Impact of Surface-Engineered ZnO Nanoparticles on Protein Corona Configuration and Their Interactions With Biological System

Advancements in the Synthesis and Functionalization of Zinc Oxide-Based Nanomaterials for Enhanced Oral Cancer Therapy

The fabrication of zinc oxide-based nanomaterials (including natural and synthetic polymers like sulfated polysaccharide, chitosan, and polymethyl methacrylate) has potential to improve oral cancer treatment strategies. This comprehensive review explores the diverse synthesis methods employed to fabricate zinc oxide nanomaterials tailored for oral cancer applications. Several synthesis processes, particularly sol-gel, hydrothermal, and chemical vapor deposition approaches, are thoroughly studied, highlighting their advantages and limitations. The review also examines how synthesis parameters, such as precursor selection, the reaction temperature, and growth conditions, influence both the physicochemical attributes and biological efficacy of the resulting nanomaterials. Furthermore, recent advancements in surface functionalization and modification strategies targeted at improving the targeting specificity and pharmaceutical effectiveness of zinc oxide-based nanomaterials in oral cancer therapy are elucidated. Additionally, the review provides insights into the existing issues and prospective views in the field, emphasizing the need for further research to optimize synthesis methodologies and elucidate the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of zinc oxide-based nanoparticles in oral cancer therapy.

Protein corona, influence on drug delivery system and its improvement strategy: A review

Nano drug delivery systems offer several benefits, including enhancing drug solubility, regulating drug release, prolonging drug circulation time, and minimized toxicity and side effects. However, upon entering the bloodstream, nanoparticles (NPs) encounter a complex biological environment and get absorbed by various biological components, primarily proteins, leading to the formation of a 'Protein Corona'. The formation of the protein corona is affected by the characteristics of NPs, the physiological environment, and experimental design, which in turn affects of the immunotoxicity, specific recognition, cell uptake, and drug release of NPs. To improve the abundance of a specific protein on NPs, researchers have explored pre-coating, modifying, or wrapping NPs with the cell membrane to reduce protein adsorption. This paper, we have reviewed studies of the protein corona in recent years, summarized the formation and detection methods of the protein corona, the effect of the protein corona composition on the fate of NPs, and the design of new drug delivery systems based on the optimization of protein corona to provide a reference for further study of the protein corona and a theoretical basis for the clinical transformation of NPs.

Elucidating the significance of molecular interaction between sulphur doped zinc oxide nanoparticles and serum albumin using multispectroscopic approach

Ingenious nanomaterials with improved biocompatibility and multifunctional properties are gaining vital significance in biomedical applications, including advanced drug delivery and nanotheranostics. In a biological system, these nanoparticles interact with serum proteins forming a dynamic corona that affects their biological or toxicological properties producing undesirable effects. Thus, the current study focuses on the synthesis of sulphur-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO/S NPs) and characterizing their mechanism of interaction with serum proteins using multispectroscopic approach. ZnO/S NPs were synthesized by employing a co-precipitation approach and characterized using various analytical techniques. The results of interaction studies demonstrated that ZnO/S NPs interact with serum albumins via the static quenching process. Analysis of thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH and ΔS) revealed that the binding process is spontaneous, exothermic and van der Waals force or hydrogen bonding plays a major role. The interaction of ZnO/S NPs with tyrosine residue in bovine serum albumin was established by synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. In addition, the results of UV-visible, circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared, Forster's resonance energy transfer theory and dynamic light scattering spectroscopic studies revealed that the ZnO/S NPs interact with albumin by inducing the conformational changes in secondary structure and reducing the α-helix content.

Protein corona: Friend or foe? Co-opting serum proteins for nanoparticle delivery

For systemically delivered nanoparticles to reach target tissues, they must first circulate long enough to reach the target and extravasate there. A challenge is that the particles end up engaging with serum proteins and undergo immune cell recognition and premature clearance. The serum protein binding, also known as protein corona formation, is difficult to prevent, even with artificial protection via "stealth" coating. Protein corona may be problematic as it can interfere with the interaction of targeting ligands with tissue-specific receptors and abrogate the so-called active targeting process, hence, the efficiency of drug delivery. However, recent studies show that serum protein binding to circulating nanoparticles may be actively exploited to enhance their downstream delivery. This review summarizes known issues of protein corona and traditional strategies to control the corona, such as avoiding or overriding its formation, as well as emerging efforts to enhance drug delivery to target organs via nanoparticles. It concludes with a discussion of prevailing challenges in exploiting protein corona for nanoparticle development.

