Immunostimulatory nanoparticle incorporating two immune agonists for the treatment of pancreatic tumors.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly malignant disease, where even surgical resection and aggressive chemotherapy produce dismal outcomes. Immunotherapy is a promising alternative to conventional treatments, possessing the ability to elicit T cell-mediated killing of tumor cells and prevent disease recurrence. Immunotherapeutic approaches thus far have seen limited success in PDAC due to a poorly immunogenic and exceedingly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which is enriched with dysfunctional and immunosuppressed antigen-presenting cells (APCs). We developed a highly potent immunostimulatory nanoparticle (immuno-NP) to activate and expand APCs in the tumor and induce local secretion of interferon ß (IFNß), which is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a major role in APC recruitment. The effectiveness of the immuno-NP stems from its dual cargo of two synergistic immune modulators consisting of an agonist of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway and an agonist of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway. We show the functional synergy of the dual-agonist cargo can be tweaked by adjusting the ratio of the two agonists loaded in the immuno-NP, leading to an increase in IFNß production (11-fold) compared to any single agonist immuno-NP variant. Using the orthotopic murine Panc02 model of PDAC, we show that systemic administration allowed immuno-NPs to deposit into the perivascular regions of the tumor, which coincided with the APC-rich tumor areas leading to predominant uptake of immuno-NPs by APCs. The immuno-NPs were effectively taken up by a significant portion of dendritic cells in the tumor (>56%). This led to a significant expansion of APCs, resulting in an 11.5-fold increase of dendritic cells and infiltration of lymphocytes throughout the pancreatic tumor compared to untreated animals.

Delivery of drugs into brain tumors using multicomponent silica nanoparticles.

Glioblastomas are highly lethal cancers defined by resistance to conventional therapies and rapid recurrence. While new brain tumor cell-specific drugs are continuously becoming available, efficient drug delivery to brain tumors remains a limiting factor. We developed a multicomponent nanoparticle, consisting of an iron oxide core and a mesoporous silica shell that can effectively deliver drugs across the blood-brain barrier into glioma cells. When exposed to alternating low-power radiofrequency (RF) fields, the nanoparticle's mechanical tumbling releases the entrapped drug molecules from the pores of the silica shell. After directing the nanoparticle to target the near-perivascular regions and altered endothelium of the brain tumor via fibronectin-targeting ligands, rapid drug release from the nanoparticles is triggered by RF facilitating wide distribution of drug delivery across the blood-brain tumor interface.

Treatment of glioblastoma using multicomponent silica nanoparticles.

Glioblastomas (GBMs) remain highly lethal. This partially stems from the presence of brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs), a highly plastic cellular subpopulation that is resistant to current therapies. In addition to resistance, the blood-brain barrier limits the penetration of most drugs into GBMs. To effectively deliver a BTIC-specific inhibitor to brain tumors, we developed a multicomponent nanoparticle, termed Fe@MSN, which contains a mesoporous silica shell and an iron oxide core. Fibronectin-targeting ligands directed the nanoparticle to the near-perivascular areas of GBM. After Fe@MSN particles deposited in the tumor, an external low-power radiofrequency (RF) field triggered rapid drug release due to mechanical tumbling of the particle resulting in penetration of high amounts of drug across the blood-brain tumor interface and widespread drug delivery into the GBM. We loaded the nanoparticle with the drug 1400W, which is a potent inhibitor of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). It has been shown that iNOS is preferentially expressed in BTICs and is required for their maintenance. Using the 1400W-loaded Fe@MSN and RF-triggered release, in vivo studies indicated that the treatment disrupted the BTIC population in hypoxic niches, suppressed tumor growth and significantly increased survival in BTIC-derived GBM xenografts.

Cyclam complexes of Cu(II) and Co(II) as stationary phases for gas chromatography.

New macrocyclic stationary chemically bonded phases were synthesized and tested in gas chromatography conditions. The complexes of 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane with Cu(II) and Co(II) were bonded to the silica support through the (3-chloropropyl)triethoxysilane reactant. The packings obtained were analyzed by diffuse-reflectance ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (DRUV-Vis), differential thermal gravimetry (DTG), porosimetry, and elementary analysis. Preliminary study of the novel silica gas chromatography (GC) stationary phases containing cyclam complexes was carried out using packed 1/8in. i.d. columns. The study was conducted on: cyclic, linear and branched olefins, aromatic hydrocarbons and ethers. Characterization of interactions between the compounds mentioned and new stationary phases was based upon analysis of Kováts retention indices (I), difference between retention indices for two phases (DeltaI), and molecular retention indices (DeltaM(e)). Results have shown that the new stationary phases interact sufficiently strongly with molecules of high electron density and can be applied in capillary gas chromatography for the analysis of light hydrocarbons.

Retention indices and quantum-chemical descriptors of aromatic compounds on stationary phases with chemically bonded copper complexes.

In this paper, Kováts retention indices determined on stationary phases with chemically bonded copper complexes were correlated with molecular structural parameters for aromatic compounds. Principal component regression (PCR) was applied to extract principal components from the set of 13 descriptors compiled in 5 theoretical models. Extracted components were used to model theoretical retention indices. Significant correlations were found among the retention indices of these compounds and, among others: molecular surface and molecule area, boiling point, HOMO and LUMO energies, dipole moment, dielectric energy, and double bond count. These correlations provide insights into the mechanism of chromatographic retention at the molecular level for the packings and the compounds under study.