Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

All Outputs (20)

Free drug and ROS-responsive nanoparticle delivery of synergistic doxorubicin and olaparib combinations to triple negative breast cancer models (2024)
Journal Article
Cavanagh, R. J., Monteiro, P. F., Moloney, C., Travanut, A., Mehradnia, F., Taresco, V., …Alexander, C. (2024). Free drug and ROS-responsive nanoparticle delivery of synergistic doxorubicin and olaparib combinations to triple negative breast cancer models. Biomaterials Science, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3bm01931d

Combinations of the topoisomerase II inhibitor doxorubicin and the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib offer potential drug-drug synergy for the treatment of triple negative breast cancers (TNBC). In this study we performed in vitro scree... Read More about Free drug and ROS-responsive nanoparticle delivery of synergistic doxorubicin and olaparib combinations to triple negative breast cancer models.

Chain-extension in hyperbranched polymers alters tissue distribution and cytotoxicity profiles in orthotopic models of triple negative breast cancers (2023)
Journal Article
Moloney, C., Mehradnia, F., Cavanagh, R. J., Ibrahim, A., Pearce, A. K., Ritchie, A. A., …Alexander, C. (2023). Chain-extension in hyperbranched polymers alters tissue distribution and cytotoxicity profiles in orthotopic models of triple negative breast cancers. Biomaterials Science, 11, 6545-6560. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3bm00609c

The therapeutic efficacy of nanomedicines is highly dependent on their access to target sites in the body, and this in turn is markedly affected by their size, shape and transport properties in tissue. Although there have been many studies in this ar... Read More about Chain-extension in hyperbranched polymers alters tissue distribution and cytotoxicity profiles in orthotopic models of triple negative breast cancers.

Application of a 3D hydrogel-based model to replace use of animals for passaging patient-derived xenografts (2023)
Journal Article
Jones, S., Ashworth, J. C., Meakin, M., Collier, P., Probert, C., Ritchie, A. A., …Grabowska, A. M. (2023). Application of a 3D hydrogel-based model to replace use of animals for passaging patient-derived xenografts. In Vitro Models, 2, 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44164-023-00048-x

Purpose This 3D in vitro cancer model for propagation of patient-derived cells, using a synthetic self-assembling peptide gel, allows the formation of a fully characterised, tailorable tumour microenvironment. Unlike many existing 3D cancer models,... Read More about Application of a 3D hydrogel-based model to replace use of animals for passaging patient-derived xenografts.

Identifying new biomarkers of aggressive Group 3 and SHH medulloblastoma using 3D hydrogel models, single cell RNA sequencing and 3D OrbiSIMS imaging (2023)
Journal Article
Linke, F., Johnson, J. E. C., Kern, S., Bennett, C. D., Lourdusamy, A., Lea, D., …Coyle, B. (2023). Identifying new biomarkers of aggressive Group 3 and SHH medulloblastoma using 3D hydrogel models, single cell RNA sequencing and 3D OrbiSIMS imaging. Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 11(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-022-01496-4

The most common malignant brain tumour in children, medulloblastoma (MB), is subdivided into four clinically relevant molecular subgroups, although targeted therapy options informed by understanding of different cellular features are lacking. Here, b... Read More about Identifying new biomarkers of aggressive Group 3 and SHH medulloblastoma using 3D hydrogel models, single cell RNA sequencing and 3D OrbiSIMS imaging.

Histopathological impact of Redox-responsive methacrylamide based micellar nanoparticles on Orthotopic Models of Triple Negative Breast Cancers (2022)
Journal Article
Mehradnia, F., Moloney, C., Cavanagh, R., Pearce, A. K., Ritchie, A., Clarke, P., …Alexander, C. (2022). Histopathological impact of Redox-responsive methacrylamide based micellar nanoparticles on Orthotopic Models of Triple Negative Breast Cancers. British Journal of Pharmacy, 7(2), https://doi.org/10.5920/bjpharm.1173

The therapeutic efficacy of anticancer nanocarriers ishighly dependent on their size, shape, targeting ability, and stimuli-responsiveness. Herein, we studied the in vivo therapeutic efficacy ofDoxorubicin (Dox) loaded redox responsive micellar-like... Read More about Histopathological impact of Redox-responsive methacrylamide based micellar nanoparticles on Orthotopic Models of Triple Negative Breast Cancers.

