Current development of theragnostic nanoparticles for women's cancer treatment.

In the biomedical industry, nanoparticles (NPs-exclusively small particles with size ranging from 1-100 nanometres) are recently employed as powerful tools due to their huge potential in sophisticated and enhanced cancer theragnostic (i.e. therapeutics and diagnostics). Cancer is a life-threatening disease caused by carcinogenic agents and mutation in cells, leading to uncontrolled cell growth and harming the body's normal functioning while affecting several factors like low levels of reactive oxygen species, hyperactive antiapoptotic mRNA expression, reduced proapoptotic mRNA expression, damaged DNA repair, and so on. NPs are extensively used in early cancer diagnosis and are functionalized to target receptors overexpressing cancer cells for effective cancer treatment. This review focuses explicitly on how NPs alone and combined with imaging techniques and advanced treatment techniques have been researched against 'women's cancer' such as breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer which are substantially occurring in women. NPs, in combination with numerous imaging techniques (like PET, SPECT, MRI, etc) have been widely explored for cancer imaging and understanding tumor characteristics. Moreover, NPs in combination with various advanced cancer therapeutics (like magnetic hyperthermia, pH responsiveness, photothermal therapy, etc), have been stated to be more targeted and effective therapeutic strategies with negligible side effects. Furthermore, this review will further help to improve treatment outcomes and patient quality of life based on the theragnostic application-based studies of NPs in women's cancer treatment.

Inorganic nanocarriers for siRNA delivery for cancer treatments.

RNA interference is one of the emerging methodologies utilized in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases including cancer. This method specifically uses therapeutic RNAs (TpRNAs) like small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to regulate/silence the cancer-linked genes, thereby minimizing the distinct activities of the cancer cells while aiding in their apoptosis. But, many complications arise during the transport/delivery of these TpRNAs that include poor systemic circulation, instability/degradation inside the body environment, no targeting capacity and also low cellular internalization. These difficulties can be overcome by using nanocarriers to deliver the TpRNAs inside the cancer cells. The following are the various categories of nanocarriers-viral vectors (e.g. lentivirus and adenovirus) and non-viral nanocarriers (self-assembling nanocarriers and inorganic nanocarriers). Viral vectors suffer from disadvantages like high immunogenicity compared to the non-viral nanocarriers. Among non-viral nanocarriers, inorganic nanocarriers gained significant attention as their inherent properties (like magnetic properties) can aid in the effective cellular delivery of the TpRNAs. Most of the prior reports have discussed about the delivery of TpRNAs through self-assembling nanocarriers; however very few have reviewed about their delivery using the inorganic nanoparticles. Therefore, in this review, we have mainly focussed on the delivery of TpRNAs-i.e. siRNA, especially programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1), survivin, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), vascular endothelial growth factor and other siRNAs using the inorganic nanoparticles-mainly magnetic, metal and silica nanoparticles. Moreover, we have also discussed about the combined delivery of these TpRNAs along with chemotherapeutic drugs (mainly doxorubicin) andin vitroandin vivotherapeutic effectiveness.

High Rate, Dendrite Free Lithium Metal Batteries of Extended Cyclability via a Scalable Separator Modification Approach.

Owing to their great promise of high energy density, the development of safer lithium metal batteries (LMBs) has become the necessity of the hour. Herein, a scalable method based on conventional Celgard membrane (CM) separator modification is adopted to develop high-rate (10 mA cm-2 ) dendrite-free LMBs of extended cyclability (>1000 hours, >1500 cycles with 3 mA cm-2 , the bare fails within 50 cycles) with low over potential losses. The CM modification method entails the deposition of thin coatings of (≈6.6 µm) graphitic fluorocarbon (FG) via a large area electrophoretic deposition, where it helps for the formation of a stable LiF and carbon rich solid electrolyte interface (SEI) aiding a uniform lithium deposition even in higher fluxes. The FG@CM delivers a high transport number for Li ion (0.74) in comparison to the bare CM (0.31), indicating a facile Li ion transport through the membrane. A mechanistic insight into the role of artificial SEI formation with such membrane modification is provided here with a series of electrochemical as well as spectroscopic in situ/ex situ and postmortem analyses. The simplicity and scalability of the technique make this approach unique among other reported ones towards the advancement of safer LMBs of high energy and power density.

