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

• study published in the same year, Bazou et al. employed HIM to image human colon cancer cells (Caco2) [9]. The glutaraldehyde-fixed and freeze-dried cells were imaged by both HIM and SEM to enable the direct comparison between the two instruments. HIM analysis of gold-coated and uncoated samples showed

• , HIM provided high-resolution insight into the complex network of interactions of platelets with cancer cells [10]. In 2012, Berg-Foels et al. used transmission electron microscopy, SEM, and HIM to image rabbit cartilage samples [70]. The long depth of field provided by HIM renders the technique

• study regarding biological HIM imaging of a whole variety of biological samples, including plants, bacteria, cancer cells, and a nematode worm, Pristionchus pacificus. The imaging of that worm will be discussed later in the section “Nanofabrication” regarding its innovative use of the combination of

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

• chemotherapeutic agents to distinguish cancer cells from normal cells due to nonspecific distribution and lack of selectivity results in severe toxic side effects for health [1][2]. Therefore, a variety of nanoscale delivery systems have been designed for the controlled release of chemotherapy drugs to decrease

• 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

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

• acquisition at inflammation sites. Further studies regarding the role of CaSR and its downstream signaling pathways in HL-1 cells are required. Although the HAp-based vector used here has a low transfection efficiency, it has already been used as a gene delivery system in in vivo cancer research experiments

Fabrication of nano/microstructures for SERS substrates using an electrochemical method

• Jingran Zhang,
• Tianqi Jia,
• Xiaoping Li,
• Junjie Yang,
• Zhengkai Li,
• Guangfeng Shi,
• Xinming Zhang and
• Zuobin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1568–1576, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.139

• activation of the innate immune system [51]. However, excess lysozyme activity can increase the incidence of some diseases. In certain kinds of cancer, such as leukemia [52], excessive production of lysozyme is toxic and can induce organ disorder. Figure 7 shows the SERS spectra of lysozyme (10−6 mol·L−1 and

Electrokinetic characterization of synthetic protein nanoparticles

• Daniel F. Quevedo,
• Cody J. Lentz,
• Adriana Coll de Peña,
• Yazmin Hernandez,
• Nahal Habibi,
• Rikako Miki,
• Joerg Lahann and
• Blanca H. Lapizco-Encinas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1556–1567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.138

• vaccines [5][6]. Significant advances in self-assembled PNPs via protein engineering techniques have also been observed [7][8]. PNPs have successfully reached the clinic with nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane®), a PNP made of human serum albumin, which is being used for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer

• , non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic adenocarcinomas [9]. Current technologies allow for the synthesis of smart PNPs that release their active enzymatic load into oxidative environments [6]. A next step to further advance smart protein nanoparticle technologies is to develop a scalable method

Antimicrobial metal-based nanoparticles: a review on their synthesis, types and antimicrobial action

• Matías Guerrero Correa,
• Fernanda B. Martínez,
• Cristian Patiño Vidal,
• Camilo Streitt,
• Juan Escrig and
• Carol Lopez de Dicastillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1450–1469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.129

• NPs has been directed towards water disinfection, food packaging in addition to their known use as a UV filter to prevent skin cancer [114]. Lopez de Dicastillo et al. (2019) developed hollow TiO2 nanotubes and nanospheres with high antimicrobial activity through the combination of electrospinning and

• photocatalytic, electrochemical, and catalytic properties. Furthermore, NiO NPs exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, generating interest in the biomedical field to use these NPs as antibiotics or in cancer treatments [116][133]. NiO NPs synthesized from Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract showed excellent

Wafer-level integration of self-aligned high aspect ratio silicon 3D structures using the MACE method with Au, Pd, Pt, Cu, and Ir

• Mathias Franz,
• Romy Junghans,
• Paul Schmitt,
• Adriana Szeghalmi and
• Stefan E. Schulz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1439–1449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.128

• platform and can be adapted to detect biomolecules [9]. Silicon nanowires are used as template for cancer sensors. The nanowires are implemented as gate in integrated sensing FETs [10][11]. A wide range of chemical sensors and biosensors benefit from porous silicon structures [12]. All these presented

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

• identified. Glutamate-coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles can be used for glutamate delivery to the nervous system or for glutamate adsorption (but with lower effectiveness) in stroke, brain trauma, epilepsy, and cancer treatment following by its subsequent removal using a magnetic field. γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles with

