Radiofrequency-Sensitive Longitudinal Relaxation Tuning Strategy Enabling the Visualization of Radiofrequency Ablation Intensified by Magnetic Composite

Nanomedicine-unlocked radiofrequency dynamic therapy dampens incomplete radiofrequency ablation-arised immunosuppression to suppress cancer relapse

Incomplete radiofrequency ablation (iRFA) not only leaves residual tumor, but also render the residual tumor highly self-adaptable and immunosuppressive, consequently expediting residual tumor progression including relapse. To address it, radiofrequency dynamic therapy (RFDT) with identical trigger (namely radiofrequency) has been established and enabled by polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified Fe-based single atom nanozyme (P@Fe SAZ). P@Fe SAZ can respond to radiofrequency field to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), attaining the nanomedicine-unlocked low-temperature RFDT. Systematic experiments reveal that ROS further remodels iRFA-potentiated immunosuppressive microenvironment, e.g., expediting tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) polarization into TAMs-M1, rejecting the intratumoral infiltrations of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs). Coincidently, they have been demonstrated to stimulate dendritic cells (DCs) maturation and encourage the proliferations and infiltrations of effector T cells, consequently boosting anti-tumor immune responses and attenuating iRFA-enhanced plasticity, treatment resistance and self-adaptation of residual hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after iRFA. Thanks to them, such a nanomedicine-unlocked low-temperature RFDT exerts powerful actions on residual HCC model after iRFA with rapid expansion inhibition, relapse repression, survival prolongation, apoptosis promotion, etc. This low-temperature RFDT opens a window to address the iRFA-enhanced immunosuppression.

Enhanced Non-Invasive Radio Frequency Heating Using 2D Pyrite (Pyritene)

Radiofrequency (RF) heating is a new, less invasive alternative to invasive heating methods that use nanoparticles for tumour therapy. But pinpoint local heating is still hard. Molecular interactions form a hybrid structure with unique electrical characteristics that enable RF heating in this work, which explores RF heating in a biological cell (yeast)-2D FeS2 system. Substantial processes have been uncovered via experimental investigations and density functional theory (DFT) computations. At 3 W and 50 MHz, RF heating reaches 54°C in 40 s, which is enough to kill yeast cells, while current-voltage measurements reveal ionic diode-like properties. Interactions between yeast lipid molecules and 2D FeSk, as shown by density-functional theory calculations, cause an imbalance in the distribution of charges and the creation of polar, conductive channels. Insights into biological heating applications based on radio frequency (RF) technology are offered by this work, which lays forth a framework for investigating 2D material-biomolecule interactions.

Epigenetics disruptions enabled by porphyrin-derived metal-organic frameworks disarm resistances to sonocatalytic ROS anti-tumor actions

Post-transcriptional epigenetic modifications provide numerous implications for tumor progression, metastasis and recurrence, which also pose resistances to reactive oxygen species (ROS)-based anti-tumor. Herein, we proposed an epigenetic deubiquitination disruption strategy to disarm the ubiquitination-deubiquitination balance-induced resistances to ROS production and ROS-based anti-tumor action for potentiating sonodynamic treatment (SDT) efficiency. To end it, porphyrin-derived metal-organic framework (MOF) sonocatalytic nanoplatforms were developed to load deubiquitination inhibitors (i.e., Auranofin). Ultrasound-triggered Auranofin release from PCN224@Au has been validated to blockade the deubiquitinating process and drive proteasome-mediated target protein degradation. The epigenetic deubiquitination disruption not only synergized with MOF-mediated sonocatalytic ROS production, but also inactivate deubiquitinating enzymes, blockade the deubiquitination process and further remove these resistances, both of which mutually behaved as reciprocal impetuses to significantly magnify SDT outcomes against liver cancers. Such a deubiquitination-engineered disruption approach finds an unprecedented pathway to disarm deubiquitination-induced resistances to SDT and other ROS-based anti-tumor means, which also enlightens us to establish other post-transcriptional epigenetic modification disruption strategies to re-program the tumor microenvironment and elevate the anti-tumor efficiency of various treatment methods (e.g., immunotherapy).

Tissue Ablation: Applications and Perspectives

Tissue ablation techniques have emerged as a critical component of modern medical practice and biomedical research, offering versatile solutions for treating various diseases and disorders. Percutaneous ablation is minimally invasive and offers numerous advantages over traditional surgery, such as shorter recovery times, reduced hospital stays, and decreased healthcare costs. Intra-procedural imaging during ablation also allows precise visualization of the treated tissue while minimizing injury to the surrounding normal tissues, reducing the risk of complications. Here, the mechanisms of tissue ablation and innovative energy delivery systems are explored, highlighting recent advancements that have reshaped the landscape of clinical practice. Current clinical challenges related to tissue ablation are also discussed, underlining unmet clinical needs for more advanced material-based approaches to improve the delivery of energy and pharmacology-based therapeutics.

Magnetothermal-activated gene editing strategy for enhanced tumor cell apoptosis

Precise and effective initiation of the apoptotic mechanism in tumor cells is one of the most promising approaches for the treatment of solid tumors. However, current techniques such as high-temperature ablation or gene editing suffer from the risk of damage to adjacent normal tissues. This study proposes a magnetothermal-induced CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system for the targeted knockout of HSP70 and BCL2 genes, thereby enhancing tumor cell apoptosis. The magnetothermal nanoparticulate platform is composed of superparamagnetic ZnCoFe2O4@ZnMnFe2O4 nanoparticles and the modified polyethyleneimine (PEI) and hyaluronic acid (HA) on the surface, on which plasmid DNA can be effectively loaded. Under the induction of a controllable alternating magnetic field, the mild magnetothermal effect (42℃) not only triggers dual-genome editing to disrupt the apoptosis resistance mechanism of tumor cells but also sensitizes tumor cells to apoptosis through the heat effect itself, achieving a synergistic therapeutic effect. This strategy can precisely regulate the activation of the CRISPR-Cas9 system for tumor cell apoptosis without inducing significant damage to healthy tissues, thus providing a new avenue for cancer treatment.

