Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) Protein Profiles Associated with Tumor Response to Treatment

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains one of the most aggressive malignancies, characterized by limited therapeutic success and poor outcome. Despite continuous development of novel therapeutic strategies, disease-free survival in patients with advanced HNSCC has not been improved during the last 30 years. Evidently, a deeper understanding is needed of the molecular mechanisms underlying both intrinsic and acquired HNSCC cell resistance to currently existing therapeutic approaches. Proteome analysis is a powerful method which can provide deep insight into the molecular basis underlying HNSCC cell survival despite cytotoxic anti-tumor treatment (chemo-, radiotherapy). Evaluation of the protein profiles of cells obtained from locally recurrent or metastatic tumors can allow researchers to identify key protein players which regulate the HNSCC response to therapy. Additionally, subcellular fractionation and isolation of various cell organelles followed by proteomic analysis can provide data about intracellular protein localization, translocation and function following anti-cancer therapy. This review article discusses the protein patterns in HNSCC cells responsible for the radio- and chemo-resistance of these tumors and which result in the carcinoma cell survival and HNSCC recurrence

Nanomedicine Faces Barriers

Targeted nanoparticles have the potential to improve drug delivery efficiencies by more than two orders of magnitude, from the ~ 0.1% which is common today. Most pharmacologically agents on the market today are small drug molecules, which diffuse across the body’s blood-tissue barriers and distribute not only into the lesion, but into almost all organs. Drug actions in the non-lesion organs are an inescapable part of the drug delivery principle, causing “side-effects” which limit the maximally tolerable doses and result in inadequate therapy of many lesions. Nanoparticles only cross barriers by design, so side-effects are not built into their mode of operation. Delivery rates of almost 90% have been reported. This review examines the significance of these statements and checks how far they need qualification. What type of targeting is required? Is a single targeting sufficient? What new types of clinical challenge, such as immunogenicity, might attend the use of targeted nanoparticles

Albumin-based nanoparticles: small, uniform and reproducible

Simple and up-scalable synthesis method for human serum albumin nanoparticles with narrow size distribution, tunable size range, stable and reproducible.</jats:p

Ossification in the human calcaneus: a model for spatial bone development and ossification

Perichondral bone, the circumferential grooves of Ranvier and cartilage canals are features of endochondral bone development. Cartilage canals containing connective tissue and blood vessels are found in the epiphysis of long bones and in cartilaginous anlagen of small and irregular bones. The pattern of cartilage canals seems to be integral to bone development and ossification. The canals may be concerned with the nourishment of large masses of cartilage, but neither their role in the formation of ossification centres nor their interaction with the circumferential grooves of Ranvier has been established. The relationships between cartilage canals, perichondral bone and the ossification centre were studied in the calcaneus of 9 to 38-wk-old human fetuses, by use of epoxy resin embedding, three-dimensional computer reconstructions and immunhistochemistry on paraffin sections. We found that cartilage canals are regularly arranged in shells surrounding the ossification centre. Whereas most of the shell canals might be involved in the nourishment of the cartilage, the inner shell is directly connected with the perichondral ossification groove of Ranvier and with large vessels from outside. In this way the inner shell canal imports extracellular matrix, cells and vessels into the cartilage. With the so-called communicating canals it is also connected to the endochondral ossification centre to which it delivers extracellular matrix, cells and vessels. The communicating canals can be considered as inverted ‘internal’ ossification grooves. They seem to be responsible for both build up intramembranous osteoid and for the direction of growth and thereby for orientation of the ossication centre