Asymmetric silicon phthalocyanine based nanoparticle with spatiotemporally targeting of mitochondria for synergistic apoptosis-ferroptosis antitumor treatment.

A promising therapeutic strategy in cancer treatment merges photodynamic therapy (PDT) induced apoptosis with ferroptosis, a form of programmed cell death governed by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Given the pivotal role of mitochondria in ferroptosis, the development of photosensitizers that specifically provoke mitochondrial dysfunction and consequentially trigger ferroptosis via PDT is of significant interest. To this end, we have designed and synthesized a novel nanoparticle, termed FECTPN, tailored to address this requisite.

A piperazine-substituted phthalocyanine with rapid cellular uptake and dual organelle-targeting for in vitro photodynamic therapy.

The rational design of photosensitizers with rapid cellular uptake and dual-organelle targeting ability is essential for enhancing the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, achieving this goal is a great challenge. In this paper, a novel axial piperazine substituted (PIP) silicon phthalocyanine (PIP-SiPc) has been synthesized.

Differentiating morphea from lichen Sclerosus by using multiphoton microscopy combined with U-Net model for elastic fiber segmentation.

This paper describes a methodology to differentiate morphea from lichen sclerosus based on examination with multiphoton microscopy (MPM) composed of two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG). Subcellular-resolution images were acquired by MPM from unstained lesion tissues then process spectral analysis to quantify the TPEF and SHG signals. Moreover, U-Net was employed to segment elastic fiber in TPEF images to combine with collagen fiber in SHG images for precise fiber quantification.

Epithelium segmentation and automated Gleason grading of prostate cancer via deep learning in label-free multiphoton microscopic images.

In the current clinical care practice, Gleason grading system is one of the most powerful prognostic predictors for prostate cancer (PCa). The grading system is based on the architectural pattern of cancerous epithelium in histological images. However, the standard procedure of histological examination often involves complicated tissue fixation and staining, which are time-consuming and may delay the diagnosis and surgery.

On-Chip Real-Time Chemical Sensors Based on Water-Immersion-Objective Pumped Whispering-Gallery-Mode Microdisk Laser.

Optical whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonator-based sensors with high sensitivity and low detection limit down to single unlabeled biomolecules show high potential for disease diagnosis and clinical application. However, most WGM microresonator-based sensors, which are packed in a microfluidic cell, are a "closed" sensing configuration that prevents changing and sensing the surrounding liquid refractive index (RI) of the microresonator immediately. Here, we present an "open" sensing configuration in which the WGM microdisk laser is directly covered by a water droplet and pumped by a water-immersion-objective (WIO).

Application of Nonlinear Optical Microscopic Imaging Technology for Quality Assessment of Donor Kidneys.

Background: Nonlinear optical microscopic (NLOM) imaging technique shows its high resolution imaging features in histocytology. The purpose of this study was to investigate NLOM imaging technique as a useful tool for a donor kidney quality assessment.

Materials And Methods: Eighty-three pretransplant kidney biopsies from adult donors were analyzed retrospectively.

Accumulated autophagosomes and excessive apoptosis during the luteal development of pregnant rats.

Autophagy plays an important role in the regression of pseudopregnant corpus luteum, whereas the involvement of autophagy in the pregnant luteolysis still remains unknown. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the levels and effects of accumulated autophagosomes on excessive apoptosis during the luteal development of pregnant rats. Ovaries were obtained from the female rats at the early, middle or late phase of the pregnancy, which correspondingly had three groups; including the early (ELP), middle (MLP) and late luteal phase (LLP).

Identifying the neck margin status of ductal adenocarcinoma in the pancreatic head by multiphoton microscopy.

Complete surgical resection is the only option for improving the survival of patients with ductal adenocarcinoma in the pancreatic head. After resection, determining the status of resection margins (RMs) is crucial for deciding on the nature of the follow-up treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether multiphoton microscopy (MPM) could be considered a reliable tool for determining the status of pancreatic neck margins by identifying tumour cells of ductal adenocarcinoma in these margins in the pancreatic head, and our results were affirmative.

Visualization of basement membranes in normal breast and breast cancer tissues using multiphoton microscopy.

