Despite the success of polyethylene glycol-based (PEGylated) polyesters in the drug delivery and biomedical fields, concerns have arisen regarding PEG's immunogenicity and limited biodegradability. In addition, inherent limitations, including limited chemical handles as well as highly hydrophobic nature, can restrict their effectiveness in physiological conditions of the polyester counterpart. To address these matters, an increasing amount of research has been focused towards identifying alternatives to PEG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The avidity of the T-cell receptor (TCR) for antigenic peptides presented by the MHC (pMHC) on cells is an essential parameter for efficient T cell-mediated immunity. Yet, whether the TCR-ligand avidity can drive the clonal evolution of virus antigen-specific CD8 T cells, and how this process is determined in latent Cytomegalovirus (CMV)- against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-mediated infection remains largely unknown.
Methods: To address these issues, we quantified monomeric TCR-pMHC dissociation rates on CMV- and EBV-specific individual TCRαβ clonotypes and polyclonal CD8 T cell populations in healthy donors over a follow-up time of 15-18 years.
Polymersomes are an exciting modality for drug delivery due to their structural similarity to biological cells and their ability to encapsulate both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. In this regard, the current work aimed to develop multifunctional polymersomes, integrating dye (with hydrophobic Nile red and hydrophilic sulfo-cyanine5-NHS ester as model drugs) encapsulation, stimulus responsiveness, and surface-ligand modifications. Polymersomes constituting poly(-2-hydroxypropylmethacrylamide)--poly(-(2-(methylthio)ethyl)acrylamide) (PHPMAm--PMTEAM) are prepared by aqueous dispersion RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA new process, PMOFSA, is described here, that opens the way for the one-pot straightforward and versatile manufacture of polymer-MOF nanoparticles in water. It can be expected that this study will not only expand the scope of preparation of polymer-MOF nano-objects but also inspire researchers in the field to prepare a new generation of polymer-MOF hybrid materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSustainably derived poly(glycerol adipate) (PGA) has been deemed to deliver all the desirable features expected in a polymeric scaffold for drug-delivery, including biodegradability, biocompatibility, self-assembly into nanoparticles (NPs) and a functionalisable pendant group. Despite showing these advantages over commercial alkyl polyesters, PGA suffers from a series of key drawbacks caused by poor amphiphilic balance. This leads to weak drug-polymer interactions and subsequent low drug-loading in NPs, as well as low NPs stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Growing awareness about breast implant-related adverse events has stimulated the demand for large, independent data resources. For this, data from breast implant registries could be combined. However, that has never been achieved yet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall Extracellular Vesicles (sEVs) are 50-200 nm in diameter vesicles delimited by a lipid bilayer, formed within the endosomal network or derived from the plasma membrane. They are secreted in various biological fluids, including airway nasal mucus. The goal of this work was to understand the role of sEVs present in the mucus (mu-sEVs) produced by human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) in SARS-CoV-2 infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The French National Cancer Institute has developed, in partnership with the French National Authority for Health, breast cancer-specific Care Quality, and Safety Indicators (BC QIs). With regard to the most common form of cancer, our aim is to support local and national quality initiatives, to improve BC pathways and outcomes, reduce heterogeneity of practice and regional inequities. In this study, we measure the BC QIs available in the French National medico-administrative cancer database, the French Cancer Cohort, for 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypothesis: We describe the possibility of using the same block copolymer carriers prepared by PISA for in situ drug encapsulation or drug conjugation.
Experiments: Block copolymers containing poly((ethylene glycol) methacrylate)-co-poly(pentafluorophenyl methacrylate)-b-poly(hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (P((PEGMA-co-PFBMA)-b-PHPMA)) were synthesized at 10 wt% using PISA. The first approach involved in situ Doxorubicin (DOX) loading during PISA, while the second exhibited surface functionalization of PISA-made vesicles with dual drug therapies, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and DOX using para-fluoro-thiol reaction (PFTR) and carbodiimide chemistry, respectively.
Purpose: The treatment of breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer and cancer mortality among women worldwide, is mainly on the basis of surgery. In this study, we describe the use of a medical image visualization tool on the basis of virtual reality (VR), entitled DIVA, in the context of breast cancer tumor localization among surgeons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the speed and accuracy of surgeons using DIVA for medical image analysis of breast magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans relative to standard image slice-based visualization tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Tertiary centers recruit a large proportion of locally advanced or recurrent soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) that may have been preoperatively irradiated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of oncoplastic surgery (OPS) for patients affected by extremities or parietal trunk STS.
