Simultaneously targeted imaging cytoplasm and nucleus in living cell by biomolecules capped ultra-small GdOF nanocrystals

Nanocrystals for Deep-Tissue In Vivo Luminescence Imaging in the Near-Infrared Region

In vivo imaging technologies have emerged as a powerful tool for both fundamental research and clinical practice. In particular, luminescence imaging in the tissue-transparent near-infrared (NIR, 700-1700 nm) region offers tremendous potential for visualizing biological architectures and pathophysiological events in living subjects with deep tissue penetration and high imaging contrast owing to the reduced light-tissue interactions of absorption, scattering, and autofluorescence. The distinctive quantum effects of nanocrystals have been harnessed to achieve exceptional photophysical properties, establishing them as a promising category of luminescent probes. In this comprehensive review, the interactions between light and biological tissues, as well as the advantages of NIR light for in vivo luminescence imaging, are initially elaborated. Subsequently, we focus on achieving deep tissue penetration and improved imaging contrast by optimizing the performance of nanocrystal fluorophores. The ingenious design strategies of NIR nanocrystal probes are discussed, along with their respective biomedical applications in versatile in vivo luminescence imaging modalities. Finally, thought-provoking reflections on the challenges and prospects for future clinical translation of nanocrystal-based in vivo luminescence imaging in the NIR region are wisely provided.

Highly water-stable, luminescent, and monodisperse polymer-coated CsPbBr3 nanocrystals for imaging in living cells with better sensitivity

Recently, CsPbX₃ (X= Cl, Br, I) nanocrystals (NCs) have evolved as a potential contender for various optoelectronic applications due to some of their excellent photophysical properties. Their superior non-linear optical properties enable them to take part in bioimaging applications due to their longer penetration depth and less scattering effect in living cells. However, the poor stability of perovskite NCs in aqueous media still remains a great challenge for practical usage. Comparatively stable silica-coated NCs have a tendency to agglomerate among other NCs and transform into bigger particles. Such big particles clog the inside of narrow channels during the uptake and can't effectively reach the targeted cells. To tackle such issues, we introduce a fast and reproducible synthesis process of CsPbBr₃ NCs that are coated with different long-chained organic ligands/polymers and compared their photophysical properties. Among them, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) encapsulated NCs are highly luminescent in the green spectral region and showed a maximum photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of up to 84%. The incorporation of n-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) along with PVP further improves the stability of the PVP-coated NCs against heat and moisture. These NCs exhibit higher water stability compared to silica-coated NCs and maintained their emission properties for about one week in DI water. The smaller particle size, uniform size distribution, higher structural stability, and better dispersivity of polymer-coated NCs in the aqueous media enable them to perform as fluorescent probes for live cell imaging in mammalian Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO-K1) cells. There is no adverse affect in the cells' viability and morphology even after long incubation periods (∼72 hours). The dosage of Pb-ions contained in the polymer-coated NCs is calculated as below 5 μg mL^-1, which is suitable for live cell imaging. This work provides insight for expanding the use of these NCs significantly into bioimaging applications with higher sensitivity.

Assembling p53 Activating Peptide With CeO2 Nanoparticle to Construct a Metallo-Organic Supermolecule Toward the Synergistic Ferroptosis of Tumor

Inducing lipid peroxidation and subsequent ferroptosis in cancer cells provides a potential approach for anticancer therapy. However, the clinical translation of such therapeutic agents is often hampered by ferroptosis resistance and acquired drug tolerance in host cells. Emerging nanoplatform-based cascade engineering and ferroptosis sensitization by p53 provides a viable rescue strategy. Herein, a metallo-organic supramolecular (Nano-PMI@CeO₂) toward p53 restoration and subsequent synergistic ferroptosis is constructed, in which the radical generating module-CeO₂ nanoparticles act as the core, and p53-activator peptide (PMI)-gold precursor polymer is in situ reduced and assembled on the CeO₂ surface as the shell. As expected, Nano-PMI@CeO₂ effectively reactivated the p53 signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo, thereby downregulating its downstream gene GPX4. As a result, Nano-PMI@CeO₂ significantly inhibited tumor progression in the lung cancer allograft model through p53 restoration and sensitized ferroptosis, while maintaining favorable biosafety. Collectively, this work develops a tumor therapeutic with dual functions of inducing ferroptosis and activating p53, demonstrating a potentially viable therapeutic paradigm for sensitizing ferroptosis via p53 activation. It also suggests that metallo-organic supramolecule holds great promise in transforming nanomedicine and treating human diseases.

