Browsing by Author "Brownstein, Jeremy"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Brachytherapy via a depot of biopolymer-bound 131I synergizes with nanoparticle paclitaxel in therapy-resistant pancreatic tumours.
    (Nature biomedical engineering, 2022-10) Schaal, Jeffrey L; Bhattacharyya, Jayanta; Brownstein, Jeremy; Strickland, Kyle C; Kelly, Garrett; Saha, Soumen; Milligan, Joshua; Banskota, Samagya; Li, Xinghai; Liu, Wenge; Kirsch, David G; Zalutsky, Michael R; Chilkoti, Ashutosh
    Locally advanced pancreatic tumours are highly resistant to conventional radiochemotherapy. Here we show that such resistance can be surmounted by an injectable depot of thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) conjugated with iodine-131 radionuclides (131I-ELP) when combined with systemically delivered nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel. This combination therapy induced complete tumour regressions in diverse subcutaneous and orthotopic mouse models of locoregional pancreatic tumours. 131I-ELP brachytherapy was effective independently of the paclitaxel formulation and dose, but external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) only achieved tumour-growth inhibition when co-administered with nanoparticle paclitaxel. Histological analyses revealed that 131I-ELP brachytherapy led to changes in the expression of intercellular collagen and junctional proteins within the tumour microenvironment. These changes, which differed from those of EBRT-treated tumours, correlated with the improved delivery and accumulation of paclitaxel nanoparticles within the tumour. Our findings support the further translational development of 131I-ELP depots for the synergistic treatment of localized pancreatic cancer.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Sensitization of Vascular Endothelial Cells to Ionizing Radiation Promotes the Development of Delayed Intestinal Injury in Mice.
    (Radiation research, 2019-09) Lee, Chang-Lung; Daniel, Andrea R; Holbrook, Matt; Brownstein, Jeremy; Silva Campos, Lorraine Da; Hasapis, Stephanie; Ma, Yan; Borst, Luke B; Badea, Cristian T; Kirsch, David G
    Exposure of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to ionizing radiation can cause acute and delayed injury. However, critical cellular targets that regulate the development of radiation-induced GI injury remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the role of vascular endothelial cells in controlling acute and delayed GI injury after total-abdominal irradiation (TAI). To address this, we used genetically engineered mice in which endothelial cells are sensitized to radiation due to the deletion of the tumor suppressor p53. Remarkably, we found that VE-cadherin-Cre; p53FL/FL mice, in which both alleles of p53 are deleted in endothelial cells, were not sensitized to the acute GI radiation syndrome, but these mice were highly susceptible to delayed radiation enteropathy. Histological examination indicated that VE-cadherin-Cre; p53FL/FL mice that developed delayed radiation enteropathy had severe vascular injury in the small intestine, which was manifested by hemorrhage, loss of microvessels and tissue hypoxia. In addition, using dual-energy CT imaging, we showed that VE-cadherin-Cre; p53FL/FL mice had a significant increase in vascular permeability of the small intestine in vivo 28 days after TAI. Together, these findings demonstrate that while sensitization of endothelial cells to radiation does not exacerbate the acute GI radiation syndrome, it is sufficient to promote the development of late radiation enteropathy.