New Approaches in Breast Cancer Therapy Through Green Nanotechnology and Nano-Ayurvedic Medicine - Pre-Clinical and Pilot Human Clinical Investigations

PURPOSE

The overarching objective of this investigation was to investigate the intervention of green nanotechnology to transform the ancient holistic Ayurvedic medicine scientifically credible through reproducible formulations and rigorous pre-clinical/clinical evaluations.

METHODS

We provide, herein, full details: (i) on the discovery and full characterization of gold nanoparticles-based Nano Swarna Bhasma (henceforth referred to as NSB drug); (ii) In vitro anti-tumor properties of NSB drug in breast tumor cells; (iii) pre-clinical therapeutic efficacy studies of NSB drug in breast tumor bearing SCID mice through oral delivery protocols and (iv) first results of clinical translation, from mice to human breast cancer patients, through pilot human clinical trials, conducted according to the Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (abbreviated as AYUSH) regulatory guidelines of the Government of India in metastatic breast cancer patients.

RESULTS

The preclinical in vitro and in vivo investigations, in breast tumor bearing mice, established unequivocally that the NSB Nano-Ayurvedic medicine-gold nanoparticles-based drug is highly effective in controlling the growth of breast tumors in a dose dependent fashion in vivo. These encouraging pre-clinical results prompted us to seek permission from the Indian Government's holistic medicine approval authority, AYUSH, for conducting clinical trials in human patients. Patients treated with the NSB drug capsules along with the "standard of care treatment" (Arm B) exhibited 100% clinical benefits when compared to patients in the treatment Arm A, thus indicating the tremendous clinical benefits of NSB drug in adjuvant therapy.

CONCLUSION

We have succeeded in clinically translating, from mice to humans, in using proprietary combinations of gold nanoparticles and phytochemicals to develop the Nano-Ayurvedic drug: Nano Swarna Bhasma (NSB), through innovative green nanotechnology, for treating human metastatic breast cancer patients.

Joint Formation Control with Obstacle Avoidance of Towfish and Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Based on Graph Theory and the Null-Space-Based Method

In this study, a new joint formation combined with a two-part underwater towed vehicle (towfish) with multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) was investigated. A triangular structure formation was established based on graph theory, in which the main point is the secondary towed vehicle acting as the “leader,” and the other two points are AUVs acting as “followers.” The excellent real-time performance and high flexibility of the towfish is highlighted, and the communication delay and fixed routine of AUVs can be avoided simultaneously. As to the obstacle avoidance, the null-space-based behavioral approach is proposed. On the basis of this approach, the formation task moving to the target is decomposed into different subtasks, and the obstacle avoidance subtask is set as the highest priority. The vector of the low-level task is projected to the null space of the high-level task vector, and the integrated task output is used as the final output function. The low-level task is partially or completely accomplished while handling the higher task; therefore, the mutual conflict between different level targets can be avoided. Moreover, the corresponding task functions are designed in accordance with different subtask priorities. The comprehensive output function of formation motion is deduced and established to ensure that obstacles can be avoided effectively. Furthermore, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method in a complex underwater environment with obstacles.

Beyond counts and shapes: studying pathology of dendritic spines in the context of the surrounding neuropil through serial section electron microscopy

Because dendritic spines are the sites of excitatory synapses, pathological changes in spine morphology should be considered as part of pathological changes in neuronal circuitry in the forms of synaptic connections and connectivity strength. In the past, spine pathology has usually been measured by changes in their number or shape. A more complete understanding of spine pathology requires visualization at the nanometer level to analyze how the changes in number and size affect their presynaptic partners and associated astrocytic processes, as well as organelles and other intracellular structures. Currently, serial section electron microscopy (ssEM) offers the best approach to address this issue because of its ability to image the volume of brain tissue at the nanometer resolution. Renewed interest in ssEM has led to recent technological advances in imaging techniques and improvements in computational tools indispensable for three-dimensional analyses of brain tissue volumes. Here we consider the small but growing literature that has used ssEM analysis to unravel ultrastructural changes in neuropil including dendritic spines. These findings have implications in altered synaptic connectivity and cell biological processes involved in neuropathology, and serve as anatomical substrates for understanding changes in network activity that may underlie clinical symptoms.