Publications (Page 14)

Synthesis and evaluation of a stable bacteriochlorophyll-analog and its incorporation into high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles for tumor imaging

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

“Zipper” molecular beacons: A generalized strategy to optimize the performance of activatable protease probes

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

FRET quenching of photosensitizer singlet oxygen generation

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

Photodynamic molecular beacon triggered by fibroblast activation protein on cancer-associated fibroblasts for diagnosis and treatment of epithelial cancers

Lo P, Chen J, Stefflova K, Warren MS, Navab R, Bandarchi B, Mullins S, Tsao M, Cheng JD & Zheng G Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2009 Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is a cell-surface serine protease highly expressed on cancer-associated fibroblasts of human epithelial carcinomas but not on normal fibroblasts, normalContinue Reading

Lipoprotein nanoplatform for targeted delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents

Glickson JD, Lund-Katz S, Zhou R, Choi H, Chen IW, Li H, Corbin I, Popov AV, Cao W, Song L, Qi C Molecular imaging, 2008 DOI: 10.2310/7290.2008.0012 Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) provides a highly versatile natural nanoplatform for delivery of visible or near-infrared fluorescent optical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrastContinue Reading

A tumor mRNA-triggered photodynamic molecular beacon based on oligonucleotide hairpin control of singlet oxygen production

Chen J, Lovell JF, Lo P, Stefflova K, Niedre M, Wilson BC & Zheng G Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 2008 We report a new class of photodynamic molecular beacon (PMB) with tumor specific mRNA-triggered control of singlet oxygen (1O2) production. The beacon contains a single-stranded oligonucleotide linker that forms aContinue Reading

Activatable smart probes for molecular optical imaging and therapy

Lovell JF & Zheng G Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences, 2008 Recent years have seen the design and implementation of many optical activatable smart probes. These probes are activatable because they change their optical properties and are smart because they can identify specific targets. This broad class of detectionContinue Reading

Naphthalocyanine-reconstituted LDL nanoparticles for in vivo cancer imaging and treatment

Song L, Li H, Sunar U, Chen J, Corbin I, Yodh AG, Zheng G International journal of nanomedicine, 2007 PMID: 18203443 Low density lipoproteins (LDLs) are naturally occurring nanoparticles that are biocompatible, biodegradable and non-immunogenic. Moreover, the size of LDL particle is precisely controlled (~22 nm) by its apoB-100 component,Continue Reading

Enhanced cancer-targeted delivery using engineered high-density lipoprotein-based nanocarriers

Corbin IR, Chen J, Cao W, Li H, Lund-Katz S, Zheng G Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, 2007 DOI: 10.1166/jbn.2007.053 One of the greatest obstacles nanoscale drug delivery systems face is the high nonspecific uptake by the reticular endothelial system (RES). Currently, PEGylation is the method of choice to address thisContinue Reading

Using the singlet oxygen scavenging property of carotenoid in photodynamic molecular beacons to minimize photodamage to non-targeted cells

Chen J, Jarvi M, Lo P, Stefflova K, Wilson BC & Zheng G Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 2007 We recently introduced the concept of photodynamic molecular beacons (PMB) for selective control of photodynamic therapy (PDT). The PMB consists of a peptide linker that is sequence specific to a cancer-associated protease.Continue Reading