Radiofrequency enhances drug release from responsive nanoflowers for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignant tumor and the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and systemic chemotherapy is the preferred treatment modality for advanced HCC. Curcumin (CUR) is a polyphenolic antineoplastic drug with low toxicity obtained from plants.

PPy-Coated MoS/CoMoS Nanotube-like Heterostructure for High-Performance Lithium Storage.

Heterostructured materials show great potential to enhance the specific capacity, rate performance and cycling lifespan of lithium-ion batteries owing to their unique interfaces, robust architectures, and synergistic effects. Herein, a polypyrrole (PPy)-coated nanotube-like MoS/CoMoS heterostructure is prepared by the hydrothermal and subsequent in situ polymerization methods. The well-designed nanotube-like structure is beneficial to relieve the serious volume changes and facilitate the infiltration of electrolytes during the charge/discharge process.

Reference ranges of myocardial T1 and T2 mapping in healthy Chinese adults: a multicenter 3T cardiovascular magnetic resonance study.

Background: Although reference ranges of T1 and T2 mapping are well established for cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) at 1.5T, data for 3T are still lacking. The objective of this study is to establish reference ranges of myocardial T1 and T2 based on a large multicenter cohort of healthy Chinese adults at 3T CMR.

Reference Ranges of Ventricular Morphology and Function in Healthy Chinese Adults: A Multicenter 3 T MRI Study.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reference ranges for ventricular morphology and function in the Chinese population are lacking.

Purpose: To establish the MRI reference ranges of left and right ventricular (LV and RV) morphology and function based on a large multicenter cohort.

Study Type: Prospective.

An overview of the material science and knowledge of nanomedicine, bioscaffolds, and tissue engineering for tendon restoration.

Tendon wounds are a worldwide health issue affecting millions of people annually. Due to the characteristics of tendons, their natural restoration is a complicated and lengthy process. With the advancement of bioengineering, biomaterials, and cell biology, a new science, tissue engineering, has developed.

Research progress on the therapeutic effects of nanoparticles loaded with drugs against atherosclerosis.

Presently, there are many drugs for the treatment of atherosclerosis (AS), among which lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative drugs have been the most studied. These drugs have been shown to have inhibitory effects on the development of AS. Nanoparticles are suitable for AS treatment research due to their fine-tunable and modifiable properties.

Recent progress in cancer cell membrane-based nanoparticles for biomedical applications.

Immune clearance and insufficient targeting have limited the efficacy of existing therapeutic strategies for cancer. Toxic side effects and individual differences in response to treatment have further limited the benefits of clinical treatment for patients. Biomimetic cancer cell membrane-based nanotechnology has provided a new approach for biomedicine to overcome these obstacles.

MRI Generated From CT for Acute Ischemic Stroke Combining Radiomics and Generative Adversarial Networks.

Compared to computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more sensitive to acute ischemic stroke lesion. However, MRI is time-consuming, expensive, and susceptible to interference from metal implants. Generating MRI images from CT images can address the limitations of MRI.

High-resolution intravascular magnetic resonance imaging of the coronary artery wall at 3.0 Tesla: toward evaluation of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability.

Background: To validate the feasibility of generating high-resolution intravascular 3.0 Tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging of the coronary artery wall to further plaque imaging.

Methods: A receive-only 0.

Separability of Acute Cerebral Infarction Lesions in CT Based Radiomics: Toward Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Diagnosis.

This study aims at analyzing the separability of acute cerebral infarction lesions which were invisible in CT. 38 patients, who were diagnosed with acute cerebral infarction and performed both CT and MRI, and 18 patients, who had no positive finding in either CT or MRI, were enrolled. Comparative studies were performed on lesion and symmetrical regions, normal brain and symmetrical regions, lesion, and normal brain regions.

Uniform FeO/GdO-DHCA nanocubes for dual-mode magnetic resonance imaging.

The multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique has been extensively studied over the past few years since it offers complementary information that can increase diagnostic accuracy. Simple methods to synthesize contrast agents are necessary for the development of multimodal MRI. Herein, uniformly distributed FeO/GdO nanocubes for - dual-mode MRI contrast agents were successfully designed and synthesized.

Saikosaponin D: A potential therapeutic drug for osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease. Currently, no effective therapeutic exists for osteoarthritis in the clinic setting. Inflammatory response and autophagy are key players in the occurrence and prognosis of osteoarthritis.

The Inhibition of Inflammatory Signaling Pathway by Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor can Improve Spinal Cord Injury.

Spinal cord injury leads to loss of sensory motor functions below the damaged area, and can significantly affects physical and mental health. An effective spinal cord injury treatment is currently unavailable, in part, because of the intricacy of the brain, as well as the complex pathophysiological mechanism of the injury. Inflammation is an important biological process in multitudinous diseases, with no exception for spinal cord injury.

Efficient differentiation of vascular endothelial cells from dermal-derived mesenchymal stem cells induced by endothelial cell lines conditioned medium.