A Distinctive Insight into Inorganic Sonosensitizers: Design Principles and Application Domains

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) as a promising non-invasive anti-tumor means features the preferable penetration depth, which nevertheless, usually can't work without sonosensitizers. Sonosensitizers produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the presence of ultrasound to directly kill tumor cells, and concurrently activate anti-tumor immunity especially after integration with tumor microenvironment (TME)-engineered nanobiotechnologies and combined therapy. Current sonosensitizers are classified into organic and inorganic ones, and current most reviews only cover organic sonosensitizers and highlighted their anti-tumor applications. However, there have few specific reviews that focus on inorganic sonosensitizers including their design principles, microenvironment regulation, etc. In this review, inorganic sonosensitizers are first classified according to their design rationales rather than composition, and the action rationales and underlying chemistry features are highlighted. Afterward, what and how TME is regulated based on the inorganic sonosensitizers-based SDT nanoplatform with an emphasis on the TME targets-engineered nanobiotechnologies are elucidated. Additionally, the combined therapy and their applications in non-cancer diseases are also outlined. Finally, the setbacks and challenges, and proposed the potential solutions and future directions is pointed out. This review provides a comprehensive and detailed horizon on inorganic sonosensitizers, and will arouse more attentions on SDT.

The Emerging Landscape for Combating Resistance Associated with Energy-Based Therapies via Nanomedicine

Cancer represents a serious disease with significant implications for public health, imposing substantial economic burden and negative societal consequences. Compared to conventional cancer treatments, such as surgery and chemotherapy, energy-based therapies (ET) based on athermal and thermal ablation provide distinct advantages, including minimally invasive procedures and rapid postoperative recovery. Nevertheless, due to the complex pathophysiology of many solid tumors, the therapeutic effectiveness of ET is often limited. Nanotechnology offers unique opportunities by enabling facile material designs, tunable physicochemical properties, and excellent biocompatibility, thereby further augmenting the outcomes of ET. Numerous nanomaterials have demonstrated the ability to overcome intrinsic therapeutic resistance associated with ET, leading to improved antitumor responses. This comprehensive review systematically summarizes the underlying mechanisms of ET-associated resistance (ETR) and highlights representative applications of nanoplatforms used to mitigate ETR. Overall, this review emphasizes the recent advances in the field and presents a detailed account of novel nanomaterial designs in combating ETR, along with efforts aimed at facilitating their clinical translation.

Sequential Ubiquitination and Phosphorylation Epigenetics Reshaping by MG132-Loaded Fe-MOF Disarms Treatment Resistance to Repulse Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Abnormal epigenetic regulation is identified to correlate with cancer progression and renders tumor refractory and resistant to reactive oxygen species (ROS)-based anti-tumor actions. To address it, a sequential ubiquitination and phosphorylation epigenetics modulation strategy is developed and exemplified by the well-established Fe-metal-organic framework (Fe-MOF)-based chemodynamic therapy (CDT) nanoplatforms that load the 26S proteasome inhibitor (i.e., MG132). The encapsulated MG132 can blockade 26S proteasome, terminate ubiquitination, and further inhibit transcription factor phosphorylation (e.g., NF-κB p65), which can boost pro-apoptotic or misfolded protein accumulations, disrupt tumor homeostasis, and down-regulate driving genes expression of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Contributed by them, Fe-MOF-unlocked CDT is magnified to considerably elevate ROS content for repulsing mCRC, especially after combining with macrophage membrane coating-enabled tropism accumulation. Systematic experiments reveal the mechanism and signaling pathway of such a sequential ubiquitination and phosphorylation epigenetics modulation and explain how it could blockade ubiquitination and phosphorylation to liberate the therapy resistance to ROS and activate NF-κB-related acute immune responses. This unprecedented sequential epigenetics modulation lays a solid foundation to magnify oxidative stress and can serve as a general method to enhance other ROS-based anti-tumor methods.

Macrophage-inherited exosome excise tumor immunosuppression to expedite immune-activated ferroptosis

BACKGROUND

Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM) remains an obstacle that jeopardizes clinical immunotherapy.

METHODS

To address this concern, we have engineered an exosome inherited from M1-pheototype macrophages, which thereby retain functions and ingredients of the parent M1-phenotype macrophages. The delivered RSL3 that serves as a common ferroptosis inducer can reduce the levels of ferroptosis hallmarkers (eg, glutathione and glutathione peroxidase 4), break the redox homeostasis to magnify oxidative stress accumulation, promote the expression of ferroptosis-related proteins, and induce robust ferroptosis of tumor cells, accompanied with which systematic immune response activation can bbe realized. M1 macrophage-derived exosomes can inherit more functions and genetic substances than nanovesicles since nanovesicles inevitably suffer from substance and function loss caused by extrusion-arised structural damage.

RESULTS

Inspired by it, spontaneous homing to tumor and M2-like macrophage polarization into M1-like ones are attained, which not only significantly magnify oxidative stress but also mitigate ITM including M2-like macrophage polarization and regulatory T cell decrease, and regulate death pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

All these actions accomplish a synergistic antitumor enhancement against tumor progression, thus paving a general route to mitigate ITM, activate immune responses, and magnify ferroptosis.

