A set of electrostatically charged, fluorescent, and superparamagnetic nanoprobes was developed for targeting cancer cells without using any molecular biomarkers. The surface electrostatic properties of the established cancer cell lines and primary normal cells were characterized by using these nanoprobes with various electrostatic signs and amplitudes. All twenty two randomly selected cancer cell lines of different organs, but not normal control cells, bound specifically to the positively charged nanoprobes. The relative surface charges of cancer cells could be quantified by the percentage of cells captured magnetically. The activities of glucose metabolism had a profound impact on the surface charge level of cancer cells. The data indicate that an elevated glycolysis in the cancer cells led to a higher level secretion of lactate. The secreted lactate anions are known to remove the positive ions, leaving behind the negative changes on the cell surfaces. This unique metabolic behavior is responsible for generating negative cancer surface charges in a perpetuating fashion. The metabolically active cancer cells are shown to a unique surface electrostatic pattern that can be used for recovering cancer cells from the circulating blood and other solutions.

Multi-modal imaging plays a key role in the earlier detection of disease. In this work, a facile bioinspired method was developed to synthesize Gd-functionalized gold nanoclusters (Gd-Au NCs). The Gd-Au NCs exhibit a uniform size, with an average size of 5.6 nm in dynamic light scattering (DLS), which is a bit bigger than gold clusters (3.74 nm, DLS), while the fluorescent properties of Gd-Au NCs are almost the same as that of Au NCs. Moreover, the Gd-Au NCs exhibit a high longitudinal relaxivity value (r1) of 22.111 s−1 per mM of Gd in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), which is six times higher than that of commercial Magnevist (A complex of gadolinium with a chelating agent, diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid, Gd-DTPA, r1 = 3.56 mM−1·s−1). Besides, as evaluated by nano single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and computed tomography (CT) the Gd-Au NCs have a potential application as CT contrast agents because of the Au element. Finally, the Gd-Au NCs show little cytotoxicity, even when the Au concentration is up to 250 μM. Thus, the Gd-Au NCs can act as multi-modal imaging contrast agents.

No abstract

IntroductionPancreatic cancer (PC) has a poor prognosis with high mortality, due to the lack of effective early diagnostic and prognostic tools.Materials and methodsIn order to target and diagnose PC, we developed a dual-modal imaging probe using Glypican-1 (GPC-1) antibody conjugated with Gd–Au nanoclusters (NCs; Gd-Au-NC-GPC-1). GPC-1 is a type of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan, which is often highly expressed in PC. The probe was successfully prepared with a hydrodynamic diameter ranging from 13.5 to 24.4 nm.ResultsSpectral characteristics showed absorption at 280 nm and prominent emission at 650 nm. Confocal microscopic imaging showed effective detection of GPC-1 highly expressed PC cells by Gd-Au-NC-GPC-1, which was consistent with flow cytometry results. In vitro relaxivity characterization demonstrated that the r1 value of the probe was 17.722 s−1 mM−1 Gd, which was almost 4 times higher compared with that of Gd-diethylenetriaminepentacetate (DTPA; r1 value =4.6 s−1 mM−1 Gd). Gd-Au-NC-GPC-1 exhibited similar magnetic resonance (MR) signals when compared to Gd-DTPA even at lower Gd concentrations. Much higher MR signals were registered in PC cells (COLO-357) compared with normal cells (293T). Furthermore, Gd-Au-NC-GPC-1 could effectively detect PC cells in vivo by dual-modal fluorescence imaging/magnetic resonance imaging (FI/MRI) at 30 minutes postinjection. In addition, Gd-Au-NC-GPC-1 did not show significant biotoxicity to normal cells at tested concentrations both in vitro and in vivo.ConclusionGd-Au-NC-GPC-1 has demonstrated to be a promising dual-modal FI/MRI contrast agent for targeted diagnosis of PC.

Background VQ proteins, the plant-specific transcription factors, are involved in plant development and multiple stresses; however, only few articles systematic reported the VQ genes in soybean. Methods In total, we identified 75 GmVQ genes, which were classified into 7 groups (I-VII). Conserved domain analysis indicated that VQ gene family members all contain the VQ domains. VQ genes from the same evolutionary branches of soybean shared similar motifs and structures. Promoter analysis revealed that cis-elements related to stress responses, phytohormone responses and controlling physical as well as reproductive growth. Based on the RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analysis, GmVQ genes were showed expressing in nine tissues, suggesting their putative function in many aspects of plant growth and development as well as response to stress in Glycine max. Results This study aims to understand the roles of VQ genes in various development processes and their expression patterns in responses to stimuli. Our results provide basic information in identification and classification of GmVQ genes. Further experimental analysis will allows us to know the functions of GmVQs participation in plant growth and stress responses.