Seeing Better and Going Deeper in Cancer Nanotheranostics

Innovative optical imaging strategies for monitoring immunotherapy in the tumor microenvironments

BACKGROUND

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a critical role in cancer progression and response to immunotherapy. Immunotherapy targeting the immune system has emerged as a promising treatment modality, but challenges in understanding the TME limit its efficacy. Optical imaging strategies offer noninvasive, real-time insights into the interactions between immune cells and the TME.

OBJECTIVE

This review assesses the progress of optical imaging technologies in monitoring immunotherapy within the TME and explores their potential applications in clinical trials and personalized cancer treatment.

METHODS

This is a comprehensive literature review based on the advances in optical imaging modalities including fluorescence imaging (FLI), bioluminescence imaging (BLI), and photoacoustic imaging (PAI). These modalities were analyzed for their capacity to provide high-resolution, real-time imaging of immune cell dynamics, tumor vasculature, and other critical components of the TME.

RESULTS

Optical imaging techniques have shown significant potential in tracking immune cell infiltration, assessing immune checkpoint inhibitors, and visualizing drug delivery within the TME. Technologies like FLI and BLI are pivotal in tracking immune responses in preclinical models, while PAI provides functional imaging with deeper tissue penetration. The integration of these modalities with immunotherapy holds promise for improving treatment monitoring and outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Optical imaging is a powerful tool for understanding the complexities of the TME and optimizing immunotherapy. Further advancements in imaging technologies, combined with nanomaterial-based approaches, could pave the way for enhanced diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment.

Photothermal Temperature-Modulated Cancer Metastasis Harnessed Using Proteinase-Triggered Assembly of Near-Infrared II Photoacoustic/Photothermal Nanotheranostics

Here we demonstrate that cancer metastasis could be modulated by the judicious tuning of physical parameters such as photothermal temperature in nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy (PTT). This is supported by theranostic nanosystem design and characterization, in vitro and in vivo analyses, and transcriptome-based gene profiling. In this work, the highly efficient near-infrared II (NIR-II) photoacoustic image (PA)-guided PTT are selectively activated using our developed matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-triggered in situ assembly of gold nanodandelions (GNDs@gelatin). Unlike other "always-on" NIR PTT agents lacking specific bioactivation and suffering from the intrinsic nonspecific pseudosignals and treatment-related side effects such as metastasis, our GNDs@gelatin possesses important advantages while deployed in cancer PTT that include the following: (1) The theranostic effects could be "turned on" only after specific MMP-2/-9 activity and with acidity in the tumor microenvironment. (2) The quantitative PA diagnosis allows for precise PTT planning for better cancer treatment. (3) GNDs@gelatin could noninvasively quantify MMP activity and efficiently harness NIR-I (808 nm) and NIR-II (1064 nm) energies for tumor ablation. (4) The multibranched nanostructures reabsorb scattered laser photons, thus enhancing the surface plasmons for the pronounced photothermal conversion of aggregated GNDs@gelatin in situ. (5) It is noteworthy that in situ tumor eradication at higher PTT temperature (>55 °C) mediated by GNDs@gelatin could induce subsequent metastasis, which could be otherwise abolished at lower PTT temperatures (50 °C > T > 43 °C). (6) Furthermore, the gene profiling using transcriptome-based microarray including GO and KEGG analyses revealed that 315 differentially expressed genes were identified in higher PTT temperature treated tumors compared with lower PTT temperature ones. These were enriched into some well-known cancer-related pathways, such as cell migration pathway, signal transductions, cell proliferation, wound healing, PPAR signaling, and metabolic pathways. These observations suggest a new perspective of "moderate-is-better" in nanoparticle-mediated PTT for maximizing its therapeutic/prognosis benefits and translational potential with metastasis inhibition.

Enhancing hair regeneration: Recent progress in tailoring nanostructured lipid carriers through surface modification strategies

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Hair loss is a prevalent problem affecting millions of people worldwide, necessitating innovative and efficient regrowth approaches. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) have become a hopeful option for transporting bioactive substances to hair follicles because of their compatibility with the body and capability to improve drug absorption.