Nanodrugs with intrinsic radioprotective exertion: Turning the double-edged sword into a single-edged knife

Ionizing radiation (IR) poses a growing threat to human health, and thus ideal radioprotectors with high efficacy and low toxicity still receive widespread attention in radiation medicine. Despite significant progress made in conventional radioprotectants, high toxicity, and low bioavailability still discourage their application. Fortunately, the rapidly evolving nanomaterial technology furnishes reliable tools to address these bottlenecks, opening up the cutting-edge nano-radioprotective medicine, among which the intrinsic nano-radioprotectants characterized by high efficacy, low toxicity, and prolonged blood retention duration, represent the most extensively studied class in this area. Herein, we made the systematic review on this topic, and discussed more specific types of radioprotective nanomaterials and more general clusters of the extensive nano-radioprotectants. In this review, we mainly focused on the development, design innovations, applications, challenges, and prospects of the intrinsic antiradiation nanomedicines, and presented a comprehensive overview, in-depth analysis as well as an updated understanding of the latest advances in this topic. We hope that this review will promote the interdisciplinarity across radiation medicine and nanotechnology and stimulate further valuable studies in this promising field.

Extracellular Matrix Viscosity Reprogramming by In Situ Au Bioreactor-Boosted Microwavegenetics Disables Tumor Escape in CAR-T Immunotherapy

Incomplete microwave ablation (iMWA) caused by uncontrollable heat diffusion enhances the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM), consequently disabling the prevalent immune checkpoint blockade-combined immunotherapy against tumor recurrence. Herein, we successfully constructed an intratumorally synthesized Au bioreactor to disperse heat in thermally sensitive hydrogel-filled tumors and improve the energy utilization efficiency, which magnified the effective ablation zone (EAZ), counteracted iMWA, and simultaneously established and enhanced multiple biological process-regulated microwavegenetics. More significantly, we identified the extracellular matrix (ECM) viscosity as a general immune escape "target". After remodeling ECM, including ECM ingredients and cell adhesion molecules, this physical target was blocked by viscosity reprogramming, furnishing an effective tool to regulate the viscosity target. Thereby, such in situ Au bioreactor-enlarged EAZ and enhanced microwavegenetics reversed the immune-desert tumor microenvironment, mitigated ITM, secreted immune cell-attracting chemokines, recruited and polarized various immune cells, and activated or reactivated them like dendritic cells, natural killing cells, M1-type macrophages, and effector CD8+ or CAR-T cells. Contributed by these multiple actions, the in situ oncolytic Au bioreactors evoked CAR-T immunotherapy to acquire a considerably increased inhibition effect against tumor progression and recurrence after iMWA, thus providing a general method to enhance iMWA and CAR-T immunotherapy.

Rational Design of Biomaterials to Potentiate Cancer Thermal Therapy

Cancer thermal therapy, also known as hyperthermia therapy, has long been exploited to eradicate mass lesions that are now defined as cancer. With the development of corresponding technologies and equipment, local hyperthermia therapies such as radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, and high-intensity focused ultrasound, have has been validated to effectively ablate tumors in modern clinical practice. However, they still face many shortcomings, including nonspecific damages to adjacent normal tissues and incomplete ablation particularly for large tumors, restricting their wide clinical usage. Attributed to their versatile physiochemical properties, biomaterials have been specially designed to potentiate local hyperthermia treatments according to their unique working principles. Meanwhile, biomaterial-based delivery systems are able to bridge hyperthermia therapies with other types of treatment strategies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Therefore, in this review, we discuss recent progress in the development of functional biomaterials to reinforce local hyperthermia by functioning as thermal sensitizers to endow more efficient tumor-localized thermal ablation and/or as delivery vehicles to synergize with other therapeutic modalities for combined cancer treatments. Thereafter, we provide a critical perspective on the further development of biomaterial-assisted local hyperthermia toward clinical applications.

Emerging Nano-/Biotechnology Drives Oncolytic Virus-Activated and Combined Cancer Immunotherapy

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) as one promising antitumor methods have made important contributions to tumor immunotherapy, which arouse increasing attention. They provide the dual mechanisms including direct killing effect toward tumor cells and immune activation for elevating antitumor responses, which have been proved in many preclinical studies. Especially, natural or genetically modified viruses as clinical immune preparations have emerged as a new promising approach objective to oncology treatment. The approval of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the therapy of advanced melanoma could be considered as a milestone achievement in the clinical translation of OV. In this review, we first discussed the antitumor mechanisms of OVs with an emphasis on targeting, replication, and propagation. We further outlined the state of the art of current OVs in tumor and underlined the activated biological effects especially including immunity. More significantly, the enhanced immune responses based on OVs were systematically discussed from different perspectives such as combination with immunotherapy, genetic engineering of OVs, integration with nanobiotechnology or nanoparticles, and antiviral response counteraction, where their principles were shed light on. The development of OVs in the clinics was also highlighted to analyze the actuality and concerns of different OV applications in clinical trials. At last, the future perspectives and challenges of OVs as an already widely accepted treatment means were discussed. This review will provide a systematic review and deep insight into OV development and also offer new opportunities and guidance pathways to drive the further clinical translation.

Reversing the immunosuppressive microenvironment with reduced redox level by microwave-chemo-immunostimulant Ce-Mn MOF for improved immunotherapy

BACKGROUNDS

Reversing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) in the tumor is widely deemed to be an effective strategy to improve immune therapy. In particular, the redox balance in TME needs to be well controlled due to its critical role in mediating the functions of various cells, including cancer cells and immune-suppressive cells.

