This disclosure relates to peptides and nanoparticles comprising a surface molecule that binds or blocks PD-L1. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to methods of using peptides or nanoparticles disclosed herein for the treatment of cancer. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to methods of using nanoparticles disclosed herein for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

A composition for imaging a cell includes a first imaging probe and a second imaging probe that include respectively a first reporter moiety and a second reporter moiety. The first reporter moiety and the second reporter moiety form a signaling complex that produces a detectable signal when the first imaging probe and second imaging probe complex with first and second biomarkers of the cell.

The invention relates to novel biocompatible hybrid nanoparticles of very small size, useful in particular for diagnostics and/or therapy.

The purpose of the invention is to offer novel nanoparticles which are useful in particular as contrast agents in imaging (e.g. MRI) and/or in other diagnostic techniques and/or as therapeutic agents, which give better performance than the known nanoparticles of the same type and which combine both a small size (for example less than 20 nm) and a high loading with metals (e.g. rare earths), in particular so as to have, in imaging (e.g. MRI), strong intensification and a correct response (increased relaxivity) at high frequencies.

Thus, the nanoparticles according to the invention, with diameter d.sub.1 between 1 and 20 nm, each comprise a polyorganosiloxane (POS) matrix including gadolinium cations optionally associated with doping cations; a chelating graft C.sup.1 DTPABA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid bisanhydride) bound to the POS matrix by an SiC covalent bond, and present in sufficient quantity to be able to complex all the gadolinium cations; and optionally another functionalizing graft Gf* bound to the POS matrix by an SiC covalent bond (where Gf* can be derived from a hydrophilic compound (PEG); from a compound having an active ingredient PA1; from a targeting compound; from a luminescent compound (fluorescein).

The method for the production of these nanoparticles and the applications thereof in imaging and in therapy also form part of the invention.

The present invention is directed generally to eukaryotic cells comprising single-celled organisms that are introduced into the eukaryotic cell through human intervention and which transfer to daughter cells of the eukaryotic cell through at least five cell divisions, and methods of introducing such single-celled organisms into eukaryotic cells. The invention also provides methods of using such eukaryotic cells. The invention further provides single-celled organisms that introduce a phenotype to eukaryotic cells that is maintained in daughter cells. The invention additionally provides eukaryotic cells containing magnetotactic bacteria.

The present invention provides methods, compositions, systems, and kits comprising core-satellite nanocomposites useful for photothermal and/or MRI applications (e.g., tumor treatment and/or imaging). In certain embodiments, the core-satellite nanocomposites comprise: i) a core nanoparticle complex comprising a biocompatible coating surrounding a nanoparticle core, and ii) at least one satellite component attached to, or absorbed to, the biocompatible coating. In some embodiments, the nanoparticle core and satellite component are composed of near-infrared photothermal agent material and/or MRI contrast agent material. In further embodiments, the satellite component is additionally or alternatively composed of near-infrared optical dye material.

An imaging nanoparticle comprising a plant virus particle having an interior surface and an exterior surface, an imaging agent that is linked to the interior and/or exterior surface, and a layer of biocompatible mineral such as silica coated over the exterior surface, is described. The imaging nanoparticle can be used in method of generating an image of a tissue region of a subject, by administering to the subject a diagnostically effective amount of an imaging nanoparticle and generating an image of the tissue region of the subject to which the imaging nanoparticle has been distributed.

The invention pertains to a method of monitoring the membrane permeabilization of a liposome and the incidental release of a compound of interest. The method utilizes liposomes comprising a thermosensitive lipidic membrane encapsulating the product of interest and superparamagnetic nanoparticles having the electrostatic surface charge below 20 mV or above +20 mV when measured in an aqueous medium at physiological pH. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: a) measuring relaxation time (T2*); b) heating the liposome at Tm or above Tm; c) measuring T2* after step b); d) obtaining the transverse relaxivity (r.sub.2*) values from the T2* values obtained from step a) and step c); and e) determining the ratio of r.sub.2* before and after the heating step b). A ratio above 1.5 indicates the liposome membrane permeabilization and the incidental release of the product of interest.

Compounds containing TRPV6-binding peptides and their use in the detection and diagnosis of cancer are described. Also described are methods for detecting and staging cancer that use the compounds of the invention. Compounds containing TRPV6-binding peptides are useful for the delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents to cells or tumors that express TRPV6.

The invention described herein relates to sterically stabilized colloidal constructs comprising preformed colloidal particles encapsulated within a polymeric shell. The constructs, which are controllably sized, are nanoparticles comprising hydrophobic elements, electrostatically charged particles with hydrophobic surfaces, hydrophobic inorganic nanostructures, and amphiphilic copolymers with hydrophobic domains and hydrophilic domains. The constructs are made by a process that allows for the simultaneous encapsulation of a preformed colloidal agent as well as a dissolved hydrophobic active within the core of the polymeric nanoparticle. Among the actives incorporated in various embodiments are organic fluorescent dyes, metal nanostructures and superparamagnetic materials for use in combined fluorescence, optical and magnetic resonance imaging applications, and hydrophobic drugs for therapeutic applications.

The present invention provides a nanoparticle including at least one polyvinyl alcohol) (PVA) having a molecular weight of from about 10 kDa to about 200 kDa, substituted with one or more moieties selected from: a therapeutic agent having a boronic acid moiety, wherein the therapeutic agent is covalently linked to the PVA via a boronate ester bond; a crosslinking group having a disulfide moiety, wherein the crosslinking group is covalently linked to the PVA, and a porphyrin, wherein the porphyrin is covalently linked to the PVA. Use of the nanoparticles for tumor detection and the treatment of diseases, including methods for photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy, are also described.