Antimonene Nanoflakes: Extraordinary Photoacoustic Performance for High-Contrast Imaging of Small Volume Tumors

An ultrasensitive electrochemical sensor based on antimonene simultaneously detect multiple heavy metal ions in food samples

Here, we constructed a novel ultra-sensitive electrochemical sensor based on ZIF-67@antimonene (AMNFs) nanocomposites which are based on the first-principles density functional theory the adsorption properties of antimonene on heavy metal ions were studied for simultaneous determination of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺. The ZIF-67@AMNFs was prepared by using ZIF-67 MOF surface loaded with a large amount of antimonene sheet. Its morphology and crystal structure were characterized by Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Functional ZIF-67@AMNFs due to its unique layered structure, large active surface area, strong adsorption capacity and good electrical conductivity. In addition, the adsorption capacity of the sensor electrode for Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺ was effectively enhanced. The detection limits of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺ were 0.01 pM, 0.042 pM and 0.031 pM, respectively. The determination mechanism of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺ was further clarified based on the adsorption properties and electrochemical accumulation of antimonene on metal atoms. It has been successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺ in rice, sorghum, corn, milk, honey and tea samples, and has good practicability.

Inorganic Nanomaterials Used in Anti-Cancer Therapies:Further Developments

In this article, we provide an overview of the progress of scientists working to improve the quality of life of cancer patients. Among the known methods, cancer treatment methods focusing on the synergistic action of nanoparticles and nanocomposites have been proposed and described. The application of composite systems will allow precise delivery of therapeutic agents to cancer cells without systemic toxicity. The nanosystems described could be used as a high-efficiency photothermal therapy system by exploiting the properties of the individual nanoparticle components, including their magnetic, photothermal, complex, and bioactive properties. By combining the advantages of the individual components, it is possible to obtain a product that would be effective in cancer treatment. The use of nanomaterials to produce both drug carriers and those active substances with a direct anti-cancer effect has been extensively discussed. In this section, attention is paid to metallic nanoparticles, metal oxides, magnetic nanoparticles, and others. The use of complex compounds in biomedicine is also described. A group of compounds showing significant potential in anti-cancer therapies are natural compounds, which have also been discussed.

Recent advances in small molecule dye-based nanotheranostics for NIR-II photoacoustic imaging-guided cancer therapy

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window has gained more and more attention in recent years and showed great potential in the field of bioimaging. Until now, numerous materials have been developed as contrast agents for NIR-II PA imaging. Among them, small molecule dyes hold unique advantages such as definite structures and capability of fast clearance from body. By virtue of these advantages, small molecule dyes-constructed nanoparticles have relatively small size and show promise in the clinical translation. Thus, in this minireview, we summarize recent advances in small molecule dyes-based nanotheranostics for NIR-II PA imaging and cancer therapy. Studies about NIR-II PA imaging-guided phototherapy are first introduced. Then, NIR-II PA imaging-guided phototherapy-based combination therapeutic systems are reviewed. Finally, the conclusion and perspectives of this field are summarized and discussed.

On the interface between biomaterials and two-dimensional materials for biomedical applications

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have garnered significant attention due to their ultrathin 2D structures with a high degree of anisotropy and functionality. Reliable manipulation of interfaces between 2D materials and biomaterials is a new frontier for biomedical nanoscience and combining biomaterials with 2D materials offers a promising way to fabricate innovative 2D biomaterials composites with distinct functionality for biomedical applications. Here, we focus exclusively on a summary of the current work in the interface investigation of 2D biomaterials. Specifically, we highlight extraordinary features that make 2D materials so desirable, as well as the molecular level interactions between 2D materials and biomaterials that have been studied thus far. Furthermore, the approaches for investigating the interface characteristics of 2D biomaterials are presented and described in depth. To capture the emerging trend in mass manufacturing of 2D materials, we review the research progress on biomaterial-assisted exfoliation. Finally, we present a critical assessment of newly developed 2D biomaterials in biomedical applications.

A biodegradable multifunctional nanoplatform based on antimonene nanosheets for synergistic cancer phototherapy and dual imaging

Recently, nanomaterials have been well-studied in cancer therapy, but some of them often experience difficulties with degradation in vivo, which could cause severe damage to the human body. Among numerous biodegradable nanomaterials, antimonene nanosheets (AMNSs) are versatile, and possess photothermal and photodynamic properties and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and drug loading ability. Herein, we employed a clearable multifunctional system. The small molecule photosensitizer IR820 and the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) at small sizes of approximately 5 nm were loaded onto AMNSs coated with biodegradable chitosan (CS). This nanoplatform showed excellent photothermal and photodynamic properties, satisfactory degradability and photoacoustic imaging ability, good biocompatibility and effective NIR light triggered intracellular synergistic treatment. It also displayed good fluorescence imaging ability in the experiment of cell uptake. These suggested that this versatile nanoplatform was able to significantly enhance the therapeutic efficiency based on synergistic phototherapy, and could also be applied in fluorescence and photoacoustic dual imaging for integrating diagnosis and treatment.