• 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

• due to their magnetism and chemical stability [9][10][11][12][13]. Among a variety of other nanoparticles, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are used for magnetic resonance imaging in cancer theranostics and magnetic hyperthermia [9][10][11][14]. Controlled magnetic fields can lead to induced

Ultrasensitive detection of cadmium ions using a microcantilever-based piezoresistive sensor for groundwater

• Dinesh Rotake,
• Anand Darji and
• Nitin Kale

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1242–1253, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.108

• degeneration, diarrhea, osteoporosis, renal dysfunction, cancer, anemia, and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease [4][5]. The WHO has set a water contamination limit of 3 μg/L Cd(II) [6]. We conclude from the WHO limit that cadmium is hazardous, and smaller Cd

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

• Abstract Colloidal systems consisting of monodomain superparamagnetic nanoparticles have been used in biomedical applications, such as the hyperthermia treatment for cancer. In this type of colloid, called a nanofluid, the nanoparticles tend to agglomeration. It has been shown experimentally that the

• relaxation time; nanoparticle coating; numerical simulation; stochastic Langevin dynamics method; superparamagnetic nanoparticles; Introduction One of the most important biomedical applications of colloidal magnetic nanoparticle systems is magnetic hyperthermia applied as an alternative for cancer treatment

• . Upon reaching the tumour, the magnetic nanoparticles are locally subjected to an alternating magnetic field, generating heat that kills the cancer cells [1]. The heat is generated due to two phenomena: Néel relaxation (an internal phenomenon driven by the rotation of the particle magnetic moment inside

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

• less dependent on their size, shape and surrounding environment [35][40]. The photothermally active nanoparticles have vast potential for application in nanomedicine and biotechnology. The most important examples of their application are: hyperthermic cancer cell ablation and photothermally induced

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

• behave like one magnetic unit, rotating in the presence of a magnetic field without retaining the magnetism after the magnetic field is removed [17]. This property makes SPIONs good candidates for MRI, and also for a type of thermic treatment of cancer, called localized hyperthermia. There are also other

• , 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

• trials [51]. A recent report suggests that submandibular gland cells suffer epigenetic mutations when treated with maghemite [52]. This fact becomes very important especially when developing SPION treatments for cancer. Unfortunately, to date scientists and physicians cannot provide definite protocols

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

• prevailing drugs used to fight fungal infections usually require long treatments and very often present side effects [2]. For these reasons, improved antifungal therapies must be developed to treat fungal infections [4]. An alternative approach, used as medical technology to treat diseases like cancer and

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

• are P-glycoproteins (P-gp or ABCB1, MDR1 gene product), breast cancer resistance proteins (BCRP/ABCG2) and the multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRP1, 2, 4 and 5, ABCC) [31][35][36][37][38]. With their ability to transport a large variety of compounds, these efflux proteins cause a significant

Integrated photonics multi-waveguide devices for optical trapping and Raman spectroscopy: design, fabrication and performance demonstration

• Gyllion B. Loozen,
• Arnica Karuna,
• Mohammad M. R. Fanood,
• Erik Schreuder and
• Jacob Caro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 829–842, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.68

• biomarkers for cancer. In [6] we found, due to the divergence of the emitted beams, that larger facet separations (≥10 μm) lead to a strong global hot region of the light field near the waveguide facets. These global hot regions are preferential trapping sites, which may lead to adherence of the particle to

Examination of the relationship between viscoelastic properties and the invasion of ovarian cancer cells by atomic force microscopy

• Mengdan Chen,
• Jinshu Zeng,
• Weiwei Ruan,
• Zhenghong Zhang,
• Yuhua Wang,
• Shusen Xie,
• Zhengchao Wang and
• Hongqin Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 568–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.45

• The mechanical properties of cells could serve as an indicator for disease progression and early cancer diagnosis. This study utilized atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure the viscoelastic properties of ovarian cancer cells and then examined the association with the invasion of ovarian cancer at

• the level of living single cells. Elasticity and viscosity of the ovarian cancer cells OVCAR-3 and HO-8910 are significantly lower than those of the human ovarian surface epithelial cell (HOSEpiC) control. Further examination found a dramatic increase of migration/invasion and an obvious decease of

• significantly related with the elasticity of the cells. An increase of elasticity and a decrease of invasion were found in OVCAR-3 and HO-8910 cells after Ech treatment. Together, this study clearly demonstrated the association of viscoelastic properties with the invasion of ovarian cancer cells and shed a

