Dendrimer-assisted formation of fluorescent nanogels for drug delivery and intracellular imaging.

Although, in general, nanogels present a good biocompatibility and are able to mimic biological tissues, their unstability and uncontrollable release properties still limit their biomedical applications. In this study, a simple approach was used to develop dual-cross-linked dendrimer/alginate nanogels (AG/G5), using CaCl2 as cross-linker and amine-terminated generation 5 dendrimer (G5) as a cocrosslinker, through an emulsion method. Via their strong electrostatic interactions with anionic AG, together with cross-linker Ca(2+), G5 dendrimers can be used to mediate the formation of more compact structural nanogels with smaller size (433 ± 17 nm) than that (873 ± 116 nm) of the Ca(2+)-cross-linked AG nanogels in the absence of G5. Under physiological (pH 7.4) and acidic (pH 5.5) conditions, the sizes of Ca(2+)-cross-linked AG nanogels gradually decrease probably because of their degradation, while dual-cross-linked AG/G5 nanogels maintain a relatively more stable structure. Furthermore, the AG/G5 nanogels effectively encapsulate the anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox) with a loading capacity 3 times higher than that of AG nanogels. The AG/G5 nanogels were able to release Dox in a sustained way, avoiding the burst release observed for AG nanogels. In vitro studies show that the AG/G5-Dox NGs were effectively taken up by CAL-72 cells (a human osteosarcoma cell line) and maintain the anticancer cytotoxicity levels of free Dox. Interestingly, G5 labeled with a fluorescent marker can be integrated into the nanogels and be used to track the nanogels inside cells by fluorescence microscopy. These findings demonstrate that AG/G5 nanogels may serve as a general platform for therapeutic delivery and/or cell imaging.

Fine tuning of the pH-sensitivity of laponite-doxorubicin nanohybrids by polyelectrolyte multilayer coating.

Despite the wide research done in the field, the development of advanced drug delivery systems with improved drug delivery properties and effective anticancer capability still remains a great challenge. Based on previous work that showed the potentialities of the nanoclay Laponite as a pH-sensitive doxorubicin (Dox) delivery vehicle, herein we report a simple method to modulate its extent of drug release at different pH values. This was achieved by alternate deposition of cationic poly(allylamine) hydrochloride and anionic poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) (PAH/PSS) polyelectrolytes over the surface of Dox-loaded Laponite nanoparticles using the electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly approach. The successful formation of polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated Dox/Laponite systems was confirmed by Dynamic Light Scattering and zeta potential measurements. Systematic studies were performed to evaluate their drug release profiles and anticancer efficiency. Our results showed that the presence of the polyelectrolyte multilayers improved the sustained release properties of Laponite and allowed a fine tuning of the extension of drug release at neutral and acidic pH values. The cytotoxicity presented by polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated Dox/Laponite systems towards MCF-7 cells was in accordance with the drug delivery profiles. Furthermore, cellular uptake studies revealed that polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated Dox/Laponite nanoparticles can be effectively internalized by cells conducting to Dox accumulation in cell nucleus.

Polyelectrolyte multilayer-assisted immobilization of zero-valent iron nanoparticles onto polymer nanofibers for potential environmental applications.

We report a facile approach to synthesizing and immobilizing zero-valent iron nanoparticles (ZVI NPs) onto polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayer-assembled electrospun polymer nanofibers for potential environmental applications. In this approach, negatively charged cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning were assembled with multilayers of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) through electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly. The formed PAA/PDADMAC multilayers onto CA nanofibers were then used as a nanoreactor to complex Fe(II) ions through the binding with the free carboxyl groups of PAA for subsequent reductive formation of ZVI NPs. Combined scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry analysis studies demonstrate that the ZVI NPs are successfully synthesized and uniformly distributed into the PE multilayers assembled onto the CA nanofibers. The produced hybrid nanofibrous mats containing ZVI NPs were found to exhibit superior capability to decolorize acid fuchsin, an organic dye in dyeing wastewater. We show that the loading capacity of ZVI NPs can be tuned by changing the number of PE layers and the cycles of binding/reduction process. Increasing the number of the binding/reduction cycles leads to a slight bigger size of the ZVI NPs, which is not beneficial for improving the reactivity of ZVI NPs. The present approach to synthesizing and immobilizing ZVI NPs onto polymer nanofibers opens a new avenue to fabricating various fiber-based composite materials with a high surface area to volume ratio for environmental, catalytic, and sensing applications.