Turning a Targeting β-Catenin/Bcl9 Peptide Inhibitor into a GdOF@Au Core/Shell Nanoflower for Enhancing Immune Response to Cancer Therapy in Combination with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Combination administration is becoming a popular strategy in current cancer immunotherapy to enhance tumor response to ICIs. Recently, a peptide drug, a protein–protein interaction inhibitor (PPI), that disrupts the β-catenin/Bcl9 interaction in the tumoral Wnt/β-catenin pathway has become a promising candidate drug for immune enhancement and tumor growth inhibition. However, the peptide usually suffers from poor cell membrane permeability and proteolytic degradation, limiting its adequate accumulation in tumors and ultimately leading to side effects. Herein, a gadolinium–gold-based core/shell nanostructure drug delivery system was established, where Bcl9 was incorporated into a gadolinium–gold core–shell nanostructure and formed GdOFBAu via mercaptogenic self-assembly. After construction, GdOFBAu, when combined with anti-PD1 antibodies, could effectively inhibit tumor growth and enhance the response to immune therapy in MC38 tumor-bearing mice; it not only induced the apoptosis of cancer cells, but also promoted the tumor infiltration of Teff cells (CD8⁺) and decreased Treg cells (CD25⁺). More importantly, GdOFBAu maintained good biosafety and biocompatibility during treatment. Taken together, this study may offer a promising opportunity for sensitizing cancer immunotherapy via metal–peptide self-assembling nanostructured material with high effectiveness and safety.

Rare-Earth Doping in Nanostructured Inorganic Materials

Impurity doping is a promising method to impart new properties to various materials. Due to their unique optical, magnetic, and electrical properties, rare-earth ions have been extensively explored as active dopants in inorganic crystal lattices since the 18th century. Rare-earth doping can alter the crystallographic phase, morphology, and size, leading to tunable optical responses of doped nanomaterials. Moreover, rare-earth doping can control the ultimate electronic and catalytic performance of doped nanomaterials in a tunable and scalable manner, enabling significant improvements in energy harvesting and conversion. A better understanding of the critical role of rare-earth doping is a prerequisite for the development of an extensive repertoire of functional nanomaterials for practical applications. In this review, we highlight recent advances in rare-earth doping in inorganic nanomaterials and the associated applications in many fields. This review covers the key criteria for rare-earth doping, including basic electronic structures, lattice environments, and doping strategies, as well as fundamental design principles that enhance the electrical, optical, catalytic, and magnetic properties of the material. We also discuss future research directions and challenges in controlling rare-earth doping for new applications.

Assembling BH3-mimic peptide into a nanocluster to target intracellular Bcl2 towards the apoptosis induction of cancer cell

Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein, is always overexpressed in tumor cells to suppress the pro-apoptotic function of Bax, thereby prolonging the life of the tumor. However, BH3 proteins could directly activate Bax via antagonizing Bcl-2 to induce apoptosis in response to the stimulation. Thus, mimicking BH3 proteins with a peptide is a potential strategy for anti-cancer therapy. Unfortunately, clinical translation of BH3-mimic peptide is hindered by its inefficacious cellular internalization and proteolysis resistance. Herein, we translated a BH3-mimic peptide into a peptide-auric spheroidal nanocluster (BH3-AuNp), in which polymeric BH3-Auric precursors [Au¹⁺-S-BH3]_narein situself-assembled on the surface of gold nanoparticles by a one-pot synthesis. Expectedly, this strategy could improve the anti-proteolytic ability and cytomembrane penetrability of the BH3 peptide. As a result, BH3-AuNp successfully induced the apoptosis of two cancer cell lines by an order of magnitude compared to BH3. This therapeutic and feasible peptide nano-engineering strategy will help peptides overcome the pharmaceutical obstacles, awaken its biological functions, and possibly revive the research about peptide-derived nanomedicine.

