scholarly journals Image-guided Non-invasive Ultrasonic Thrombolysis Using Histotripsy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Xu

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), clot formation in the deep veins in the legs, affects two million Americans annually. Clinical DVT treatments include thrombolytic drugs and catheter-based surgical procedures. Both methods have significant drawbacks, such as excessive bleeding and invasiveness. Guided by ultrasound imaging, histotripsy is a non-invasive cavitation-based ultrasound therapy that fractionates tissue. Using our laboratory prototype, histotripsy fractionated in vitro clots into debris smaller than red blood cells at a speed an order of magnitude faster than clinical thrombolysis methods. Using an in vivo porcine DVT model, histotripsy non-invasively eradicated the thrombus in 10 of 12 cases. We have designed and constructed an integrated ultrasound image-guided histotripsy thrombolysis system based on human DVT patient data. We propose a comprehensive pre-clinical study to determine the safety and efficacy of this clinically designed histotripsy system in a porcine DVT model. The proposed study is critical to advancing the clinical translation of this new technology to improve the standard of care for DVT patients.

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Victoria O. Shipunova ◽  
Vera L. Kovalenko ◽  
Polina A. Kotelnikova ◽  
Anna S. Sogomonyan ◽  
Olga N. Shilova ◽  
...  

The development of non-invasive photothermal therapy (PTT) methods utilizing nanoparticles as sensitizers is one of the most promising directions in modern oncology. Nanoparticles loaded with photothermal dyes are capable of delivering a sufficient amount of a therapeutic substance and releasing it with the desired kinetics in vivo. However, the effectiveness of oncotherapy methods, including PTT, is often limited due to poor penetration of sensitizers into the tumor, especially into solid tumors of epithelial origin characterized by tight cellular junctions. In this work, we synthesized 200 nm nanoparticles from the biocompatible copolymer of lactic and glycolic acid, PLGA, loaded with magnesium phthalocyanine, PLGA/Pht-Mg. The PLGA/Pht-Mg particles under the irradiation with NIR light (808 nm), heat the surrounding solution by 40 °C. The effectiveness of using such particles for cancer cells elimination was demonstrated in 2D culture in vitro and in our original 3D model with multicellular spheroids possessing tight cell contacts. It was shown that the mean inhibitory concentration of such nanoparticles upon light irradiation for 15 min worsens by more than an order of magnitude: IC50 increases from 3 µg/mL for 2D culture vs. 117 µg/mL for 3D culture. However, when using the JO-4 intercellular junction opener protein, which causes a short epithelial–mesenchymal transition and transiently opens intercellular junctions in epithelial cells, the efficiency of nanoparticles in 3D culture was comparable or even outperforming that for 2D (IC50 = 1.9 µg/mL with JO-4). Synergy in the co-administration of PTT nanosensitizers and JO-4 protein was found to retain in vivo using orthotopic tumors of BALB/c mice: we demonstrated that the efficiency in the delivery of such nanoparticles to the tumor is 2.5 times increased when PLGA/Pht-Mg nanoparticles are administered together with JO-4. Thus the targeting the tumor cell junctions can significantly increase the performance of PTT nanosensitizers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (28) ◽  
pp. 3020-3027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mir W. Sekandarzad ◽  
Chris Doornebal ◽  
Markus W. Hollmann

: Opioids remain the standard of care in the provision of analgesia in the patient undergoing cancer surgery preoperatively. : The effects of opioids on tumor growth and metastasis have been discussed for many years. In recent years their use as part of the perioperative pain management bundle in the patients undergoing cancer surgery has been thought to promote cancer recurrence and metastasis. : This narrative review highlights earlier and more recent in vitro, in vivo and human retrospective studies that yield conflicting results as to the immune-modulatory effects of morphine on tumor biology. The article examines and explains the discrepancies with regards to the seemingly opposite results of morphine in the tumor milieu. The results of both, earlier studies that demonstrated procarcinogenic effects versus the data of more recent refined rodent studies that yielded neutral or even anti-carcinogenic effects are presented here. : Until the results of prospective randomized controlled trials are available to clarify this important question, it is currently not warranted to support opiophobia and opioids continue to constitute a pivotal role in the pain management of cancer patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Ma ◽  
Jing Sun ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Yang Feng ◽  
Yao Sun ◽  
...  

