Université de Fribourg

Use of EpiAlveolar lung model to predict fibrotic potential of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Barosova, Hana ; Maione, Anna G. ; Septiadi, Dedy ; Sharma, Monita ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Balog, Sandor ; O’Connell, Olivia ; Jackson, George R. ; Brown, David ; Clippinger, Amy J. ; Hayden, Patrick ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Stone, Vicki ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara

In: ACS Nano, 2020, vol. 14, no. 4, p. 3941–3956

Expansion in production and commercial use of nanomaterials increases the potential human exposure during the lifecycle of these materials (production, use, and disposal). Inhalation is a primary route of exposure to nanomaterials; therefore it is critical to assess their potential respiratory hazard. Herein, we developed a three-dimensional alveolar model (EpiAlveolar) consisting of human...

Université de Fribourg

A hydrofluoric acid-free method to dissolve and quantify silica nanoparticles in aqueous and solid matrices

Bossert, David ; Urban, Dominic A. ; Maceroni, Mattia ; Ackermann-Hirschi, Liliane ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Yajan, Phattadon ; Spuch-Calvar, Miguel ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Schwab, Fabienne

In: Scientific Reports, 2019, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 7938

As the commercial use of synthetic amorphous silica nanomaterials (SiO2-NPs) increases, their effects on the environment and human health have still not been explored in detail. An often-insurmountable obstacle for SiO2-NP fate and hazard research is the challenging analytics of solid particulate silica species, which involves toxic and corrosive hydrofluoric acid (HF). We therefore developed...

Université de Fribourg

Phase transformation of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles via thermal annealing: implications for hyperthermia applications

Crippa, Federica ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Hua, Xiao ; Goris, Bart ; Bals, Sara ; Garitaonandia, José S. ; Balog, Sandor ; Burnand, David ; Hirt, Ann M. ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Lattuada, Marco ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2019, vol. 2, no. 7, p. 4462–4470

Magnetic hyperthermia has the potential to play an important role in cancer therapy and its efficacy relies on the nanomaterials selected. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are excellent candidates due to the ability of producing enough heat to kill tumor cells by thermal ablation. However, their heating properties depend strongly on crystalline structure and size, which may...

Université de Fribourg

Dynamic and biocompatible thermo-responsive magnetic hydrogels that respond to an alternating magnetic field

Crippa, Federica ; Moore, Thomas L. ; Mortato, Mariangela ; Geers, Christoph ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Hirt, Ann M. ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 2017, vol. 427, p. 212–219

Magnetic thermo-responsive hydrogels are a new class of materials that have recently attracted interest in biomedicine due to their ability to change phase upon magnetic stimulation. They have been used for drug release, magnetic hyperthermia treatment, and can potentially be engineered as stimuli-responsive substrates for cell mechanobiology. In this regard, we propose a series of magnetic...

Université de Fribourg

Slow-targeted release of a ruthenium anticancer agent from vitamin B 12 functionalized marine diatom microalgae

Delasoie, Joachim ; Rossier, Jérémie ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Zobi, Fabio

In: Dalton Transactions, 2018, vol. 47, no. 48, p. 17221–17232

Herein we report the synthesis of a new biomaterial designed for targeted delivery of poorly water-soluble inorganic anticancer drugs, with a focus on colorectal cancer. Diatomaceous earth microparticles derived from marine microalgae were coated with vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) as a tumor targeting agent and loaded with the well- known anticancer agents cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and...

Université de Fribourg

Templated assembly of pore-forming peptides in lipid membranes

Fennouri, Aziz ; List, Jonathan ; Dupasquier, Jessica ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Vanni, Stefano ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Mayer, Michael

In: CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 2019, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 59–62

Pore-forming peptides are of interest due to their antimicrobial activity and ability to form gateways through lipid membranes. Chemical modification of these peptides makes it possible to arrange several peptide monomers into well-defined pore-forming structures using various templating strategies. These templated super-structures can exert antimicrobial activity at significantly lower total...

Université de Fribourg

Cytotoxicity of Mn-based photoCORMs of ethynyl-α-diimine ligands against different cancer cell lines: The key role of CO-depleted metal fragments

Rossier, Jeremie ; Delasoie, Joachim ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Hauser, Daniel ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Zobi, Fabio

In: Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2020, vol. 209, p. 111122

A series of tricarbonyl manganese complexes bearing 4-ethynyl-2,2′-bipyridine and 5- ethynyl-1,10-phenanthroline α-diimine ligands were synthetized, characterized and conjugated to vitamin B12, previously used as a vector for drug delivery, to take advantage of its water solubility and specificity toward cancer cells. The compounds act as photoactivatable carbon monoxide-releasing molecules...

Université de Fribourg

Rapid and sensitive quantification of cell-associated multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Steinmetz, Lukas ; Bourquin, Joel ; Barosova, Hana ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Caldwell, Jessica ; Milosevic, Ana ; Geers, Christoph ; Bonmarin, Mathias ; Taladriz-Blanco, Patricia ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Nanoscale, 2020, vol. 12, no. 33, p. 17362–17372

Evaluating nanomaterial uptake and association by cells is relevant for in vitro studies related to safe-by-design approaches, nanomedicine or applications in photothermal therapy. However, standard analytical techniques are time-consuming, involve complex sample preparation or include labelling of the investigated sample system with e.g. fluorescent dyes. Here, we explore lock-in...

Université de Fribourg

Structure and sedimentation kinetics of dense suspensions of fibroblast cells

Zenuni, Arbnor ; Zhang, Chi ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Scheffold, Frank

In: CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 2019, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 43–46

We investigate the structure and the dynamics of dense suspensions of NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. Using two-photon microscopy we obtain three dimensional (3D) images from which the size and the packing structure of the dense cell suspensions can be extracted. In addition, we analyse the global time-dependent behaviour of the suspensions by time-lapse measurements of cell sedimentation. Since...