Assessment of iron nanoparticle distribution in mouse models using ultrashort-echo-time MRI

MRI-based microplastic tracking in vivo and targeted toxicity analysis

Microplastics (MPs) as an emerging pollutant have raised significant concerns in environmental health. However, elucidating the distribution of MPs in living organisms remains challenging due to their trace residue and tough detection problems. In this study, a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based tracking method was employed to monitor functionalized MPs biodistribution in vivo. Our results identified that the liver is the primary accumulation site of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) in biological systems through continuous in vivo monitoring spanning 21 days. Biochemical tests were performed to assess the toxicological effects of functionalized MPs on the liver tissue, revealing hepatocyte death, inflammatory cell infiltration, and alterations in alkaline phosphatase levels. Notably, positively charged MPs exhibited more severe effects. A combined metabolomics-proteomics analysis further revealed that PS-MPs interfered with hepatic metabolic pathways, particularly bile secretion and ABC transporters. Overall, this study effectively assessed the distribution of functionalized MPs in vivo utilizing MRI technology, validated toxicity in targeted organ, and conducted an in-depth study on underlying biotoxicity mechanism. These findings offer crucial scientific insights into the potential impact of MPs in the actual environment on human health.

Assessing the accuracy of CMRtools software for diagnosing liver iron overload in thalassemia patients: influencing factors and optimisation strategies

Background

CMRtools is a software package that can be used to measure T2* values to diagnose liver iron overload, however, its accuracy in terms is affected by multiple factors, including goodness-of-fit (R2 value), the number of echo time (TE) images, and the liver iron concentration (LIC). To investigate the effects of the R2 value, the number of TE images, and the LIC on the accuracy of CMRtools software for measuring T2* values to diagnose liver iron overload (LIO).

Materials and methods

CMRtools software was used to measure liver T2* values among 108 thalassemia patients via the truncation method, and the R2 values, the number of TE images, and T2* values were recorded. These values were subsequently converted into liver iron concentration (LICT) values. The LICF (derived from MRI-R2/FerriScan) was used as a reference, and the diagnostic accordance rate (DAR) was compared between R2 value subgroups, between TE image number subgroups, and between LIC subgroups.

Results

The greater the R2 value was, the greater the standardized DAR (SDAR) was (p < 0.05). The SDAR are not identical between each TE image number subgroup (p > 0.05). However, the relationship between TE image number subgroups and SDAR was analysed using Spearman's correlation, and it was found to be positively correlated (rs  = 0.729, p = 0.017). The SDAR are not identical between each LIC subgroup (p > 0.05), furthermore, the relationship between LIC subgroup and SDAR was found irrelevant (p = 0.747).

Conclusion

The accuracy of CMRtools software for diagnosing LIO in patients with thalassemia can be improved by artificially controlling the number of TE images to be fitted and selecting higher R2 values.

Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonism syndromes: Evaluating iron deposition in the putamen using magnetic susceptibility MRI techniques - A systematic review and literature analysis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, such as quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), can detect iron deposition in the brain. Iron accumulation in the putamen (PUT) can contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and atypical Parkinsonian disorders. This systematic review aimed to synthesize evidence on iron deposition in the PUT assessed by MRI susceptibility techniques in PD and Parkinsonism syndromes. The PubMed and Scopus databases were searched for relevant studies. Thirty-four studies from January 2007 to October 2023 that used QSM, SWI, or other MRI susceptibility methods to measure putaminal iron in PD, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and healthy controls (HCs) were included. Most studies have found increased putaminal iron levels in PD patients versus HCs based on higher quantitative susceptibility. Putaminal iron accumulation correlates with worse motor scores and cognitive decline in patients with PD. Evidence regarding differences in susceptibility between PD and atypical Parkinsonism is emerging, with several studies showing greater putaminal iron deposition in PSP and MSA than in PD patients. Alterations in putaminal iron levels help to distinguish these disorders from PD. Increased putaminal iron levels appear to be associated with increased disease severity and progression. Thus, magnetic susceptibility MRI techniques can detect abnormal iron accumulation in the PUT of patients with Parkinsonism. Moreover, quantifying putaminal susceptibility may serve as an MRI biomarker to monitor motor and cognitive changes in PD and aid in the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian disorders.

The Potential of Novel Synthesized Carbon Dots Derived Resveratrol Using One-Pot Green Method in Accelerating in vivo Wound Healing

Background

Carbon dots (CDs), a novel nanomaterial, have gained significant attention over the past decade due to their remarkable fluorescence properties, low toxicity, and biocompatibility. These characteristics make them promising in various applications, especially in biomedicine. However, most CDs are currently synthesized using chemical materials, and their biocompatibility falls short of natural compounds. Research on extracting CDs from natural sources is limited, and their potential in biomedicine remains largely unexplored.

Methods

We extracted CDs from resveratrol, a natural plant compound, and enhanced their water solubility using citric acid. Characterization of resveratrol-based carbon dots (RES-CDs) was carried out using various techniques, including UV-Vis, SEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Extensive biocompatibility tests, wound healing assays, cell migration studies, and angiogenesis experiments were conducted using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). In addition, we investigated the biocompatibility and wound healing potential of RES-CDs in an in vivo rat model of inflammation.

