Cancer therapy with iron oxide nanoparticles: Agents of thermal and immune therapies

Enhanced tumor-targeting ability of transferrin-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles by in vivo AMF stimulation

The protein corona formed on the surface of ligand-functionalized nanoparticles has been associated with the loss of targeting capability of the nanoparticles in vivo. Here, we developed a remote magnetothermal stimulation approach to regulate the in vivo active-targeting capability of transferrin (Tf)-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (SPIO-Tf). This technique harnesses the heat dissipation by the magnetic nanoparticles in response to alternating magnetic fields to re-expose buried Tf on the nanoparticle surface, thereby restoring its binding function. SPIO-Tf with different grafting densities were prepared and in vitro experiments reveal that AMF stimulation of SPIO-Tf significantly improved its targeting ability to A549 cells in serum-rich environments. In vivo experiments also exhibit a 2.68-fold greater accumulation of magnetothermal-stimulated SPIO-Tf in solid tumors. Moreover, our approach is applicable to various SPIO-Tf formulations with different PEG molecular weights, and antibodies-conjugated SPIO. Overall, this study establishes a versatile, safe and potent strategy to tackle the negative impact of protein corona on the targeting ability of ligand-decorated magnetic nanoparticles in vivo, with promising implications for enhancing the effectiveness of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions across a range of diseases.

Iron oxide nanoparticles: a versatile nanoplatform for the treatment and diagnosis of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer remains one of the main causes of human mortality, accounting for millions of deaths every year. Despite of several clinical options such as chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), hormonal treatment, radiation therapy, and surgery to manage this disease, the mortality rate is still very high. This alarming statistic highlights the urgent need for innovative approaches to improve both diagnosis and treatment. Success stories of iron oxide nanoparticles, i.e. Ferucarbotran (Resovist®) and Ferrixan (Cliavist®) for liver imaging, CNS (Central nervous system) imaging, cell labeling, etc. have motivated researchers to explore these nanocarriers for treatment and diagnosis of different diseases. Iron oxide nanoparticles have improved the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs through targeted delivery, heat/ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation on application of external energy and have also shown great potential as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Their unique magnetic properties enable sensitive imaging, and surface modification allows the attachment of specific biomolecules for targeted detection of ovarian cancer cells. Their unique properties, viz. magnetic responsiveness and surface functionalization, make them versatile tools for enhancing both imaging and therapeutic outcomes. Present article reviews the literature on the synthesis, functionalization, and applications of iron oxide nanoparticles in management of ovarian cancer.

Functionalized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Both Dual-Modal Imaging and Erythropoiesis

Cancer-related anemia (CRA), a complication of cancer, is considered the primary cause of high mortality for cancer patients. Safe and effective theranostics are desirable for realizing the high diagnostic accuracy of tumors and ameliorating CRA in the clinic. However, the available theranostics do not support dual-modal imaging and the amelioration of CRA at the same time. In this study, we synthesized functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) modified with protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) and folic acid (FA) by a one-step modification strategy (Fe3O4@NH-PPIX&FA NPs) or a step-by-step strategy (Fe3O4@NH-PPIX-FA NPs), aiming at both magnetic resonance imaging/fluorescence imaging (MRI/FI) and erythropoiesis. Fe3O4@NH-PPIX-FA NPs displayed better ability of MRI/FI than Fe3O4@NH-PPIX&FA NPs and had an efficient tumor targeting of 45 min after tail vein injection owing to the reduction of the steric effect and extension of FA groups. Fe3O4@NH-PPIX-FA NPs exhibited satisfactory erythropoiesis with up to 20% elevation of red blood cell (RBC) counts and hemoglobin concentrations in mice with CRA, which provided a safe alternative to RBC transfusions, especially for patients needing recurrent RBC transfusions. With excellent performance in both dual-modal imaging and erythropoiesis, Fe3O4@NH-PPIX-FA NPs could be a powerful tool for the theranostics of cancer patients with anemia.

Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Enhance Exosome Production by Upregulating Exosome Transport and Secretion Pathways

Exosomes are cell-released nanovesicles that regulate intercellular communication by transporting a variety of bioactive molecules. They play a crucial role in various physiological and pathological processes, such as the immune response, tissue regeneration, aging, and tumor progression. There has been growing interest in controlling exosome production, which could offer valuable tools for unraveling complex cell communication networks and enabling novel therapeutic applications. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs), one of the few nanomaterials approved for clinical use, have been shown to remotely modulate cellular activities such as cytoskeleton reorganization, ion channel activation, and cell polarization. In this study, we systematically investigate the effects of MNPs, acting as nanoscale force transducers, on exosome production in two distinct cell types with different responses to mechanical stimuli. Our findings reveal that magnetic force applied to intracellular MNPs induces vesicle relocation and promotes the formation of actin stress fibers. Gene expression analysis further shows that intracellular magnetic force upregulates genes related to exosome transport and secretion as well as other pathways linked to exosome biogenesis. Notably, these forces substantially enhance exosome production, particularly MNP-containing exosomes, which are accompanied by increased intercellular exchange of MNPs. In summary, our study offers valuable insights into MNP-driven exosome production and presents potential strategies for enhancing cell communication and modulating nanoparticle distribution in nanomedicine.

Golden era of radiosensitizers

The past 30 years have brought undeniable progress in medicine, biology, physics, and research. Knowledge of the nature of the human body, diseases, and disorders has been constantly improving, and the same is true regarding their treatment and diagnosis. One of the greatest advances in recent years has been the introduction of nanoparticles (NPs) into medicine. NPs refer to a material at a nanometer scale (0.1-100 nm) with features (specific physical, chemical, and biological properties) that are broadly and increasingly used in the medical field. Their applications in cancer treatment and radiotherapy seem particularly attractive. In this field, inorganic/metal NPs with high atomic number Z have been employed mainly due to their ability to enhance ionizing radiation's photoelectric and Compton effects and thereby increase conventional radiation therapy's efficacy. The improvement NPs enable relates to their enhanced permeation ability and longer retention effect in tumor cells, capacity to reduce toxicity of commercially available cancer drugs through advanced NPs drug delivery systems, radiation sensitizers of tumors, or enhancers of radiation doses to tumors. Advanced options according to size, core, and surface modification allow even such multimodal approaches in therapy as nanotheranostics or combined treatments. The current state of knowledge emphasizes the role of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in sensitizing tumors to radiation. We have reviewed AuNPs and their radiosensitizing power during radiation treatment. Our results are divided into groups based on AuNPs' surface modification and/or core structure design. This study provides a complete summary of the in vivo sensitizing effect of AuNPs, surface-modified AuNPs, and AuNPs combined with different elements, providing evidence for further successful veterinarian and clinical implementation.

