scholarly journals Inorganic Nanomaterial for Biomedical Imaging of Brain Diseases

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (23) ◽  
pp. 7340
Author(s):  
Wenxian Du ◽  
Lingling Zhou ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Xiaoer Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Photoacoustic Imaging ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Physicochemical Characteristics ◽  
Brain Diseases ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Inorganic Nanomaterials ◽  
Effective Diagnosis

In the past few decades, brain diseases have taken a heavy toll on human health and social systems. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), photoacoustic imaging (PA), computed tomography (CT), and other imaging modes play important roles in disease prevention and treatment. However, the disadvantages of traditional imaging mode, such as long imaging time and large noise, limit the effective diagnosis of diseases, and reduce the precision treatment of diseases. The ever-growing applications of inorganic nanomaterials in biomedicine provide an exciting way to develop novel imaging systems. Moreover, these nanomaterials with special physicochemical characteristics can be modified by surface modification or combined with functional materials to improve targeting in different diseases of the brain to achieve accurate imaging of disease regions. This article reviews the potential applications of different types of inorganic nanomaterials in vivo imaging and in vitro detection of different brain disease models in recent years. In addition, the future trends, opportunities, and disadvantages of inorganic nanomaterials in the application of brain diseases are also discussed. Additionally, recommendations for improving the sensitivity and accuracy of inorganic nanomaterials in screening/diagnosis of brain diseases.

scholarly journals Pillar[5]arene-Modified Gold Nanorods as Nanocarriers for Multi-Modal Imaging-Guided Synergistic Photodynamic-Photothermal Therapy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Song ◽  
Zhijun Zhang ◽  
Peiying Liu ◽  
Dihua Dai ◽  
Chao Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Photothermal Therapy ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Tumor Imaging ◽  
Photoacoustic Imaging ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Ros Generation ◽  
Cancer Therapies ◽  
New Strategy

Supramolecular approaches have opened up vast possibilities in the construction of versatile functional materials, especially those with stimuli-responsiveness and integrated functionalities of multi-modal diagnosis and synergistic therapeutics. In this study, a hybrid theranostic nanosystem named TTPY-PyÌCP5@AuNR is constructed via facile host-guest interactions, where TTPY-Py is a photosensitizer with aggregation-induced emission and CP5@AuNR represents the carboxylatopillar[5]arene (CP5)-modified Au nanorods. TTPY-PyÌCP5@AuNR integrates the respective advantages of TTPY-Py and CP5@AuNR such as the high performance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and photothermal conversion, and meanwhile shows fluorescence responses to both temperature and pH stimuli due to the non-covalent interactions. The successful modification of CP5 macrocycles on AuNRs surfaces can eliminate the cytotoxicity of AuNRs and enable them to serve as the nanocarrier of TTPY-Py for further theranostic application. Significantly, both in vitro and in vivo evaluations demonstrate that this supramolecular nanotheranostic system possesses multiple phototheranostic modalities including intensive fluorescence imaging (FLI), photoacoustic imaging (PAI), efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT), and photothermal therapy (PTT), indicating its great potentials for FLI-PAI imaging-guided synergistic PDT-PTT therapy. Besides, TTPY-Py can be released from the nanocarriers upon activating by the acidic environment of lysosomes and then specifically light up mitochondria. This study brings up a new strategy into the design of versatile nanotheranostics for accurate tumor imaging and cancer therapies.

scholarly journals Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Therapeutic Nanocarriers

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Theodora Karamanidou ◽  
Alexander Tsouknidas
Keyword(s):  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Physicochemical Characteristics ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Therapeutic Modalities ◽  
Therapeutic Delivery ◽  
Nutraceutical Compounds ◽  
Novel Applications

Mammalian exosomes have emerged as a promising class of functional materials, inspiring novel applications as therapeutic vehicles and nutraceutical compounds. Despite this, their immunogenicity has been an issue of controversy within the scientific community. Although, exosome-like vesicles, innately formed in plants and inherent to eukaryotic cell-derived vesicles, could soothe most of the concerns, they are notably underutilized as therapeutic modalities. This review highlights all efforts published so far, on the use of plant-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) as therapeutic delivery systems. A summary of the physicochemical characteristics of plant-derived EVs is provided along with their main biological composition and in vitro/in vivo evidence of their therapeutic efficacy provided where available. Despite only a hand full of clinical trials being underway, concerning these vesicles, they arguably possess significant potential as nanodelivery systems of natural origin.

scholarly journals Pillar[5]arene-Modified Gold Nanorods as Nanocarriers for Multi-Modal Imaging-Guided Synergistic Photodynamic-Photothermal Therapy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Song ◽  
Zhijun Zhang ◽  
Peiying Liu ◽  
Dihua Dai ◽  
Chao Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Photothermal Therapy ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Tumor Imaging ◽  
Photoacoustic Imaging ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Ros Generation ◽  
Cancer Therapies ◽  
New Strategy

