scholarly journals Ultra-sensitive measurement of brain penetration mechanics and blood vessel rupture with microscale probes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulmalik Obaid ◽  
Yu-Wei Wu ◽  
Mina Hanna ◽  
Omar Jáidar ◽  
William Nix ◽  
...  

AbstractMicroscale electrodes, on the order of 10-100 μm, are rapidly becoming critical tools for neuroscience and brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) for their high channel counts and spatial resolution, yet the mechanical details of how probes at this scale insert into brain tissue are largely unknown. Here, we performed quantitative measurements of the force and compression mechanics together with real-time microscopy for in vivo insertion of a systematic series of microelectrode probes as a function of diameter (7.5–100 μm and rectangular Neuropixels) and tip geometry (flat, angled, and electrochemically sharpened). Results elucidated the role of tip geometry, surface forces, and mechanical scaling with diameter. Surprisingly, the insertion force post-pia penetration was constant with distance and did not depend on tip shape. Real-time microscopy revealed that at small enough lengthscales (<25 μm), blood vessel rupture and bleeding during implantation could be entirely avoided. This appears to occur via vessel displacement, avoiding capture on the probe surface which led to elongation and tearing for larger probes. We propose a new, three-zone model to account for the probe size dependence of bleeding, and provide mechanistic guidance for probe design.

Author(s):  
Adam Power ◽  
Asha Parekh ◽  
Tyler Beveridge ◽  
Adam Groh ◽  
Laura J Moore

Background: REBOA is an emerging technique in trauma. However, inadvertent iliac artery balloon inflation can lead to complications. This study aims to investigate the safety characteristics of the COBRA-OS™ compared to a 7 Fr commercially available device during purposeful iliac artery balloon overinflation. Methods:  In vitro: the COBRA-OS™ was inflated in explanted porcine iliac arteries and intentionally overinflated until balloon or vessel rupture occurred. In vivo: the COBRA-OS™ and 7 Fr device were deployed in the iliac arteries and intentionally overinflated until rupture of the balloon or blood vessel. Results: In vitro: an average volume of 1mL was required for occlusion using the COBRA-OS™ and the mean balloon rupture volume was 32.5mL. The COBRA-OS™ partially migrated into the aorta in all cases. In vivo: the COBRA-OS™ and 7 Fr device occluded the iliac arteries with a mean volume of 3.5 mL.  Overinflation resulted in no iliac ruptures with the COBRA-OS™ (mean balloon rupture volume = 10mL). Overinflation with the 7 Fr device resulted in 1 iliac rupture at 5mL. The other two 7 Fr devices had a mean balloon rupture volume of 5 mL. All COBRA-OS™ devices moved partially up into the aorta during inflation while all 7 Fr devices remained in the iliac artery. Conclusions: The COBRA-OS™ allows for significant overinflation when deployed in the common iliac artery of a porcine model due to its unique design. This ultimately may help to prevent balloon and blood vessel rupture during clinical use, however further studies are required.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debayan Dasgupta ◽  
Dharma Pally ◽  
Deepak K. Saini ◽  
Ramray Bhat ◽  
Ambarish Ghosh

The dissemination of cancer is brought about by continuous interaction of malignant cells with their surrounding tissue microenvironment. Understanding and quantifying the remodeling of local extracellular matrix (ECM) by invading cells can therefore provide fundamental insights into the dynamics of cancer dissemination. In this paper, we use an active and untethered nanomechanical tool, realized as magnetically driven nanorobots, to locally probe a 3D tissue culture microenvironment consisting of cancerous and non-cancerous epithelia, embedded within reconstituted basement membrane (rBM) matrix. Our assay is designed to mimic the in vivo histopathological milieu of a malignant breast tumor. We find that nanorobots preferentially adhere to the ECM near cancer cells: this is due to the distinct charge conditions of the cancer-remodeled ECM. Surprisingly, quantitative measurements estimate that the adhesive force increases with the metastatic ability of cancer cell lines, while the spatial extent of the remodeled ECM was measured to be approximately 40 μm for all cancer cell lines studied here. We hypothesized and experimentally confirmed that specific sialic acid linkages specific to cancer-secreted ECM may be a major contributing factor in determining this adhesive behavior. The findings reported here can lead to promising applications in cancer diagnosis, quantification of cancer aggression, in vivo drug delivery applications, and establishes the tremendous potential of magnetic nanorobots for fundamental studies of cancer biomechanics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 567-574
Author(s):  
Huck Jun Hong ◽  
Suw Young Ly

