Publications by authors named "Liane Moura"

Tumor-associated antigen-based cancer vaccines suffer from limited clinical success compared to alternative immunotherapies in melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The anti-tumor potential of a multivalent nanoconjugate cancer vaccine platform - a cross-linked star-shaped polyglutamate carrier (StCl) with marked lymphotropic character conjugated with melanoma-associated peptide antigens is evaluated through redox-responsive linkers. The co-delivery of melanoma-associated peptide antigens by the nanoconjugate platform induced significant effector immune responses in a mouse melanoma model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Immune checkpoint blockade reaches remarkable clinical responses. However, even in the most favorable cases, half of these patients do not benefit from these therapies in the long term. It is hypothesized that the activation of host immunity by co-delivering peptide antigens, adjuvants, and regulators of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β expression using a polyoxazoline (POx)-poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanovaccine, while modulating the tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) function within the tumor microenvironment (TME) and blocking the anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) can constitute an alternative approach for cancer immunotherapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The cannabinoid receptor type-1 (CBR) is a major regulator of metabolism, growth and inflammation. Yet, its potential role in the skin is not well understood. Our aim was to evaluate the role of CBR in aging-like diabetic skin changes by using a CBR knockout mouse model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The remarkable success of targeted immunotherapies is revolutionizing cancer treatment. However, tumor heterogeneity and low immunogenicity, in addition to several tumor-associated immunosuppression mechanisms are among the major factors that have precluded the success of cancer vaccines as targeted cancer immunotherapies. The exciting outcomes obtained in patients upon the injection of tumor-specific antigens and adjuvants intratumorally, reinvigorated interest in the use of nanotechnology to foster the delivery of vaccines to address cancer unmet needs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how cannabinoid receptor (CBR) expression and glucose metabolism change in the frontal cortex of diabetic rats over an 8-week period.
  • It found that CBR protein density changes in a biphasic manner during the first month of type-1 diabetes, affecting glucose uptake which normalizes after 8 weeks.
  • The research suggests that cannabinoids could potentially help improve glucose regulation in the brain of diabetic models, addressing previous conflicting reports on CBR levels during diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A low response rate, acquired resistance and severe side effects have limited the clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint therapy. Here, we show that combining cancer nanovaccines with an anti-PD-1 antibody (αPD-1) for immunosuppression blockade and an anti-OX40 antibody (αOX40) for effector T-cell stimulation, expansion and survival can potentiate the efficacy of melanoma therapy. Prophylactic and therapeutic combination regimens of dendritic cell-targeted mannosylated nanovaccines with αPD-1/αOX40 demonstrate a synergism that stimulates T-cell infiltration into tumours at early treatment stages.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the five most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide, constituting 6% of all cancers and the third leading cause of cancer death. CRC is the third and second most frequent cancer in men and women worldwide, accounting for 14% and 13% of all cancer incidence rates, respectively. CRC incidence is decreasing in older populations, but it has been significantly rising worldwide in adolescents and adults younger than 50 years old.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Both endocannabinoids and insulin regulate peripheral and cerebral glucose homeostasis via convergent signaling pathways that are impacted by diabetes. Here we asked how glucose metabolism and important facets of insulin signaling are affected in the forebrain of cannabinoid CB receptor knockout mice (CBR-KO) and their wild-type (WT) littermates, seven weeks after the induction of insulinopenia/hyperglycemia (diabetes) with intraperitoneal streptozotocin injection. Sham-injected animals served as control.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: α-Galactosylceramide (GalCer) is a glycolipid widely known as an activator of Natural killer T (NKT) cells, constituting a promising adjuvant against cancer, including melanoma. However, limited clinical outcomes have been obtained so far. This study evaluated the synergy between GalCer and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and MHC class II melanoma-associated peptide antigens and the Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) ligands CpG and monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), which we intended to maximize following their co-delivery by a nanoparticle (NP).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nanotechnology-based strategies can dramatically impact the treatment, prevention and diagnosis of a wide range of diseases. Despite the unprecedented success achieved with the use of nanomaterials to address unmet biomedical needs and their particular suitability for the effective application of a personalized medicine, the clinical translation of those nanoparticulate systems has still been impaired by the limited understanding on their interaction with complex biological systems. As a result, unexpected effects due to unpredicted interactions at biomaterial and biological interfaces have been underlying the biosafety concerns raised by the use of nanomaterials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nanomedicines have been in the forefront of pharmaceutical research in the last decades, creating new challenges for research community, industry, and regulators. There is a strong demand for the fast development of scientific and technological tools to address unmet medical needs, thus improving human health care and life quality. Tremendous advances in the biomaterials and nanotechnology fields have prompted their use as promising tools to overcome important drawbacks, mostly associated to the non-specific effects of conventional therapeutic approaches.