Increasing vaccine production using pulsed ultrasound waves.

Vaccination is a safe and effective approach to prevent deadly diseases. To increase vaccine production, we propose that a mechanical stimulation can enhance protein production. In order to prove this hypothesis, Sf9 insect cells were used to evaluate the increase in the expression of a fusion protein from hepatitis B virus (HBV S1/S2).

RANKL release from self-assembling nanofiber hydrogels for inducing osteoclastogenesis in vitro.

Purpose: To develop a nanofiber hydrogel (NF-hydrogel) for sustained and controlled release of the recombinant receptor activator of NF-kB ligand; (RANKL) and to characterize the release kinetics and bioactivity of the released RANKL.

Methods: Various concentrations of fluorescently-labelled RANKL protein were added to NF-hydrogels, composed of Acetyl-(Arg-Ala-Asp-Ala)-CONH [(RADA)] of different concentrations, to investigate the resulting in vitro release rates. The nano-structures of NF-hydrogel, with and without RANKL, were determined using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Pulsed ultrasound for enhancing vaccine production.

Hepatitis B is an infectious liver disease and vaccination is an effective way to protect individuals. We have applied mechanical wave stimulation to increase protein production. To validate our design, we used Sf9 insect cells to increase antigen fragment fusion protein expression for hepatitis B virus (HBV S1/S2).

Applications of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound to increase monoclonal antibody production in CHO cells using shake flasks or wavebags.

Many technologies, such as cell line screening and host cell engineering, culture media optimization and bioprocess optimization, have been proposed to increase monoclonal antibody (mAb) production in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Unlike the existing biochemical approaches, we investigated stimulation using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) as a purely physical approach, offering enhanced scalability, contamination control and cost-efficiency, while demonstrating significantly increased cell growth and antibody production. It was found that daily ultrasound treatments at 40 mW/cm(2) for 5 min during cell culture increased the production of human anti-IL-8 antibody by more than 30% using 10 or 30 mL shake flasks.

Pegylated glucose gold nanoparticles for improved in-vivo bio-distribution and enhanced radiotherapy on cervical cancer.

Pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution are crucial factors affecting the performance of an intravenous drug. In this study, we explore the combined use of glucose and polyethylene glycol (PEG) ligands to further improve gold nanoparticle (GNP) pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution, with the aim of using the drug for in-vivo radiotherapy. The inclusion of PEG was found to significantly prolong the half-life period, where PEG-Glu-GNPs achieved 6.

Developing trends in aptamer-based biosensor devices and their applications.

Aptamers are, in general, easier to produce, easier to store and are able to bind to a wider variety of targets than antibodies. For these reasons, aptamers are gaining increasing popularity in environmental monitoring as well as disease detection and disease management applications. This review article examines the research and design of RNA and DNA aptamer based biosensor systems and applications as well as their potential for integration in effective biosensor devices.

Magnetic gold nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization and its application in the delivery of FITC into KG-1 cells.

In this article, we report a new method-a sonication method to disperse iron oxide nanoparticles into smaller nanoparticles and make gold ions absorb onto the surface or trapped in the micropores of the iron oxide nanoparticles using sonication action. By using quick reduction of ascorbic acid and post-HCI solution treatment, gold covered magnetic nanoparticles (mGNPs) with spherical morphology and uniform size were synthesized in a water solution. The size of the mGNPs was found to be 20-30 nm.

A low-cost intracellular delivery system based on microbubble and high gravity field.

In this paper, we developed a low-cost intracellular delivery system based on microbubble and high gravity field. We successfully delivered FITC-Dextran (40kD) into hard-to-deliver THP-1 cells. The results showed that our method achieved high delivery efficiency up to 80%.

Biomolecule delivery into canola protoplasts by centrifuging cells with microbubbles.

We have successfully delivered FITC and FITC-Dextran (70, 250 kDa) into canola protoplasts by centrifuging cells with different amounts of microbubbles at variable centrifuge speed. The efficiency is around 90%, while cell viability remains high. Confocal microscopy images show that both FITC and FITC-Dextran are scattered inside the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus.

Smart gold nanoparticles enhance killing effect on cancer cells.

The present study explored the cellular uptake dynamics, the subcellular location and the internalization mechanisms of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and glucose-capped GNPs (Glu-GNPs). The cancer radiotherapy-enhancing effects of GNPs were also evaluated. We synthesized the GNPs and Glu-GNPs by the seeding technique.

Sputum microRNA profiling: a novel approach for the early detection of non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) post-transcriptionally regulate hundreds of gene targets involved in tumorigenesis thereby controlling vital biological processes, including cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. MiRNA profiling is an emerging tool for the potential early detection of a variety of malignancies. This study was conducyed to assess the feasibility and methodological robustness of quantifying sputum miRNAs, employing quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and cluster analysis on an optimized miRNA profile as a novel approach for the early detection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

FITC delivery into plant cells using magnetic single-walled carbon nanotubes.

In this paper, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was covalently bonded with magnetic single-walled carbon nanotubes (mSWCNTs) that were purified using our previous method. To demonstrate our design, mSWCNT-FITC was delivered into plant cells (canola and carrot cells) driven by external magnetic forces. From FACS results, the FITC delivery efficiency was about 100% for both two canola and carrot protoplasts, which were further confirmed by the confocal and sectional TEM images.

High-throughput quantitative analysis with cell growth kinetic curves for low copy number mutant cells.

The mutation rate in cells induced by environmental genotoxic hazards is very low and difficult to detect using traditional cell counting assays. The established genetic toxicity tests currently recognized by regulatory authorities, such as conventional Ames and hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HPRT) assays, are not well suited for higher-throughput screening as they require large amounts of test compounds and are very time consuming. In this study, we developed a novel cell-based assay for quantitative analysis of low numbers of cell copies with HPRT mutation induced by an environmental mutagen.

