Browsing by Author "Taraballi, Francesca"

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    Assessment of spinal cord injury using ultrasound elastography in a rabbit model in vivo
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Tang, Songyuan; Weiner, Bradley; Taraballi, Francesca; Haase, Candice; Stetco, Eliana; Mehta, Shail Maharshi; Shajudeen, Peer; Hogan, Matthew; De Rosa, Enrica; Horner, Philip J.; Grande-Allen, K. Jane; Shi, Zhaoyue; Karmonik, Christof; Tasciotti, Ennio; Righetti, Raffaella; Bioengineering
    The effect of the mechanical micro-environment on spinal cord injury (SCI) and treatment effectiveness remains unclear. Currently, there are limited imaging methods that can directly assess the localized mechanical behavior of spinal cords in vivo. In this study, we apply new ultrasound elastography (USE) techniques to assess SCI in vivo at the site of the injury and at the time of one week post injury, in a rabbit animal model. Eleven rabbits underwent laminectomy procedures. Among them, spinal cords of five rabbits were injured during the procedure. The other six rabbits were used as control. Two neurological statuses were achieved: non-paralysis and paralysis. Ultrasound data were collected one week post-surgery and processed to compute strain ratios. Histologic analysis, mechanical testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography and MRI diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed to validate USE results. Strain ratios computed via USE were found to be significantly different in paralyzed versus non-paralyzed rabbits. The myelomalacia histologic score and spinal cord Young’s modulus evaluated in selected animals were in good qualitative agreement with USE assessment. It is feasible to use USE to assess changes in the spinal cord of the presented animal model. In the future, with more experimental data available, USE may provide new quantitative tools for improving SCI diagnosis and prognosis.
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    Engineering leukocyte mimicking nanoparticles for targeted delivery in triple-negative breast cancer: biological versus cargo-based approach
    (2021-04-27) Sushnitha, Manuela; Veiseh, Omid; Taraballi, Francesca
    Nanoparticles offer the ability to achieve targeted drug delivery across many disease contexts, especially difficult to treat cancers like triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The lack of targeted of therapies for TNBC patients has warranted the development of novel strategies for targeting the tumor while delivering therapeutics aimed at targeting the underlying drivers of disease. Recent work has demonstrated the promising potential of nanoparticles to achieve both of these desired functions. However, translation of nanoparticles to the clinic has been hampered by the limited ability of synthetic nanoparticles to overcome the biological barriers posed by the complex in vivo milieu. In order to overcome these limitations, nanoparticles designed to mimic native cells through the integration of cell membrane components have been developed. In particular, leukocyte mimicking lipid nanoparticles have demonstrated the ability to target sites of inflammation, evade immune clearance and deliver therapeutic molecules. Leveraging the advantages of this technology, this study aims to demonstrate the utility of these biomimetic nanoparticles (i.e. leukosomes) for the treatment of TNBC. In particular, engineering of the leukosomes was explored from two perspectives: 1) a biological approach that aimed to improve the tumor targeting abilities of the nanoparticles and 2) a cargo-based approach for the development of a leukosome formulation capable of delivering therapeutic RNA molecules. By combining these two approaches for the engineering of leukocyte mimicking nanoparticles, a novel strategy for targeting and treating TNBC was developed while gaining important insights for the future development of these cell mimicking nanoparticle platforms.