REVIEW APPROACH

Recently, surface modification techniques have been used to enhance hair regeneration by improving the customization of NLCs. These techniques involve applying polymers, incorporating targeting molecules, and modifying the surface charge.

KEY RESULTS

The conversation focuses on how these techniques enhance stability, compatibility with the body, and precise delivery to hair follicles within NLCs. Moreover, it explains how surface-modified NLCs can improve the bioavailability of hair growth-promoting agents like minoxidil and finasteride. Furthermore, information on how surface-modified NLCs interact with hair follicles is given, uncovering their possible uses in treating hair loss conditions.

CONCLUSION

This review discusses the potential of altering the surface of NLCs to customize them for enhanced hair growth. It offers important information for upcoming studies on hair growth.

Effect of illuminance and colour temperature of LED lighting on asthenopia during reading

PURPOSE

A self-controlled study to determine the influence of illuminance and correlated colour temperature (CCT) of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting on asthenopia.

METHODS

Twenty-two healthy postgraduates (nine women) were recruited to read under eight LED lighting conditions with four illuminances (300 lx, 500 lx, 750 lx and 1000 lx) and four CCTs (2700, 4000, 5000 and 6500 K) for 2 h. A subjective asthenopia questionnaire, the optical quality analysis system (OQAS) and an inflammatory cytokine assay were used to assess the levels of asthenopia.

RESULTS

Increased asthenopia was observed after reading, but the degree varied with lighting conditions. There were significant differences among the groups in terms of subjective symptoms (inattention, eye pain, dry eye and total score), optical performance parameters (modulation transfer function [MTF] cut-off frequency, Strehl ratio [SR], objective scattering index [OSI], mean OSI and accommodative amplitude [AA]) as well as inflammatory cytokines in the tears (epidermal growth factor [EGF], transforming growth factor [TGF]-α, interleukin [IL]-6, IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein [MIP]-1β, tumour necrosis factor [TNF]-α, TNF-β and vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF]-A). All of the subjective and objective measurements collectively suggested that asthenopia was lessened for the 500 lx-4000 K condition. However, asthenopia was significantly worse for 300 lx-2700 K and 1000 lx-6500 K in terms of subjective symptoms and objective optical performance, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

LED illuminance and CCT do have a significant effect on asthenopia during reading. 500 lx-4000 K lighting resulted in the lowest level of asthenopia. Conversely, low illuminance at low CCT (300 lx-2700 K) and high illuminance at high CCT (1000 lx-6500 K) promoted more severe asthenopia.

Nanotheranostics: A powerful next-generation solution to tackle hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an epidemic burden and remains highly prevalent worldwide. The significant mortality rates of HCC are largely due to the tendency of late diagnosis and the multifaceted, complex nature of treatment. Meanwhile, current therapeutic modalities such as liver resection and transplantation are only effective for resolving early-stage HCC. Hence, alternative approaches are required to improve detection and enhance the efficacy of current treatment options. Nanotheranostic platforms, which utilize biocompatible nanoparticles to perform both diagnostics and targeted delivery, has been considered a potential approach for cancer management in the past few decades. Advancement of nanomaterials and biomedical engineering techniques has led to rapid expansion of the nanotheranostics field, allowing for more sensitive and specific diagnosis, real-time monitoring of drug delivery, and enhanced treatment efficacies across various malignancies. The focus of this review is on the applications of nanotheranostics for HCC. The review first explores the current epidemiology and the commonly encountered obstacles in HCC diagnosis and treatment. It then presents the current technological and functional advancements in nanotheranostic technology for cancer in general, and then specifically explores the use of nanotheranostic modalities as a promising option to address the key challenges present in HCC management.