RESULTS

Here, we propose an efficient strategy to reshape the redox homeostasis to reverse immunosuppressive TME. Specifically, we developed a microwave-chemo-immunostimulant CMMCP to promote the infiltration of the tumor-T cells by simultaneously reducing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) and improving the oxygen (O₂) levels in TME. The CMMCP was designed by loading chemotherapy drugs cisplatin into the bimetallic Ce-Mn MOF nanoparticles coated with polydopamine. The Ce-Mn MOF nanoparticles can effectively improve the catalytic decomposition of ROS into O₂ under microwave irradiation, resulting in overcoming hypoxia and limited ROS generation. Besides, the activity of intracellular GSH in TME was reduced by the redox reaction with Ce-Mn MOF nanoparticles. The reprogrammed TME not only boosts the immunogenic cell death (ICD) induced by cisplatin and microwave hyperthermia but also gives rise to the polarization of pro-tumor M2-type macrophages to the anti-tumor M1-type ones.

CONCLUSION

Our in vivo experimental results demonstrate that the microwave-chemo-immunostimulant CMMCP significantly enhances the T cell infiltration and thus improves the antitumor effect. This study presents an easy, safe, and effective strategy for a whole-body antitumor effect after local treatment.

Rational Nanomedicine Design Enhances Clinically Physical Treatment-Inspired or Combined Immunotherapy

Independent of tumor type and non-invasive or minimally-invasive feature, current physical treatments including ultrasound therapy, microwave ablation (MWA), and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are widely used as the local treatment methods in clinics for directly killing tumors and activating systematic immune responses. However, the activated immune responses are inadequate and incompetent for tumor recession, and the incomplete thermal ablation even aggravates the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM), resulting in the intractable tumor recurrence and metastasis. Intriguingly, nanomedicine provides a powerful platform as they can elevate energy utilization efficiency and augment oncolytic effects for mitigating ITM and potentiating the systematic immune responses. Especially after combining with clinical immunotherapy, the anti-tumor killing effect by activating or enhancing the human anti-tumor immune system is reached, enabling the effective prevention against tumor recurrence and metastasis. This review systematically introduces the cutting-edge progress and direction of nanobiotechnologies and their corresponding nanomaterials. Moreover, the enhanced physical treatment efficiency against tumor progression, relapse, and metastasis via activating or potentiating the autologous immunity or combining with exogenous immunotherapeutic agents is exemplified, and their rationales are analyzed. This review offers general guidance or directions to enhance clinical physical treatment from the perspectives of immunity activation or magnification.

Advances in nanobiotechnology-propelled multidrug resistance circumvention of cancer

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the main reasons for the failure of tumor chemotherapy and has a negative influence on the therapeutic effect. MDR is primarily attributable to two mechanisms: the activation of efflux pumps for drugs, which can transport intracellular drug molecules from cells, and other mechanisms not related to efflux pumps, e.g., apoptosis prevention, strengthened DNA repair, and strong oxidation resistance. Nanodrug-delivery systems have recently attracted much attention, showing some unparalleled advantages such as drug targeting and reduced drug efflux, drug toxicity and side effects in reversing MDR. Notably, in drug-delivery platforms based on nanotechnology, multiple therapeutic strategies are integrated into one system, which can compensate for the limitations of individual strategies. In this review, the mechanisms of tumor MDR as well as common vectors and nanocarrier-combined therapy strategies to reverse MDR were summarized to promote the understanding of the latest progress in improving the efficiency of chemotherapy and synergistic strategies. In particular, the adoption of nanotechnology has been highlighted and the principles underlying this phenomenon have been elucidated, which may provide guidance for the development of more effective anticancer strategies.

CuS Nanoparticles-Loaded and Cisplatin Prodrug Conjugated Fe(III)-MOFs for MRI-Guided Combination of Chemotherapy and NIR-II Photothermal Therapy

Ovarian cancer has become an urgent threat to global female healthcare. Cisplatin, as the traditional chemotherapeutic agent against ovarian cancer, retains several limitations, such as drug resistance and dose-limiting toxicity. In order to solve the above problems and promote the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy, combining chemotherapy and phototherapy has aroused wide interest. In this study, we constructed a versatile cisplatin prodrug-conjugated therapeutic platform based on ultrasmall CuS-modified Fe(III)-metal-organic frameworks (MIL-88) (named M-Pt/PEG-CuS) for tumor-specific enhanced synergistic chemo-/phototherapy. After intravenous injection, M-Pt/PEG-CuS presented obvious accumulation in tumor and Fe(III)-MOFs possessed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to guide synergy therapy. Both in vitro and in vivo experimental results showed that M-Pt/PEG-CuS could not only successfully inhibit tumor growth by combining chemotherapy and NIR-II PTT but also avoid the generation of liver damage by the direct treatment of cisplatin(II). Our work presented the development of the nanoplatform as a novel NIR-II photothermal agent, as well as gave a unique combined chemo-photothermal therapy strategy, which might provide new ways of ovarian cancer therapy for clinical translation.

