanostructure was characterized by electron microscopes, x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron (XPS), and optical spectroscopes. The catalytic property in the electro-oxidation of the nitric oxide (NO) of the half-shells was also investigated, which could be drastically enhanced by the loading of Ag nanoparticles. Finally, the template-free, one-pot method described here is likely to be useful in the preparation of many other half-shell structures.