Journal: Bioactive Materials
Article Title: Aminated fullerene-based nanoplatform enables synergistic VEGFR2-targeted anti-angiogenesis and tumor immunotherapy
doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.03.016
Figure Lengend Snippet: TAPC interacts with VEGFR2 and modulates downstream signaling. (a) Cell viability assay of MC38 cells treated with increasing concentrations of TAPC. (b) Immunoblot analysis of VEGFR2 and key regulators of the PI3K–AKT signaling pathway (PI3K, AKT, and STAT3) in MC38 cells treated with PEG-PO or TAPC (5 and 10 μM). β-Actin was used as a loading control. (c) Pull-down assay of VEGFR2 from MC38 cell lysates using biotinylated TAPC, beads-only sample served as control. (d) Confocal IF imaging of MC38 cells incubated with Cy5.5-labeled TAPC and stained for VEGFR2, nuclei counterstained with DAPI. Scale bars: 20 μm. (e) BLI analysis of TAPC binding to recombinant VEGFR2 using serial concentrations (100, 66.7, 44.4, 29.6, 19.8, 13.2, and 8.8 μM). (f) Molecular dynamics simulations showing predicted protein–ligand complexes (top) and binding pocket visualizations (bottom) of VEGFR2 with TAPC, NDMPFI, MBAMF, and TPFE. (g) Binding free energy calculations of these complexes, including van der Waals, electrostatic, solvation, and total energy components. (h) Extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) of MC38 cells treated with control (0 μM), TAPC (2.5 μM), or TAPC (10 μM), with sequential addition of glucose, oligomycin, and 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG). (i) Quantification of glycolysis and glycolytic capacity in MC38 cells treated with control (0 μM), TAPC (2.5 μM), or TAPC (10 μM) (n = 8). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical significance was assessed using one-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons test; ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001.
Article Snippet: Antibodies were listed as follows: Anti-VEGF Receptor 2 antibody [EPRER16Y] (Abcam, Cat: ab134191), Anti-PI 3 Kinase catalytic subunit gamma (Abcam, Cat: ab302958), Anti-AKT (phosphor T308) antibody (Abcam, Cat: ab38449), Anti-STAT3 antibody [EPR787Y] (Abcam, Cat: ab68153), β-Actin (13E5) rabbit mAb (CST, Cat: #4970), Anti-CD31 antibody [EPR17260-263] (Abcam, Cat: ab222783), FITC anti-mouse CD45 (Biolegend, Cat: 103108), PerCP/Cyanine5.5 anti-mouse CD4 (Biolegend, Cat: 100434), FOXP3 Monoclonal Antibody (NRRF-30), PE, eBioscience (Thermo, Cat: 12-4771-82), CD3 (Abcam, Cat: ab16669), CD4 (Servicebio, Cat: GB15064).
Techniques: Viability Assay, Western Blot, Control, Pull Down Assay, Imaging, Incubation, Labeling, Staining, Binding Assay, Recombinant