Oncolytic Impediment/Promotion Balance Disruption by Sonosensitizer-Free Nanoplatforms Unfreezes Autophagy-Induced Resistance to Sonocatalytic Therapy

Autophagy as a double-edged sword features an oncolytic impediment/promotion balance, which manipulates tumor progression. From this perspective, a sonosensitizer-free targeting oncolytic nanoplatform (SFTON) consisting of chloroquine (CQ) and porphyrin-structured metal centers (PMCS) was engineered to break this balance for enhancing antitumor activity. Porphyrin structure retention in a ZIF-8-derived hydrophobic carbon skeleton retained high stability and high sonocatalytic activity, and the hydrophobic carbon skeleton capable of adsorbing air provided cavitation nuclei for further elevating sonocatalytic activity. More significantly, the encapsulated CQ as the autophagy inhibitor reprogrammed autophagy, terminated the autophagy-induced self-protection or self-detoxification, and unfroze the resistances to reactive oxygen species (ROS) therapy associated with ROS accumulation and ROS activity. Systematic experiments reveal the action principles and validate that the induced apoptosis and blockaded autophagosome escalation into the autolysosome were two activated pathways to magnify the antitumor sonocatalytic therapy. Contributed by these actions, the SFTON-unlocked oncolytic impediment/promotion balance disruption strategy acquired considerable antitumor outcomes in vivo and in vitro against liver tumor progression, especially after combining with AS1411-mediated active targeting. This impediment/promotion balance disruption enabled by the SFTON can serve as a general method to elevate ROS-based antitumor activity.

Integrated, Transparent Silicon Carbide Electronics and Sensors for Radio Frequency Biomedical Therapy

The integration of micro- and nanoelectronics into or onto biomedical devices can facilitate advanced diagnostics and treatments of digestive disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers. Recent developments in gastrointestinal endoscopy and balloon catheter technologies introduce promising paths for minimally invasive surgeries to treat these diseases. However, current therapeutic endoscopy systems fail to meet requirements in multifunctionality, biocompatibility, and safety, particularly when integrated with bioelectronic devices. Here, we report materials, device designs, and assembly schemes for transparent and stable cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC)-based bioelectronic systems that facilitate tissue ablation, with the capability for integration onto the tips of endoscopes. The excellent optical transparency of SiC-on-glass (SoG) allows for direct observation of areas of interest, with superior electronic functionalities that enable multiple biological sensing and stimulation capabilities to assist in electrical-based ablation procedures. Experimental studies on phantom, vegetable, and animal tissues demonstrated relatively short treatment times and low electric field required for effective lesion removal using our SoG bioelectronic system. In vivo experiments on an animal model were conducted to explore the versatility of SoG electrodes for peripheral nerve stimulation, showing an exciting possibility for the therapy of neural disorders through electrical excitation. The multifunctional features of SoG integrated devices indicate their high potential for minimally invasive, cost-effective, and outcome-enhanced surgical tools, across a wide range of biomedical applications.

Emerging nanobiotechnology-encoded relaxation tuning establishes new MRI modes to localize, monitor and predict diseases

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most important techniques in the diagnosis of many diseases including cancers, where contrast agents (CAs) are usually necessary to improve its precision and sensitivity. Previous MRI CAs are confined to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) elevation of lesions for precisely localizing lesions. As nanobiotechnology advances, some new MRI CAs or nanobiotechnology-enabled MRI modes have been established to vary the longitudinal or transverse relaxation of CAs, which are harnessed to detect lesion targets, monitor disease evolution, predict or evaluate curative effect, etc. These distinct cases provide unexpected insights into the correlation of the design principles of these nanobiotechnologies and corresponding MRI CAs with their potential applications. In this review, first, we briefly present the principles, classifications and applications of conventional MRI CAs, and then elucidate the recent advances in relaxation tuning via the development of various nanobiotechnologies with emphasis on the design strategies of nanobiotechnology and the corresponding MRI CAs to target the tumor microenvironment (TME) and biological targets or activities in tumors or other diseases. In addition, we exemplified the advantages of these strategies in disease theranostics and explored their potential application fields. Finally, we analyzed the present limitations, potential solutions and future development direction of MRI after its combination with nanobiotechnology.

Combination therapy using microwave ablation and D-mannose-chelated iron oxide nanoparticles inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression

Despite being a common therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), insufficient thermal ablation can leave behind tumor residues that can cause recurrence. This is believed to augment M2 inflammatory macrophages that usually play a pro-tumorigenic role. To address this problem, we designed d-mannose-chelated iron oxide nanoparticles (man-IONPs) to polarize M2-like macrophages into the antitumor M1 phenotype. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that man-IONPs specifically targeted M2-like macrophages and accumulated in peri-ablation zones after macrophage infiltration was augmented under insufficient microwave ablation (MWA). The nanoparticles simultaneously induced polarization of pro-tumorigenic M2 macrophages into antitumor M1 phenotypes, enabling the transformation of the immunosuppressive microenvironment into an immunoactivating one. Post-MWA macrophage polarization exerted robust inhibitory effects on HCC progression in a well-established orthotopic liver cancer mouse model. Thus, combining thermal ablation with man-IONPs can salvage residual tumors after insufficient MWA. These results have strong potential for clinical translation.

