Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: Macrophage exosome-engineered nanoplatform with pH-responsive ratiometric photoacoustic and NIR-II fluorescence imaging for guided photothermal immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103058

Figure Lengend Snippet: In vitro therapeutic effect of aCD47-CATE. (A) The cell viability of Hepa1-6 cells after different treatments (100 μg/mL), as determined by CCK-8 assay (n = 5). (B) Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images of TUNEL staining (red) in Hepa1-6 cells. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar = 50 μm. (C) Quantitative analysis of the TUNEL-positive cells from (B). Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 3). (D) Flow cytometry analysis of apoptosis in Hepa1-6 cells after different treatments (n = 3). (E) Flow cytometric analysis of the M1 macrophage marker CD80 in RAW264.7 cells after co-culture with conditioned media from the treated Hepa1-6 cells. (F) CLSM images showing the infiltration of CFDA-SE-labeled M1 macrophages (green) into Hepa1-6 tumor spheroids. Scale bar = 200 μm. (G) Quantitative analysis of the fluorescence intensity of infiltrated macrophages in (F). Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 3). ns P > 0.05; ∗p < 0.05; ∗∗p < 0.01; ∗∗∗p < 0.001,∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001.

Article Snippet: RAW264.7 cells were labeled with 1 μM CFDA-SE (Medchemexpress), added to the 96-well plate, and co-cultured with the spheroids for 6 h. The cell pellet was aspirated, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, stained with DAPI for 5 min, and observed under a fluorescence microscope (Leica, 3D thunder).

Techniques: In Vitro, CCK-8 Assay, Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy, TUNEL Assay, Staining, Flow Cytometry, Marker, Co-Culture Assay, Labeling, Fluorescence

Journal: International Journal of Pharmaceutics: X

Article Title: Allicin-based biomimetic nanoparticles of the erythrocyte membrane for the delivery of lumefantrine to enhance its antimalarial effect

doi: 10.1016/j.ijpx.2026.100487

Figure Lengend Snippet: Neutralization of merozoites. A Purification of infected erythrocytes using the Percoll separation solution, displaying infected (black arrow) and normal (red arrow) erythrocytes. B Confocal fluorescent images of merozoites (blue), PECm-Allicin@LM (red), and their colocalization (purple). Scale bar = 50 μm. C Representative scatter plots of Hoechst 33342/CFDA-SE for the invasion test of merozoites and normal erythrocytes after drug treatment. D Intrusion rate (the percentage of cells in the Q2 area in each group relative to that in the Q2 area in the Model group). Data are presented as mean ± SEM ( n = 3), * P < 0.05. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: 5–6(and 6)-carboxyfuorescein diacetate, succinimidyl ester (CFDA-SE) was purchased from Yeasen Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (China).

Techniques: Neutralization, Purification, Infection

Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Article Title: Proof-of-Concept Evaluation of Primary Human FAP-CAR-NK Cells Targeting Activated Fibroblasts in Pulmonary Fibrosis

doi: 10.3390/ijms27094128

Figure Lengend Snippet: Antigen-dependent effector activation of FAP-CAR-NK cells against engineered FAP-positive target cells. ( A ) Flow-cytometric validation of surface FAP expression in engineered K562-FAP-Luc cells. ( B ) Luciferase-based cytotoxicity assay comparing untransduced NK cells and FAP-CAR-NK cells against K562-Luc and K562-FAP-Luc target cells at the indicated E:T ratio after 12 h co-culture. ( C ) Representative flow-cytometric analysis and quantification of CD107a surface expression in untransduced NK cells and FAP-CAR-NK cells after stimulation with K562-FAP-Luc target cells, after 4 h co-culture. ( D ) Multiplex CBA quantification of TNF-α, IFN-γ, granzyme B, and perforin in co-culture supernatants after 4 h stimulation with K562-FAP-Luc target cells. ( E ) CFSE-based proliferation analysis of untransduced NK cells and FAP-CAR-NK cells after 48 h co-culture with K562-FAP-Luc target cells. ( F ) Representative flow-cytometric analysis and quantification of TIM-3, PD-1, and LAG-3 expression in untransduced NK cells and FAP-CAR-NK cells after co-culture with K562-FAP-Luc target cells. Data are presented as mean ± SEM from three independent donor-derived experiments ( n = 3). * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001, ns, not significant.

Article Snippet: Untransduced NK cells and FAP-CAR-NK cells were labeled with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE; MCE, #HY-D0938) according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Techniques: Activation Assay, Biomarker Discovery, Expressing, Luciferase, Cytotoxicity Assay, Co-Culture Assay, Multiplex Assay, Derivative Assay

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Potential of HLA-E-targeting diabodies to induce lysis of HIV-1-infected cells by CD8 + T cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.04.28.721204

Figure Lengend Snippet: Specificity of RLP-13 in dual-color co-cultures. (A) Setup of dual-color co-cultures: K562 cells transfected with covalently linked peptide:HLA-E expression constructs, presenting either cognate (Mtb44) or non-cognate (SP-2A) peptide, are stained with CellTrace Violet (CTV) or CFSE, respectively, and cultured for 18 hours with pre-expanded CD8 + T cells and different concentrations of RLP-13 at a ratio of 4:1:3 (Effector : Cognate target : Non-cognate target). Cells are then stained with lineage and activation markers and viability dye for analysis by flow cytometry. (B) Representative flow plot of viable single cell populations from co-culture wells without (left) or with (right) RLP-13. Indicated cognate and non-cognate gated population frequencies were used to calculate the relative viability of target cell populations. (C) Target cell viability of indicated cognate and non-cognate populations from co-cultures with various concentrations of either RLP-13 (red and pink lines) or irrelevant control scDb H2-mu (black and green lines). Viability was calculated by normalizing the frequency of the indicated target cell populations to that observed in co-culture wells without any scDb added. Assay was repeated five independent times across two HIV-negative donors. Shown measurements are averaged over eight technical replicates from one representative experiment. (D) Concentrations of the indicated effector molecules in the supernatants of co-cultures shown in (C) measured using the LegendPlex CD8/NK cell cytokine panel kit.

Article Snippet: For our dual-color co-culture , pulsed cells were incubated for 15 minutes in PBS with CellTrace Violet or CFSE (FisherScientific, Cat. # C34557) or CFSE (FisherScientific, Cat. # C34554) at a 1:20,000 dilution.

Techniques: Transfection, Expressing, Construct, Staining, Cell Culture, Activation Assay, Flow Cytometry, Single Cell, Co-Culture Assay, Control