Passerini chemistries for synthesis of polymer pro-drug and polymersome drug delivery nanoparticles (2022)
Journal Article
Travanut, A., Monteiro, P. F., Smith, S., Howdle, S. M., Grabowska, A. M., Kellam, B., …Alexander, C. (2022). Passerini chemistries for synthesis of polymer pro-drug and polymersome drug delivery nanoparticles. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 10, 3895-3905. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2tb00045h

New materials chemistries are urgently needed to overcome the limitations of existing biomedical materials in terms of preparation, functionality and versatility, and also in regards to their compatibility with biological environments. Here, we show... Read More about Passerini chemistries for synthesis of polymer pro-drug and polymersome drug delivery nanoparticles.

Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo (2022)
Journal Article
Anane-Adjei, A. B., Fletcher, N. L., Cavanagh, R. J., Houston, Z. H., Crawford, T., Pearce, A. K., …Alexander, C. (2022). Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Biomaterials Science, 10(9), 2328-2344. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1bm01548f

Hyperbranched polymers have many promising features for drug delivery, owing to their ease of synthesis, multiple functional group content, and potential for high drug loading with retention of solubility. Here we prepared hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxyp... Read More about Synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of hyperbranched N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamides for transport and delivery in pancreatic cell lines in vitro and in vivo.

Multi-component bioresponsive nanoparticles for synchronous delivery of docetaxel and TUBB3 siRNA to lung cancer cells (2021)
Journal Article
Conte, C., Monteiro, P., Gurnani, P., Stolnik, S., Ungaro, F., Quaglia, F., …Alexander, C. (2021). Multi-component bioresponsive nanoparticles for synchronous delivery of docetaxel and TUBB3 siRNA to lung cancer cells. Nanoscale, 13(26), 11414-11426. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1nr02179f

Bioresponsive nanoparticles (NPs) are of interest for anticancer nanomedicines, owing to the possibility to ‘design in’ selective modulation of drug release at target sites. Here we describe the double emulsion formulation of redox-responsive NPs bas... Read More about Multi-component bioresponsive nanoparticles for synchronous delivery of docetaxel and TUBB3 siRNA to lung cancer cells.

3D hydrogels reveal medulloblastoma subgroup differences and identify extracellular matrix subtypes that predict patient outcome (2020)
Journal Article
Linke, F., Aldighieri, M., Lourdusamy, A., Grabowska, A. M., Stolnik, S., Kerr, I. D., …Coyle, B. (2021). 3D hydrogels reveal medulloblastoma subgroup differences and identify extracellular matrix subtypes that predict patient outcome. Journal of Pathology, 253(3), 326-338. https://doi.org/10.1002/path.5591

© 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumour in children and is subdivided into... Read More about 3D hydrogels reveal medulloblastoma subgroup differences and identify extracellular matrix subtypes that predict patient outcome.

Synthesis of Passerini-3CR Polymers and Assembly into Cytocompatible Polymersomes (2020)
Journal Article
Travanut, A., Monteiro, P. F., Oelmann, S., Howdle, S. M., Grabowska, A. M., Clarke, P. A., …Alexander, C. (2021). Synthesis of Passerini-3CR Polymers and Assembly into Cytocompatible Polymersomes. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 42(6), Article 2000321. https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202000321

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH The versatility of the Passerini three component reaction (Passerini-3CR) is herein exploited for the synthesis of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer, which self-assembles into polymersomes. Carboxy-funct... Read More about Synthesis of Passerini-3CR Polymers and Assembly into Cytocompatible Polymersomes.

