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Objective: This study sought to determine whether 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography could be applied to a murine model of advanced atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability to detect response to therapeutic intervention and changes in lesion stability. Approach and Results: To analyze plaques susceptible to rupture, we fed ApoE −/− mice a high-fat diet and induced vulnerable lesions by cast placement over the carotid artery. After 9 weeks of treatment with orthogonal therapeutic agents (including lipid-lowering and proefferocytic therapies), we assessed vascular inflammation and several features of plaque vulnerability by 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography and histopathology, respectively. We observed that 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography had the capacity to resolve histopathologically proven changes in plaque stability after treatment. Moreover, mean target-to-background ratios correlated with multiple characteristics of lesion instability, including the corrected vulnerability index. Conclusions: These results suggest that the application of noninvasive 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography to a murine model can allow for the identification of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques and their response to therapeutic intervention. This approach may prove useful as a drug discovery and prioritization method.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the world. A driving feature of atherosclerotic plaque formation is dysfunctional efferocytosis. Because the “don’t eat me” molecule CD47 is upregulated in atherosclerotic plaque cores, CD47-blocking strategies can stimulate the efferocytic clearance of apoptotic cells and thereby help prevent the progression of plaque buildup. However, these therapies are generally costly and, in clinical and murine trials, they have resulted in side effects including anemia and reticulocytosis. Here, we developed and characterized an intracellular phagocytosis-stimulating treatment in the CD47-SIRPα pathway. We loaded a novel monocyte/macrophage-selective nanoparticle carrier system with a small molecule enzymatic inhibitor that is released in a pH-dependent manner to stimulate macrophage efferocytosis of apoptotic cell debris via the CD47-SIRPα signaling pathway. We demonstrated that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can selectively deliver tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor 1 (TPI) intracellularly to macrophages, which potently stimulates efferocytosis, and chemically characterized the nanocarrier. Thus, SWNT-delivered TPI can stimulate macrophage efferocytosis, with the potential to reduce or prevent atherosclerotic disease.

Focused ultrasound (FUS) can concentrate energy noninvasively through the skull to elicit neuromodulation. Although the natural response of neurons to ultrasound has been explored, acoustically active drug loaded nanoparticles have the benefit of yielding a pharmacological response that may be more predictable than the effects of FUS alone. Researchers have developed drug delivery vehicles that release small molecule neuromodulatory drugs without opening blood brain barrier. It is desirable to increase drug release, and drug release typically increases with increased peak negative pressure (PNP). However, the likelihood of undesirable bioeffects, such as cavitation-induced focal hemorrhages increases with increasing PNP. Here, we examined echoes from propofol-containing nanoparticles during ultrasound exposures known to uncage propofol from the vehicle. Our goals were to 1) increase drug release without generating cavitation and 2) identify echoes that may be related to propofol release.

Atherosclerosis is the process that underlies heart attack and stroke. A characteristic feature of the atherosclerotic plaque is the accumulation of apoptotic cells in the necrotic core. Prophagocytic antibody-based therapies are currently being explored to stimulate the phagocytic clearance of apoptotic cells; however, these therapies can cause off-target clearance of healthy tissues, which leads to toxicities such as anaemia. Here we developed a macrophage-specific nanotherapy based on single-walled carbon nanotubes loaded with a chemical inhibitor of the antiphagocytic CD47-SIRPα signalling axis. We demonstrate that these single-walled carbon nanotubes accumulate within the atherosclerotic plaque, reactivate lesional phagocytosis and reduce the plaque burden in atheroprone apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice without compromising safety, and thereby overcome a key translational barrier for this class of drugs. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis reveals that prophagocytic single-walled carbon nanotubes decrease the expression of inflammatory genes linked to cytokine and chemokine pathways in lesional macrophages, which demonstrates the potential of ‘Trojan horse’ nanoparticles to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Single-walled carbon nanotubes can restore phagocytotic properties of macrophages in artherosclerotic plaques to promote plaque clearance and combat artherosclerosis.

