Researchers at San Diego, University of California, have found an unusual associate of cancer rapidly, more accurate and more accessible worldwide: morpho butterfly. Known for its shimmering blue wings, morpho butterfly is outstanding its talent not for pigments but for subtle structures that manipulate light. Now, researchers are using the same structures to achieve detailed insights into fibrous makeup of cancer biopsy samples – without the need for chemical staining or expensive imaging equipment.
The conclusions are wide in a paper published advanced Materials,
Fibrosis, accumulation of fibrous tissue, is a major feature of many diseases, which include neurodogenative disorders, heart disease, and cancer. In oncology, evaluating the range of fibrosis in a biopsy sample can help determine whether the patient’s cancer is in the initial or advanced stage.
Lisa Policos, a senior writer of a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering department at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, said, “However, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between these steps using current clinical methods,” said Lisa Polickos said. ” , These methods depend on staining tissues to highlight the major structures in tumor biopsy, but the results can be subjective – a pathologist can interpret one sample differently from another. And while there are more advanced imaging techniques that can provide rich details, they require expensive, special equipment that many clinics do not have.
This is where morpho butterfly comes. Policcos and his team found that by placing a biopsy sample on top of a morpho butterfly wing and looking at it under a standard microscope, they can assess whether the structure of the tumor indicates quick or late cancer- stains or Without the requirement of expensive imaging machines.
“We can apply this technique using standard optical microscope which are already clinics,” said Policcos. “And it is more purpose and quantitative than it is currently available.”
The idea for this method came from UC San Diego, a mechanical engineering graduate student and the first writer of the study, Paula Kirya. Kirya had earlier studied the wings of morpho butterfly and their optical properties during a graduate student researcher at Pasadeena City College. When she moved to UC San Diego and joined Policcos’s lab – researchers built synthetic nanostructure for the image of biological tissues – they recognized an opportunity.
“I was imaging butterfly wings, studying how they react to various environment,” he said. “And when I saw what the lab was doing, I thought, ‘Morpho naturally has this property – why not use it?”
Researchers found that the micro-and nanostructure of the wing reacted strongly to the polarized light- a type of light that spreads in a specific direction. Collagen fiber – which is a major structural component of fibrotic tissue – also interacts with polarized light, but their signs are weak. By placing a biopsy sample above a piece of Morfo butterfly wing, the researchers increased these signs, making it easy to analyze the density and system of collagen fibers.
The resulting signals can then be translated into a measure of how collagen fibers are dense and arranged into a biopsy sample. To do this, researchers developed a mathematical model based on Jones Calculus, a method to analyze polarized light. The model corresponds to the density of collagen fibers and intensity of light with the organization, providing a quantitative metric to assess fibrosis within the tissue.
Using this approach, the researchers analyzed both the collagen-delete and collagen-sparrows provided by the study colleagues and co-author Jing Yang, which analyzed both the samples of both the collagen-breast cancer biopsy of the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Co-Pediatics The departments had professors and co-cum-writer Jing Yang and co-co-star. A postdotoral scientist in Yang’s group, a leader of the cancer biology and signaling program at the Murce Cancer Center, and Ada Mestra-Ferrera. Their results were comparable to traditional staining methods and an advanced, high cost imaging method.
“Essentially, we are trying to expand on these processes with a stain-free option, which requires nothing more than a standard optical microscope and a piece of a morpho wing,” Kirya said. “In many parts of the world, screening of early cancer is a challenge due to resource limitations. If we can provide a simple and more accessible tools, we can help more patients to diagnose before reaching the aggressive stages of their cancer. ,
While the current study focused on breast cancer, researchers believe that their technique can be applied to a wide range of fibrotic diseases.
“We are excited to take advantage of this technique for all types of tissue diagnosis,” said Policcos. “It was really surprising to see how nature had already prepared a solution through the Morfo Butterfly Wing and its natural micro- and nanostructure. Our work shows that nature has given us something that can help us in the image of diseased tissues without the need of expensive construction facilities. ,
The work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA174869, RO1CA262794, R01CA268179 and R01CA23636386), Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (Project Number: 3015266) by Beckman Young Investigator Award. Fellowships from Businesses American Association of University Women, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-2038238), a Croetor vs. VISH Research Award, and a TRDRP PostDorle Award (T32FT4922).
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