VEGFR-2 targeted cellular delivery of doxorubicin by gold nanoparticles for potential antiangiogenic therapy

We report a novel gold nanobioconjugate system that achieves targeted delivery of the small molecule drug doxorubicin to endothelial cells using anti-VEGFR-2 antibody conjugated gold nanoparticles (GNPs). The reported nanobioconjugate system combines the inherent ability of GNPs to undergo high levels of derivatization with the precision of antibody recognition of a cell surface antigen. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) confirmed intracellular presence of the GNPs. Using a VEGFR-2 expressing cell line and a cell line that is negative for the receptor, in combination with competition assay we established the cell specific targeted delivery of the nanobioconjugate. The nanobioconjugate system described here may have potential drug delivery applications for antiangiogenic cancer therapy.     

Upper Bound on the Density of Ruelle Resonances for Anosov Flows

Using a semiclassical approach we show that the spectrum of a smooth Anosov vector field V on a compact manifold is discrete (in suitable anisotropic Sobolev spaces) and then we provide an upper bound for the density of eigenvalues of the operator (−i)V, called Ruelle resonances, close to the real axis and for large real parts.     

A New Derivation of the Quantum Navier–Stokes Equations in the Wigner–Fokker–Planck Approach

A quantum Navier–Stokes system for the particle, momentum, and energy densities is formally derived from the Wigner–Fokker–Planck equation using a moment method. The viscosity term depends on the particle density with a shear viscosity coefficient which equals the quantum diffusion coefficient of the Fokker–Planck collision operator. The main idea of the derivation is the use of a so-called osmotic momentum operator, which is the sum of the phase-space momentum and the gradient operator. In this way, a Chapman–Enskog expansion of the Wigner function, which typically leads to viscous approximations, is avoided. Moreover, we show that the osmotic momentum emerges from local gauge theory.     

Role of different Skyrme forces and surface corrections in exotic cluster decay

We present cluster-decay studies of ⁵⁶Ni^* formed in heavy-ion collisions using different Skyrme forces. Our study reveals that different Skyrme forces do not alter the transfer structure of fractional yields significantly. The cluster decay half-lives of different clusters lie within ±10% for preformed cluster models (PCM) and ±15% for unified fission models (UFM).     

A New Strategy to Identify and Eliminate the Inner Filter Effects by Outer Filter Technique

To identify and eliminate the inner filter effects (IFEs), prepositive and side cells containing absorbents are fixed beside the fluorescer contained cell. In this way, excitation and emission lights can be quenched by primary and secondary outer filter effects respectively, depending on absorbent concentration and cell length. Herein the quenching of emission fluorescence caused by IFEs can be equally reduced by outer filter effects (OFEs) and the interference of IFEs was eliminated. This approach was experimentally used for identifying the interaction mode and mechanism between BSA and nanoAg. Results showed that the quenching of BSA fluorescence and synchronous fluorescence mainly attributes to IFEs, instead of static/dynamic fluorescent quenching. In view of the above, the elimination of the interference of IFEs by the design of OFEs plays an important part in the precise application of fluorescence detector.     

Early Detection of Breast Cancer: Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Target Specific NIR-Fluorescent Estrogen Conjugate for Molecular Optical Imaging

Estrogen induced proliferation of existing mutant cells is widely understood to be the major risk determining factor in the development of breast cancer. Hence determination of the Estrogen Receptor[ER] status is of paramount importance. We have carried out the synthesis and characterization of a novel NIR fluorescent dye conjugate aimed at measuring ER+ve status in-vivo. The conjugate was synthesized by ester formation between 17-β estradiol and a cyanine dye namely: bis-1, 1-(4-sulfobutyl) indotricarbocyanine-5-carboxylic acid, sodium salt. The replacement of the sodium ion in the ester by a larger glucosammonium ion was found to enhance the hydrophilicity and reduce the toxic effect on cell lines. The excitation and emission peaks for the dye were recorded as 750 and 788 nm respectively; ideal for non-invasive optical imaging owing to minimal tissue attenuation and auto-fluorescence at these wavelengths. The dye (NIRDC1) has a significant drop in plasma-protein binding therefore leading to marked improvement in pharmacokinetic profile such as dye evacuation in comparison to ICG. In addition the dye showed enhanced fluorescence quantum yield, molar extinction coefficient and linearity in fluorescence relative to ICG. This dye can be potentially used as a target specific exogenous contrast agent in molecular optical imaging for early detection of breast cancer.     

Nonlinear Coherent States and Ehrenfest Time for Schrödinger Equation

We consider the propagation of wave packets for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, in the semi-classical limit. We establish the existence of a critical size for the initial data, in terms of the Planck constant: if the initial data are too small, the nonlinearity is negligible up to the Ehrenfest time. If the initial data have the critical size, then at leading order the wave function propagates like a coherent state whose envelope is given by a nonlinear equation, up to a time of the same order as the Ehrenfest time. We also prove a nonlinear superposition principle for these nonlinear wave packets.     

A Generalized Hadamard-Fresnel Complementary Transformation Derived by Virtue of New Coherent-Entangled State

The new coherent-entangled state |z,x;θ〉 is proposed in the two-mode Fock space, which exhibits both the properties of coherent and entangled states. The completeness relation of |z,x;θ〉 is proved by virtue of the technique of integral within an ordered product of operators. A generalized Hadamard-Fresnel complementary transformation derived by virtue of the coherent-entangled state |z,x;θ〉, which is unitary. The new unitary operator plays the role of both Hadamard transformation for ([^(a)]₁sinq-[^(a)]₂cosq)(\hat{a}_{1}\sin\theta -\hat{a}_{2}\cos\theta) and Fresnel transformation for ([^(a)]₁cosq+[^(a)]₂sinq)(\hat{a}_{1}\cos\theta +\hat{a}_{2}\sin\theta), respectively.     

Intravascular 3.0 T MRI Using an Imaging-Guidewire: a Feasibility Study in Swine

This study was to validate the feasibility of using a magnetic resonance imaging-guidewire (MRIG) for intravascular 3.0 T MR imaging of deep-seated arterial walls of large animals. The functionality of a 0.032-in. MRIG was evaluated and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated. Then, MRI of ten iliofemoral arteries of six pigs was acquired by MRIG and surface coil. The difference in the SNRs of the arterial walls between different coils was compared. Histology examined the potential thermal injuries of the imaged vessels. The MRIG functioned with the 3.0 T MR scanner. The average SNR of the arterial walls was significantly higher with the MRIG than with the surface coils (76.22 ± 34.76 vs. 12.63 ± 4.25, P < 0.01). Histology showed no evidence of thermal injuries at the vessel walls. This study validated the feasibility of generating intravascular 3.0 T MRI of deep-seated arterial walls in large animals, which should facilitate the translation of this technique from 1.5 to 3.0 T MR scanner.