Supramolecular approaches have opened up vast possibilities in the construction of versatile functional materials, especially those with stimuli-responsiveness and integrated functionalities of multi-modal diagnosis and synergistic therapeutics. In this study, a hybrid theranostic nanosystem named TTPY-PyÌCP5@AuNR is constructed via facile host-guest interactions, where TTPY-Py is a photosensitizer with aggregation-induced emission and CP5@AuNR represents the carboxylatopillar[5]arene (CP5)-modified Au nanorods. TTPY-PyÌCP5@AuNR integrates the respective advantages of TTPY-Py and CP5@AuNR such as the high performance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and photothermal conversion, and meanwhile shows fluorescence responses to both temperature and pH stimuli due to the non-covalent interactions. The successful modification of CP5 macrocycles on AuNRs surfaces can eliminate the cytotoxicity of AuNRs and enable them to serve as the nanocarrier of TTPY-Py for further theranostic application. Significantly, both in vitro and in vivo evaluations demonstrate that this supramolecular nanotheranostic system possesses multiple phototheranostic modalities including intensive fluorescence imaging (FLI), photoacoustic imaging (PAI), efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT), and photothermal therapy (PTT), indicating its great potentials for FLI-PAI imaging-guided synergistic PDT-PTT therapy. Besides, TTPY-Py can be released from the nanocarriers upon activating by the acidic environment of lysosomes and then specifically light up mitochondria. This study brings up a new strategy into the design of versatile nanotheranostics for accurate tumor imaging and cancer therapies.

scholarly journals Detecting apoptosis as a clinical endpoint for proof of a clinical principle

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piero Zollet ◽  
Timothy E.Yap ◽  
M Francesca Cordeiro
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Therapeutic Response ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Brain Diseases ◽  
Promising Strategy ◽  
Sight Loss ◽  
Apoptosis Detection ◽  
Novel Therapeutic Strategies

The transparent eye media represent a window through which to observe changes occurring in the retina during pathological processes. In contrast to visualising the extent of neurodegenerative damage that has already occurred, imaging an active process such as apoptosis has the potential to report on disease progression and therefore the threat of irreversible functional loss in various eye and brain diseases. Early diagnosis in these conditions is an important unmet clinical need to avoid or delay irreversible sight loss. In this setting, apoptosis detection is a promising strategy with which to diagnose, provide prognosis, and monitor therapeutic response. Additionally, monitoring apoptosis in vitro and in vivo has been shown to be valuable for drug development in order to assess the efficacy of novel therapeutic strategies both in the pre-clinical and clinical setting. Detection of Apoptosing Retinal Cells (DARC) technology is to date the only tool of its kind to have been tested in clinical trials, with other new imaging techniques under investigation in the fields of neuroscience, ophthalmology and drug development. We summarize the transitioning of techniques detecting apoptosis from bench to bedside, along with the future possibilities they encase.

scholarly journals Advanced Functional Materials Based on Nanocellulose for Pharmaceutical/Medical Applications

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1125
Author(s):  
Raluca Nicu ◽  
Florin Ciolacu ◽  
Diana E. Ciolacu
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Development ◽  
Cellulose Nanofibrils ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Medical Applications ◽  
Bacterial Nanocellulose ◽  
Green Materials ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
In Vivo Cytotoxicity

Nanocelluloses (NCs), with their remarkable characteristics, have proven to be one of the most promising “green” materials of our times and have received special attention from researchers in nanomaterials. A diversity of new functional materials with a wide range of biomedical applications has been designed based on the most desirable properties of NCs, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and their special physicochemical properties. In this context and under the pressure of rapid development of this field, it is imperative to synthesize the successes and the new requirements in a comprehensive review. The first part of this work provides a brief review of the characteristics of the NCs (cellulose nanocrystals—CNC, cellulose nanofibrils—CNF, and bacterial nanocellulose—BNC), as well as of the main functional materials based on NCs (hydrogels, nanogels, and nanocomposites). The second part presents an extensive review of research over the past five years on promising pharmaceutical and medical applications of nanocellulose-based materials, which have been discussed in three important areas: drug-delivery systems, materials for wound-healing applications, as well as tissue engineering. Finally, an in-depth assessment of the in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity of NCs-based materials, as well as the challenges related to their biodegradability, is performed.

scholarly journals Synthesis and Characterization of Polyvinylpyrrolidone-Modified ZnO Quantum Dots and Their In Vitro Photodynamic Tumor Suppressive Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 8106
Author(s):  
Tianming Song ◽  
Yawei Qu ◽  
Zhe Ren ◽  
Shuang Yu ◽  
Mingjian Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Dots ◽  
Photodynamic Therapy ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
In Vivo Experiments ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Zno Quantum Dots ◽  
Zno Qds