Multimodal Contrast Agents for Optoacoustic Brain Imaging in Small Animals

Optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging has demonstrated versatile applications in biomedical research, visualizing the disease pathophysiology and monitoring the treatment effect in an animal model, as well as toward applications in the clinical setting. Given the complex disease mechanism, multimodal imaging provides important etiological insights with different molecular, structural, and functional readouts in vivo. Various multimodal optoacoustic molecular imaging approaches have been applied in preclinical brain imaging studies, including optoacoustic/fluorescence imaging, optoacoustic imaging/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optoacoustic imaging/MRI/Raman, optoacoustic imaging/positron emission tomography, and optoacoustic/computed tomography. There is a rapid development in molecular imaging contrast agents employing a multimodal imaging strategy for pathological targets involved in brain diseases. Many chemical dyes for optoacoustic imaging have fluorescence properties and have been applied in hybrid optoacoustic/fluorescence imaging. Nanoparticles are widely used as hybrid contrast agents for their capability to incorporate different imaging components, tunable spectrum, and photostability. In this review, we summarize contrast agents including chemical dyes and nanoparticles applied in multimodal optoacoustic brain imaging integrated with other modalities in small animals, and provide outlook for further research.

Emerging two-dimensional monoelemental materials (Xenes): Fabrication, modification, and applications thereof in the field of bioimaging as nanocarriers

In recent years, more and more research enthusiasm has been devoted to the development of emerging two-dimensional (2D) monoelement materials (Xenes) and explored potential applications in various fields, especially biomedicine and bioimaging. The inspiring results attribute to their excellent physicochemical properties, including adjustable band gap, surface electronic layout characteristics, and so on, making it easier for surface modification in order to meet designated needs. As a popular interdisciplinary research frontier, a variety of methods for fabricating 2D Xenes have recently been adopted for pre-preparing future practical bioimaging applications, which implies that these materials will have broad clinical application prospects in the future. In this review, we will concentrate on the family of 2D Xenes and summarize their fabrication and modification methods firstly. Then, their applications in bioimaging as nanocarriers will be described according to the Periodic Table of Elements. In addition, current challenges and prospects for further clinical applications will be under discussion and use black phosphorus as a typical example. At last, general conclusion will be made that it is worth expecting that 2D Xenes will play a key role in the next generation of oncologic bioimaging in the future. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Toxicology of Nanomaterials Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Regulatory and Policy Issues in Nanomedicine.

Emerging contrast agents for multispectral optoacoustic imaging and their biomedical applications

Optoacoustic imaging is a hybrid biomedical imaging modality which collects ultrasound waves generated via photoexciting contrast agents in tissues and produces images of high resolution and penetration depth. As a functional optoacoustic imaging technique, multispectral optoacoustic imaging, which can discriminate optoacoustic signals from different contrast agents by illuminating samples with multi-wavelength lasers and then processing the collected data with specific algorithms, assists in the identification of a specific contrast agent in target tissues and enables simultaneous molecular and physiological imaging. Moreover, multispectral optoacoustic imaging can also generate three-dimensional images for biological tissues/samples with high resolution and thus holds great potential in biomedical applications. Contrast agents play essential roles in optoacoustic imaging, and they have been widely explored and applied as probes and sensors in recent years, leading to the emergence of a variety of new contrast agents. In this review, we aim to summarize the latest advances in emerging contrast agents, especially the activatable ones which can respond to specific biological stimuli, as well as their preclinical and clinical applications. We highlight their design strategies, discuss the challenges and prospects in multispectral optoacoustic imaging, and outline the possibility of applying it in clinical translation and public health services using synthetic contrast agents.

Recent Trends in Photoacoustic Imaging Techniques for 2D Nanomaterial-Based Phototherapy

A variety of 2D materials have been developed for therapeutic biomedical studies. Because of their excellent physicochemical properties, 2D materials can be used as carriers for delivering therapeutic agents into a lesion, leading to phototherapy. Various optical imaging techniques have been used for the monitoring of the treatment process. Among these, photoacoustic imaging has unique advantages including relatively deep imaging depth and large field of view with high spatial resolution. In this review article, we summarize the types of photoacoustic imaging systems used for phototherapy monitoring, then we explore contrast-enhanced photoacoustic images using 2D materials. Finally, photoacoustic image-guided phototherapies are discussed. We conclude that 2D material-based phototherapy can be efficiently monitored by photoacoustic imaging techniques.

Application and prospect of antimonene: A new two-dimensional nanomaterial in cancer theranostics

With the rise of two-dimensional nanomaterials in medicine, finding suitable materials has become our top priority. Since the first report of antimonene in 2015, due to its excellent physical and chemical properties, it has gradually attracted widespread attention, including its application prospects in cancer treatment. In this paper, the preparation, stability and infrared degradability of antimonene, as well as its experimental examples in tumor treatment in recent years are reviewed, the latest research results are listed and summarized, the advantages and existing problems are analyzed, and the future of antimonene in tumor therapy is prospected.

A multimodal imaging-guided nanoreactor for cooperative combination of tumor starvation and multiple mechanism-enhanced mild temperature phototherapy

A unique nanoreactor Fe-PDAP/GOx/ICG is engineered to realize starvation therapy and enhanced phototherapy via multilevel mechanisms for simultaneous glucose consumption, oxygen supply, glutathione (GSH) depletion, and heat-resistance relief.