Immunogenic properties of nickel-doped maghemite nanoparticles and the implication for cancer immunotherapy

Nanoparticles are commonly used in diagnostics and therapy. They are also increasingly being implemented in cancer immunotherapy because of their ability to deliver drugs and modulate the immune system. However, the effect of nanoparticles on immune cells involved in the anti-tumor immune response is not well understood. The study reported here showed that nickel-doped maghemite nanoparticles (FN NP) are differentially cytotoxic to cultured mouse and human cancer cell lines, causing their death without negatively impacting the subsequent anticancer immune response. It also found that FN NP induced cell death in the mouse colorectal cancer cell line CT26 and human prostate cancer cell line PC-3, but not in the human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP. The induced cancer cell death did not affect the phenotype and responsivity of the isolated mouse peritoneal macrophages, or ex vivo-generated mouse bone marrow-derived, or human monocyte-derived dendritic cells. Additionally, the induced cancer cell death did not prevent the ex vivo-generated mouse or human dendritic cells from stimulating lymphocytes and enriching cell cultures with cancer cell-reactive T-cells. In conclusion, this study shows that FN NP could be a valuable platform for targeting cancer cells without causing immunosuppressive effects on the subsequent anticancer immune response.

Nanoplatforms for Magnetic-Photo-Heating of Thermo-Resistant Tumor Cells: Singular Synergic Therapeutic Effects at Mild Temperature

A self-assemble amphiphilic diblock copolymer that can incorporate iron oxide nanocubes (IONCs) in chain-like assemblies as heat mediators for magnetic hyperthermia (MHT) and tuneable amounts of IR780 dye as agent for photothermal therapy (PTT) is developed. MHT-heating performance of photobeads in viscous media have the same heat performances in water at magnetic field conditions of clinical use. Thanks to IR780, the photobeads are activated by infrared laser light within the first biological window (808 nm) with a significant enhancement of photo-stability of IR780 enabling the raise of the temperature at therapeutic values during multiple PTT cycles and showing unchanged optical features up to 8 days. Moreover, the photobeads fluorescent signal is preserved once internalized by glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells. Peculiarly, the photobeads are used as toxic agents to eradicate thermo-resistant GBM cells at mild heat, as low as 41 °C, with MHT and PTT both of clinical use. Indeed, a high U87 GBM cell mortality percentage is obtained only with dual MHT/PTT while each single treatment dose not provide the same cytotoxic effects. Only for the combined treatment, the cell death mechanism is assigned to clear sign of apoptosis as observed by structural/morphological cell studies and enhanced lysosome permeability.

Targeting the tumor microenvironment with biomaterials for enhanced immunotherapeutic efficacy

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex system characterized by low oxygen, low pH, high pressure, and numerous growth factors and protein hydrolases that regulate a wide range of biological behaviors in the tumor and have a profound impact on cancer progression. Immunotherapy is an innovative approach to cancer treatment that activates the immune system, resulting in the spontaneous killing of tumor cells. However, the therapeutic efficacy of these clinically approved cancer immunotherapies (e.g., immune checkpoint blocker (ICB) therapies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies) is far from satisfactory due to the presence of immunosuppressive TMEs created in part by tumor hypoxia, acidity, high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and a dense extracellular matrix (ECM). With continuous advances in materials science and drug-delivery technologies, biomaterials hold considerable potential for targeting the TME. This article reviews the advances in biomaterial-based targeting of the TME to advance our current understanding on the role of biomaterials in enhancing tumor immunity. In addition, the strategies for remodeling the TME offer enticing advantages; however, the represent a double-edged sword. In the process of reshaping the TME, the risk of tumor growth, infiltration, and distant metastasis may increase.

Utilization of nanomaterials in MRI contrast agents and their role in therapy guided by imaging

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a globally acknowledged diagnostic procedure particularly recognized for its superior soft tissue contrast, high-resolution imaging, and non-ionizing radiation properties, making it an indispensable tool in the medical field. However, to optimize MRI's sensitivity and specificity towards certain diseases, use of contrast agents becomes necessary. Recent developments focus on nanomaterial-based MRI contrast agents to improve diagnostic accuracy and image quality. This review highlights advancements in such agents, including metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-based materials, gold nanoparticles, and quantum dots. It discusses their roles in MRI-guided therapies like targeted drug delivery, hyperthermia, radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy, immunity-boosting therapy, and gene therapy. Insights into the future potential of MRI contrast agents in imaging medicine are also provided.

Engineering Protein-Nanoparticle Hybrids as Targeted Contrast Agents

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have shown great promise in biomedical applications, particularly as MRI contrast agents due to their magnetic properties and biocompatibility. Although several IONPs have been approved by regulatory agencies as MRI contrast agents, their primary application as negative contrast agents limits their usage. Additionally, there is an emerging need for the development of molecular contrast agents that can specifically target biomarkers, enabling more accurate and sensitive diagnostics. To address these challenges, we exploited the engineerability of proteins to stabilize IONPs with tailored magnetic properties, creating protein-stabilized iron oxide nanoparticles (Prot-IONPs) and leveraged the chemical diversity of proteins to functionalize Prot-IONPs with targeting moieties. As a proof-of-concept, we used alendronate (Ald) to target atherosclerotic plaques in the aorta. Simple protein functionalization allowed targeting while maintaining the stability and relaxation properties of the Prot-IONPs. Prot-IONPs-Ald successfully enabled positive contrast imaging of atherosclerotic plaques in vivo in an atherosclerotic mouse model (ApoE-/- mice on a high-fat diet). This study demonstrates the potential of engineering protein-nanoparticle hybrids as versatile platforms for developing targeted in vivo MRI contrast agents.

Advanced Nanomaterials for Cancer Therapy: Gold, Silver, and Iron Oxide Nanoparticles in Oncological Applications

Cancer remains one of the most challenging health issues globally, demanding innovative therapeutic approaches for effective treatment. Nanoparticles, particularly those composed of gold, silver, and iron oxide, have emerged as promising candidates for changing cancer therapy. This comprehensive review demonstrates the landscape of nanoparticle‐based oncological interventions, focusing on the remarkable advancements and therapeutic potentials of gold, silver, and iron oxide nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles have garnered significant attention for their exceptional biocompatibility, tunable surface chemistry, and distinctive optical properties, rendering them ideal candidates for various cancer diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Silver nanoparticles, renowned for their antimicrobial properties, exhibit remarkable potential in cancer therapy through multiple mechanisms, including apoptosis induction, angiogenesis inhibition, and drug delivery enhancement. With their magnetic properties and biocompatibility, iron oxide nanoparticles offer unique cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy opportunities. This review critically examines the recent advancements in the synthesis, functionalization, and biomedical applications of these nanoparticles in cancer therapy. Moreover, the challenges are discussed, including toxicity concerns, immunogenicity, and translational barriers, and ongoing efforts to overcome these hurdles are highlighted. Finally, insights into the future directions of nanoparticle‐based cancer therapy and regulatory considerations, are provided aiming to accelerate the translation of these promising technologies from bench to bedside.

Immunomodulatory metal-based biomaterials for cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy, as an emerging cancer treatment approach, harnesses the patient's own immune system to effectively prevent tumor recurrence or metastasis. However, its clinical application has been significantly hindered by relatively low immune response rates. In recent years, metal-based biomaterials have been extensively studied as effective immunomodulators and potential tools for enhancing anti-tumor immune responses, enabling the reversal of immune suppression without inducing toxic side effects. This review introduces the classification of bioactive metal elements and summarizes their immune regulatory mechanisms. In addition, we discuss the immunomodulatory roles of biomaterials constructed from various metals, including aluminum, manganese, gold, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, and copper. More importantly, a systematic overview of their applications in enhancing immunotherapy is provided. Finally, the prospects and challenges of metal-based biomaterials with immunomodulatory functions in cancer immunotherapy are outlined.