Recent advances of polymeric nanoplatforms for cancer treatment: smart delivery systems (SDS), nanotheranostics and multidrug resistance (MDR) inhibition.

Nanotheranostics is a promising field that combines the benefits of diagnostic and treatment into a single nano-platform that not only administers treatment but also allows for real-time monitoring of therapeutic response, decreasing the possibility of under/over-drug dosing. Furthermore, developing smart delivery systems (SDSs) for cancer theranostics that can take advantage of various tumour microenvironment (TME) conditions (such as deformed tumour vasculature, various over-expressed receptor proteins, reduced pH, oxidative stress, and resulting elevated glutathione levels) can aid in achieving improved pharmacokinetics, higher tumour accumulation, enhanced antitumour efficacy, and/or decreased side effects and multidrug resistance (MDR) inhibition. Polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) are being widely investigated in this regard due to their unique features such as small size, passive/active targeting possibility, better pharmaceutical kinetics and biological distribution, decreased adverse reactions of the established drugs, inherent inhibitory properties to MDR efflux pump proteins, as well as the feasibility of delivering numerous therapeutic substances in just one design. Hence in this review, we have primarily discussed PNPs based targeted and/or controlled SDSs in which we have elaborated upon different TME mediated nanotheranostic platforms (NTPs) including active/passive/magnetic targeting platforms along with pH/ROS/redox-responsive platforms. Besides, we have elucidated different imaging guided cancer therapeutic platforms based on four major cancer imaging techniques i.e., fluorescence/photo-acoustic/radionuclide/magnetic resonance imaging, Furthermore, we have deliberated some of the most recently developed PNPs based multimodal NTPs (by combining two or more imaging or therapy techniques on a single nanoplatform) in cancer theranostics. Moreover, we have provided a brief update on PNPs based NTP which are recently developed to overcome MDR for effective cancer treatment. Additionally, we have briefly discussed about the tissue biodistribution/tumour targeting efficiency of these nanoplatforms along with recent preclinical/clinical studies. Finally, we have elaborated on various limitations associated with PNPs based nanoplatforms.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in vanadium-doped MoS2 alloys.

Substitutional doping is a most promising approach to manipulate the electronic and optical properties of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). In addition to inducing magnetism, vanadium (V) doping can lead to semiconductor-metal transition in TMDCs. However, the dynamics of charge carriers that governs the optoelectronic properties of doped TMDCs has been rarely revealed. In this work, we have investigated the dynamics of photocarriers in pristine and V-doped monolayer (ML) MoS2. Comparison of the transient absorption (TA) spectra of ML MoS2 with lightly (≤1%) and heavily (3.62%) V-doped MoS2 infers the induction of additional energy states in the doped materials giving rise to new low energy bleach features in the TA spectra. The quasiparticle band structure of MoS2 is found to disappear at sufficiently high V doping due to the presence of impurity bands. An attempt has also been made to study the manipulation of the carrier lifetime with V doping in MoS2. Our TA kinetic measurements suggest that the decay kinetics of the carriers becomes slower with increasing doping percentage and at a higher doping level the carriers survive for a much longer time compared to pristine MoS2. Furthermore, we have identified a new electronic transition (NET) in heavily V-doped MoS2 at high pump fluences.

On the electronic and spin-valley coupling of vanadium doped MoS2(1-x)Se2xmonolayers.

Monolayers of MoS2with tunable bandgap and valley positions are highly demanding for their applications in opto-spintronics. Herein, selenium (Se) and vanadium (V) co-doped MoS2monolayers (vanadium doped MoS2(1-x)Se2x(V-MoSSe)) are developed and showed their variations in the electronic and optical properties with dopant content. Vanadium gets substitutionally (in place of Mo) doped within the MoS2lattice while selenium doped in place of sulfur, as shown by a detailed microstructure and spectroscopy analyses. The bandgap tunability with selenium doping can be achieved while valley shift is occurred due to the doping of vanadium. Chemical vapor deposition assisted grown MoS2(also selenium doped MoS2as shown here) is known for its n-type transport behavior while vanadium doping is found to be changing its nature to p-doping. Chirality dependent photoexcitation studies indicate a room temperature valley splitting in V-MoSSe (∼8 meV), where such a valley splitting is verified using density functional theory based calculations.