AbstractThe development of biomedical glues is an important, yet challenging task as seemingly mutually exclusive properties need to be combined in one material, i.e. strong adhesion and adaption to remodeling processes in healing tissue. Here, we report a biocompatible and biodegradable protein-based adhesive with high adhesion strengths. The maximum strength reaches 16.5 ± 2.2 MPa on hard substrates, which is comparable to that of commercial cyanoacrylate superglue and higher than other protein-based adhesives by at least one order of magnitude. Moreover, the strong adhesion on soft tissues qualifies the adhesive as biomedical glue outperforming some commercial products. Robust mechanical properties are realized without covalent bond formation during the adhesion process. A complex consisting of cationic supercharged polypeptides and anionic aromatic surfactants with lysine to surfactant molar ratio of 1:0.9 is driven by multiple supramolecular interactions enabling such strong adhesion. We demonstrate the glue’s robust performance in vitro and in vivo for cosmetic and hemostasis applications and accelerated wound healing by comparison to surgical wound closures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Skaidre Jankovskaja ◽  
Johan Engblom ◽  
Melinda Rezeli ◽  
György Marko-Varga ◽  
Tautgirdas Ruzgas ◽  
...  

AbstractThe tryptophan to kynurenine ratio (Trp/Kyn) has been proposed as a cancer biomarker. Non-invasive topical sampling of Trp/Kyn can therefore serve as a promising concept for skin cancer diagnostics. By performing in vitro pig skin permeability studies, we conclude that non-invasive topical sampling of Trp and Kyn is feasible. We explore the influence of different experimental conditions, which are relevant for the clinical in vivo setting, such as pH variations, sampling time, and microbial degradation of Trp and Kyn. The permeabilities of Trp and Kyn are overall similar. However, the permeated Trp/Kyn ratio is generally higher than unity due to endogenous Trp, which should be taken into account to obtain a non-biased Trp/Kyn ratio accurately reflecting systemic concentrations. Additionally, prolonged sampling time is associated with bacterial Trp and Kyn degradation and should be considered in a clinical setting. Finally, the experimental results are supported by the four permeation pathways model, predicting that the hydrophilic Trp and Kyn molecules mainly permeate through lipid defects (i.e., the porous pathway). However, the hydrophobic indole ring of Trp is suggested to result in a small but noticeable relative increase of Trp diffusion via pathways across the SC lipid lamellae, while the shunt pathway is proposed to slightly favor permeation of Kyn relative to Trp.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii98-ii98
Author(s):  
Anne Marie Barrette ◽  
Alexandros Bouras ◽  
German Nudelman ◽  
Zarmeen Mussa ◽  
Elena Zaslavsky ◽  
...  

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) remains an incurable disease, in large part due to its malignant infiltrative spread, and current clinical therapy fails to target the invasive nature of tumor cells in disease progression and recurrence. Here, we use the YAP-TEAD inhibitor Verteporfin to target a convergence point for regulating tumor invasion/metastasis and establish the robust anti-invasive therapeutic efficacy of this FDA-approved drug and its survival benefit across several preclinical glioma models. Using patient-derived GBM cells and orthotopic xenograft models (PDX), we show that Verteporfin treatment disrupts YAP/TAZ-TEAD activity and processes related to cell adhesion, migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In-vitro, Verteporfin impairs tumor migration, invasion and motility dynamics. In-vivo, intraperitoneal administration of Verteporfin in mice with orthotopic PDX tumors shows consistent drug accumulation within the brain and decreased infiltrative tumor burden, across three independent experiments. Interestingly, PDX tumors with impaired invasion after Verteporfin treatment downregulate CDH2 and ITGB1 adhesion protein levels within the tumor microenvironment. Finally, Verteporfin treatment confers survival benefit in two independent PDX models: as monotherapy in de-novo GBM and in combination with standard-of-care chemoradiation in recurrent GBM. These findings indicate potential therapeutic value of this FDA-approved drug if repurposed for GBM patients.