The Peptide Functionalized Inorganic Nanoparticles for Cancer-Related Bioanalytical and Biomedical Applications

In order to improve their bioapplications, inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are usually functionalized with specific biomolecules. Peptides with short amino acid sequences have attracted great attention in the NP functionalization since they are easy to be synthesized on a large scale by the automatic synthesizer and can integrate various functionalities including specific biorecognition and therapeutic function into one sequence. Conjugation of peptides with NPs can generate novel theranostic/drug delivery nanosystems with active tumor targeting ability and efficient nanosensing platforms for sensitive detection of various analytes, such as heavy metallic ions and biomarkers. Massive studies demonstrate that applications of the peptide-NP bioconjugates can help to achieve the precise diagnosis and therapy of diseases. In particular, the peptide-NP bioconjugates show tremendous potential for development of effective anti-tumor nanomedicines. This review provides an overview of the effects of properties of peptide functionalized NPs on precise diagnostics and therapy of cancers through summarizing the recent publications on the applications of peptide-NP bioconjugates for biomarkers (antigens and enzymes) and carcinogens (e.g., heavy metallic ions) detection, drug delivery, and imaging-guided therapy. The current challenges and future prospects of the subject are also discussed.

Targeted disruption of the BCL9/β-catenin interaction by endosomal-escapable nanoparticles functionalized with an E-cadherin-derived peptide

Abnormal activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which underlies multiple malignancies, promotes tumor progression; drugs that can block this pathway are therefore highly attractive candidates for anticancer therapy. Using a therapeutic peptide derived from E-cadherin region V (cECRV), we sought to develop a potent and selective antagonist of β-catenin that can disrupt the carcinogenic interaction between β-catenin and BCL9. More importantly, to overcome the pharmacological obstacles of peptide-derived therapeutics (poor nuclease stability and low membrane permeability), a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based nanocarrier was designed to deliver cECRV into the cytoplasm to modulate the intracellular interaction of β-catenin and BCL9. The resultant nanoparticle, pAuNP-cECRV, showed no cytotoxicity towards normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells and induced cycle arrest and subsequent apoptosis of Wnt-hyperactive cancer cells by antagonizing β-catenin to inhibit the Wnt pathway. Our results indicate that pAuNP-cECRV is very promising for application as an efficient and safe peptide delivery vector for cancer therapy.

A Hierarchical Peptide-Lanthanide Framework To Accurately Redress Intracellular Carcinogenic Protein-Protein Interaction

Intracellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are a vital and yet underexploited class of therapeutic targets for their crucial roles in cellular processes and involvement in disease initiation and progression. Although some successful chemistry and nanotechnologies have been introduced into peptide PPI modulators to allow cell and tissue permeability, significant challenges remain with regard to the efficient and precise modulation of PPIs within specific cells of diseased tissues, such as solid tumors. Herein, an intratumoral transformable hierarchical framework, termed iPLF, was fabricated via a two-step self-assembly between peptides and lanthanide-doped nanocrystals. In this proof-of-concept study, using NanoEL effect, TME response, and tumor marker targeting, iPLF in vivo delivered the p53-MDM2 modulator ^DPMI into tumor cells and β-catenin-Bcl9 modulator Bcl9^p into tumor stem cells. This crafted programmed nanomedicine with triple-stage delivery and responsiveness accurately modulated the specific intracellular protein-protein interactions, resulting in the suppression of tumor growth and metastasis in vivo, while maintaining a highly favorable safety profile. iPLF reached the goal of accurate, potent, and hazard-free intracellular PPI modulation, thereby providing a means to improve current knowledge of PPI networks and a novel therapeutic strategy for a great variety of diseases.

Cell Membrane-Coated Porphyrin Metal-Organic Frameworks for Cancer Cell Targeting and O2-Evolving Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted great attention as an alternative tumor treatment method. Unfortunately, it suffers from some limitations like poor targeting capability and insufficient therapeutic efficiency caused by tumor hypoxia. In this work, we introduce a novel O₂-evolving PDT nanoparticle for homologous cancer cell targeting as well as dual-mode imaging [i.e., magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescence imaging]. Specifically, the nanostructure consists of a MnO₂ nanosheet-coated metal-organic framework core and cancer cell membrane shell (defined as CM-MMNPs). The MnO₂ layer displays H⁺ and H₂O₂ responsiveness, which can produce O₂ to enhance O₂-mediated singlet oxygen (¹O₂) generation for PDT. Moreover, the resulted Mn²⁺ can also be used as an optimal MRI contrast agent. The introduction of cell membrane and membrane proteins endow the CM-MMNPs with good stability and integrity in the process of cellular endocytosis, as well as strong homologous cell-targeting ability. This multifunctional nanoparticle has the potential to overcome the hypoxia of cancer cells in PDT, and provides a new paradigm for tumor targeting, detection, and therapy, which is promising for biomedical applications in the future.

