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1.
19 F MRI Nanotheranostics for Cancer Management: Progress and Prospects.
Li, Y, Cui, J, Li, C, Zhou, H, Chang, J, Aras, O, An, F
ChemMedChem. 2022;(4):e202100701
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Abstract
Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging (19 F MRI) is a promising imaging technique for cancer diagnosis because of its excellent soft tissue resolution and deep tissue penetration, as well as the inherent high natural abundance, almost no endogenous interference, quantitative analysis, and wide chemical shift range of the 19 F nucleus. In recent years, scientists have synthesized various 19 F MRI contrast agents. By further integrating a wide variety of nanomaterials and cutting-edge construction strategies, magnetically equivalent 19 F atoms are super-loaded and maintain satisfactory relaxation efficiency to obtain high-intensity 19 F MRI signals. In this review, the nuclear magnetic resonance principle underlying 19 F MRI is first described. Then, the construction and performance of various fluorinated contrast agents are summarized. Finally, challenges and future prospects regarding the clinical translation of 19 F MRI nanoprobes are considered. This review will provide strategic guidance and panoramic expectations for designing new cancer theranostic regimens and realizing their clinical translation.
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2.
Recent Advances in Plant Nanoscience.
Zhang, Q, Ying, Y, Ping, J
Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany). 2022;(2):e2103414
Abstract
Plants have complex internal signaling pathways to quickly adjust to environmental changes and harvest energy from the environment. Facing the growing population, there is an urgent need for plant transformation and precise monitoring of plant growth to improve crop yields. Nanotechnology, an interdisciplinary research field, has recently been boosting plant yields and meeting global energy needs. In this context, a new field, "plant nanoscience," which describes the interaction between plants and nanotechnology, emerges as the times require. Nanosensors, nanofertilizers, nanopesticides, and nano-plant genetic engineering are of great help in increasing crop yields. Nanogenerators are helping to develop the potential of plants in the field of energy harvesting. Furthermore, the uptake and internalization of nanomaterials in plants and the possible effects are also worthy of attention. In this review, a forward-looking perspective on the plant nanoscience is presented and feasible solutions for future food shortages and energy crises are provided.
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3.
Manganese oxide nanomaterials boost cancer immunotherapy.
Ding, B, Yue, J, Zheng, P, Ma, P, Lin, J
Journal of materials chemistry. B. 2021;(35):7117-7131
Abstract
Immunotherapy, a strategy that leverages the host immune function to fight against cancer, plays an increasingly important role in clinical tumor therapy. In spite of the great success achieved in not only clinical treatment but also basic research, cancer immunotherapy still faces many huge challenges. Manganese oxide nanomaterials (MONs), as ideal tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive biomaterials, are able to dramatically elicit anti-tumor immune responses in multiple ways, indicating great prospects for immunotherapy. In this review, on the basis of different mechanisms to boost immunotherapy, major highlighted topics are presented, covering adjusting an immunosuppressive TME by generating O2 (like O2-sensitized photodynamic therapy (PDT), programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression downregulation, reprogramming tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and restraining tumor angiogenesis and lactic acid exhaustion), inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD), photothermal therapy (PTT) induction, activating the stimulator of interferon gene (STING) pathway and immunoadjuvants for nanovaccines. We hope that this review will provide holistic understanding about MONs and their application in cancer immunotherapy, and thus pave the way to the translation from bench to bedside in the future.
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4.
Nanomaterials in Cementitious Composites: An Update.
Metaxa, ZS, Tolkou, AK, Efstathiou, S, Rahdar, A, Favvas, EP, Mitropoulos, AC, Kyzas, GZ
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2021;(5)
Abstract
This review is an update about the addition of nanomaterials in cementitious composites in order to improve their performance. The most common used nanomaterials for cementitious materials are carbon nanotubes, nanocellulose, nanographene, graphene oxide, nanosilica and nanoTiO2. All these nanomaterials can improve the physical, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of cementitious composites, for example increase their compressive and tensile strength, accelerate hydration, decrease porosity and enhance fire resistance. Cement based materials have a very complex nanostructure consisting of hydration products, crystals, unhydrated cement particles and nanoporosity where traditional reinforcement, which is at the macro and micro scale, is not effective. Nanomaterials can reinforce the nanoscale, which wasn't possible heretofore, enhancing the performance of the cementitious matrix.
