Unveiling Trends: Nanoscale Materials Shaping Emerging Biomedical Applications.

The realm of biomedical materials continues to evolve rapidly, driven by innovative research across interdisciplinary domains. Leveraging big data from the CAS Content Collection, this study employs quantitative analysis through natural language processing (NLP) to identify six emerging areas within nanoscale materials for biomedical applications. These areas encompass self-healing, bioelectronic, programmable, lipid-based, protein-based, and antibacterial materials. Our Nano Focus delves into the multifaceted utilization of nanoscale materials in these domains, spanning from augmenting physical and electronic properties for interfacing with human tissue to facilitating intricate functionalities like programmable drug delivery.

Effective intracellular delivery and Th1 immune response induced by ovalbumin loaded in pH-responsive polyphosphazene polymersomes.

A polymersome system for delivering protein antigen ovalbumin (OVA) based on amphiphilic polyphosphazene grafting with N,N-diisopropylethylenediamine (DPA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) groups (poly[(DPA)m (PEG)n phosphazene], PEDP) was designed and constructed. The 200-240 nm-size OVA-loaded polymersomes displayed high stability at physiological pH, slow internalization through clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathway, and then a pH-triggered sustained OVA release in acidic environment, leading to extensive antigen access to cytosol. Prime-boost vaccine kept high antibody titers for 8 weeks and the subcutaneous vaccine of OVA polymersomes biased the immune response towards a type 1 T helper (Th1) response. Animal experiment results showed that the antigen-specific prophylactic vaccination by PEDP polymersomes delivery was much more rapid and efficient in depressing tumor growth and progress when compared with the therapeutic vaccination. These results suggested that PEDP-based polymersomes are very promising in controlled cytosolic delivery of protein antigens, and enhanced Th1 specific immune response.

Sensitization of multidrug-resistant malignant cells by liposomes co-encapsulating doxorubicin and chloroquine through autophagic inhibition.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporters play a key role in the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) are important proteins in this superfamily which are widely expressed on the membranes of multidrug resistance (MDR) cancer cells. Besides, upregulation of cellular autophagic responses is considered a contributing factor for MDR in cancer cells. We designed a liposome system co-encapsulating a chemotherapeutic drug (doxorubicin hydrochloride, DOX) and a typical autophagy inhibitior (chloroquine phosphate, CQ) at a weight ratio of 1:2 and investigated its drug resistance reversal mechanism. MTT assay showed that the IC50 of DOX/CQ co-encapsulated liposome in DOX-resistant human breast cancer cells (MCF7/ADR) was 4.7 ± 0.2 µM, 5.7-fold less than that of free DOX (26.9 ± 1.9 µM), whereas it was 19.5-fold in doxorubicin-resistant human acute myelocytic leukemia cancer cells (HL60/ADR) (DOX/CQ co-encapsulated liposome 1.2 ± 0.1 µM, free DOX 23.4 ± 2.8 µM). The cellular uptake of DOX increased upon addition of free CQ, indicating that CQ may interact with P-gp and MRP1; however, the expressions of P-gp and MRP1 remained unchanged. In contrast, the expression of the autophagy-related protein LC3-II increased remarkably. Therefore, the mechanism of MDR reversal may be closely related to autophagic inhibition. Evaluation of anti-tumor activity was achieved in an MCF-7/ADR multicellular tumor spheroid model and transgenic zebrafish model. DOX/CQ co-encapsulated liposome exerted a better anti-tumor effect in both models than that of liposomal DOX or DOX alone. These findings suggest that encapsulating CQ with DOX in liposomes significantly improves the sensitivity of DOX in DOX-resistant cancer cells.

Cationic Polyphosphazene Vesicles for Cancer Immunotherapy by Efficient in Vivo Cytokine IL-12 Plasmid Delivery.

To circumvent the severe toxicity of the systemic delivery of IL-12 protein and the limits of local administration of IL-12 gene, we constructed a polymersome system for systemic delivery of recombinant murine IL-12 plasmid (pmIL-12) based on amphiphilic polyphosphazenes containing weakly cationic N,N-diisopropylethylenediamine (DPA) as hydrophobic groups and monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) as hydrophilic tails. By simple dialysis method, pmIL-12 was successfully loaded into polymersomes due to the combination effect of physical encapsulation and electrostatic interaction. This pmIL-12 polymersome delivery system was validated with good biocompatibility and stability despite of serum protein and DNase challenging. The results of in vivo antitumor experiments showed that intravenous injection of pmIL-12 polymersomes achieved significant suppression of tumor growth in BALB/c mice bearing CT-26 colon carcinoma. The analysis revealed that the mechanism was related to the antitumor immune response induced by efficient transfection of pmIL-12 polymersomes, which maybe involved lymphocytes infiltration and angiogenic inhibition at the tumor site.

