Graphene oxide–chloroquine conjugate induces DNA damage in A549 lung cancer cells through autophagy modulation

• Braham Dutt Arya,
• Sandeep Mittal,
• Prachi Joshi,
• Alok Kumar Pandey,
• Jaime E. Ramirez-Vick,
• Govind Gupta and
• Surinder P. Singh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 316–332, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.24

• ; nanoconjugates; SQSTM1/p62; Introduction Despite of advances in basic and clinical research, an increased mortality rate is seen worldwide in cancer-associated deaths [1]. The heterogeneous and complex tumor microenvironment along with intrinsic and/or acquired drug resistance mechanisms, such as increased drug

Radiosensitizing properties of dual-functionalized carbon nanostructures loaded with temozolomide

• Radmila Milenkovska,
• Nikola Geskovski,
• Dushko Shalabalija,
• Ljubica Mihailova,
• Petre Makreski,
• Dushko Lukarski,
• Igor Stojkovski,
• Maja Simonoska Crcarevska and
• Kristina Mladenovska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 229–251, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.18

• surrounding, high levels and different mechanisms of drug resistance and radiation tolerance, as well as a blocking effect of the blood–brain–tumor barrier (BBTB) for drug permeation into the brain extracellular matrix lead to high recurrence rates (in up to 90% of patients) even when complete treatment is

Characterization of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GP258

• Prashantkumar Siddappa Chakra,
• Aishwarya Banakar,
• Shriram Narayan Puranik,
• Vishwas Kaveeshwar,
• C. R. Ravikumar and
• Devaraja Gayathri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 78–89, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.8

• the tendency to develop drug resistance, such as MRSA or VRSA [26]. In this context, nanoparticles are perhaps an alternative strategy to control the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. Additionally, research conducted by El-Khawaga et al. [27] showed that ZnO NPs produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Polymer lipid hybrid nanoparticles for phytochemical delivery: challenges, progress, and future prospects

• Iqra Rahat,
• Pooja Yadav,
• Aditi Singhal,
• Mohammad Fareed,
• Jaganathan Raja Purushothaman,
• Mohammed Aslam,
• Raju Balaji,
• Sonali Patil-Shinde and
• Md. Rizwanullah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1473–1497, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.118

Nanomedicines against Chagas disease: a critical review

• Maria Jose Morilla,
• Kajal Ghosal and
• Eder Lilia Romero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 333–349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.30

• infected tissues and can spontaneously restart the infection, even after treatment, accounting for drug resistance in CD. An adaptive difference between T. cruzi strains to induce dormancy has also been suggested. Infected muscle or tissue macrophages can only be targeted by intravenous nanomedicines if

Exploring the relationships between physiochemical properties of nanoparticles and cell damage to combat cancer growth using simple periodic table-based descriptors

• Joyita Roy and
• Kunal Roy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 297–309, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.27

• affect the pH value of the cell and increase the catalytic properties of metal oxides, thereby increasing ROS generation. Tumor cells have a mechanism for dealing with hypoxia, acidosis, and high glutathione (GSH) levels, which promote drug resistance, especially for ROS-dependent drugs (Figure 5

Curcumin-loaded nanostructured systems for treatment of leishmaniasis: a review

• Douglas Dourado,
• Thayse Silva Medeiros,
• Éverton do Nascimento Alencar,
• Edijane Matos Sales and
• Fábio Rocha Formiga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 37–50, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.4

• drugs cause cardiotoxicity, renal, pancreatic, and liver toxicity, and teratogenicity. Furthermore, cases of drug resistance are already well reported for antileishmanial drugs, such as the pentavalent antimonial salts [8]. Therefore, finding new therapeutic alternatives for this neglected tropical

• protocols, most are only capable of controlling the infection and relieving symptoms, while displaying concerning toxicity and numerous therapeutic limitations [34][35][36]. Furthermore, treatment abandonment and failure due to drug resistance are two of the problems encountered with the usual treatments