A lanthanide-peptide-derived bacterium-like nanotheranostic with high tumor-targeting, -imaging and -killing properties

Nanostructures formed with bioactive peptides offer an exciting prospect in clinical oncology as a novel class of therapeutic agents for human cancers. Despite their therapeutic potential, however, peptide-based nanomedicines are often inefficacious in vivo due to low cargo-loading efficiency, poor tumor cell-targeting specificity and limited drug accumulation in tumor tissues. Here, we describe the design, via assembly of a p53-activating peptide termed PMI, functionalized PEG and fluorescent lanthanide oxyfluoride nanocrystals, of a novel nanotheranostic shaped in flexible rods. This lanthanide-peptide nanorod or LProd of bionic nature exhibited significantly enhanced tumor-targeting and -imaging properties compared to its spherical counterpart. Importantly, LProd potently inhibited tumor growth in a mouse model of human colon cancer through activating tumor suppressor protein p53 via MDM2/MDMX antagonism, while maintaining a highly favorable biosafety profile. Our data demonstrate that LProd as a multifunctional theranostic platform is ideally suited for tumor-specific peptide drug delivery with real-time disease tracking, thereby broadly impacting clinical development of antitumor peptides.

Self-Assembly of Therapeutic Peptide into Stimuli-Responsive Clustered Nanohybrids for Cancer-Targeted Therapy

Clinical translation of therapeutic peptides, particularly those targeting intracellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs), has been hampered by their inefficacious cellular internalization in diseased tissue. Therapeutic peptides engineered into nanostructures with stable spatial architectures and smart disease targeting ability may provide a viable strategy to overcome the pharmaceutical obstacles of peptides. This study describes a strategy to assemble therapeutic peptides into a stable peptide-Au nanohybrid, followed by further self-assembling into higher-order nanoclusters with responsiveness to tumor microenvironment. As a proof of concept, an anticancer peptide termed β-catenin/Bcl9 inhibitors is copolymerized with gold ion and assembled into a cluster of nanohybrids (pCluster). Through a battery of in vitro and in vivo tests, it is demonstrated that pClusters potently inhibit tumor growth and metastasis in several animal models through the impairment of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, while maintaining a highly favorable biosafety profile. In addition, it is also found that pClusters synergize with the PD1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. This new strategy of peptide delivery will likely have a broad impact on the development of peptide-derived therapeutic nanomedicine and reinvigorate efforts to discover peptide drugs that target intracellular PPIs in a great variety of human diseases, including cancer.

Awakening p53 in vivo by D-peptides-functionalized ultra-small nanoparticles: Overcoming biological barriers to D-peptide drug delivery

Peptides are a rapidly growing class of therapeutics with many advantages over conventional small molecule drugs. Dextrorotary (D)-peptides, with increased enzymatic stability and prolonged plasma half-life in comparison with natural L-peptides, are considered to have great potential as recognition molecules and therapeutic agents. However, the in vivo efficacy of current therapeutic D-peptides is hindered by their inefficient cellular uptake in diseased tissues.

Methods: To overcome physiological and cellular barriers to D-peptides, we designed a gold-based ultra-small nanocarrier coupled with polylysine (PLL) and a receptor-targeted peptide to deliver therapeutic D-peptides. Using a D-peptide p53 activator (DPA) as a proof of concept, we synthesized, functionalized and characterized gold- and DPA-based nanoparticles termed AuNP-DPA.

Results: AuNP-DPA were effectively enriched in tumor sites and subsequently internalized by cancer cells, thereby suppressing tumor growth via reactivating p53 signaling. More importantly, through a series of in vivo experiments, AuNP-DPA showed excellent biosafety without the common side effects that hinder p53 therapies in clinic trials.

Conclusion: The present study not only sheds light on the development of AuNP-DPA as a novel class of antitumor agents for drugging the p53 pathway in vivo, but also supplies a new strategy to use D-peptides as intracellular PPI inhibitors for cancer-targeted therapy.