Physical & Chemical Microwave Ablation (MWA) Enabled by Nonionic MWA Nanosensitizers Repress Incomplete MWA-Arised Liver Tumor Recurrence

Ionic liquid (IL)-loaded or metal ions-enriched nanoparticles have been witnessed to assist microwave ablation (MWA) and heighten heat utilization for tumor treatment, which, however, inevitably brings about cell dys-homeostasis and severely endangers normal cells or tissues. In this report, a nonionic MWA sensitizer that encapsulates ethyl formate (EF) and doxorubicin (DOX) in liposomes (EF-DOX-Lips) was constructed to reinforce MWA and combined therapy against incomplete MWA-induced tumor recurrence. EF in EF-DOX-Lips as the nonionic liquid can perform like IL to accelerate energy transformation from electromagnetic energy to heat for strengthening MWA. More significantly, EF metabolite, that is, ethanol, also enables chemical ablation, which further enhances MWA. As well, the EF gasification-enhanced lipid rupture and cavitation can promote DOX delivery into a liver tumor for magnifying MWA & chemotherapy combined therapy. By virtue of these contributions, this nonionic MWA nanosensitizer exerts robust antitumor effects to inhibit tumor proliferation and angiogenesis for repressing tumor growth and recurrence or metastasis via downregulating the Epha2 gene and unconventional PI3K/Akt & MAPK signal pathways that the incomplete MWA activated, which provides an avenue to elevate an MWA-based antitumor outcome.

Recent Advances in Transition-Metal Based Nanomaterials for Noninvasive Oncology Thermal Ablation and Imaging Diagnosis

With the developments of nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine, non-invasive thermal ablation with fewer side effects than traditional tumor treatment methods has received extensive attention in tumor treatment. Non-invasive thermal ablation has the advantages of non-invasiveness and fewer side effects compared with traditional treatment methods. However, the clinical efficiency and biological safety are low, which limits their clinical application. Transition-metal based nanomaterials as contrast agents have aroused increasing interest due to its unique optical properties, low toxicity, and high potentials in tumor diagnosis. Transition-metal based nanomaterials have high conversion efficiency of converting light energy into heat energy, good near-infrared absorption characteristics, which also can targetedly deliver those loaded drugs to tumor tissue, thereby improving the therapeutic effect and reducing the damage to the surrounding normal tissues and organs. This article mainly reviews the synthesis of transition-metal based nanomaterials in recent years, and discussed their applications in tumor thermal ablation and diagnosis, hopefully guiding the development of new transition metal-based nanomaterials in enhancing thermal ablation.

Cur@SF NPs alleviate Friedreich's ataxia in a mouse model through synergistic iron chelation and antioxidation

Abnormal iron metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction and the derived oxidative damage are the main pathogeneses of Friedrich's ataxia (FRDA), a single-gene inherited recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cerebellar and sensory ataxia. This disease is caused by frataxin (FXN) mutation, which reduces FXN expression and impairs iron sulfur cluster biogenesis. To date, there is no effective therapy to treat this condition. Curcumin is proposed harboring excellent ability to resist oxidative stress through Nrf2 activation and its newly found ability to chelate iron. However, its limitation is its poor water solubility and permeability. Here, we synthesized slow-release nanoparticles (NPs) by loading curcumin (Cur) into silk fibroin (SF) to form NPs with an average size of 150 nm (Cur@SF NPs), which exhibited satisfactory therapeutic effects on the improvement of FRDA manifestation in lymphoblasts (1 μM) derived from FRDA patients and in YG8R mice (150 mg/kg/5 days). Cur@SF NPs not only removed iron from the heart and diminished oxidative stress in general but also potentiate iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis, which compensates FXN deficiency to improve the morphology and function of mitochondria. Cur@SF NPs showed a significant advantage in neuron and myocardial function, thereby improving FRDA mouse behavior scores. These data encourage us to propose that Cur@SF NPs are a promising therapeutic compound in the application of FRDA disease.

Biomimetic radiosensitizers unlock radiogenetics for local interstitial radiotherapy to activate systematic immune responses and resist tumor metastasis

Background

Similar to other local therapeutic methods, local interstitial radiotherapy (IRT) also suffers from insufficient systematic immune activation, resulting in tumor metastasis.

Results

Mn-based IRT radiosensitizers consisting of ¹³¹I, MnO₂ and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (¹³¹I-MnO₂-BSA) were engineered. Such Mn-based IRT radiosensitizers successfully unlocked radiogenetics to magnify systematic immune responses of local IRT via remodeling hypoxic and immunosuppressive microenvironments and resist tumor metastasis. The MnO₂ in ¹³¹I-MnO₂-BSA caused decomposition of H₂O₂ enriched in tumors to generate O₂ for alleviating hypoxic microenvironment and removing tumor resistances to IRT. Concurrently, hypoxia mitigation by such radiosensitizers-unlocked radiogenetics can effectively remodel immunosuppressive microenvironment associated with regulatory T (Treg) cells and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) infiltration inhibition to induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), which, along with hypoxia mitigation, activates systematic immune responses. More intriguingly, ¹³¹I-MnO₂-BSA-enabled radiogenetics can upregulate PD-L1 expression, which allows anti-PD-L1-combined therapy to exert a robust antitumor effect on primary tumors and elicit memory effects to suppress metastatic tumors in both tumor models (4T1 and CT26).

Conclusions

IRT radiosensitizer-unlocked radiogenetics and the corresponding design principle provide a general pathway to address the insufficient systematic immune responses of local IRT.

Graphical Abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-022-01324-w.

Phase-changeable nanoparticle-mediated energy conversion promotes highly efficient high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation

This review describes how phase-changeable nanoparticles enable highly efficient high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation (HIFU). HIFU is effective in the clinical treatment of solid malignant tumors. However, it has intrinsic disadvantages for treating some deep lesions, such as damage to surrounding normal tissues. When phase-changeable nanoparticles are used in HIFU treatment, they could serve as good synergistic agents because they are transported in the blood and permeated and accumulated effectively in tissues. HIFU's thermal effects can trigger nanoparticles to undergo a special phase transition, thus enhancing HIFU ablation efficiency. Nanoparticles can also carry anticancer agents and release them in the targeted area to achieve chemo-synergistic therapy response. Although the formation of nanoparticles is complicated and HIFU applications are still in an early stage, the potential for their use in synergy with HIFU treatment shows promising results.

