Bovine serum albumin-based and dual-responsive targeted hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles for breast cancer therapy

Recent Advances in Hollow Nanostructures: Synthesis Methods, Structural Characteristics, and Applications in Food and Biomedicine

The development and investigation of innovative nanomaterials stand poised to advance technological progress and meet the contemporary demand for efficient, environmentally friendly, and intelligent products. Hollow nanostructures (HNS), characterized by their hollow architecture, exhibit diverse properties such as expansive specific surface area, low density, high drug-carrying capacity, and customizable structures. These elaborated structures, encompass nanospheres, nanoboxes, rings, cubes, and nanowires, have wide-ranging applications in biomedicine, materials chemistry, food industry, and environmental science. Herein, HNS and their cutting-edge synthesis methods, including solvothermal methods, liquid-interface assembly methods, and the self-templating methods are discussed in-depth. Meanwhile, the potential applications of HNS in food and biomedicine such as food packing, biosensor, and drug delivery over the past three years are summarized, together with a prospective view of future research directions and challenges. This review will offer new insights into designing next generation of hollow nanomaterials for food and biomedicine applications.

Polymeric nanomaterials-based theranostic platforms for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment

Breast cancer, the second leading global cause of death, affects 2.1 million women annually, with an alarming 15 percent mortality rate. Among its diverse forms, Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) emerges as the deadliest, characterized by the absence of hormone receptors. This article underscores the urgent need for innovative treatment approaches in tackling TNBC, emphasizing the transformative potential of polymeric nanomaterials (PNMs). Evolved through nanotechnology, PNMs offer versatile biomedical applications, particularly in addressing the intricate challenges of TNBC. The synthesis methods of PNMs, explored within the tumor microenvironment using cellular models, showcase their dynamic nature in cancer treatment. The article anticipates the future of TNBC therapeutics through the optimization of PNMs-based strategies, integrating them into photothermal (PT), photodynamic (PT), and hyperthermia therapy (HTT), drug delivery, and active tumor targeting strategies. Advancements in synthetic methods, coupled with a nuanced understanding of the tumor microenvironment, hold promise for personalized interventions. Comparative investigations of therapeutic models and a thorough exploration of polymeric nanoplatforms toxicological perspectives become imperative for ensuring efficacy and safety. We have explored the interdisciplinary collaboration between nanotechnology, oncology, and molecular biology as pivotal in translating PNMs innovations into tangible benefits for TNBC patients.

Advances in inorganic nanoparticles-based drug delivery in targeted breast cancer theranostics

Theranostic nanoparticles (NPs) have the potential to dramatically improve cancer management by providing personalized medicine. Inorganic NPs have attracted widespread interest from academic and industrial communities because of their unique physicochemical properties (including magnetic, thermal, and catalytic performance) and excellent functions with functional surface modifications or component dopants (e.g., imaging and controlled release of drugs). To date, only a restricted number of inorganic NPs are deciphered into clinical practice. This review highlights the recent advances of inorganic NPs in breast cancer therapy. We believe that this review can provides various approaches for investigating and developing inorganic NPs as promising compounds in the future prospects of applications in breast cancer treatment and material science.

Diagnosis and treatment status of inoperable locally advanced breast cancer and the application value of inorganic nanomaterials

Locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) is a heterogeneous group of breast cancer that accounts for 10-30% of breast cancer cases. Despite the ongoing development of current treatment methods, LABC remains a severe and complex public health concern around the world, thus prompting the urgent requirement for innovative diagnosis and treatment strategies. The primary treatment challenges are inoperable clinical status and ineffective local control methods. With the rapid advancement of nanotechnology, inorganic nanoparticles (INPs) exhibit a potential application prospect in diagnosing and treating breast cancer. Due to the unique inherent characteristics of INPs, different functions can be performed via appropriate modifications and constructions, thus making them suitable for different imaging technology strategies and treatment schemes. INPs can improve the efficacy of conventional local radiotherapy treatment. In the face of inoperable LABC, INPs have proposed new local therapeutic methods and fostered the evolution of novel strategies such as photothermal and photodynamic therapy, magnetothermal therapy, sonodynamic therapy, and multifunctional inorganic nanoplatform. This article reviews the advances of INPs in local accurate imaging and breast cancer treatment and offers insights to overcome the existing clinical difficulties in LABC management.