Nanoparticles promise to advance strategies to treat vascular disease. Since being harnessed by the cancer field to deliver safer and more effective chemotherapeutics, nanoparticles have been translated into applications for cardiovascular disease. Systemic exposure and drug-drug interactions remain a concern for nearly all cardiovascular therapies, including statins, antithrombotic, and thrombolytic agents. Moreover, off-target effects and poor bioavailability have limited the development of completely new approaches to treat vascular disease. Through the rational design of nanoparticles, nano-based delivery systems enable more efficient delivery of a drug to its therapeutic target or even directly to the diseased site, overcoming biological barriers and enhancing a drug’s therapeutic index. In addition, advances in molecular imaging have led to the development of theranostic nanoparticles that may simultaneously act as carriers of both therapeutic and imaging payloads. The following is a summary of nanoparticle therapy for atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and restenosis and an overview of recent major advances in the targeted treatment of vascular disease.

We have synthesized polypyrrole nanoparticles using three different oxidizing agents (hydrogen peroxide, chloroauric acid and ferric chloride) and shown that films assembled from these nanoparticles have significantly different drug release profiles. When ferric chloride is used as the oxidizing agent, it is possible to release drugs at voltages as low as -0.05 V, almost an order of magnitude lower than typically used voltages. These ultra-low voltage responsive nanoparticles widen the window of operation of conducting polymers and enable delivery of redox active drugs. As an example, we have shown pulsed release of the chemotherapeutic methotrexate at voltages as low as -0.075 V, demonstrating the potential application of these nanoparticles in cancer treatment. We have also verified the anti-tumor efficacy of the released drug using PC12 cell cultures.

Item does not contain fulltext The advent of cancer immunotherapy (CIT) and its success in treating primary and metastatic cancer may offer substantially improved outcomes for patients. Despite recent advancements, many malignancies remain resistant to CIT, among which are brain metastases, a particularly virulent disease with no apparent cure. The immunologically unique niche of the brain has prompted compelling new questions in immuno-oncology such as the effects of tissue-specific differences in immune response, heterogeneity between primary tumors and distant metastases, and the role of spatiotemporal dynamics in shaping an effective anti-tumor immune response. Current methods to examine the immunobiology of metastases in the brain are constrained by tissue processing methods that limit spatial data collection, omit dynamic information, and cannot recapitulate the heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment. In the current review, we describe how high-resolution, live imaging tools, particularly intravital microscopy (IVM), are instrumental in answering these questions. IVM of pre-clinical cancer models enables short- and long-term observations of critical immunobiology and metastatic growth phenomena to potentially generate revolutionary insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics of brain metastasis, interactions of CIT with immune elements therein, and influence of chemo- and radiotherapy. We describe the utility of IVM to study brain metastasis in mice by tracking the migration and growth of fluorescently-labeled cells, including cancer cells and immune subsets, while monitoring the physical environment within optical windows using imaging dyes and other signal generation mechanisms to illuminate angiogenesis, hypoxia, and/or CIT drug expression within the metastatic niche. Our review summarizes the current knowledge regarding brain metastases and the immune milieu, presents the current status of CIT and its prospects in targeting brain metastases to circumvent therapeutic resistance, and proposes avenues to utilize IVM to study CIT drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy in preclinical models that will ultimately facilitate novel drug discovery and innovative combination therapies.

A long-standing goal of translational neuroscience is the ability to noninvasively deliver therapeutic agents to specific brain regions with high spatiotemporal resolution. Focused ultrasound (FUS) is an emerging technology that can noninvasively deliver energy up the order of 1 kW/cm2 with millimeter and millisecond resolution to any point in the human brain with Food and Drug Administration-approved hardware. Although FUS is clinically utilized primarily for focal ablation in conditions such as essential tremor, recent breakthroughs have enabled the use of FUS for drug delivery at lower intensities (i.e., tens of watts per square centimeter) without ablation of the tissue. In this review, we present strategies for image-guided FUS-mediated pharmacologic neurointerventions. First, we discuss blood–brain barrier opening to deliver therapeutic agents of a variety of sizes to the central nervous system. We then describe the use of ultrasound-sensitive nanoparticles to noninvasively deliver small molecules to millimeter-sized structures including superficial cortical regions and deep gray matter regions within the brain without the need for blood–brain barrier opening. We also consider the safety and potential complications of these techniques, with attention to temporal acuity. Finally, we close with a discussion of different methods for mapping the ultrasound field within the brain and describe future avenues of research in ultrasound-targeted drug therapies.

