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Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism:... Aug 2023Cancer remains the second leading cause of mortality, with nearly 10 million deaths worldwide in 2020. In many cases, radiotherapy is used for its anticancer effects.... (Review)
Review
Cancer remains the second leading cause of mortality, with nearly 10 million deaths worldwide in 2020. In many cases, radiotherapy is used for its anticancer effects. However, radiation causes healthy tissue toxicity as a side effect. In intra-abdominal and pelvic malignancies, the healthy bowel is inevitably included in the radiation field, causing radiation-induced enteritis and dramatically affecting the gut microbiome. This condition is associated with significant morbidity and mortality that impairs cancer patients' and survivors' quality of life. This Review provides a critical overview of the main drivers in modulating the gut microenvironment in homeostasis, disease, and injury, focusing on gut microbial metabolites and microorganisms that influence epithelial regeneration upon radiation injury.
Topics: Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Quality of Life; Enteritis; Radiation Injuries; Neoplasms; Regeneration; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 37336645
DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2023.05.006 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jul 2023Radiopharmaceuticals are rapidly developing as a field, with the successful use of targeted beta emitters in neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer serving as... (Review)
Review
Radiopharmaceuticals are rapidly developing as a field, with the successful use of targeted beta emitters in neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer serving as catalysts. Targeted alpha emitters are in current development for several potential oncologic indications. Herein, we review the three most prevalently studied conjugated/chelated alpha emitters (actinium, lead, and astatine) and focus on contemporary clinical trials in an effort to more fully appreciate the breadth of the current evaluation. Phase I trials targeting multiple diseases are now underway, and at least one phase III trial (in selected neuroendocrine cancers) is currently in the initial stages of recruitment. Combination trials are now also emerging as alpha emitters are integrated with other therapies in an effort to create solutions for those with advanced cancers. Despite the promise of targeted alpha therapies, many challenges remain. These challenges include the development of reliable supply chains, the need for a better understanding of the relationships between administered dose and absorbed dose in both tissue and tumor and how that predicts outcomes, and the incomplete understanding of potential long-term deleterious effects of the alpha emitters. Progress on multiple fronts is necessary to bring the potential of targeted alpha therapies into the clinic.
Topics: Humans; Male; Alpha Particles; Prostatic Neoplasms; Radiopharmaceuticals; Clinical Trials as Topic
PubMed: 37511386
DOI: 10.3390/ijms241411626 -
Nature Communications Aug 2023Regarded as a promising alternative to spatially shaping matter, time-varying media can be seized to control and manipulate wave phenomena, including thermal radiation....
Regarded as a promising alternative to spatially shaping matter, time-varying media can be seized to control and manipulate wave phenomena, including thermal radiation. Here, based upon the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics, we elaborate a comprehensive quantum theoretical formulation that lies the basis for investigating thermal emission effects in time-modulated media. Our theory unveils unique physical features brought about by time-varying media: nontrivial correlations between fluctuating electromagnetic currents at different frequencies and positions, thermal radiation overcoming the black-body spectrum, and quantum vacuum amplification effects at finite temperature. We illustrate how these features lead to striking phenomena and innovative thermal emitters, specifically, showing that the time-modulation releases strong field fluctuations confined within epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) bodies, and that, in turn, it enables a narrowband (partially coherent) emission spanning the whole range of wavevectors, from near to far-field regimes.
PubMed: 37528085
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40281-2 -
Journal of the American Chemical Society Nov 2023Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes form a vast family of molecules characterized by their finely tuned photochemical and photophysical properties. Their ability to... (Review)
Review
Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes form a vast family of molecules characterized by their finely tuned photochemical and photophysical properties. Their ability to undergo excited-state deactivation via photosubstitution reactions makes them quite unique in inorganic photochemistry. As a consequence, they have been used, in general, for building dynamic molecular systems responsive to light but, more particularly, in the field of oncology, as prodrugs for a new cancer treatment modality called photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT). Indeed, the ability of a coordination bond to be selectively broken under visible light irradiation offers fascinating perspectives in oncology: it is possible to make poorly toxic agents in the dark that become activated toward cancer cell killing by simple visible light irradiation of the compound inside a tumor. In this Perspective, we review the most important concepts behind the PACT idea, the relationship between ruthenium compounds used for PACT and those used for a related phototherapeutic approach called photodynamic therapy (PDT), and we discuss important questions about real-life applications of PACT in the clinic. We conclude this Perspective with important challenges in the field and an outlook.
