Campbell Family Institute For Cancer Research and Techna Institute

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Bioengineering

One Minute, Sub-One-Watt Photothermal Tumor Ablation Using Porphysomes, Intrinsic Multifunctional Nanovesicles

Cheng S. Jin^1,2,3, Jonathan F. Lovell⁴, Gang Zheng^1,2,3

¹Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto, ²The Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, ³Ontario Cancer Institute, Campbell Family Institute For Cancer Research and Techna Institute, ⁴Department of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

We developed novel intrinsic multifunctional nanovesicles called porphysomes, which have structure-dependent fluorescence self-quenching and unique photothermal properties, thus functioning as potent photothermal therapy agents. We formulated porphysomes using high pressure extrusion and investigated their photothermal therapy efficacy in a xenograft tumor model.

Cancer Research

An Orthotopic Endometrial Cancer Model with Retroperitoneal Lymphadenopathy Made From In Vivo Propagated and Cultured VX2 Cells

Lauren Philp^1,2, Harley Chan³, Marjan Rouzbahman⁴, Ariana Rostami⁵, Lili Ding⁶, Scott V. Bratman^5,6, Margarete K. Akens^5,7,8, Jonathan C. Irish^7,9,11, Marcus Q. Bernardini¹⁰, Gang Zheng^5,11

¹Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, ²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, ³Guided Therapeutics Laboratory, TECHNA Institute, University Health Network, ⁴Department of Pathology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network, ⁵Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, ⁶Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network, ⁷Techna Institute, University Health Network, ⁸Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, ⁹Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto, ¹⁰Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Toronto /Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network, ¹¹Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network

This protocol presents a standardized method to grow VX2 cells in culture and to create an orthotopic VX2 model of endometrial cancer with retroperitoneal lymph node metastases in rabbits. Orthotopic endometrial cancer models are important for the pre-clinical study of novel imaging modalities for the diagnosis of lymph node metastases.

Medicine

Synthesis and Characterization of Multi-Modal Phase-Change Porphyrin Droplets

Kimoon Yoo^1,2, Alexander Dhaliwal^1,2, Juan Chen¹, Paul S. Sheeran³, Gang Zheng^1,2

¹Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, ²Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, ³Philips Healthcare

In this protocol, methods for synthesizing and characterizing multi-modal phase-change porphyrin droplets are outlined.