Ultrasound-Based Drug Delivery System

Cancer still represents a leading threat to human health worldwide. The effective usage of anti-cancer drugs can reduce patients' clinical symptoms and extend the life span. Current anti-cancer strategies include chemotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, biopharmaceuticals, and the latest targeted therapy. However, due to the complexity and heterogeneity of tumors, serious side effects may result from the direct use of anti-cancer drugs. Besides, the current therapeutic strategies failed to effectively alleviate metastasized tumors. Recently, an ultrasound-mediated nano-drug delivery system has become an increasingly important treatment strategy. Due to its ability to enhance efficacy and reduce toxic side effects, it has become a research hotspot in the field of biomedicine. In this review, we introduced the latest research progress of the ultrasound-responsive nano-drug delivery systems and the possible mechanisms of ultrasound acting on the carrier to change the structure or conformation as well as to realize the controlled release. In addition, the progress in ultrasound responsive nano-drug delivery systems will also be briefly summarized.

Nanobiotechnology-enabled energy utilization elevation for augmenting minimally-invasive and noninvasive oncology thermal ablation

Depending on the local or targeted treatment, independence on tumor type and minimally-invasive and noninvasive feature, various thermal ablation technologies have been established, but they still suffer from the intractable paradox between safety and efficacy. It has been extensively accepted that improving energy utilization efficiency is the primary means of decreasing thermal ablation power and shortening ablation time, which is beneficial for concurrently improving both treatment safety and treatment efficiency. Recent efforts have been made to receive a significant advance in various thermal methods including non-invasive high-intensity focused ultrasound, minimally-invasive radiofrequency and microwave, and non-invasive and minimally-invasive photothermal ablation, and so on. Especially, various nanobiotechnologies and design methodologies were employed to elevate the energy utilization efficiency for acquiring unexpected ablation outcomes accompanied with tremendously reduced power and time. More significantly, some combined technologies, for example, chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), gaseous therapy, sonodynamic therapy (SDT), immunotherapy, chemodynamic therapy (CDT), or catalytic nanomedicine, were used to assist these ablation means to repress or completely remove tumors. We discussed and summarized the ablation principles and energy transformation pathways of the four ablation means, and reviewed and commented the progress in this field including newly developed technology or new material types with a highlight on nanobiotechnology-inspired design principles, and provided the deep insights into the existing problems and development direction. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies.

Mannose-Derived Carbon Dots Amplify Microwave Ablation-Induced Antitumor Immune Responses by Capturing and Transferring "Danger Signals" to Dendritic Cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and metastasis after microwave ablation (MWA) are challenges in the clinic. This study showed that mannose-derived carbon dots (Man-CDs) could effectively capture several "danger signals" (DS) after MWA treatment and then deliver DS specifically to dendritic cells (DCs). This improved delivery of DS to DCs enhanced the processing and presentation of tumor-associated antigens by DCs. The results demonstrated that intratumoral injection of Man-CDs after MWA therapy elicited a potent tumor-specific immune response and finally led to the effective suppression of both primary and distant tumors. MWA + Man-CD treatment could efficiently reject tumor cell rechallenge in vivo. This study demonstrated that Man-CD nanoparticles are effective adjuvants that can improve MWA therapy by eliciting a tumor-specific immune response.

Nanotechnology-Enabled Chemodynamic & Immunotherapy

High-level reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported to exert a robust anti-tumor effect by inducing cell apoptosis or necroptosis. Based on the Fenton reaction or Fenton-like reaction, a therapeutic strategy (i.e., chemodynamic therapy (CDT)) is proposed, where hydroxyl radicals (•OH) that are one typical ROS via the spontaneous activation by endogenous stimulus can be produced to kill tumors. Moreover, high-level ROS can also facilitate tumor-associated antigen exposure, which benefits phagocytosis of corpses and debris by antigen-presenting cells (e.g., dendritic cells (DCs)) and further activates systematic immune responses. Great efforts wherein nanotechnology is underlined have been made in interdisciplinary communities to witness the development of this field. To provide a comprehensive understanding of CDT, the state of art of strategies on nanotechnology-enabled CDT is discussed in detail. In particular, the combination of CDT and its augmented immunotherapy against tumor for overcoming the poor outcome that mono-CDT suffers from is highlighted. Moreover, the potential challenges will also be discussed.

Tumor Metabolism‐Engineered Composite Nanoplatforms Potentiate Sonodynamic Therapy via Reshaping Tumor Microenvironment and Facilitating Electron–Hole Pairs’ Separation

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) depletion and low ROS production that result from the intratumoral redox metabolism equilibrium and low energy conversion efficiency from ultrasound mechanical energy to ROS‐represented chemical energy, respectively, are two vital inhibitory factors of sonodynamic therapy (SDT). To address the two concerns, a tumor metabolism‐engineered composite nanoplatform capable of intervening intratumoral ROS metabolism, breaking the redox equilibrium, and reshaping the tumor microenvironment is constructed to reinforce SDT against tumors. In this metabolism‐engineered nanoplatform, Nb2C nanosheets serve as the scaffold to accommodate TiO2 sonosensitizers and l‐buthionine‐sulfoximine. Systematic experiments show that such nanoplatforms can reduce ROS depletion via suppressing glutathione synthesis and simultaneously improving ROS production via the Nb2C‐enhanced production and separation of electron–hole pairs. Contributed by the combined effect, net ROS content can be significantly elevated, which results in the highly efficient anti‐tumor outcomes in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, the combined design principles, that is, tumor metabolism modulation for reducing ROS depletion and electron–hole pair separation for facilitating ROS production, can be extended to other ROS‐dependent therapeutic systems.

