ZhengLab (Page 11)

One minute, sub-one-watt photothermal tumor ablation using porphysomes, intrinsic multifunctional nanovesicles

Jin CS, Lovell JF & Zheng G Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2013 We developed novel intrinsic multifunctional nanovesicles called porphysomes, which have structure-dependent fluorescence self-quenching and unique photothermal properties, thus functioning as potent photothermal therapy agents. We formulated porphysomes using high pressure extrusion and investigated their photothermal therapy efficacy inContinue Reading

Imaging the cytosolic drug delivery mechanism of HDL-like nanoparticles

Lin Q, Chen J, Ng KK, Cao W, Zhang Z & Zheng G Pharmaceutical Research, 2013 Purpose: Molecular therapeutics often require an effective nanoparticle-based delivery strategy to transport them to cytosolic organelles to be functional. Recently, a cytosolic delivery strategy based on the scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI)Continue Reading

Inherently multimodal nanoparticle-driven tracking and real-time delineation of orthotopic prostate tumors and micrometastases

Liu TW, Macdonald TD, Jin CS, Gold JM, Bristow RG, Wilson BC & Zheng G ACS Nano, 2013 Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men and the second cause of male cancer-related deaths. There are currently three critical needs in prostate cancer imaging to personalize cancer treatment: (1)Continue Reading

Self-assembled porphyrin nanodiscs with structure-dependent activation for phototherapy and photodiagnostic applications

Ng KK, Lovell JF, Vedadi A, Hajian T & Zheng G ACS Nano, 2013 The abilities to deliver and subsequently activate a therapeutic at the intended site of action are two important challenges in the synthesis of novel nanoparticles. Poor tumor permeability as a result of a dense microenvironment canContinue Reading

Engineering multifunctional nanoparticles: All-in-one versus one-for-all

Huynh E & Zheng G Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, 2013 Multifunctional nanoparticles have been developed to overcome the conventional hurdles associated with the diagnosis and treatment of disease. However, there are often caveats involved with the development and clinical translation of multifunctional nanoparticles largely regarding the notion thatContinue Reading

Ablation of hypoxic tumors with dose-equivalent photothermal, but not photodynamic, therapy using a nanostructured porphyrin assembly

Jin CS, Lovell JF, Chen J & Zheng G ACS Nano, 2013 Tumor hypoxia is increasingly being recognized as a characteristic feature of solid tumors and significantly complicates many treatments based on radio-, chemo-, and phototherapies. While photodynamic therapy (PDT) is based on photosensitizer interactions with diffused oxygen, photothermal therapyContinue Reading

Efficient systemic delivery of siRNA by using high-density lipoprotein-mimicking peptide lipid nanoparticles

Lin Q, Chen J, Jin H, Ng KK, Yang M, Cao W, Ding L, Zhang Z & Zheng G Nanomedicine, 2012 The main challenge for RNAi therapeutics lies in systemic delivery of siRNA to the correct tissues and transporting them into the cytoplasm of targeted cells, at safe, therapeutic levels.Continue Reading

Intrinsically copper-64-labeled organic nanoparticles as radiotracers

Liu TW, MacDonald TD, Shi J, Wilson BC & Zheng G Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2012 PET friendly: Labels for PET imaging are incorporated into completely organic porphysomes by using a fast (30 min), one-pot, high-yielding (>95 %) procedure to produce highly stable (>48 h) radiolabeled nanoparticles that show the highest specific activityContinue Reading

Synthesis and Development of Lipoprotein‐Based Nanocarriers for Light‐Activated Theranostics

Jin H, Chen J, Lovell JF, Zhang Z, Zheng G Israel Journal of Chemistry, 2012 DOI: 10.1002/ijch.201100054 The design and synthesis of new light‐activated contrast agents for theranostics (therapy/diagnosis) has the potential to facilitate multifunctional and improved personalized medicine. The use of light as a remote activation strategy provides spatialContinue Reading

Porphyrin-lipid stabilized gold nanoparticles for surface enhanced Raman scattering based imaging

Tam N, McVeigh P, MacDonald TD, Farhadi A, Wilson BC & Zheng G Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2012 A porphyrin–phospholipid conjugate with quenched fluorescence was utilized to serve as both the Raman dye and a stabilizing, biocompatible surface coating agent on gold nanoparticles. Through simple synthesis and validation with spectroscopy and confocalContinue Reading