The Yin and Yang of the protein corona on the delivery journey of nanoparticles

Nanoparticles-based drug delivery systems have attracted significant attention in biomedical fields because they can deliver loaded cargoes to the target site in a controlled manner. However, tremendous challenges must still be overcome to reach the expected targeting and therapeutic efficacy in vivo. These challenges mainly arise because the interaction between nanoparticles and biological systems is complex and dynamic and is influenced by the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles and the heterogeneity of biological systems. Importantly, once the nanoparticles are injected into the blood, a protein corona will inevitably form on the surface. The protein corona creates a new biological identity which plays a vital role in mediating the bio-nano interaction and determining the ultimate results. Thus, it is essential to understand how the protein corona affects the delivery journey of nanoparticles in vivo and what we can do to exploit the protein corona for better delivery efficiency. In this review, we first summarize the fundamental impact of the protein corona on the delivery journey of nanoparticles. Next, we emphasize the strategies that have been developed for tailoring and exploiting the protein corona to improve the transportation behavior of nanoparticles in vivo. Finally, we highlight what we need to do as a next step towards better understanding and exploitation of the protein corona. We hope these insights into the "Yin and Yang" effect of the protein corona will have profound implications for understanding the role of the protein corona in a wide range of nanoparticles.

Transcriptomic and proteomic insights into patulin mycotoxin-induced cancer-like phenotypes in normal intestinal epithelial cells

Patulin (PAT) is a natural contaminant of fruits (primarily apples) and their products. Significantly, high levels of contamination have been found in fruit juices all over the world. Several in vitro studies have demonstrated PAT's ability to alter intestinal structure and function. However, in real life, the probability of low dose long-term exposure to PAT to humans is significantly higher through contaminated food items. Thus, in the present study, we have exposed normal intestinal cells to non-toxic levels of PAT for 16 weeks and observed that PAT had the ability to cause cancer-like properties in normal intestinal epithelial cells after chronic exposure. Here, our results showed that chronic exposure to low doses of PAT caused enhanced proliferation, migration and invasion ability, and the capability to grow in soft agar (anchorage independence). Moreover, an in vivo study showed the appearance of colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACFs) in PAT-exposed Wistar rats, which are well, establish markers for early colon cancer. Furthermore, as these neoplastic changes are consequences of alterations at the molecular level, here, we combined next-generation RNA sequencing with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis to investigate the possible underlying mechanisms involved in PAT-induced neoplastic changes.

The influence of surface charge on the tumor-targeting behavior of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for MRI

Nanomedicine-based tumor-targeted therapy has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome the lack of specificity of conventional chemotherapeutic agents. "Passive" targeting caused by the tumor EPR effect and "active" targeting endowed by the tumor-targeting moieties provide promising biomedical utilities and cancer therapy strategies for nanomedicine. However, as the nanoparticles are exposed to biological fluids, a large number of protein molecules will be adsorbed on their surface, known as protein corona, which may alter the targeting ability of the nanoparticles. The impact of different protein corona on the "passive" and "active" targeting behaviors is still ambiguous. Herein, three kinds of aqueous soluble Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with different surface modifications were synthesized and applied to explore the correlation between their protein corona and passive/active tumor-targeting abilities. In the in vitro and in vivo studies, the protein corona exhibited completely different effects on the active and passive cancer-targeting capability of the particles. The particles presented active cancer-targeting ability if there was enough interaction time between the particles and cells. This was mainly due to the dynamic evolution of the protein corona, the proteins of which may be outcompeted by the cancer cell membrane and determine the targeting abilities. Unfortunately, the protein corona also inevitably accelerated RES/MPS uptake after the particles were injected into the body, which almost completely disabled the active targeting abilities of the particles. We believe that this in-depth understanding of protein corona will provide new ideas on the tumor-targeting mechanisms of nanoparticles and present a feasible approach to designing targeted drugs in the future.

Bibliometric landscape of the researches on protein corona of nanoparticles

Unclear biological fate hampers the clinical translation of nanoparticles for biomedical uses. In recent years, it is documented that the formation of protein corona upon nanoparticles is a critical factor leading to the ambiguous biological fate. Efforts have been made to explore the protein corona forming behaviors on nanoparticles, and rearrangement of the relevant studies will help to understand the current trend of such a topic. In this work, the publications about protein corona of nanoparticles in Science Citation Index Expanded database of Web of Science from 2007 to 2020 (1417 in total) were analyzed in detail, and the bibliometrics landscape of them was showcased. The basic bibliometrics characteristics were summarized to provide an overall understanding. Citation analysis was performed to scrutinize the peer interests of these papers. The research hotspots in the field were evaluated, based on which some feasible topics for future studies were proposed. In general, the results demonstrated that protein corona of nanoparticles was a prospective research area, and had attracted global research interests. It was believed that this work could comprehensively highlight the bibliometrics landscape, inspire further exploitation on protein corona of nanoparticles, and ultimately promote the clinical translation of nanoparticles.

Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Protected with Terpenoids as a Substance in Redox Imbalance Normalization in Burns

Preliminary protection of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with terpenoids such as betulin, its derivatives, and essential oils components has been proposed to produce gel-like oleophilic and hydrophilic formulations. We studied the properties of gel-like dispersions of ZnO NPs with immobilized terpenoids and their effects on the activity of LDH, GR, G6PDH, restoration of redox balance of co-enzyme pairs NAD+/NADH and NADP+/NADPH, as well as the activity of SOD, catalase, AlDH in erythrocytes in the treatment of burns in rats. Hysteresis loops on the rheograms of studied dispersions characterize their thixotropic properties. ZnO NPs with betulin diphosphate in the water-ethanol medium lead to a 20-fold increase in the hydrodynamic radius at pH 7.3 compared to the initial ZnO NPs, and facilitate the formation of Zn2+ ions and their penetration into the viable epidermis, unlike oleophilic dispersions. All dispersions reduce the healing time by one and a half times compared with the untreated control group, increase the activity of LDH, GR, G6PDH, SOD, catalase, AlDH, and contribute to the normalization of coenzyme balance. Normalization of the redox balance and wound state was more effective using hydrophilic dispersions due to Zn2 + penetration.

