A hybrid thermoresponsive plasmonic nanogel designed for NIR-mediated chemotherapy

Recent advances in nanogels for drug delivery and biomedical applications

Nanotechnology has shown great promise for researchers to develop efficient nanocarriers for better therapy, imaging, and sustained release of drugs. The existing treatments are accompanied by serious toxicity limitations, leading to severe side effects, multiple drug resistance, and off-target activity. In this regard, nanogels have garnered significant attention for their multi-functional role combining advanced therapeutics with imaging in a single platform. Nanogels can be functionalized to target specific tissues which can improve the efficiency of drug delivery and other challenges associated with the existing nanocarriers. Translation of nanogel technology requires more exploration towards stability and enhanced efficiency. In this review, we present the advances and challenges related to nanogels for cancer therapy, ophthalmology, neurological disorders, tuberculosis, wound healing, and anti-viral applications. A perspective on recent research trends of nanogels for translation to clinics is also discussed.

Chitosan/Alginate Nanogels Containing Multicore Magnetic Nanoparticles for Delivery of Doxorubicin

In this study, multicore-like iron oxide (Fe3O4) and manganese ferrite (MnFe2O4) nanoparticles were synthesized and combined with nanogels based on chitosan and alginate to obtain a multimodal drug delivery system. The nanoparticles exhibited crystalline structures and displayed sizes of 20 ± 3 nm (Fe3O4) and 11 ± 2 nm (MnFe2O4). The Fe3O4 nanoparticles showed a higher saturation magnetization and heating efficiency compared with the MnFe2O4 nanoparticles. Functionalization with citrate and bovine serum albumin was found to improve the stability and modified surface properties. The nanoparticles were encapsulated in nanogels, and provided high drug encapsulation efficiencies (~70%) using doxorubicin as a model drug. The nanogels exhibited sustained drug release, with enhanced release under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation and acidic pH. The nanogels containing BSA-functionalized nanoparticles displayed improved sustained drug release at physiological pH, and the release kinetics followed a diffusion-controlled mechanism. These results demonstrate the potential of synthesized nanoparticles and nanogels for controlled drug delivery, offering opportunities for targeted and on-demand release in biomedical applications.

Polymer Colloids: Current Challenges, Emerging Applications, and New Developments

Polymer colloids are complex materials that have the potential to be used in a vast array of applications. One of the main reasons for their continued growth in commercial use is the water-based emulsion polymerization process through which they are generally synthesized. This technique is not only highly efficient from an industrial point of view but also extremely versatile and permits the large-scale production of colloidal particles with controllable properties. In this perspective, we seek to highlight the central challenges in the synthesis and use of polymer colloids, with respect to both existing and emerging applications. We first address the challenges in the current production and application of polymer colloids, with a particular focus on the transition toward sustainable feedstocks and reduced environmental impact in their primary commercial applications. Later, we highlight the features that allow novel polymer colloids to be designed and applied in emerging application areas. Finally, we present recent approaches that have used the unique colloidal nature in unconventional processing techniques.

Janus-Nanojet as an efficient asymmetric photothermal source

The combination of materials with radically different physical properties in the same nanostructure gives rise to the so-called Janus effects, allowing phenomena of a contrasting nature to occur in the same architecture. Interesting advantages can be taken from a thermal Janus effect for photoinduced hyperthermia cancer therapies. Such therapies have limitations associated to the heating control in terms of temperature stability and energy management. Single-material plasmonic nanoheaters have been widely used for cancer therapies, however, they are highly homogeneous sources that heat the surrounding biological medium isotropically, thus equally affecting cancerous and healthy cells. Here, we propose a prototype of a Janus-Nanojet heating unit based on toroidal shaped plasmonic nanoparticles able to efficiently generate and release local heat directionally under typical unpolarized illumination. Based on thermoplasmonic numerical calculations, we demonstrate that these Janus-based nanoheaters possess superior photothermal conversion features (up to \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\Delta T\approx 35$$\end{document}ΔT≈35 K) and unique directional heating capacity, being able to channel up over 90% of the total thermal energy onto a target. We discuss the relevance of these innovative nanoheaters in thermoplasmonics, and hyperthermia cancer therapies, which motivate the development of fabrication techniques for nanomaterials.