Background: Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a biosynthesized neurotoxin that exhibits powerful anticancer and analgesic abilities by inhibiting voltage-gated sodium channels that are crucial for cancer metastasis and pain delivery. However, for the toxin’s future medical applications to come true, accurate, inexpensive, and real-time in vivo detection of TTX remains as a fundamental step. Methods: In this study, highly purified TTX extracted from organs of Takifugu rubripes was injected and detected in vivo of mouse organs (liver, heart, and intestines) using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Square Wave Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (SWASV) for the first time. In vivo detection of TTX was performed with auxiliary, reference, and working herring sperm DNA-immobilized carbon nanotube sensor systems. Results: DNA-immobilization and optimization of amplitude (V), stripping time (sec), increment (mV), and frequency (Hz) parameters for utilized sensors amplified detected peak currents, while highly sensitive in vivo detection limits, 3.43 µg L-1 for CV and 1.21 µg L-1 for SWASV, were attained. Developed sensors herein were confirmed to be more sensitive and selective than conventional graphite rodelectrodes modified likewise. A linear relationship was observed between injected TTX concentration and anodic spike peak height. Microscopic examination displayed coagulation and abnormalities in mouse organs, confirming the powerful neurotoxicity of extracted TTX. Conclusion: These results established the diagnostic measures for TTX detection regarding in vivo application of neurotoxin-deviated anticancer agents and analgesics, as well as TTX from food poisoning and environmental contamination.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusaku Hontani ◽  
Mikhail Baloban ◽  
Francisco Velazquez Escobar ◽  
Swetta A. Jansen ◽  
Daria M. Shcherbakova ◽  
...  

AbstractNear-infrared fluorescent proteins (NIR FPs) engineered from bacterial phytochromes are widely used for structural and functional deep-tissue imaging in vivo. To fluoresce, NIR FPs covalently bind a chromophore, such as biliverdin IXa tetrapyrrole. The efficiency of biliverdin binding directly affects the fluorescence properties, rendering understanding of its molecular mechanism of major importance. miRFP proteins constitute a family of bright monomeric NIR FPs that comprise a Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) and cGMP-specific phosphodiesterases - Adenylyl cyclases - FhlA (GAF) domain. Here, we structurally analyze biliverdin binding to miRFPs in real time using time-resolved stimulated Raman spectroscopy and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations. Biliverdin undergoes isomerization, localization to its binding pocket, and pyrrolenine nitrogen protonation in <1 min, followed by hydrogen bond rearrangement in ~2 min. The covalent attachment to a cysteine in the GAF domain was detected in 4.3 min and 19 min in miRFP670 and its C20A mutant, respectively. In miRFP670, a second C–S covalent bond formation to a cysteine in the PAS domain occurred in 14 min, providing a rigid tetrapyrrole structure with high brightness. Our findings provide insights for the rational design of NIR FPs and a novel method to assess cofactor binding to light-sensitive proteins.


Angiogenesis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delphine M. Lees ◽  
Louise E. Reynolds ◽  
Ana Rita Pedrosa ◽  
Marina Roy-Luzarraga ◽  
Kairbaan M. Hodivala-Dilke

AbstractFocal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase that is overexpressed in many cancer types and in vivo studies have shown that vascular endothelial cell FAK expression and FAK-phosphorylation at tyrosine (Y) 397, and subsequently FAK-Y861, are important in tumour angiogenesis. Pericytes also play a vital role in regulating tumour blood vessel stabilisation, but the specific involvement of pericyte FAK-Y397 and FAK-Y861 phosphorylation in tumour blood vessels is unknown. Using PdgfrβCre + ;FAKWT/WT, PdgfrβCre + ;FAKY397F/Y397F and PdgfrβCre + ;FAKY861F/Y861F mice, our data demonstrate that tumour growth, tumour blood vessel density, blood vessel perfusion and pericyte coverage were affected only in late stage tumours in PdgfrβCre + ;FAKY861F/Y861F but not PdgfrβCre + ;FAKY397F/Y397F mice. Further examination indicates a dual role for pericyte FAK-Y861 phosphorylation in the regulation of tumour vessel regression and also in the control of pericyte derived signals that influence apoptosis in cancer cells. Overall this study identifies the role of pericyte FAK-Y861 in the regulation of tumour vessel regression and tumour growth control and that non-phosphorylatable FAK-Y861F in pericytes reduces tumour growth and blood vessel density.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi S. Sta Maria ◽  
Leslie A. Khawli ◽  
Vyshnavi Pachipulusu ◽  
Sharon W. Lin ◽  
Long Zheng ◽  
...  