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5.
DNA origami-based protein networks: from basic construction to emerging applications.
Kong, G, Xiong, M, Liu, L, Hu, L, Meng, HM, Ke, G, Zhang, XB, Tan, W
Chemical Society reviews. 2021;(3):1846-1873
Abstract
Natural living systems are driven by delicate protein networks whose functions are precisely controlled by many parameters, such as number, distance, orientation, and position. Focusing on regulation rather than just imitation, the construction of artificial protein networks is important in many research areas, including biomedicine, synthetic biology and chemical biology. DNA origami, sophisticated nanostructures with rational design, can offer predictable, programmable, and addressable scaffolds for protein assembly with nanometer precision. Recently, many interdisciplinary efforts have achieved the precise construction of DNA origami-based protein networks, and their emerging application in many areas. To inspire more fantastic research and applications, herein we highlight the applicability and potentiality of DNA origami-based protein networks. After a brief introduction to the development and features of DNA origami, some important factors for the precise construction of DNA origami-based protein networks are discussed, including protein-DNA conjugation methods, networks with different patterns and the controllable parameters in the networks. The discussion then focuses on the emerging application of DNA origami-based protein networks in several areas, including enzymatic reaction regulation, sensing, bionics, biophysics, and biomedicine. Finally, current challenges and opportunities in this research field are discussed.
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6.
Nanoscience and quantum science-led biocidal and antiviral strategies.
Zare, M, Thomas, V, Ramakrishna, S
Journal of materials chemistry. B. 2021;(36):7328-7346
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) caused the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, this pandemic continues to be a serious threat to public health due to the worldwide spread of variants and their higher rate of transmissibility. A range of measures are necessary to slow the pandemic and save lives, which include constant evaluation and the careful adjustment of public-health responses augmented by medical treatments, vaccines and protective gear. It is hypothesized that nanostructured particulates underpinned by nanoscience and quantum science yield high-performing antiviral strategies, which can be applied in preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications such as face masks, respirators, COVID test kits, vaccines, and drugs. This review is aimed at providing comprehensive and cohesive perspectives on various nanostructures that are suited to intensifying and amplifying the effectiveness of antiviral strategies. Growing scientific literature over the past eighteen months indicates that quantum dots, iron oxide, silicon oxide, polymeric and metallic nanoparticles have been employed in COVID-19 diagnostic assays, vaccines, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Quantum dots have displayed their suitability as more sensitive imaging probes in diagnostics and prognostics, and as controlled drug-release carriers that target the virus. Nanoscience and quantum science have assisted the design of advanced vaccine delivery since nanostructured materials are suited for antigen delivery, as mimics of viral structures and as adjuvants. Furthermore, the quantum science- and nanoscience-supported tailored functionalization of nanostructured materials offers insight and pathways to deal with future pandemics. This review seeks to illustrate several examples, and to explain the underpinning quantum science and nanoscience phenomena, which include wave functions, electrostatic interactions, van der Waals forces, thermal and electrodynamic fluctuations, dispersion forces, local field-enhancement effects, and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This review discusses how nanostructured materials are helpful in the detection, prevention, and treatment of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, other known viral infection diseases, and future pandemics.
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7.
Metal Sulfide Semiconductor Nanomaterials and Polymer Microgels for Biomedical Applications.
Paca, AM, Ajibade, PA
International journal of molecular sciences. 2021;(22)
Abstract
The development of nanomaterials with therapeutic and/or diagnostic properties has been an active area of research in biomedical sciences over the past decade. Nanomaterials have been identified as significant medical tools with potential therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities that are practically impossible to accomplish using larger molecules or bulk materials. Fabrication of nanomaterials is the most effective platform to engineer therapeutic agents and delivery systems for the treatment of cancer. This is mostly due to the high selectivity of nanomaterials for cancerous cells, which is attributable to the porous morphology of tumour cells which allows nanomaterials to accumulate more in tumour cells more than in normal cells. Nanomaterials can be used as potential drug delivery systems since they exist in similar scale as proteins. The unique properties of nanomaterials have drawn a lot of interest from researchers in search of new chemotherapeutic treatment for cancer. Metal sulfide nanomaterials have emerged as the most used frameworks in the past decade, but they tend to aggregate because of their high surface energy which triggers the thermodynamically favoured interaction. Stabilizing agents such as polymer and microgels have been utilized to inhibit the particles from any aggregations. In this review, we explore the development of metal sulfide polymer/microgel nanocomposites as therapeutic agents against cancerous cells.
