Magnetic Fullerene-DNA/Hyaluronic Acid Nanovehicles with Magnetism/Reduction Dual-Responsive Triggered Release

Application of intelligent responsive DNA self-assembling nanomaterials in drug delivery

Smart nanomaterials are nano-scaled materials that respond in a controllable and reversible way to external physical or chemical stimuli. DNA self-assembly is an effective way to construct smart nanomaterials with precise structure, diverse functions and wide applications. Among them, static structures such as DNA polyhedron, DNA nanocages and DNA hydrogels, as well as dynamic reactions such as catalytic hairpin reaction, hybridization chain reaction and rolling circle amplification, can serve as the basis for building smart nanomaterials. Due to the advantages of DNA, such as good biocompatibility, simple synthesis, rational design, and good stability, these materials have attracted increasing attention in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biology. Based on their specific response design, DNA self-assembled smart nanomaterials can deliver a variety of drugs, including small molecules, nucleic acids, proteins and other drugs; and they play important roles in enhancing cellular uptake, resisting enzymatic degradation, controlling drug release, and so on. This review focuses on different assembly methods of DNA self-assembled smart nanomaterials, therapeutic strategies based on various intelligent responses, and their applications in drug delivery. Finally, the opportunities and challenges of smart nanomaterials based on DNA self-assembly are summarized.

Self-Assembly of a C16M[Mn] Magnetic Surfactant in Water

A magnetic surfactant, which combines the properties of a surfactant with magnetic responsiveness, shows great potential in biotechnology, separation, adsorption, and catalysis, especially in non-invasive manipulation through a magnetic field. However, a molecularly magnetic surfactant is usually paramagnetic for the amorphous and less ordered structures. In this work, magnetic surfactant 1-methyl-3-hexadecane-imidazolium [MnCl₂Br] (C₁₆M[Mn]) is reported to self-assemble in water. The C₁₆M[Mn] magnetic surfactant self-assembles in water to form a lamellar hydrogel from 10 to 50 wt % at and below room temperature. The hydrogel changes from a gel to a sol at 30 °C, and the hexadecane chains in the hydrogel change from noncrystalline to crystalline at 0 °C. In the hydrogel state, the lamellar domain spacing is varied from 36 to 45 nm depending on the concentration and self-assembly temperature. After self-assembly, the magnetic susceptibility of the freeze-dried magnetic surfactant is increased. Most important is the fact that the freeze-dried sample at a high concentration (40-50 wt %) shows the highest magnetic susceptibility, which is related to the closer molecular packing and the more ordered structures. The self-assembly-induced increase in magnetic susceptibility provides a method for improving the magnetic properties of a magnetic surfactant.

Carbon Graphitization: Towards Greener Alternatives to Develop Nanomaterials for Targeted Drug Delivery

Carbon nanomaterials have attracted great interest for their unique physico-chemical properties for various applications, including medicine and, in particular, drug delivery, to solve the most challenging unmet clinical needs. Graphitization is a process that has become very popular for their production or modification. However, traditional conditions are energy-demanding; thus, recent efforts have been devoted to the development of greener routes that require lower temperatures or that use waste or byproducts as a carbon source in order to be more sustainable. In this concise review, we analyze the progress made in the last five years in this area, as well as in their development as drug delivery agents, focusing on active targeting, and conclude with a perspective on the future of the field.

Novel Gels: An Emerging Approach for Delivering of Therapeutic Molecules and Recent Trends

Gels are semisolid, homogeneous systems with continuous or discrete therapeutic molecules in a suitable lipophilic or hydrophilic three-dimensional network base. Innovative gel systems possess multipurpose applications in cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and so forth. Formulating a gel-based delivery system is simple and the delivery system enables the release of loaded therapeutic molecules. Furthermore, it facilitates the delivery of molecules via various routes as these gel-based systems offer proximal surface contact between a loaded therapeutic molecule and an absorption site. In the past decade, researchers have potentially explored and established a significant understanding of gel-based delivery systems for drug delivery. Subsequently, they have enabled the prospects of developing novel gel-based systems that illicit drug release by specific biological or external stimuli, such as temperature, pH, enzymes, ultrasound, antigens, etc. These systems are considered smart gels for their broad applications. This review reflects the significant role of advanced gel-based delivery systems for various therapeutic benefits. This detailed discussion is focused on strategies for the formulation of different novel gel-based systems, as well as it highlights the current research trends of these systems and patented technologies.