AbstractQuantitative in vivo monitoring of cell biodistribution offers assessment of treatment efficacy in real-time and can provide guidance for further optimization of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified cell therapy. We evaluated the utility of a non-invasive, serial 89Zr-oxine PET imaging to assess optimal dosing for huLym-1-A-BB3z-CAR T-cell directed to Lym-1-positive Raji lymphoma xenograft in NOD Scid-IL2Rgammanull (NSG) mice. In vitro experiments showed no detrimental effects in cell health and function following 89Zr-oxine labeling. In vivo experiments employed simultaneous PET/MRI of Raji-bearing NSG mice on day 0 (3 h), 1, 2, and 5 after intravenous administration of low (1.87 ± 0.04 × 106 cells), middle (7.14 ± 0.45 × 106 cells), or high (16.83 ± 0.41 × 106 cells) cell dose. Biodistribution (%ID/g) in regions of interests defined over T1-weighted MRI, such as blood, bone, brain, liver, lungs, spleen, and tumor, were analyzed from PET images. Escalating doses of CAR T-cells resulted in dose-dependent %ID/g biodistributions in all regions. Middle and High dose groups showed significantly higher tumor %ID/g compared to Low dose group on day 2. Tumor-to-blood ratios showed the enhanced extravascular tumor uptake by day 2 in the Low dose group, while the Middle dose showed significant tumor accumulation starting on day 1 up to day 5. From these data obtained over time, it is apparent that intravenously administered CAR T-cells become trapped in the lung for 3–5 h and then migrate to the liver and spleen for up to 2–3 days. This surprising biodistribution data may be responsible for the inactivation of these cells before targeting solid tumors. Ex vivo biodistributions confirmed in vivo PET-derived biodistributions. According to these studies, we conclude that in vivo serial PET imaging with 89Zr-oxine labeled CAR T-cells provides real-time monitoring of biodistributions crucial for interpreting efficacy and guiding treatment in patient care.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2605
Author(s):  
Ashley Novais ◽  
Carlos Calaza ◽  
José Fernandes ◽  
Helder Fonseca ◽  
Patricia Monteiro ◽  
...  

Multisite neural probes are a fundamental tool to study brain function. Hybrid silicon/polymer neural probes combine rigid silicon and flexible polymer parts into one single device and allow, for example, the precise integration of complex probe geometries, such as multishank designs, with flexible biocompatible cabling. Despite these advantages and benefiting from highly reproducible fabrication methods on both silicon and polymer substrates, they have not been widely available. This paper presents the development, fabrication, characterization, and in vivo electrophysiological assessment of a hybrid multisite multishank silicon probe with a monolithically integrated polyimide flexible interconnect cable. The fabrication process was optimized at wafer level, and several neural probes with 64 gold electrode sites equally distributed along 8 shanks with an integrated 8 µm thick highly flexible polyimide interconnect cable were produced. The monolithic integration of the polyimide cable in the same fabrication process removed the necessity of the postfabrication bonding of the cable to the probe. This is the highest electrode site density and thinnest flexible cable ever reported for a hybrid silicon/polymer probe. Additionally, to avoid the time-consuming bonding of the probe to definitive packaging, the flexible cable was designed to terminate in a connector pad that can mate with commercial zero-insertion force (ZIF) connectors for electronics interfacing. This allows great experimental flexibility because interchangeable packaging can be used according to experimental demands. High-density distributed in vivo electrophysiological recordings were obtained from the hybrid neural probes with low intrinsic noise and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).


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