• delivery specific to macrophage targets, such as ᴅ-mannose, phosphatidylserine, or lactoferrin. This may reduce the drug resistance of the parasite in the long term. Furthermore, the surface charge of nanostructures may influence internalization since positive charges favor electrostatic interactions of

Antibody-conjugated nanoparticles for target-specific drug delivery of chemotherapeutics

• Mamta Kumari,
• Amitabha Acharya and
• Praveen Thaggikuppe Krishnamurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 912–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.75

• , drug resistance, and tumor relapse are the leading challenges in cancer diagnosis and treatment. The commonly used methods for the diagnosis of cancer involve identification of cancer-causing features in cells, such as DNA and RNA mutations, impaired expression of proteins, and changes in confirmation

• antibodies, such as increased surface to volume-ratio, surface modification and functionalization, and improved cellular uptake and intracellular stability. In cancer chemotherapy, ACNPs have shown immense potential to achieve targeted drug delivery and combination therapy, to overcome drug resistance, to

• , complement activation, complement-dependent cytotoxicity, or by inhibition of signal transduction [20][21]. Molecular cancer targets Cancer is a highly heterogeneous condition that arises from several mutations in transforming and tumor suppressor genes. High rates of metastasis, invasion, relapse, and drug

Quercetin- and caffeic acid-functionalized chitosan-capped colloidal silver nanoparticles: one-pot synthesis, characterization, and anticancer and antibacterial activities

• Akif Hakan Kurt,
• Elif Berna Olutas,
• Fatma Avcioglu,
• Hamza Karakuş,
• Mehmet Ali Sungur,
• Cansu Kara Oztabag and
• Muhammet Yıldırım

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 362–376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.31

• unique properties, low cost, and low cytotoxicity [37][38][39]. Hybrid structures containing silver played an important role in the development of strong antibacterial agents and do not cause drug resistance problems due to their broad-spectrum antibacterial action [40]. These features led to a wide

Recent progress in cancer cell membrane-based nanoparticles for biomedical applications

• Qixiong Lin,
• Yueyou Peng,
• Yanyan Wen,
• Xiaoqiong Li,
• Donglian Du,
• Weibin Dai,
• Wei Tian and
• Yanfeng Meng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 262–279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.24

• treatment of tumors [88]. Cancer cell bionanotechnology provides a new way to overcome the shortcomings of conventional treatments. Platinum-based drugs are the mainstream first-line chemotherapy for clinical tumors [89]. However, numerous unavoidable problems, such as drug resistance and side effects, have

Nanotechnology – a robust tool for fighting the challenges of drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer

• Filip Gorachinov,
• Fatima Mraiche,
• Diala Alhaj Moustafa,
• Ola Hishari,
• Yomna Ismail,
• Jensa Joseph,
• Maja Simonoska Crcarevska,
• Marija Glavas Dodov,
• Nikola Geskovski and
• Katerina Goracinova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 240–261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.23

• genetic alterations leading to drug resistance. Further, an emphasis will be put on the developmental challenges of targeted nanomedicines for the co-delivery of therapeutic agents to lung tumors. Finally, current approaches in literature used to design nanotools loaded with logical combinations of

• microenvironment, and tumor cells, (ii) delivering large payloads of active substances with different physicochemical properties, such as small-molecular drugs and siRNA, to the site of action, and (iii) limiting drug resistance [91]. Nanotherapy can change the landscape of clinical lung cancer treatment by

• contribute to cancer therapy resistance encouraged the therapeutic application of RNA interference as a powerful tool to fight resistant tumors. Knockdown of oncogenic genes involved in drug resistance combined with traditional therapy or molecularly targeted agents for subsequent tumor killing may alleviate

Cyclodextrins as eminent constituents in nanoarchitectonics for drug delivery systems

• Makoto Komiyama

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 218–232, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.21