Since basement membranes represent a critical barrier during breast cancer progression, timely imaging of these signposts is essential for early diagnosis of breast cancer. A label-free method using multiphoton microscopy (MPM) based on two-photon excited fluorescence signals and second harmonic generation signals for analyzing the morphology of basement membrane in normal and cancerous breast tissues is likely to enable a better understanding of the pathophysiology of breast cancer and facilitate improved clinical management and treatment of this disease. The aim of this study was to determine whether MPM has the potential for label-free assessment of the morphology of basement membrane in normal and cancerous breast tissues.

Nonlinear optical microscopy for label-free detection of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), which are rare and slow-growing neoplasms, pose a diagnostic challenge as they are clinically silent at the time of presentation. Here, gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors were researched by nonlinear microscopy, and results demonstrate that this technique has the capability to identify neuroendocrine tumors in the absence of labels and can, in particular, detect rare neuroendocrine tumor cells, vascular invasion, desmoplastic reaction, and fibroelastosis induced by neuroendocrine tumors. These conclusions highlight the possibility of nonlinear optical microscopy as a diagnostic tool for label-freely differentiating neuroendocrine tumors by these histopathologic features.

In vitro investigation on Ho:YAG laser-assisted bone ablation underwater.

Liquid-assisted hard tissue ablation by infrared lasers has extensive clinical application. However, detailed studies are still needed to explore the underlying mechanism. In the present study, the dynamic process of bubble evolution induced by Ho:YAG laser under water without and with bone tissue at different thickness layer were studied, as well as its effects on hard tissue ablation.

Quantitative analysis of the cell-surface roughness and viscoelasticity for breast cancer cells discrimination using atomic force microscopy.

Breast cancer has been one of the most common malignant tumors threatening female health with high incidence. Cell mechanics is becoming an important issue and could serves as a potential indicator for early cancer diagnosis. In this study, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to characterize and compare the surface nanostructure and viscoelasticity of different breast cell lines.

Imaging normal and cancerous human gastric muscular layer in transverse and longitudinal sections by multiphoton microscopy.

Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) based on two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) has been widely used for imaging microstructure of biological tissues. In this article, we used MPM to investigate the microstructure changes of normal and cancerous human gastric muscular layer in transverse and longitudinal sections. The results displayed different patterns of microstructure changes of smooth muscular tissue, cell morphology and interstitial fibers in transverse and longitudinal sections, being similar to standard histopathological images but without the need for tissue processing.

Priming the Surface of Orthopedic Implants for Osteoblast Attachment in Bone Tissue Engineering.

The development of better orthopedic implants is incessant. While current implants can function reliably in the human body for a long period of time, there are still a significant number of cases for which the implants can fail prematurely due to poor osseointegration of the implant with native bone. Increasingly, it is recognized that it is extremely important to facilitate the attachment of osteoblasts on the implant so that a proper foundation of extracellular matrix (ECM) can be laid down for the growth of new bone tissue.

Differentiating the extent of cartilage repair in rabbit ears using nonlinear optical microscopy.

Nonlinear optical microscopy (NLOM) was used as a noninvasive and label-free tool to detect and quantify the extent of the cartilage recovery. Two cartilage injury models were established in the outer ears of rabbits that created a different extent of cartilage recovery based on the presence or absence of the perichondrium. High-resolution NLOM images were used to measure cartilage repair, specifically through spectral analysis and image texture.

Monitoring the progression from intraductal carcinoma to invasive ductal carcinoma based on multiphoton microscopy.

Intraductal carcinoma is a precancerous lesion of the breast and the immediate precursor of invasive ductal carcinoma. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) was used to monitor the progression from intraductal carcinoma to invasive ductal carcinoma, which can improve early detection of precursor lesions and halt progression to invasive neoplastic disease. It was found that MPM has the capability to reveal the qualitative changes in features of cells, structure of basement membranes, and architecture of collagens during the development from intraductal carcinoma to invasive ductal carcinoma, as well as the quantitative alterations in nuclear area, circle length of basement membrane, and collagen density.

Two-photon excited fluorescence imaging of the pancreatic solid pseudopapillary tumor without hematoxylin and eosin stains.

Solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is an epithelial tumor with low-grade malignant potential and present more common in females. At present, the gold standard for accurate diagnosis of pancreatic tumor was mostly depending on the pathological and/or cytological evaluation. In this work, TPEF microscopy was applied to obtain the images of human normal pancreas and SPT of the pancreas without hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, for the purpose of identifying the organization structural, cell morphological, and cytoplasm changing, which were then compared to their corresponding H&E stained histopathological results.

Spectral wide-field microscopic fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging in live cells.

With its precise, sensitive, and nondestructive features, spectral unmixing-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy has been widely applied to visualize intracellular biological events. In this report, we set up a spectral wide-field microscopic FRET imaging system by integrating a varispec liquid crystal tunable filter into a wide-field microscope for quantitative FRET measurement in living cells. We implemented a representative emission-spectral unmixing-based FRET measurement method on this platform to simultaneously acquire pixel-to-pixel images of both FRET efficiency (E ) and acceptor-to-donor concentration ratio (R C ) in living HepG2 cells expressing fusion proteins in the presence or absence of free donors and acceptors and obtained consistent results with other instruments and methods.

Quantification of liver fibrosis via second harmonic imaging of the Glisson's capsule from liver surface.

Liver surface is covered by a collagenous layer called the Glisson's capsule. The structure of the Glisson's capsule is barely seen in the biopsy samples for histology assessment, thus the changes of the collagen network from the Glisson's capsule during the liver disease progression are not well studied. In this report, we investigated whether non-linear optical imaging of the Glisson's capsule at liver surface would yield sufficient information to allow quantitative staging of liver fibrosis.

Phase and Texture Characterizations of Scar Collagen Second-Harmonic Generation Images Varied with Scar Duration.

This work developed a phase congruency algorithm combined with texture analysis to quantitatively characterize collagen morphology in second-harmonic generation (SHG) images from human scars. The extracted phase and texture parameters of the SHG images quantified collagen directionality, homogeneity, and coarseness in scars and varied with scar duration. Phase parameters showed an increasing tendency of the mean of phase congruency with scar duration, indicating that collagen fibers are better oriented over time.

Layer-resolved colorectal tissues using nonlinear microscopy.

In this work, multiphoton microscopy (MPM), based on the nonlinear optical processes two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG), was extended to evaluate the feasibility of using MPM to distinguish layers of the bowel wall. It was found that MPM has the ability to identify the four-layer microstructures of colorectal tissues including mucosa, submucosa, muscularis propria, and serosa as there are many intrinsic signal sources in each layer. Our results also showed the capability of using the quantitative analyses of MPM images for quantifying some feature parameters including the nuclear area, nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, and optical redox ratio.

Multiphoton microscopy for tumor regression grading after neoadjuvant treatment for colorectal carcinoma.

Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of using multiphoton microscopy (MPM) to assess a tumor regression grading (TRG) system.

Methods: Fresh specimens from seven patients with colorectal carcinoma undergoing neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy at the Fujian Medical University Union Hospital were obtained immediately after proctectomy. Specimens were serially sectioned (10 µm thickness) and used for MPM or stained with hematoxylin and eosin for comparison.

Detection of morphologic alterations in rectal carcinoma following preoperative radiochemotherapy based on multiphoton microscopy imaging.

Background: Preoperative radiochemotherapy improves outcomes in patients with locally advanced rectal carcinoma, and has been used increasingly in patient management. However, there is a strong clinical need to assess tumor response to neoadjuvant treatment, and a non-invasive technique that allows the precise identification of morphologic changes in tumors would be of considerable clinical interest.

Methods: In this study, we used multiphoton microscopy (MPM) to detect morphologic alterations in rectal adenocarcinomas in patients treated with preoperative radiochemotherapy.

Differentiating the two main histologic categories of fibroadenoma tissue from normal breast tissue by using multiphoton microscopy.

Multiphoton microscopy has become a novel biological imaging technique that allows cellular and subcellular microstructure imaging based on two-photon excited fluorescence and second harmonic generation. In this work, we used multiphoton microscopy to obtain the high-contrast images of human normal breast tissue and two main histologic types of fibroadenoma (intracanalicular, pericanalicular). Moreover, quantitative image analysis was performed to characterize the changes of collagen morphology (collagen content, collagen orientation).