With the accelerated development of medical imaging equipment and techniques, image fusion technology has been effectively applied for diagnosis, biopsy and radiofrequency ablation, especially for liver tumor. Tumor treatment relying on a single medical imaging modality might face challenges, due to the deep positioning of the lesions, operation history and the specific background conditions of the liver disease. Image fusion technology has been employed to address these challenges. Using the image fusion technology, one could obtain real-time anatomical imaging superimposed by functional images showing the same plane to facilitate the diagnosis and treatments of liver tumors. This paper presents a review of the key principles of image fusion technology, its application in tumor treatments, particularly in liver tumors, and concludes with a discussion of the limitations and prospects of the image fusion technology.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in the onset and progression of a variety of diseases. Modulating the expression of specific miRNAs is a possible option for therapeutic intervention. A promising strategy is the use of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to inhibit miRNAs. Targeting ASOs to specific tissues can potentially lower the dosage and improve clinical outcomes by alleviating systemic toxicity. We leverage here automated peptide nucleic acid (PNA) synthesis technology to manufacture an anti-miRNA oligonucleotide (antagomir) covalently attached to a 12-mer peptide that binds to transferrin receptor 1. Our PNA-peptide conjugate is active in cells and animals, effectively inhibiting the expression of miRNA-21 both in cultured mouse cardiomyocytes and different mouse organs (heart, liver, kidney, lung, and spleen), while remaining well-tolerated in animals up to the highest tested dose of 30 mg/kg. Conjugating the targeting ligand to the PNA antagomir significantly improved inhibition of miRNA-21 in the heart by over 50% relative to the PNA alone. Given the modulation of biodistribution observed with our PNA-peptide conjugate, we anticipate this antagomir platform to serve as a starting point for pre-clinical development studies.Table of Contents EntrySynopsisConjugating T12, a peptide targeting transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), to a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligonucleotide targeting microRNA-21 increases delivery of the PNA-T12 conjugate to cardiac tissue relative to PNA alone.
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