Showing 1 - 3 of 3 results
1.
Near-Infrared Optogenetic Nanosystem for Spatiotemporal Control of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing and Synergistic Photodynamic Therapy.
Abstract:
Controlling CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing at the spatiotemporal resolution level, especially for in vivo applications, remains a great challenge. Here, we developed a near-infrared (NIR) light-activated nanophotonic system (UCPP) for controlled CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and synergistic photodynamic therapy (PDT). Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles are not only employed as carriers for intracellular plasmid delivery but also serve as the nanotransducers to convert NIR light (980 nm) into visible light with emission at 460 and 650 nm, which could result in simultaneous activation of gene editing and PDT processes, respectively. Such unique design not only achieves light-controlled precise gene editing of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α with minimal off-target effect, which effectively ameliorates the hypoxic state at tumor sites, but also facilitates the deep-seated PDT process with synergistic antitumor effect. This optogenetically activatable CRISPR-Cas9 nanosystem holds great potential for spatially controlled in vivo gene editing and targeted cancer therapy.
2.
Shared signaling pathways in Alzheimer's and metabolic disease may point to new treatment approaches.
Abstract:
'A peculiar severe disease process of the cerebral cortex' are the exact words used by A. Alzheimer in 1906 to describe a patient's increasingly severe condition of memory loss, changes in personality, and sleep disturbance. A century later, this 'peculiar' disease has become widely known as Alzheimer's disease (AD), the world's most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 35 million people globally. At the same time, its pathology remains unclear and no successful treatment exists. Several theories for AD etiology have emerged throughout the past century. In this review, we focus on the metabolic mechanisms that are similar between AD and metabolic diseases, based on the results from genome-wide association studies. We discuss signaling pathways involved in both types of disease and look into new optogenetic methods to study the in vivo mechanisms of AD.
3.
Optogenetic regulation of artificial microRNA improves H2 production in green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Abstract:
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an ideal model organism not only for the study of basic metabolic processes in both plants and animals but also the production of biofuels including hydrogen. Transgenic analysis of C. reinhardtii is now well established and very convenient, but inducible exogenous gene expression systems remain under-studied. The most commonly used heat shock-inducible system has serious effects on algal cell growth and is difficult and costly to control in large-scale culture. Previous studies of hydrogen photoproduction in Chlamydomonas also use this heat-inducible system to activate target gene transcription and hydrogen synthesis.