Defective Graphene/Plasmonic Nanoparticle Hybrids for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensors.

Two-dimensional-zero-dimensional plasmonic hybrids involving defective graphene and transition metals (DGR-TM) have drawn significant interest due to their near-field plasmonic effects in the wide range of the UV-vis-NIR spectrum. In the present work, we carried out extensive investigations on resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) from the various DGR-TM hybrids (Au, Ag, and Cu) using micro-Raman, spatial Raman mapping analysis, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and LSPR absorption measurements on defective CVD graphene layers. Further, electric field (E) mappings of samples were calculated using the finite domain time difference (FDTD) method to support the experimental findings. The spatial distribution of various in-plane and edge defects and defect-mediated interaction of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) with graphene were investigated on the basis of the RRS and LSPR and correlated with the quantitative analysis from HRTEM, excitation wavelength-dependent micro-Raman, and E-field enhancement features of defective graphene and defective graphene-Au hybrids before and after rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Excitation wavelength-dependent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and LSPR-induced broadband absorption from DGR-Au plasmonic hybrids reveal the electron and phonon interaction on the graphene surface, which leads to the charge transfer from TM NPs to graphene. This is believed to be responsible for the reduction in the SERS signal, which was observed from the wavelength-dependent Raman spectroscopy/mappings. We implemented defective graphene and DGR-Au plasmonic hybrids as efficient SERS sensors to detect the Fluorescein and Rhodamine 6G molecules with a detection limit down to 10-9 M. Defective graphene and Au plasmonic hybrids showed an impressive Raman enhancement in the order of 108, which is significant for its practical application.

An Overview of Polymeric Nanoparticles-Based Drug Delivery System in Cancer Treatment.

Cancer is recognized as one of the world's deadliest diseases, with more than 10 million new cases each year. Over the past 2 decades, several studies have been performed on cancer to pursue solutions for effective treatment. One of the vital benefits of utilizing nanoparticles (NPs) in cancer treatment is their high adaptability for modification and amalgamation of different physicochemical properties to boost their anti-cancer activity. Various nanomaterials have been designed as nanocarriers attributing nontoxic and biocompatible drug delivery systems with improved bioactivity. The present review article briefly explained various types of nanocarriers, such as organic-inorganic-hybrid NPs, and their targeting mechanisms. Here a special focus is given to the synthesis, benefits, and applications of polymeric NPs (PNPs) involved in various anti-cancer therapeutics. It has also been discussed about the drug delivery approach by the functionalized/encapsulated PNPs (without/with targeting ability) that are being applied in the therapy and diagnostic (theranostics). Overall, this review can give a glimpse into every aspect of PNPs, from their synthesis to drug delivery application for cancer cells.

Current advancements in self-assembling nanocarriers-based siRNA delivery for cancer therapy.

Different therapeutic practices for treating cancers have significantly evolved to compensate and/or overcome the failures in conventional methodologies. The demonstrated potentiality in completely inhibiting the tumors and in preventing cancer relapse has made nucleic acids therapy (NAT)/gene therapy as an attractive practice. This has been made possible because NAT-based cancer treatments are highly focused on the fundamental mechanisms - i.e., silencing the expression of oncogenic genes responsible for producing abnormal proteins (via messenger RNAs (mRNAs)). However, the future clinical translation of NAT is majorly dependent upon the effective delivery of the exogenous nucleic acids (especially RNAs - e.g., short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) - herein called biological drugs). Moreover, nano-based vehicles (i.e., nanocarriers) are involved in delivering them to prevent degradation and undesired bioaccumulation while enhancing the stability of siRNAs. Herein, we have initially discussed about three major types of self-assembling nanocarriers (liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles and exosomes). Later, we have majorly reviewed recent developments in non-targeted/targeted nanocarriers for delivery of biological drugs (individual/dual) to silence the most important genes/mRNAs accountable for inducing protein abnormality. These proteins include polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), survivin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), B-cell lymphoma/leukaemia-2 (Bcl-2) and multi-drug resistance (MDR). Besides, the consequent therapeutic effects on cancer growth, invasion and/or metastasis have also been discussed. Finally, we have comprehensively reviewed the improvements achieved in the cutting-edge cancer therapeutics while delivering siRNAs in combination with clinically approved chemotherapeutic drugs.

