Ioana Berindan-Neagoe

By Ioana Berindan-Neagoe, Cornelia Braicu, Diana Gulei, Ciprian Tomuleasa and George Adrian Calin

Lung cancer is the major death-related cancer in both men and women, due to late diagnostic and limited treatment efficacy. The angiogenic process that is responsible for the support of tumor progression and metastasis represents one of the main hallmarks of cancer. The role of VEGF signaling in angiogenesis is well‐established, and we summarize the role of semaphorins and their related receptors or hypoxia‐related factors role as prone of tumor microenvironment in angiogenic mechanisms. Newly, noncoding RNA transcripts (ncRNA) were identified to have vital functions in miscellaneous biological processes, including lung cancer angiogenesis. Therefore, due to their capacity to regulate almost all molecular pathways related with altered key genes, including those involved in angiogenesis and its microenvironment, ncRNAs can serve as diagnosis and prognosis markers or therapeutic targets. We intend to summarize the latest progress in the field of ncRNAs in lung cancer and their relation with hypoxia‐related factors and angiogenic genes, with a particular focus on ncRNAs relation to semaphorins.

Part of the book: Physiologic and Pathologic Angiogenesis

By Anca Onaciu, Ancuta Jurj, Cristian Moldovan and Ioana Berindan-Neagoe

Nanoparticles offer a lot of advantageous backgrounds for many applications due to their physical, chemical and biological properties. Their different composition (metals, lipids, polymers, peptides) and shapes (spheres, rods, pyramids, flowers and so on) are influenced by the synthesis methods and functionalization procedures. However, in the medical field, researchers focus on the biocompatibility and biodegradability of the nanoparticles in their attempts for a targeted therapy in which the nanocarriers need to bypass certain biological barriers. Moreover, the increased interest in molecular imaging has brought nanoparticles in the spotlight for their applications in two distinct directions: therapy and diagnosis. Furthermore, recent advances in nanoparticle designs have introduced novel nano-objects suitable as both detection and delivery systems at the same time, thus providing theranostic applications.

Part of the book: Engineered Nanomaterials

By Laura-Ancuta Pop, Oana Zanoaga, Paul Chiroi, Andreea Nutu, Schuyler S. Korban, Cristina Stefan, Alexandru Irimie and Ioana Berindan-Neagoe

Novel technologies and state of the art platforms developed and launched over the last two decades such as microarrays, next-generation sequencing, and droplet PCR have provided the medical field many opportunities to generate and analyze big data from the human genome, particularly of genomes altered by different diseases like cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity. This knowledge further serves for either new drug discovery or drug repositioning. Designing drugs for specific mutations and genotypes will dramatically modify a patient’s response to treatment. Among other altered mechanisms, drug resistance is of concern, particularly when there is no response to cancer therapy. Once these new platforms for omics data are in place, available information will be used to pursue precision medicine and to establish new therapeutic guidelines. Target identification for new drugs is necessary, and it is of great benefit for critical cases where no alternatives are available. While mutational status is of highest importance as some mutations can be pathogenic, screening of known compounds in different preclinical models offer new and quick strategies to find alternative frameworks for treating more diseases with limited therapeutic options.

Part of the book: Drug Design