Single-layer boron-doped graphene quantum dots for contrast-enhanced in vivo T-weighted MRI.

Gadolinium (Gd)-based chelates are used as clinical T contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) due to their demonstrated high sensitivity and positive contrast enhancement capability. However, there has been an increasing safety concern about their use in medicine because of the toxicity of the metal ions released from these contrast agents when used in vivo. Although significant effort has been made in developing metal-free MRI contrast agents, none have matched the magnetic properties achieved by the gold standard clinical contrast agent, Gd diethylene penta-acetic acid (Gd-DTPA).

Nitrogen and Boron Dual-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots for Near-Infrared Second Window Imaging and Photothermal Therapy.

Fluorescence imaging of biological systems in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) has recently drawn much attention because of its negligible background noise of autofluorescence and low tissue scattering. Here we present a new NIR-II fluorescent agent, graphene quantum dots dual-doped with both nitrogen and boron (N-B-GQDs). N-B-GQDs have an ultra-small size (~ 5 nm), are highly stable in serum, and demonstrate a peak fluorescent emission at 1000 nm and high photostability.

Biconcave Carbon Nanodisks for Enhanced Drug Accumulation and Chemo-Photothermal Tumor Therapy.

It is considered a significant challenge to construct nanocarriers that have high drug loading capacity and can overcome physiological barriers to deliver efficacious amounts of drugs to solid tumors. Here, the development of a safe, biconcave carbon nanodisk to address this challenge for treating breast cancer is reported. The nanodisk demonstrates fluorescent imaging capability, an exceedingly high loading capacity (947.

Loss of FHIT expression in breast cancer is correlated with poor prognostic markers.

Objective: The fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene is a putative tumor suppressor gene that is thought to be involved in the carcinogenesis of breast cancer. Loss of FHIT expression has been observed in up to 72% of breast cancers and has been associated with increased p53, a high proliferation index, and increased tumor size and grade. However, loss of FHIT expression has not been investigated in association with apoptosis and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in breast cancer.

Correlation of Bcl-2 and p53 expression in primary breast tumors and corresponding metastatic lymph nodes.

Background: The p53 tumor suppressor gene product participated in G1 cell cycle arrest or cell death. Loss of function was associated with poor outcome in patients with breast carcinoma. bcl-2 prevented apoptosis induced by c-myc or growth factor deprivation.