Theranostics, which is the combination of both therapeutic and diagnostic capacities in one dose, is a promising tool for both clinical application and research. Although there are many chromophores available for optical imaging, their applications are limited due to the photobleaching property or intrinsic toxicity. Curcumin, a natural compound extracted from the rhizome of curcuma longa, is well known thanks to its bio-pharmaceutical activities and strong fluorescence as biocompatible probe for bio-imaging. In this study, we aimed to fabricate a system with dual functions: diagnostic and therapeutic, based on poly(lactide)-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (PLA-TPGS) micelles co-loaded curcumin (Cur) and paclitaxel (PTX). Two kinds of curcumin nanoparticle (NP) were fabricated and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering methods. The cellular uptake and fluorescent activities of curcumin in these systems were also tested by bioassay studies, and were compared with paclitaxe-oregon. The results showed that (Cur + PTX)-PLA-TPGS NPs is a potential system for cancer theranostics.

In this paper we first summarize our recent research on fabrication and structure characterization of conjugates of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MNPs) encapsulated by several organic materials such as oleic acid (OL), starch (ST), dextran (D), chitosan (CS), O-carboxymethyl chitosan (OCMCS) and the copolymer of poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid (St-co-AA)). The ferrofluids stability and toxicity were also considered. The magnetic inductive heating (MIH) curves were measured using a set up with an alternating (ac) magnetic field of strength of 40–100 Oe and frequency of 180–240 kHz. We then present new results dealing with attempting to apply the MNP/copolymer ferrofluid for treatment of Sarcoma 180 tumor. In vitro as well as ex vivo MIH experiments were carried out as preparation steps in order to estimate the proper conditions for the in vivo MIH experiment. As for the latter, we have successfully carried out the treatment of solid tumor of size around 6 × 6 mm inoculated on Swiss mice with use of a dose of 0.3–0.4 mg ml−1 ferrofluid injected subcutaneously into the tumor and field-irradiated for 30 min. Two groups of treated mice recovered in three weeks from MIH treatment three times during the first week. We finally show that curcumin loaded MNP-based conjugates showed themselves to be a potential agent for application as a bimodal contrast enhancer of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescence imaging. Additionally, in vitro and ex vivo studies by these two techniques evidenced that macrophage is capable of uptake and tends to carry the MNPs into a tumor.

Biodistribution studies provide basic information to design and perform various applications of superparamagnetic iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (SPIOs) in biomedicine such as drug delivery, MRI as well as hyperthermia. Recently, several quantitative measurements as well as new imaging methods have been used to characterize the SPIOs distribution in organs and in tissues of animal model. In this report we used the fabricated iron oxide nanoparticles coated with two block copolymers of polystyrene-co-polyacrylic acid (St-co-PAA) and polylactic acid-co-polyethylene glycol (PLA-PEG). The biodistributions were investigated ex-vivo for several organs of both healthy and Sarcoma transplanted Swiss mice. The SPIOs concentrations were verified mainly by magnetic inductive heating (MIH) measurement with a combination with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The results indicated the density detected highest in liver and lowest in kidney. The SPIOs concentration increased significantly up to 24 h after the injection. The observations by our two methods not only are in agreement with each other but also consistent with the tendency reported by other techniques. Discussion will also concern injection strategy for various aspects of hyperthermia applications.

Polymeric nanoparticles prepared from poly(lactide)-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (PLA-TPGS) were used as potential drug carries with many advantages to overcome the disadvantages of insoluble anticancer drugs and enhance blood circulation time and tissues. VX680 is an Aurora kinase inhibitor and is also the foremost Aurora kinase inhibitor to be studied in clinical trials. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether VX680-loaded PLA-TPGS nanoparticles (VX680-NPs) are able to effectively increase the toxicity of chemotherapy. Accordingly, we first synthesized VX680-loaded nanoparticles and NP characterizations of morphology, mean size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency were spherical shape, 63 nm, −30 mV and 76%, respectively. Then, we investigated the effects on HeLa cells. The cell cytotoxicity was evaluated by the xCELLigence real-time cell analyzer allowing measurement of changes in electrical impedance on the surface of the E-plate. Analysis of nucleus morphology and level of histone H3 phosphorylation was observed by confocal fluorescence scanning microscopy. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Our results showed that VX680-NPs reduced cell viability with IC50 value lower 3.4 times compared to free VX680. Cell proliferation was inhibited by VX680-NPs accompanied by other effects such as high abnormal changes of nucleus, a decrease of phospho-histone H3 at Ser10 level, an increase of polyploid cells and resulted in higher apoptotic cells. These results demonstrated that VX680-NPs had more cytotoxicity than as treated with VX680 alone. Thus, VX680-NPs may be considered as promising drug delivery system for cancer treatment.

SPIONs are composed of Fe3O4 or gamma Fe2O3 cores and a biocompatible shell from Dextran, PLA, PEG, Chitosan, or PVA. SPIONs have many important applications in medicine and biology such as cell sorting, drug carrier, magnetic hyperthermia, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aims to check the ability of copolymer PLA-PEG coated Fe3O4 ferromagnetic nanosystems (Fe3O4@PLA-PEG) produced for MRI application. The results showed that these nanoparticles had non-toxicity on BT-474 and Sarcoma 180 cell lines. Evaluation on T2 imaging mode revealed that Fe3O4@PLA-PEG nanoparticles were capable of enhancing the MRI image contrast in different conditions, including water, cell lysates solution, and even inside the cells. The report demonstrates that Fe3O4@PLA-PEG nanoparticles have a high potential application in MRI for clinical diagnosis.