Key for crossing the BBB with nanoparticles: the rational design

• Sonia M. Lombardo,
• Marc Schneider,
• Akif E. Türeli and
• Nazende Günday Türeli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 866–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.72

• system was able to cross the BBB and to accumulate in glioma cells, thus improving the cytotoxicity effect of doxorubicin. To cross the BBB and to target glioma cells, liposomes have also been conjugated with cell-penetrating peptides. For example, in a study by Liu et al., a novel dual receptor

• biocompatible lipids, thus leading to low cytotoxicity [155]. Furthermore, SLNs can be prepared using a cost-effective high-pressure homogenization method. This method avoids the use of organic solvents and can be used at large scale, making SLNs interesting for the pharmaceutical industry [156]. Interestingly

Luminescent gold nanoclusters for bioimaging applications

• Nonappa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 533–546, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.42

• biochemical processes [14][15][16][17]. The large molecular mass of GFP might affect the folding process of tagged proteins, or a possible aggregation may lead to cytotoxicity. Beyond molecular and biomolecular luminescent materials, colloidal luminescent nanomaterials have gained attention in recent years

• of colors covering ultraviolet to near-infrared (NIR). Furthermore, SCQDs offer better sensitivity, stability against photobleaching, and a narrow spectral bandwidth compared to conventional organic dyes. However, due to their cytotoxicity, the tendency to undergo aggregation inside the cells, and

• easy oxidation, the extensive use in bioimaging remained a challenge. Therefore, efforts have been made to prepare silicon quantum dots (SQDs) [28]. SQDs exhibit relatively low cytotoxicity and better biocompatibility compared to SCQDs. Moreover, SQDs show broad absorption spectra, higher

Multilayer capsules made of weak polyelectrolytes: a review on the preparation, functionalization and applications in drug delivery

• Varsha Sharma and
• Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 508–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.41

• changing the integrity or permeability. Magnetic NPs have shown greater cytotoxicity in comparison with microcapsules containing an equivalent amount of magnetite [79]. The first and foremost way of incorporating NPs into the shell is either by the adsorption of NPs over the sacrificial template or using

Nanoparticles based on the zwitterionic pillar[5]arene and Ag⁺: synthesis, self-assembly and cytotoxicity in the human lung cancer cell line A549

• Dmitriy N. Shurpik,
• Denis A. Sevastyanov,
• Pavel V. Zelenikhin,
• Pavel L. Padnya,
• Vladimir G. Evtugyn,
• Yuriy N. Osin and
• Ivan I. Stoikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 421–431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.33

• and 2D biomedical coatings. Keywords: cytotoxicity; macrocyclic receptors; nanoparticles; pillar[5]arene; self-assembly; silver; Introduction The first use of silver (Ag) as a medicine dates back to Hippocrates, who used it as an antibacterial agent for the treatment of ulcers [1]. Over the past

• of macrocycle 3 complexes with the indicated anions was not detected by UV–vis, NMR spectroscopy, which indicates the absence of their interfering effect. Cytotoxicity of synthesized macrocycles and associates of macrocycle/Ag+ It was previously shown that water-soluble pillar[5]arenes did not have a

• pronounced toxic effect in the range of studied concentrations of 10–500 μg/mL [44][45][46]. In order to study the cytotoxic properties of the obtained 3/Ag+ nanoparticles, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of the synthesized water-soluble pillar[5]arenes 3 and 4. The results indicate that macrocycles 3 and 4

Brome mosaic virus-like particles as siRNA nanocarriers for biomedical purposes

• Alfredo Nuñez-Rivera,
• Pierrick G. J. Fournier,
• Danna L. Arellano,
• Ana G. Rodriguez-Hernandez,
• Rafael Vazquez-Duhalt and
• Ruben D. Cadena-Nava

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 372–382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.28

• surface is not a limiting factor for the cell internalization of BMV and CCMV. Thus, it seems possible that the capsid internalization could be carried out by macropinocytosis, a process independent of vimentin. Biocompatibility of CCMV and BMV A possible virus cytotoxicity was evaluated. BMV and CCMV

