Needs and challenges for assessing the environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs)

• Michelle Romero-Franco,
• Hilary A. Godwin,
• Muhammad Bilal and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 989–1014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.101

• over 1000 nano-enabled consumer products [1], representing an estimated global and US markets of $1 trillion and $800 billion, respectively [2]. Applications of ENMS include, for example, nanomedicine (e.g., drug delivery, early diagnosis and therapy for chronic diseases) [3] and environmental

Selective detection of Mg²⁺ ions via enhanced fluorescence emission using Au–DNA nanocomposites

• Tanushree Basu,
• Khyati Rana,
• Niranjan Das and
• Bonamali Pal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 762–771, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.79

• nanostructure. Keywords: Au–DNA nanocomposites; enhanced fluorescence emission; metal-ion detection; Mg2+ ion detection; Introduction The interactions between Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and DNA are essential to classify and expand upon, given the potential applications for NP–DNA complexes such as gene therapy

• agents [5]. Currently, most of the research activities on Au–DNA nanocomposites (NCs) are in the field of therapeutics, medicine, and gene therapy. For example, in 2014, Li and co-workers reported the detection of the heavy metals Hg2+ and Cu2+ using a DNA–Ag nanocomposite system [6]. They demonstrated

Dispersion of single-wall carbon nanotubes with supramolecular Congo red – properties of the complexes and mechanism of the interaction

• Anna Jagusiak,
• Barbara Piekarska,
• Tomasz Pańczyk,
• Małgorzata Jemioła-Rzemińska,
• Elżbieta Bielańska,
• Barbara Stopa,
• Grzegorz Zemanek,
• Janina Rybarska,
• Irena Roterman and
• Leszek Konieczny

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 636–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.68

• therapy. The aim of our studies is to explain whether CR-functionalized SWNTs could be used as drug delivery systems. Molecular dynamics study of SWNT–CR interactions has already been published [39]. These authors studied several combinations of parameters in order to assess how the SWNT diameter and CR

Comparison of four methods for the biofunctionalization of gold nanorods by the introduction of sulfhydryl groups to antibodies

• Xuefeng Wang,
• Zhong Mei,
• Yanyan Wang and
• Liang Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 372–380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.39

• biomedicine, including biosensing [1][2][3], photothermal therapy [4][5][6], molecular imaging [7][8], and controlled drug delivery [5][9] because of their distinct optical properties, i.e., high refractive index sensitivity and a tunable longitudinal plasmon band by varying the aspect ratio [10][11]. However

Nanoscale isoindigo-carriers: self-assembly and tunable properties

• Tatiana N. Pashirova,
• Andrei V. Bogdanov,
• Lenar I. Musin,
• Julia K. Voronina,
• Irek R. Nizameev,
• Marsil K. Kadirov,
• Vladimir F. Mironov,
• Lucia Ya. Zakharova,
• Shamil K. Latypov and
• Oleg G. Sinyashin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 313–324, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.34

• electrical properties [1][2][3][4][5]. This makes possible to develop new technologies for biodiagnostics, biomedical applications, including photothermal therapy [6][7][8], study of biomembranes [9] and dynamically probing cells [10][11]. (ii) These heterocyclic compounds found applications in various

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• , Li-ion batteries, sensors, photodynamic cancer therapy or in biomaterials [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Since 1972, when Fujishima and Honda published their seminal work [8], much work has been focused on investigating the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 [9]. Titanium dioxide catalysts proved to be better

Chitosan-based nanoparticles for improved anticancer efficacy and bioavailability of mifepristone

• Huijuan Zhang,
• Fuqiang Wu,
• Yazhen Li,
• Xiping Yang,
• Jiamei Huang,
• Tingting Lv,
• Yingying Zhang,
• Jianzhong Chen,
• Haijun Chen,
• Yu Gao,
• Guannan Liu and
• Lee Jia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1861–1870, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.178

• biodegradability [9]. It possesses various bioactivities such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, muco-adhesive, and antitumor effects [10][11]. Therefore, chitosan has been widely used as a biomaterial or adjuvant in disease therapy [12], tissue engineering, and drug delivery [13]. Owning to the

