Analysis of the Biocompatibility of Different Intraocular Lens (IOL) Material Using Mass Spectrometry Tisssue Imaging

Conference (2012, September 04)

The cataract corresponds to the total or partial opacification of the lens of the eye preventing the passage of the light. At present, the surgery is the only effective treatment to overcome the cataract ... [more ▼]

The cataract corresponds to the total or partial opacification of the lens of the eye preventing the passage of the light. At present, the surgery is the only effective treatment to overcome the cataract. The surgical intervention consists in removing the cloudy lens and to replace it by an artificial intraocular lens (IOL). The in vivo implantation of these synthetic lenses involves the evaluation of several factors as their physico-chemical properties, their capacities to interact with lens epithelial cells and proteins, as well as their biocompatibility. During a previous study, we demonstrated major differences concerning the tackiness (atomic force microscopy), the cellular adhesion and the protein adsorption of various polymer disks intended for the manufacturing of intraocular lenses. The aim of this work was to correlate a histological analysis to a mass spectrometry imaging analysis performed on the same sample. To estimate the biocompatibility of the biomaterials, an animal testing was realized in rabbits. The various polymers were implanted subcutaneously. After one month, the 2 cm x 3 cm pieces of rabbit skin and underlying muscle with a 2 cm thickness were removed, fixed with formaldehyde 10% during six days, treated for the paraffin inclusion and stored at room temperature until use. Slices of 5 µm thickness were performed using a microtome. Paraffin was removed and tissue sections were washed in graded ethanol baths. The slices were then stained with the hematoxylin and eosin dyes. The analysis of stained sections showed different histo-morphological features according to the implanted polymer. For MALDI MSI purposes, on tissue protein digestion was performed using trypsin (1) and the MALDI matrix (α-cyanohydroxycinnamic acid, 5 mg/mL in ACN/0.2% TFA 70:30) was deposited using an ImagePrep automated sprayer (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany). Experiments were carried out using an UltraFlex II TOF/TOF mass spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany). MALDI imaging can show the detection of different proteomic profiles according to the tested biomaterials, which may be considered as biocompatibility markers. The MALDI images of these markers are then correlated with the histo-morphological profiles. Consequently, mass spectrometry imaging can become a powerful tool in the evaluation of the biocompatibility of artificial implants in biomedical application. [less ▲]

Design of reversibly disulfide core cross-linked polymer micelles

Poster (2011, December 07)

Design of reversibly disulfide core cross-linked polymer micelles

Poster (2011, November 21)

Over the last decade, polymer micelles attracted an increasing interest in drug pharmaceutical research because they could be used as efficient drug delivery systems. Micelles of amphiphilic block ... [more ▼]

Over the last decade, polymer micelles attracted an increasing interest in drug pharmaceutical research because they could be used as efficient drug delivery systems. Micelles of amphiphilic block copolymers are supramolecular core-shell type assemblies of tens of nanometers in diameter. An accumulation of polymer nanocarriers to solid tumours is possible due to the EPR effect. Even if micelles get a high stability in aqueous media, the dissociation of micelles is not always preserved when they are injected in the blood compartment. This work aims at reporting on the design of reversibly cross-linked micelles based on PEO-b-PCL copolymers by introducing disulfide bridges in the micelle core to provide higher stability. Different kinds of macromolecular architectures are employed to study their impact on the micelles and their biological behavior. These new functional copolymers were all successfully micellized, reversibly cross-linked and are stealthy, which show the efficiency of the developed cross-linking process and offer a set of nanocarriers to be tested further, as shown on the first biological tests. [less ▲]

Disulfide bridges, new prospect in drug delivery systems?

Poster (2011, September 03)

STUDY OF SELENITE AND SELENOMETHIONINE EFFECT ON METHYLMERCURY IN VITRO TOXICITY

Conference (2011, May 16)

Methylmercury (MeHg) and selenium (Se) can be found at elevated concentrations in blood of marine mammals and both display modulatory effects on the immune system. Whereas mercury (Hg)-Se antagonism in ... [more ▼]

Methylmercury (MeHg) and selenium (Se) can be found at elevated concentrations in blood of marine mammals and both display modulatory effects on the immune system. Whereas mercury (Hg)-Se antagonism in liver of marine mammals is well known, the protective role of Se against Hg immunotoxicity in marine mammals has been poorly described. We propose here an in vitro approach using combined Hg and Se in vitro exposure of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). PBMCs were isolated from the blood of 10 harbor seals and exposed to environmental concentrations of MeHg (1µM) and selenite or selenomethionine (5µM), respectively inorganic and organic forms of Se. MeHg leaded to a decrease of lymphocyte proliferation, to an increase of cells with compromised mitochondrial membrane potentials and cell death. Preliminary results evidenced that none of the two Se forms had a protective effect against MeHg toxicity, although cells were slightly stimulated by Se alone. Therefore MeHg expresses its toxicity among blood circulating lymphocytes in presence or absence of selenite or selenomethionine. [less ▲]

Hydrogel nanocomposites: a potential UV/blue light filtering material for ophthalmic lenses

in Journal of Biomaterials Science. Polymer Edition (2011), 22

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) (poly(HEMA-co-MMA)) and ZnS hydrogel nanocomposites were prepared and characterized. The chemical composition of the inorganic nanoparticles was ... [more ▼]

