Publications
10 results found
Hatch SB, Prevo R, Chan T, et al., 2022, Automated 96-well format high throughput colony formation assay for siRNA library screen., STAR Protoc, Vol: 3
The colony formation assay is the gold-standard technique to assess cell viability after treatment with cytotoxic reagents, ionizing radiation, and cytotoxic combinatorial treatments. This protocol describes a high-throughput automated and high-content imaging approach to screen siRNA molecular libraries in HeLa cervical cancer cells in 96-well format. We detail reverse transfection of cells with siRNAs, followed by ionizing radiation, fixing, and staining of the plates for automated colony counting. This protocol can be used across a broad range of cell types. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Tiwana et al. (2015).
Morse SV, Mishra A, Chan TG, et al., 2021, Liposome delivery to the brain with rapid short-pulses of focused ultrasound and microbubbles., Journal of Controlled Release, Vol: 341, Pages: 605-615, ISSN: 0168-3659
Liposomes are clinically used drug carriers designed to improve the delivery of drugs to specific tissues while minimising systemic distribution. However, liposomes are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and enter the brain, mostly due to their large size (ca. 100 nm). A noninvasive and localised method of delivering liposomes across the BBB is to intravenously inject microbubbles and apply long pulses of ultrasound (pulse length: >1 ms) to a targeted brain region. Recently, we have shown that applying rapid short pulses (RaSP) (pulse length: 5 μs) can deliver drugs with an improved efficacy and safety profile. However, this was tested with a relatively smaller 3-kDa molecule (dextran). In this study, we examine whether RaSP can deliver liposomes to the murine brain in vivo. Fluorescent DiD-PEGylated liposomes were synthesized and injected intravenously alongside microbubbles. The left hippocampus of mice was then sonicated with either a RaSP sequence (5 μs at 1.25 kHz in groups of 10 ms at 0.5 Hz) or a long pulse sequence (10 ms at 0.5 Hz), with each pulse having a 1-MHz centre frequency (0.35 and 0.53 MPa). The delivery and distribution of the fluorescently-labelled liposomes were assessed by fluorescence imaging of the brain sections. The safety profile of the sonicated brains was assessed by histological staining. RaSP was shown to locally deliver liposomes across the BBB at 0.53 MPa with a more diffused and safer profile compared to the long pulse ultrasound sequence. Cellular uptake of liposomes was observed in neurons and microglia, while no uptake within astrocytes was observed in both RaSP and long pulse-treated brains. This study shows that RaSP allows a targeted and safe delivery of liposomal drugs into the murine brain with potential to deliver drugs into neuronal and glial targets.
Chan TG, Ruehl CL, Morse SV, et al., 2021, Modulation of amyloid-beta aggregation by metal complexes with a dual binding mode and their delivery across the blood-brain barrier using focused ultrasound, Chemical Science, Vol: 12, Pages: 9485-9493, ISSN: 2041-6520
One of the key hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the aggregation of the amyloid-β peptide to form fibrils. Consequently, there has been great interest in studying molecules that can disrupt amyloid-β aggregation. While a handful of molecules have been shown to inhibit amyloid-β aggregation in vitro, there remains a lack of in vivo data reported due to their inability to cross the blood–brain barrier. Here, we investigate a series of new metal complexes for their ability to inhibit amyloid-β aggregation in vitro. We demonstrate that octahedral cobalt complexes with polyaromatic ligands have high inhibitory activity thanks to their dual binding mode involving π–π stacking and metal coordination to amyloid-β (confirmed via a range of spectroscopic and biophysical techniques). In addition to their high activity, these complexes are not cytotoxic to human neuroblastoma cells. Finally, we report for the first time that these metal complexes can be safely delivered across the blood–brain barrier to specific locations in the brains of mice using focused ultrasound.
Chan TG, O'Neill E, Habjan C, et al., 2020, Combination Strategies to Improve Targeted Radionuclide Therapy, JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE, Vol: 61, Pages: 1544-1552, ISSN: 0161-5505
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Morse SV, Boltersdorf T, Chan TG, et al., 2020, In vivo delivery of a fluorescent FPR2/ALX-targeted probe using focused ultrasound and microbubbles to image activated microglia, RSC Chemical Biology, Vol: 1, Pages: 385-389, ISSN: 2633-0679
To image activated microglia, a small-molecule FPR2/ALX-targeted fluorescent probe was locally delivered into the brain using focused ultrasound and microbubbles. The probe did not co-localise with neurons or astrocytes but accumulated in activated microglia, making this a potential imaging tool for future drug discovery programs focused on neurological disorders.