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Redesign of protein nanocages: the way from 0D, 1D, 2D to 3D assembly.
Lv, C, Zhang, X, Liu, Y, Zhang, T, Chen, H, Zang, J, Zheng, B, Zhao, G
Chemical Society reviews. 2021;(6):3957-3989
Abstract
Compartmentalization is a hallmark of living systems. Through compartmentalization, ubiquitous protein nanocages such as viral capsids, ferritin, small heat shock proteins, and DNA-binding proteins from starved cells fulfill a variety of functions, while their shell-like structures hold great promise for various applications in the field of nanomedicine and nanotechnology. However, the number and structure of natural protein nanocages are limited, and these natural protein nanocages may not be suited for a given application, which might impede their further application as nanovehicles, biotemplates or building blocks. To overcome these shortcomings, different strategies have been developed by scientists to construct artificial protein nanocages, and 1D, 2D and 3D protein arrays with protein nanocages as building blocks through genetic and chemical modification to rival the size and functionality of natural protein nanocages. This review outlines the recent advances in the field of the design and construction of artificial protein nanocages and their assemblies with higher order, summarizes the strategies for creating the assembly of protein nanocages from zero-dimension to three dimensions, and introduces their corresponding applications in the preparation of nanomaterials, electrochemistry, and drug delivery. The review will highlight the roles of both the inter-subunit/intermolecular interactions at the key interface and the protein symmetry in constructing and controlling protein nanocage assemblies with different dimensions.
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9.
Nano Encapsulated Curcumin: And Its Potential for Biomedical Applications.
Chen, Y, Lu, Y, Lee, RJ, Xiang, G
International journal of nanomedicine. 2020;:3099-3120
Abstract
Curcumin, a yellow-colored polyphenol extracted from the rhizome of turmeric root, is commonly used as a spice and nutritional supplement. It exhibits many pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-Alzheimer, and anti-fungal. However, the therapeutic application of curcumin is limited by its extremely low solubility in aqueous buffer, instability in body fluids, and rapid metabolism. Nano delivery system has shown excellent potential to improve the solubility, biocompatibility and therapeutic effect of curcumin. In this review, we focus on the recent development of nano encapsulated curcumin and its potential for biomedical applications.
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10.
Carotenoid-loaded nanocarriers: A comprehensive review.
Rehman, A, Tong, Q, Jafari, SM, Assadpour, E, Shehzad, Q, Aadil, RM, Iqbal, MW, Rashed, MMA, Mushtaq, BS, Ashraf, W
Advances in colloid and interface science. 2020;:102048
Abstract
Carotenoids retain plenty of health benefits and attracting much attention recently, but they have less resistance to processing stresses, easily oxidized and chemically unstable. Additionally, their application in food and pharmaceuticals are restricted due to some limitations such as poor bioavailability, less solubility and quick release. Nanoencapsulation techniques can be used to protect the carotenoids and to uphold their original characteristics during processing, storage and digestion, improve their physiochemical properties and enhance their health promoting effects. The importance of nanocarriers in foods and pharmaceuticals cannot be denied. This review comprehensively covers recent advances in nanoencapsulation of carotenoids with biopolymeric nanocarriers (polysaccharides and proteins), and lipid-based nanocarriers, their functionalities, aptness and innovative developments in preparation strategies. Furthermore, the present state of the art encapsulation of different carotenoids via biopolymeric and lipid-based nanocarriers have been enclosed and tabulated well. Nanoencapsulation has a vast range of applications for protection of carotenoids. Polysaccharides in combination with different proteins can offer a great avenue to achieve the desired formulation for encapsulation of carotenoids by using different nanoencapsulation strategies. In terms of lipid based nanocarriers, solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructure lipid carriers are proving as the encouraging candidates for entrapment of carotenoids. Additionally, nanoliposomes and nanoemulsion are also promising and novel-vehicles for the protection of carotenoids against challenging aspects as well as offering an effectual controlled release on the targeted sites. In the future, further studies could be conducted for exploring the application of nanoencapsulated systems in food and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) for industrial applications.