• increased its efficacy by sustained release to reduce drug crystallization [33]. These results suggested that MCNs might be a good drug delivery system for delivery of MIF for cancer therapy. Pharmacokinetic study In our previous study, we found MIF showed distinct pharmacokinetic differences between

• increase the anticancer activity of MIF in several cancer cell lines and improved the oral absorption of MIF in male rats. All these results suggest that the MCNs may be further developed as a potential delivery system for MIF for cancer therapy. Experimental Materials Chitosan (deacetylation degree of 90

Influence of hydrothermal synthesis parameters on the properties of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

• Sylwia Kuśnieruk,
• Jacek Wojnarowicz,
• Agnieszka Chodara,
• Tadeusz Chudoba,
• Stanislaw Gierlotka and
• Witold Lojkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1586–1601, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.153

• in caries therapy [5]. Various studies demonstrate that owing to its high surface energy, nanoscale HAp can enhance its mechanical features, enabling a quicker implant surface turnover [6]. Hydroxyapatite materials are used as substitute bones, antiwrinkle creams, and sun creams. They are used in the

• capacity to deliver a payload to cells and tissues makes nano-HAp a strong candidate to enhance the current effectiveness of disease diagnosis, which was already proved by applying nanoparticles to bioimaging and therapy [3][12]. HAp-based compounds and substances can also play a significant role in waste

Antitumor magnetic hyperthermia induced by RGD-functionalized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, in an experimental model of colorectal liver metastases

• Oihane K. Arriortua,
• Eneko Garaio,
• Borja Herrero de la Parte,
• Maite Insausti,
• Luis Lezama,
• Fernando Plazaola,
• Jose Angel García,
• Jesús M. Aizpurua,
• Maialen Sagartzazu,
• Mireia Irazola,
• Nestor Etxebarria,
• Ignacio García-Alonso,
• Alberto Saiz-López and
• José Javier Echevarria-Uraga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1532–1542, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.147

• , energy applied, or duration of the exposure could not be correlated with percentage of tumor necrosis. Further experiments would be needed to clarify the mechanism through which necrosis is achieved in order to improve the therapy. However, we find our results quite promising as the first steps to

Photothermal effect of gold nanostar patterns inkjet-printed on coated paper substrates with different permeability

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Anni Määttänen,
• Petri Ihalainen,
• Maddalena Collini,
• Elisa Cabrini,
• Giacomo Dacarro,
• Piersandro Pallavicini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1480–1485, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.140

• number of printed layers, and, critically, on the permeability of the coated paper substrates. These results will promote the development of GNS-based printed platforms for local photothermal therapy. Keywords: gold nanostars; inkjet printing; localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR); photothermal

Microwave synthesis of high-quality and uniform 4 nm ZnFe₂O₄ nanocrystals for application in energy storage and nanomagnetics

• Christian Suchomski,
• Ben Breitung,
• Ralf Witte,
• Michael Knapp,
• Sondes Bauer,
• Tilo Baumbach,
• Christian Reitz and
• Torsten Brezesinski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1350–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.126

• nanoparticles provide an attractive platform for future magnetic data storage and theranostics (that is, imaging and therapy in biomedicine). The challenges and prospects in using Fe-based nanoparticles for such applications have been described in excellent papers elsewhere and will therefore not be discussed

Viability and proliferation of endothelial cells upon exposure to GaN nanoparticles

• Tudor Braniste,
• Ion Tiginyanu,
• Tibor Horvath,
• Simion Raevschi,
• Serghei Cebotari,
• Marco Lux,
• Axel Haverich and
• Andres Hilfiker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1330–1337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.124

• Academy of Sciences of Moldova under Grants 16.00353.50.08A and 15.817.02.29A and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) via the Cluster of Excellence, “From regenerative biology to reconstructive therapy” (REBIRTH). We would like to thank Erin C. Boyle for the critical

Multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrids as MRI contrast agents

• Nikodem Kuźnik and
• Mateusz M. Tomczyk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1086–1103, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.102

