Advances in inorganic-based colloidal nanovehicles functionalized for nitric oxide delivery

Beyond the adverse effects of the systemic route: Exploiting nanocarriers for the topical treatment of skin cancers

Skin cancer is a heterogeneous disease that can be divided into two main groups, melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Conventional therapies for skin cancer have numerous systemic side effects and a high recurrence rate. Topical treatment is an alternative approach, but drug permeability remains a challenge. Therefore, nanocarriers appear as important nanotechnology tools that reduces both the side effects and improves clinical outcomes. This is why they are attracting growing interest. In this review, scientific articles on the use of nanocarriers for the topical treatment of skin cancer were collected. Despite the promising results of the presented nanocarriers and considering that some of them are already on the market, there is an urgent need for investment in the development of manufacturing methods, as well as of suitable toxicological and regulatory evaluations, since the conventional methods currently used to develop these nanocarriers-based products are more time-consuming and expensive than conventional products.

Flexible Monitoring, Diagnosis, and Therapy by Microneedles with Versatile Materials and Devices toward Multifunction Scope

Microneedles (MNs) have drawn rising attention owing to their merits of convenience, noninvasiveness, flexible applicability, painless microchannels with boosted metabolism, and precisely tailored multifunction control. MNs can be modified to serve as novel transdermal drug delivery, which conventionally confront with the penetration barrier caused by skin stratum corneum. The micrometer-sized needles create channels through stratum corneum, enabling efficient drug delivery to the dermis for gratifying efficacy. Then, incorporating photosensitizer or photothermal agents into MNs can conduct photodynamic or photothermal therapy, respectively. Besides, health monitoring and medical detection by MN sensors can extract information from skin interstitial fluid and other biochemical/electronic signals. Here, this review discloses a novel monitoring, diagnostic, and therapeutic pattern by MNs, with elaborate discussion about the classified formation of MNs together with various applications and inherent mechanism. Hereby, multifunction development and outlook from biomedical/nanotechnology/photoelectric/devices/informatics to multidisciplinary applications are provided. Programmable intelligent MNs enable logic encoding of diverse monitoring and treatment pathways to extract signals, optimize the therapy efficacy, real-time monitoring, remote control, and drug screening, and take instant treatment.

Bioactive inorganic nanomaterials for cancer theranostics

Bioactive materials are a special class of biomaterials that can react in vivo to induce a biological response or regulate biological functions, thus achieving a better curative effect than traditional inert biomaterials. For cancer theranostics, compared with organic or polymer nanomaterials, inorganic nanomaterials possess unique physical and chemical properties, have stronger mechanical stability on the basis of maintaining certain bioactivity, and are easy to be compounded with various carriers (polymer carriers, biological carriers, etc.), so as to achieve specific antitumor efficacy. After entering the nanoscale, due to the nano-size effect, high specific surface area and special nanostructures, inorganic nanomaterials exhibit unique biological effects, which significantly influence the interaction with biological organisms. Therefore, the research and applications of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials in cancer theranostics have attracted wide attention. In this review, we mainly summarize the recent progress of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials in cancer theranostics, and also introduce the definition, synthesis and modification strategies of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials. Thereafter, the applications of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials in tumor imaging and antitumor therapy, including tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation, catalytic therapy, gas therapy, regulatory cell death and immunotherapy, are discussed. Finally, the biosafety and challenges of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials are also mentioned, and their future development opportunities are prospected. This review highlights the bioapplication of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials.

Local delivery of gaseous signaling molecules for orthopedic disease therapy

Over the past decade, a proliferation of research has used nanoparticles to deliver gaseous signaling molecules for medical purposes. The discovery and revelation of the role of gaseous signaling molecules have been accompanied by nanoparticle therapies for their local delivery. While most of them have been applied in oncology, recent advances have demonstrated their considerable potential in diagnosing and treating orthopedic diseases. Three of the currently recognized gaseous signaling molecules, nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), are highlighted in this review along with their distinctive biological functions and roles in orthopedic diseases. Moreover, this review summarizes the progress in therapeutic development over the past ten years with a deeper discussion of unresolved issues and potential clinical applications.

Upconversion nanoparticles and its based photodynamic therapy for antibacterial applications: A state-of-the-art review

Major medical advances in antibiotics for infectious diseases have dramatically improved the quality of life and greatly increased life expectancy. Nevertheless, the widespread and inappropriate exploitation of antibacterial agents has resulted in the emergence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria (MDR). Consequently, the study of new drugs for the treatment of diseases associated with multi-drug-resistant bacteria and the development of new treatments are urgently needed. Inspiringly, due to the advantages of a wide antimicrobial spectrum, fast sterilization, low resistance, and little damage to host tissues and normal flora, antibacterial photodynamic therapy (APDT), which is based on the interaction between light and a nontoxic photosensitizer (PS) concentrated at the lesion site to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), has become one of the most promising antibacterial strategies. Recently, a burgeoning APDT based on a variety of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) such as PS and near-infrared (NIR) light has been fully integrated in antibacterial applications and achieved excellent performances. Meanwhile, conjugated nanoparticles have been frequently reported in UCNP design, including surface-modified PS conjugates, antibiotic-PS conjugates, and dual or multiple antibacterial modal PS conjugates. This article provides an overview of the state-of-the-art design and bactericidal effects of UCNPs and their based APDTs. The first part discusses the design and mechanisms for UCNPs currently implemented in biomedicine. The second part focuses on the applications and antimicrobial effects of diverse APDT based on UCNPs in antibacterial-related infectious diseases.

Organosilica colloids as nitric oxide carriers: Pharmacokinetics and biocompatibility

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potential therapeutic agent for various diseases. However, it is challenging to deliver this unstable, free-radical gaseous molecule in the body. Various nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have been investigated as promising NO carriers without detailed characterization of their biological fate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pharmacokinetics and biocompatibility of organosilica-based NO-delivering nanocarriers. Two distinct NO nanoformulations, namely NO-SiNP-1 and NO-SiNP-2, were prepared from a thiol-functionalized organosilane using nanoprecipitation and direct aqueous synthesis, respectively. During the preparation, the thiol group was converted to S-nitrosothiol (SNO) under a nitrosation condition. The final products contain SNO-loaded organosilica particles of similar sizes (~130 nm), but of different morphologies and surface charges (between the two formulations). In the in vitro release kinetics study, NO-SiNP-1 exhibited a much slower NO release rate than NO-SiNP-2 (by 5-fold); therefore, the former is considered as a slow NO releaser, and the latter a fast NO releaser. However, in the rat pharmacokinetic study (IV bolus of 50 μmol/kg), NO-SiNP-1 was rapidly eliminated from the blood (within 20 min); in contrast, NO-SiNP-2 was slowly eliminated with an extended circulation time of 12 h for plasma SNO, along with markedly higher plasma levels of nitrite and nitrate. The two formulations are generally biocompatible. In conclusion, the paper presents contrast biological fates of two organosilica colloidal formulations for nitric oxide delivery.