Self-Assembled Verteporfin Nanoparticles for Photodynamic and Light-Independent Therapy in Glioblastoma

Published in: Advanced NanoBioMed Research Authors: John A. Quinlan, Kaylin Baumiller, Anandita Gaur, Wen-An Chiou, Robert W. Robey, Michael M. Gottesman, Huang-Chiao Huang  Published in: Advanced NanoBioMed Research Authors: John A. Quinlan, Kaylin Baumiller, Anandita Gaur, Wen-An Chiou, Robert W. Robey, Michael M. Gottesman, Huang-Chiao Huang A nanosuspension of verteporfin, termed NanoVP, that requires no carriers is developed, permitting delivery of VP alone in an aqueous solution. NanoVP is produced by solvent–antisolvent precipitation, with dimethyl sulfoxide as the preferable solvent. The paper describes the characterization of NanoVP, including bioavailability and anticancer capacity in glioblastoma with ML6600 laser irradiation, as well as potontial of NanoVP for light-independent therapy.   Read Continue reading →

Screening of photosensitizers-ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter interactions in vitro

Published in: Cancer Drug Resistance Authors: Shruti Vig1, Payal Srivastava1,#, Idrisa Rahman1,2,#, Renee Jaranson1, Anika Dasgupta1, Robert Perttilä3, Petteri Uusimaa3, Huang-Chiao Huang1  Published in: Cancer Drug Resistance Authors: Shruti Vig1, Payal Srivastava1,#, Idrisa Rahman1,2,#, Renee Jaranson1, Anika Dasgupta1, Robert Perttilä3, Petteri Uusimaa3, Huang-Chiao Huang1 University of Maryland and Modulight have published together a new research study about the mechanisms of cancer drug resistance. Drug resistance is a leading cause of treatment failure and often has dramatic consequences for survival of cancer patients. Cancer cells have developed various ways to protect themselves from drugs. When several clinically used photoactive drugs were studied, it was shown that some of them were being actively pumped out by cancer cells, thus likely limiting the full therapeutic potential of these Continue reading →

Engineering Photodynamics for Treatment, Priming and Imaging

 Published in: Nature Reviews Bioengineering Authors: Girgis Obaid, University of Texas at Dallas Jonathan P. Celli, University of Massachusetts Boston Mans Broekgaarden, Grenoble Alpes University Anne-Laure Bulin, Grenoble Alpes University Petteri Uusimaa, Modulight Corporation Brian Pogue, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine Tayyaba Hasan, Harvard Medical School Huang-Chiao Huang, University of Maryland   The review article explores the advanced applications of PDT, a photochemistry-based treatment approach that utilizes light-activated photosensitizers to generate reactive oxygen species for localized cellular cytotoxicity. The paper discusses the underlying mechanisms Continue reading →

Comparative study of immune response to local tumor destruction modalities in a murine breast cancer model

Published in: Frontiers in Oncology Authors: Sadna Budhu, Kwanghee Kim, Wesley Yip, Stephen La Rosa, Sylvia Jebiwott, Liqun Cai, Aliya Holland, Jasmine Thomas, Dina Preise, Alex Somma, Benjamin Gordon, Avigdor Scherz, Jedd D. Wolchok, Joseph Erinjeri, Taha Merghoub, Jonathan A. Coleman  Published in: Frontiers in Oncology Authors: Sadna Budhu, Kwanghee Kim, Wesley Yip, Stephen La Rosa, Sylvia Jebiwott, Liqun Cai, Aliya Holland, Jasmine Thomas, Dina Preise, Alex Somma, Benjamin Gordon, Avigdor Scherz, Jedd D. Wolchok, Joseph Erinjeri, Taha Merghoub, Jonathan A. Coleman Three forms of localized tumor destruction (radiation therapy, vascular targeted PDT and cryoablation) were compared for their efficacy in evoking local and systemic immune responses. This has potential to improve effectiveness of immunotherapy in non-responding patients (cold tumors) by attracting T cells to the Continue reading →

Ru(II) Oligothienyl Complexes with Fluorinated Ligands: Photophysical, Electrochemical, and Photobiological Properties

Published in: Inorganic Chemistry Authors: Houston D. Cole, Abbas Vali, John A. Roque III, Ge Shi, Alisher Talgatov, Gurleen Kaur, Antonio Francés-Monerris, Marta E. Alberto, Colin G. Cameron, Sherri A. McFarland  Published in: Inorganic Chemistry Authors: Houston D. Cole, Abbas Vali, John A. Roque III, Ge Shi, Alisher Talgatov, Gurleen Kaur, Antonio Francés-Monerris, Marta E. Alberto, Colin G. Cameron, Sherri A. McFarland A series of Ru(II) complexes were characterized and assessed for phototherapy effects toward cancer cells. Also activity in hypoxia was evaluated, with some of the compounds retaining partial activity in hypoxia. ML8500 was used for dosimetry studies, assessing impact of irradiance on the phototoxicity of Ru-4T with several different wavelengths. LEDs were used for Continue reading →

Near‐infrared photoimmunotherapy targeting PD‐L1: Improved efficacy by preconditioning the tumor microenvironment