Nanomaterials for Deep Tumor Treatment

According to statistics, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. Thus, it is important to solve this medical and social problem by developing new effective methods for cancer treatment. An alternative to more well-known approaches, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, is photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is limited to the shallow tissue penetration (< 1 cm) of visible light. Since the PDT process can be initiated in deep tissues by X-ray irradiation (X-ray induced PDT, or XPDT), it has a great potential to treat tumors in internal organs. The article discusses the principles of therapies. The main focus is on various nanoparticles used with or without photosensitizers, which allow the conversion of X-ray irradiation into UV-visible light. Much attention is given to the synthesis of nanoparticles and analysis of their characteristics, such as size and spectral features. The results of in vitro and in vivo experiments are also discussed.

Delivery of cancer therapies by synthetic and bio-inspired nanovectors

BACKGROUND

As a complement to the clinical development of new anticancer molecules, innovations in therapeutic vectorization aim at solving issues related to tumor specificity and associated toxicities. Nanomedicine is a rapidly evolving field that offers various solutions to increase clinical efficacy and safety. MAIN: Here are presented the recent advances for different types of nanovectors of chemical and biological nature, to identify the best suited for translational research projects. These nanovectors include different types of chemically engineered nanoparticles that now come in many different flavors of 'smart' drug delivery systems. Alternatives with enhanced biocompatibility and a better adaptability to new types of therapeutic molecules are the cell-derived extracellular vesicles and micro-organism-derived oncolytic viruses, virus-like particles and bacterial minicells. In the first part of the review, we describe their main physical, chemical and biological properties and their potential for personalized modifications. The second part focuses on presenting the recent literature on the use of the different families of nanovectors to deliver anticancer molecules for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, nucleic acid-based therapy, modulation of the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy.

CONCLUSION

This review will help the readers to better appreciate the complexity of available nanovectors and to identify the most fitting "type" for efficient and specific delivery of diverse anticancer therapies.

Radiolabeled Gold Nanoparticles for Imaging and Therapy of Cancer

In the Last decades, nanotechnology has provided novel and alternative methodologies and tools in the field of medical oncology, in order to tackle the issues regarding the control and treatment of cancer in modern society. In particular, the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in radiopharmaceutical development has provided various nanometric platforms for the delivery of medically relevant radioisotopes for SPECT/PET diagnosis and/or radionuclide therapy. In this review, we intend to provide insight on the methodologies used to obtain and characterize radiolabeled AuNPs while reporting relevant examples of AuNPs developed during the last decade for applications in nuclear imaging and/or radionuclide therapy, and highlighting the most significant preclinical studies and results.

Tumor-specific design of PEGylated gadolinium-based nanoscale particles: Facile synthesis, characterization, and improved magnetic resonance imaging of metastasis lung cancer

Herein we report the synthesis and characterization of the antifouling Gadolinium oxide (Gd₂O₃) nanoparticles (NPs) modified with PEG with improved biocompatibility for MR imaging purposes. In this report, using the solvothermal decomposition of Gadolinium (III) in the presence of Na₃cit, monitored by surface modification with PEG and L-Cys. The synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed by the TEM, DLS and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The morphological results show normal distance across of the flawless Gd₂O₃-PEG-Cys-NPs show 7.9 ± 0.4 nm, discretely, with a thin size exchange. This infers the surface adjustment does not obviously alteration the center size of the Gd₂O₃-NPs when contrasted with the perfect sodium citrate-balanced out Gd₂O₃-NPs. The Gd₂O₃-PEG-L-Cys-NPs are highly stable at room temperature, water dispersible and importantly less cytotoxic at high concentration of the NPs. The T₁-weighted MR phantasm readings evidentially displayed that the formed PEG coated Gd₂O₃-PEG and Gd₂O₃-PEG-Cys-NPs with and without Cys may be performed as the promising T₁-weighted MR imaging. The NPs displays no signs of toxicity against the human blood, which represents the biocompatibility for the human medicine applications. The Gd₂O₃-PEG-Cys-NPs shows relatively, high r₁ acceptable cytocompatibility, target specific cancer cells and activate the dual mode MR imaging of lung metastasis cancer model in vitro. The development of versatile zwitterion functionalized Gd₂O₃ may be promising as an active nanoparticle probe for improved multi-model of MR imaging agents for various cancer diseases.