Vilar R, Torres Huerta A, Chan TG, et al., 2020, Molecular recognition of bisphosphonate-based drugs by di-zinc receptors in aqueous solution and on gold nanoparticles, Dalton Transactions, Vol: 49, Pages: 5939-5948, ISSN: 1477-9226
Metal-based anion receptors have several important applications in sensing, separation and transport of negatively charged species. Amongst these receptors, di-zinc(II) complexes are of particular interest for the recognition of oxoanions, in particular phosphate derivatives. Herein we report the synthesis of a di-zinc(II) receptor and show that it has high affinity and selectivity for bisphosphonates such as alendronate and etidronate – which are used to treat a number of skeletal disorders as well as showing interesting anticancer properties. The binding mode of the di-zinc(II) receptor with alendronate and etidronate has been unambiguously established by single crystal X-ray crystallography. In addition, by modifying the backbone of the receptor, we show that the drug-loaded receptor can be attached onto gold nanoparticles as potential drug-delivery vehicles.
Morse SV, Boltersdorf T, Harriss BI, et al., 2020, Neuron labeling with rhodamine-conjugated Gd-based MRI contrast agents delivered to the brain via focused ultrasound, Theranostics, Vol: 10, Pages: 2659-2674, ISSN: 1838-7640
Morse SV, Pouliopoulos AN, Chan TG, et al., 2019, Rapid short-pulse ultrasound delivers drugs uniformly across the murine blood-brain barrier with negligible disruption, Radiology, Vol: 291, Pages: 459-466, ISSN: 0033-8419
Background Previous work has demonstrated that drugs can be delivered across the blood-brain barrier by exposing circulating microbubbles to a sequence of long ultrasound pulses. Although this sequence has successfully delivered drugs to the brain, concerns remain regarding potentially harmful effects from disrupting the brain vasculature. Purpose To determine whether a low-energy, rapid, short-pulse ultrasound sequence can efficiently and safely deliver drugs to the murine brain. Materials and Methods Twenty-eight female wild-type mice underwent focused ultrasound treatment after injections of microbubbles and a labeled model drug, while three control mice were not treated (May-November 2017). The left hippocampus of 14 mice was exposed to low-energy short pulses (1 MHz; five cycles; peak negative pressure, 0.35 MPa) of ultrasound emitted at a rapid rate (1.25 kHz) in bursts (0.5 Hz), and another 14 mice were exposed to standard long pulses (10 msec, 0.5 Hz) containing 150 times more acoustic energy. Mice were humanely killed at 0 (n = 5), 10 (n = 3), or 20 minutes (n = 3) after ultrasound treatment. Hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining was performed on three mice. The delivered drug dose and distribution were quantified with the normalized optical density and coefficient of variation. Safety was assessed by H-E staining, the amount of albumin released, and the duration of permeability change in the blood-brain barrier. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Student t test. Results The rapid short-pulse sequence delivered drugs uniformly throughout the parenchyma. The acoustic energy emitted from the microbubbles also predicted the delivered dose (r = 0.97). Disruption in the blood-brain barrier lasted less than 10 minutes and 3.4-fold less albumin was released into the brain than with long pulses. No vascular or tissue damage from rapid short-pulse exposure was observable using H-E staining. Conclusion The rapid short-pulse ultrasound sequence is a minimally
Chan T, Morse S, Copping M, et al., 2018, Targeted delivery of DNA-Au nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier using focused ultrasound, ChemMedChem, Vol: 13, Pages: 1311-1314, ISSN: 1860-7187
Nanoparticles have been widely studied as versatile platforms for in vivo imaging and therapy. However, their use to image and/or treat the brain is limited, as they are often unable to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB). To overcome this problem, herein we report the use of focused ultrasound in vivo to successfully deliver DNA‐coated gold nanoparticles to specific locations in the brains of mice.
Morse SV, Pouliopoulos AN, Chan T, et al., 2017, Rapid short-pulse (RaSP) sequences improve the distribution of drug delivery to the brain in vivo, IEEE UFFC, Publisher: IEEE, ISSN: 1948-5719
Focused ultrasound and microbubbles have been shown to locally and noninvasively open the blood-brain barrier. Despite encouraging results in human patients, several performance and safety features, such as poor drug distribution, high drug accumulation along vessels and small sites of red blood cell extravasation, have been unavoidable. We have recently developed a new ultrasound sequence - rapid short-pulse (RaSP) sequence - designed to suppress these adverse features by promoting safer modes of cavitation activity throughout capillaries. In our RaSP sequences, low-pressure short ultrasonic pulses are emitted at kHz pulse repetition frequencies (PRF) and grouped into bursts. We have shown in vitro that RaSP sequences prolong microbubble lifetime and increase their mobility, enhancing the distribution of acoustic cavitation activity. Here we evaluate the ability of RaSP sequences to improve the in vivo performance and safety of ultrasound-mediated drug delivery to the brain.
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