Design of a Gd-DOTA-Phthalocyanine Conjugate Combining MRI Contrast Imaging and Photosensitization Properties as a Potential Molecular Theranostic

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The design and synthesis of a phthalocyanine - Gd-DOTA conjugate is presented to open the way to novel molecular theranostics, combining the properties of MRI contrast imaging with photodynamic therapy. The rational design of the conjugate integrates isomeric purity of the phthalocyanine core substitution, suitable biocompatibility with the use of polyoxo water-solubilizing substituents, and a convergent synthetic strategy ended by the use of click chemistry to graft the Gd-DOTA moiety to the phthalocyanine. Photophysical and photochemical properties, contrast imaging experiments and preliminary in vitro investigations proved that such a combination is relevant and lead to a new type of potential theranostic agent

Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks

In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge, and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control, learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity, localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature, and identify topics that require more research attention in the future

Photodynamic agents with anti-metastatic activities

A new concept in multifunctional anticancer agents is demonstrated. Tetrakis-(diisopropyl-guanidino) zinc phthalocyanine (Zn-DIGP) exhibits excellent properties as a photodynamic therapy (PDT) agent, as well as potential anti-metastatic activities in vivo. Zn-DIGP exhibits good cellular uptake and low toxicity in the dark (EC50 > 80 μM) and is well tolerated upon its intravenous injection into mice at 8 mg/kg. Upon photoexcitation with red laser light (660 nm), Zn-DIGP exhibits a high quantum yield for singlet oxygen formation (Φ ≈ 0.51) that results in potent phototoxicity to cell cultures (EC50 ≈ 0.16 μM). Zn-DIGP is also capable of inhibiting the formation of tumor colonies in the lungs of C57BL/6 mice injected with B16F10 cells. Zn-DIGP therefore inhibits cancer growth by both light-dependent and light-independent pathways. The anti-metastatic activities of Zn-DIGP possibly result from its ability to interfere with the signaling between chemokine CXCL10 and the G protein-coupled receptor CXCR3. Zn-DIGP is a competitive inhibitor of CXCR3 activation (IC50 = 3.8 μM) and selectively inhibits downstream events such as CXCL10-activated cell migration. Consistent with the presence of feedback regulation between CXCR3 binding and CXCL10 expression, Zn-DIGP causes overexpression of CXCL10. Interestingly, Zn-DIGP binds to CXCR3 without activating the receptor yet is able to cause endocytosis and degradation of this GPCR. To the best of our knowledge, Zn-DIGP is the first PDT agent that can facilitate the photodynamic treatment of primary tumors while simultaneously inhibiting the formation of metastatic tumor colonies by a light-independent mode of action