Gastric cancer remains a major unmet clinical problem with over 1 million new cases worldwide. It is the fourth most commonly occurring cancer in men and the seventh most commonly occurring cancer in women. A major fraction of gastric cancer has been linked to variety of pathogenic infections including but not limited to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) or Epstein Barr virus (EBV). Strategies are being pursued to prevent gastric cancer development such as H. pylori eradication, which has helped to prevent significant proportion of gastric cancer. Today, treatments have helped to manage this disease and the 5-year survival for stage IA and IB tumors treated with surgery are between 60 and 80%. However, patients with stage III tumors undergoing surgery have a dismal 5-year survival rate between 18 and 50% depending on the dataset. These figures indicate the need for more effective molecularly driven treatment strategies. This review discusses the molecular profile of gastric tumors, the success, and challenges with available therapeutic targets along with newer biomarkers and emerging targets.

Gastric cancer: a comprehensive review of current and future treatment strategies

Chitosan-based advanced materials for docetaxel and paclitaxel delivery: Recent advances and future directions in cancer theranostics.

Compared to traditional hyperthermia methods, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) successfully achieve site-specific incremental temperature in deep tissues. By virtue of near-infrared (NIR) laser-mediated photothermal treatment, Au NPs have been widely explored in clinical and preclinical applications, including cancer therapy and tissue engineering. In this issue of ACS Nano, Suzuki, Ciofani, and colleagues demonstrate how gold nanoshells can remotely activate striated muscle cells via inducing myotube contraction and modulating related gene expression by mild heat stimulation under NIR irradiation. This Perspective provides a brief overview of the current developments and future outlook for multifunctional platforms based on Au NPs for cancer treatment, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.

Remote Control and Modulation of Cellular Events by Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles: Implications and Opportunities for Biomedical Applications

Herein, a novel immunosensing strategy was designed for the sensitive fluorescence/visual detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), by combining the enzyme-controlled formation of polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles with the dissolution of manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoflakes. Initially, a sandwich-type immunoreaction was fabricated on a capture antibody-coated microplate by using detection antibody/ascorbate oxidase-conjugating gold nanoparticles (AOX-AuNP-Ab2) as the detection probe. The ascorbate oxidase, carried within the immunocomplex, oxidized ascorbic acid (AA) to dehydroascorbic acid (DAA) to inhibit the dissolution of the MnO2 nanoflakes. This resulted in an increment in fluorescent PDA nanoparticles from the oxidation of dopamine (DA) into its quinone derivative with the aid of the MnO2 nanoflakes. Under optimal conditions, the fluorescence intensity of the PDA nanoparticles increased with increasing AFP concentration within the dynamic working range of 0.05-20 ng mL-1, with a detection limit (LOD) of 17.3 pg mL-1. The sensor also showed high specificity and acceptable accuracy for the detection of target AFP against other potential cancer biomarkers. Importantly, this study demonstrated for the first time that fluorescent PDA nanoparticles could be used as signal-generation tags and applied to an enzyme immunoassay. Although this methodology focused on AFP detection, it would be suitable for the detection of other cancer biomarkers if the corresponding antibodies were employed.

In situ synthesis of fluorescent polydopamine nanoparticles coupled with enzyme-controlled dissolution of MnO2 nanoflakes for a sensitive immunoassay of cancer biomarkers.

Recent developments in dopamine-based materials for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

The clinical application of GX1, an optimal gastric cancer (GC) targeting peptide, is greatly limited because its receptor in the GC vasculature is unknown. In this study, we screened the candidate receptor of GX1, transglutaminase-2(TGM2), by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) combined with mass spectrometry. We found that TGM2 was up-regulated in GC vascular endothelial cells and that GX1 receptor expression was suppressed correspondingly after TGM2 downregulation. A highly consistent co-localization of GX1 receptor and TGM2 was detected at both the cellular and tissue levels. High TGM2 expression was evident in GC tissues from patients with poor prognosis. After TGM2 downregulation, the GX1-mediated inhibition of proliferation and migration and the induction of the apoptosis of GC vascular endothelial cells were weakened or even reversed. Finally, we observed that GX1 could inhibit the GTP-binding activity of TGM2 by reducing its intracellular distribution and downregulating its downstream molecular targets (nuclear factor-kappa B, NF-κB; hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α, HIF1α) in GC vascular endothelial cells. Our study confirms that peptide GX1 can inhibit angiogenesis by directly binding to TGM2, subsequently reducing the GTP-binding activity of TGM2 and thereby suppressing its downstream pathway(NF-κB/HIF1α). Our conclusions suggest that GX1/TGM2 may provide a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of GC.

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Novel peptide GX1 inhibits angiogenesis by specifically binding to transglutaminase-2 in the tumorous endothelial cells of gastric cancer.

Esophageal cancer is one of the six most common cancers in the world, constituting ∼7% of the gastrointestinal cancers. Esophageal stents can be inserted into the esophagus to open the pathway as a palliative treatment for advanced esophageal cancer. For the treatment of esophageal cancer, a series of anticancer drug-loaded stents such as paclitaxel or 5-fluorouracil/esophageal stent combinations have been prepared by covering a nitinol stent with a polymer or hydrogel shell. For the first time, we developed a gold nanoshell (AuNS)-coated stent with high photothermal efficiency and used in the repetitive photothermal therapy of esophageal cancer. The functionalized stent was prepared by using surface-coated polydopamine as the Au3+ anchor and template. The thickness of the AuNS can be easily adjusted by controlling the reaction time and amount of Au3+. The AuNS-coated stent efficiently increased the temperature of pork and porcine intestines irradiated with a near-infrared (NIR) laser. The deep penetratio...

Chao Jian

Papers

Novel peptide GX1 inhibits angiogenesis by specifically binding to transglutaminase-2 in the tumorous endothelial cells of gastric cancer.

New Generation of Gold Nanoshell-Coated Esophageal Stent: Preparation and Biomedical Applications