Spatially modulated ablation driven by chaotic attractors in human lung epithelial cancer cells.

A significant modification in photoinduced energy transfer in cancer cells is reported by the assistance of a dynamic modulation of the beam size of laser irradiation. Human lung epithelial cancer cells in monolayer form were studied. In contrast to the quantum and thermal ablation effect promoted by a standard focused Gaussian beam, a spatially modulated beam can caused around 15% of decrease in the ablation threshold and formation of a ring-shaped distribution of the photothermal transfer effect. Optical irradiation was conducted in A549 cells by a 532 nm single-beam emerging from a Nd:YVO4 system. Ablation effects derived from spatially modulated convergent waves were controlled by an electrically focus-tunable lens. The proposed chaotic behavior of the spatial modulation followed an Arneodo chaotic oscillator. Fractional dynamic thermal transport was analyzed in order to describe photoenergy in propagation through the samples. Immediate applications of chaos theory for developing phototechnology devices driving biological functions or phototherapy treatments can be considered.

Novel PVA-Hyaluronan-Siloxane Hybrid Nanofiber Mats for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Hyaluronan (HA) is a natural biodegradable biopolymer; its biological functions include cell adhesion, cell proliferation, and differentiation as well as decreasing inflammation, angiogenesis, and regeneration of damaged tissue. This makes it a suitable candidate for fabricating nanomaterials with potential use in tissue engineering. However, HA nanofiber production is restricted due to the high viscosity, low evaporation rate, and high surface tension of HA solutions. Here, hybrids in the form of continuous and randomly aligned polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-(HA)-siloxane nanofibers were obtained using an electrospinning process. PVA-HA fibers were crosslinked by a 3D siloxane organic-inorganic matrix via sol-gel that restricts natural hydrophilicity and stiffens the structure. The hybrid nanofiber mats were characterized by FT-IR, micro-Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and biological properties. The PVA/HA ratio influenced the morphology of the hybrid nanofibers. Nanofibers with high PVA content (10PVA-8 and 10PVA-10) form mats with few beaded nanofibers, while those with high HA content (5PVA-8 and 5PVA-10) exhibit mats with mound patterns formed by "ribbon-like" nanofibers. The hybrid nanofibers were used as mats to support osteoblast growth, and they showed outstanding biological properties supporting cell adhesion, cell proliferation, and cell differentiation. Importantly, the 5PVA-8 mats show 3D spherical osteoblast morphology; this suggests the formation of tissue growth. These novel HA-based nanomaterials represent a relevant advance in designing nanofibers with unique properties for potential tissue regeneration.

Morphometric study of adipocytes on breast cancer by means of photonic microscopy and image analysis.

Worldwide, breast cancer (BrCa) is currently the leading cause of deaths associated to malignant lesions in adult women. Given that some studies have mentioned that peritumoral adipocytes may contribute to breast carcinogenesis, present work sought to quantitative evaluate the morphometry of these cells in a group of adult women. Three thousand six hundred sixty four breast adipocytes, that came from biopsies of a group of adult females with different types of breast carcinomas (ductal, lobular, and mixed) and one with normal tissues, were evaluated through an image analysis (IA) process regarding six morphometric descriptors: area (A), perimeter (P), Feret diameter (FD ), aspect ratio (AR), roundness factor (RF), and fractal dimension of cellular contour (FDC ). Data showed that the adipocytes of the normal tissues group were bigger (A: 3398 ± 2331 µm2 , P: 239 ± 83 µm, and FD : 79.9 ± 24.5 µm) than those from BrCa samples (A: 2860 ± 1933 µm2 , P: 214 ± 66 µm, and FD : 73.2 ± 22.5 µm), and presented a more irregular contour (FDC of 1.370 ± 0.037 for normal group and of 1.335 ± 0.049 for the oncologic one). Moreover, it could be accounted that adipocytes of mixed carcinomas were largest (FD : 75.1 ± 22.4 µm) than those of lobular lesions (FD : 61.6 ± 22.6 µm), while the adipocytes of ductal carcinomas were the most oval (AR: 1.421 ± 0.524) and roughest (FDC : 1.324 ± 0.050) cells. IA results suggest that BrCa lesions can be categorized through a quantitative morphometric evaluation of peritumoral adipocytes. These findings could let the development of an analytical tool to help the Pathologist to enhance the accuracy of the oncologic diagnose.

[The nanotechnology as a support for diagnosis and prognosis in cancer research]. / La nanotecnología en apoyo a la investigación del cáncer.

Recently, technological advances have greatly increased, generating the development of nanotechnology, which is responsible for the design of structures and materials in the nanometer scale. This creates one of the most important cutting-edge sciences, integrating physics, chemistry, engineering and biology sciences. Specifically the integration with biology results in a new science called nanobiotechnology, specifically nanomedicine, which has the goal of mainly looking for more precise molecular diagnostic and prognostic processes, as well as the new design of drugs in the personalized medicine field. On the other hand, at molecular level in medical research, the nanoparticles are most commonly used as tools. Molecular diagnostics uses gold nanoparticles, paramagnetic nanoparticles and quantum dots, which can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of several diseases, including cancer. Quantum dots are the most promising tools for diagnosis and therapy in cancer research.