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Spherical nanoparticles with sizes from 80 to 200 nm are obtained by self-assembly of highly functionalized 6-deoxy-6-(ω-aminoalkyl)aminocellulosecarbamates. The particles are very stable, nontoxic, and possess primary amino groups that are accessible to further modifications in aqueous suspension. The particles can be labeled with rhodamine B isothiocyanate without changing their size, stability, and shape. The nanoparticles obtained are investigated by means of photo correlation spectroscopy, zeta potential measurements, SEM and fluorescence spectroscopy. Incorporation of the nanoparticles in human foreskin fibroblasts BJ-1-htert and breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells without any transfection reagent is proved by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy.

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This article describes the synthesis and characterisation of poly(acrylamide) nanoparticles (NPs) with a covalently immobilised pH-sensitive fluorophore. With a pK(a) of 6.7, good photostability, emission in the visible spectral range and large Stokes' shift the naphthalimide-based pH-indicator is well suited for bio-analytical applications. Additionally, the nanosensors contain a pH-insensitive reference fluorophore that allows the ratiometric monitoring of pH e.g. inside living cells. In order to enhance the cellular uptake and endosomal escape of the beads, novel core-shell nanoparticles bearing a positive z-potential are synthesised and evaluated

Pure, perfectly spherical cellulose nanoparticles with sizes of ≈80-260 nm can be prepared by dialysis starting from trimethylsilylcellulose (TMSC). The aqueous suspensions obtained are storable for several months. Subsequent covalent labeling of the cellulose nanoparticles with FITC has no influence on particle size, shape, and stability. The particles can be sterilized and suspended in biological media without structural changes. Incorporation of FITC-labeled cellulose nanoparticles into living human fibroblasts is studied using confocal LSM. In contrast to cellulose nanocrystals, fast cellular uptake is found for the nanospheres without transfection reagents or attachment of a receptor molecule. This suggests an influence of the geometry of biocompatible nanomaterials on endocytosis.

PurposeThe majority of targeted personalized cancer therapies are effective only in part of the patients, and most of these drugs are excessively expensive. Therefore, methods are urgently required, which reveal already early during treatment, whether the therapy is effective. In the present report, monitoring of circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETC) was used as a timely control of trastuzumab therapy in patients with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer.MethodsSeventy-nine sequential HER2/neu-positive breast cancer patients, 35 without trastuzumab, and 36 treated with 1 year of trastuzumab treatment were included. CETC from unseparated white blood cells stained with FITC-anti-EpCAM were analyzed repeatedly during chemotherapy and between 2 and 10 times during 1 year of maintenance treatment or observation.ResultsPatients treated with trastuzumab had a better relapse-free survival than patients without trastuzumab treatment during the first 2–4 years of follow-up. Decrease in numbers or no change versus highly variable numbers or increase (fivefold or more) allowed to discriminate highly significantly and clearly (P < 0.0001, hazard ratio 5.5) between patients with a low or high risk of relapse. An increase in CETC was accompanied by an increasing portion of cells containing a very high number of HER2/neu gene amplificates.ConclusionsAnalysis of the behavior of CETC can, in the future, contribute to evaluate the efficacy of targeted therapy early during the course of the disease, sparing patients unnecessary treatment but also to reduce the costs for the health system and to downsize the extent and length of clinical studies.

The conversion of dextran with in situ synthesized iminium chlorides of long chain carboxylic acids was used to obtain pure and defined melting dextran esters in an efficient one-pot synthesis. The melting point of these esters can be tailored by the degree of substitutions (DS), the molecular weight of the starting polymer, and the chain length of the ester moiety. The dextran esters give homogeneous and completely transparent melts, which form stable films on a broad variety of materials. Even complex geometries, such as implants, can be evenly coated by multiple melting steps. The films do not display any inhomogeneity and have a very low surface roughness. Therefore, no unspecific protein binding is observed. Moreover, the dextran esters are biocompatible as demonstrated for the interaction with three types of cells namely human brain microvascular endothelial cell, primary human fibroblasts, and mouse myoblast cells.