The analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) allows a noninvasive method of “real-time liquid biopsy” from the blood samples of cancer patients for the diagnosis of early-stage cancer, prognosis, and monitoring therapeutic response. In this study, we develop a simple, inexpensive, and reliable method that utilizes a small molecule peptide, the asparagine-glycine-arginine (NGR), as a capture probe for the selective enrichment and isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). The multiscale TiO2 nanofibers are obtained by electrospinning and calcination. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is decorated onto TiO2 nanofiber surfaces to inhibit non-target cell adhesion, while NGR peptides are conjugated onto the TiO2-BSA surface through the glutaraldehyde (GA) to specifically capture the target cells. The TiO2-BSA-NGR substrate exhibits a high capture sensitivity and efficiency from the mimical blood samples with PC-3 cancer cells as low as 10 cells/mL. The TiO2 nanofiber substrate can be a promising strategy for the capture and enumeration of CTCs in cancer progression monitoring.
We report in this work coaxial electrospun fibers with potential applications in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The fibers comprise a fixed dose combination (FDC) containing the active ingredients levodopa and carbidopa, loaded in a fast dissolving polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) shell and an insoluble but swellable Eudragit® RLPO core. Under appropriate processing conditions we are able to prepare fibers with distinct core/shell architectures and diameters of approximately 400 nm. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry analyses revealed that the drugs are dispersed on the molecular level within the polymer carriers, and IR spectroscopy indicated the presence of intermolecular interactions. At pH 1, the composite fibers yields extended release over more than 8 h, with an initial loading dose being freed from the PVP shell and then a sustained release phase following from the insoluble core. This is markedly extended over the release period of the commercial FDC product, and thus the fibers generated here have the potential to be used to reduce the required dosing frequency.
Molecular recognition of simple sugars is crucial due to their essential roles in most living organisms. However, it remains extremely challenging to achieve a visual recognition of simple sugars like sucrose in water media under physiological conditions. In this article, the visual recognition of sucrose is accomplished by a chiral supramolecular hydrogel formation through the co-assembly of a two-component fibrous solution (l-phenylalanine based gelator co-diaminopyridine, LDAP) and sucrose. H-bonding between the amino group of LDAP and the hydroxyl group of sucrose facilitates the gelation by loading sucrose into the LDAP solution. The formed hydrogel showed an amplified inversion of circular dichroism (CD) signals as compared to the corresponding LDAP solution. In addition, the effective chirality transfer was accompanied by a bathochromic shift in UV–Vis and FL spectra of the gel. Such a simple and straightforward chiral co-assembled strategy to visually recognize sucrose will have the potential use of smart gelators in saccharides separation and proteomics to be further applied in medical diagnostics and cell imaging.
Wound dressing materials which are capable of meeting the demands of accelerating wound closure and promoting wound healing process have being highly desired. Electrospun nanofibrous materials show great application potentials for wound healing owing to relatively large surface area, better mimicry of native extracellular matrix, adjustable waterproofness and breathability, and programmable drug delivery process. In this review article, we begin with a discussion of wound healing process and current commercial wound dressing materials. Then, we emphasize on electrospun nanofibrous materials for wound dressing, covering the efforts for controlling fiber alignment and morphology, constructing 3D scaffolds, developing waterproof-breathable membrane, governing drug delivery performance, and regulating stem cell behavior. Finally, we finish with challenges and future prospects of electrospun nanofibrous materials for wound dressings.