In situ phase-changeable 2D MXene/zein bio-injection for shear wave elastography-guided tumor ablation in NIR-II bio-window

Localized tumor photothermal cancer ablation is a minimally invasive therapeutic modality for combating cancer, but it often suffers from low therapeutic efficacy and poor precision due to the poor accumulation and non-uniform distribution of used photothermal-conversion agents in tumor tissue via the typical intravenous administration. To address this, an injectable and phase-changeable composite bio-injection consisting of biocompatible two-dimensional (2D) niobium carbide (Nb2C) MXene and the plant-originating protein, zein, has been engineered for near infrared (NIR)-II-triggered tumor photothermal ablation. Zein can respond to aqueous microenvironments and also external photo-triggers from the NIR-II bio-window (1064 nm), and transforms into a solid bio-implant after solvent exchange between ethanol and water. Which, thus, traps Nb2C MXene and heat, improving ablation efficiency and enabling the precise and complete eradication of 4T1 breast tumor cells without additional safety concerns. More significantly, shear wave elastography (SWE) as a deep-penetration imaging mode that can reflect the ablated outcomes via monitoring tissue density variation, has been employed to guide the photo-thermal ablation process to further improve the ablation precision. Thus, this compatible and phase-changeable bio-injection capable of improving photo-thermal ablation efficiency holds great potential in clinical applications.

Chemotherapeutic Nanoparticle-Based Liposomes Enhance the Efficiency of Mild Microwave Ablation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapy

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of death from cancer, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate for HCC remains unsatisfying worldwide. Microwave ablation (MWA) is a minimally invasive therapy that has made progress in treating HCC. However, HCC recurrence remains problematic. Therefore, combination therapy may offer better outcomes and enhance MWA efficiency through improved tumor control. We have developed doxorubicin-loaded liposomes (DNPs) as an efficient nanoplatform to enhance MWA of hepatocellular carcinoma even at the mild ablation condition. In this study, we demonstrated that the uptake of DNPs by HCC cells was increased 1.5-fold compared with that of free DOX. Enhanced synergism was observed in the combination of DNPs and MWA, which induced nearly 80% cell death. The combination of mild MWA and DNPs enhanced the ablation efficiency of HCC with significant inhibition of liver tumors and accounted for the longest survival rate among all groups. A much higher accumulation of the DNPs was observed in the transitional zone than in the ablation zone. No apparent systemic toxicity was observed for any of the treatments after 14 days. The present work demonstrates that DNPs combined with MWA could be a promising nanoparticle-based therapeutic approach for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and shows potential for future clinical applications.

Extravascular gelation shrinkage-derived internal stress enables tumor starvation therapy with suppressed metastasis and recurrence

Despite the efficacy of current starvation therapies, they are often associated with some intrinsic drawbacks such as poor persistence, facile tumor metastasis and recurrence. Herein, we establish an extravascular gelation shrinkage-derived internal stress strategy for squeezing and narrowing blood vessels, occluding blood & nutrition supply, reducing vascular density, inducing hypoxia and apoptosis and eventually realizing starvation therapy of malignancies. To this end, a biocompatible composite hydrogel consisting of gold nanorods (GNRs) and thermal-sensitive hydrogel mixture was engineered, wherein GRNs can strengthen the structural property of hydrogel mixture and enable robust gelation shrinkage-induced internal stresses. Systematic experiments demonstrate that this starvation therapy can suppress the growths of PANC-1 pancreatic cancer and 4T1 breast cancer. More significantly, this starvation strategy can suppress tumor metastasis and tumor recurrence via reducing vascular density and blood supply and occluding tumor migration passages, which thus provides a promising avenue to comprehensive cancer therapy.

Selective radiofrequency ablation of tumor by magnetically targeting of multifunctional iron oxide-gold nanohybrid

PURPOSE

Radiofrequency (RF) ablation therapy is of great interest in cancer therapy as it is non-ionizing radiation and can effectively penetrate into the tissue. However, the current RF ablation technique is invasive that requires RF probe insertion into the tissue and generates a non-specific heating. Recently, RF-responsive nanomaterials such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have led to tremendous progress in this area. They have been found to be able to absorb the RF field and induce a localized heating within the target, thereby affording a non-invasive and tumor-specific RF ablation strategy. In the present study, for the first time, we used a hybrid core-shell nanostructure comprising IONPs as the core and AuNPs as the shell (IO@Au) for targeted RF ablation therapy. Due to the magnetic core, the nanohybrid can be directed toward the tumor through a magnet. Moreover, IONPs enable the nanohybrid to be used as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent.

RESULTS

In vitro cytotoxicity experiment showed that the combination of IO@Au and 13.56-MHz RF field significantly reduced the viability of cancer cells. Next, during an in vivo experiment, we demonstrated that magnetically targeting of IO@Au to the tumor and subsequent RF exposure dramatically suppressed the tumor growth.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, the integration of targeting, imaging, and therapeutic performances into IO@Au nanohybrid could afford the promise to improve the effectiveness of RF ablation therapy.

Ultrasound-triggered perfluorocarbon-derived nanobombs for targeted therapies of rheumatoid arthritis

The targeted US-triggered PFC-based “nanobombs” with US used to treat the RA in this work would offer a new treatment strategy and have a great potential for the application in the areas of theranostic agent and nanomedicine treatment.