Effect of targeted gold nanoparticles size on acoustic cavitation: An in vitro study on melanoma cells

Gold nanostructures in melanoma: Advances in treatment, diagnosis, and theranostic applications

Melanoma, a lethal form of skin cancer, poses a significant challenge in oncology due to its aggressive nature and high mortality rates. Gold nanostructures, including gold nanoparticles (GNPs), offer myriad opportunities in melanoma therapy and imaging due to their facile synthesis and functionalization, robust stability, tunable physicochemical and optical properties, and biocompatibility. This review explores the emerging role of gold nanostructures and their composites in revolutionizing melanoma treatment paradigms, bridging the gap between nanotechnology and clinical oncology, and offering insights for researchers, clinicians, and stakeholders. It begins by elucidating the potential of nanotechnology-driven approaches in cancer therapy, highlighting the unique physicochemical properties and versatility of GNPs in biomedical applications. Various therapeutic modalities, including photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, targeted drug delivery, gene delivery, and nanovaccines, are discussed in detail, along with insights from ongoing clinical trials. In addition, the utility of GNPs in melanoma imaging and theranostics is explored, showcasing their potential in diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and personalized medicine. Furthermore, safety considerations and potential toxicities associated with GNPs are addressed, underscoring the importance of comprehensive risk assessment in clinical translation. Finally, the review concludes by discussing current challenges and future directions, emphasizing the need for innovative strategies to maximize the clinical impact of GNPs in melanoma therapy.

The Evolution of Sonochemistry: From the Beginnings to Novel Applications

Sonochemistry is the use of ultrasonic waves in an aqueous medium, to generate acoustic cavitation. In this context, sonochemistry emerged as a focal point over the past few decades, starting as a manageable process such as a cleaning technique. Now, it is found in a wide range of applications across various chemical, physical, and biological processes, creating opportunities for analysis between these processes. Sonochemistry is a powerful and eco-friendly technique often called "green chemistry" for less energy use, toxic reagents, and residues generation. It is increasing the number of applications achieved through the ultrasonic irradiation (USI) method. Sonochemistry has been established as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative compared to traditional industrial methods. It promotes scientific and social well-being, offering non-destructive advantages, including rapid processes, improved process efficiency, enhanced product quality, and, in some cases, the retention of key product characteristics. This versatile technology has significantly contributed to the food industry, materials technology, environmental remediation, and biological research. This review is created with enthusiasm and focus on shedding light on the manifold applications of sonochemistry. It delves into this technique's evolution and current applications in cleaning, environmental remediation, microfluidic, biological, and medical fields. The purpose is to show the physicochemical effects and characteristics of acoustic cavitation in different processes across various fields and to demonstrate the extending application reach of sonochemistry. Also to provide insights into the prospects of this versatile technique and demonstrating that sonochemistry is an adapting system able to generate more efficient products or processes.

Critical evaluation of the potential of ICP-MS-based systems in toxicological studies of metallic nanoparticles

The extensive application of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) in several fields has significantly impacted our daily lives. Nonetheless, uncertainties persist regarding the toxicity and potential risks associated with the vast number of NPs entering the environment and human bodies, so the performance of toxicological studies are highly demanded. While traditional assays focus primarily on the effects, the comprehension of the underlying processes requires innovative analytical approaches that can detect, characterize, and quantify NPs in complex biological matrices. Among the available alternatives to achieve this information, mass spectrometry, and more concretely, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), has emerged as an appealing option. This work critically reviews the valuable contribution of ICP-MS-based techniques to investigate NP toxicity and their transformations during in vitro and in vivo toxicological assays. Various ICP-MS modalities, such as total elemental analysis, single particle or single-cell modes, and coupling with separation techniques, as well as the potential of laser ablation as a spatially resolved sample introduction approach, are explored and discussed. Moreover, this review addresses limitations, novel trends, and perspectives in the field of nanotoxicology, particularly concerning NP internalization and pathways. These processes encompass cellular uptake and quantification, localization, translocation to other cell compartments, and biological transformations. By leveraging the capabilities of ICP-MS, researchers can gain deeper insights into the behaviour and effects of NPs, which can pave the way for safer and more responsible use of these materials.

Advancements in nanoparticle-based treatment approaches for skin cancer therapy

Skin cancer has emerged as the fifth most commonly reported cancer in the world, causing a burden on global health and the economy. The enormously rising environmental changes, industrialization, and genetic modification have further exacerbated skin cancer statistics. Current treatment modalities such as surgery, radiotherapy, conventional chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy are facing several issues related to cost, toxicity, and bioavailability thereby leading to declined anti-skin cancer therapeutic efficacy and poor patient compliance. In the context of overcoming this limitation, several nanotechnological advancements have been witnessed so far. Among various nanomaterials, nanoparticles have endowed exorbitant advantages by acting as both therapeutic agents and drug carriers for the remarkable treatment of skin cancer. The small size and large surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles escalate the skin tumor uptake through their leaky vasculature resulting in enhanced therapeutic efficacy. In this context, the present review provides up to date information about different types and pathology of skin cancer, followed by their current treatment modalities and associated drawbacks. Furthermore, it meticulously discusses the role of numerous inorganic, polymer, and lipid-based nanoparticles in skin cancer therapy with subsequent descriptions of their patents and clinical trials.