Biomaterial-Mediated Metabolic Regulation of Ferroptosis for Cancer Immunotherapy

Ferroptosis is a lipid peroxidation-driven cell death route and has attracted enormous interest for cancer therapy. Distinct from other forms of regulated cell death, its process is involved with multiple metabolic pathways including lipids, bioenergetics, iron, and so on, which influence cancer cell ferroptosis sensitivity and communication with the immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. Development of novel technologies for harnessing the ferroptosis-associated metabolic regulatory network would profoundly improve our understanding of the immune responses and enhance the efficacy of ferroptosis-dependent immunotherapy. Interestingly, the recent advances in bio-derived material-based therapeutic platforms offer novel opportunities to therapeutically modulate tumor metabolism through the in situ delivery of molecular or material cues, which not only allows the tumor-specific elicitation of ferroptosis but also holds promise to maximize their immunostimulatory impact. In this review, we will first dissect the crosstalk between tumor metabolism and ferroptosis and its impact on the immune regulation in the tumor microenvironment, followed by the comprehensive analysis on the recent progress in biomaterial-based metabolic regulatory strategies for evoking ferroptosis-mediated antitumor immunity. A perspective section is also provided to discuss the challenges in metabolism-regulating biomaterials for ferroptosis-immunotherapy. We envision that this review may provide new insights for improving tumor immunotherapeutic efficacy in the clinic.

Targeting the lung tumour stroma: harnessing nanoparticles for effective therapeutic interventions

Lung cancer remains an influential global health concern, necessitating the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. The tumour stroma, which is known as tumour microenvironment (TME) has a central impact on tumour expansion and treatment resistance. The stroma of lung tumours consists of numerous cells and molecules that shape an environment for tumour expansion. This environment not only protects tumoral cells against immune system attacks but also enables tumour stroma to attenuate the action of antitumor drugs. This stroma consists of stromal cells like cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), suppressive immune cells, and cytotoxic immune cells. Additionally, the presence of stem cells, endothelial cells and pericytes can facilitate tumour volume expansion. Nanoparticles are hopeful tools for targeted drug delivery because of their extraordinary properties and their capacity to devastate biological obstacles. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary advancements in targeting the lung tumour stroma using nanoparticles. Various nanoparticle-based approaches, including passive and active targeting, and stimuli-responsive systems, highlighting their potential to improve drug delivery efficiency. Additionally, the role of nanotechnology in modulating the tumour stroma by targeting key components such as immune cells, extracellular matrix (ECM), hypoxia, and suppressive elements in the lung tumour stroma.

Precision-engineered metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles for biomedical imaging and healthcare applications

The growing field of nanotechnology has witnessed numerous advancements over the past few years, particularly in the development of engineered nanoparticles. Compared with bulk materials, metal nanoparticles possess more favorable properties, such as increased chemical activity and toxicity, owing to their smaller size and larger surface area. Metal nanoparticles exhibit exceptional stability, specificity, sensitivity, and effectiveness, making them highly useful in the biomedical field. Metal nanoparticles are in high demand in biomedical nanotechnology, including Au, Ag, Pt, Cu, Zn, Co, Gd, Eu, and Er. These particles exhibit excellent physicochemical properties, including amenable functionalization, non-corrosiveness, and varying optical and electronic properties based on their size and shape. Metal nanoparticles can be modified with different targeting agents such as antibodies, liposomes, transferrin, folic acid, and carbohydrates. Thus, metal nanoparticles hold great promise for various biomedical applications such as photoacoustic imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography (CT), photothermal, and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Despite their potential, safety considerations, and regulatory hurdles must be addressed for safe clinical applications. This review highlights advancements in metal nanoparticle surface engineering and explores their integration with emerging technologies such as bioimaging, cancer therapeutics and nanomedicine. By offering valuable insights, this comprehensive review offers a deep understanding of the potential of metal nanoparticles in biomedical research.

Engineered Cancer Nanovaccines: A New Frontier in Cancer Therapy

Vaccinations are essential for preventing and treating disease, especially cancer nanovaccines, which have gained considerable interest recently for their strong anti-tumor immune capabilities. Vaccines can prompt the immune system to generate antibodies and activate various immune cells, leading to a response against tumor tissues and reducing the negative effects and recurrence risks of traditional chemotherapy and surgery. To enhance the flexibility and targeting of vaccines, nanovaccines utilize nanotechnology to encapsulate or carry antigens at the nanoscale level, enabling more controlled and precise drug delivery to enhance immune responses. Cancer nanovaccines function by encapsulating tumor-specific antigens or tumor-associated antigens within nanomaterials. The small size of these nanomaterials allows for precise targeting of T cells, dendritic cells, or cancer cells, thereby eliciting a more potent anti-tumor response. In this paper, we focus on the classification of carriers for cancer nanovaccines, the roles of different target cells, and clinically tested cancer nanovaccines, discussing strategies for effectively inducing cytotoxic T lymphocytes responses and optimizing antigen presentation, while also looking ahead to the translational challenges of moving from animal experiments to clinical trials.

A Novel Size-Based Centrifugal Microfluidic Design to Enrich and Magnetically Isolate Circulating Tumor Cells from Blood Cells through Biocompatible Magnetite-Arginine Nanoparticles

This paper presents a novel centrifugal microfluidic approach (so-called lab-on-a-CD) for magnetic circulating tumor cell (CTC) separation from the other healthy cells according to their physical and acquired chemical properties. This study enhances the efficiency of CTC isolation, crucial for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy. CTCs are cells that break away from primary tumors and travel through the bloodstream; however, isolating CTCs from blood cells is difficult due to their low numbers and diverse characteristics. The proposed microfluidic device consists of two sections: a passive section that uses inertial force and bifurcation law to sort CTCs into different streamlines based on size and shape and an active section that uses magnetic forces along with Dean drag, inertial, and centrifugal forces to capture magnetized CTCs at the downstream of the microchannel. The authors designed, simulated, fabricated, and tested the device with cultured cancer cells and human cells. We also proposed a cost-effective method to mitigate the surface roughness and smooth surfaces created by micromachines and a unique pulsatile technique for flow control to improve separation efficiency. The possibility of a device with fewer layers to improve the leaks and alignment concerns was also demonstrated. The fabricated device could quickly handle a large volume of samples and achieve a high separation efficiency (93%) of CTCs at an optimal angular velocity. The paper shows the feasibility and potential of the proposed centrifugal microfluidic approach to satisfy the pumping, cell sorting, and separating functions for CTC separation.

Evaluation of ferroptosis-based anti-leukemic activities of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by a green route against Pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells (Nalm-6 and REH)

Background

Our research presents an efficient and practical method for producing Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), which have anti-leukemic effects based on ferroptosis.

Methods

The black cardamom extract was employed as a capping and reducing agent for the green synthesis. The NPs have been characterized via scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, leukemic and normal cells were exposed to ZnO NPs (25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, and 300 μg/mL) for 24 and 48 h. The cell vitality was then measured using the MTT test. Moreover, ferroptosis indicators were assessed via commercial testing kits, and finally, qRT-PCR and flow cytometry were used to measure gene expression and cell death.