Enhanced combination therapy effect on paclitaxel-resistant carcinoma by chloroquine co-delivery via liposomes.

A novel composite liposomal system co-encapsulating paclitaxel (PTX) with chloroquine phosphate (CQ) was designed for treating PTX-resistant carcinoma. It was confirmed that liposomal CQ can sensitize PTX by means of autophagy inhibition and competitively binding with multidrug-resistance transporters. Furthermore, according to the in vitro cytotoxicity and apoptosis assay, real-time observation of cellular uptake, and in vivo tissue distribution study, co-encapsulation of PTX and CQ in liposomes was validated as superior to the mixture of PTX liposome plus CQ liposome due to the simultaneous delivery and synergetic effect of the two drugs. Consequently, this composite liposome achieved significantly stronger anticancer efficacy in vivo than the PTX liposome plus CQ liposome mixture. This study helps to guide and enlighten ongoing and future clinical trials about the optimal administration modes for drug combination therapy.

Phagocytic uptake and ROS-mediated cytotoxicity in human hepatic cell line of amphiphilic polyphosphazene nanoparticles.

The pH-responsive amphiphilic polyphosphazenes bearing N,N-diisopropylethylenediamine (DPA) have been proven to be promising nanovehicles for drug antitumor therapy. To further modify these amphiphilic polyphosphazenes with fluorescent labeling agent or other biochemical functional groups, serine methyl ester containing active chemical group NH(2) was chosen to be introduced to get a novel polymer [NP(PEG)(0.24) (DPA)(0.5)(SME)(1.26) (n) (PDS-NH(2) ). Considering the possible toxic effect of -NH(2) group, the biocompatibility in bloodstream and nanotoxicity on human normal hepatic L-02 cells was evaluated in this study. The polymer [NP(PEG)(0.24)(DPA)(0.5)(SME-BOC)(1.26)](n) (PDS-BOC) linked with tert-butyloxycarbonyl groups to protect and hide -NH(2) group was applied as the comparison. First, the bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption and phagocytic uptake behavior in human THP-1 macrophages were performed. The results suggested that only a minor percentage of the nanoparticles were involved in BSA binding and phagocytic uptake as the result of PEGylation on the particulate surface. To determine the nanotoxicity on human normal hepatic L-02 cells, we measured cell viability, apoptosis and necrosis, reactive oxygen species generation, the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and the levels of the apoptotic signaling proteins in L-02 cells after the cells being exposed to nanoparticles of different concentrations (0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 mg/mL) for 24 h. Our data indicated that the two nanoparticles induced cytotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner; PDS-NH(2) caused more cytotoxicity than PDS-BOC as a result of -NH(2) exposure. The increased expression of caspase-3 and caspase-9 suggested that they triggered apoptosis through mitochondria-dependent pathways in L-02 cells.

Doxorubicin and chloroquine coencapsulated liposomes: preparation and improved cytotoxicity on human breast cancer cells.

Doxorubicin, as a widely used chemotherapeutic, always causes multidrug resistance in human cancer cells. To circumvent drug resistance, we developed a novel formulation where doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and chloroquine phosphate (CQ) were simultaneously loaded into liposomes by a pH-gradient method where CQ played the role of a chemical sensitizer. The various factors were investigated to optimize the formulation and manufacturing conditions of DOX and CQ coencapsulated liposomes (DCL). The resultant DCLs achieved the high encapsulation efficiency of both drugs over 90%. Further, DCLs significantly displayed resistance reversal action on a doxorubicin-resistant human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7/ADR) through the cooperation of CQ with DOX. The reversal fold of DCL with the DOX/CQ/soybean phosphatidylcholine weight ratio of 0.5:1:50 was 5.7, compared to free DOX. These results demonstrate that DCL is a promising formulation for the treatment of DOX-resistant breast cancer.