Objective: To directionally-differentiate dermis-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DMSCs) into vascular endothelial cells (VECs) in vitro, providing an experimental basis for studies on the pathogenesis and treatment of vascular diseases.

Methods: After separation by adherent culture, VEC line supernatant, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), bone morphogenetic protein-4 and hypoxia were used for the differentiation of VECs from DMSCs. The cell type was authenticated by flow cytometry, matrigel angiogenesis assay in vitro, and immunofluorescent staining during differentiation.

Orthotopic Esophageal Cancers: Intraesophageal Hyperthermia-enhanced Direct Chemotherapy in Rats.

Purpose To determine the feasibility of using intraesophageal radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia to enhance local chemotherapy in a rat model with orthotopic esophageal squamous cancers. Materials and Methods The animal protocol was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee and the institutional review board. Human esophageal squamous cancer cells were transduced with luciferase lentiviral particles.

Intrabiliary RF heat-enhanced local chemotherapy of a cholangiocarcinoma cell line: monitoring with dual-modality imaging--preclinical study.

Purpose: To determine whether magnetic resonance (MR) imaging heating guidewire-mediated radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia could enhance the therapeutic effect of gemcitabine and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in a cholangiocarcinoma cell line and local deposit doses of chemotherapeutic drugs in swine common bile duct (CBD) walls.

Materials And Methods: The animal protocol was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Green fluorescent protein-labeled human cholangiocarcinoma cells and cholangiocarcinomas in 24 mice were treated with (a) combination therapy with chemotherapy (gemcitabine and 5-FU) plus RF hyperthermia, (b) chemotherapy only, (c) RF hyperthermia only, or (d) phosphate-buffered saline.

Diffusion-weighted MRI monitoring of pancreatic cancer response to radiofrequency heat-enhanced intratumor chemotherapy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using diffusion-weighted MRI to monitor the early response of pancreatic cancers to radiofrequency heat (RFH)-enhanced chemotherapy. Human pancreatic carcinoma cells (PANC-1) in different groups and 24 mice with pancreatic cancer xenografts in four groups were treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) as a control, RFH at 42 °C, gemcitabine and gemcitabine plus RFH at 42 °C. One day before and 1, 7 and 14 days after treatment, diffusion-weighted MRI and T2 -weighted imaging were applied to monitor the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of tumors and tumor growth.

Formation of thermo-sensitive polyelectrolyte complex micelles from two biocompatible graft copolymers for drug delivery.

Thermo-sensitive polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) micelles assembled from two biocompatible graft copolymers chitosan-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (CS-g-PNIPAM) and carboxymethyl cellulose-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (CMC-g-PNIPAM) were prepared for delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The PEC micelles showed a narrow size distribution with core-shell structure, in which the core formed from positively charged CS and negatively charged CMC by electrostatic interactions and the shell formed from thermo-sensitive PNIPAM. The synthesized PEC micelles have lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) in the region of 37°C, which is favorable for smart drug delivery applications.

3.0-T MR imaging of intracoronary local delivery of motexafin gadolinium into coronary artery walls.

Purpose: To develop a technique with clinical 3.0-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to delineate local contrast agent distribution in coronary artery walls for potential molecular MR imaging-guided local gene or drug therapy of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Materials And Methods: This animal protocol was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee and was in compliance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

Adsorptive decolorization of methylene blue by crosslinked porous starch.

Crosslinked porous starch (CPS) was prepared by two steps. Native starch was crosslinked with epichlorohydrin and then CPS was prepared by hydrolyzing the crosslinked starch with α-amylase. As a biodegradable and safe adsorbent, CPS was used to remove methylene blue (MB) from the aqueous solution based on its characterizations, including surface area, pore volume and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

MRI-monitored intra-shunt local agent delivery of motexafin gadolinium: towards improving long-term patency of TIPS.

Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) has become an important and effective interventional procedure in treatment of the complications related to portal hypertension. Although the primary patency of TIPS has been greatly improved due to the clinical application of cover stent-grafts, the long-term patency is still suboptimal. This study was to investigate the feasibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-monitored intra-shunt local agent delivery of motexafin gadolinium (MGd) into shunt-vein walls of TIPS.

Norcantharidin enhances bortezomib-antimyeloma activity in multiple myeloma cells in vitro and in nude mouse xenografts.

Norcantharidin (NCTD), the demethylated analog of the Chinese medicine cantharidin, exhibits anti-myeloma activity by inactivating nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which is implicated in multiple myeloma (MM) cell survival and resistance to bortezomib (BTZ). We investigated whether NCTD could potentiate the anti-tumor activity of BTZ in MM. NCTD inhibited the proliferation of MM cells and potentiated the anti-myeloma effects of BTZ by down-regulating IKKα and p-IκBα, which induced the accumulation of IκBα and inhibited the constitutive activation of NF-κB.