• carry and deliver siRNA into tumor cells has been demonstrated. Cell internalization of the plant viruses, BMV and CCMV, showed no cytotoxicity, making the viruses excellent and biocompatible nanocarrier candidates for targeted molecular anti-cancer therapies. BMV-based nanocarriers showed better

• cell death and PBS as a control medium for 24 h. The Viability/Cytotoxicity Assay Kit (Biotum) was used to assess the amount of live and dead cells. Briefly, cells were trypsinized and labeled with calcein and ethidium homodimer III (EthD-III) to recognize live and dead cells, respectively. Cells were

Poly(1-vinylimidazole) polyplexes as novel therapeutic gene carriers for lung cancer therapy

• Gayathri Kandasamy,
• Elena N. Danilovtseva,
• Vadim V. Annenkov and
• Uma Maheswari Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 354–369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.26

• attempted to investigate the DNA complexation efficiency of poly(4-vinylimidazole) polymers that also possesses low cytotoxicity and good endosomal escape properties [20]. To our knowledge, only few proof-of-concept studies have been carried out to explore the potential of PVI as a cyto-compatible gene

• reader (Epoch i2, Biotek, USA). For assessing the effect of VEGF silencing on the cytotoxicity of 5-FU, the cells were initially treated with the polyplex or with free siRNA at a siRNA concentration of 100 nM for 4 h. The medium was then replaced with fresh medium to which 400 μM of 5-FU was added and

• for proliferation and metastasis of lung cancer cells as evidenced by the microarray analysis. Also, VEGF silencing resulted in enhanced cytotoxicity of the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil suggesting the promise of this strategy to be employed as an adjuvant therapy against lung cancer. The

Phase inversion-based nanoemulsions of medium chain triglyceride as potential drug delivery system for parenteral applications

• Eike Folker Busmann,
• Dailén García Martínez,
• Henrike Lucas and
• Karsten Mäder

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 213–224, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.16

• distributions depending on their lipid:surfactant ratio. Using a nonionic surfactant resulted in an uncharged surface of the emulsion droplets. The nanoemulsion with small particles of 25 nm in diameter showed an slightly increased cytotoxicity in comparison to the barely toxic nanoemulsions with particles of

Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

• Maxime Demazeau,
• Laure Gibot,
• Anne-Françoise Mingotaud,
• Patricia Vicendo,
• Clément Roux and
• Barbara Lonetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 180–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.15

• led to increased cytotoxicity upon light activation [121]. Very recently, Zhang et al. have exploited the highly selective interaction between avidin and biotin to specifically target cells over-expressing the biotin receptor [115]. High-performance nanoassemblies The current trends for polymer vector

Internalization mechanisms of cell-penetrating peptides

• Ivana Ruseska and
• Andreas Zimmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 101–123, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.10

• membranes of different cell types, while showing low cytotoxicity and no immunological response [6]. This class of peptides was first introduced in the late 1980s, with the discovery of the TAT peptide, encoded by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by Frankel et al. [9], who showed that the TAT

The different ways to chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles: templated vs direct complexation. Influence of particle preparation on morphology, cell uptake and silencing efficiency

• Arianna Gennari,
• Julio M. Rios de la Rosa,
• Erwin Hohn,
• Maria Pelliccia,
• Enrique Lallana,
• Roberto Donno,
• Annalisa Tirella and
• Nicola Tirelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2594–2608, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.250

• solutions for cellular experiments were prepared by the addition of a given volume of double-concentrated full growth medium to an equal volume of double-concentrated nanoparticle dispersion (water). Cytotoxicity experiments. HCT-116 (20,000 cells/cm2) and RAW 264.7 (30,000 cells/cm2) were seeded in 48-well

• targeting therapies has already been reported [22][34][35]. It is worth mentioning that HCT-116 apparently shows a lower CD44 expression (see Supporting Information File 1, Section SI5), but this does not imply a lower CD44 endocytic activity. The cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles was assessed using the MTS

Coating of upconversion nanoparticles with silica nanoshells of 5–250 nm thickness

• Cynthia Kembuan,
• Maysoon Saleh,
• Bastian Rühle,
• Ute Resch-Genger and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2410–2421, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.231