Fullerene in a Magnetic Field

The manuscript presents a trajectory method for describing the rotations of surface crystals such as fullerenes, nanotubes, and nanotori. This method does not require the implementation of successive rotations of the considered molecular structures around the axes of the selected basis. Therefore, it is free from the shortcomings of the approaches of Euler and Hamilton. On its basis, an efficient algorithm for calculating the motions of a magneto-susceptible fullerene in an alternating magnetic field has been developed. The nature of rotation of fullerenes in fields of various configurations has been studied.

Facile synthesis and self-assembly behaviors of biodegradable amphiphilic hyperbranched copolymers with reducible poly(caprolactone) grafts

A reducible hydrophobic macromonomer, HEMA-g-PCL, developed herein provides a facile yet robust strategy for biodegradable amphiphilic hyperbranched copolymers.

Insights into nucleic acid-based self-assembling nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery and controlled drug release

Over the past few decades, rapid advances of nucleic acid nanotechnology always drive the development of nanoassemblies with programmable design, powerful functionality, excellent biocompatibility and outstanding biosafety. Nowadays, nucleic acid-based self-assembling nanocarriers (NASNs) play an increasingly greater role in the research and development in biomedical studies, particularly in drug delivery, release and targeting. In this review, NASNs are systematically summarized the strategies cooperated with their broad applications in drug delivery. We first discuss the self-assembling methods of nanocarriers comprised of DNA, RNA and composite materials, and summarize various categories of targeting media, including aptamers, small molecule ligands and proteins. Furthermore, drug release strategies by smart-responding multiple kinds of stimuli are explained, and various applications of NASNs in drug delivery are discussed, including protein drugs, nucleic acid drugs, small molecule drugs and nanodrugs. Lastly, we propose limitations and potential of NASNs in the future development, and expect that NASNs enable facilitate the development of new-generation drug vectors to assist in solving the growing demands on disease diagnosis and therapy or other biomedicine-related applications in the real world.

Review of Recent Advances and Their Improvement in the Effectiveness of Hydrogel-Based Targeted Drug Delivery: A Hope for Treating Cancer

Using hydrogels for delivering cancer therapeutics is advantageous in pharmaceutical usage as they have an edge over traditional delivery, which is tainted due to the risk of toxicity that it imbues. Hydrogel usage leads to the development of a more controlled drug release system owing to its amenability for structural metamorphosis, its higher porosity to seat the drug molecules, and its ability to shield the drug from denaturation. The thing that makes its utility even more enhanced is that they make themselves more recognizable to the body tissues and hence can stay inside the body for a longer time, enhancing the efficiency of the delivery, which otherwise is negatively affected since the drug is identified by the human immunity as a foreign substance, and thus, an attack of the immunity begins on the drug injected. A variety of hydrogels such as thermosensitive, pH-sensitive, and magnetism-responsive hydrogels have been included and their potential usage in drug delivery has been discussed in this review that aims to present recent studies on hydrogels that respond to alterations under a variety of circumstances in "reducing" situations that mimic the microenvironment of cancerous cells.

Magnetic surfactants: A review of recent progress in synthesis and applications

Magnetic surfactants are a special class of surfactants with magneto-responsive properties. These surfactants possess lower critical micelle concentrations and are more effective in reducing surface tension as compared to conventional surfactants. Such surfactants' ability to manipulate self-assembly in a controlled way by tuning the magnetic field makes them an attractive choice for several applications, including drug delivery, catalysis, separation, oilfield, and water treatment. In this work, we reviewed the properties of magnetic surfactants and possible explanations of magnetic behavior. This article also covers the synthesis methods that can be used to synthesize different types of cationic, anionic, nonionic, and zwitterionic magnetic surfactants. The applications of magnetic surfactants in different fields such as biotechnology, water treatment, catalysis, and oilfield have been discussed in detail.