Applications of Metallic Nanoparticles in the Skin Cancer Treatment

Skin cancer is one of leading cancers globally, divided into two major categories including melanoma and nonmelanoma. Skin cancer is a global concern with an increasing trend, hence novel therapies are essential. The local treatment strategies play a key role in skin cancer therapy. Nanoparticles (NPs) exert potential applications in medicine with huge advantages and have the ability to overcome common chemotherapy problems. Recently, NPs have been used in nanomedicine as promising drug delivery systems. They can enhance the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs, improve pharmacokinetic properties, modify bioavailability, and reduce drug metabolism. The high-efficient, nontoxic, low-cost, and specific cancer therapy is a promising goal, which can be achieved by the development of nanotechnology. Metallic NPs (MNPs) can act as important platforms. MNPs development seeks to enhance the therapeutic efficiency of medicines through site specificity, prevention of multidrug resistance, and effective delivery of therapeutic factors. MNPs are used as potential arms in the case of cancer recognition, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and colloidal mediators for magnetic hyperthermia of cancer. The applications of MNPs in the cancer treatment studies are mostly due to their potential to carry a large dose of drug, resulting in a high concentration of anticancer drugs at the target site. Therefore, off-target toxicity and suffering side effects caused by high concentration of the drug in other parts of the body are avoided. MNPs have been applied as drug carriers for the of improvement of skin cancer treatment and drug delivery. The development of MNPs improves the results of many cancer treatments. Different types of NPs, such as inorganic and organic NPs have been investigated in vitro and in vivo for the skin cancer therapy. MNPs advantages mostly include biodegradability, electrostatic charge, good biocompatibility, high drug payload, and low toxicity. However, the use of controlled-release systems stimulated by electromagnetic waves, temperature, pH, and light improves the accumulation in tumor tissues and improves therapeutic outcomes. This study (2019-2022) is aimed at reviewing applications of MNPs in the skin cancer therapy.

Can Nanoparticles in Homeopathic Remedies Enhance Phototherapy of Cancer? A Hypothetical Model

The continuous rise in cancer incidence places a massive burden on the health sector to increase efforts in the fight against cancer. As a holistic complementary medicine modality, homeopathy has the potential to assist in the supportive and palliative treatment of cancer patients. Recent empirical studies demonstrate the presence of silica and original source nanoparticles in ultra-high dilutions of several homeopathic medicines. Recent studies have also demonstrated the efficacy of phototherapy in inducing the ablation of cancer cells through laser-activated nanoparticle photosensitizers. A new hypothetical research model is presented herein, in an attempt to investigate and compare the phototherapeutic effects of homeopathic source nanoparticles with photosensitizing nanoparticle agents that have previously been tested.

Ultrasound-Mediated Microbubble Destruction Inhibits Skin Melanoma Growth by Affecting YAP1 Translation Using Ribosome Imprinting Sequencing

Cutaneous melanoma (CMM) is a skin tumor with a high degree of malignancy. BRAF resistance imposes great difficulty to the treatment of CMM, and partially contributes to the poor prognosis of CMM. YAP is involved in the growth and drug resistance of a variety of tumors, and mechanical signals may affect the activation of YAP1. As a novel ultrasound treatment technology, ultrasound-mediated microbubble destruction (UMMD) has been reported to have a killing effect on isolated CMM cells. In this study, the tumor tissue samples were collected from 64 CMM patients. We found that YAP1 mRNA expression was irrelevant to the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic survival of the CMM patients. The drug-resistant cell line was constructed and subcutaneously implanted into nude mice, which were further separately treated with UMMD, ultrasound (US), and microbubbles (MB). The result showed that UMMD significantly inhibited the growth of tumor tissues. Ribosome imprinting sequencing (Ribo-seq) is a genetic technology for studying protein translation at genetic level. Ribo-seq, RNA-seq, and RT-qPCR were applied to detect YAP1 expression in CMM mouse tumor tissues. Ribo-seq data revealed that UMMD greatly up-regulated the expression of YAP1, interestingly, the up-regulated YAP1 was found to be negatively correlated with the weight of tumor tissues, while no significant change in YAP1 expression was detected by RNA-seq or RT-qPCR assay. These results indicated that UMMD could inhibit the tumor growth of drug-resistant CMM by affecting the translation efficiency of YAP1, providing a strong basis for the clinical treatment of UMMD in CMM.

Recent Advances in Nanotechnology for the Treatment of Melanoma

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer, with few possibilities for therapeutic approaches, due to its multi-drug resistance and, consequently, low survival rate for patients. Conventional therapies for treatment melanoma include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, which have various side effects. For this reason, in recent years, pharmaceutical and biomedical research has focused on new sito-specific alternative therapeutic strategies. In this regard, nanotechnology offers numerous benefits which could improve the life expectancy of melanoma patients with very low adverse effects. This review aims to examine the latest advances in nanotechnology as an innovative strategy for treating melanoma. In particular, the use of different types of nanoparticles, such as vesicles, polymers, metal-based, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, solid lipid, microneedles, and their combination with immunotherapies and vaccines will be discussed.

Therapeutic ultrasound experiments in vitro: Review of factors influencing outcomes and reproducibility

Current in vitro sonication experiments show immense variability in experimental set-ups and methods used. As a result, there is uncertainty in the ultrasound field parameters experienced by sonicated samples, poor reproducibility of these experiments and thus reduced scientific value of the results obtained. The scope of this narrative review is to briefly describe mechanisms of action of ultrasound, list the most frequently used experimental set-ups and focus on a description of factors influencing the outcomes and reproducibility of these experiments. The factors assessed include: proper reporting of ultrasound exposure parameters, experimental geometry, coupling medium quality, influence of culture vessels, formation of standing waves, motion/rotation of the sonicated sample and the characteristics of the sample itself. In the discussion we describe pros and cons of particular exposure geometries and factors, and make a few recommendations as to how to increase the reproducibility and validity of the experiments performed.