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

Preparation and in vivo evaluation of glyco-gold nanoparticles carrying synthetic mycobacterial hexaarabinofuranoside

• Gennady L. Burygin,
• Polina I. Abronina,
• Nikita M. Podvalnyy,
• Sergey A. Staroverov,
• Leonid O. Kononov and
• Lev A. Dykman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 480–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.39

• (glyco-GNPs 4) showed a weak overall efficacy. In addition to the more complex synthesis of the glycoside 2, this glycoside is poorly absorbed on nitrocellulose and PVDF membranes, which significantly complicates the immunodetection of specific antibodies. In immunochemical tests, the obtained antibodies

Electrochemically derived functionalized graphene for bulk production of hydrogen peroxide

• Munaiah Yeddala,
• Pallavi Thakur,
• Anugraha A and
• Tharangattu N. Narayanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 432–442, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.34

• cell reactor-based method can overcome this limitation; however, this method relies on expensive membranes to separate hydrogen and oxygen and to directly yield H2O2 from them [18]. Later, this method was modified by generating protons (H+) through water oxidation which eliminated the direct purging of

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

• peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies (dilution 1:5000, Cell Signaling Technology, USA) at room temperature. The protein spots were visualized using tetramethyl benzidine/hydrogen peroxide (TMB/H2O2, Bio-Rad, USA) reagent. Membranes were stripped, reblocked, and re-incubated with the primary antibody

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

• drugs currently present on the market [5]. This enables nanomedicines to potentially overcome problems associated with the passive diffusion of small molecular drugs through cell membranes, such as their indiscriminate internalization in different cell types and organs, which is often associated with

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

• ones such as polyesters or polyacrylates. A second part focuses on important parameters for their design and the improvement of their efficiency. Finally, particular attention has been paid to the question of nanocarrier internalization and interaction with membranes (both biomimetic and cellular), and

• are strongly disfavored, leading to the isolation of the hydrophobic block into core or membranes [9]. In the last twenty years, thousands of papers have been published on this topic and the reader is referred to recent reviews [10][11][12][13][14]. Basically, the desired properties of an ideal

Internalization mechanisms of cell-penetrating peptides

• Ivana Ruseska and
• Andreas Zimmer

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

• a major breakthrough for the transport of macromolecules. They have been shown to successfully deliver proteins, peptides, siRNAs and pDNA in different cell types. In general, CPPs are basic peptides with a positive charge at physiological pH. They are able to translocate membranes and gain entry to

• medical research [7]. Compared to the other translocation techniques mentioned, CPPs are capable of entering the cells in a noninvasive manner, they do not destroy the integrity of the cellular membranes and are considered highly efficient and safe. Thus, they provide new avenues for research and

• 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

• irreversible [29]. It is therefore important to assess whether in the same formulation HA nanoparticles are present together with unbound HA, which could potentially reduce binding and efficacy of the payload-carrying nanoparticles. Using AFM, we have shown that dialysis through membranes with a large MWCO

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

• -art, as well as potential further developments, are reviewed in “Targeting strategies for improving the efficacy of nanomedicine in oncology” [32]. Nanocarriers for drugs were also decorated with suitable moieties to tune their affinity with specific biological membranes. More sophisticated strategies

Bombesin receptor-targeted liposomes for enhanced delivery to lung cancer cells

• Mohammad J. Akbar,
• Pâmela C. Lukasewicz Ferreira,
• Melania Giorgetti,
• Leanne Stokes and
• Christopher J. Morris

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2553–2562, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.246

• then heated to 55 °C and vortexed extensively to produce MLVs. Five cycles of freeze-thawing (dry ice-acetone followed by heating to 55 °C) were performed to produce reduce the lamellarity of the vesicles. Finally, lipid suspensions were extruded (21×) through polycarbonate membranes of 200 nm, 100 nm

Small protein sequences can induce cellular uptake of complex nanohybrids

• Jan-Philip Merkl,
• Malak Safi,
• Christian Schmidtke,
• Fadi Aldeek,
• Johannes Ostermann,
• Tatiana Domitrovic,
• Sebastian Gärtner,
• John E. Johnson,
• Horst Weller and
• Hedi Mattoussi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2477–2482, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.238

• for the staining of cell membranes [4]. In two separate studies, Chan and co-workers described two interesting hybrid systems. In the first, a charge driven self-assembly of AuNPs and different-colour QDs into multicolour, non-blinking nanohybrids was introduced. These nanohybrids were then coupled to

• reported that a sizable fraction of the delivered nanoparticles can end up in the cytoplasm, by either circumventing endocytosis through the use of virus-derived peptide sequences, or non-disruptively penetrating the cellular membranes [13]. Escape from endosomal vesicles of once endocytosed nanoparticles