Results

The findings displayed that green synthesized ZnO NPs reduced the survival of leukemic cells, with IC50 values of 150.89 μg/ml for Nalm-6 and 101.31 μg/ml for REH cells after 48 h. The ZnO NPs increased ferroptosis by significantly increasing MDA, intracellular iron, ACSL4, ALOX15, and p53 mRNA expressions while significantly decreasing GSH and GPx activity levels and SLC7A11 and GPx4 mRNA expressions. On the other hand, ZnO NPs exhibited no toxicity toward normal cells.

Conclusions

The research suggests that ZnO NPs synthesized using the green approach can induce ferroptosis in leukemic cells by disrupting redox homeostasis and increasing intracellular iron levels, potentially enhancing the benefits of anti-leukemic therapies in the future.

Purification, Characterization, and Assessment of Anticancer Activity of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Biosynthesized by Novel Thermophilic Bacillus tequilensis ASFS1‏

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), particularly iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), are a fascinating group of nanoparticles that have been considerably investigated for biomedical applications because of their superparamagnetic properties, biodegradable nature, and biocompatibility. A novel Gram-positive moderately thermophilic bacterial strain, namely Bacillus tequilensis ASFS.1, was isolated and identified. This strain is capable of producing superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles and exhibiting magnetotaxis behavior. This strain swimming behavior was investigated under static and dynamic environments, where it behaved very much similar to the magnetotaxis in magnetotactic bacteria. This study is the first report of a bacterium from the Bacillaceae family that has the potential to intracellular biosynthesis of IONPs. MNPs were separated by a magnetic and reproducible method which was designed for the first time for this study. In addition, UV-visible spectrophotometer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction, and thermal gravimetric analysis were utilized to characterize the bio-fabricated magnetite nanoparticles. Analysis of the particle size distribution pattern of the biogenic MNPs by FESEM imaging revealed the size range of 10-100 nm with the size range of 10-40 nm MNPs being the most frequent particles. VSM analysis demonstrated that biogenic MNPs displayed superparamagnetic properties with a high saturation magnetization value of 184 emu/g. After 24 h treatment of 3T3, U87, A549, MCF-7, and HT-29 cell lines with the biogenic MNPs, IC50 values were measured to be 339, 641, 582, 149, and 184 μg mL-1, respectively. This study presents the novel strain ASFS.1 capable of magnetotaxis by the aid of its magnetite nanoparticles and paving information on isolation, characterization, and in vitro cytotoxicity of its MNPs. The MNPs showed promising potential for biomedical applications, obviously subject to additional studies.

Strategies for the development of metalloimmunotherapies

Metal ions play crucial roles in the regulation of immune pathways. In fact, metallodrugs have a long record of accomplishment as effective treatments for a wide range of diseases. Here we argue that the modulation of interactions of metal ions with molecules and cells involved in the immune system forms the basis of a new class of immunotherapies. By examining how metal ions modulate the innate and adaptive immune systems, as well as host-microbiota interactions, we discuss strategies for the development of such metalloimmunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other immune-related diseases.

Designing intelligent bioorthogonal nanozymes: Recent advances of stimuli-responsive catalytic systems for biomedical applications

Bioorthogonal nanozymes have emerged as a potent tool in biomedicine due to their unique ability to perform enzymatic reactions that do not interfere with native biochemical processes. The integration of stimuli-responsive mechanisms into these nanozymes has further expanded their potential, allowing for controlled activation and targeted delivery. As such, intelligent bioorthogonal nanozymes have received more and more attention in developing therapeutic approaches. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in the development and application of stimuli-responsive bioorthogonal nanozymes. By summarizing the design outlines for anchoring bioorthogonal nanozymes with stimuli-responsive capability, this review seeks to offer valuable insights and guidance for the rational design of these remarkable materials. This review highlights the significant progress made in this exciting field with different types of stimuli and the various applications. Additionally, it also examines the current challenges and limitations in the design, synthesis, and application of these systems, and proposes potential solutions and research directions. This review aims to stimulate further research toward the development of more efficient and versatile stimuli-responsive bioorthogonal nanozymes for biomedical applications.

Magnetic iron oxide nanogels for combined hyperthermia and drug delivery for cancer treatment

Hyperthermia and chemotherapy represent potential modalities for cancer treatments. However, hyperthermia can be invasive, while chemotherapy drugs often have severe side effects. Recent clinical investigations have underscored the potential synergistic efficacy of combining hyperthermia with chemotherapy, leading to enhanced cancer cell killing. In this context, magnetic iron oxide nanogels have emerged as promising candidates as they can integrate superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), providing the requisite magnetism for magnetic hyperthermia, with the nanogel scaffold facilitating smart drug delivery. This review provides an overview of the synthetic methodologies employed in fabricating magnetic nanogels. Key properties and designs of these nanogels are discussed and challenges for their translation to the clinic and the market are summarised.

A review of metallic nanoparticles: present issues and prospects focused on the preparation methods, characterization techniques, and their theranostic applications

Metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) have garnered significant attention due to their ability to improve the therapeutic index of medications by reducing multidrug resistance and effectively delivering therapeutic agents through active targeting. In addition to drug delivery, MNPs have several medical applications, including in vitro and in vivo diagnostics, and they improve the biocompatibility of materials and nutraceuticals. MNPs have several advantages in drug delivery systems and genetic manipulation, such as improved stability and half-life in circulation, passive or active targeting into the desired target selective tissue, and gene manipulation by delivering genetic materials. The main goal of this review is to provide current information on the present issues and prospects of MNPs in drug and gene delivery systems. The current study focused on MNP preparation methods and their characterization by different techniques, their applications to targeted delivery, non-viral vectors in genetic manipulation, and challenges in clinical trial translation.

Understanding magnetic hyperthermia performance within the "Brezovich criterion": beyond the uniaxial anisotropy description

Careful determination of the heating performance of magnetic nanoparticles under AC fields is critical for magnetic hyperthermia applications. However, most interpretations of experimental data are based on the uniaxial anisotropy approximation, which in the first instance can be correlated with the particle aspect ratio. This is to say, the intrinsic magnetocrystalline anisotropy is discarded, under the assumption that the shape contribution dominates. We show in this work that such a premise, generally valid for large field amplitudes, does not hold for describing hyperthermia experiments carried out under small field values. Specifically, given its relevance for in vivo applications, we focus our analysis on the so-called "Brezovich criterion", H·f = 4.85 × 108 A m-1 s-1. By means of a computational model, we show that the intrinsic magnetocrystalline anisotropy plays a critical role in defining the heat output, determining also the role of the shape and aspect ratio of the particles on the SLP. Our results indicate that even small deviations from spherical shape have an important impact on optimizing the heating performance. The influence of interparticle interactions on the dissipated heat is also evaluated. Our results call, therefore, for an improvement in the theoretical models used to interpret magnetic hyperthermia performance.

