A quantitative diagnostic method for oral mucous precancerosis by Rose Bengal fluorescence spectroscopy

A Hypercoagulable Hematological Metastasis Breast Cancer Model

BACKGROUND

The hypercoagulable status, which forms a vicious cycle with hematogenous metastasis, is a common systemic alteration in cancers. As modeling is a key approach in research, a model which is suitable for studying how the hypercoagulable status promotes hematogenous metastasis in breast cancer is urgently needed.

METHODS

Based on the tumor-bearing period (TBP) and postoperative incubation period (PIP), 4T1-breast cancer models were constructed to evaluate coagulation and tumor burden to generate multiple linear regression-based lung metastasis prediction formula. Platelets and 4T1 cells were cocultured for 30 min or 24 h in vitro to evaluate the early and late phases of their crosstalk, and then the physical characteristics (concentration and size) and procoagulant activity of the coculture supernatants were assayed.

RESULTS

The multiple linear regression model was constructed as log10 (photon number) = 0.147 TBP + 0.14 PIP + 3.303 (TBP ≤ 25 and PIP ≤ 17) to predict lung metastasis. Coculture of platelets and 4T1 cells contributed to the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and the development of the hypercoagulable status.

CONCLUSIONS

In vivo and in vitro hypercoagulable status models were developed to explore the mechanism of hypercoagulable status which is characterized by platelet activation and promotes hematogenous metastasis in breast cancer.

Recent Advances in Nano-Bio-Sensing Fabrication Technology for the Detection of Oral Cancer

Nanotechnology-based miniaturized devices have been a breakthrough in the pre-clinical and clinical research areas, e.g. drug delivery, personalized medicine. They have revolutionized the discovery and development of biomarker-based diagnostic devices for detection of various diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and cancer. Nanomaterials (NMs) hold tremendous diagnostic potential due to their high surface-to-volume ratio and quantum confinement phenomenon, improving the detection limit of clinically relevant biomolecules in bio-fluids. Thus, they are helpful in the translation of bench-on platform to point-of-care (POC) screening device. The nanomaterial-based biosensor fabrication technology has also simplified and improved oral cancer (OC) or oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) diagnosis. The fabrication of nano-bio sensors involves application specific modifications of NMs. The unique properties functionalized NMs have augmented their application on the nano-biosensing platform for the detection of clinically relevant biomolecules in bio-fluids. Therefore, this article summarizes the recent advancements in the process of fabrication of nano-biosensors for detection of OC.

Rose bengal uptake by E. faecalis and F. nucleatum and light-mediated antibacterial activity measured by flow cytometry

Antibacterial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) using rose bengal (RB) and blue-light kills bacteria through the production of reactive oxygen derivates. However, the interaction mechanism of RB with bacterial cells remains unclear. This study investigated the uptake efficiency and the antibacterial activity of blue light-activated RB against Enterococcus faecalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Spectrophotometry and epifluorescence microscopy were used to evaluate binding of RB to bacteria. The antibacterial activity of RB after various irradiation times was assessed by flow cytometry in combination with cell sorting. Uptake of RB increased in a concentration dependent manner in both strains although E. faecalis displayed higher uptake values. RB appeared to bind specific sites located at the cellular poles of E. faecalis and at regular intervals along F. nucleatum. Blue-light irradiation of samples incubated with RB significantly reduced bacterial viability. After incubation with 10μM RB and 240s irradiation, only 0.01% (±0.01%) of E. faecalis cells and 0.03% (±0.03%) of F. nucleatum survived after treatment. This study indicated that RB can bind to E. faecalis and F. nucleatum in a sufficient amount to elicit effective aPDT. Epifluorescence microscopy showed a yet-unreported property of RB binding to bacterial membranes. Flow cytometry allowed the detection of bacteria with damaged membranes that were unable to form colonies on agars after cell sorting.

A study of diagnostic criteria established for two oral mucous diseases by HMME-fluorescence spectroscopy

Malignant oral ulcers are common pathological occurrence in oral and maxillofacial tumors. A noninvasive method for diagnosis of malignant oral ulcers was developed in the study, which is based on hematoporphyrin monomethylether (HMME) fluorescence spectroscopy. The objective of this work is to determine the feasibility of this method in differentiating the malignant tissues from the inflammatory ones in the hamster cheek pouch model. Adult hamsters were used for the study and a cheek pouch model was established. For the malignant model, the 9, 10-dimethyl-1, 2-benzanthracene carcinogenesis was applied to one cheek pouch for 10 weeks (N = 35). The simple ulcers were created on buccal cheek mucosa in a simple manner (N = 10). Prior to sacrifice, HMME solution was injected into the tissues. The induced fluorescence spectra of the cheek tissues were recorded by a fiber spectrometer with excitation at 405 nm. A spectral algorithm was used to eliminate the effect of autofluorescence, and a spectral parameter S was selected as diagnostic criterion. After fluorescence measurement, the animals were sacrificed and the measured tissues were collected. Histological staining was performed and the results of histopathological evaluation were documented. The diagnostic criteria that reflected the fluorescence intensity were set as follows: normal, S ≤ 10; simple ulcer, 230 ≤ S ≤ 290; and malignant ulcer, 140 ≤ S ≤ 200. The sensitivity and specificity of this detection method was verified by scalpel biopsy, and the overall accuracy was over 90%. The results of this study showed that the fluorescence spectroscopic method implemented by HMME can accurately differentiate the two kinds of clinically indistinguishable diseases.

Bimodal optical diagnostics of oral cancer based on Rose Bengal conjugated gold nanorod platform

Early detection of cancer often requires time consuming protocols and expensive instrumentation. To address these limitations, a Rose Bengal conjugated gold nanorod (RB-GNR) platform is developed for optical detection of cancer cells. The GNRs are modified by poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and conjugated with RB molecules to produce RB-GNRs which exhibit strong optical absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region, good stability in aqueous solution, low cytotoxicity, and high specificity to oral cancer cells. The label-free sensing assay utilizes RB-GNRs as the sensing probe and by monitoring the aggregation-induced red-shift in the NIR absorption wavelength, specific and quantitative analysis of the oral cancer cell lysate is accomplished down to a detection limit of 2000 cells/mL. By employing the RB-GNRs as an imaging probe, an imaging assay is established on a home-made NIR absorption imaging system. Based on the NIR absorption by the RB-GNRs specifically conjugated with the oral cancer cells, multi-channel, rapid and quantitative detection of oral cancer cells is demonstrated. The high sensitivity and specificity of the RB-GNR platform as demonstrated by the two complementary assays provide non-invasive optical diagnostics of oral cancer cells enabling convenient screening and monitoring.