• , this method is less affected by drug resistance and side-effects. A hydrogel was prepared by using both the electrostatic self-assembly between graphene oxide and a quaternized polymer and the formation of a pseudopolyrotaxane between α-CyD and poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether (many α-CyD

Supramolecular assembly of pentamidine and polymeric cyclodextrin bimetallic core–shell nanoarchitectures

• Alexandru-Milentie Hada,
• Nina Burduja,
• Marco Abbate,
• Claudio Stagno,
• Guy Caljon,
• Louis Maes,
• Nicola Micale,
• Massimiliano Cordaro,
• Angela Scala,
• Antonino Mazzaglia and
• Anna Piperno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1361–1369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.112

• , antileishmanial drugs which are currently available on the market showed several drawbacks including irreversible toxic effects, high costs, prolonged treatment, need for adequate medical care, emergence of drug resistance, and parenteral administration [20][21]. Recently, nanoantimicrobials based on biogenic

Engineered titania nanomaterials in advanced clinical applications

• Padmavati Sahare,
• Paulina Govea Alvarez,
• Juan Manual Sanchez Yanez,
• Gabriel Luna-Bárcenas,
• Samik Chakraborty,
• Sujay Paul and
• Miriam Estevez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 201–218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.15

• antibiotics has been observed, and multiple mechanisms of resistance to each type of antimicrobial agent have been discovered. Hence, to counter drug resistance, efficient bactericidal materials are needed, and nps have been identified as a promising solution for the abovementioned issue [75]. TiO2 is

Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity in vitro of surface-functionalized drug-loaded spinel ferrite nanoparticles

• Sadaf Mushtaq,
• Khuram Shahzad,
• Tariq Saeed,
• Anwar Ul-Hamid,
• Bilal Haider Abbasi,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Waqas Khalid,
• Muhammad Atif,
• Zulqurnain Ali and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1339–1364, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.99

• (3D) spheroid models for high-throughput drug screening in vitro is favored due to their close resemblance to in vivo tumors. Moreover, they possess several tumor hallmarks, such as hypoxia, cellular interaction, drug resistance, and dense extracellular matrix, allowing for better pathobiological

pH-driven enhancement of anti-tubercular drug loading on iron oxide nanoparticles for drug delivery in macrophages

• Karishma Berta Cotta,
• Sarika Mehra and
• Rajdip Bandyopadhyaya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1127–1139, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.84

• the center-stage in drug delivery applications, wherein they can improve drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and may also increase drug accumulation in both animal cells and bacteria, proving beneficial to overcome drug resistance [1][2]. Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), due to their

• shown resistance towards these drugs, too. Use of iron oxide nanoparticles as drug delivery agents could assist the uptake of drugs and thus, overcome drug resistance [8][9][10]. Fluoroquinolones are known to form complexes with metal ions through bidentate or unidentate co-ordination bonds [22]. Thus

Use of nanosystems to improve the anticancer effects of curcumin

• Andrea M. Araya-Sibaja,
• Norma J. Salazar-López,
• Krissia Wilhelm Romero,
• José R. Vega-Baudrit,
• J. Abraham Domínguez-Avila,
• Carlos A. Velázquez Contreras,
• Ramón E. Robles-Zepeda,
• Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos and
• Gustavo A. González-Aguilar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1047–1062, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.78

• esophageal cancer) and to reduce drug resistance. However, further research is necessary to validate its possible beneficial effects in humans. It should also be emphasized that there is significant variation in the metabolism and rate of nanosystems in experimental animals as compared to humans. For example

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

• alternatives using NDDSs [1]. Literature data points to combinatorial therapy, coadministration, and codelivery of agents by nanomedicines as a successful approach to bypass signaling inhibition, combat anticancer drug resistance, and increase the efficacy of the clinical treatment. Further advances in

• approach is particularly attractive because single-drug therapeutic regimens are a rare commodity in chemotherapy [56]. The drug combination regimens offer the opportunity to target different molecular pathways that are unique for specific leukemia clones, thus overcoming possible drug resistance