Core-Tunable Dendritic Polymer: A Folate-Guided Theranostic Nanoplatform for Drug Delivery Applications

Clinical application of anticancer drugs is mostly limited due to their hydrophobic nature, which often results in lower bioavailability and lesser retention in systemic circulation. Despite extensive research on the development of targeted drug delivery systems for cancer treatment, delivery of hydrophobic therapeutic drugs to tumor cells remains a major challenge in the field. To address these concerns, we have precisely engineered a new hyperbranched polymer for the targeted delivery of hydrophobic drugs by using a malonic acid-based A2B monomer and 1,6-hexanediol. The choice of monomer systems in our design allows for the formation of higher molecular weight polymers with hydrophobic cavities for the efficient encapsulation of therapeutic drugs that exhibit poor water solubility. Using several experimental techniques such as NMR, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), the synthesized polymer was characterized, which indicated its dendritic structure, thermal stability, and amorphous nature, making it suitable as a drug delivery system. Following characterizations, theranostic nanoplatforms were formulated using a one-pot solvent diffusion method to coencapsulate hydrophobic drugs, BQU57 and doxorubicin. To achieve targeted delivery of loaded therapeutic drugs in A549 cancer cells, the surface of the polymeric nanoparticle was conjugated with folic acid. The therapeutic efficacy of the delivery system was determined by various cell-based in vitro experiments, including cytotoxicity, cell internalizations, reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis, migration, and comet assays. Overall, findings from this study indicate that the synthesized dendritic polymer is a promising carrier for hydrophobic anticancer drugs with higher biocompatibility, stability, and therapeutic efficacy for applications in cancer therapy.

Recent Trends in Biologically Synthesized Metal Nanoparticles and their Biomedical Applications: a Review

In recent years, biologically synthesized metal nanoparticles have emerged as a dynamic field of research with significant implications for biomedical applications. This review explores the latest trends in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles using biological methods, encompassing plant extracts and microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. These innovative approaches offer a sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemical synthesis methods. Moreover, this review delves into the multifaceted biomedical applications of biologically synthesized metal nanoparticles. These applications include drug delivery systems, diagnostics, therapeutics, and imaging technologies, showcasing the versatility and promise of these nanomaterials in addressing contemporary biomedical challenges. In addition, the review addresses the critical issue of cytotoxicity, offering insights into the safety and viability of these biologically derived NPs for medical use. The exploration of recent trends and advancements in this field underscores the transformative potential of biologically synthesized metal nanoparticles in revolutionizing biomedical research and healthcare.

The engineered exosomes targeting ferroptosis: A novel approach to reverse immune checkpoint inhibitors resistance

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been extensively used in immunological therapy primarily due to their ability to prolong patient survival. Although ICIs have achieved success in cancer treatment, the resistance of ICIs should not be overlooked. Ferroptosis is a newly found cell death mode characterized by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH) depletion, and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) inactivation, which has been demonstrated to be beneficial to immunotherapy and combining ferroptosis and ICIs to exploit new immunotherapies may reverse ICIs resistance. Exosomes act as mediators in cell-to-cell communication that may regulate ferroptosis to influence immunotherapy through the secretion of biological molecules. Thus, utilizing exosomes to target ferroptosis has opened up exciting possibilities for reversing ICIs resistance. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms of ferroptosis improving ICIs therapy and how exosomes regulate ferroptosis through adjusting iron metabolism, blocking the ROS accumulation, controlling ferroptosis defense systems, and influencing classic signaling pathways and how engineered exosomes target ferroptosis and improve ICIs efficiency.

Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Fe3O4@Glu-Oleuropein Nanoparticles in Targeting KRAS Pathway-Regulating lncRNAs in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Cancer, the leading cause of death worldwide, has witnessed significant advancements in treatment through targeted therapies. Among the proto-oncogenes prevalent in human cancers, KRAS stands out, and recent research has focused on long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as regulators of miRNAs targeting the KRAS oncogene. This study specifically explores lncRNAs involved in the KRAS pathway in colorectal cancer (CRC). To investigate this, researchers employed iron oxide nanoparticles coated with glucose and conjugated with Oleuropein (Fe3O4@Glu-Oleuropein NPs) to evaluate their impact on candidate lncRNAs associated with KRAS pathway deregulation. The study utilized TCGA data to identify genes affected by KRAS mutation and lncRNAs linked to KRAS in CRC. Enrichr and MsigDB databases helped identify relevant pathways. Genes with a correlation coefficient above 0.5 and a P-value less than 0.01 with candidate lncRNAs were selected. MTT and flow cytometry assays determined the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of Fe3O4@Glu-Oleuropein NPs on CRC cells (SW480) and normal cells (HEK293). The findings showed that increased expression of FEZF1-AS1, GAS6-AS1, and LINC00920 correlated with mutated KRAS, and co-expressed genes were significantly involved in hypoxia, KRAS signaling, DNA repair, and IL-2/STAT5 signaling pathways. Fe3O4@Glu-Oleuropein NPs exhibited higher toxicity toward cancer cells, with IC50 values of 92 μg/ml for SW480 and 281 μg/ml for HEK293. Flow cytometry analysis revealed a substantial increase in necrotic and apoptotic cells when treated with Fe3O4@Glu-Oleuropein, along with down-regulation of GAS6-AS1, LINC00920, and FEZF1-AS1 lncRNAs in treated cells. In conclusion, this study highlights the therapeutic potential of Fe3O4@Glu-Oleuropein on colon cancer cells in vitro. The identification of lncRNAs involved in the KRAS pathway provides insights into the underlying mechanisms and offers avenues for further research in targeted cancer therapies.

cGAS-STING pathway agonists are promising vaccine adjuvants

Adjuvants are of critical value in vaccine development as they act on enhancing immunogenicity of antigen and inducing long-lasting immunity. However, there are only a few adjuvants that have been approved for clinical use, which highlights the need for exploring and developing new adjuvants to meet the growing demand for vaccination. Recently, emerging evidence demonstrates that the cGAS-STING pathway orchestrates innate and adaptive immunity by generating type I interferon responses. Many cGAS-STING pathway agonists have been developed and tested in preclinical research for the treatment of cancer or infectious diseases with promising results. As adjuvants, cGAS-STING agonists have demonstrated their potential to activate robust defense immunity in various diseases, including COVID-19 infection. This review summarized the current developments in the field of cGAS-STING agonists with a special focus on the latest applications of cGAS-STING agonists as adjuvants in vaccination. Potential challenges were also discussed in the hope of sparking future research interests to further the development of cGAS-STING as vaccine adjuvants.

Radiosensitizing effects of heparinized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in colon cancer

The combination of radiation treatment and chemotherapy is currently the standard for management of cancer patients. However, safe doses do not often provide effective therapy, then pre-treated patients are forced to repeat treatment with often already increased tumor resistance to drugs and irradiation. One of the solutions we suggest is to improve primary course of radiation treatment via enhancing radiosensitivity of tumors by magnetic-guided iron oxide nanoparticles (magnetite). We obtained spherical heparinized iron oxide nanoparticles (hIONPs, ∼20 nm), characterized it by TEM, Infrared spectroscopy and DLS. Then hIONPs cytotoxicity was assessed for colon cancer cells (XTT assay) and cellular uptake of nanoparticles was analyzed with X-ray fluorescence. Combination of ionizing radiation (IR) and hIONPs in vitro caused an increase of G2/M arrest of cell cycle, mitotic errors and decrease in survival (compared with samples exposed to IR and hIONPs separately). The promising results were shown for magnetic-guided hIONPs in CT26-grafted BALB/C mice: the combination of intravenously administrated hIONPs and IR showed 20,8% T/C ratio (related to non-treated mice), while single radiation had no shown significant decrease in tumor growth (72,4%). Non-guided by magnets hIONPs with IR showed 57,9% of T/C. This indicates that ultra-small size and biocompatible molecule are not the key to successful nano-drug design, in each case, delivery technologies need to be improved when transferred to in vivo model.