Functionalized block co-polymer pro-drug nanoparticles with anti-cancer efficacy in 3D spheroids and in an orthotopic triple negative breast cancer model (2020)
Journal Article
Taresco, V., Abelha, T. F., Cavanagh, R. J., Vasey, C. E., Anane-Adjei, A. B., Pearce, A. K., …Alexander, C. (2021). Functionalized block co-polymer pro-drug nanoparticles with anti-cancer efficacy in 3D spheroids and in an orthotopic triple negative breast cancer model. Advanced Therapeutics, 4(1), Article 2000103. https://doi.org/10.1002/adtp.202000103

Amphiphilic block co-polymers composed of poly(ethylene glycol)-co-poly(lactide)-co-poly(2-((tert-butoxycarbonyl)amino)-3-propyl carbonate) (PEG-pLA-pTBPC) are synthesized in monomer ratios and arrangements to enable assembly into nanoparticles with... Read More about Functionalized block co-polymer pro-drug nanoparticles with anti-cancer efficacy in 3D spheroids and in an orthotopic triple negative breast cancer model.

Synthesis of micellar-like terpolymer nanoparticles with reductively-cleavable cross-links and evaluation of efficacy in 2D and 3D models of triple negative breast cancer (2020)
Journal Article
Monteiro, P. F., Gulfam, M., Monteiro, C. J., Travanut, A., Abelha, T. F., Pearce, A. K., …Alexander, C. (2020). Synthesis of micellar-like terpolymer nanoparticles with reductively-cleavable cross-links and evaluation of efficacy in 2D and 3D models of triple negative breast cancer. Journal of Controlled Release, 323, 549-564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.04.049

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Triple negative or basal-like breast cancer (TNBC) is characterised by aggressive progression, lack of standard therapies and poorer overall survival rates for patients. The bad prognosis, high rate of relapse and resistance agai... Read More about Synthesis of micellar-like terpolymer nanoparticles with reductively-cleavable cross-links and evaluation of efficacy in 2D and 3D models of triple negative breast cancer.

Penetration and uptake of Nanoparticles in 3D tumour spheroids (2019)
Journal Article
Tchoryk, A., Taresco, V., Argent, R., Ashford, M. B., Gellert, P., Stolnik, S., …Garnett, M. C. (2019). Penetration and uptake of Nanoparticles in 3D tumour spheroids. Bioconjugate Chemistry, 30(5), 1371-1384. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00136

Animal models are effective for assessing tumour localisation of nanosystems, but difficult to use for studying penetration beyond the vasculature. Here, we have used well-characterised HCT116 colorectal cancer spheroids to study the effect of nanopa... Read More about Penetration and uptake of Nanoparticles in 3D tumour spheroids.

Time and cell-dependent effects of endocytosis inhibitors on the internalization of biomolecule markers and nanomaterials (2018)
Journal Article
Sasso, L., Purdie, L., Grabowska, A. M., Jones, A. T., & Alexander, C. (2018). Time and cell-dependent effects of endocytosis inhibitors on the internalization of biomolecule markers and nanomaterials. Journal of Interdisciplinary Nanomedicine, 3(2), https://doi.org/10.1002/jin2.39

Endocytosis is an essential function of cells, with key roles in the internalisation of nutrients, signal molecules and also drugs. Endocytic processes are therefore widely investigated in the context of drug delivery, and inhibitors of endocytic pat... Read More about Time and cell-dependent effects of endocytosis inhibitors on the internalization of biomolecule markers and nanomaterials.

Water-soluble substituted chitosan derivatives as technology platform for inhalation delivery of siRNA (2018)
Journal Article
Capel, V., Vllasaliu, D., Watts, P., Clarke, P. A., Luxton, D., Grabowska, A. M., …Stolnik, S. (in press). Water-soluble substituted chitosan derivatives as technology platform for inhalation delivery of siRNA. Drug Delivery, 25(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/10717544.2018.1440668

Despite research efforts full potential of siRNA-based therapeutics has not yet been fully realized due to a need for suitable, effective delivery formulations. Here, we examine a potential of a new class of water-soluble chitosans as siRNA platform... Read More about Water-soluble substituted chitosan derivatives as technology platform for inhalation delivery of siRNA.