Peptide-Induced Self-Assembly of Therapeutics into a Well-Defined Nanoshell with Tumor-Triggered Shape and Charge Switch

Peptide-tuned self-assembly of macromolecular agents (>500 Da) such as therapeutic peptides offers a strategy to improve the properties and biofunctions of degradable nanomaterials, but the tough requirement of macromolecular therapeutics delivery and a lack of understanding of peptide-based self-assembly design present high barriers for their applications. Herein, we developed a new strategy for nanoengineering macromolecular drugs by an elaborate peptide, termed PSP (VVVVVHHRGDC), capable of directly conjugating with cargo to be a PSP-cargo monomer as building block tending to self-assemble into a well-defined nanoshell with tumor-triggered shape and charge switch. As a proof of concept, conjugation PSP to a D-peptide activator of tumor suppressor p53 termed DPMI (1492.5 Da) generated hollow spheres ~80 nm in diameter named PSP-DPMI that disintegrated only in the acidic microenvironment of tumor tissues, followed by integrin-mediated cellular uptake of PSP-DPMI monomers. Importantly, PSP-based self-assembly successfully endowed the DPMI with long circulation time and high cancer-cell-specific intracellular accumulation. PSP-DPMI nanoshells potently inhibited tumor growth in vitro and in vivo by the p53 restoration, while maintaining a highly favorable in vivo safety profile. Out of conventional encapsulation and conjugation, our study showcases a clinically viable novel method to nanoengineer macromolecular agents such as peptide for anticancer therapy and provides a hazard-free alternative strategy for the theranostics delivery.

A highly antibacterial polymeric hybrid micelle with efficiently targeted anticancer siRNA delivery and anti-infection in vitro/in vivo

Most of the diseases such as tumors are usually accompanied by microbial infection, especially after surgical operation, which prevents successful cancer therapy. It is necessary to develop a safe and efficient siRNA delivery vector with high anti-bacterial capability. Here, three multifunctional polymeric hybrid micelles (PHM1, PHM2 and PHM3) with high antimicrobial activity were prepared by mixing polymers PEG-b-P3/4HB-b-PEI-b-FA (EHP-FA) and PEG-b-P3/4HB-b-EPL (EHE) copolymer at different mixing ratios and evaluated for targeted siRNA delivery and anti-infection applications. The PHM micelles, taking advantage of the binding ability of EHE and the protection ability of EHP-FA, could effectively combine, protect siRNA, release complexed siRNA and target cancer cells. Additionally, PHM micelles displayed good hemocompatibility, lower cytotoxicity and higher gene silencing efficiency than commercial PEI (25 kDa) in A549, HeLa, HepG2 and C2C12 cells. Through optimizing the ratio of EHP-FA and EHE, PHM/sip65 showed a high p65 gene silencing efficiency above 90% in various cancer cells, which were significantly higher than EHP-FA/sip65 alone and EHE/sip65 complexes. Furthermore, PHM2 micelles showed excellent antimicrobial activity towards positive bacteria (S. aureus) in vitro and in vivo. Our study may provide a facile strategy to develop multifunctional polymer gene vectors for highly promising siRNA delivery and anti-infection.

Lanthanide-doped nanoparticles conjugated with an anti-CD33 antibody and a p53-activating peptide for acute myeloid leukemia therapy

Roughly one third of all human cancers are attributable to the functional inhibition of the tumor suppressor protein p53 by its two negative regulators MDM2 and MDMX, making dual-specificity peptide antagonists of MDM2 and MDMX highly attractive drug candidates for anticancer therapy. Two pharmacological barriers, however, remain a major obstacle to the development of peptide therapeutics: susceptibility to proteolytic degradation in vivo and inability to traverse the cell membrane. Here we report the design of a fluorescent lanthanide oxyfluoride nanoparticle (LONp)-based multifunctional peptide drug delivery system for potential treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that commonly harbors wild type p53, high levels of MDM2 and/or MDMX, and an overexpressed cell surface receptor, CD33. We conjugated to LONp via metal-thiolate bonds a dodecameric peptide antagonist of both MDM2 and MDMX, termed PMI, and a CD33-targeted, humanized monoclonal antibody to allow for AML-specific intracellular delivery of a stabilized PMI. The resultant nanoparticle antiCD33-LONp-PMI, while nontoxic to normal cells, induced apoptosis of AML cell lines and primary leukemic cells isolated from AML patients by antagonizing MDM2 and/or MDMX to activate the p53 pathway. Fluorescent antiCD33-LONp-PMI also enabled real-time visualization of a series of apoptotic events in AML cells, proving a useful tool for possible disease tracking and treatment response monitoring. Our studies shed light on the development of antiCD33-LONp-PMI as a novel class of antitumor agents, which, if further validated, may help targeted molecular therapy of AML.

