A review on nanostructured silver as a basic ingredient in medicine: physicochemical parameters and characterization

• Gabriel M. Misirli,
• Kishore Sridharan and
• Shirley M. P. Abrantes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 440–461, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.36

• -income regions. Little is invested in the research and development of new drugs by the pharmaceutical industry to treat these neglected diseases as it is not commercially interesting [84][85]. AgNPs have appeared as a possible alternative in the therapy against many of these diseases as they present low

The impact of molecular tumor profiling on the design strategies for targeting myeloid leukemia and EGFR/CD44-positive solid tumors

• Nikola Geskovski,
• Nadica Matevska-Geshkovska,
• Simona Dimchevska Sazdovska,
• Marija Glavas Dodov,
• Kristina Mladenovska and
• Katerina Goracinova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 375–401, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.31

• , which usually results in therapy failure and noticeable side effects. Nanomedicine has emerged as a novel cancer treatment and diagnostic modality, whose design constantly evolves towards increasing the safety and efficacy of the chemotherapeutic and diagnostic protocols. Recently, a novel generation of

• of individualized tumor signatures for a personalized therapy against cancers. The greatest interest regarding the development of targeted nanoscale drug delivery systems is related to solid tumors. However, liquid tumor targeting can greatly benefit from the application of nanomedicines during

• therapy. Unlike solid tumors, which necessitate nanoscale drug delivery system (NDDSs) to reach a specific site of action, liquid tumors are mainly spread throughout the blood circulation. In fact, the barriers that apply to the NDDSs for solid tumor targeting usually do not exist in the case of liquid

Doxorubicin-loaded gold nanorods: a multifunctional chemo-photothermal nanoplatform for cancer management

• Uzma Azeem Awan,
• Abida Raza,
• Shaukat Ali,
• Rida Fatima Saeed and
• Nosheen Akhtar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 295–303, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.24

• study was to fabricate biocompatible multifunctional drug-loaded nanoscale moieties for co-therapy (chemo-photothermal therapy) with maximum efficacy and minimum side effects. Herein, we report in vitro anticancerous effects of doxorubicin (DOX) loaded on gold nanorods coated with the polyelectrolyte

• based on chemotherapy and photothermal strategies appears to be a promising platform in cancer management. Keywords: chemotherapy; doxorubicin; gold nanorods; NIR laser; photothermal therapy; Introduction Despite the enormous advances in medical research, cancer is still the second most common cause

• of death worldwide from which 9.6 million people died in 2018 [1]. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major types of liver cancer with high incidence of mortality [2]. Currently, there are a number of treatment modalities, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, irradiation

Differences in surface chemistry of iron oxide nanoparticles result in different routes of internalization

• Barbora Svitkova,
• Vlasta Zavisova,
• Veronika Nemethova,
• Martina Koneracka,
• Miroslava Kretova,
• Filip Razga,
• Monika Ursinyova and
• Alena Gabelova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 270–281, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.22

• valuable in vitro model of human alveolar epithelial type-2 cells [21], which are considered as drivers of lung fibrosis [22] and lung tumor development [23]. Inhalation therapy represents a prospective non-invasive curative modality for lung cancer and a therapy for other lung illnesses [24]. Drug

Effect of different silica coatings on the toxicity of upconversion nanoparticles on RAW 264.7 macrophage cells

• Cynthia Kembuan,
• Helena Oliveira and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 35–48, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.3

• chemical inertness and relatively low toxicity are also claimed advantages [7][10][11]. Due to these unique features, UCNPs have already been used in medical and biological applications, such as multimodal bioimaging, drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, and biosensing [9][12][13][14][15][16][17]. However

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

• et al. [19] and a study on the pH-responsive encapsulation of bacteriophages for phage therapy by Vinner et al. [20] are first examples. Since the early days of HIM, attempts have been made to add nanoscale analytics to the HIM. Already in 2007, Notte et al. stated in their article “An Introduction

PEG/PEI-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as delivery carriers for doxorubicin: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro evaluation

• Shuoye Yang,
• Zhenwei Wang,
• Yahong Ping,
• Yuying Miao,
• Yongmei Xiao,
• Lingbo Qu,
• Lu Zhang,
• Yuansen Hu and
• Jinshui Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1728–1741, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.155