Drug Delivery With Carbon-Based Nanomaterials as Versatile Nanocarriers: Progress and Prospects

With growing interest, a large number of researches have been conducted on carbon-based nanomaterials (CBNs). However, their uses are limited due to comprehensive potential environmental and human health effects. It is often confusing for researchers to make an informed choice regarding the versatile carbon-based nanocarrier system and its potential applications. This review has highlighted emerging applications and cutting-edge progress of CBNs in drug delivery. Some critical factors like enzymatic degradation, surface modification, biological interactions, and bio-corona have been discussed here. These factors will help to fabricate CBNs for effective drug delivery. This review also addresses recent advancements in carbon-based target specific and release controlled drug delivery to improve disease treatment. The scientific community has turned their research efforts into the development of novel production methods of CBNs to make their production more attractive to the industrial sector. Due to the nanosize and diversified physical properties, these CBNs have demonstrated distinct biological interaction. Thus long-term preclinical toxicity study is recommended before finally translating to clinical application.

Lysosomal escaped protein nanocarriers for nuclear-targeted siRNA delivery

In the process of drug carrier design, lysosome degradation in cells is often neglected, which makes a considerable number of drugs not play a role. Here, we have constructed a tumor treatment platform (Apn/siRNA/NLS/HA/Apt) with unique lysosomal escape function and excellent cancer treatment effect. Apoferritin (Apn) has attracted more and more attention because of its high uniformity, modifiability, and controllability. Meanwhile, its endogenous nature can avoid the risk of immune response being eliminated. We used aptamer modified iron deficient protein nanocages (Apn) to tightly encapsulate the combination of siRNA and NLS (siRNA/NLS) with influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA peptide). After Apn/siRNA/NLS/HA/Apt was targeted into cells, the acidic environment of lysosome led to the cleavage of Apn nanocages, and the release of siRNA/NLS and HA peptide. HA peptide can destroy lysosome membrane, make siRNA/NLS escape lysosome, and enter the nucleus under the action of NLS, resulting in efficient gene silencing effect. This kind of cancer treatment strategy based on Apn nanocage shows high biocompatibility and unique lysosome escape property, which significantly improves the drug delivery and treatment efficiency. Lysosomal escape protein nanocarriers for nuclear-targeted siRNA delivery.

Recent advantage of hyaluronic acid for anti-cancer application: a review of "3S" transition approach

In recent years, nano drug delivery system has been widely concerned because of its good therapeutic effect. However, the process from blood circulation to cancer cell release of nanodrugs will be eliminated by the human body's own defense trap, thus reducing the therapeutic effect. In recent years, a "3S" transition concept, including stability transition, surface transition and size transition, was proposed to overcome the barriers in delivery process. Hyaluronic (HA) acid has been widely used in delivery of anticancer drugs due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and specific targeting to cancer cells. In this paper, the strategies and methods of HA-based nanomaterials using "3S" theory are reviewed. The applications and effects of "3S" modified nanomaterials in various fields are also introduced.

Hydrogel-Based Controlled Drug Delivery for Cancer Treatment: A Review

As an emerging drug carrier, hydrogels have been widely used for tumor drug delivery. A hydrogel drug carrier can cause less severe side effects than systemic chemotherapy and can achieve sustained delivery of a drug at tumor sites. In addition, hydrogels have excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability and lower toxicity than nanoparticle carriers. Smart hydrogels can respond to stimuli in the environment (e.g., heat, pH, light, and ultrasound), enabling in situ gelation and controlled drug release, which greatly enhance the convenience and efficiency of drug delivery. Here, we summarize the different sizes of hydrogels used for cancer treatment and their related delivery routes, discuss the design strategies for stimuli-responsive hydrogels, and review the research concerning smart hydrogels reported in the past few years.

Recent advances of nanomedicines for liver cancer therapy

This review highlights recent advancements in nanomedicines for liver cancer therapy.

Magnetic proline-based ionic liquid surfactant as a nano-carrier for hydrophobic drug delivery

Biofriendly and magnetic proline based ionic liquid surfactant demonstrated for drug delivery system.