• . However, in order to achieve maximal therapeutic effects and to avoid drug resistance mechanisms, both drugs need to be released inside the cells simultaneously or in a specific sequence. This can be accomplished by formulating combined drug therapy in a nanoscale carrier. This treatment modality

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

• doxorubicin (DOX) is extensively used in the management of different tumors [7] and exerts antitumor activity by interaction with DNA replication [8]. DOX-based chemotherapy is one of the main treatments for HCC but its efficacy is limited by pre-existing and acquired drug resistance due to long-term

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

• 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

Frontiers in pharmaceutical nanotechnology

• Matthias G. Wacker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2538–2540, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.244

• ] to the application of nanoparticles in our fight against drug resistance [10]. But what are the frontiers of tomorrow? Recently, the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research within the United States Food and Drug Administration presented the progress in new drug applications and concluded that

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

• . The expression of efflux transporters such as the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB1 is an important resistance mechanism in therapy-refractory cancer cells. Drug encapsulation into nanoparticles has been shown to bypass efflux-mediated drug resistance, but there are also conflicting results

• pH-gradient method [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters such as ABCB1 (also known as MDR1 or P-glycoprotein/P-gp), which efflux a range of anticancer drugs, is an important drug resistance mechanism in cancer cells [20][21]. Different nano-sized drug

• shown to bypass efflux-mediated drug resistance [25]. This included various nanoparticle and liposome formulations of the ABCB1 substrate doxorubicin that were shown to modify the cellular uptake and intracellular distribution of doxorubicin resulting in enhanced effects against ABCB1-expressing cancer

Doxorubicin-loaded human serum albumin nanoparticles overcome transporter-mediated drug resistance in drug-adapted cancer cells

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

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1707–1715, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.166

• body distribution of its many substrates including drugs, xenobiotics, and other molecules. HSA nanoparticles may provide an alternative, more specific way to overcome transporter-mediated resistance. Keywords: ABCB1; cancer; doxorubicin; drug resistance; human serum albumin; nanoparticles

• limited by therapy resistance [2][3][4]. Drug efflux mediated by transporters including adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporters has been shown to play a crucial role in cancer cell drug resistance [2][5]. ABCB1 (also known as P-glycoprotein or MDR1) seems to play a particularly

• important role in cancer cell drug resistance as a highly promiscuous transporter that mediates the cellular efflux of a wide range of structurally different substrates including many anticancer drugs. Different studies have reported that nanometer-sized drug carrier systems can bypass efflux-mediated drug

Targeting strategies for improving the efficacy of nanomedicine in oncology

• Gonzalo Villaverde and
• Alejandro Baeza

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 168–181, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.16

• reduction of the side effects caused by the transported drugs and also reduces the drug resistance developed through the high doses in conventional treatments [7]. Finally, it is also possible to place additional targeting moieties on the particle surface that do not bind to receptors located on the

Anticancer efficacy of a supramolecular complex of a 2-diethylaminoethyl–dextran–MMA graft copolymer and paclitaxel used as an artificial enzyme

• Yasuhiko Onishi,
• Yuki Eshita,
• Rui-Cheng Ji,
• Masayasu Onishi,
• Takashi Kobayashi,
• Masaaki Mizuno,
• Jun Yoshida and
• Naoji Kubota

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2293–2307, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.238

• the effectiveness of PTX alone (p < 0.036). Above all, the DDMC/PTX complex is not degraded in cells and acts as an intact supramolecular assembly, which adds a new species to the range of DDS. Keywords: artificial enzyme; diethylaminoethyl–dextran–MMA; graft copolymer; multi-drug resistance of

• modulation, was developed as a new type of anticancer drug. However, even if a patient is prescribed an anticancer agent, a cancer cell will soon change an antidrug gene, thereby increasing the power of multi-drug resistance (MDR) [10]. It can be imagined that the development of fatal MDR by a cancer cell to