• narrow emission bands in the ultraviolet/visible/NIR upon excitation in the NIR range where light absorption and scattering from biological tissues is minimal as well as long fluorescence lifetimes in the microsecond range that are insensitive to oxygen, a high chemical stability and a low cytotoxicity

• , is the coating of their surface with silica shells [22][23]. Additionally, optically transparent silica shells have many other advantages such as chemical inertness, high thermal stability, low cytotoxicity, high biocompatibility and tunable porosity [22][23][24]. An important parameter for all

Design of a nanostructured mucoadhesive system containing curcumin for buccal application: from physicochemical to biological aspects

• Sabrina Barbosa de Souza Ferreira,
• Gustavo Braga,
• Évelin Lemos Oliveira,
• Jéssica Bassi da Silva,
• Hélen Cássia Rosseto,
• Lidiane Vizioli de Castro Hoshino,
• Mauro Luciano Baesso,
• Wilker Caetano,
• Craig Murdoch,
• Helen Elizabeth Colley and
• Marcos Luciano Bruschi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2304–2328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.222

• 8 h and could permeate through the porcine oral mucosa. Cytotoxicity testing revealed that the formulations were selective to cancer cells over healthy cells. Therefore, these systems could improve the physicochemical characteristics of curcumin by providing improved release and permeation, while

• drug could permeate and the former is able to quantify the concentration of drug that went through the receptor vessel and was retained in the mucosa. Drug and formulation cytotoxicity The cytotoxicity potential of the drug and formulations with and without CUR were investigated on squamous carcinoma

• indicated that CUR could be released and permeate before it could kill the cells. Moreover, the presence of CUR significantly decreased the IC50 due to its cytotoxicity properties [87]. The formulations were diluted in order to maintain the viability of the cells. Therefore, CUR is released into the medium

Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• steroid structure of Di, there are abundant electrons at double-bond sites for electrophilic addition. Based on this feature, we designed and synthesized a series of Di derivatives. We investigated the cytotoxicity of these Di derivatives in different cancer cell lines and their IC50 values were

• charged cell membranes, anionic nanoparticles could have less cytotoxicity than cationic ones [35]. In addition, it was reported that anionic nanoparticles could be inclined to interact with the lung surfactant yielding a better access into lung cells [36]. Therefore, the phytosomes we prepared with sizes

• preparation technology are needed to improve the physicochemical properties of the phytosomes. Antiproliferative activity of P2P To determine the cytotoxicity of DiP and P2P in lung cancer cells, cells were treated with different concentrations of P, DiP and P2P for different incubation times. The toxicity of

Engineered superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for dual-modality imaging of intracranial glioblastoma via EGFRvIII targeting

• Xianping Liu,
• Chengjuan Du,
• Haichun Li,
• Ting Jiang,
• Zimiao Luo,
• Zhiqing Pang,
• Daoying Geng and
• Jun Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1860–1872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.181

• cytotoxicity assay kit was obtained from Sigma (USA). Puromycin was purchased from Aladdin (Shanghai, China). All other reagents were of analytical grade and used without further purification. Cells and animals The human glioblastoma cell line, U87MG, was purchased from The Institute of Biochemistry and Cell

• . Subsequently, the brains of the tumor-bearing mice were separated and the tumor tissue were removed and immersed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde for 2 h at 4 °C, followed by washing with PBS and the remaining steps as previously reported [27]. Primary safety evaluation of PNPs The cytotoxicity of PNPs against U87MG and

• enhanced accumulation of PNPs in EGFRvIII-positive tumors. Further TEM imaging demonstrated that plenty of the PNP nanoprobes accumulated in U87-EGFRvIII cells, suggesting the increased endocytosis of PNPs in U87-EGFRvIII cells (Figure 8b). Primary safety evaluation of PNPs The cytotoxicity of nanoprobes

Toxicity and safety study of silver and gold nanoparticles functionalized with cysteine and glutathione

• Barbara Pem,
• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Lea Ulm,
• Ivan Pavičić,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ljubojević,
• Adela Krivohlavek and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1802–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.175

• + and Au3+ ions during 24 h and determined by the MTT cytotoxicity assay. (b) The effect of AgNPs, AuNPs, Ag+, and Au3+ on the number of live (white columns), early apoptotic (dotted columns) and late apoptotic (blue columns) L929 cells after 24 h exposure, determined by flow cytometry after Annexin V