Topics: Humans; Ruthenium; Coordination Complexes; Photochemotherapy; Light; Neoplasms; Antineoplastic Agents; Photosensitizing Agents
PubMed: 37846939
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c01135 -
ACS Nano Aug 2023Light has profoundly impacted modern medicine and healthcare, with numerous luminescent agents and imaging techniques currently being used to assess health and treat... (Review)
Review
Light has profoundly impacted modern medicine and healthcare, with numerous luminescent agents and imaging techniques currently being used to assess health and treat diseases. As an emerging concept in luminescence, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has shown great potential in biological applications due to its advantages in terms of brightness, biocompatibility, photostability, and positive correlation with concentration. This review provides a comprehensive summary of AIE luminogens applied in imaging of biological structure and dynamic physiological processes, disease diagnosis and treatment, and detection and monitoring of specific analytes, followed by representative works. Discussions on critical issues and perspectives on future directions are also included. This review aims to stimulate the interest of researchers from different fields, including chemistry, biology, materials science, medicine, etc., thus promoting the development of AIE in the fields of life and health.
Topics: Fluorescent Dyes; Luminescent Agents; Luminescence; Diagnostic Imaging; Delivery of Health Care
PubMed: 37486125
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c03925 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2023Terahertz (THz) waves, which fall between microwaves and infrared bands, possess intriguing electromagnetic properties of non-ionizing radiation, low photon energy,... (Review)
Review
Terahertz (THz) waves, which fall between microwaves and infrared bands, possess intriguing electromagnetic properties of non-ionizing radiation, low photon energy, being highly sensitive to weak resonances, and non-polar material penetrability. Therefore, THz waves are extremely suitable for sensing and detecting chemical, pharmaceutical, and biological molecules. However, the relatively long wavelength of THz waves (30~3000 μm) compared to the size of analytes (1~100 nm for biomolecules, <10 μm for microorganisms) constrains the development of THz-based sensors. To circumvent this problem, metasurface technology, by engineering subwavelength periodic resonators, has gained a great deal of attention to enhance the resonance response of THz waves. Those metasurface-based THz sensors exhibit high sensitivity for label-free sensing, making them appealing for a variety of applications in security, medical applications, and detection. The performance of metasurface-based THz sensors is controlled by geometric structure and material parameters. The operating mechanism is divided into two main categories, passive and active. To have a profound understanding of these metasurface-assisted THz sensing technologies, we review and categorize those THz sensors, based on their operating mechanisms, including resonators for frequency shift sensing, nanogaps for enhanced field confinement, chirality for handedness detection, and active elements (such as graphene and MEMS) for advanced tunable sensing. This comprehensive review can serve as a guideline for future metasurfaces design to assist THz sensing and detection.
Topics: Engineering; Graphite; Microwaves; Photons; Technology
PubMed: 37447747
DOI: 10.3390/s23135902 -
Journal of Synchrotron Radiation Jul 2023An in-house designed transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) instrument has been developed and commissioned at beamline BL18B of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility...
An in-house designed transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) instrument has been developed and commissioned at beamline BL18B of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). BL18B is a hard (5-14 keV) X-ray bending-magnet beamline recently built with sub-20 nm spatial resolution in TXM. There are two kinds of resolution mode: one based on using a high-resolution-based scintillator-lens-coupled camera, and the other on using a medium-resolution-based X-ray sCMOS camera. Here, a demonstration of full-field hard X-ray nano-tomography for high-Z material samples (e.g. Au particles, battery particles) and low-Z material samples (e.g. SiO powders) is presented for both resolution modes. Sub-50 nm to 100 nm resolution in three dimensions (3D) has been achieved. These results represent the ability of 3D non-destructive characterization with nano-scale spatial resolution for scientific applications in many research fields.
Topics: Synchrotrons; X-Rays; Silicon Dioxide; China; Tomography, X-Ray
PubMed: 37145138
DOI: 10.1107/S1600577523003168 -
Current Cardiology Reports Aug 2023The article aims to investigate the complex relationship between cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), with a focus on the effects of cancer treatment on cardiac... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The article aims to investigate the complex relationship between cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), with a focus on the effects of cancer treatment on cardiac health.
RECENT FINDINGS
Advances in cancer treatment have improved long-term survival rates, but CVD has emerged as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. The interplay between cancer itself, treatment methods, homeostatic changes, and lifestyle modifications contributes to this comorbidity. Recent research in the field of cardio-oncology has revealed common genetic mutations, risk factors, and metabolic features associated with the co-occurrence of cancer and CVD. This article provides a comprehensive review of the latest research in cardio-oncology, including common genetic mutations, risk factors, and metabolic features, and explores the interactions between cancer treatment and CVD drugs, proposing novel approaches for the management of cancer and CVD.
Topics: Humans; Cardiotoxicity; Neoplasms; Medical Oncology; Cardiovascular Diseases; Antineoplastic Agents
PubMed: 37493874
DOI: 10.1007/s11886-023-01906-6