Triple stimuli-responsive ZnO quantum dots-conjugated hollow mesoporous carbon nanoplatform for NIR-induced dual model antitumor therapy

Aiming at the inefficiency and toxicity in traditional antitumor therapy, a novel multifunctional nanoplatform was constructed based on hollow mesoporous carbon (HMC) to achieve triple stimuli response and dual model antitumor therapy via chemo-photothermal synergistic effect. HMC was used as an ideal nanovehicle with a high drug loading efficiency as well as a near-infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion agent for photothermal therapy. Acid-dissoluble, luminescent ZnO quantum dots (QDs) were used as the proper sealing agents for the mesopores of HMC, conjugated to HMC via disulfide linkage to prevent drug (doxorubicin, abbreviated as Dox) premature release from Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO. After cellular endocytosis, the Dox was released in a pH, GSH and NIR laser triple stimuli-responsive manner to realize accurate drug delivery. Moreover, the local hyperthermia effect induced by NIR irradiation could promote the drug release, enhance cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents, and also directly kill cancer cells. As expected, Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO exhibited a high drug loading capacity of 43%, well response to triple stimuli and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency η of 29.7%. The therapeutic efficacy in 4T1 cells and multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) demonstrated that Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO + NIR had satisfactory chemo-photothermal synergistic effect with a combination index (CI) of 0.532. The cell apoptosis rate of the combined treatment group was more than 95%. The biodistribution and pharmacodynamics studies showed its biosecurity to normal tissues and synergistic inhibition effect to tumor cells. These distinguished results indicated that the Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO nanoplatform is potential to realize efficient triple stimuli-responsive drug delivery and dual model chemo-photothermal synergistic antitumor therapy.

Influence of the degree of oligomerization of surfactants on the DNA/surfactant interaction

The interaction between calf thymus DNA, ctDNA, and a series of oligomeric surfactants derived from N-benzyl-N,N-dimethyl-N-(1-dodecyl)ammonium chloride is investigated. The influence of the surfactants' degree of oligomerization (2, 3 and 4) on the ctDNA/surfactant interaction is studied, as well as the effect of the structure of the spacer group linking the individual surfactant fragments. In particular, the effect of the distance between the positive charges and the hydrophobic chains within the oligomers on these interactions was examined, by using the three positional isomers (i.e., ortho-, meta-, and para-) with the rigid xylidene moiety as spacer. Results show that the dimeric ("gemini") surfactants are much more efficient in the inversion of the nucleic acid charge than the single-chained (monomeric) surfactant. Whereas the ortho - isomer causes a partial condensation, the meta - and para - isomers can completely condense ctDNA. The meta - and para - isomers of the trimeric surfactants can also completely condense the polynucleotide. In contrast, the tetrameric surfactant investigated does not change the morphology of the nucleic acid from an elongated coil into a compacted form, in spite of effectively inverting the nucleic acid's charge in their complex. Accordingly, the capacity for ctDNA compaction of oligomeric surfactants is not simply correlated to their degree of oligomerization, but depends on a complex balance of the number and relative distance of cationic charges and/or hydrophobic tails in the surfactants for effectively interacting with the nucleic acid to form the appropriate complex. This information will help to design more effective cationic surfactants as non-viral vectors for gene therapy.

Fluorescent hybrid nanospheres induced by single-stranded DNA and magnetic carbon quantum dots

Assembled DNA nanospheres were preparedviaself-assembly with magnetic CQDGd as the building blocks and negatively charged ssDNA as the assembly units.

Magnetic networks of carbon quantum dots and Ag particles

Self-assembly exploits a facile non-covalent way to couple structurally different building blocks for creating soft materials with synergetic novel properties and functions. Taking advantage of magneto-properties from magnetic surfactants as well as versatile functional ligand formed by carbon quantum dots with cysteine (cys-CQDs), the magnetic network materials were firstly constructed by using magnetic surfactants and cys-CQDs as self-assembly building blocks. Counterions of Br^-, [GdCl₃Br]^-, [HoCl₃Br]^- in surfactants could control the morphology of magnetic network structures, and the concentration of magnetic surfactants manoeuvres a versatile scenario of self-assembly behavior. Self-assembly of cys-CQDs and CTAHo brought out a 10-fold increase in magnetic moment of CTAHo. The fluorescent property of carbon quantum dots firstly served as an effective indicator element to dissect the collective effect in self-assembly process. For the sake of capturing the target sequence-specific DNA molecules, in situ growth of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) upon the magnetic network structures was realized by synergetically electrostatic and coordinated interaction of carboxyl groups and Ag ions. The magnetic Ag self-assemblies anchored thiol-containing DNA, serving as a magnetic separation booster for the target sequence-specific DNA molecules under an applied magnetic field, which will bring light on designing magneto-functional self-assembly materials according to practical application requirements.