Lipid nanostructures for antioxidant delivery: a comparative preformulation study

• Elisabetta Esposito,
• Maddalena Sguizzato,
• Markus Drechsler,
• Paolo Mariani,
• Federica Carducci,
• Claudio Nastruzzi,
• Giuseppe Valacchi and
• Rita Cortesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1789–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.174

• transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, encapsulation efficiency, preliminary stability, in vitro cytotoxicity and protection against cigarette smoke. Nanostructured lipid carriers were found to reduce agglomerate formation and provided better dimensional stability, as compared to

• the physical and chemical stability, particle size analysis and TOC encapsulation efficiency were periodically evaluated by PCS and HPLC, respectively, as above reported. Western blot analysis for HO-1 and HO-2 protein Cytotoxicity determination Experiments were carried out to assess the range of NLC

• T10-TOC, NLC C10-TOC, NLC P10-TOC and NLC S10-TOC concentrations that are nontoxic for cells. Briefly, human immortalized keratinocytes (HaCaT) were treated for 24 h with the different NLC formulations at various TOC concentrations, ranging from 25 to 200 µM. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by

Scavenging of reactive oxygen species by phenolic compound-modified maghemite nanoparticles

• Małgorzata Świętek,
• Yi-Chin Lu,
• Rafał Konefał,
• Liliana P. Ferreira,
• M. Margarida Cruz,
• Yunn-Hwa Ma and
• Daniel Horák

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1073–1088, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.108

• results were consistent with previous findings indicating that the application of a magnetic field did not facilitate cellular uptake of the magnetic nanoparticles [35][36]. The cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles (100 μg/mL) after 3 h of incubation with L-929 and LN-229 cells was not significant or very

• calibration curve was prepared under identical conditions. Cytotoxicity was determined by a CCK-8 assay (Sigma-Aldrich) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Briefly, cells were cultured in a 24-well plate to 80–90% confluence and incubated with nanoparticles (100 μg/mL) for 3 h in the absence or

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• and lysosomes in microglia [10]. None of the NPs investigated resulted in cytotoxicity, decreased cell viability, apoptosis, autophagy or inflammation. However, exposure to NPs led to oxidative stress via depletion of cellular glutathione and to a downregulation of neuronal differentiation markers in

• enter the brain and cause or worsen diseases of the central nervous system [16] that NPs might contribute to [17]. Coated or uncoated mesoporous Si-NPs of different size and zeta potential did not elicit considerable cytotoxicity in MDCK II kidney epithelial cells or RBE4 rat brain ECs but were taken up

• cytotoxicity in HUVECs. Furthermore, Si-NPs were shown to induce oxidative stress and inflammation mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) [21] pathways that are related to cell proliferation and differentiation but also to

The systemic effect of PEG-nGO-induced oxidative stress in vivo in a rodent model

• Qura Tul Ain,
• Samina Hyder Haq,
• Abeer Alshammari,
• Moudhi Abdullah Al-Mutlaq and
• Muhammad Naeem Anjum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 901–911, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.91

• accompanied by reduced activity levels of antioxidant enzymes directly indicated that all organs were in oxidative stress after the intraperitoneal administration of PEG-nGO. These studies further reiterated the cytotoxicity of graphite oxide in vivo. Further safety evaluation and research must be undertaken

Tungsten disulfide-based nanocomposites for photothermal therapy

• Tzuriel Levin,
• Hagit Sade,
• Rina Ben-Shabbat Binyamini,
• Maayan Pour,
• Iftach Nachman and
• Jean-Paul Lellouche

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 811–822, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.81

• [19], or dermal application [20]. More recent studies conducted on rhenium-doped MoS2 nanoparticles showed no acute toxic risk, neither by oral administration nor by dermal application [21][22]. A few years ago, Teo et al. compared the cytotoxicity of exfoliated MoS2, WS2, and WSe2 to that of their

Polydopamine-coated Au nanorods for targeted fluorescent cell imaging and photothermal therapy

• Boris N. Khlebtsov,
• Andrey M. Burov,
• Timofey E. Pylaev and
• Nikolai G. Khlebtsov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 794–803, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.79

