One Coin, No Need to Flip: Shared PET Targets in Cancer and Coronary Artery Disease

OBJECTIVE. The purposes of this article are to review the common biologic features of cancer and coronary artery disease assessed with PET tracers, focusing on those already used in the clinic and those with translational potential, and to discuss the current value and expected contribution of PET in diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment monitoring. CONCLUSION. PET using a wide variety of radiotracers enhances understanding of pathophysiologic changes shared by cancer and coronary artery disease, helps establish an accurate diagnosis, and aids in prognostic assessment and management decisions. It is likely that with the evolution of therapeutic strategies for blocking the development and progression of both diseases and with the introduction of novel, specific ligands in clinical practice, PET will play an ever stronger role in diagnosis, risk stratification, and monitoring of therapy

Removal of mercury from aqueous solutions by malt spent rootlets

Summarization: Mercury poses a severe threat to environment due to its toxicity, even at low concentrations. Biosorption is a promising, low cost, and environmentally friendly clean up technique. Malt spent rootlets (MSR), a brewery by-product, were used as sorbents for the removal of mercury from aquatic systems. The effect of the solution pH, contact time between sorbent, solid to liquid ratio, and initial mercury concentration on mercury removal were investigated experimentally. It was found that the optimum pH for the mercury sorption onto MSR was approximately 5. Sorption kinetic experiments revealed that mercury sorption is a relatively rapid process, where film diffusion and intra-particle diffusion play an important role. The kinetic data were successfully described by both the pseudo-second-order and Elovich models. The isotherm data were adequately fitted by the Langmuir model determining a monolayer capacity qmax equal to 50 mg/g and suggesting a functional group-limited sorption process. MSR were capable of removing significant amounts of mercury, mainly due to the carboxyl and phosphonate groups of their surfaces.Παρουσιάστηκε στο: The Chemical Engineering Journa

Innovative multimodal DOTA/NODA nanoparticles for MRI and PET imaging for tumor detection

International audienc

Tumor Targeting via Sialic Acid: [⁶⁸Ga]DOTA-en-pba as a New Tool for Molecular Imaging of Cancer with PET

Purpose: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the potential of Ga-68-labeled macrocycle (DOTA-en-pba) conjugated with phenylboronic vector for tumor recognition by positron emission tomography (PET), based on targeting of the overexpressed sialic acid (Sia). Procedures: The imaging reporter DOTA-en-pba was synthesized and labeled with Ga-68 at high efficiency. Cell binding assay on Mel-C and B16-F10 melanoma cells was used to evaluate melanin production and Sia overexpression to determine the best model for demonstrating the capability of [68Ga]DOTA-en-pba to recognize tumors. The in vivo PET imaging was done with B16-F10 tumor-bearing SCID mice injected with [68Ga]DOTA-en-pba intravenously. Tumor, blood, and urine metabolites were assessed to evaluate the presence of a targeting agent. Results: The affinity of [68Ga]DOTA-en-pba to Sia was demonstrated on B16-F10 melanoma cells, after the production of melanin as well as Sia overexpression was proved to be up to four times higher in this cell line compared to that in Mel-C cells. Biodistribution studies in B16-F10 tumor-bearing SCID mice showed blood clearance at the time points studied, while uptake in the tumor peaked at 60 min post-injection (6.36 ± 2.41 % ID/g). The acquired PET images were in accordance with the ex vivo biodistribution results. Metabolite assessment on tumor, blood, and urine samples showed that [68Ga]DOTA-en-pba remains unmetabolized up to at least 60 min post-injection. Conclusions: Our work is the first attempt for in vivo imaging of cancer by targeting overexpression of sialic acid on cancer cells with a radiotracer in PET.BT/Biocatalysi

Neutrophil extracellular traps in giant cell arteritis biopsies: presentation, localization and co-expression with inflammatory cytokines

Objectives To explore the presence of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in inflamed temporal artery biopsies (TABs) of patients with GCA. Methods Ten patients with GCA [five with limited and five with associated generalized vascular involvement, as defined by F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET with CT (PET/CT)] and eight with PMR were studied. The presence, location, quantitation and decoration of NETs with IL-6, IL-1 beta and IL-17A were assessed in TABs at the time of disease diagnosis by tissue immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. Paired serum levels of IL-6 and IL-17A were also evaluated in all patients. Results All temporal artery biopsies from GCA, but not PMR, patients had NETs located mainly in the adventitia, adjacent to the vasa vasorum. NETs decorated with IL-6 were present in 8/10 TABs of GCA patients, of whom 5 were PET/CT(+) and 3 PET/CT(-) patients. IL-17A(+) NETs were observed in all GCA patients. IL-1 beta(+) NETs were not detected in any GCA patient. No relation was found between serum IL-6 and IL-17A levels and NETs containing IL-6 and/or IL-17A. Conclusions NETs bearing pro-inflammatory cytokines are present in inflamed GCA-TABs. Future studies with a larger number of patients from different centres will show whether the findings regarding neutrophils/NETs in the TAB are consistent and disclose their clinical impact