Morphological Control of Coil-Rod-Coil Molecules Containing m-Terphenyl Group: Construction of Helical Fibers and Helical Nanorings in Aqueous Solution

Rod-coil molecules, composed of rigid segments and flexible coil chains, have a strong intrinsic ability to self-assemble into diverse supramolecular nanostructures. Herein, we report the synthesis and the morphological control of a new series of amphiphilic coil-rod-coil molecular isomers 1-2 containing flexible oligoether chains. These molecules are comprised of m-terphenyl and biphenyl groups, along with triple bonds, and possess lateral methyl or butyl groups at the coil or rod segments. The results of this study suggest that the morphology of supramolecular aggregates is significantly influenced by the lateral alkyl groups and by the sequence of the rigid fragments in the bulk and in aqueous solution. The molecules with different coils self-assemble into lamellar or oblique columnar structures in the bulk state. In aqueous solution, molecule 1a, with a lack of lateral groups, self-assembled into large strips of sheets, whereas exquisite nanostructures of helical fibers were obtained from molecule 1b, which incorporated lateral methyl groups between the rod and coil segments. Interestingly, molecule 1c with lateral butyl and methyl groups exhibited a strong self-organizing capacity to form helical nanorings. Nanoribbons, helical fibers, and small nanorings were simultaneously formed from the 2a-2c, which are structural isomers of 1a, 1b, and 1c. Accurate control of these supramolecular nanostructures can be achieved by tuning the synergistic interactions of the noncovalent driving force with hydrophilic-hydrophobic interactions in aqueous solution.

Nanocapsules of Magnetic Au Self-Assembly for DNA Migration and Secondary Self-Assembly

To endow valuable responsiveness to self-assemblies of Au nanoparticles (Au NPs), the magnetic Au nanoparticles (Au NPs)/C₁₆H₃₃(CH₃)₃N⁺[CeCl₃Br]^- (CTACe) mixtures were first prepared by using an emulsion self-assembly of a magnetic surfactant, C₁₆H₃₃(CH₃)₃N⁺[CeCl₃Br]^-. A versatile morphology of self-assemblies of Au NPs could be controlled by the counterions in surfactants including [CeCl₃Br]^-, [FeCl₃Br]^-, and Br^- as well as solvent. In particular, the magnetic counterion, [CeCl₃Br]^-, can induce self-growth of Au NPs in an emulsion self-assembly process due to the oxidability of [CeCl₃Br]^-. It enhances the rigidity of Au NPs/CTACe scaffolds template compared with Au NPs/hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide. [CeCl₃Br]^- engaged Au NPs/CTACe with fascinating capability of conglutination and targeted migration of DNA (150 μmol/L) under a magnet field. The conglutination capability of the DNA molecules can increase to 39.8% by adopting the magnetic strategy when using Au NPs/CTACe as a magnetic booster. Au NPs/CTACe mixtures can ideally self-assemble to be scaffolds, providing abundant conjugation sites of surface charges. Magnetic Au NPs/CTACe can serve as a template scaffold to secondary self-assemble with DNA (40 mmol/L) outside, producing smooth-faced and hollow DNA nanocapsules. We believe that the creative Au NPs/CTACe/DNA nanocapsules will extend the biological application field of Au NPs assemblies.

Carbon nanomaterials in oncology: an expanding horizon

Carbon nanomaterials have been attracting attention in oncology for the development of safe and effective cancer nanomedicines in increasing improved patient compliance for generally recognized as safe (GRAS) prominence. Toxicity, safety and efficacy of carbon nanomaterials are the major concerns in cancer theranostics. Various parameters such as particle size and shape or surface morphology, surface charge, composition, oxidation and nonoxidative-stress-related mechanisms are prone to toxicity of the carbon nanomaterials. Currently, few cancer-related products have been available on the market, although some are underway in preclinical and clinical phases. Thus, our main aim is to provide comprehensive details on the carbon nanomaterials in oncology from the past two decades for patient compliance and safety.