Wound Healing Composite Materials of Bacterial Cellulose and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with Immobilized Betulin Diphosphate

A design of new nanocomposites of bacterial cellulose (BC) and betulin diphosphate (BDP) pre-impregnated into the surface of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) for the production of wound dressings is proposed. The sizes of crystalline BC and ZnO NPs (5-25%) corresponded to 5-6 nm and 10-18 nm, respectively (powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD), Fourier-infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet (UV), atomic absorption (AAS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies). The biological activity of the wound dressings "BC-ZnO NPs-BDP" was investigated in rats using a burn wound model. Morpho-histological studies have shown that more intensive healing was observed during treatment with hydrophilic nanocomposites than the oleophilic standard (ZnO NPs-BDP oleogel; p < 0.001). Treatment by both hydrophilic and lipophilic agents led to increases in antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase) in erythrocytes and decreases in the malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration by 7, 10 and 21 days (p < 0.001). The microcirculation index was restored on the 3rd day after burn under treatment with BC-ZnO NPs-BDP wound dressings. The results of effective wound healing with BC-ZnO NPs-BDP nanocomposites can be explained by the synergistic effect of all nanocomposite components, which regulate oxygenation and microcirculation, reducing hypoxia and oxidative stress in a burn wound.

The Role of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles, Escherichia coli, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus on Small Intestinal Enzyme Activity

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have become common in the food industry, which motivates the need to evaluate ENM effects on human health. Gastrointestinal (GI) in vitro models (e.g. Caco-2, Caco-2/HT29-MTX) have been used in nanotoxicology research. However, the human gut environment is composed of both human cells and the gut microbiota. The goal of this study is to increase the complexity of the Caco-2/HT29-MTX in vitro model by co-culturing human cells with the Gram-positive, commensal Lactobacillus rhamnosus or the Gram-negative, opportunistic Escherichia coli; with the hypothesis that the presence of bacteria would ameliorate the effects of exposure to metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) such as iron oxide (Fe2O3), silicone dioxide (SiO2), titanium dioxide (TiO2), or zinc oxide (ZnO). To understand this relationship, Caco-2/HT29-MTX cell barriers were acutely co-exposed (4 hours) to bacteria and/or NPs (pristine or in vitro digested). The activity of the brush border membrane (BBM) enzymes intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), aminopeptidase-N (APN), sucrase isomaltase (SI) and the basolateral membrane enzyme (BLM) Na+/K+ ATPase were assessed. Findings show that (i) the human digestion process alters the physicochemical properties of NPs, (ii) large agglomerates of NPs remain entrapped on the apical side of the intestinal barrier, which (iii) affects the activity of BBM enzymes. Interestingly, some NPs effects were attenuated in the presence of either bacterial strains. Confocal microscopy detected bacteria-NPs interactions, which may impede the NP-intestinal cell contact. These results highlight the importance of improving in vitro models to closely mimic the complexities of the human body.

Key considerations in designing CRISPR/Cas9-carrying nanoparticles for therapeutic genome editing

CRISPR-Cas9, the breakthrough genome-editing technology, has emerged as a promising tool to prevent and cure various diseases. The efficient genome editing technology strongly relies on the specific and effective delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 cargos. However, the lack of a safe, specific, and efficient non-viral delivery system for in vivo genome editing remains a major limit for its clinical translation. In this review, we will first briefly introduce the working mechanism of CRISPR/Cas9 and the patterns of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery. Furthermore, the physiological obstacles for the delivery process in vivo are elaborated. Finally, the key considerations will be deeply discussed in designing non-viral nanovectors for therapeutic CRISPR/Cas9 delivery in vivo, including the effective encapsulation of large-size macromolecules, targeting specific tissues and cells, efficient endosomal escape and safety concerns of the vector systems, in the hope of inviting more comprehensive studies on the development of safe, specific, and efficient non-viral nanovectors for delivering a CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Safety assessment of a new nanoemulsion-based drug-delivery system reveals unexpected drug-free anticoagulant activity

Aim: A preclinical safety assessment of a novel nanoemulsion drug-delivery system, initially developed to improve the posology of efavirenz (EFV), was conducted with a specific focus on possible immunological and hematological complications. Materials & methods: Assessment of common acute toxicities, such as complement activation and cytokine secretion, was performed using validated assays known to have good correlation with in vivo end points. Results & conclusion: Compared with a standard aqueous solution of EFV, the EFV nanoemulsion showed no significant effect on immune cell function or phenotype. Prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time was observed for EFV-loaded nanoemulsions (88% at 4 μg/ml) as well as unloaded nanoemulsions (52%) highlighting the potential for drug-free anticoagulant activity and warranting further investigation of the mechanism and utility of these materials.