Dual-Responsive hollow mesoporous organosilicon nanocarriers for photodynamic therapy

HYPOTHESIS

The nano-delivery platform, -SS-HMONs@MB@MnO2 nanoparticles (SMM NPs) loaded with methylene blue (MB) as photosensitizer have excellent photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect. The disulfide bond and MnO2 give the shell redox-responsive properties. SMM NPs consume glutathione (GSH) in tumor cells, reducing the scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by GSH and enhancing the PDT effect of MB.

EXPERIMENTS

The GSH dual-responsive nano-delivery platform, was designed and constructed by using disulfide-doped hollow mesoporous organosilicon nanoparticles (-SS-HMONs) as intermediate responsive layer, loaded with MB as photosensitizer and coated with MnO2 as shells. The MB photosensitizer release and GSH response were characterized. The PDT effect of nanoparticles was evaluated.

FINDINGS

The SMM NPs were uniform in size and well dispersed. The nanoparticles could react with GSH, leading to the decomposition of MnO2 shells and the breakage of disulfide bonds in -SS-HMONs, resulted in the release of MB photosensitizer. The cell experiment showed that SMM NPs had good ROS generating ability and PDT effect after being sucked by tumor cells, which could effectively kill tumor cells. However, in vivo experiments demonstrated that SMM NPs showed slight inhibition on tumor growth. The actual effect in animals was different from the effect in cells.

State of the Art of Silica Nanoparticles: An Overview on Biodistribution and Preclinical Toxicity Studies

Over the past few years, nanoparticles have drawn particular attention in designing and developing drug delivery systems due to their distinctive advantages like improved pharmacokinetics, reduced toxicity, and specificity. Along with other successful nanosystems, silica nanoparticles (SNPs) have shown promising effects for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. These nanoparticles are of great significance owing to their modifiable surface with various ligands, tunable particle size, and large surface area. The rate and extent of degradation and clearance of SNPs depend on factors such as size, shape, porosity, and surface modification, which directly lead to varying toxic mechanisms. Despite SNPs' enormous potential for clinical and pharmaceutical applications, safety concerns have hindered their translation into the clinic. This review discusses the biodistribution, toxicity, and clearance of SNPs and the formulation-related factors that ultimately influence clinical efficacy and safety for treatment. A holistic view of SNP safety will be beneficial for developing an enabling SNP-based drug product.

Construction and performance evaluation of pH-responsive oxidized hyaluronic acid hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles

In this study, hollow mesoporous silica (HMSN) was created to facilitate drug distribution using the hard template method. The oxidized hyaluronic acid (oxiHA) was coated on the carrier surface by the Schiff base reaction, producing the pH-responsive nanoparticles HMSNs-DOX-oxiHA targeted by CD44 and preventing drug leakage from mesopores. The prepared nanoparticles had a size of 151.79 ± 13.52 nm and a surface potential of -8.42 ± 0.48 mV. The rich mesoporous structure and internal cavity of HMSNs-NH2 achieved the effective encapsulation and loading rates of doxorubicin (DOX) at 76.84 ± 0.24 % and 18.73 ± 0.05 %, respectively. Owing to the pH sensitivity of imine bonds, HMSNs-DOX-oxiHA has a good pH response and release performance. The in vitro experiments showed that the nanoparticles were not cytotoxic and could enhance HCT-116 uptake efficiency by hyaluronic acid/CD44 receptor-mediated endocytosis, effectively inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and reducing toxic side effects on normal cells. In summary, the polysaccharide-based nano-drug delivery system constructed in this experiment not only has the basic response properties of a carrier but also introduces the bioactive advantages of natural polysaccharides.

Recent Advances in Nanotechnology-Based Strategies for Bone Tuberculosis Management

Bone tuberculosis, an extrapulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis, presents unique treatment challenges, including its insidious onset and complex pathology. While advancements in anti-tubercular therapy have been made, the efficacy is often limited by difficulties in achieving targeted drug concentrations and avoiding systemic toxicity. The intricate bone structure and presence of granulomas further impede effective drug delivery. Nano-drug delivery systems have emerged as a promising alternative, offering the enhanced targeting of anti-tubercular drugs. These systems, characterized by their minute size and adaptable surface properties, can be tailored to improve drug solubility, stability, and bioavailability, while also responding to specific stimuli within the bone TB microenvironment for controlled drug release. Nano-drug delivery systems can encapsulate drugs for precise delivery to the infection site. A significant innovation is their integration with prosthetics or biomaterials, which aids in both drug delivery and bone reconstruction, addressing the infection and its osteological consequences. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the pathophysiology of bone tuberculosis and its current treatments, emphasizing their limitations. It then delves into the advancements in nano-drug delivery systems, discussing their design, functionality, and role in bone TB therapy. The review assesses their potential in preclinical research, particularly in targeted drug delivery, treatment efficacy, and a reduction of side effects. Finally, it highlights the transformative promise of nanotechnology in bone TB treatments and suggests future research directions in this evolving field.