Self-Assembled Peptide-Lanthanide Nanoclusters for Safe Tumor Therapy: Overcoming and Utilizing Biological Barriers to Peptide Drug Delivery

Developing a sophisticated nanomedicine platform to deliver therapeutics effectively and safely into tumor/cancer cells remains challenging in the field of nanomedicine. In particular, reliable peptide drug delivery systems capable of overcoming biological barriers are still lacking. Here, we developed a simple, rapid, and robust strategy to manufacture nanoclusters of ∼90 nm in diameter that are self-assembled from lanthanide-doped nanoparticles (5 nm), two anticancer peptides with different targets (BIM and PMI), and one cyclic peptide iNGR targeted to cancer cells. The peptide-lanthanide nanoclusters (LDC-PMI-BIM-iNGR) enhanced the resistance of peptide drugs to proteolysis, disassembled in response to reductive conditions that are present in the tumor microenvironment and inhibited cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Notably, LDC-PMI-BIM-iNGR exhibited extremely low systemic toxicity and side effects in vivo. Thus, the peptide-lanthanide nanocluster may serve as an ideal multifunctional platform for safe, targeted, and efficient peptide drug delivery in cancer therapy.

Arginine-modified dual emission photoluminescent nanocrystals for bioimaging at subcellular resolution

Bioimaging at a subcellular resolution to label cytoplasm and nucleus in living cell by just one photoluminescent nanoparticle has great application potential in bioresearch, preclinical diagnosis, screening, and image-guided therapy of life-threatening diseases. Herein, we report a novel arginine (Arg) functionalized ultra-small lanthanide oxyfluoride nanocrystals (LaOF) for simultaneously targeted imaging cell cytoplasm and nucleus. As-prepared Arg-modified PAA capped LaOF: 45%Ce, 15%Tb nanocrystals (LaOF:Ce,Tb@PAA@Arg) possessed high water dispersibility, ultra-small size (∼5.7 nm) and double emissions (green and red) with high quantum yield (40%). Such functionalized nanocrystals presented high cellular biocompatibility and were successfully used to label living cells with very high contrast. These functionalized nanocrystals also exhibited significantly higher photostability and brightness as compared to commercial dyes. Such the ultra-small size, high photostability and intensity, double emissions, excellent biocompatibility and targeted ability, make as-prepared functionalized nanocrystals particularly promising for cellular and subcellular bioimaging applications.

Intrinsic Ultrahigh Drug/miRNA Loading Capacity of Biodegradable Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles toward Highly Efficient Pharmaceutical Delivery

The lack of safe and efficient drug and gene delivery vectors has become a major obstacle for the clinical applications of drug and nonviral gene therapy. To date, for nonviral gene vectors, most studies are focused on cationic polymers, liposomes, and modified inorganic nanoparticles which have shown high cellular toxicity, low transfection efficiency, or nondegradation. Additionally, few biodegradable biomaterials demonstrate intrinsic high binding abilities to both drug and gene. Bioactive glasses (BGs) have achieved successful applications in bone regeneration due to their high biocompatibility and biodegradation. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate the intrinsic ultrahigh drug and miRNA binding ability of bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) without any cationic polymer modification. BGNs demonstrate an over 45-fold improvement in hydrophilic drug loading (diclofenac sodium) and 7-fold enhancement in miRNA binding over their corresponding silica nanoparticles. The hydrophilic drug loading ability of BGNs (>45 wt % loading) is also higher than that of most other reported inorganic nanoparticles, including mesoporous silica nanoparticles. BGNs show significantly lower cytotoxicity and higher cellular uptake and miRNA transfection efficiency compared to those of commercial transfection reagents polyethylenimine and lipofectamine 3000. Our results demonstrate that BGNs may become a new competitive vehicle for drug and gene delivery applications. This study may also provide a new strategy to develop novel biomaterials with intrinsic drug and gene binding ability for disease therapy.