Dextran-Mimetic Quantum Dots for Multimodal Macrophage Imaging , and .

Macrophages are white blood cells with diverse functions contributing to a healthy immune response as well as the pathogenesis of cancer, osteoarthritis, atherosclerosis, and obesity. Due to their pleiotropic and dynamic nature, tools for imaging and tracking these cells at scales spanning the whole body down to microns could help to understand their role in disease states. Here we report fluorescent and radioisotopic quantum dots (QDs) for multimodal imaging of macrophage cells , , and .

Melanoma topology reveals a stem-like phenotype that promotes angiogenesis.

Tumor angiogenesis provides critical nutrients for cancer progression and may also facilitate pathways for dissemination during the process of metastasis. It is well established that cells that metastasize display characteristics of stem cells; however, the prevailing paradigm points to these stem-like cells residing in the hypoxic niche within the tumor interior. Controlling the geometry at the interface of a population of melanoma cells reveals a role for perimeter topology in promoting a stem-like state with enhanced tumorigenicity.

In Vivo Targeting of Metabolically Labeled Cancers with Ultra-Small Silica Nanoconjugates.

Unnatural sugar-mediated metabolic labeling of cancer cells, coupled with efficient Click chemistry, has shown great potential for in vivo imaging and cancer targeting. Thus far, chemical labeling of cancer cells has been limited to the small-sized azido groups, with the large-sized and highly hydrophobic dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO) being correspondingly used as the targeting ligand. However, surface modification of nanomedicines with DBCO groups often suffers from low ligand density, difficult functionalization, and impaired physiochemical properties.