Ultrasmall catechol-PEG-anchored ferrite nanoparticles for highly sensitive magnetic resonance angiography

Highly sensitive iron oxide nanoparticles with stable, safe and efficient surface functionalization, as potential substitutes for gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) with increasing biosafety concerns, exhibit great potential for high-performance magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Herein, we developed ultrasmall catechol-PEG-anchored ferrite nanoparticles (PEG-UMFNPs) for highly sensitive MRA. The obtained nanoprobe has a high T1 relaxivity value (7.2 mM-1 s-1) due to its ultrasmall size and Mn doping. It has a suitable hydrodynamic size of 20 nm, which prevents rapid vascular extravasation and renal clearance and prolongs its blood circulation time. In vivo MRA at 3.0 T using the nanoprobe shows that the arteries and veins of rats, even blood vessels as small as 0.32 mm, are distinctly visible, and the contrast enhancement can last for at least 1 h. In addition, due to the outstanding contrast enhancement and long circulation time, the stenosis and recanalization process of the rat's carotid artery can be continuously monitored with a single injection of the nanoprobe. Our study indicates that PEG-UMFNPs are outstanding MR imaging nanoprobes that can be used to diagnose vascular diseases without the biosafety issues of GBCAs.

Economic and Accessible Portable Homemade Magnetic Hyperthermia System: Influence of the Shape, Characteristics and Type of Nanoparticles in Its Effectiveness

Currently, one of the main causes of death in the world is cancer; therefore, it is urgent to obtain a precocious diagnosis, as well as boost research and development of new potential treatments, which should be more efficient and much less invasive for the patient. Magnetic hyperthermia (MH) is an emerging cancer therapy using nanoparticles, which has proved to be effective when combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery, or even by itself, depending on the type and location of the tumor's cells. This article presents the results obtained by using a previously developed economic homemade hyperthermia device with different types of magnetite nanoparticles, with sizes ranging between 12 ± 5 and 36 ± 11 nm and presenting different shapes (spherical and cubic particles). These magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized by three different methods (co-precipitation, solvothermal and hydrothermal processes), with their final form being naked, or possessing different kinds of covering layers (polyethylene glycol (PEG) or citric acid (CA)). The parameters used to characterize the heating by magnetic hyperthermia, namely the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and the intrinsic loss power (ILP), have been obtained by two different methods. Among other results, these experiments allowed for the determination of which synthesized MNPs showed the best performance concerning hyperthermia. From the results, it may be concluded that, as expected, the shape of MNPs is an important factor, as well as the time that the MNPs can remain suspended in solution (which is directly related to the concentration and covering layer of the MNPs). The MNPs that gave the best results in terms of the SAR were the cubic particles covered with PEG, while in terms of total heating the spherical particles covered with citric acid proved to be better.

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.

Lipid nanoparticles for RNA delivery: Self-assembling vs driven-assembling strategies

Among non-viral vectors, lipid nanovectors are considered the gold standard for the delivery of RNA therapeutics. The success of lipid nanoparticles for RNA delivery, with three products approved for human use, has stimulated further investigation into RNA therapeutics for different pathologies. This requires decoding the pathological intracellular processes and tailoring the delivery system to the target tissue and cells. The complexity of the lipid nanovectors morphology originates from the assembling of the lipidic components, which can be elicited by various methods able to drive the formation of nanoparticles with the desired organization. In other cases, pre-formed nanoparticles can be mixed with RNA to induce self-assembly and structural reorganization into RNA-loaded nanoparticles. In this review, the most relevant lipid nanovectors and their potentialities for RNA delivery are described on the basis of the assembling mechanism and of the particle architecture.

Characterization and antitumor effect of doxorubicin-loaded Fe3O4-Au nanocomposite synthesized by electron beam evaporation for magnetic nanotheranostics

Magnetic nanocomposites (MNC) are promising theranostic platforms with tunable physicochemical properties allowing for remote drug delivery and multimodal imaging. Here, we developed doxorubicin-loaded Fe3O4-Au MNC (DOX-MNC) using electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) in combination with magneto-mechanochemical synthesis to assess their antitumor effect on Walker-256 carcinosarcoma under the influence of a constant magnetic (CMF) and electromagnetic field (EMF) by comparing tumor growth kinetics, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra. Transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the formation of spherical magnetite nanoparticles with a discontinuous gold coating that did not significantly affect the ferromagnetic properties of MNC, as measured by vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM). Tumor-bearing animals were divided into the control (no treatment), conventional doxorubicin (DOX), DOX-MNC and DOX-MNC + CMF + EMF groups. DOX-MNC + CMF + EMF resulted in 14% and 16% inhibition of tumor growth kinetics as compared with DOX and DOX-MNC, respectively. MRI visualization showed more substantial tumor necrotic changes after the combined treatment. Quantitative analysis of T2-weighted (T2W) images revealed the lowest value of skewness and a significant increase in tumor intensity in response to DOX-MNC + CMF + EMF as compared with the control (1.4 times), DOX (1.6 times) and DOX-MNC (1.8 times) groups. In addition, the lowest level of nitric oxide determined by ESR was found in DOX-MNC + CMF + EMF tumors, which was close to that of the muscle tissue in the contralateral limb. We propose that the reason for the relationship between the observed changes in MRI and ESR is the hyperfine interaction of nuclear and electron spins in mitochondria, as a source of free radical production. Therefore, these results point to the use of EB-PVD and magneto-mechanochemically synthesized Fe3O4-Au MNC loaded with DOX as a potential candidate for cancer magnetic nanotheranostic applications.

Recent Developments in Magnetic Hyperthermia Therapy (MHT) and Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) in the Brain Tumor Field: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis

Magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) is a promising treatment modality for brain tumors using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) locally delivered to the tumor and activated with an external alternating magnetic field (AMF) to generate antitumor effects through localized heating. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is an emerging technology offering strong signal-to-noise for nanoparticle localization. A scoping review was performed by systematically querying Pubmed, Scopus, and Embase. In total, 251 articles were returned, 12 included. Articles were analyzed for nanoparticle type used, MHT parameters, and MPI applications. Preliminary results show that MHT is an exciting treatment modality with unique advantages over current heat-based therapies for brain cancer. Effective application relies on the further development of unique magnetic nanoparticle constructs and imaging modalities, such as MPI, that can enable real-time MNP imaging for improved therapeutic outcomes.

Influence of SPION Surface Coating on Magnetic Properties and Theranostic Profile

This study aimed to develop multifunctional nanoplatforms for both cancer imaging and therapy using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). Two distinct synthetic methods, reduction-precipitation (MR/P) and co-precipitation at controlled pH (MpH), were explored, including the assessment of the coating's influence, namely dextran and gold, on their magnetic properties. These SPIONs were further functionalized with gadolinium to act as dual T1/T2 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Parameters such as size, stability, morphology, and magnetic behavior were evaluated by a detailed characterization analysis. To assess their efficacy in imaging and therapy, relaxivity and hyperthermia experiments were performed, respectively. The results revealed that both synthetic methods lead to SPIONs with similar average size, 9 nm. Mössbauer spectroscopy indicated that samples obtained from MR/P consist of approximately 11-13% of Fe present in magnetite, while samples obtained from MpH have higher contents of 33-45%. Despite coating and functionalization, all samples exhibited superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature. Hyperthermia experiments showed increased SAR values with higher magnetic field intensity and frequency. Moreover, the relaxivity studies suggested potential dual T1/T2 contrast agent capabilities for the coated SPpH-Dx-Au-Gd sample, thus demonstrating its potential in cancer diagnosis.

