Multimodal imaging of skin lesions by using methylene blue as cancer biomarker

Near-infrared fluorophores methylene blue for targeted imaging of the stomach in intraoperative navigation

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging-guided surgery is increasingly concerned in gastrointestinal surgery because it can potentially improve clinical outcomes. This new technique can provide intraoperative image guidance for surgical margin evaluation and help surgeons examine residual lesions and small tumors during surgery. NIR fluorophores methylene blue (MB) is a promising fluorescent probe because of its safety and intraoperative imaging in the clinic. However, whether MB possesses the potential to perform intraoperative navigation of the stomach and gastric tumors needs to be further explored. Therefore, the current study mainly validated MB's usefulness in animal models' intraoperative imaging of stomach and gastric tumors. NIR fluorophores MB can exhibit specific uptake by the gastric epithelial cells and cancer cells. It is primarily found that MB can directly target the stomach in mice. Interestingly, MB was applied for the NIR imaging of gastric cancer cell xenografts, suggesting that MB cannot specifically target subcutaneous and orthotopic gastric tumors in xenograft models. Thus, it can be concluded that MB has no inherent specificity for gastric tumors but specificity for gastric tissues. Apparently, MB-positive and negative NIR imaging are meaningful in targeting gastric tissues and tumors. MB is expected to represent a helpful NIR agent to secure precise resection margins during the gastrectomy and resection of gastric tumors.

Antitumor applications of polyphenol-conjugated turnip mosaic virus-derived nanoparticles

Background: Filamentous plant virus-derived nanoparticles are biodegradable and noninfectious to humans. Their structure is also amenable to chemical modifications. They constitute an appealing material for biomedical applications including imaging and drug delivery. We had previously used turnip mosaic virus-derived nanoparticles (TuMV-NPs) to increase antibody-sensing in vivo, to prevent biofilm formation and to build biological nanoscaffolds. Materials & methods: We analyzed TuMV-NP biodistribution and tumor homing using in vivo imaging. We studied in vitro the interaction with human cancer cell lines and the antiproliferative effect of epigallocatechin gallate-functionalized TuMV-NPs. Results & conclusion: TuMV-NPs are efficiently internalized by human cells and show good tumor homing. The antiproliferative effect of epigallocatechin gallate-TuMV-NPs suggests that they could offer a potential anticancer therapy.

The Advances and Biomedical Applications of Imageable Nanomaterials

Nanomedicine shows great potential in screening, diagnosing and treating diseases. However, given the limitations of current technology, detection of some smaller lesions and drugs’ dynamic monitoring still need to be improved. With the advancement of nanotechnology, researchers have produced various nanomaterials with imaging capabilities which have shown great potential in biomedical research. Here, we summarized the researches based on the characteristics of imageable nanomaterials, highlighted the advantages and biomedical applications of imageable nanomaterials in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and discussed current challenges and prospects.