Biosynthesized metal oxide nanoparticles for sustainable agriculture: next-generation nanotechnology for crop production, protection and management.

The current agricultural sector is not only in its most vulnerable state but is also becoming a threat to our environment due to expanding population and growing food demands along with worsening climatic conditions. In addition, numerous agrochemicals presently being used as fertilizers and pesticides have low efficiency and high toxicity. However, the rapid growth of nanotechnology has shown great promise to tackle these issues replacing conventional agriculture industries. Since the last decade, nanomaterials especially metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) have been attractive for improving agricultural outcomes due to their large surface area, higher chemical/thermal stability and tunable unique physicochemical characteristics. Further, to achieve sustainability, researchers have been extensively working on ecological and cost-effective biological approaches to synthesize MONPs. Hereby, we have elaborated on recent successful biosynthesis methods using various plants/microbes. Furthermore, we have elucidated different mechanisms for the interaction of MONPs with plants, including their uptake/translocation/internalization, photosynthesis, antioxidant activity, and gene alteration, which could revolutionize crop productivity/yield through increased nutrient amount, photosynthesis rate, antioxidative enzyme level, and gene upregulations. Besides, we have briefly discussed about functionalization of MONPs and their application in agricultural-waste-management. We have further illuminated recent developments of various MONPs (Fe2O3/ZnO/CuO/Al2O3/TiO2/MnO2) as nanofertilizers, nanopesticides and antimicrobial agents and their implications for enhanced plant growth and pest/disease management. Moreover, the potential use of MONPs as nanobiosensors for detecting nutrients/pathogens/toxins and safeguarding plant/soil health is also illuminated. Overall, this review attempts to provide a clear insight into the latest advances in biosynthesized MONPs for sustainable crop production, protection and management and their scope in the upcoming future of eco-friendly agricultural nanotechnology.

A comprehensive overview of nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture.

Plant nutrition is crucial in crop productivity and providing food security to the ever-expanding population. Application of chemical/biological fertilizers and pesticides are the mainstays for any agricultural economy. However, there are unintended consequences of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The environment and ecological balance are adversely affected by their usage. Biofertilizers and biopesticides counter some undesired environmental effects of chemical fertilizers/pesticides; despite some drawbacks associated with their use. The recent developments in nanotechnology offer promise toward sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture involves addressing the concerns about agriculture as well as the environment. This review briefs about important nanomaterials used in agriculture as nanofertilizers, nanopesticides, and a combination called nanobiofertilizers. Both nanofertilizers and nanopesticides enable slow and sustained release besides their eco-friendly nature. They can be tailored to the specific needs of to crop. Nanofertilizers also offer greater stress tolerance and, therefore, are of considerable value in the era of climate change. Furthermore, nanofertilizers/nanopesticides are applied in minute amounts, reducing transportation costs associated and thus positively affecting the economy. Their uses extend beyond such as if nanoparticles (NPs) are used at high concentrations; they affect plant pathogens adversely. Polymer-based biodegradable nanofertilizers and nanopesticides offer various benefits. There is also a dark side to the use of nanomaterials in agriculture. Nanotechnology often involves the use of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, which might get access to human bodies leading to their accumulation through bio-magnification. Although their effects on human health are not known, NPs may reach toxic concentrations in soil and runoff into rivers, and other water bodies with their removal to become a huge economic burden. Nevertheless, a risk-benefit analysis of nanoformulations must be ensured before their application in sustainable agriculture.

Multifunctional theranostic nanoparticles for biomedical cancer treatments - A comprehensive review.

