Various subgroups of CD8 T lymphocytes do not only demonstrate cytotoxic effects, but also serve important regulatory roles in the body's immune response. In particular, CD8 regulatory T cells (CD8 Tregs), which possess important immunosuppressive functions, are able to effectively block the overreacting immune response and maintain the body's immune homeostasis. In recent years, studies have identified a small set of special CD8 Tregs that can recognize major histocompatibility complex class Ib molecules, more specifically Qa-1 in mice and HLA-E in humans, and target the self-reactive CD4 T ce lls. These findings have generated broad implications in the scientific community and attracted general interest to CD8 Tregs. The present study reviews the recent research progress on CD8 Tregs, including their origin, functional classification, molecular markers and underlying mechanisms of action.

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Developing a spatiotemporal-controlled nitric oxide (NO) delivery nanoplatform is highly desirable for its biological applications as a tumor inhibitor and antibacterial agent. In this study, a novel multifunctional magnetic nanoplatform {Fe 3 O

A simple, highly sensitive method to detect leukemia cells has been developed based on aptamer-modified fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FSNPs). In this strategy, the amine-labeled Sgc8 aptamer was conjugated to carboxyl-modified FSNPs via amide coupling between amino and carboxyl groups. Sensitivity and specificity of Sgc8-FSNPs were assessed using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. These results showed that Sgc8-FSNPs detected leukemia cells with high sensitivity and specificity. Aptamer-modified FSNPs hold promise for sensitive and specific detection of leukemia cells. Changing the aptamer may allow the FSNPs to detect other types of cancer cells.

Cytotoxic compounds vincristine sulphate (VCR) is widely used to against hemato-oncology, and especially the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, VCR's full therapeutic potential has been limited by its dose-limiting neurotoxicity, classically resulting in autonomic and peripheral sensory-motor neuropathy. Therefore, we developed a targeted liposomal drug delivery system (sgc8/VCR-Lipo) for improving the therapeutic effects of VCR against leukemia and reducing its systematic adverse effects. sgc8/VCR-Lipo could specifically bind to CCRF-CEM cells and significantly inhibit proliferation of cancer cells in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. The sgc8/VCR-Lipo nanoparticles may improve the anti-tumor efficacy of VCR and reduce side effects induced by non-specific drug release. These results suggest that our findings provide scientific evidence for developing novel aptamer-based targeted drug delivery systems for leukemia treatment.