Materials And Methods: This retrospective study includes patients who underwent a flap reconstruction after sarcoma resection between January 2018 and December 2020 at Institut Curie.
Reconstructive surgery restores the original shape of a part of the human body. Aesthetic surgery aims to beautify a part of the body perceived by the person as unsightly. Nursing care aims to avoid the physiological risks inherent in any type of surgery, but also to alleviate the suffering of people with a negative self-image.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is currently a pressing need for the development of novel bioinspired consolidants for waterlogged, archaeological wood. Bioinspired materials possess many advantages, such as biocompatibility and sustainability, which makes them ideal to use in this capacity. Based on this, a polyhydroxylated monomer was synthesised from α-pinene, a sustainable terpene feedstock derived from pine trees, and used to prepare a low molar mass polymer TPA5 through free radical polymerisation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the outcomes of orbital exenteration with temporalis muscle flap repair of the socket and secondary healing of the anterior surface of the flap in ocular, conjunctival, and eyelid malignancies.
Design: Retrospective single-centre study.
Participants: Consecutive patients who underwent total exenteration for malignancy with temporal muscle flap repair of the socket between December 2009 and January 2016.
Introduction: The treatment of conjunctival melanoma is most often conservative, but exenteration is sometimes necessary in order to achieve local control of the disease. It can be performed as a primary procedure in cases of locally advanced disease or as a secondary procedure after one or more recurrences. No benefit to secondary exenteration on patient survival has been demonstrated to date for conjunctival melanoma, and it is generally considered a palliative procedure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStimuli-responsive amphiphilic block copolymers have emerged as promising nanocarriers for enhancing site-specific and on-demand drug release in response to a range of stimuli such as pH, the presence of redox agents, and temperature. The formulation of amphiphilic block copolymers into polymeric drug-loaded nanoparticles is typically achieved by various methods (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg
January 2021
CD8 T-cell response efficiency critically depends on the TCR binding strength to peptide-MHC, i.e., the TCR binding avidity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA water-soluble fluorine magnetic resonance spectroscopy host-guest probe, P(HPA--AdamCFA), was successfully constructed from the facile synthesis of a bifunctional monomer via a quantitative Passerini reaction. Supramolecular complexation with (2-hydroxypropyl)--cyclodextrin promoted a change in the chemical environment, leading to modulation of both the relaxation properties as well as chemical shift of the fluorine moieties. This change was used to probe the supramolecular interaction by F MRI spectroscopy and give insight into fluorine probe formulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Perfusion-related complications remain the most common concern in DIEP flap breast reconstruction. Indocyanine green-based fluorescence angiography can be used for the real-time intra operative assessment of flap perfusion. The SPY Elite system is the most widely used device in this setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCylinders are fascinating structures with uniquely high surface area, internal volume, and rigidity. On the nanoscale, a broad range of applications have demonstrated advantageous behavior of cylindrical micelles or bottlebrush polymers over traditional spherical nano-objects. In the past, obtaining pure samples of cylindrical nanostructures using polymer building blocks via conventional self-assembly strategies was challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
November 2018
We report an in silico method to predict monomers suitable for use in polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). By calculating the dependence of LogP /surface area (SA) on the length of the growing polymer chain, the change in hydrophobicity during polymerization was determined. This allowed for evaluation of the capability of a monomer to polymerize to form self-assembled structures during chain extension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Transverse Rectus Abominis Musculocutaneous flap or TRAM was first described by Hartrampf in 1982. It consists in raising a abdominal musculocutaneous flap whose perforators vessels come from the superior epigastric vessels. We describe the surgical technique step by step with photos commented on different times.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe preparation of a functional fluorine-containing block copolymer using reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer dispersion polymerization in DMSO as a "platform/scaffold" is explored. The nanostructures, comprised of poly(ethyleneglycol)-b-poly(pentafluorophenyl methacrylate) or PEG-b-P(PFMA), are formulated via photo-initiated polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) followed by post-polymerization modification using different primary amines. A combination of light scattering and microscopy techniques are used to characterize the resulting morphologies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Surgical excision of large malignant lower eyelid tumors may cause important full-thickness eyelid defects. The reconstruction of such defects must restore the physiologic function of the eyelid and also re-establish an acceptable aesthetic result.
Materials And Methods: We report the outcomes of full-thickness excision of tumors extending over half of the horizontal lid length, followed by reconstruction using a nasal chondromucosal graft (coming from the ipsilateral ala of the nose) and an upper eyelid myocutaneous flap.