Despite the numerous available treatments for cancer, many patients succumb to side effects and reoccurrence. Zinc oxide (ZnO) quantum dots (QDs) are inexpensive inorganic nanomaterials with potential applications in photodynamic therapy. To verify the photoluminescence of ZnO QDs and determine their inhibitory effect on tumors, we synthesized and characterized ZnO QDs modified with polyvinylpyrrolidone. The photoluminescent properties and reactive oxygen species levels of these ZnO/PVP QDs were also measured. Finally, in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to test their photodynamic therapeutic effects in SW480 cancer cells and female nude mice. Our results indicate that the ZnO QDs had good photoluminescence and exerted an obvious inhibitory effect on SW480 tumor cells. These findings illustrate the potential applications of ZnO QDs in the fields of photoluminescence and photodynamic therapy.

scholarly journals In Vitro and In Vivo Multispectral Photoacoustic Imaging for the Evaluation of Chromophore Concentration

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 3366
Author(s):  
Aneline Dolet ◽  
Rita Ammanouil ◽  
Virginie Petrilli ◽  
Cédric Richard ◽  
Piero Tortoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Photoacoustic Imaging ◽  
Hyperspectral Remote Sensing ◽  
Reference Spectrum ◽  
In Vivo Experiments ◽  
Mouse Tumors ◽  
Chromophore Concentration ◽  
Saturation Rate

Multispectral photoacoustic imaging is a powerful noninvasive medical imaging technique that provides access to functional information. In this study, a set of methods is proposed and validated, with experimental multispectral photoacoustic images used to estimate the concentration of chromophores. The unmixing techniques used in this paper consist of two steps: (1) automatic extraction of the reference spectrum of each pure chromophore; and (2) abundance calculation of each pure chromophore from the estimated reference spectra. The compared strategies bring positivity and sum-to-one constraints, from the hyperspectral remote sensing field to multispectral photoacoustic, to evaluate chromophore concentration. Particularly, the study extracts the endmembers and compares the algorithms from the hyperspectral remote sensing domain and a dedicated algorithm for segmentation of multispectral photoacoustic data to this end. First, these strategies are tested with dilution and mixing of chromophores on colored 4% agar phantom data. Then, some preliminary in vivo experiments are performed. These consist of estimations of the oxygen saturation rate (sO2) in mouse tumors. This article proposes then a proof-of-concept of the interest to bring hyperspectral remote sensing algorithms to multispectral photoacoustic imaging for the estimation of chromophore concentration.

scholarly journals Production of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatic Cell Lineages and Liver Organoids: Current Status and Potential Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
João P. Cotovio ◽  
Tiago G. Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Cell Types ◽  
In Vitro Models ◽  
Hepatic Cell ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Organ Shortage ◽  
Cell Lineages ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Liver Organoids

Liver disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, leading to the death of approximately 2 million people per year. Current therapies include orthotopic liver transplantation, however, donor organ shortage remains a great challenge. In addition, the development of novel therapeutics has been limited due to the lack of in vitro models that mimic in vivo liver physiology. Accordingly, hepatic cell lineages derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) represent a promising cell source for liver cell therapy, disease modelling, and drug discovery. Moreover, the development of new culture systems bringing together the multiple liver-specific hepatic cell types triggered the development of hPSC-derived liver organoids. Therefore, these human liver-based platforms hold great potential for clinical applications. In this review, the production of the different hepatic cell lineages from hPSCs, including hepatocytes, as well as the emerging strategies to generate hPSC-derived liver organoids will be assessed, while current biomedical applications will be highlighted.

Cellular and immunological basis of the host-parasite relationship during infection withNeospora caninum

Parasitology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. HEMPHILL ◽  
N. VONLAUFEN ◽  
A. NAGULESWARAN
Keyword(s):  
Host Cell ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Neospora Caninum ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Prevention Of Infection ◽  
Parasite Relationship ◽  
Potential Applications

Neospora caninumis an apicomplexan parasite that is closely related toToxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis in humans and domestic animals. However, in contrast toT. gondii, N. caninumrepresents a major cause of abortion in cattle, pointing towards distinct differences in the biology of these two species. There are 3 distinct key features that represent potential targets for prevention of infection or intervention against disease caused byN. caninum. Firstly, tachyzoites are capable of infecting a large variety of host cellsin vitroandin vivo. Secondly, the parasite exploits its ability to respond to alterations in living conditions by converting into another stage (tachyzoite-to-bradyzoite orvice versa). Thirdly, by analogy withT. gondii, this parasite has evolved mechanisms that modulate its host cells according to its own requirements, and these must, especially in the case of the bradyzoite stage, involve mechanisms that ensure long-term survival of not only the parasite but also of the host cell. In order to elucidate the molecular and cellular bases of these important features ofN. caninum, cell culture-based approaches and laboratory animal models are being exploited. In this review, we will summarize the current achievements related to host cell and parasite cell biology, and will discuss potential applications for prevention of infection and/or disease by reviewing corresponding work performed in murine laboratory infection models and in cattle.

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