Regulatory aspects of a nanomaterial for imaging therapeutic cells.

The ability to track therapeutic cells upon administration to the patient is of interest to both regulators and developers of cell therapy. The European Commission Horizon2020 project nTRACK from 2017-2022 aimed to develop a multi-modal nano-imaging agent to track therapeutic cells during development of a cell therapy. As part of this project, we investigated the regulatory pathway involved for such a product if marketed as a stand-alone product.

Urine metabolomic analysis for monitoring internal load in professional football players.

Introduction: The design of training programs for football players is not straightforward due to intra- and inter-individual variability that leads to different physiological responses under similar training loads.

Objective: To study the association between the external load, defined by variables obtained using electronic performance tracking systems (EPTS), and the urinary metabolome as a surrogate of the metabolic adaptation to training.

Methods: Urine metabolic and EPTS data from 80 professional football players collected in an observational longitudinal study were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and assessed by partial least squares (PLS) regression.

Cellular Uptake and Cytotoxic Effect of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Targeted and Plitidepsin Loaded Co-Polymeric Polymersomes on Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines.

Encapsulating chemotherapy drugs in targeted nanodelivery systems is one of the most promising approaches to tackle cancer disease, avoiding side effects of common treatment. In the last decade, several nanocarriers with different nature have been tested, but polypeptide-based copolymers have attracted considerable attention for their biocompatibility, controlled and slow biodegradability as well as their low toxicity. In this work, we synthesized, characterized and evaluated poly(trimethylene carbonate)-bock-poly(L-glutamic acid) derived polymersomes, targeted to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), loaded with plitidepsin and ultimately tested in HT29 and LS174T colorectal cancer cell lines for specificity and efficacy.

Surface decorated poly(ester-ether-urethane)s nanoparticles: a versatile approach towards clinical translation.

Poly(ester-ether-urethane)s copolymers are a resourceful class of biopolymers for the preparation of nanocarriers for drug delivery applications. However, a simple clinical translation for this synthetic material with biological and quality features is still needed. In this view, poly(ε-caprolactone)-co-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers were synthesized as semi-bulk pilot (Kg) scale under mild conditions in absence of catalyst, bearing functional termini such as fluorescein tag and anticancer targeting moieties.

In vivo anticancer evaluation of the hyperthermic efficacy of anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted PEG-based nanocarrier containing magnetic nanoparticles.

Polymeric nanoparticles with targeting moieties containing magnetic nanoparticles as theranostic agents have considerable potential for the treatment of cancer. Here we report the chemical synthesis and characterization of a poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-based nanocarrier containing iron oxide nanoparticles and human epithelial growth factor receptor on the outer shell. The nanocarrier was also radiolabeled with (99m)Tc and tested as a theranostic nanomedicine, ie, it was investigated for both its diagnostic ability in vivo and its therapeutic hyperthermic effects in a standard A431 human tumor cell line.

Therapeutic targeting of tumor growth and angiogenesis with a novel anti-S100A4 monoclonal antibody.

S100A4, a member of the S100 calcium-binding protein family secreted by tumor and stromal cells, supports tumorigenesis by stimulating angiogenesis. We demonstrated that S100A4 synergizes with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), via the RAGE receptor, in promoting endothelial cell migration by increasing KDR expression and MMP-9 activity. In vivo overexpression of S100A4 led to a significant increase in tumor growth and vascularization in a human melanoma xenograft M21 model.