• drugs. Keywords: antitumor activity; cellular uptake; PEG functionalization; PEI functionalization; poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG); polyethylenimine (PEI); single-walled carbon nanotubes; Introduction To date, chemotherapy is the most common therapy for cancer treatment. However, the inability of

• the distribution in normal tissues, and to improve the biological half-lives [3][4][5][6]. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great interest for biomedical applications, including the delivery of bioactive molecules such as drugs, the targeted cancer therapy, and biological imaging, because of

• more efficient cell internalization and accumulation. The subsequent drug release and diffusion within the cytoplasm can induce apoptosis. The results suggest that CNTs-PEG-PEI may be developed to be a novel nanoscale delivery system of chemotherapeutic drugs for cancer therapy. Schematic

Cardiomyocyte uptake mechanism of a hydroxyapatite nanoparticle mediated gene delivery system

• Hiroaki Komuro,
• Masahiro Yamazoe,
• Kosuke Nozaki,
• Akiko Nagai and
• Tetsuo Sasano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1685–1692, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.150

• Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan Department of Anatomy, School of Dentistry, Aichi Gakuin University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8650, Japan 10.3762/bjnano.11.150 Abstract Gene therapy has been explored as a future alternative for treating heart disease. Among several

• significant interest in gene therapy, which is an experimental technique that uses specific targeting genes to treat or prevent diseases [2]. Since gene therapy for heart disease will potentially become the standard treatment in the future, many studies using viral and non-viral vectors have been conducted in

• . Discussion The development of gene therapy is essential for generating new treatment options for cardiovascular disease. We focused on safe non-viral vectors using nanotechnology. Although nanoparticle-based gene-transfection methods have been proposed for gene delivery into target cells and tissues, there

Transient coating of γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with glutamate for its delivery to and removal from brain nerve terminals

• Konstantin Paliienko,
• Artem Pastukhov,
• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Olga Vasylchenko and
• Tatiana Borisova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1381–1393, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.122

• neurological disorders. Excessive ambient glutamate concentration is a characteristic feature of, among others, stroke, brain trauma, epilepsy, and seizure development. Superparamagnetic γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles are very promising in targeted drug delivery, cancer therapy, diagnostics, and hyperthermia treatment

Influence of the magnetic nanoparticle coating on the magnetic relaxation time

• Mihaela Osaci and
• Matteo Cacciola

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1207–1216, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.105

• that influence the characteristics of the final material [7]. Uncoated superparamagnetic nanoparticles are difficult to synthesise since they are not stable in colloidal suspensions. Therefore, it is challenging to use these nanoparticles in magnetic hyperthermia therapy [8]. By exposing these

Photothermally active nanoparticles as a promising tool for eliminating bacteria and biofilms

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Piersandro Pallavicini,
• Angelo Taglietti,
• Laura D’Alfonso,
• Maddalena Collini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1134–1146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.98

• of a NaYF4:Mn/Yb/Er@photosensitizer doped with SiO2 This allowed for the integration of photodynamic and photothermic therapy to improve the treatment against multidrug-resistant bacteria [82]. It was demonstrated that such nanodevices exhibited superior antibacterial activity towards drug-resistant

Straightforward synthesis of gold nanoparticles by adding water to an engineered small dendrimer

• Sébastien Gottis,
• Régis Laurent,
• Vincent Collière and
• Anne-Marie Caminade

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1110–1118, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.95

• for bio-imaging and cancer therapy [6][7]. In most cases, the synthesis of gold nanoparticles is carried out by the reaction between HAuCl4 and a reducing agent (in particular NaBH4) in the presence of a suitable compound to simultaneously prevent the aggregation of the nanoparticles and to stabilize

Applications of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in drug and therapeutic delivery, and biotechnological advancements

• Maria Suciu,
• Corina M. Ionescu,
• Alexandra Ciorita,
• Septimiu C. Tripon,
• Dragos Nica,
• Hani Al-Salami and
• Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1092–1109, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.94

• , dendrimers, albumin, silicones, liposomes, poloxamer, poly-ʟ-lysine, sugars, or polyethylene glycol (PEG) [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Hyperthermia treatment for cancer therapy is still under scrutiny. It shows great potential due to the property of SPIONs to produce local heat when placed under an