Modern-day search for the novel agents (their preparation and consequent implementation) to effectively treat the cancer is mainly fuelled by the historical failure of the conventional treatment modalities. Apart from that, the complexities such as higher rate of cell mutations, variable tumor microenvironment, patient-specific disparities, and the evolving nature of cancers have made this search much stronger in the latest times. As a result of this, in about two decades, the theranostic nanoparticles (TNPs) - i.e., nanoparticles that integrate therapeutic and diagnostic characteristics - have been developed. The examples for TNPs include mesoporous silica nanoparticles, luminescence nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials, metal nanoparticles, and magnetic nanoparticles. These TNPs have emerged as single and powerful cancer-treating multifunctional nanoplatforms, as they widely provide the necessary functionalities to overcome the previous/conventional limitations including lack of the site-specific delivery of anti-cancer drugs, and real-time continuous monitoring of the target cancer sites while performing therapeutic actions. This has been mainly possible due to the association of the as-developed TNPs with the already-available unique diagnostic (e.g., luminescence, photoacoustic, and magnetic resonance imaging) and therapeutic (e.g., photothermal, photodynamic, hyperthermia therapy) modalities in the biomedical field. In this review, we have discussed in detail about the recent developments on the aforementioned important TNPs without/with targeting ability (i.e., attaching them with ligands or tumor-specific antibodies) and also the strategies that are implemented to increase their tumor accumulation and to enhance their theranostic efficacies for effective biomedical cancer treatments.

Single and Dual Surfactants Coated Hydrophilic Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia Applications.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have found applications in the magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) due to their unique magnetic properties, chemical stability and biocompatibility. However, challenges exist in attaining high heating efficiencies of the SPIONs under the applied alternating magnetic fields below Hergt's biological safety limit. Here, we present synthesis of single surfactant (pyromellitic acid (PMA)/2-aminoterephthalic acid (ATA)) and dual surfactants (PMA-ATA) coated SPIONs via chemical co-precipitation method and characterization to determine their phase purity, surface coatings and particle sizes. The hydrodynamic sizes/zeta potentials values of the SPIONs were determined for studying their water-dispersibility. Finally, the impact of heating on specific absorption rate (SAR) and intrinsic loss of power (ILP) were determined. SPIONs were found to exhibit magnetite phase and particle sizes in the range of 9-10 nm, good water dispersibility with (i) hydrodynamic diameters ranging from 190-304 nm and (ii) zeta potentials ranging from -38 mV to -49 mV. The ATA and PMA-ATA coated SPIONs showed better time-dependent temperature rise that resulted in higher heating efficacies-i.e., SAR and ILP values ranging from 58.6-79.5 W/gFe and 1.7-2.3 nHm²/Kg, respectively as compared to the PMA coated SPIONs. Thus, ATA and PMA-ATA coated SPIONs were found to be very promising candidates for their usage in MFH applications.

Functionalized Hydrophilic Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia Application in Liver Cancer Treatment.

In this work, we report the synthesis of hydrophilic and surface-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) to utilize them as nanomedicines for treating liver cancer via magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH)-based thermotherapy. For this purpose, initially, we have synthesized the SPIOs through co-precipitation/thermolysis methods, followed by in situ surface functionalization with short-chained molecules, such as 1,4-diaminobenzene (14DAB), 4-aminobenzoic acid (4ABA) and 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid (34DABA) and their combination with terephthalic acid (TA)/2-aminoterephthalic acid (ATA)/trimesic acid (TMA)/pyromellitic acid (PMA) molecules. The as-prepared SPIOs are investigated for their structure, morphology, water dispersibility, and magnetic properties. The heating efficacies of the SPIOs are studied in calorimetric MFH (C-MFH) with respect to their concentrations, surface coatings, dispersion medium, and applied alternating magnetic fields (AMFs). Although all of the as-prepared SPIOs have exhibited superparamagnetic behavior, only 14DAB-, 4ABA-, 34DABA-, and 4ABA-TA-coated SPIOs have shown higher magnetization values (Ms = 55-71 emu g-1) and good water dispersibility. In C-MFH studies, 34DABA-coated SPIO-based aqueous ferrofluid (AFF) has revealed faster thermal response to the applied AMF and reached therapeutic temperature even at the lowest concentration (0.5 mg mL-1) compared with 14DAB-, 4ABA-, and 4ABA-TA-coated SPIO-based AFFs. Moreover, 34DABA-coated SPIO-based AFF has exhibited high heating efficacies (i.e., specific absorption rate/intrinsic loss power values of 432.1 W gFe-1/5.2 nHm2 kg-1 at 0.5 mg mL-1), which could be mainly due to (i) enhanced π-π conjugation paths of surface-attached 34DABA coating molecules because of intrafunctional group attractions and (ii) improved anisotropy from the formation of clusters/linear chains of the SPIOs in ferrofluid suspensions, owing to interfunctional group attractions/interparticle interactions. Moreover, the 34DABA-coated SPIOs have demonstrated (i) very good cytocompatibility for 24/48 h incubation periods and (ii) higher killing efficiency of 61-88% (via MFH) in HepG2 liver cancer cells as compared to their treatment with only AMF/water-bath-based thermotherapy. In summary, the 34DABA-coated SPIOs are very promising heat-inducing agents for MFH-based thermotherapy and thus could be used as effective nanomedicines for cancer treatments.

