Sjoerd Hak
Background and activities
Nanomedicines are extensively being studied for in vivo therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Although several nanodrugs have been clinically approved and many are in clinical trials, the medical potential of these agents remains to be fully exploited. There are multiple reasons for this unsatisfactory utilization, but an important underlying issue is incomplete understanding of nanoparticle in vivo application.
In my group, we attempt to define gaps in the knowledge about nanoparticle ‘in vivo behavior’, and develop and use a range of methods to address these issues. At the heart of our effort lie various in vivo imaging modalities, like whole animal optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, and intravital microscopy. Especially intravital microscopy has proven extremely powerful for studying nanoparticle drug release and tumor targeting kinetics, as well as nanoparticle interactions with various cells in real-time. For ex vivo analysis, we have implemented state-of-the-art flow cytometry approaches allowing us to map interactions of administered nanoparticles with numerous cell types. Using this combination of in vivo and ex vivo methods, we are now discovering pivotal roles for various cells of the immune system in nanoparticle in vivo applications.
Using the new and exciting insights we gained over recent years, we are aiming to develop novel nanotherapeutic approaches with a focus on cancer. At the same time, we continue our quest to fill the gaps in our understanding of nanoparticles’ complex ‘in vivo behavior’.
Scientific, academic and artistic work
A selection of recent journal publications, artistic productions, books, including book and report excerpts. See all publications in the database
Journal publications
- (2018) Nanoparticle Ligand-Decoration Procedures Affect in Vivo Interactions with Immune Cells. Molecular Pharmaceutics. vol. 15 (12).
- (2018) Translating nanomedicines: Thinking beyond materials? A young investigator's reply to `The Novelty Bubble’. Journal of Controlled Release. vol. 290.
- (2017) Integrating nanomedicine and imaging. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. vol. 375 (2107).
- (2017) Real-Time Monitoring of Nanoparticle Formation by FRET Imaging. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. vol. 56 (11).
- (2017) Synthesis of gadolinium oxide nanodisks and gadolinium doped iron oxide nanoparticles for MR contrast agents. Journal of materials chemistry. B. vol. 5 (3).
- (2016) L-DOPA-Coated Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles as Dual MRI Contrast Agents and Drug-Delivery Vehicles. Small. vol. 12 (3).
- (2016) Labeling nanoparticles: Dye leakage and altered cellular uptake. Cytometry Part A. vol. 91 (8).
- (2016) Augmenting drug-carrier compatibility improves tumour nanotherapy efficacy. Nature Communications. vol. 7.
- (2015) The effects of oil-in-water nanoemulsion polyethylene glycol surface density on intracellular stability, pharmacokinetics, and biodistribution in tumor bearing mice. Pharmaceutical Research. vol. 32 (4).
- (2015) Transverse relaxivity of iron oxide nanocrystals clustered in nanoemulsions: Experiment and theory. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. vol. 74 (3).
- (2015) Nanoparticle-stabilized microbubbles for multimodal imaging and drug delivery. Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging. vol. 10 (5).
- (2015) Nanoparticle delivery to the brain - By focused ultrasound and self-assembled nanoparticle-stabilized microbubbles. Journal of Controlled Release. vol. 220.
- (2014) Periodicity in tumor vasculature targeting kinetics of ligand-functionalized nanoparticles studied by dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and intravital microscopy. Angiogenesis. vol. 17 (1).
- (2013) Interaction of nanoparticles with biomembranes and lipid vesicles modified by artificial receptors. European Biophysics Journal. vol. 42.
- (2013) Near-infrared fluorescence energy transfer imaging of nanoparticle accumulation and dissociation kinetics in tumor-bearing mice. ACS Nano. vol. 7 (11).
- (2012) The Effect of Nanoparticle Polyethylene Glycol Surface Density on Ligand-Directed Tumor Targeting Studied in Vivo by Dual Modality Imaging. ACS Nano. vol. 6 (6).
- (2010) Intravital microscopy in window chambers: a unique tool to study tumor angiogenesis and delivery of nanoparticles. Angiogenesis. vol. 13 (2).
- (2009) A high relaxivity Gd(III)DOTA-DSPE-based liposomal contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. European journal of pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics. vol. 72.
- (2009) Cellular compartmentalization of internalized paramagnetic liposomes strongly influences both T1 and T2 relaxivity. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. vol. 61 (1022).
- (2009) Three-compartment T1 relaxation model for intracellular paramagnetic contrast agents. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. vol. 61.