Liposome-Indocyanine Green Nanoprobes for Optical Labeling and Tracking of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Post-Transplantation In Vivo.

Direct labeling of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) prior to transplantation provides a means to track cells after administration and it is a powerful tool for the assessment of new cell-based therapies. Biocompatible nanoprobes consisting of liposome-indocyanine green hybrid vesicles (liposome-ICG) are used to safely label hMSC. Labeled hMSC recapitulating a 3D cellular environment is transplanted as spheroids subcutaneously and intracranially in athymic nude mice.

Advances in the use of nanocarriers for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The use of nanocarriers as drug delivery systems for therapeutic or imaging agents can improve the pharmacological properties of commonly used compounds in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Advances in the surface engineering of nanoparticles to accommodate targeting ligands turned nanocarriers attractive candidates for future work involving targeted drug delivery. Although not targeted, several nanocarriers have been approved for clinical use and they are currently used to treat and/or diagnosis various types of cancers.

Chloroquine-induced glioma cells death is associated with mitochondrial membrane potential loss, but not oxidative stress.

Chloroquine (CQ), a quinolone derivative widely used to treat and prevent malaria, has been shown to exert a potent adjuvant effect when combined with conventional glioblastoma therapy. Despite inducing lysosome destabilization and activating p53 in human glioma cells, the mechanisms underlying cell death induced by this drug are poorly understood. Here, we analyzed in a time- and dose-dependent manner, the effects of CQ upon mitochondria integrity, autophagy regulation and redox processes in four human glioma cell lines that differ in their resistance to this drug.