Polyrhodanine-based nanomaterials for biomedical applications: A review

Rhodanine is a heterocyclic organic compound that has been investigated for its potential biomedical applications, particularly in drug discovery. Rhodanine derivatives have been examined as the medication options for numerous illnesses, including cancer, inflammation, and infectious diseases. Some rhodanine derivatives have also shown promising activity against drug-resistant strains of bacteria and viruses. One of these derivatives is polyrhodanine (PR), a conducting polymer that has gained attention for its biomedical properties. This review article summarises the latest advancements in creating biomaterials based on PR for biosensing, antimicrobial treatments, and anticancer therapies. The distinctive characteristics of PR, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and good conductivity, render it an attractive candidate for these applications. The article also explores obstacles and potential future paths for advancing biomaterials made with PR, including synthesis modifications, characterisation techniques, and in vivo evaluation of biocompatibility and efficacy. Overall, as an emerging research topic, this review emphasises the potential of PR as a promising biomaterial for various biomedical applications and provides insights into the contemporary state of research and prospective directions for investigation.

Development and characterization of magnetic hydrogels loaded with greenly synthesized iron-oxide nanoparticles conjugated with cisplatin

A novel approach was devised to address the challenges in delivering cisplatin (CIS) for lung cancer treatment. This involved the development of a non-invasive hydrogel delivery system, aiming to minimize side effects associated with its administration. Using carbopol 971 (CP) and chitosan (CH) at varying ratios, the hydrogels were prepared and loaded with eco-friendly iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) conjugated to CIS. The physical properties, yield, drug loading, and cytotoxicity against lung cancer cell lines (A549) were assessed, along with hydrogel rheological properties and in vitro drug diffusion. Hydrogel A1 that composed of 1:1 of CP:CH hydrogel loaded with 100 mg IONPs and 250 µg CIS demonstrated distinctive properties that indicate its suitability for potential delivery. The loaded greenly synthesized IONPs@CIS exhibited a particle size of 23.0 nm, polydispersity index of 0.47, yield of 71.6%, with 88.28% drug loading. They displayed significant cytotoxicity (61.7%) against lung cancer cell lines (A549), surpassing free CIS cytotoxicity (28.1%). Moreover, they demonstrated shear-thinning behaviour, viscoelastic properties, and Fickian drug release profile over 24 h (flux 2.34 µg/cm2/h, and permeability 0.31 cm/h).

Metallic nanomaterials - targeted drug delivery approaches for improved bioavailability, reduced side toxicity, and enhanced patient outcomes

This paper explores the integral role of metallic nanomaterials in drug delivery, specifically focusing on their unique characteristics and applications. Exhibiting unique size, shape, and surface features, metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) (e.g., gold, iron oxide, and silver NPs) present possibilities for improving medication efficacy while minimizing side effects. Their demonstrated success in improving drug solubility, bioavailability, and targeted release makes them promising carriers for treating a variety of diseases, including inflammation and cancer, which has one of the highest rates of mortality in the world. Furthermore, it is crucial to acknowledge some limitations of MNPs in drug delivery before successfully incorporating them into standard medical procedures. Thus, challenges such as potential toxicity, issues related to long-term safety, and the need for standardized production methods will also be addressed.

Evaluation of Advanced Nanomaterials for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Cancer is a persistent global disease and a threat to the human species, with numerous cases reported every year. Over recent decades, a steady but slowly increasing mortality rate has been observed. While many attempts have been made using conventional methods alone as a theragnostic strategy, they have yielded very little success. Most of the shortcomings of such conventional methods can be attributed to the high demands of industrial growth and ever-increasing environmental pollution. This requires some high-tech biomedical interventions and other solutions. Thus, researchers have been compelled to explore alternative methods. This has brought much attention to nanotechnology applications, specifically magnetic nanomaterials, as the sole or conjugated theragnostic methods. The exponential growth of nanomaterials with overlapping applications in various fields is due to their potential properties, which depend on the type of synthesis route used. Either top-down or bottom-up strategies synthesize various types of NPs. The top-down only branches out to one method, i.e., physical, and the bottom-up has two methods, chemical and biological syntheses. This review highlights some synthesis techniques, the types of nanoparticle properties each technique produces, and their potential use in the biomedical field, more specifically for cancer. Despite the evident drawbacks, the success achieved in furthering nanoparticle applications to more complex cancer stages and locations is unmatched.

Dual-drug delivery by thermo-responsive Janus nanogel for improved cellular uptake, sustained release, and combination chemo-thermal therapy

The goal of this work was to examine the heat-sensitizing effects of Janus-coated magnetic nanoparticles (JMNPs) as a vehicle for 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) and Quercetin (Qu) in C6 and OLN-93 cell lines. The cellular uptake of nanoparticles was evaluated using Prussian blue staining and ICP-OES after monolayer culturing of C6 (rat brain cancer cell) and OLN-93 (normal rat brain cell) cells. The cells were treated with free 5-Fu, Qu, and MJNPs loaded with Qu/5-Fu for 24 h, followed by magnetic hyperthermia under an alternating magnetic field (AMF) at a temperature of 43 °C. Using the MTT test and Flow cytometry, the C6 and OLN-93 cells were investigated after being subjected to hyperthermia with and without magnetic nanoparticles. The results of Prussian blue staining confirmed the potential of MJNPs as carriers that facilitate the uptake of drugs by cancer cells. The results showed that the combined application of Qu/5-Fu/MJNPs with hyperthermia significantly increased the amount of ROS production compared to interventions without MJNPs. The therapeutic results demonstrated that the combination of Qu/5-Fu/MJNPs with hyperthermia considerably enhanced the rate of apoptotic and necrotic cell death compared to that of interventions without MJNPs. Furthermore, MTT findings indicated that controlled exposure of Qu/5-Fu/MJNPs to AMF caused a synergistic effect. The advanced Janus magnetic nanoparticles in this study can be proposed as a promising dual drug carrier (Qu/5-Fu) and thermosensitizer platform for dual-modal synergistic cancer therapy.

One-Minute Preparation of Iron Foam-Drug Implant for Ultralow-Power Magnetic Hyperthermia-Based Combination Therapy of Tumors in Vivo

The magnetic hyperthermia-based combination therapy (MHCT) is a powerful tumor treatment approach due to its unlimited tissue penetration depth and synergistic therapeutic effect. However, strong magnetic hyperthermia and facile drug loading are incompatible with current MHCT platforms. Herein, an iron foam (IF)-drug implant is established in an ultra-facile and universal way for ultralow-power MHCT of tumors in vivo for the first time. The IF-drug implant is fabricated by simply immersing IF in a drug solution at an adjustable concentration for 1 min. Continuous metal structure of IF enables ultra-high efficient magnetic hyperthermia based on eddy current thermal effect, and its porous feature provides great space for loading various hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs via "capillary action". In addition, the IF has the merits of low cost, customizable size and shape, and good biocompatibility and biodegradability, benefiting reproducible and large-scale preparation of IF-drug implants for biological application. As a proof of concept, IF-doxorubicin (IF-DOX) is used for combined tumor treatment in vivo and achieves excellent therapeutic efficacy at a magnetic field intensity an order of magnitude lower than the threshold for biosafety application. The proposed IF-drug implant provides a handy and universal method for the fabrication of MHCT platforms for ultralow-power combination therapy.