• alternating magnetic field [30]. Currently, it is used only as an alternative therapy and nearly always in combination with other therapies [34]. Results have shown that even non-magnetic hyperthermia (water-bath method) using SPIONs has cytotoxic effects [35]. Many studies focus on the potential of SPIONs as

• contrast agents and/or carriers of fluorescent markers [35][36][37] and on the fact that SPIONs can be guided to target sites in the body by means of an external magnetic field or receptor targeting [33][38][39]. Other potential uses for SPIONs are non-viral gene therapy and cell selection [15][40][41][42

A few-layer graphene/chlorin e6 hybrid nanomaterial and its application in photodynamic therapy against Candida albicans

• Selene Acosta,
• Carlos Moreno-Aguilar,
• Dania Hernández-Sánchez,
• Beatriz Morales-Cruzado,
• Erick Sarmiento-Gomez,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Luis Octavio Sánchez-Vargas and
• Mildred Quintana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1054–1061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.90

• ; few-layer graphene (FLG); hybrid nanomaterial; photodynamic therapy (PDT); photosensitizer; Introduction The frequency of fungal infections has notably increased in the last decades; for instance, Candida albicans is now reported as the fourth cause of nosocomial septicemia in the United States [1

• fungal infections, employs visible light to activate photosensitive molecules, known as photodynamic therapy (PDT) [4]. PDT was discovered in 1900 when Paramecia microorganisms were exposed to a photosensitive molecule in conjugation with sunlight, which was found to eliminate the fungal activity of

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

• the survival time of mice when loaded with paclitaxel. Thus, this formulation could be a promising drug delivery system for antitumor therapy. Solid lipid nanoparticles: Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are particles with a solid lipid core at room and body temperature [27]. SLNs can be prepared with

• , making these particles interesting for tumor treatment by photothermal therapy [178]. Furthermore, nanorods can be internalized more easily by cells as their increased surface allows them to interact more easily with receptors on the cell membranes [181]. AuNRs have been functionalized to increase their

Luminescent gold nanoclusters for bioimaging applications

• Nonappa

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

• selective modification and biomolecular tagging. Therefore, AuNCs find potential applications in sensing, photodynamic therapy, labeling and bioimaging. However, there are challenges because the number of luminescent gold NCs is limited and the PL quantum yield is low compared to organic dyes, lanthanide

• –nanocluster agglomerates as luminescent nanocarriers for imaging and combination therapy [89][90]. Core–shell nanoparticles consisting of oleic acid-capped superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs, d = 6.7 ± 1.2 nm) were used (Figure 5A). The IONPs were subsequently coated with a gold shell using the

• allowed for plasmonic and magnetic resonance, and luminescence in a single composite system for plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT). The bioimaging capability of the plasmonic magneto-luminescent multifunctional nanocarrier (PML-MF) systems were studied in vitro using three types of cancer cells, namely

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

• , theranostics and gene therapy. The most essential attributes of a drug delivery system are considered to be multi-functionality and stimuli responsiveness against a range of external and internal stimuli. Apart from the highly explored strong polyelectrolytes, weak polyelectrolytes offer great versatility with

• cell line showed a rapid uptake, demonstrating the potential for cancer therapy. Silica and gold NPs were assembled in a one pot assembly of specifically tailored diblock polymers of PLL and poly-ʟ-cysteine [82]. The electrostatic binding between the positively charged lysine blocks and negatively

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

• Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California, (CICESE), Ensenada, Baja California, México 10.3762/bjnano.11.28 Abstract There is an increasing interest in the use of plant viruses as vehicles for anti-cancer therapy. In particular, the plant virus brome mosaic virus (BMV) and cowpea chlorotic mottle

• effects on tumor cells in vitro. However, only BMV did not activate macrophages in vitro. This suggests that BMV is less immunogenic and may be a potential carrier for therapy delivery in tumor cells. Furthermore, BMV virus-like particles (VLPs) were efficiently loaded with small interfering RNA (siRNA