2002 ◽  
Vol 364 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth J.O. EVANS ◽  
Alan MORGAN

The secretory vesicle cysteine string proteins (CSPs) are members of the DnaJ family of chaperones, and function at late stages of Ca2+-regulated exocytosis by an unknown mechanism. To determine novel binding partners of CSPs, we employed a pull-down strategy from purified rat brain membrane or cytosolic proteins using recombinant hexahistidine-tagged (His6-)CSP. Western blotting of the CSP-binding proteins identified synaptotagmin I to be a putative binding partner. Furthermore, pull-down assays using cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA)-phosphorylated CSP recovered significantly less synaptotagmin. Complexes containing CSP and synaptotagmin were immunoprecipitated from rat brain membranes, further suggesting that these proteins interact in vivo. Binding assays in vitro using recombinant proteins confirmed a direct interaction between the two proteins and demonstrated that the PKA-phosphorylated form of CSP binds synaptotagmin with approximately an order of magnitude lower affinity than the non-phosphorylated form. Genetic studies have implicated each of these proteins in the Ca2+-dependency of exocytosis and, since CSP does not bind Ca2+, this novel interaction might explain the Ca2+-dependent actions of CSP.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 890-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Artzi ◽  
Nuria Oliva ◽  
Cristina Puron ◽  
Sagi Shitreet ◽  
Shay Artzi ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (32) ◽  
pp. 6948-6951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfeng Zhang ◽  
Qian Yin ◽  
Jonathan Yen ◽  
Joanne Li ◽  
Hanze Ying ◽  
...  

Anin vitroandin vivodrug-reporting system is developed for real-time monitoring of drug release via the analysis of the concurrently released near-infrared fluorescence dye.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Cindrova-Davies ◽  
Xiaohui Zhao ◽  
Kay Elder ◽  
Carolyn J. P. Jones ◽  
Ashley Moffett ◽  
...  

AbstractAssessment of the endometrium often necessitates a biopsy, which currently involves an invasive, transcervical procedure. Here, we present an alternative technique based on deriving organoids from menstrual flow. We demonstrate that organoids can be derived from gland fragments recovered from menstrual flow. To confirm they faithfully reflect the in vivo state we compared organoids derived from paired scratch biopsies and ensuing menstrual flow from patients undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF). We demonstrate that the two sets of organoids share the same transcriptome signature, derivation efficiency and proliferation rate. Furthermore, they respond similarly to sex steroids and early-pregnancy hormones, with changes in morphology, receptor expression, and production of ‘uterine milk’ proteins that mimic those during the late-secretory phase and early pregnancy. This technique has wide-ranging impact for non-invasive investigation and personalised approaches to treatment of common gynaecological conditions, such as endometriosis, and reproductive disorders, including failed implantation after IVF and recurrent miscarriage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii9-ii9
Author(s):  
Tamara Lah Turnsek ◽  
Barbara Breznik ◽  
Bernarda Majc ◽  
Metka Novak ◽  
Andrej Porčnik ◽  
...  

Abstract Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential molecular and cellular process in physiologic processes and invasion of various types of carcinoma and glioblastoma (GBM) cells. EMT is activated and regulated by specific endogenous triggers in complex network of intercellular interactions and signaling pathways. The hallmark of cancer-linked EMT are intermediate states that show notable cell plasticity, characteristic of cancer stem cells (CSCs), including glioblastoma stem cells – GSCs. GSCs resistance to irradiation (IR) and temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy is responsible for early relapses, even at distant brain sites. As GSCs are mostly homing to their “niches” as slowly-dividing GSC-subtype, mimicking a proneural-like non- invasive phenotype PN-genotype, we assume that this, by undergoing an EMT-like transition, GSCs are-reprogrammed to an invasive mesenchymal (MES) GBs/GSCs phenotype in a processes, called PMT (1). However, it is not known, if and by which environmental cues within the niche, this transition of GSCs is induced in vivo. In this work, we are presenting the transriptome data obtained when we exposed GSC spheroids to irradiation alone, TMZ alone and to the combined treatment in vitro and compared their differential genetic fingerprints related to EMT/PMT transition to the GSCs PMT transition, when embedded in their natural microenvironment in the GBM organoid model. The differential gene expression upon GSCs therapeutic perturbation (when alone and vs in the tumoroid microenvironment) will reveal the effects of the major candidate genes, associated with micronevironmendt stromal cells and matrix are contributing their observed EMT/PMT transition of GSCs in vivo. •1. Majc, B., Sever, T., Zarić, M, Breznik, B., Turk, B, Lah Turnšek, T. Epithelial- to-mesenchymal transition as the driver of changing carcinoma and glioblastoma microenvironment. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118782


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