Catheter-based intra-arterial drug therapies have proven effective for a range of oncologic, neurologic, and cardiovascular applications. However, these procedures are limited by their invasiveness and relatively broad drug spatial distribution. The ideal technique for local pharmacotherapy would be noninvasive and would flexibly deliver a given drug to any region of the body with high spatial and temporal precision. Combining polymeric perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions with existent clinical focused ultrasound systems could in principle meet these needs, but it has not been clear whether these nanoparticles could provide the necessary drug loading, stability, and generalizability across a range of drugs, beyond a few niche applications. Here, we develop polymeric perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions into a generalized platform for ultrasound-targeted delivery of hydrophobic drugs with high potential for clinical translation. We demonstrate that a wide variety of drugs may be effectively uncaged with ultrasound using these nanoparticles, with drug loading increasing with hydrophobicity. We also set the stage for clinical translation by delineating production protocols that are scalable and yield sterile, stable, and optimized ultrasound-activated drug-loaded nanoemulsions. Finally, we exhibit a new potential application of these nanoemulsions for local control of vascular tone. This work establishes the power of polymeric perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions as a clinically-translatable platform for efficacious, noninvasive, and localized ultrasonic drug uncaging for myriad targets in the brain and body.

We report the observation of the electrochemically generated nitrenium ions of 4,4′-dimethyoxydiphenylamine and di-p-tolylamine in solution by mass spectrometry. This setup takes inspiration from desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to sample directly from the surface of a rotating waterwheel working electrode for mass spectrometric analysis. Detection of the 4,4′-dimethyoxydiphenylamine nitrenium ion was expected based upon para-methoxy resonance stabilization, whereas observation of the di-p-tolylamine nitrenium ion might be unexpected because resonance stabilization from the para-substituted position is unavailable. However, the short timescale analysis of the setup allows for the isolation of the di-p-tolylamine nitrenium ion, which is electrogenerated in solution and detected mass spectrometrically.

A wirelessly powered implantable device is proposed for fully programmable and localized drug delivery. The implant is powered using an external ultrasonic transmitter and operates at < 5% of the FDA diagnostic ultrasound intensity limit. Drug release is achieved through electrical stimulation of drug-loaded polypyrrole nanoparticles. A design methodology for the implant electronics is presented and experimentally demonstrated to be accurate in predicting the concentration of the released drug. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ultrasonically powered implantable device platform for targeted drug delivery using electroresponsive polymers. The active area of the implant electronics is just 3 mm × 5 mm.

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) is modified with platinum nanoparticle (PtNPs) decorated multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). The modified electrode is applied for the determination of ceftriaxone (CFX) in the presence of lidocaine. Different methods were used to characterize the surface morphology of the modified electrode. The electrochemical behavior of CFX was investigated at GCE, MWCNT/GCE and PtNPs/MWCNT/GCE. A factorial-based response-surface methodology was used to find out the optimum conditions with minimum number of experiments. Under the optimized conditions, oxidation peak currents increased linearly with CFX concentration in the range of 0.01–10.00 μM with a detection limit of 9.01 nM. The results prove that the modified electrode is also suitable for the determination of CFX in pharmaceutical and clinical preparations.