• membranes [18][19]. Here, we report on the use of a lytic gamma peptide (γ-peptide) derived from the Nudaurelia Capensis Omega virus (NωV), which was genetically fused onto maltose binding protein appended with 6-histidine tag, (His6-MBP-γ), to promote the intracellular delivery of hybrid QD-AuNP assemblies

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

A novel all-fiber-based LiFePO₄/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ battery with self-standing nanofiber membrane electrodes

• Li-li Chen,
• Hua Yang,
• Mao-xiang Jing,
• Chong Han,
• Fei Chen,
• Xin-yu Hu,
• Wei-yong Yuan,
• Shan-shan Yao and
• Xiang-qian Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2229–2237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.215

• investigated. Results and Discussion Morphology and phases of the nanofiber membranes Nanofiber membranes with high flexibility and stable structures can be successfully prepared by electrospinning and hot-pressing sintering as described in our previous works [36][37][38][39]. The specific experimental process

• for LiFePO4 and Li5Ti4O12 nanofiber membranes is shown in Figure 2. It can be seen that the sintered LiFePO4 nanofiber membrane keeps a stable structure and shows good bending ability. Particularly, adding polymers with different molecular weights to the precursors can adjust the distribution of

• grains in the fibers. SEM images of LiFePO4 and Li5Ti4O12 nanofiber membranes are shown in Figure 3. It can be seen that the fiber membranes after heat treatment exhibit a 3D network structure, which is the reason for the high flexibility of the electrode. The high-magnification SEM images show uniform

Microbubbles decorated with dendronized magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical imaging: effective stabilization via fluorous interactions

• Da Shi,
• Justine Wallyn,
• Dinh-Vu Nguyen,
• Francis Perton,
• Delphine Felder-Flesch,
• Sylvie Bégin-Colin,
• Mounir Maaloum and
• Marie Pierre Krafft

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2103–2115, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.205

• and some limitations [25]. In both cases, the shells can be custom-made to enhance stability, circulation duration, drug-loading capacity and release rate, targeting the fusion with cell membranes [24]. Both types of constructs are generally more stable, but less echogenic than “true” gas microbubbles

Incorporation of doxorubicin in different polymer nanoparticles and their anticancer activity

• Sebastian Pieper,
• Hannah Onafuye,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Jindrich Cinatl Jr.,
• Mark N. Wass,
• Martin Michaelis and
• Klaus Langer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2062–2072, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.201

• suspensions were diluted with purified water to 0.25 mg/mL. The suspension was dripped on a filter (MF-Millipore™ membrane filter VSWP, 0.1 µm) and dried for 24 h in a desiccator. Afterwards, the membranes were sputtered with gold under argon atmosphere (SCD 040, BAL-TEC, Balzers, Liechtenstein). The SEM

Review of advanced sensor devices employing nanoarchitectonics concepts

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Tatsuyuki Makita,
• Masato Ito,
• Taizo Mori,
• Shun Watanabe and
• Jun Takeya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2014–2030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.198

• and resulted in a highly sensitive sensing material for aniline vapor [125]. Layer-by-layer structures of mesoporous carbon capsules can work as sensing membranes capable of selectively sensing through the doping of secondary sensing units [126]. As an emerging nanoporous material, metal–organic

Gold-coated plant virus as computed tomography imaging contrast agent

• Alaa A. A. Aljabali,
• Mazhar S. Al Zoubi,
• Khalid M. Al-Batanyeh,
• Ali Al-Radaideh,
• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Abeer Al Sharabi,
• Walhan Alshaer,
• Bayan AbuFares,
• Tasnim Al-Zanati,
• Murtaza M. Tambuwala,
• Naveed Akbar and
• David J. Evans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1983–1993, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.195

• , other contrast agents. Au-CPMV-labeled cell tracking has great potential for use in clinical studies. Experimental Materials Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH, MW ≈ 15,000), hydrogen tetrachloroaurate trihydrate 99.9%+, sodium chloride, 50 and 100 kDa cut-off Millipore filter membranes, potassium

• (1 mg/mL; supplemented with 250 mM NaCl) over 5–10 min under continuous stirring at 500–800 rpm at ambient temperature. PAHCPMV particles were washed four times with DD water (15 mL each) on 50 kDa cut-off Millipore filter membranes, followed by dialysis with 12,400 molecular weight cut-off (MWCO

• using 100 kDa dialysis membranes. VCAM1-PEG5000Au-CPMV Carboxyl-PEG5000Au-CPMV were buffer-exchanged using 14000 kDa dialysis bags in 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES) buffer, pH 6.0 for 12–14 h. To Carboxyl-PEG5000Au-CPMV (100 μL, ca. 1 mg/mL), aqueous EDC (50 μL, 200 mM) and aqueous (N

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

• of liposomal membranes [34]. The existence of cholesterol analogues Di and P2 in phytosomes could improve the structural stability of phytosomes. The zeta potential values of DiP and P2P were −6.4 and −4.0 mV, respectively. Because the negatively charged particles interact weakly with negatively

