Publications

Quantitative pharmacokinetics reveal impact of lipid composition on microbubble and nanoprogeny shell fate

Rajora MA, Dhaliwal A, Zheng M, Choi V, Overchuk M, Lou JWH, Pellow C, Goertz D, Chen J, Zheng G Advanced Science DOI: 10.1002/advs.202304453 Microbubble‐enabled focused ultrasound (MB‐FUS) has revolutionized nano and molecular drug delivery capabilities. Yet, the absence of longitudinal, systematic, quantitative studies of microbubble shell pharmacokinetics hinders progressContinue Reading

Inhalable gene therapy and the lung surfactant problem

Kassab G, Doran K, Mo Y, Zheng G Nano Letters DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03547 Lung-targeting RNA-carrying lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are often intravenously administered and accumulate in the pulmonary endothelium. However, most respiratory diseases are localized in the airway or the alveolar epithelium. Inhalation has been explored as a more direct delivery method,Continue Reading

Nanostructure-Driven Indocyanine Green Dimerization Generates Ultra-Stable Phototheranostics Nanoparticles

Kwon N, Jasinevicius GO, Kassab G, Ding L, Bu J, Martinelli LP, Ferreira VG, Dhaliwal A, Chan HHL, Mo Y, Bagnato VS, Kurachi C, Chen J, Zheng G Angewandte Chemie DOI: 10.1002/anie.202305564 Indocyanine green (ICG) is the only NIR-dye approved for clinical use. Despite its versatility in photonic applications andContinue Reading

Photodynamic and Photothermal Therapies: Synergy Opportunities for Nanomedicine

Overchuk M, Weersink RA, Wilson BC, Zheng G ACS Nano DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c00891 Tumoricidal photodynamic (PDT) and photothermal (PTT) therapies harness light to eliminate cancer cells with spatiotemporal precision by either generating reactive oxygen species or increasing temperature. Great strides have been made in understanding biological effects of PDT and PTTContinue Reading

Protease-Activatable Porphyrin Molecular Beacon for Osteoarthritis Management

Walsh C, Rajora MA, Ding L, Nakamura S, Endisha H, Rockel J, Chen J, Kapoor M, Zheng G Chemical Biomedical Imaging DOI: 10.1021/cbmi.3c00005 Despite the substantial burden posed by osteoarthritis (OA) globally, difficult challenges remain in achieving early OA diagnosis and adopting effective disease-modifying treatments. In this study, we useContinue Reading

Light-Activated siRNA Endosomal Release (LASER) by Porphyrin Lipid Nanoparticles

Mo Y, Cheng MHY, D’Elia A, Doran K, Ding L, Chen J, Cullis PR, Zheng G ACS Nano DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c10936 Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have achieved clinical success in delivering small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) for targeted gene therapy. However, endosomal escape of siRNA into the cytosol remains a fundamental challenge forContinue Reading

Novel Strategy to Drive the Intracellular Uptake of Lipid Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy

Ho T, Guidolin K, Makky A, Valic M, Ding L, Bu J, Zheng M, Cheng MHY, Yau J, Chen J, Zheng G Angewandte Chemie DOI: 10.1002/anie.202218218 Nanoparticles’ uptake by cancer cells upon reaching the tumor microenvironment is often the rate-limiting step in cancer nanomedicine. Herein, we report that the inclusionContinue Reading

Development of a Clinically Viable Strategy for Nanoparticle-Based Photodynamic Therapy of Colorectal Cancer

Guidolin K, Ding L, Chen J, Zheng G Advanced Therapeutics DOI: 10.1002/adtp.202200342 Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an anticancer treatment modality that has been poorly adopted into clinical practice for a variety of factors. Though fundamental studies supporting its utility abound, few clinical trials have been performed on its use. ThisContinue Reading

Repeated photodynamic therapy mediates the abscopal effect through multiple innate and adaptive immune responses with and without immune checkpoint therapy

Lou J, Aragaki M, Bernards N, Chee T, Gregor A, Hiraishi Y, Ishiwata T, Leung C, Ding L, Kitazawa S, Koga T, Sata Y, Ogawa H, Chen J, Kato T, Yasufuku K, Zheng G Biomaterials DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121918 In combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, photodynamic therapy can induce robust immune responsesContinue Reading

Self-Organization of Lipid-Porphyrin Conjugates at the Air/Water Interface

Cressey P, Abuillan W, Ibrahim N, Alhoussein J, Konovalov O, Zheng G, Makky A ChemPhysChem DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202200687 Lipid-porphyrin conjugates are versatile compounds which can self-assemble into liposome-like structures with multifunctional properties. Most of the conjugates that have been described so far, consisted in grafting pyropheophorbide-a (Pyro-a) or other porphyrin derivativesContinue Reading