Results

RES-CDs exhibited stable yellow-green fluorescence under 365-nanometer ultraviolet light and demonstrated excellent biocompatibility. In wound healing experiments, RES-CDs outperformed resveratrol in terms of cell scratch healing, migration, and tube formation. In a rat skin defect model, RES-CDs promoted wound healing and stimulated the formation of blood vessels and tissue regeneration near the wound site, as evidenced by increased CD31 and VEGF expression.

Conclusion

Resveratrol-derived CDs with enhanced water solubility show superior performance in tissue healing compared to resveratrol. This discovery opens new possibilities for the clinical application of resveratrol-based carbon dots.

Multiscale Multimodal Investigation of the Intratissural Biodistribution of Iron Nanotherapeutics with Single Cell Resolution Reveals Co-Localization with Endogenous Iron in Splenic Macrophages

Imaging of iron-based nanoparticles (NPs) remains challenging because of the presence of endogenous iron in tissues that is difficult to distinguish from exogenous iron originating from the NPs. Here, an analytical cascade for characterizing the biodistribution of biomedically relevant iron-based NPs from the organ scale to the cellular and subcellular scales is introduced. The biodistribution on an organ level is assessed by elemental analysis and quantification of magnetic iron by electron paramagnetic resonance, which allowed differentiation of exogenous and endogenous iron. Complementary to these bulk analysis techniques, correlative whole-slide optical and electron microscopy provided spatially resolved insight into the biodistribution of endo- and exogenous iron accumulation in macrophages, with single-cell and single-particle resolution, revealing coaccumulation of iron NPs with endogenous iron in splenic macrophages. Subsequent transmission electron microscopy revealed two types of morphologically distinct iron-containing structures (exogenous nanoparticles and endogenous ferritin) within membrane-bound vesicles in the cytoplasm, hinting at an attempt of splenic macrophages to extract and recycle iron from exogenous nanoparticles. Overall, this strategy enables the distinction of endo- and exogenous iron across scales (from cm to nm, based on the analysis of thousands of cells) and illustrates distribution on organ, cell, and organelle levels.

Incubating Green Synthesized Iron Oxide Nanorods for Proteomics-Derived Motif Exploration: A Fusion to Deep Learning Oncogenesis

The nanotechnological arena has revolutionized the diagnostic efficacies by investigating the protein corona. This displays provoking proficiencies in determining biomarkers and diagnostic fingerprints for early detection and advanced therapeutics. The green synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared via Withania coagulans and were well characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nano-LC mass spectrophotometry. Iron oxides were rod-shaped with an average size of 17.32 nm and have crystalline properties. The as-synthesized nanotool mediated firm nano biointeraction with the proteins in treatment with nine different cancers. The resultant of the proteome series was filtered oddly that highlighted the variant proteins within the differentially expressed proteins on behalf of nano-bioinformatics. Further magnification focused on S13_N, RS15, RAB, and 14_3_3 domains and few abundant motifs that aid scanning biomarkers. The entire set of variant proteins contracting to common proteins elucidates the underlining mechanical proteins that are marginally assessed using the robotic nanotechnology. Additionally, the iron rods indirectly possess a prognostic effect in manipulating expression of proteins through a smarter route. Thereby, such biologically designed nanotools provide a dual approach for medical studies.

Multifunctional Magnetic Nanoparticles for MRI-guided Co-delivery of Erlotinib and L-Asparaginase to Ovarian Cancer

AIM(S)

The use of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in biomedical applications has been wildly opted due to their unique properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of aptamer-armed MNPs in ovarian cancer treatment and as T2 weighted MRI contrast agent.

METHODS

Here, we designed MNPs loaded with erlotinib (ERL/SPION-Val-PEG) and conjugated them with anti-mucin16 (MUC16) aptamer to introduce new image-guided nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted drug delivery as well as non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Also, the combination of our nanosystem (NS) along with L-Asparaginase (L-ASPN) led to synergistic effects in terms of reducing cell viability in ovarian cancer cells, which could suggest a novel combination therapy.

RESULTS

The mean size of our NS was about 63.4 ± 3.4 nm evaluated by DLS analysis and its morphology was confirmed using TEM. Moreover, the functional groups, as well as magnetic properties of our NS, were examined by FT-IR and VSM tests, respectively. The loading efficacy of erlotinib on MNPs was about 80% and its release reached 70.85% over 7 days in the pH value of 5.4. The MR images and flow cytometry results revealed that the cellular uptake of ERL/SPION-Val-PEG-MUC16 NPs in cells with MUC16 overexpression was considerably higher than unarmed NPs. In addition, T2-weight MR images of ovarian cancer-bearing mice indicated significant signal intensity changes at the tumor site 4 h after intravenous injection compared to the non-target MNPs.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest ERL/SPION-Val-PEG NPs as an image-guided co-drug delivery system for ovarian cancer.