• and the gene silencing. In addition, BMV VLP carring siAkt1 inhibited the tumor growth in mice. These results show the attractive potential of plant virus VLPs to deliver molecular therapy to tumor cells with low immunogenic response. Keywords: anti-cancer therapy; brome mosaic virus (BMV); cowpea

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

• ); vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); Introduction Gene therapy is a promising strategy that can be employed in the treatment of many hereditary disorders as well as diseases triggered by sporadic mutations including many forms of cancer. However, the therapeutic potential of gene therapy is yet to

• morphology after treatment with siRNA complexes, a subtle reduction in the tendency of the cells to interact with each other is discernible in the cells treated with the PVI–siRNA complex where the cells appear to lose contact with each other. This may be suitable for cancer therapy as the treatment may

• was found that this gene is overexpressed in several epithelial cancers including breast and colorectal and serves as an oncogene [12]. The down-regulation may therefore be a positive indicator for lung cancer therapy. The silencing of PHF6 has been shown to inhibit the migration of hepatocellular

Understanding nanoparticle flow with a new in vitro experimental and computational approach using hydrogel channels

• Armel Boutchuen,
• Dell Zimmerman,
• Abdollah Arabshahi,
• John Melnyczuk and
• Soubantika Palchoudhury

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 296–309, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.22

• studying the flow of NPs. Iron oxide NPs are extensively investigated in targeted therapy and drug delivery applications owing to their tunable size, surface functionalities, and magnetic properties. In this study, we synthesized four different polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated iron

Using gold nanoparticles to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms: toward liquid biopsy

• María Sanromán Iglesias and
• Marek Grzelczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 263–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.20

• -art of advanced techniques in the field of genomics such as digital PCR, next generation sequencing (NGS), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and BEAMing. These facilitate the fast design of mutational profiles of tumor DNA, helping the prioritization of anti-cancer therapy. Although these

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

• therapy is a technique already used in ophthalmology or oncology. It is based on the local production of reactive oxygen species through an energy transfer from an excited photosensitizer to oxygen present in the biological tissue. This review first presents an update, mainly covering the last five years

• the importance of intracellular targeting has been addressed. Keywords: intracellular targeting; micelles; photodynamic therapy (PDT); photochemistry; polymer; self-assembly; Review Introduction After Paul Ehrlich, in 1900, had the very first notion of a drug being delivered at will to a specific

• focus on the benefits provided by block copolymers in photodynamic therapy (PDT), as described schematically in Figure 1 [15]. Its concept lies in the use of photosensitizing molecules that have the ability to transfer their energy to oxygen upon irradiation, leading to the in situ formation of reactive

Molecular architectonics of DNA for functional nanoarchitectures

• Debasis Ghosh,
• Lakshmi P. Datta and
• Thimmaiah Govindaraju

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 124–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.11

Fully amino acid-based hydrogel as potential scaffold for cell culturing and drug delivery

• Dávid Juriga,
• Evelin Sipos,
• Orsolya Hegedűs,
• Gábor Varga,
• Miklós Zrínyi,
• Krisztina S. Nagy and
• Angéla Jedlovszky-Hajdú

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2579–2593, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.249

• Resources Development Operational Program (EFOP-3.6.2-16-2017-00006). Additional support was received from the Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology in Hungary within the framework of the therapy thematic program of the Semmelweis University. This work was funded by the National

Advanced hybrid nanomaterials

• Andreas Taubert,
• Fabrice Leroux,
• Pierre Rabu and
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2563–2567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.247

• and then embedded into a silicone polymer. These coatings deliver white-light emission when placed above a blue LED. Health Functionalized nanoparticles are highly investigated as possible platforms for disease diagnosis and therapy, leading to potential applications in nanomedicine. The state-of-the

• , including double targeting, are also highlighted in several articles. Among others, nanoparticles are often used as specific agents in dual therapy and diagnostics (i.e., theranostics). In “Size-selected Fe3O4–Au hybrid nanoparticles for improved magnetism-based theranostics”, a Fe3O4–Au hybrid nanomaterial

• is simultaneously employed as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and for local heating therapy using magnetic particle hyperthermia [33]. In vitro hyperthermia tests showed efficiency in inoculating mouse breast cancer cells. Another study reports the use of alendronate-coated gold