Use of Albumin for Drug Delivery as a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Tool

Drug delivery is an important topic that has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Albumin nanoparticles play a significant role in drug delivery as a carrier due to their unique characteristics. Albumin is non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable. Its structure is such that it can interact with different drugs, which makes the treatment of the disease faster and also reduces the side effects of the drug. Albumin nanoparticles can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, etc. These nanoparticles can connect to some compounds, such as metal nanoparticles, antibodies, folate, etc. and create a powerful nanostructure for drug delivery. In this paper, we aim to investigate albumin nanoparticles in carrier format for drug delivery application. In the beginning, different types of albumin and their preparation methods were discussed, and then albumin nanoparticles were discussed in detail in diagnosing and treating various diseases.

Atomic-Level Insights into Hollow Silica-Based Materials for Drug Delivery: Effects of Wettability and Porosity

Experimental evidence has demonstrated that the drug carrier capacity can be significantly enhanced through the use of hollow silica particles. Nevertheless, the effects of varying functional drug carrier surfaces and porous structures remain ambiguous. This study employs molecular dynamics simulations to examine the effects of varying the surface wettability, pore size, and flow velocity on the transfer process. The different levels of wettability of the silica surface with the coarse-grained water model is illustrated by adjusted interaction parameters. The effect of wettability is investigated. With weak interactions, the flow molecules form a nanodroplet to transfer through the porous structure. A strong interaction will lead to molecules flowing as a liquid film to transfer through the structure. Interestingly, the "contradiction effect" is observed when the flow molecules fail to penetrate the porous structure with weak interactions, during which surface tension dominates their flow behavior. Moreover, different porous structures are considered. The flow behaviors are divided into three processes: (1) fast flowing, (2) transient point, and (3) penetration flowing. Furthermore, the concept of surface molecules is defined to quantitatively measure the effect of porosity. A recommended contact angle is proposed. The results will pave the way for more carrier structures in medical engineering.

A novel self-assembled nanoplatform based on retrofitting poloxamer 188 for triple-negative breast cancer targeting treatment

Poloxamer 188 is a widely used pharmaceutical excipient, which can be found in a variety of drug formulations. In this study, a novel self-assembled nanoplatform was developed for active targeting of folate receptor-overexpressing triple-negative breast cancer. This platform, FPP NPs, was prepared by the retrofitted poloxamer 188 derivatives, resulting in nanoparticles with an appropriate size (< 100 nm), good stability, and satisfactory biocompatibility. Cellular uptake and in vivo distribution studies showed that the FPP NPs had strong tumor cell uptake and active targeting capabilities. Furthermore, docetaxel (DTX) was loaded into FPP NPs in this research. The resulting DTX/FPP NPs exhibited high drug encapsulation efficiency and drug loading capacity, and could rapidly release DTX under slightly acidic conditions, significantly increasing the antitumor activity of the encapsulated drug both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, DTX/FPP NPs could significantly decrease the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of DTX. Therefore, this drug delivery nanoplatform, based on retrofitted poloxamer 188 with self-assembly properties in aqueous solution and active targeting capabilities to tumors, may provide a promising approach for targeted treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

Kinetics and Mechanism of Camptothecin Release from Transferrin-Gated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles through a pH-Responsive Surface Linker

Stimuli-responsive nanomaterials have emerged as a promising strategy for inclusion in anticancer therapy. In particular, pH-responsive silica nanocarriers have been studied to provide controlled drug delivery in acidic tumor microenvironments. However, the intracellular microenvironment that the nanosystem must face has an impact on the anticancer effect; therefore, the design of the nanocarrier and the mechanisms that govern drug release play a crucial role in optimizing efficacy. Here, we synthesized and characterized mesoporous silica nanoparticles with transferrin conjugated on their surface via a pH-sensitive imine bond (MSN-Tf) to assess camptothecin (CPT) loading and release. The results showed that CPT-loaded MSN-Tf (MSN-Tf@CPT) had a size of ca. 90 nm, a zeta potential of -18.9 mV, and a loaded content of 13.4%. The release kinetic data best fit a first-order model, and the predominant mechanism was Fickian diffusion. Additionally, a three-parameter model demonstrated the drug-matrix interaction and impact of transferrin in controlling the release of CPT from the nanocarrier. Taken together, these results provide new insights into the behavior of a hydrophobic drug released from a pH-sensitive nanosystem.