• , myriads of applications. Medicine is one such field in which nanomaterials can help in therapy and diagnosis. Yet the unusual features of nanomaterials have raised natural concerns, especially regarding potential medical applications because of their exogenous origin and unknown physiology. Nevertheless

• carbon nanotubes (CNT) drug and genetic material delivery, immunotherapy or photothermal cancer therapy [1][2]. The 'quantum leap' [3] of bionanomaterials has also affected magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This technique, which has already matured into a basic diagnostic tool in medicine, has an edge

• for the superparamagnetic properties of nanotube hybrids could be performed with a solid magnet which would attract the material when spread in a powdered form [32][34][38]. This visual effect encourages the exploitation of magnetic properties in synthesis and in therapy. Although they have not yet

The influence of phthalocyanine aggregation in complexes with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots on the photophysical properties of the complexes

• Irina V. Martynenko,
• Anna O. Orlova,
• Vladimir G. Maslov,
• Anatoly V. Fedorov,
• Kevin Berwick and
• Alexander V. Baranov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1018–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.94

• confirmed by steady-state absorption and photoluminescent spectroscopy. A corresponding physical model was developed that describes well the experimental data. The results can be used at designing of QD/molecule systems with the desired spatial arrangement for photodynamic therapy. Keywords: aggregation

• tetrapyrrole molecules were of great interest due to their diverse application in many fields ranging from latest third generation solar cells [1][2][3] to photodynamic therapy (PDT) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Currently, practically all PDT drugs are based on tetrapyrrole molecules. In the PDT process

Improved biocompatibility and efficient labeling of neural stem cells with poly(L-lysine)-coated maghemite nanoparticles

• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Marina Dobrivojević,
• Lada Brkić Ahmed,
• Michal Babič,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Daniel Horák and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 926–936, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.84

• labeling makes poly(L-lysine)-coated maghemite nanoparticles appropriate candidates for future neural stem cell in vivo tracking studies. Keywords: dextran; maghemite; nanoparticles; neural stem cells; poly(L-lysine); Introduction Stem cell-based therapy is a developing area of regenerative medicine with

The role of morphology and coupling of gold nanoparticles in optical breakdown during picosecond pulse exposures

• Yevgeniy R. Davletshin and
• J. Carl Kumaradas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 869–880, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.79

• ; Introduction Over the last decade the interaction of pulsed lasers with gold nanoparticles has been studied in many emerging fields, such as sensing and medical diagnostics and therapy [1][2]. This interest is sparked by the ability to overcome diffraction-limited optics and to control electromagnetic field

Hierarchical coassembly of DNA–triptycene hybrid molecular building blocks and zinc protoporphyrin IX

• Rina Kumari,
• Sumit Singh,
• Mohan Monisha,
• Sourav Bhowmick,
• Anindya Roy,
• Neeladri Das and
• Prolay Das

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 697–707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.62

• therapy (PDT) applications as well as photocatalytic reactions. Keywords: DNA nanostructure; DNA–organic hybrid; DNA self-assembly; 2,6,14-triptycenetripropiolic acid; zinc protoporphyrin IX; Introduction Hybrid nanomaterials resulting from the covalent conjugation of DNA with organic molecules [1][2][3

• average turn per base of DNA and the constituents of the system resulting from conformational strain. Catalytic activity of composite DNA nanostructures Considerable research efforts in the direction of controlled and improved ROS generation are being conducted for application in photodynamic therapy (PDT

Tight junction between endothelial cells: the interaction between nanoparticles and blood vessels

• Yue Zhang and
• Wan-Xi Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 675–684, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.60

• Yue Zhang Wan-Xi Yang The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China 10.3762/bjnano.7.60 Abstract Since nanoparticles are now widely applied as food additives, in cosmetics and other industries, especially in medical therapy and diagnosis, we ask

• easily find them in, e.g., cosmetics [1], food additives [2], industrial process [3] and, especially, in medical therapy [4] and diagnostics [5]. In light of medical therapy, NPs have shown their extraordinary potential in cancer chemotherapeutics [6] and drug delivery systems [7], which successfully

