Jin CS, Overchuk M, Cui L, Wilson BC, Bristow RG, Chen J & Zheng G The Prostate, 2016 BACKGROUND The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided focal laser therapy has shown early promise in Phase 1 trial treating low/intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer (PCa), but the lack of tumor selectivity and low efficiencyContinue Reading
Keca JM, Chen J, Overchuk M, Muhanna N, MacLaughlin CM, Jin CS, Foltz WD, Irish JC & Zheng G Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2016 The discovery and synthesis of novel multifunctional organic building blocks for nanoparticles is challenging. Texaphyrin macrocycles are capable and multifunctional chelators. However, they remain elusive asContinue Reading
Ng KK, Takada M, Harmatys K, Chen J & Zheng G ACS Nano, 2016 Chlorosomes are vesicular light-harvesting organelles found in photosynthetic green sulfur bacteria. These organisms thrive in low photon flux environments due to the most efficient light-to-chemical energy conversion, promoted by a protein-less assembly of chlorin pigments. TheseContinue Reading
Shakiba M, Ng KK, Huynh E, Chan H, Charron DM, Chen J, Muhanna N, Foster FS, Wilson BC & Zheng G Nanoscale, 2016 J-aggregates display nanoscale optical properties which enable their use in fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging applications. However, control over their optical properties in an in vivo setting isContinue Reading
Muhanna N, Jin CS, Huynh E, Chan H, Qiu Y, Jiang W, Cui L, Burgess L, Akens MK, Chen J, Irish JC Theranostics, 2015 DOI: 10.7150/thno.13451 Head and neck cancer is the fifth most common type of cancer worldwide and remains challenging for effective treatment due to the proximity toContinue Reading
Muhanna N, MacDonald TD, Chan H, Jin CS, Burgess L, Cui L, Chen J, Irish JC & Zheng G Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2015 DOI: 10.1002/ange.201803535 64Cu-porphysome nanoparticles enable superior delineation of neoplastic tissues, metastatic lymph nodes, and vascular drainage on head and neck cancer orthotopic rabbit model using positron emissionContinue Reading
Ng KK, Takada M, Jin CC & Zheng G Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2015 Porphysomes are highly quenched unilamellar porphyrin–lipid nanovesicles with structurally dependent photothermal properties. The high packing density of porphyrin molecules in the lipid bilayer enables their application in photothermal therapy, whereas the partial disruption of the porphysome structure overContinue Reading
MacDonald TD, Zheng G Photonics & Lasers in Medicine, 2014 DOI: 10.1515/plm-2013-0059 Porphysomes are an emerging class of photonic nanoparticles formed from the self-assembly of porphyrin-lipid conjugates. They retain the multifunctional properties of their porphyrin building blocks but also have unique properties emerging from the nanostructure itself. Porphysomes are able to actContinue Reading
Ng KK, Shakiba M, Huynh E, Weersink R, Roxin A, Wilson BC & Zheng G ACS Nano, 2014 Photoacoustic imaging provides high-resolution images at depths beyond the optical diffusion limit. To broaden its utility, there is need for molecular sensors capable of detecting environmental stimuli through alterations in photoacoustic signal.Continue Reading
MacDonald TD, Liu TW & Zheng G Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014 Photothermal therapy makes use of photothermal sensitizers and laser light to thermally ablate diseased tissues. Porphysome nanoparticles offer a nontoxic alternative to inorganic nanocrystals for the efficient conversion of light into heat. Mn3+ ions were incorporated directly intoContinue Reading
