A nanoparticle formula for delivering siRNA or miRNAs to tumor cells in cell culture and in vivo.

To improve RNA delivery, we present a protocol to produce an RNA carrier based on a Zn(II)-dipicolylamine (Zn-DPA) analog, which is an artificial receptor for phosphate anion derivatives. We further functionalized this Zn-DPA analog to hyaluronic acid (HA)-based self-assembled nanoparticles (HA-NPs) with a hydrodynamic diameter of 100 nm by conjugating amine-functionalized Zn-DPA molecules onto the HA-NPs through amide formation, resulting in efficient tumor-targeted delivery of RNAs (siRNAs, miRNA or other short oligoribonucleotides) and small-molecule drugs. The functional group of Zn-DPA can be converted into other groups such as a carboxylic or thiol group, and the DPA analog can be covalently attached to a variety of existing and novel platforms or formulations for the development of multifunctional materials via standard bioconjugation techniques.

Bibliometric analysis of theranostics: two years in the making.

With the newly released impact factor from Thomson Reuters, we look at the first two years of the journal Theranostics under the scope of a new bibliometric designed for the analysis of emerging specialties and also for journals with a multidisciplinary approach. With this method, we are able to look at characteristics of an interdisciplinary field or a single journal subject area, and also, the bibliographic trends of their authors. We use this tool to examine authors from the journal Theranostics and compare them to similar authors in the field of theranostics, or theranosticians.

Longitudinal bioluminescence imaging of the dynamics of Doxorubicin induced apoptosis.

Objectives: Most chemotherapy agents cause tumor cell death primarily by the induction of apoptosis. The ability to noninvasively image apoptosis in vivo could dramatically benefit pre-clinical and clinical evaluation of chemotherapeutics targeting the apoptotic pathway. This study aims to visualize the dynamics of apoptotic process with temporal bioluminescence imaging (BLI) using an apoptosis specific bioluminescence reporter gene.

Penetration of endothelial cell coated multicellular tumor spheroids by iron oxide nanoparticles.

Iron oxide nanoparticles are a useful diagnostic contrast agent and have great potential for therapeutic applications. Multiple emerging diagnostic and therapeutic applications and the numerous versatile parameters of the nanoparticle platform require a robust biological model for characterization and assessment. Here we investigate the use of iron oxide nanoparticles that target tumor vasculature, via the tumstatin peptide, in a novel three-dimensional tissue culture model.

Magnetic nanoparticles for magnetoresistance-based biodetection.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been studied widely as a powerful diagnostic probe and therapeutic agent for biomedical applications. In recent years, they are also found to be sensitive to magnetoresistive (MR) devices and MNP-MR biochips are predicted to be more affordable, portable and sensitive than the conventional optical detection methods. In this MNP-MR biochip design, MNP probes are required to have high magnetic moment, high susceptibility, and be target-specific.

Monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles for theranostic applications.

Effective medical care requires the concurrent monitoring of medical treatment. The combination of imaging and therapeutics allows a large degree of control over the treatment efficacy and is now commonly referred to as "theranostics". Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) provide a unique nanoplatform for theranostic applications because of their biocompatibility, their responses to the external magnetic field, and their sizes which are comparable to that of functional biomolecules.

Stable single-crystalline body centered cubic Fe nanoparticles.

We report a facile synthesis of body centered cubic (bcc) Fe nanoparticles (NPs) via the thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl, Fe(CO)(5), in the presence of hexadecylammonium chloride. These bcc-Fe NPs exhibit a drastically increased stability and magnetic moment (M(s) = 164 A·m(2)·kg(-1)(Fe)) even in physiological solutions, and have much enhanced magnetic imaging contrast (r(2) = 220 s(-1)·mM(-1)) and heating (SAR = 140 W·g(-1)(Fe)) effects. They may serve as robust probes for imaging and therapeutic applications.

Magnetic nanoparticles as both imaging probes and therapeutic agents.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been explored extensively as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or as heating agents for magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) [1]. To achieve optimum operation conditions in MRI and MFH, these NPs should have well-controlled magnetic properties and biological functionalities. Although numerous efforts have been dedicated to the investigations on MNPs for biomedical applications [2-5], the NP optimizations for early diagnostics and efficient therapeutics are still far from reached.

Scaffold-free three-dimensional cell culture utilizing micromolded nonadhesive hydrogels.

Techniques that allow cells to self-assemble into three-dimensional (3-D) spheroid microtissues provide powerful in vitro models that are becoming increasingly popular--especially in fields such as stem cell research, tissue engineering, and cancer biology. Unfortunately, caveats involving scale, expense, geometry, and practicality have hindered the widespread adoption of these techniques. We present an easy-to-use, inexpensive, and scalable technology for production of complex-shaped, 3-D microtissues.