Publicaties
Severity Classification of Laboratory Animal Procedures in Two Belgian Academic Institutions Vrije Universiteit Brussel
According to the EU Directive 2010/63, all animal procedures must be classified as non-recovery, mild, moderate or severe. Several examples are included in the Directive to help in severity classification. Since the implementation of the Directive, different publications and guidelines have been disseminated on the topic. However, due to the large variety of disease models and animal procedures carried out in many different animal species, ...
Method To Diversify Cyanine Chromophore Functionality Enables Improved Biomolecule Tracking and Intracellular Imaging Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Heptamethine indocyanines are invaluable probes for near-infrared (NIR) imaging. Despite broad use, there are only a few synthetic methods to assemble these molecules, and each has significant limitations. Here, we report the use of pyridinium benzoxazole (PyBox) salts as heptamethine indocyanine precursors. This method is high yielding, simple to implement, and provides access to previously unknown chromophore functionality. We applied this ...
Optimizing the Safety and Efficacy of Bio-Radiopharmaceuticals for Cancer Therapy Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer Using a Fluorescently Labelled Anti-CEA Nanobody Probe Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Molecular fluorescence-guided surgery using near-infrared light has the potential to improve the rate of complete resection of cancer. Typically, monoclonal antibodies are being used as targeting moieties, however smaller fragments, such as single-domain antibodies (i.e., Nanobodies®) improve tumor specificity and enable tracer injection on the same day as surgery. In this study, the feasibility of a carcinoembryonic antigen-targeting ...
Group sequential designs for in vivo studies Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Interim analysis is the practice of performing a statistical analysis when the data have only been partially collected, for example, to save resources or to handle the uncertainty of the true effect size. Most statistical designs featuring interim analysis have been developed either in a general statistical setting or for application in clinical trials. As a result, most of them make assumptions and have conditions that in a preclinical ...
Fluorescent Anti-CEA Nanobody for Rapid Tumor-Targeting and Imaging in Mouse Models of Pancreatic Cancer Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Tumor-specific targeting with fluorescent probes can enhance contrast for identification of cancer during surgical resection and visualize otherwise invisible tumor margins. Nanobodies are the smallest naturally-occurring antigen-binding molecules with rapid pharmacokinetics. The present work demonstrates the efficacy of a fluorescent anti-CEA nanobody conjugated to an IR800 dye to target and label patient derived pancreatic cancer ...
Custom lifetime phantoms for characterization and benchmarking of a new CAPS fluorescence-lifetime camera Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Design and Validation of Site-Specifically Labeled Single-Domain Antibody-Based Tracers for in Vivo Fluorescence Imaging and Image-Guided Surgery Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Near-infrared fluorescence molecular imaging has become an established preclinical technique to investigate molecular processes in vivo and to study novel therapies. Furthermore, fluorescence molecular imaging is gaining significant interest from clinicians as an intra-operative guidance tool. This technique makes use of targeted fluorescent tracers as contrast agents that recognize specific biomarkers expressed at the site of disease. ...
Rapid tumor-labeling kinetics with a site-specific near-infrared anti-CEA nanobody in a patient-derived orthotopic xenograft mouse model of colon cancer Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Background/Objectives: Nanobodies are the smallest biologic antigen-binding fragments derived from camelid-derived antibodies. Nanobodies effect a peak tumor signal within minutes of injection and present a novel opportunity for fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS). The present study demonstrates the efficacy of an anti-CEA nanobody conjugated to near-infrared fluorophore LICOR-IRDye800CW for rapid intraoperative tumor labeling of colon cancer. ...