• defeat some of the drawbacks in traditional cancer chemotherapy (such as multidrug resistance (MDR) in tumors [6]). They can be modified to enhance the specificity of tumor therapy. Admittedly, no scientist could ignore its prominent latent prospect, but meanwhile numerous researches show their concerns

Novel roles for well-known players: from tobacco mosaic virus pests to enzymatically active assemblies

• Claudia Koch,
• Fabian J. Eber,
• Carlos Azucena,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Alexander M. Bittner,
• Holger Jeske,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Sabine Eiben,
• Fania C. Geiger and
• Christina Wege

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 613–629, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.54

• (length: 300 nm) in combination with functional ligands such as peptides, enzymes, dyes, drugs or inorganic materials is advantageous for applications ranging from biomedical imaging and therapy approaches over surface enlargement of battery electrodes to the immobilization of enzymes. TMV building blocks

Surface coating affects behavior of metallic nanoparticles in a biological environment

• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ćurlin,
• Ivona Capjak,
• Tea Crnković,
• Marija Lovrić,
• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Ivana Vinković Vrček and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 246–262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.23

• currently in use for medical purposes [3], for example silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). AgNPs are exploited in medicine for biocidal therapy owing to their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, they attract

Simultaneous cancer control and diagnosis with magnetic nanohybrid materials

• Reza Saadat and
• Franz Renz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 121–125, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.14

• environment such as the one present in the cancer cell (Figure 1) [7][12]. Equipped with an alpha emitter [14], they could initiate an apoptosis of the tumor cells. This procedure may allow for combining diagnosis and therapy for cancer diseases. Results and Discussion We synthesized magnetite nanoparticles

Controlled graphene oxide assembly on silver nanocube monolayers for SERS detection: dependence on nanocube packing procedure

• Martina Banchelli,
• Bruno Tiribilli,
• Roberto Pini,
• Luigi Dei,
• Paolo Matteini and
• Gabriella Caminati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 9–21, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.2

• ], optoelectronics [3], energy-harvesting applications [4], cancer imaging and therapy [5], sensing and biosensing applications [6][7]. In particular, sensors based on arrays of noble metal nanoparticles have become increasingly popular for the ultrasensitive detection of a variety of species ranging from small

Ultrastructural changes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus induced by positively charged silver nanoparticles

• Dulce G. Romero-Urbina,
• Humberto H. Lara,
• J. Jesús Velázquez-Salazar,
• M. Josefina Arellano-Jiménez,
• Eduardo Larios,
• Anand Srinivasan,
• Jose L. Lopez-Ribot and
• Miguel José Yacamán

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2396–2405, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.246

• resistance against almost all antibiotics [3]. As penicillin and other β-lactams were previously very efficient antibiotics in treating staphylococcal infections, the prevalent resistance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has made therapy continuously more complex [4]. S. aureus has also

• widely known. Around the 1800s silver nitrate was commonly applied topically to treat burns and ulcerations or infected wounds, although its use declined following the introduction of antibiotics. Fox revived its use in the form of silver sulfadiazine, which is applied topically in burn therapy [23]. An

Self-organization of gold nanoparticles on silanated surfaces

• Htet H. Kyaw,
• Salim H. Al-Harthi,
• Azzouz Sellai and
• Joydeep Dutta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2345–2353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.242

• photothermal therapy [16]. AuNPs exhibit well-defined optical properties such as surface plasmon resonance, which depends on the size and shape of nanoparticles, interparticle distance and the effective refractive index of the surrounding medium [17]. Different techniques have been used to assemble AuNPs on

Silica-coated upconversion lanthanide nanoparticles: The effect of crystal design on morphology, structure and optical properties

• Uliana Kostiv,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Hana Macková,
• Alexander Zhigunov,
• Hana Engstová,
• Katarína Smolková,
• Petr Ježek and
• Daniel Horák

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2290–2299, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.235

• tracking [8], bioimaging [9] and photodynamic therapy [10]. Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles emit visible light upon excitation by near-IR light (NIR). Compared with organic dyes and semiconductor quantum dots, upconversion nanoparticles have attractive chemical and optical properties, as well