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) (poly(HEMA-co-MMA)) and ZnS hydrogel nanocomposites were prepared and characterized. The chemical composition of the inorganic nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and the homogeneity of their distribution within the hydrogel was assessed by transmission electron microscopy. The influence of the content of ZnS nanoparticles on the optical performances of the nanocomposites was investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The ability of the hydrogel nanocomposites to filter the hazardous UV light and part of the blue light was reported, which makes them valuable candidates for ophthalmic lens application. In contrast to the optical properties, the thermo-mechanical properties of neat poly(HEMA-co-MMA) hydrogels were found to be largely independent of filling by ZnS nanoparticles ( 2 mg/ml co-monomer mixture). Finally, in vitro cell adhesion test with lens epithelial cells (LECs), extracted from porcine lens crystalline capsule, showed that ZnS had no deleterious effect on the biocompatibility of neat hydrogels, at least at low content. [less ▲]

MALDI-In Source Decay Applied to Mass Spectrometry Imaging: A New Tool for Protein Identification.

in Analytical Chemistry (2010), 82(10), 3969-4304

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) imaging is a powerful technique giving access to the distribution of a large range of biomolecules directly from a tissue section ... [more ▼]

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) imaging is a powerful technique giving access to the distribution of a large range of biomolecules directly from a tissue section, allowing, for example, the discovery of new pathological biomarkers. Nevertheless, one main difficulty lies in the identification of the detected species, especially proteins. MALDI-in source decay (ISD) is used to fragment ions directly in the mass spectrometer ion source. This technique does not require any special sample treatment but only the use of a specific MALDI matrix such as 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid or 1,5-diaminonaphthalene. MALDI-ISD is generally employed on classical, purified samples, but here we demonstrate that ISD can also be performed directly on mixtures and on a tissue slice leading to fragment ions, allowing the identification of major proteins without any further treatment. On a porcine eye lens slice, de novo sequencing was even performed. Crystallins not yet referenced in databases were identified by sequence homology with other mammalian species. On a mouse brain slice, we demonstrate that results obtained with ISD are comparable and even better than those obtained with a classical in situ digestion. [less ▲]

Novel Relative ICPL Based Quantitative Phospho- and Glycoproteome Analysis Method

Poster (2010, April 16)

Large scale proteomic analysis remains challenging partially because proteins are inhomogeneous and often influenced by a variety of structural modifications. In particular, these specific chemical ... [more ▼]

Large scale proteomic analysis remains challenging partially because proteins are inhomogeneous and often influenced by a variety of structural modifications. In particular, these specific chemical modifications called posttranslational modifications (PTM) are crucial determinants for the protein function and biological role. Up to now there have been a growing number of studies describing the enrichment and identification of PTM. However, a significant dearth of data offering a reliable methodology for PTM quantification does exist. The present work aims at developing a label based protein PTM quantification strategy and demonstrating its value on comparative analysis of cells originating from two distinct prostate metastasis sites. PC3 and LNCaP cells isolated from bone and lymph node prostate cancer metastasis sites respectively, were lysed and spiked with three non-human proteins serving as internal standards. Following this, the samples were reduced and alkylated, digested with trypsin and subjected to peptide ICPL (isotope coded protein label) labeling. The two peptide containing samples were joined together followed by the affinity isolation of phospho- (using TiO2 metal affinity chromatography) and glycopeptides (oxidized glycans were bound on hydrazide resin). The enriched fraction as well as the flow-through were analyzed on a 2D-(SCX and C18-RP)-nano-HPLC system. The peptide identification and quantification was conducted using electrospray ion-trap mass spectrometer (Bruker, HCT-ultra). Validation of the differentially modulated proteins was conducted in several biological and technical replicates using the label free MSe based quantification strategy. This PTM based, novel relative protein quantification using post-digest ICPL has detected over 598 individual proteins. Of these more than 95 % have been successfully quantified. PTM enrichment methodologies allowed an isolation rate of 91 % and 50 % for phosphorylated and glycosylated proteins respectively. The detailed comparison of PC3 and LNCaP cells has shown specific overexpression of selected proteins indicating differences between these two prostate metastatic cell lines. Several of these modulated proteins have been previously described to be related to prostate cancer (e.g. annexin A2 and vimentin) while others could be considered as potentially novel. These proteins might be implicated in the fundamental process related to metastasis dissemination. However, because of the known discrepancy between cell systems and clinical material, the present study can be regarded only as a step towards elucidation of these complex interactions. [less ▲]

MCF-7/BOS cells membrane proteome: comparison of two isolation methods using mass spectrometry

Poster (2009)

Membrane proteins play an important role in biological processes but their isolation and quantification using classical techniques is often limited due to their poor solubility and relatively low ... [more ▼]

Membrane proteins play an important role in biological processes but their isolation and quantification using classical techniques is often limited due to their poor solubility and relatively low abundance. These membrane markers have to be accessible to antibodies and should be potential therapeutic targets. The tests were conducted on MCF-7 / BOS cell line, immortal and easier to cultivate. The goal of this work is to obtain a pure membrane fraction to facilitate the analysis of the sample. To isolate transmembrane proteins, we compared two methods. The first one used different extraction cycles characterized by different buffers to isolate membrane proteins. The second method labelled accessible extracellular domains at the surface of MCF-7 cells with biotin prior to differential centrifugation. [less ▲]

Functionalized plasmonic gold nanoparticles for optoacoustic cancer detection

Poster (2008, September 12)