Spatial-temporal analysis of nanoparticles in live tumor spheroids impacted by cell origin and density

Nanoparticles hold great preclinical promise in cancer therapy but continue to suffer attrition through clinical trials. Advanced, three dimensional (3D) cellular models such as tumor spheroids can recapitulate elements of the tumor environment and are considered the superior model to evaluate nanoparticle designs. However, there is an important need to better understand nanoparticle penetration kinetics and determine how different cell characteristics may influence this nanoparticle uptake. A key challenge with current approaches for measuring nanoparticle accumulation in spheroids is that they are often static, losing spatial and temporal information which may be necessary for effective nanoparticle evaluation in 3D cell models. To overcome this challenge, we developed an analysis platform, termed the Determination of Nanoparticle Uptake in Tumor Spheroids (DONUTS), which retains spatial and temporal information during quantification, enabling evaluation of nanoparticle uptake in 3D tumor spheroids. Outperforming linear profiling methods, DONUTS was able to measure silica nanoparticle uptake to 10 μm accuracy in both isotropic and irregularly shaped cancer cell spheroids. This was then extended to determine penetration kinetics, first by a forward-in-time, center-in-space model, and then by mathematical modelling, which enabled the direct evaluation of nanoparticle penetration kinetics in different spheroid models. Nanoparticle uptake was shown to inversely relate to particle size and varied depending on the cell type, cell stiffness and density of the spheroid model. The automated analysis method we have developed can be applied to live spheroids in situ, for the advanced evaluation of nanoparticles as delivery agents in cancer therapy.

Microdialysis on Ex Vivo Porcine Ear Skin Can Validly Study Dermal Penetration including the Fraction of Transfollicular Penetration—Demonstrated on Caffeine Nanocrystals

Common ex vivo methods for penetration investigations often fail to monitor transfollicular penetration appropriately. In the present investigation, the validity of dermal microdialysis on the ex vivo porcine ear skin to investigate penetration kinetics, including transfollicular penetration, was studied. In setup A, a caffeine nanocrystal formulation was compared to a non-particular caffeine gel formulation. In setup B, two caffeine nanocrystal formulations of different sizes (200 nm, 700 nm) were compared to each other. Microdialysis samples were collected for 46 h. After sampling, the skin layers were separated, homogenized, and caffeine was quantified in all samples. In setup A the area under the curve (AUC) after crystal gel formulation application was 12 times higher than after non-particular formulation application. Setup B showed an increased AUC of 42% in the microdialysis data when the 700 nm caffeine crystals were applied compared to the 200 nm crystals. The microdialysis data was supported by the separation, homogenization and extraction data. Microdialysis performed on ex vivo porcine ear skin is a novel experimental setup. It is of high interest for further investigations since it is able to also capture the impact of follicular and transfollicular penetration kinetics as no other ex vivo setup can.

Wettability investigation of stainless steel fibers with mineral oils using the modified method for liquid penetration kinetics

The modified Washburn equation and the lipophilic/hydrophilic (L/H) ratio are most commonly used for the wettability characterization of fibers. Therefore, this liquid penetration method was applied for the wettability investigation of stainless steel fibers with mineral oils and the lipophilic/hydrophilic (L/H) ratio was obtained. As test liquids mineral oils and water were used. It was found that the range of L/H ratio values was vastly broad (from 1048340 to 37802) concluding that this liquid penetration method was not suitable for these particular fibers. Consequently, in this study a modified method was developed defining a novel route to filter media wettability characterization and establishing the lipophilic/lyophobic ratio (LLR). As the new reference liquid the medical, white oil was selected. By using polar mineral oils the interval of the LLR ratio for stainless steel fibers ranged from 1 to 28. It can be concluded that the suggested LLR ratio, was adequately selected as a measure of wettability for stainless steel fibers with mineral oils. The LLR ratio exponentially increased with the increase of the neutralization number and viscosity of investigated mineral oils.