Adjuvant Novel Nanocarrier-Based Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer

Lung cancer has the lowest survival rate due to its late-stage diagnosis, poor prognosis, and intra-tumoral heterogeneity. These factors decrease the effectiveness of treatment. They release chemokines and cytokines from the tumor microenvironment (TME). To improve the effectiveness of treatment, researchers emphasize personalized adjuvant therapies along with conventional ones. Targeted chemotherapeutic drug delivery systems and specific pathway-blocking agents using nanocarriers are a few of them. This study explored the nanocarrier roles and strategies to improve the treatment profile's effectiveness by striving for TME. A biofunctionalized nanocarrier stimulates biosystem interaction, cellular uptake, immune system escape, and vascular changes for penetration into the TME. Inorganic metal compounds scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) through their photothermal effect. Stroma, hypoxia, pH, and immunity-modulating agents conjugated or modified nanocarriers co-administered with pathway-blocking or condition-modulating agents can regulate extracellular matrix (ECM), Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF),Tyro3, Axl, and Mertk receptors (TAM) regulation, regulatory T-cell (Treg) inhibition, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) inhibition. Again, biomimetic conjugation or the surface modification of nanocarriers using ligands can enhance active targeting efficacy by bypassing the TME. A carrier system with biofunctionalized inorganic metal compounds and organic compound complex-loaded drugs is convenient for NSCLC-targeted therapy.

177Lu-Labeled Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Functionalized with Doxorubicin and Bevacizumab as Nanobrachytherapy Agents against Breast Cancer

The use of conventional methods for the treatment of cancer, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and approaches such as brachytherapy in conjunction with the unique properties of nanoparticles could enable the development of novel theranostic agents. The aim of our current study was to evaluate the potential of iron oxide nanoparticles, coated with alginic acid and polyethylene glycol, functionalized with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin and the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab, to serve as a nanoradiopharmaceutical agent against breast cancer. Direct radiolabeling with the therapeutic isotope Lutetium-177 (177Lu) resulted in an additional therapeutic effect. Functionalization was accomplished at high percentages and radiolabeling was robust. The high cytotoxic effect of our radiolabeled and non-radiolabeled nanostructures was proven in vitro against five different breast cancer cell lines. The ex vivo biodistribution in tumor-bearing mice was investigated with three different ways of administration. The intratumoral administration of our functionalized radionanoconjugates showed high tumor accumulation and retention at the tumor site. Finally, our therapeutic efficacy study performed over a 50-day period against an aggressive triple-negative breast cancer cell line (4T1) demonstrated enhanced tumor growth retention, thus identifying the developed nanoparticles as a promising nanobrachytherapy agent against breast cancer.

Advances in screening hyperthermic nanomedicines in 3D tumor models

Hyperthermic nanomedicines are particularly relevant for tackling human cancer, providing a valuable alternative to conventional therapeutics. The early-stage preclinical performance evaluation of such anti-cancer treatments is conventionally performed in flat 2D cell cultures that do not mimic the volumetric heat transfer occurring in human tumors. Recently, improvements in bioengineered 3D in vitro models have unlocked the opportunity to recapitulate major tumor microenvironment hallmarks and generate highly informative readouts that can contribute to accelerating the discovery and validation of efficient hyperthermic treatments. Leveraging on this, herein we aim to showcase the potential of engineered physiomimetic 3D tumor models for evaluating the preclinical efficacy of hyperthermic nanomedicines, featuring the main advantages and design considerations under diverse testing scenarios. The most recent applications of 3D tumor models for screening photo- and/or magnetic nanomedicines will be discussed, either as standalone systems or in combinatorial approaches with other anti-cancer therapeutics. We envision that breakthroughs toward developing multi-functional 3D platforms for hyperthermia onset and follow-up will contribute to a more expedited discovery of top-performing hyperthermic therapies in a preclinical setting before their in vivo screening.

A dual catalytic functionalized hollow mesoporous silica-based nanocarrier coated with bacteria-derived exopolysaccharides for targeted delivery of irinotecan to colorectal cancer cells

In this study, we introduced a multifunctional hollow mesoporous silica-based nanocarrier (HMSN) for the targeted delivery of irinotecan (IRT) to colorectal cancer cells. Due to their large reservoirs, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles are suitable platforms for loading significant amounts of drugs for sustained drug release. To respond to pH and redox, HMSNs were functionalized with cerium and iron oxides. Additionally, they were coated with bacterial-derived exopolysaccharide (EPS) as a biocompatible polymer. In vitro analyses revealed that cytotoxicity induced in cancer cells through oxidative stress, mediated by mature nanocarriers (EPS.IRT.Ce/Fe.HMSN), was surprisingly greater than that caused by free drugs. Cerium and iron ions, in synergy with the drug, were found to generate reactive oxygen species when targeting the acidic pH within lysosomes and the tumor microenvironment. This, in turn, triggered cascade reactions, leading to cell death. In vivo experiments revealed that the proposed nanocarriers had no noticeable effect on healthy tissues. These findings indicate the selective delivery of the drug to cancerous tissue and the induction of antioxidant effects due to the dual catalytic properties of cerium in normal cells. Accordingly, this hybrid drug delivery system provides a more effective treatment for colorectal cancer with the potential for cost-effective scaling up.

Size-Dependent Penetration of Nanoparticles in Tumor Spheroids: A Multidimensional and Quantitative Study of Transcellular and Paracellular Pathways

Tumor penetration of nanoparticles is crucial in nanomedicine, but the mechanisms of tumor penetration are poorly understood. This work presents a multidimensional, quantitative approach to investigate the tissue penetration behavior of nanoparticles, with focuses on the particle size effect on penetration pathways, in an MDA-MB-231 tumor spheroid model using a combination of spectrometry, microscopy, and synchrotron beamline techniques. Quasi-spherical gold nanoparticles of different sizes are synthesized and incubated with 2D and 3D MDA-MB-231 cells and spheroids with or without an energy-dependent cell uptake inhibitor. The distribution and penetration pathways of nanoparticles in spheroids are visualized and quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, two-photon microscopy, and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy. The results reveal that 15 nm nanoparticles penetrate spheroids mainly through an energy-independent transcellular pathway, while 60 nm nanoparticles penetrate primarily through an energy-dependent transcellular pathway. Meanwhile, 22 nm nanoparticles penetrate through both transcellular and paracellular pathways and they demonstrate the greatest penetration ability in comparison to other two sizes. The multidimensional analytical methodology developed through this work offers a generalizable approach to quantitatively study the tissue penetration of nanoparticles, and the results provide important insights into the designs of nanoparticles with high accumulation at a target site.