• 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

Processing nanoporous organic polymers in liquid amines

• Jeehye Byun,
• Damien Thirion and
• Cafer T. Yavuz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1844–1850, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.179

• can be hardly processed into the desired morphologies such as small particulates, films, and membranes because of the insolubility. So far, the generation of nanoparticles and films made out of nanoporous polymers have been mostly done through initial synthetic controls such as miniemulsion

• membranes processed from nanoporous polymers should be tested for gas/liquid adsorption applications [31], as the functionalities of nanoporous polymers remain intact even after the processing. The remaining amines and newly formed amide functionalities in the nanoporous polymers would provide an additional

Microfluidic manufacturing of different niosomes nanoparticles for curcumin encapsulation: Physical characteristics, encapsulation efficacy, and drug release

• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Ibrahim Khadra,
• Abdullah Albaloushi,
• Margaret Mullin,
• Hanin Alyamani and
• Valerie A. Ferro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1826–1832, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.177

• molecules are encapsulated in the aqueous compartment, while hydrophobic molecules are embedded in the membrane [16]. The EE of hydrophobic molecules is majorly affected by the lamellarity of the niosome membranes. Because the niosomes discussed here are unilamellar, the main factor that seems to affect the

• dependent on the bilayer membrane fluidity where higher encapsulation values can be achieved with less rigid membranes [17]. In addition, higher chol concentrations might compete with the hydrophobic molecules and prevent its encapsulation during the self-assemble of the lipid components into the bilayer

• structure [18]. Based on that, the increase in the FRR from 1:1 to 3:1 will result in a lower chol concentration in the final preparation, which means less rigid membranes and higher encapsulation values for hydrophobic curcumin. This explains the observed EE results. Gupta et al. prepared niosomes composed

Nanoarchitectonics meets cell surface engineering: shape recognition of human cells by halloysite-doped silica cell imprints

• Elvira Rozhina,
• Ilnur Ishmukhametov,
• Svetlana Batasheva,
• Farida Akhatova and
• Rawil Fakhrullin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1818–1825, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.176

• -assembly of miniature building blocks to form biomimetic soft or rigid shells to encapsulate live cells rendering them with additional functionalities [7]. In general, there are three principal routes to engineer the cell walls or membranes of live cells: 1) deposition of charged or neutral polymers (that

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

• studies indicating that AgNPs negatively impact cell membranes, interfere with signaling pathways, disrupt the cell cycle, and cause mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, DNA damage and apoptosis [7][8][9]. Many reports on AgNP toxicity attribute it fully or partially to dissolved or released ionic

• -aminoactinomycin D (7-AAD) staining. Annexin V binds phosphatidylserine, which can only be found on the outer leaflet of cell membranes during apoptosis, while 7-AAD is a DNA-binding agent that cannot penetrate the membrane of living cells and can only stain dead or late apoptotic ones. The treatment involved 24 h

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

• test methods suitable for assessing product efficacy and safety [15]. Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant, able to counteract the reactive oxygen species production during fat oxidation and free radical propagation – indeed it can protect the cell membranes from free radical attack, acting against lipid

• 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAGE) and then transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes. Blots were blocked in PBS containing 0.5% Tween 20 and 5% not-fat milk (BioRad). The membranes were incubated overnight at 4 °C with the appropriate primary antibody HO-1 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK

• ). The membranes were then incubated with horseradish peroxidase conjugated secondary antibody for 1 h at RT, and the bound antibodies were detected in a chemiluminescent reaction (ECL, BioRad). Chemiluminescence was detected on a ChemiDoc imager (BioRad) [45]. The blots were reprobed with β-actin as the

TiO₂/GO-coated functional separator to suppress polysulfide migration in lithium–sulfur batteries

• Ning Liu,
• Lu Wang,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Yan Zhao and
• Yongguang Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1726–1736, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.168

• EIS spectra of the TiO2/GO-coated separator batteries indicates that the presence of the TiO2/GO interlayer hindered the movement of polysulfides and thereby enhanced the utilization of the active material by reducing the shuttle effect. The permeability of polysulfides through both membranes was

• served as a reference electrode, TiO2/GO hybrid and GO membranes as separators, 1.0 M/0.1 M LiTFSI/LiNO3 in DOL and DME (1:1 v/v) as an electrolyte and sulfur as a cathode. The charge–discharge measurements were carried out in the voltage range of 1.5–3 V (vs Li/Li+) by using a multichannel Neware

Layered double hydroxide/sepiolite hybrid nanoarchitectures for the controlled release of herbicides

• Ediana Paula Rebitski,
• Margarita Darder and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1679–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.163

• nanofiller in Nafion membranes for fuel-cell applications [35]. With these premises, the current aim is to ascertain if it is possible to develop organic–inorganic hybrid materials using LDH-sepiolite nanoarchitectonic materials, as the presence of an organic counterpart could be of interest for introducing