ZhengLab (Page 14)

Hill ML, Corbin IR, Levitin RB, Cao W, Mainprize JG, Yaffe MJ & Zheng G Academic Radiology, 2010 Rationale and Objectives: Targeted molecular probes offer the potential for greater specificity in cancer imaging with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). We investigate a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) nanoparticle loaded with poly-iodinated triglyceride (ITG)Continue Reading

Lovell JF, Jin H, Ng KK & Zheng G Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2010 Out in the open: Hydrophobically modified molecular beacons were inserted into lipid nanoparticles. Upon addition of the target DNA to a solution of the lipid nanoparticles, irreversible nanoparticle aggregation occurred (see picture). This aggregation phenomenon resultsContinue Reading

Lovell JF, Chen J, Huynh E, Jarvi MT, Wilson BC & Zheng G Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2010 Nucleic acid photodynamic molecular beacons (PMBs) are a class of activatable photosensitizers that increase singlet oxygen generation upon binding a specific target sequence. Normally, PMBs are functionalized with multiple solution-phase labeling and purification steps.Continue Reading

Liu TWB, Chen J & Zheng G Amino Acids, 2010 Peptide-based molecular beacons are Förster resonance energy transfer-based target-activatable probes. They offer control of fluorescence emission in response to specific cancer targets and thus are useful tools for in vivo cancer imaging. With our increasing knowledge about human genome inContinue Reading

Lovell JF, Liu TWB, Chen J & Zheng G Chemical Reviews, 2010 Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive treatment that destroys target cells in the presence of oxygen when light irradiates a photosensitizer, generating highly reactive singlet oxygen. PDT has low systemic toxicity, it can emission of fluorescence. PhotosensitizersContinue Reading

Zhang Z, Cao W, Jin H, Lovell JF, Yang M, Ding L, Chen J, Corbin I, Luo Q & Zheng G Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2009 Getting straight to the point: A peptide–phospholipid-based biomimetic nanocarrier was developed that can transport cargo molecules directly into cytosolic compartments through a non-endocytotic uptakeContinue Reading

Cao W, Ng KK, Corbin I, Zhang Z, Ding L, Chen J & Zheng G Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2009 The syntheses of novel near-infrared (NIR) dyes with excellent optical properties in biological tissues have driven the continued improvement of fluorescence imaging of deeply seated tumors. Bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl), a dye synthesizedContinue Reading

Chen J, Liu TWB, Wilson BC & Zheng G Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2009 We report the proof-of-principle concept for zipper molecular beacons (ZMB) comprising an asymmetrical polyarginine/polyglutamate electrostatic “zipper” hairpin-linked fluorophore−quencher pair. The objective is to balance maximal quenching efficiency and optimal two-step activation (protease cleavage/zipper dissociation), while enhancing target cellContinue Reading

Lovell JF, Chen J, Jarvi MT, Cao W, Allen AD, Liu Y, Tidwell TT, Wilson BC & Zheng G Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2009 The development of activatable photodynamic therapy (PDT) has demonstrated a utility for effective photosensitizer quenchers. However, little is known quantitatively about Forster resonance energy transferContinue Reading