Ultrasound-enhanced monoclonal antibody production.

With the rapidly growing demand for monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based products, new technologies are urgently needed to increase mAb production while reducing manufacturing costs. To solve this problem, we report our research findings of using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) to enhance mAb production. LIPUS with frequency of 1.

Pharmacokinetic and toxicological evaluation of multi-functional thiol-6-fluoro-6-deoxy-D-glucose gold nanoparticles in vivo.

We synthesized a novel, multi-functional, radiosensitizing agent by covalently linking 6-fluoro-6-deoxy-D-glucose (6-FDG) to gold nanoparticles (6-FDG-GNPs) via a thiol functional group. We then assessed the bio-distribution and pharmacokinetic properties of 6-FDG-GNPs in vivo using a murine model. At 2 h, following intravenous injection of 6-FDG-GNPs into the murine model, approximately 30% of the 6-FDG-GNPs were distributed to three major organs: the liver, the spleen and the kidney.

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound-mediated stimulation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell viability, proliferation and differentiation in vitro.

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) stimulated the viability, proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) from fresh and cryopreserved peripheral blood leukapheresis product, as well as cord blood when applied for 10 min each day for 4 days. Cell viability, proliferation and differentiation were assessed on day 5 by viable cell counting, MTS proliferation assay, flow cytometry, and colony-forming unit assay. LIPUS stimulation: (i) enhanced the proliferation of fresh HSPC and maintained the viability of cryopreserved HSPC in vitro; (ii) did not affect the percentage of CD34(+) and CD14(+) cells; and (iii) enhanced burst-forming unit-erythroid colony formation.

Applications of ultrasound to enhance mycophenolic acid production.

Reducing production costs for fermentation-based drugs (e.g., antibiotics) is crucial for the long-term sustainability of healthcare.

Nanoformulation of paclitaxel to enhance cancer therapy.

Unlabelled: Paclitaxel is a microtubule inhibitor causing mitotic arrest and is widely used in cancer chemotherapy. However, its poor water solubility restricts its direct clinical applications. In this article, we report paclitaxel-loaded nanoparticles that are water soluble and that can improve the drug's bio-distribution and therapeutic efficacy.

SN-38 loaded polymeric micelles to enhance cancer therapy.

7-Ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) loaded poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (Pluronic F-108) and poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a modified film hydration method and characterized by scanning electric microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Satisfactory drug loading of 20.73 ± 0.

Efficient and rapid uptake of magnetic carbon nanotubes into human monocytic cells: implications for cell-based cancer gene therapy.

Monocyte-based gene therapies in cancer have been hampered by either the resistance of these cells to non-viral molecular delivery methods or their poor trafficking to the tumor site after their ex vivo manipulations. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP)-loaded genetically engineered monocytes can efficiently delivered to tumor site by external magnetic field, but they are not ideal delivery tools due to their spherical shape. Hence, we have investigated the cellular uptake efficiency and cytotoxicity of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled magnetic carbon nanotubes (FITC-mCNT) in human monocytic leukemia cell line THP-1 for application in cell-based gene therapy against cancer.

Cationic liposome-mediated CXCR4 gene delivery into hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells: implications for clinical transplantation and gene therapy.

The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α/CXCL12 and its receptor CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) play a crucial role in the homing/engraftment and retention of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) in the bone marrow. It has been shown using the viral gene transfer technique that CXCR4 overexpression on human CD34(+) HSPC significantly improves their engraftment in murine models. However, clinical trials with gene therapy have revealed safety concerns related to the immunogenicity of the viral carriers, due to the random integration of viral genes into the host genome.

Thio-glucose bound gold nanoparticles enhance radio-cytotoxic targeting of ovarian cancer.

The treatment of ovarian cancer has traditionally been intractable, and required novel approaches to improve therapeutic efficiency. This paper reports that thio-glucose bound gold nanoparticles (Glu-GNPs) can be used as a sensitizer to enhance ovarian cancer radiotherapy. The human ovarian cancer cells, SK-OV-3, were treated by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) alone, irradiation alone, or GNPs in addition to irradiation.

Impact of carbondiimide crosslinker used for magnetic carbon nanotube mediated GFP plasmid delivery.

1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbondiimide hydrochloride (EDC) is commonly used as a crosslinker to help bind biomolecules, such as DNA plasmids, with nanostructures. However, EDC often remains, after a crosslink reaction, in the micro-aperture of the nanostructure, e.g.

Real-time cell-impedance sensing assay as an alternative to clonogenic assay in evaluating cancer radiotherapy.

Intrinsic radiosensitivity of normal and tumour tissues has been shown to be an independent prognostic factor for patients' response to radiotherapy. This study compares the real-time cell-impedance sensing (RT-CES) assay with the conventional clonogenic assay in terms of in-vitro radiosensitivity. One objective in this study was to predict in-vivo response to gold nanoparticle (GNP) treatment on the basis of in-vitro RT-CES testing results.

Water-soluble and biocompatible sono/photosensitizer nanoparticles for enhanced cancer therapy.

Aims: Most sono/photosensitizers of cancer sonodynamic/photodynamic therapy (SDT/PDT), such as hypocrellin SL052, are water-insoluble, therefore restricting their clinical applications. In this article, we present a water-soluble nanocarrier to load the SDT/PDT sensitizer SL052 with improved pharmacokinetics and therapeutic efficacy.

Materials & Methods: Nanoclusters of polyvinylpyrrolidones with SL052 formed water-soluble nanoparticles (SL052-NPs) while retaining the chemical structure of SL052.