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fibroblasts colonization into injured areas during wound healing (WH) is responsible for skin remodelling and is also involved in the modulation of inflammation, as fibroblasts are immunologically active. Herein, we aimed to determine neurotensin effect on the immunomodulatory profile of fibroblasts, both in homeostatic and inflammatory conditions. Neurotensin mediated responses occurred through NTR1 or NTR3 receptors, while under inflammatory conditions NTR1 expression increase seemed to modulate neurotensin responses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diabetic foot ulcers are an important complication of diabetes mellitus characterized by chronic, non-healing ulcers resulting from poor proliferation and migration of fibroblasts and keratinocytes, thus impairing a correct re-epithelialization of wounded tissues. This healing process can be modulated by neuropeptides released from peripheral nerves; however, little is known regarding the role of neurotensin (NT) as a modulator of human keratinocyte function under hyperglycemic conditions. Therefore, this work is focused on the effect of NT in human keratinocytes, under normal and hyperglycemic conditions at different functional levels, namely NT receptors, cytokine, and growth factor expression, as well as proliferation and migration.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Impaired wound healing is an important clinical problem in diabetes mellitus and results in failure to completely heal diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), which may lead to lower extremity amputations. In the present study, collagen based dressings were prepared to be applied as support for the delivery of neurotensin (NT), a neuropeptide that acts as an inflammatory modulator in wound healing. The performance of NT alone and NT-loaded collagen matrices to treat wounds in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic induced mice was evaluated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One important complication of diabetes mellitus is chronic, non-healing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). This study aims to develop and use dressings based on chitosan derivatives for the sustained delivery of neurotensin (NT), a neuropeptide that acts as an inflammatory modulator in wound healing. Three different derivatives, namely N-carboxymethyl chitosan, 5-methyl pyrrolidinone chitosan (MPC) and N-succinyl chitosan, are presented as potential biomaterials for wound healing applications.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are characterized by an unsatisfactory inflammatory and migratory response. Skin inflammation involves the participation of many cells and particularly macrophages. Macrophage function can be modulated by neuropeptides; however, little is known regarding the role of neurotensin (NT) as a modulator of macrophages under inflammatory and hyperglycemic conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a chronic, non-healing complication of diabetes that lead to high hospital costs and, in extreme cases, to amputation. Diabetic neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, abnormal cellular and cytokine/chemokine activity are among the main factors that hinder diabetic wound repair. DFUs represent a current and important challenge in the development of novel and efficient wound dressings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the last decades some reports reveal the neuropeptide neurotensin (NT) as an immune mediator in the Central Nervous System and in the gastrointestinal tract, however its effects on skin immunity were not identified. The present study investigates the effect of NT on signal transduction and on pro/anti-inflammatory function of skin dendritic cells. Furthermore, we investigated how neurotensin can modulate the inflammatory responses triggered by LPS in skin dendritic cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we developed a methodology to improve the survival, vascular differentiation and regenerative potential of umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived hematopoietic stem cells (CD34(+) cells), by co-culturing the stem cells in a 3D fibrin gel with CD34(+)-derived endothelial cells (ECs). ECs differentiated from CD34(+) cells appear to have superior angiogenic properties to fully differentiated ECs, such as human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our results indicate that the pro-survival effect of CD34(+)-derived ECs on CD34(+) cells is mediated, at least in part, by bioactive factors released from ECs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Emerging evidence indicates that chronic inflammation and oxidative stress cluster together with angiogenic imbalance in a wide range of pathologies. In general, natural polyphenols present health-protective properties, which are likely attributed to their effect on oxidative stress and inflammation. Hops used in beer production are a source of polyphenols such as xanthohumol (XN), and its metabolites isoxanthohumol (IXN) and phytoestrogen 8-prenylnaringenin (8PN).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: fopen(/var/lib/php/sessions/ci_session0np95cqj7ufb27veq0c9lbd45t5lr3pc): Failed to open stream: No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 177

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 137

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once