Conducting polymers present an opportunity for developing programmable, adjustable, spatially, and temporally controllable drug delivery systems. While several small molecule drugs have been released from thin conductive polymeric films successfully, delivering large molecule therapeutics, such as polypeptides and nucleic acids, has remained a significant challenge. Poor drug loading (∼ng cm−2) of thin films coupled with film instability has, in many cases, made conducting polymer films refractory to clinical development. To address these limitations, we have utilized conductive polymer nanoparticulate backbones to controllably release insulin, a high molecular weight, clinically relevant polypeptide. We find that the interaction between insulin and the polymer scaffold can be described by a simple Langmuir-type adsorption model. By modifying the ratio of the amount of nanoparticles to the amount of insulin, we have obtained drug loading percentages estimated to be as high as 51 wt% percent. In vivo experiments in mice confirmed retained bioactivity of the released insulin after electrical stimulation.

The potential of electroresponsive conducting polymer nanoparticles to be used as general drug delivery systems that allow electrically pulsed, linearly scalable, and on demand release of incorporated drugs is demonstrated. As examples, facile release from polypyrrole nanoparticles is shown for fluorescein, a highly water-soluble model compound, piroxicam, a lipophilic small molecule drug, and insulin, a large hydrophilic peptide hormone. The drug loading is about 13 wt% and release is accomplished in a few seconds by applying a weak constant current or voltage. To identify the parameters that should be finely tuned to tailor the carrier system for the release of the therapeutic molecule of interest, a systematic study of the factors that affect drug delivery is performed, using fluorescein as a model compound. The parameters studied include current, time, voltage, pH, temperature, particle concentration, and ionic strength. Results indicate that there are several degrees of freedom that can be optimized for efficient drug delivery. The ability to modulate linearly drug release from conducting polymers with the applied stimulus can be utilized to design programmable and minimally invasive drug delivery devices.

Nanodiamondgraphite (NDG) decorated with Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs-NDG) was prepared and used to construct a novel sensitive sensor for the voltammetric determination of thioridazine (TR). The results indicate a remarkable increase in the oxidation peak currents together with a negative shift in the oxidation peak potentials, in comparison to the bare pyrolytic graphite electrode. Remarkable enhancement in microscopic area of the electrode along with strong adsorption of TR on the surface of the modified electrode resulted in a considerable increase in the peak current of TR. The surface morphology and the nature of the composite film deposited on PGE were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Experimental variables, such as the deposited amount of the modifier suspension, pH of the supporting electrolyte, the accumulation potential and time are optimized by monitoring the CV responses of TR. Under the optimal conditions, the modified electrode showed a wide linear response to the concentration of TR in the range of 0.08–100 µM with a detection limit of 0.01 µM. The prepared modified electrode showed several advantages: simple preparation method, high stability and uniformity in the composite film, high sensitivity, long-term stability and remarkable voltammetric reproducibility in response to TR. The modified electrode can be successfully applied for accurate determination of trace amounts of TR in pharmaceutical and clinical preparations.

A novel ultrasensitive modified electrode was fabricated with a graphene nanosheets and carbon nanospheres (GNS–CNS)-based nanocomposite film as a powerful platform. Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) were simply electrodeposited onto the GNS–CNS-coated glassy carbon electrode creating a PtNPs/GNS–CNS hybrid nanocomposite modified electrode. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) techniques were used for the characterization of the prepared modified electrode. The results of investigation of electrochemical response characteristics of cefepime (CP) revealed a considerable improvement in the oxidation peak current of CP on PtNPs/GNS–CNS/GCE compared to GNS–CNS/GCE or PtNPs/GCE. The observation of a synergistic effect between GNS–CNS and PtNPs is related to the electroactivity enhancement of PtNPs in the constructed nanostructured composite due to high electron-transfer ability of GNS–CNS. Under optimal conditions, the modified electrode showed high sensitivity (b(CP) = dIp,a(CP)/d[CP] = 1747.2 nA nM−1), a low detection limit (LOD (CP) = 1.2 nM, S/N = 3) and a wide linear dynamic range (8 nM to 6 μM) for the voltammetric determination of CP. The prepared electrode was successfully applied for the accurate determination of trace amounts of CP in pharmaceutical and clinical samples.