He Wanghong, Wang Yanxue, Zhao Yifan, Wu Bingqing, Chen Yilong, Jia Lu, Tan Xinfeng, Liu Yi
Laboratory of Tissue Regeneration and Immunology and Department of Periodontics, Beijing Key Laboratory of Tooth Regeneration and Function Reconstruction, School of Stomatology, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100070, China.
State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Biomater Res. 2025 Apr 18;29:0195. doi: 10.34133/bmr.0195. eCollection 2025.
Traditional oral treatments for ulcerative colitis (UC) face marked limitations including their single therapeutic effect, potential off-target interactions, and toxic side effects. In this study, we present nucleic acid-functionalized gold nanorods (NAF AuNRs), a biocompatible nanomaterial designed for the oral treatment of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. The NAF AuNRs alleviate immune responses by inhibiting pro-inflammatory macrophages and enhancing the expression of barrier proteins in intestinal epithelial cells. Due to the negatively charged nucleic acid shell, NAF AuNRs preferentially target anionic, inflamed colon tissues upon oral administration, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and promoting the recovery of intestinal barrier in DSS-induced colitis mice. Collectively, these findings suggest that NAF AuNRs represent an innovative and promising therapeutic approach for UC management, offering novel insights into the application of nucleic acid-functionalized nanomaterials.
溃疡性结肠炎（UC）的传统口服治疗面临显著局限性，包括单一的治疗效果、潜在的脱靶相互作用和毒副作用。在本研究中，我们展示了核酸功能化金纳米棒（NAF AuNRs），这是一种设计用于口服治疗葡聚糖硫酸钠（DSS）诱导的结肠炎的生物相容性纳米材料。NAF AuNRs通过抑制促炎性巨噬细胞并增强肠上皮细胞中屏障蛋白的表达来减轻免疫反应。由于带负电荷的核酸外壳，NAF AuNRs在口服给药后优先靶向阴离子性的炎症结肠组织，降低促炎细胞因子水平并促进DSS诱导的结肠炎小鼠肠道屏障的恢复。总的来说，这些发现表明NAF AuNRs代表了一种用于UC治疗的创新且有前景的治疗方法，为核酸功能化纳米材料的应用提供了新的见解。