Luminescent gold nanoclusters for bioimaging applications

• Nonappa

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

• receptor-positive (FR+) oral squamous cell carcinoma (KB) and breast cancer adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cell lines [88]. Since then, there have been numerous other reports that have shown various surface modifications to image a wide variety of cell lines. Pan et al. reported composite core–shell nanoparticle

• 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

• potential for photothermal therapy. While PML-MF alone was not toxic to healthy HEK cell lines, the treatment with DPML-MF showed a similar antiproliferative effect on healthy cell lines as that of cancerous cells. Therefore, the selective killing of cancer cells was not achieved. The superparamagnetic

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

• of magnetic NPs (e.g., iron oxide and cobalt oxide NPs) into capsules allows them to respond to magnetic stimuli and produce heat due to magnetic energy dissipation, mechanical vibrations and motion induced in the film, thus releasing the cargo [80]. The Fe2O4-PAH capsules studied with A549 cancer

• 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

• intensity of radiation successfully breaks the shell and releases the loaded cargo, high intensity leads to the generation of high heat, which helps in destroying the surrounding cancer cells. Even though the advantages of NP incorporation in capsules have been immense, similar work in weak PE assemblies is

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

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

• 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

• chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV); nanocarriers; plant virus-like particles (VLPs); siRNA delivery; small interfering RNA (siRNA); Introduction Despite many efforts taken, the efficient and specific delivery of therapeutic molecules to tumor cells is still a unsolved challenge. Cancer therapies are often

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

• efficiency of the formed complexes in A549 lung cancer cells. The polyplex formed was found to exhibit 66% complexation efficiency. The complexation was confirmed by gel retardation assays, FTIR and thermal analysis. The blank PVI polymer was not toxic to cells. The polyplex was found to exhibit excellent

• internalization and escaped the endosome effectively. The polyplex was more effective than free siRNA in silencing VEGF in lung cancer cells. The silencing of VEGF was quantified using Western blot and was also reflected in the depletion of HIF-1α levels in the cells treated with the polyplex. VEGF silencing by

• that have been connected to the proliferation and invasion of lung cancer cells. These results indicate that the PVI complexes can be an effective agent to counter lung cancer. Keywords: anti-VEGF siRNA; gene silencing; lung cancer; microarray; poly(1-vinylimidazole); small interfering RNA (siRNA

Interactions at the cell membrane and pathways of internalization of nano-sized materials for nanomedicine

• Valentina Francia,
• Daphne Montizaan and
• Anna Salvati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 338–353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.25

• nanoparticles by caveolae-mediated endocytosis [200]. Similarly, many in vitro studies use immortalized or cancer cell lines, such as HEK293 or HeLa cells, which are easy to transfect and culture. However, these cells can behave quite differently in comparison to primary cells or cells isolated directly from

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

• cancer biomarker. We discuss the main mechanisms of the assays that either are assisted by DNA-based molecular machines or by enzymatic reactions, summarize their performance and provide an outlook towards future developments. Keywords: amplification reactions; biomarkers; colorimetric biosensing; gold

• nanoparticles; plasmonics; single-point mutation; Introduction Cancer is a leading cause of death accounting for about 8.8 million deaths in 2015 [1]. The list of tumor-linked substances, i.e., biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis purposes is continuously increasing. Cancer biomarkers are present in tumor

• simple blood test, setting thus a milestone of “liquid biopsy”. Liquid biopsy has the potential to accelerate the early cancer diagnosis by the detection of biomolecules such as cell-fee DNA directly in blood samples. Currently, the development of liquid biopsies is directly linked to the state-of-the

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

• glutathione concentration (ca. 10 mM), and iii) very recently, tumor hypoxia (i.e., low oxygen concentrations due to rapid use of blood supply for cancer cell growth) [55]. A typical exogenous trigger is light that can induce the cleavage of covalently linked groups and the solubilization and degradation of

• proposed to overcome the drug resistance of cancer cells. Indeed, it induced membrane permeability of the endo-lysosome and particle disassembly after white-light irradiation thus triggering the release of doxorubicin in the cytosol [96]. In the study by Zheng et al. [100] the AIE fluorophore is used as

• a hydrophilic shell for micelle stabilization, and the derivatized polylysin (Plys) acts as a hydrophobic core to load the photosensitizer (BODIPY), while PMAGP mainly serves to direct the target delivery to hepatoma cancer cells. Folate (FA) has been extensively studied as a targeting moiety [116