Systematic magnetic fluid hyperthermia studies of carboxyl functionalized hydrophilic superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles based ferrofluids.

We have systematically studied heating efficiencies (via specific absorption rate-SAR/intrinsic loss power-ILP) of carboxyl (terephthalic acid-TA) functionalized hydrophilic SPIONs based ferrofluids (with good biocompatibility/high magnetization) and influence of following key factors in magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH): (i) alternating magnetic fields (AMFs - H)/frequencies (f) - chosen below/above Hergt's biological safety limit, (ii) concentrations (0.5-8 mg/ml) and (iii) dispersion media (water, a cell-culture medium and triethylene glycol (TEG)) for in vitro cancer therapy. In calorimetric MFH, aqueous ferrofluids have displayed excellent time-dependent temperature rise for the applied AMFs, which resulted in high SAR ranging from 23.4 to 160.7 W/gFe, attributed to the enhanced magnetic responses via π-conjugations of short-chained TA molecules on the surface of SPIONs. Moreover, ILP values up-to 2.5 nHm2/kg (higher than the best commercial ferrofluids) are attained for the aqueous ferrofluids when excited below the recommended safety limit. Besides, the SPIONs dispersed in high viscous TEG have exhibited the highest SAR value (178.8 W/gFe) and reached therapeutic temperatures at faster rates for the lowest concentration due to prominent Neel relaxations. Moreover, these SPIONs have higher killing efficiency towards MCF-7 cancer cells in in vitro studies. Thus, the TA-based ferrofluids have great potential for in vivo/clinical MFH cancer therapies.

Recent advances in superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for in vitro and in vivo cancer nanotheranostics.

Recently superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been extensively used in cancer therapy and diagnosis (theranostics) via magnetic targeting, magnetic resonance imaging, etc. due to their remarkable magnetic properties, chemical stability, and biocompatibility. However, the magnetic properties of SPIONs are influenced by various physicochemical and synthesis parameters. So, this review mainly focuses on the influence of spin canting effects, introduced by the variations in size, shape, and organic/inorganic surface coatings, on the magnetic properties of SPIONs. This review also describes the several predominant chemical synthesis procedures and role of the synthesis parameters for monitoring the size, shape, crystallinity and composition of the SPIONs. Moreover, this review discusses about the latest developments of the inorganic materials and organic polymers for encapsulation of the SPIONs. Finally, the most recent advancements of the SPIONs and their nanopackages in combination with other imaging/therapeutic agents have been comprehensively discussed for their effective usage as in vitro and in vivo theranostic agents in cancer treatments.

Surface design of core-shell superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles drives record relaxivity values in functional MRI contrast agents.

Core-shell hydrophilic superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles, surface functionalized with either terephthalic acid or 2-amino terephthalic acid, showed large negative MRI contrast ability, validating the advantage of using low molecular weight and π-conjugated canopies for engineering functional nanostructures with superior performances.

Vitamin E (D-alpha-tocopheryl-co-poly(ethylene glycol) 1000 succinate) micelles-superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for enhanced thermotherapy and MRI.

