Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: Polyelectrolyte nanoparticles enable intracellular delivery of STING protein fragments for ovarian cancer immunotherapy

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103251

Figure Lengend Snippet: Polyanion component of nanoparticle allows for tuning cell specificity in STING activation. ( A ) Chemical structures of polyanions examined in nanoparticle formulations. ( B ) Z-Average diameter and polydispersity index (N = 8-13 independent formulations) as well as ( C ) zeta potential (N = 8-10 independent formulations) measurements of nanoparticles. (D) Fold-change in STING signaling activation compared to buffer 24 h after treatment with nanoparticle formulations at STINGΔTM doses of 5 μg/mL (RAW264.7), 8 μg/mL (HEK293T), 10 μg/mL (THP1), or 20 μg/mL (BPPNM and SKOV3). STING signaling measured as luminescent IRF3 reporter for RAW264.7, THP1, and HEK293T reporters or chemokine CXCL10 secretion in supernatant for SKOV3 and BPPNM. Each row represents one of N = 3 biological replicates, displaying the geometric mean of N = 3 technical replicates measuring the fold change in STING activation compared to the buffer control. Data represented as geometric mean ± standard deviation for data on log-scale and mean ± standard deviation for data on linear scale.

Article Snippet: RAW-Lucia ISG (rawl-isg), THP1-Dual (thpd-nfis), and HEK-Blue mTLR4 (hkb-mtlr4) reporter cells were purchased from InvivoGen.

Techniques: Activation Assay, Zeta Potential Analyzer, Control, Standard Deviation

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Exposure to Antibiotics Modifies the Immune Profiles of Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles from Common Vaginal Anaerobes

doi: 10.64898/2026.05.21.726874

Figure Lengend Snippet: Production of cytokines by epithelial cells and monocytes in response to bEVs. We exposed ectocervical (Ect1), endocervical (End1) and vaginal (VK2) epithelial cells, as well as monocytes (THP1) with bEVs produced by LC, GV, and MM under different antibiotic treatment regimens: unexposed (grey), ampicillin (green), clindamycin (blue), metronidazole (red). As negative controls, cells were cultured either in growth media alone (Media ctrl, white) or in growth media containing the same concentration of bEV suspension media (bEV vehicle ctrl, dark grey). The levels of GM-CSF, IL-6, and IL-8 in the culture supernatant were measured in response to (a-c) LC bEVs, (d-f) GV bEVs, and (g-i) MM bEVs in Ect, End, and VK2 cells, respectively. Similarly, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α levels were measured in THP1 cells in response to (j–l) LC bEVs, (m–o) GV bEVs, and (p–r) MM bEVs. Minimal Detection Concentration (MDC) for IL-6 and TNF-α are included in the plot. Bar plots represent the mean levels, with error bars indicating the standard deviation (n=3). A one-way ANOVA followed by Sidak’s multiple comparison test with FDR correction was used to compare group differences. Significant differences from the bEV vehicle control group are indicated with “#,” and significant differences between bEV-treated groups are indicated with “*” (p<0.05), “**” (p<0.01), “***” (p<0.001), or “****” (p<0.0001).

Article Snippet: THP-1-Null cells (THP1) and THP1-Dual KO-TLR2 cells (THP1-TLR2KO; InvivoGen, San Diego, CA, USA) were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY, USA) supplemented with 10% (v/v) heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (HI-FBS) (Gibco) and 100 U/mL penicillin and 100 μg/mL streptomycin.

Techniques: Produced, Cell Culture, Concentration Assay, Suspension, Standard Deviation, Comparison, Control

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Exposure to Antibiotics Modifies the Immune Profiles of Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles from Common Vaginal Anaerobes

doi: 10.64898/2026.05.21.726874

Figure Lengend Snippet: The involvement of the TLR pathway as the recognition pathway for bEV treatment. IL-8 levels in the supernatants of THP1 or THP1-TLR2KO cells were measured in response to bEVs isolated from (a) LC, (b) GV, and (c) MM, either without any exposed to antibiotics (Unexposed) or with antibiotics (ampicillin, clindamycin, or metronidazole). As negative controls, cells were cultured in growth media (Media ctrl) or in growth media with the same concentration of bEV suspension media (bEV vehicle ctrl). Bar plots represent the mean, with error bars indicating the standard deviation (n=3). Grey bars represent results from THP1 cells, and black bars represent results from THP1-TLR2KO cells. (d) IL-8 levels from THP1-TLR2KO cell supernatants treated with MM bEVs, with or without the TLR5 inhibitor (TLR5i). Black bars represent results from THP1-TLR2KO cells without TLR5i, and white bars represent results with TLR5i. Two-way ANOVA was used to assess the impact of bEV treatment, followed by Sidak’s multiple comparison test with FDR correction, with statistical significance denoted by “**” (p < 0.01) and “****” (p < 0.0001).

Article Snippet: THP-1-Null cells (THP1) and THP1-Dual KO-TLR2 cells (THP1-TLR2KO; InvivoGen, San Diego, CA, USA) were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY, USA) supplemented with 10% (v/v) heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (HI-FBS) (Gibco) and 100 U/mL penicillin and 100 μg/mL streptomycin.

Techniques: Isolation, Cell Culture, Concentration Assay, Suspension, Standard Deviation, Comparison