Synthesis of near-infrared absorbing triangular Au nanoplates using biomineralisation peptides

Pt-Au Nanoparticles in Combination with Near-Infrared-Based Hyperthermia Increase the Temperature and Impact on the Viability and Immune Phenotype of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Near-infrared light (NIR)-responsive metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) could be used for tumour therapy. We examined how platinum (Pt), gold (Au), and core-shell Pt-Au NPs affect the viability of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines (Hep3B, HepG2, and Huh7D-12) alone and in combination with NIR exposure. In addition, the expression of immune checkpoint molecules (ICMs) on the tumour cells was analysed. We revealed that the cytotoxicity and programmed cell death induction of Au and Pt-Au NPs toward HCC cells could be enhanced by NIR with 960 nm in a different way. Pt-Au NPs were the only particles that resulted in an additional temperature increase of up to 2 °C after NIR. Regarding the tumour cell immune phenotype, not all of the cells experienced changes in immune phenotype. NIR itself was the trigger of the alterations, while the NPs did not significantly affect the expression of most of the examined ICMs, such as PD-L1, PD-L1, HVEM, CD70, ICOS-L, Ox40-L, and TNFRSF9. The combination of Pt-Au NPs with NIR resulted in the most prominent increase of ICMs in HepG2 cells. We conclude that the thermotherapeutic effect of Pt-Au NP application and NIR could be beneficial in multimodal therapy settings in liver cancer for selected patients.

Manipulating Near-Infrared Absorption via Engineering Anisotropic Plasmonic Spiky Au Nanocubes for the Highly Efficient Dual-Response Immune Detection of T-2 Toxin

Integrating specific immune recognition, a desirable extinction coefficient, and conspicuous photothermal conversion ability into a single-immune probe to enhance the analysis performance represents an appealing yet significantly challenging task. Herein, by delicately manipulating the geometry of plasmonic nanoparticles from spherical to spiky, precise engineering approach-based spiky Au nanocubes (S-AuNCs) are employed to address this challenge, which fully exploits the plasmon resonance absorption-induced photothermal effect. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method was employed to computationally simulate the electromagnetic and thermal fields while assessing the feasibility of regulating plasmon resonance for enhanced photothermal absorption. The optimized noble photothermal agent simultaneously exhibits acceptable near-infrared absorption (NIR), a significantly increased 808 nm extinction coefficient (145 times higher than that of AuNPs), favorable antibody coupling ability, and desirable photothermal conversion behavior. Consequently, the satisfactory performance of the S-AuNCs-guided colorimetric and photothermal lateral flow immunoassay (CPLFIA) is demonstrated for the sensitive detection of T-2 toxin. In comparison to spherical AuNPs (35.2 pg/mL), the dual-mode detection sensitivity was enhanced by 1.862-fold and 5.18-fold, respectively, achieving limits of detection at 18.9 pg/mL (colorimetric mode) and 6.8 pg/mL (photothermal mode). Therefore, S-AuNCs-guided CPLFIA holds great potential in advancing food mycotoxin safety control.

Role of nanotechnology in the prolonged release of drugs by the subcutaneous route

INTRODUCTION

Subcutaneous physiology is distinct from other parenteral routes that benefit the administration of prolonged-release formulations. A prolonged-release effect is particularly convenient for treating chronic diseases because it is associated with complex and often prolonged posologies. Therefore, drug-delivery systems focused on nanotechnology are proposed as alternatives that can overcome the limitations of current therapeutic regimens and improve therapeutic efficacy.

AREAS COVERED

This review presents an updated systematization of nanosystems, focusing on their applications in highly prevalent chronic diseases. Subcutaneous-delivered nanosystem-based therapies comprehensively summarize nanosystems, drugs, and diseases and their advantages, limitations, and strategies to increase their translation into clinical applications. An outline of the potential contribution of quality-by-design (QbD) and artificial intelligence (AI) to the pharmaceutical development of nanosystems is presented.

EXPERT OPINION

Although recent academic research and development (R&D) advances in the subcutaneous delivery of nanosystems have exhibited promising results, pharmaceutical industries and regulatory agencies need to catch up. The lack of standardized methodologies for analyzing in vitro data from nanosystems for subcutaneous administration and subsequent in vivo correlation limits their access to clinical trials. There is an urgent need for regulatory agencies to develop methods that faithfully mimic subcutaneous administration and specific guidelines for evaluating nanosystems.