Published in: Cancer Science Authors: Fuyuki F. Inagaki, Makoto Kano, Aki Furusawa, Takuya Kato, Ryuhei Okada, Hiroshi Fukushima, Seiichiro Takao, Shuhei Okuyama, Peter L. Choyke, Hisataka Kobayashi  Published in: Cancer Science Authors: Fuyuki F. Inagaki, Makoto Kano, Aki Furusawa, Takuya Kato, Ryuhei Okada, Hiroshi Fukushima, Seiichiro Takao, Shuhei Okuyama, Peter L. Choyke, Hisataka Kobayashi In this study, the efficacy of PD-L1-targeted NIR-PIT (photoimmunotherapy) with ML7710 was assessed in immune-competent tumor mouse models. PIT showed a significant therapeutic effect on the tumor models with high PD-L1 expression. Furthermore, it induced an abscopal effect on distant tumors and long-term immunological memory. Combination with interferon-gamma improved the treatment efficacy by increasing PD-L1 expression leading to more Continue reading →

Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy targeting Nectin-4 in a preclinical model of bladder cancer

Published in: Cancer Letters Authors: Hiroshi Fukushima, Seiichiro Takao, Aki Furusawa, Vladimir Valera Romero, Sandeep Gurram, Takuya Kato, Shuhei Okuyama, Makoto Kano, Peter L. Choyke, Hisataka Kobayashi  Published in: Cancer Letters Authors: Hiroshi Fukushima, Seiichiro Takao, Aki Furusawa, Vladimir Valera Romero, Sandeep Gurram, Takuya Kato, Shuhei Okuyama, Makoto Kano, Peter L. Choyke, Hisataka Kobayashi Enfortumab vedotin (EV), an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets Nectin-4, has shown promising results in the treatment of bladder cancer. The study investigated use of Nectin-4 targeting photoimmunotherapy in preclinical bladder cancer models. ML7710 was used as light source for activating the therapy in vitro and in vivo.   Read the article here

Phototruncation cell tracking with near-infrared photoimmunotherapy using heptamethine cyanine dye to visualise migratory dynamics of immune cells

Published in: eBioMedicine Authors: Hiroshi Fukushima, Aki Furusawa, Seiichiro Takao, Siddharth S. Matikonda, Makoto Kano, Shuhei Okuyama, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Peter L. Choyke, Martin J. Schnermann, Hisataka Kobayashi  Published in: eBioMedicine Authors: Hiroshi Fukushima, Aki Furusawa, Seiichiro Takao, Siddharth S. Matikonda, Makoto Kano, Shuhei Okuyama, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Peter L. Choyke, Martin J. Schnermann, Hisataka Kobayashi A new method called phototruncation-assisted cell tracking (PACT) can be used to noninvasively track migration of immune cells to understand anti-cancer immunity mechanisms. PACT is based on irreversible photo-induced truncation reaction, transforming Cy7 into Cy5 when exposed to NIR light (780 nm). PACT was used in this study to monitor spatiotemporal migration of immune cells between tumor and Continue reading →

Photoimmuno-antimicrobial therapy for Staphylococcus aureus implant infection

Published in: PLoS One Authors: Bruce van Dijk, Sabrina Oliveira, J. Fred F. Hooning van Duyvenbode, F. Ruben H. A. Nurmohamed, Vida Mashayekhi, Irati Beltrán Hernández, Jos van Strijp, Lisanne de Vor, Piet C. Aerts, H. Charles Vogely, Harrie Weinans, Bart C. H. van der Wal  Published in: PLoS One Authors: Bruce van Dijk, Sabrina Oliveira, J. Fred F. Hooning van Duyvenbode, F. Ruben H. A. Nurmohamed, Vida Mashayekhi, Irati Beltrán Hernández, Jos van Strijp, Lisanne de Vor, Piet C. Aerts, H. Charles Vogely, Harrie Weinans, Bart C. H. van der Wal Photoimmuno-antimicrobial therapy (PIAT) was develop to treat implant infections that cause high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Antibody targeting Wall Teichoic Acid surface components of both S. aureus and its biofilm was conjugated to a photosensitizer IRDye700DX and used as Continue reading →

Carrier-Free, Amorphous Verteporfin Nanodrug for Enhanced Photodynamic Cancer Therapy and Brain Drug Delivery

Published in: Advanced Science Authors: John A. Quinlan, Collin T. Inglut, Payal Srivastava, Idrisa Rahman, Jillian Stabile, Brandon Gaitan, Carla Arnau Del Valle, Kaylin Baumiller, Anandita Gaur, Wen-An Chiou, Baktiar Karim, Nina Connolly, Robert W. Robey, Graeme F. Woodworth, Michael M. Gottesman, Huang-Chiao Huang University of Maryland  Published in: Advanced Science Authors: John A. Quinlan, Collin T. Inglut, Payal Srivastava, Idrisa Rahman, Jillian Stabile, Brandon Gaitan, Carla Arnau Del Valle, Kaylin Baumiller, Anandita Gaur, Wen-An Chiou, Baktiar Karim, Nina Connolly, Robert W. Robey, Graeme F. Woodworth, Michael M. Gottesman, Huang-Chiao Huang University of Maryland Glioblastoma (GBM) is hard to treat due to cellular invasion into functioning brain tissues, limited drug delivery, and evolved treatment resistance. Recurrence is nearly universal even after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves photosensitizer administration followed by light activation to generate reactive oxygen species at tumor sites, thereby killing cells or Continue reading →