• used a Cary Eclipse spectrofluorometer. Cytotoxicity assay The in vitro cytotoxicity was measured using a standard resazurin (Alamar blue) assay following the manufacturer instructions. HeLa cells (1 × 105 cells/well) were seeded into 96-well cell-culture plate and then incubated for 24 h at 37 °C

Characterization and influence of hydroxyapatite nanopowders on living cells

• Przemyslaw Oberbek,
• Tomasz Bolek,
• Adrian Chlanda,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Sylwia Kusnieruk,
• Julia Rogowska-Tylman,
• Ganna Nechyporenko,
• Viktor Zinchenko,
• Wojciech Swieszkowski and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3079–3094, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.286

• and J774.1 to assess the influence of the nanoparticles on immune, reproductive and respiratory systems. Keywords: nanomaterials safety; biomaterials; tissue engineering; microscopic characterization; cytotoxicity; hydroxyapatite; Introduction Engineered nanomaterials have found applications in many

• significantly limits the insight of underlying mechanisms that affect living cells. There is a wide range of available cell lines to study possible organism reactions and cytotoxicity mechanisms, such as endothelial, neural, hepatic, phagocytic or cancer cells [26][27]. Still, systematic studies describing

• nanoparticle cytotoxicity: chinese hamster ovary cell line (CHO) showing the effect on cells of the reproductive system, mouse monocyte macrophage cell line (J774.1) showing the effect on cells of the immune system, human bronchial epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B) and human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell

Hybrid Au@alendronate nanoparticles as dual chemo-photothermal agent for combined cancer treatment

• Anouchka Plan Sangnier,
• Romain Aufaure,
• Laurence Motte,
• Claire Wilhelm,
• Erwann Guenin and
• Yoann Lalatonne

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2947–2952, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.273

• (Figure 3a) with an IC50 equal to 100 µM for both systems whereas Au@HMBP-PEG NPs [39] do not exhibit any cytotoxicity (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S3). Under similar cell-treatment conditions, this IC50 value is consistent with values obtained for free alendronate with other cancer cell lines

Comparative biological effects of spherical noble metal nanoparticles (Rh, Pd, Ag, Pt, Au) with 4–8 nm diameter

• Alexander Rostek,
• Marina Breisch,
• Kevin Pappert,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Marc Heggen,
• Manfred Köller,
• Christina Sengstock and
• Matthias Epple

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2763–2774, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.258

• /bjnano.9.258 Abstract For a comparative cytotoxicity study, nanoparticles of the noble metals Rh, Pd, Ag, Pt, and Au (spherical, average diameter 4 to 8 nm) were prepared by reduction in water and colloidally stabilized with poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP). Thus, their shape, size, and surface

• , palladium, platinum, gold) that do not release ions are not cytotoxic under these conditions. Keywords: cytotoxicity; electron microscopy; metals; nanoparticles; nanotoxicity; Introduction Inorganic and metallic nanoparticles represent a well-established part of materials science, heterogeneous catalysis

• human cells [24][26][27], whereas in other studies, these effects were not observed [28][29][30]. With ultrasmall gold nanoparticles and gold clusters, different biological events are triggered that can lead to a higher cytotoxicity of very small particles (<3 nm) [31]. Very little is known about the

Size-selected Fe₃O₄–Au hybrid nanoparticles for improved magnetism-based theranostics

• Maria V. Efremova,
• Yulia A. Nalench,
• Eirini Myrovali,
• Anastasiia S. Garanina,
• Ivan S. Grebennikov,
• Polina K. Gifer,
• Maxim A. Abakumov,
• Marina Spasova,
• Makis Angelakeris,
• Alexander G. Savchenko,
• Michael Farle,
• Natalia L. Klyachko,
• Alexander G. Majouga and
• Ulf Wiedwald

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2684–2699, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.251

• tested by several methods. Standard MTS assay (Figure 7, Table S2, Supporting Information File 1) was conducted to investigate the NP cytotoxicity. These results are supplemented with apoptosis/necrosis activation (Figures S4 and S6, Supporting Information File 1) and production of reactive oxygen