Vitrification, a kinetic process of liquid solidification into glass, poses many potential benefits for tissue cryopreservation including indefinite storage, banking, and facilitation of tissue matching for transplantation. To date, however, successful rewarming of tissues vitrified in VS55, a cryoprotectant solution, can only be achieved by convective warming of small volumes on the order of one mL. Successful rewarming requires both uniform and fast rates in order to reduce thermal mechanical stress and cracks, and to prevent rewarming phase crystallization. Here we present a scalable nanowarming technology for 1 to 80 mL samples using radiofrequency-excited mesoporous silica coated iron oxide nanoparticles in VS55. Advanced imaging including Sweep Imaging with Fourier Transform and micro computed tomography were used to verify loading and unloading of VS55 and nanoparticles and successful vitrification of human dermal fibroblast cells, porcine arteries, and porcine aortic heart valve leaflet tissue. Nanowarming was then used to demonstrate uniform and rapid rewarming at > 130 °C/min in both physical (1 to 80 mL) and biological systems (1 to 50 mL). Nanowarming yielded viability that matched control and/or exceeded gold standard convective warming in 1 to 50 mL systems, and improved viability compared to slow warmed (crystallized) samples. Finally, biomechanical testing displayed no significant biomechanical property changes in blood vessel length or elastic modulus after nanowarming compared to untreated fresh control porcine arteries. In aggregate, these results demonstrate new physical and biological evidence that nanowarming can improve the outcome of vitrified cryogenic storage of tissues in larger sample volumes.

Iron oxide nanoparticles have great potential as diagnostic and therapeutic agents in cancer and other diseases; however, biological aggregation severely limits their function in vivo. Aggregates can cause poor biodistribution, reduced heating capability, and can confound their visualization and quantification by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Herein, we demonstrate that the incorporation of a functionalized mesoporous silica shell can prevent aggregation and enable the practical use of high-heating, high-contrast iron oxide nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo. Unmodified and mesoporous silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles were characterized in biologically relevant environments including phosphate buffered saline, simulated body fluid, whole mouse blood, lymph node carcinoma of prostate (LNCaP) cells, and after direct injection into LNCaP prostate cancer tumors in nude mice. Once coated, iron oxide nanoparticles maintained colloidal stability along with high heating and relaxivity behaviors (SARFe = 204 W/g Fe at 190 kHz and 20 kA/m and r1 = 6.9 mM(-1) s(-1) at 1.4 T). Colloidal stability and minimal nonspecific cell uptake allowed for effective heating in salt and agarose suspensions and strong signal enhancement in MR imaging in vivo. These results show that (1) aggregation can lower the heating and imaging performance of magnetic nanoparticles and (2) a coating of functionalized mesoporous silica can mitigate this issue, potentially improving clinical planning and practical use.

Abstract. Tumor hypoxia is an important factor in assessment of both cancer progression and cancer treatment efficacy. This has driven a substantial effort toward development of imaging modalities that can directly measure oxygen distribution and therefore hypoxia in tissue. Although several approaches to measure hypoxia exist, direct measurement of tissue oxygen through an imaging approach is still an unmet need. To address this, we present a new approach based on in vivo application of photoacoustic lifetime imaging (PALI) to map the distribution of oxygen partial pressure (pO 2 ) in tissue. This method utilizes methylene blue, a dye widely used in clinical applications, as an oxygen-sensitive imaging agent. PALI measurement of oxygen relies upon pO 2 -dependent excitation lifetime of the dye. A multimodal imaging system was designed and built to achieve ultrasound (US), photoacoustic, and PALI imaging within the same system. Nude mice bearing LNCaP xenograft hindlimb tumors were used as the target tissue. Hypoxic regions were identified within the tumor in a combined US/PALI image. Finally, the statistical distributions of pO 2 in tumor, normal, and control tissues were compared with measurements by a needle-mounted oxygen probe. A statistically significant drop in mean pO 2 was consistently detected by both methods in tumors. © 2013 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

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