Pathways of cellular internalisation of liposomes delivered siRNA and effects on siRNA engagement with target mRNA and silencing in cancer cells (2018)
Journal Article
Alshehri, A. A., Grabowska, A. M., & Stolnik, S. (in press). Pathways of cellular internalisation of liposomes delivered siRNA and effects on siRNA engagement with target mRNA and silencing in cancer cells. Scientific Reports, 8(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22166-3

Design of an efficient delivery system is a generally recognised bottleneck in translation of siRNA technology into clinic. Despite research efforts, cellular processes that determine efficiency of siRNA silencing achieved by different delivery formu... Read More about Pathways of cellular internalisation of liposomes delivered siRNA and effects on siRNA engagement with target mRNA and silencing in cancer cells.

Stable DHLA–PEG capped PbS quantum dots: from synthesis to near-infrared biomedical imaging (2018)
Journal Article
Zamberlan, F., Turyanska, L., Patanè, A., Liu, Z., Williams, H., Fay, M., …Grabowska, A. (in press). Stable DHLA–PEG capped PbS quantum dots: from synthesis to near-infrared biomedical imaging. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 6, https://doi.org/10.1039/c7tb02912h

The short shelf-life of water-soluble quantum dots (QDs) due to colloidal instability represents a major drawback to their exploitation. This work examines the colloidal stability of PbS nanoparticles capped with dihydrolipoic acid–polyethylene glyco... Read More about Stable DHLA–PEG capped PbS quantum dots: from synthesis to near-infrared biomedical imaging.

Control of aggregation temperatures in mixed and blended cytocompatible thermoresponsive block co-polymer nanoparticles (2017)
Journal Article
Foralosso, R., Moir, L., Mastrotto, F., Sasso, L., Tchoryk, A., Selo, A., …Alexander, C. (2017). Control of aggregation temperatures in mixed and blended cytocompatible thermoresponsive block co-polymer nanoparticles. Soft Matter, 40(13), https://doi.org/10.1039/c7sm00920h

A small library of thermoresponsive amphiphilic copolymers based on polylactide-block-poly((2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate)-co-(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate)) (PLA-b-P(DEGMA)-co-(OEGMA)), was synthesised by copper-mediated controlled radi... Read More about Control of aggregation temperatures in mixed and blended cytocompatible thermoresponsive block co-polymer nanoparticles.

High-throughput spheroid screens using volume, resazurin reduction and acid phosphatase activity (2017)
Book Chapter
Ivanov, D. P., Grabowska, A. M., & Garnett, M. C. (2018). High-throughput spheroid screens using volume, resazurin reduction and acid phosphatase activity. In D. F. Gilbert, & O. Friedrich (Eds.), Cell Viability Assays (43-59). Humana Press (Springer). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6960-9_4

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media LLC. Mainstream adoption of physiologically relevant three-dimensional models has been slow in the last 50 years due to long, manual protocols with poor reproducibility, high price, and closed commercial platfo... Read More about High-throughput spheroid screens using volume, resazurin reduction and acid phosphatase activity.

Systemic in vivo delivery of siRNA to tumours using combination of polyethyleneimine and transferrin–polyethyleneimine conjugates (2015)
Journal Article
Grabowska, A. M., Kircheis, R., Kumari, R., Clarke, P., McKenzie, A., Hughes, J., …Alexander, C. (2015). Systemic in vivo delivery of siRNA to tumours using combination of polyethyleneimine and transferrin–polyethyleneimine conjugates. Biomaterials Science, 3(11), https://doi.org/10.1039/C5BM00101C

Materials for delivery of oligonucleotides need to be simple to produce yet effective in vivo to be considered for clinical applications. Formulations of biomaterials based on combinations of existing demonstrated polymeric gene carriers with targete... Read More about Systemic in vivo delivery of siRNA to tumours using combination of polyethyleneimine and transferrin–polyethyleneimine conjugates.