@article {7731, title = {Applications of nanoparticles in cancer medicine and beyond: optical and multimodal in vivo imaging, tissue targeting and drug delivery.}, journal = {Expert Opin Drug Deliv}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Aug 9}, pages = {1-13}, abstract = {

INTRODUCTION: Nanotechnology has opened up the way to the engineering of new organized materials endowed with improved performances. In the past decade, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been progressively implemented by exploiting synthetic strategies that yield complex materials capable of performing functions with applications also in medicine. Indeed, in the field of {\textquoteright}nanomedicine{\textquoteright} it has been explored the possibility to design multifunctional nanosystems, characterized by high analytical performances and stability, low toxicity and specificity towards a given cell target. Area covered: In this review article, we summarize the advances in the engineering of NPs for biomedical applications, from optical imaging (OI) to multimodal OI and targeted drug delivery. For this purpose, we will provide some examples of how investigations in nanomedicine can support preclinical and clinical research generating innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in oncology. Expert opinion: The progressive breakthroughs in nanomedicine have supported the development of multifunctional and multimodal NPs. In particular, NPs are significantly impacting the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies since they allow the development of: NP-based OI probes containing more than one modality-specific contrast agent; surface functionalized NPs for specific {\textquoteright}molecular recognition{\textquoteright}. Therefore, the design and characterization of innovative NP-based systems/devices have great applicative potential into the medical field.

}, issn = {1744-7593}, author = {Biffi, Stefania and Voltan, Rebecca and Rampazzo, Enrico and Prodi, Luca and Zauli, Giorgio and Secchiero, Paola} } @article {7725, title = {Targeted tumor imaging of anti-CD20-polymeric nanoparticles developed for the diagnosis of B-cell malignancies.}, journal = {Int J Nanomedicine}, volume = {10}, year = {2015}, month = {2015}, pages = {4099-109}, abstract = {

The expectations of nanoparticle (NP)-based targeted drug delivery systems in cancer, when compared with convectional therapeutic methods, are greater efficacy and reduced drug side effects due to specific cellular-level interactions. However, there are conflicting literature reports on enhanced tumor accumulation of targeted NPs, which is essential for translating their applications as improved drug-delivery systems and contrast agents in cancer imaging. In this study, we characterized biodegradable NPs conjugated with an anti-CD20 antibody for in vivo imaging and drug delivery onto tumor cells. NPs{\textquoteright} binding specificity mediated by anti-CD20 antibody was evaluated on MEC1 cells and chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients{\textquoteright} cells. The whole-body distribution of untargeted NPs and anti-CD20 NPs were compared by time-domain optical imaging in a localized human/mouse model of B-cell malignancy. These studies provided evidence that NPs{\textquoteright} functionalization by an anti-CD20 antibody improves tumor pharmacokinetic profiles in vivo after systemic administration and increases in vivo imaging of tumor mass compared to non-targeted NPs. Together, drug delivery and imaging probe represents a promising theranostics tool for targeting B-cell malignancies.

}, issn = {1178-2013}, doi = {10.2147/IJN.S78995}, author = {Capolla, Sara and Garrovo, Chiara and Zorzet, Sonia and Lorenzon, Andrea and Rampazzo, Enrico and Spretz, Ruben and Pozzato, Gabriele and N{\'u}{\~n}ez, Luis and Tripodo, Claudio and Macor, Paolo and Biffi, Stefania} }