Biomedical subjects

Jean-Claude Bacri

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Claude Bacri.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Magnetic targeting of magnetoliposomes to solid tumors with MR imaging monitoring in mice: feasibility.

PURPOSE: To establish the feasibility of magnetoliposome tumor targeting with an extracorporeal magnet. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Animal experiments were performed in compliance with Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale animal protection guidelines and were approved by local government authorities. Magnetophoresis was used to measure the velocity of magnetoliposomes constituted of polyethylene glycol-lipids and anionic maghemite nanocrystals in a calibrated magnetic field in vitro. For in vivo studies, 38 male Swiss nude mice bearing a PC3 human prostate carcinoma tumor in each flank received an intravenous injection of magnetoliposomes (n = 27), saline (n = 9), or nonencapsulated superparamagnetic particles (n = 2) after a small magnet with a magnetic field of 0.3 T and a field gradient of 11 T/m was fixed to the skin above one tumor. The animals were examined at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with eight different sequences, iron doses (13 mice), and magnet-application durations (12 mice). Their excised tumors were then stained with Perls Prussian blue and hematoxylin-eosin and were examined histologically. With use of the paired Student t test, signal intensity, tumor surface enhancement, and number of stained cells were compared between the control and magnet-exposed tumors to determine significant differences (P </= .01). RESULTS: The mean magnetoliposome velocity ranged from 10 to 40 mum/sec when the magnetic field equaled 0.13 T and the field gradient equaled 25 T/m. At T1-weighted three-dimensional spoiled gradient-echo MR imaging in vivo, the tumor exposed to the magnet showed strong negative enhancement, -52%, compared with the -7% enhancement of the other tumor. Maximal enhancement occurred after 3 hours of magnet application. After 24 hours of magnet application, intracapillary iron particle accumulation was observed in the targeted tumors only. CONCLUSION: Magnetic targeting of sterically stabilized magnetoliposomes after they are intravenously injected is feasible in vivo.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Phase conjugation with a single bubble.

It is recalled how the nonlinear interaction between a gas bubble and an external extra pressure can yield phase conjugation. Using the Glauber representation, we show that the effect of the latter is formally analogous to that of a pi pulse in nuclear magnetic resonance, so that the acoustic equivalent of spin echoes may be expected in a bubble cloud. An experimental attempt to observe phase conjugation is reported in the single-bubble case.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Acto-myosin cytoskeleton dependent viscosity and shear-thinning behavior of the amoeba cytoplasm.

The mechanical behavior of the human parasite Entamoeba histolytica plays a major role in the invasive process of host tissues and vessels. In this study, we set up an intracellular rheological technique derived from magnetic tweezers to measure the viscoelastic properties within living amoebae. The experimental setup combines two magnetic fields at 90 degrees from each other and is adapted to an inverted microscope, which allows monitoring of the rotation of pairs of magnetic phagosomes. We observe either the response of the phagosome pair to an instantaneous 45 degrees rotation of the magnetic field or the response to a permanent uniform rotation of the field at a given frequency. By the first method, we concluded that the phagosome pairs experience a soft viscoelastic medium, represented by the same mechanical model previously described for the cytoplasm of Dictyostelium discoideum [Feneberg et al. in Eur Biophys J 30(4):284-294 2001]. By the second method, the permanent rotation of a pair allowed us to apply a constant shear rate and to calculate the apparent viscosity of the cytoplasm. As found for entangled polymers, the viscosity decreases with the shear rate applied (shear-thinning behavior) and exhibits a power-law-type thinning, with a corresponding exponent of 0.65. Treatment of amoeba with drugs that affect the actin polymer content demonstrated that the shear-thinning behavior of the cytoplasm depends on the presence of an intact actin cytoskeleton. These data present a physiologic relevance for Entamoeba histolytica virulence. The shear-thinning behavior could facilitate cytoplasm streamings during cell movement and cell deformation, under important shear experienced by the amoeba during the invasion of human tissues. In this study, we also investigated the role of the actin-based motor myosin II and concluded that myosin II stiffens the F-actin gel in living parasites likely by its cross-linking activity.

Actins↗

PubMed2004

Overexpression of myosin IB in living Entamoeba histolytica enhances cytoplasm viscosity and reduces phagocytosis.

The human parasite Entamoeba histolytica is an ancient protozoan that expresses only one unconventional myosin, which has homology with myosin IB from other amoebae. Myosin IB is involved in phagocytosis of human cells by E. histolytica. In this work, we developed a microrheological technique, analysing magnetic phagosomes, which allowed us to probe the density of the F-actin network in living cells. Using this technique, we showed that overexpression of myosin IB led to an increase in cytoplasm viscosity, which correlated with a delay in initiating human cell phagocytosis. To investigate which myosin IB domains sustain cell viscosity changes, we overexpressed truncated forms of the protein. Our results demonstrate that both actin-binding sites that are present in the heavy chain but not the SH3 domain are required to modulate the density of the actin network. These data suggested that, as well as the motor activity, myosin IB in E. histolytica plays a structural role on the actin network owing to its ability to cross-link filaments. The gelation state of cell cytoplasm and the dynamics of cortical F-actin during phagocytosis seem to be modulated by the myosin IB structuring cytoskeleton activity.

Actins↗