We synthesized vitamin E TPGS (d-α-Tocopheryl-co-poly(ethylene glycol) 1000 succinate) micelles for superparamagnetic iron oxides formulation for nanothermotherapy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which showed better thermal and magnetic properties, and in vitro cellular uptake and lower cytotoxicity as well as better in vivo therapeutic and imaging effects in comparison with the commercial Resovist and the Pluronic F127 micelles reported in the recent literature. The superparamagnetic iron oxides originally coated with oleic acid and oleylamine were formulated in the core of the TPGS micelles using a simple solvent-exchange method. The IOs-loaded TPGS showed greatest colloidal stability due to the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of vitamin E TPGS. Highly monodisperse and water soluble suspension was obtained which were stable in 0.9% normal saline for a period of 12 days. The micelles were characterized for their size and size distribution. Their morphology was examined through transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The enhanced thermal and superparamagnetic properties of the IOs-loaded TPGS micelles were assessed. Cellular uptake and cytotoxicity were investigated in vitro with MCF-7 cancer cells. Relaxivity study showed that the IOs-loaded TPGS micelles can have better effects for T2-weighted imaging using MRI. T2 mapped images of xenograft grown on SCID mice showed that the TPGS micelle formulation of IOs had ∼1.7 times and ∼1.05 times T2 decrease at the tumor site compared to Resovist and the F127 micelle formulation, respectively.

Multimodal tumor imaging by iron oxides and quantum dots formulated in poly (lactic acid)-D-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate nanoparticles.

This work developed a multimodal imaging system by co-encapsulating superparamagnetic iron oxides (IOs) and quantum dots (QDs) in the nanoparticles of poly (lactic acid) - d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (PLA-TPGS) for concurrent imaging of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the fluorescence imaging to combine their advantages and to overcome their disadvantages as well as to promote a sustained and controlled imaging with passive targeting effects to the diseased cells. The QDs and IOs-loaded PLA-TPGS NPs were prepared by a modified nanoprecipitation method, which were then characterized for their size and size distribution, zeta potential and the imaging agent encapsulation efficiency. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed direct evidence for the well-dispersed distribution of the QDs and IOs within the PLA-TPGS NPs. The cellular uptake and the cytotoxicity of the PLA-TPGS NPs formulation of QDs and IOs were investigated in vitro with MCF-7 breast cancer cells, which were conducted in close comparison with the free QDs and IOs at the same agent dose. The Xenograft model was also conducted for biodistribution of the QDs and IOs-loaded PLA-TPGS NPs among the various organs, which showed greatly enhanced tumor imaging due to the passively targeting effects of the NPs to the tumor. Images of tumors were acquired in vivo by a 7T MRI scanner. Further ex vivo images of the tumors were obtained by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Such a multimodal imaging system shows great advantages of both contrast agents making the resultant probe highly sensitive with good depth penetration, which confirms the diagnosis obtained from each individual imaging. With therapeutics co-encapsulation and ligand conjugation, such nanoparticles system can realize a multi-functional system for medical diagnosis and treatment.

Facile synthesis of water-stable magnetite nanoparticles for clinical MRI and magnetic hyperthermia applications.

AIMS: Superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles have been under intensive investigation in nanomedicine. However, it is still a challenge to synthesize high-quality water-stable magnetite nanoparticles for better magnetic performance and less side effects in medical MRI and nanothermotherapy. MATERIALS & METHODS: We successfully synthesized hydrophilic magnetite nanoparticles through thermal decomposition of Fe(acac)(3) in triethylene glycol, which were coated with a triethylene glycol layer and thus demonstrated excellent water stability. RESULTS: The optimized deposition temperature has been found to be 250°C (IO-250 NPs). The magnetic and thermal properties as well as the cytotoxicity of IO-250 NPs were investigated. In vitro experiments have demonstrated high cellular uptake and low cytotoxicity. The hyperthermia experiments showed effectiveness in temperature rise and cancer cell death. IO-250 NPs showed promising MRI with relaxivity r(2)* as high as 617.5 s(-1) mM(-1) Fe. In vivo MRI showed excellent tumor imaging. CONCLUSION: The IO-250 NPs have great potential to be applied for clinical MRI and magnetic thermotherapy.