Two-Dimensional Metal Nanostructures: From Theoretical Understanding to Experiment

This paper reviews recent studies on the preparation of two-dimensional (2D) metal nanostructures, particularly nanosheets. As metal often exists in the high-symmetry crystal phase, such as face centered cubic structures, reducing the symmetry is often needed for the formation of low-dimensional nanostructures. Recent advances in characterization and theory allow for a deeper understanding of the formation of 2D nanostructures. This Review firstly describes the relevant theoretical framework to help the experimentalists understand chemical driving forces for the synthesis of 2D metal nanostructures, followed by examples on the shape control of different metals. Recent applications of 2D metal nanostructures, including catalysis, bioimaging, plasmonics, and sensing, are discussed. We end the Review with a summary and outlook of the challenges and opportunities in the design, synthesis, and application of 2D metal nanostructures.

Biomedical applications of solid-binding peptides and proteins

Over the past decades, solid-binding peptides (SBPs) have found multiple applications in materials science. In non-covalent surface modification strategies, solid-binding peptides are a simple and versatile tool for the immobilization of biomolecules on a vast variety of solid surfaces. Especially in physiological environments, SBPs can increase the biocompatibility of hybrid materials and offer tunable properties for the display of biomolecules with minimal impact on their functionality. All these features make SBPs attractive for the manufacturing of bioinspired materials in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In particular, biomedical applications such as drug delivery, biosensing, and regenerative therapies have benefited from the introduction of SBPs. Here, we review recent literature on the use of solid-binding peptides and solid-binding proteins in biomedical applications. We focus on applications where modulating the interactions between solid materials and biomolecules is crucial. In this review, we describe solid-binding peptides and proteins, providing background on sequence design and binding mechanism. We then discuss their application on materials relevant for biomedicine (calcium phosphates, silicates, ice crystals, metals, plastics, and graphene). Although the limited characterization of SBPs still represents a challenge for their design and widespread application, our review shows that SBP-mediated bioconjugation can be easily introduced into complex designs and on nanomaterials with very different surface chemistries.

The Activity of Vossia cuspidata Polysaccharides-Derived Monometallic CuO, Ag, Au, and Trimetallic CuO-Ag-Au Nanoparticles Against Cancer, Inflammation, and Wound Healing

The biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles using plant extracts is an eco-friendly and inexpensive solution that has strong potential and applications in science and industry. This study aims to synthesize Cu, Ag, and Au monometallic and trimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) using the extracted polysaccharides (PS) of Vossia cuspidata (Roxb.) Griff. leaves. Besides, the anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and wound healing potentials of the synthesized NPs were tested. The synthesized NPs were characterized using standard technological methods. We succeeded in green synthesizing CuO, Ag, Au, monometallic, and CuO-Ag-Au trimetallic NPs. The synthesized NPs had weak cytotoxicity at low concentrations (6.5 µg/ml), but the viability of cancer cells was reduced by increasing the concentration, suggesting that the synthesized NPs have potent anti-cancer properties against the cells. The synthesized NPs had 19.44–45.9 μg/ml cytotoxic activity (IC50) against the MCF-7 cell line, 16.50–51.92 μg/ml against A549, and 115.90–165.9 μg/ml for normal lung cells (WI-38). TMNPs were the most effective cytotoxic agents against all the tested cell lines, followed by AuNPs on MCF-7 and CuONPs on A549. The cotton fabric-treated TMNPs and CuONPs exhibited anti-inflammatory properties greater than fabric-treated AgNPs and AuNPs and showed the highest odema inhibition (84.61% and 79.28%, respectively). In the wound healing assay, CuONPs and TMNPs caused the highest percentages of inhibition (87.82% and 61.98%, respectively) for the wound compared to AgNPs and AuNPs. TMNPs and CuONPs were more efficient in restoring the tissue integrity of wounds than AgNPs and AuNPs. Accordingly, we recommend using TMNPs and CuONPs in the wound healing dressings.

Structure-guided identification of a peptide for bio-enabled gold nanoparticle synthesis

In this study, we show that maltose-binding protein (MBP) is capable of facilitating stable gold nanoparticle synthesis, and a structure of MBP in the presence of gold ions was determined by X-ray crystallography. Using this high-resolution structure of gold ion bound MBP, a peptide (AT1) was selected and synthesized and was shown to also aid in the synthesis of stable gold nanoparticles under similar experimental conditions to those used for protein facilitated synthesis. This structure-based approach represents a new potential method for the selection of peptides capable of facilitating stable nanoparticle synthesis.