Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks as Acriflavine Cargos in the Battle against Coronaviruses─A Theoretical and Experimental Approach

Computer-aided nanodrug discovery: recent progress and future prospects

Nanodrugs, which utilise nanomaterials in disease prevention and therapy, have attracted considerable interest since their initial conceptualisation in the 1990s. Substantial efforts have been made to develop nanodrugs for overcoming the limitations of conventional drugs, such as low targeting efficacy, high dosage and toxicity, and potential drug resistance. Despite the significant progress that has been made in nanodrug discovery, the precise design or screening of nanomaterials with desired biomedical functions prior to experimentation remains a significant challenge. This is particularly the case with regard to personalised precision nanodrugs, which require the simultaneous optimisation of the structures, compositions, and surface functionalities of nanodrugs. The development of powerful computer clusters and algorithms has made it possible to overcome this challenge through in silico methods, which provide a comprehensive understanding of the medical functions of nanodrugs in relation to their physicochemical properties. In addition, machine learning techniques have been widely employed in nanodrug research, significantly accelerating the understanding of bio-nano interactions and the development of nanodrugs. This review will present a summary of the computational advances in nanodrug discovery, focusing on the understanding of how the key interfacial interactions, namely, surface adsorption, supramolecular recognition, surface catalysis, and chemical conversion, affect the therapeutic efficacy of nanodrugs. Furthermore, this review will discuss the challenges and opportunities in computer-aided nanodrug discovery, with particular emphasis on the integrated "computation + machine learning + experimentation" strategy that can potentially accelerate the discovery of precision nanodrugs.

Metal-Organic Frameworks: Unconventional Nanoweapons against COVID

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak led to enormous social and economic repercussions worldwide, felt even to this date, making the design of new therapies to combat fast-spreading viruses an imperative task. In the face of this, diverse cutting-edge nanotechnologies have risen as promising tools to treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, as well as challenging illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. Aside from these applications, nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (nanoMOFs) have attracted much attention as novel efficient drug delivery systems for diverse pathologies. However, their potential as anti-COVID-19 therapeutic agents has not been investigated. Herein, we propose a pioneering anti-COVID MOF approach by studying their potential as safe and intrinsically antiviral agents through screening various nanoMOF. The iron(III)-trimesate MIL-100 showed a noteworthy antiviral effect against SARS-CoV-2 at the micromolar range, ensuring a high biocompatibility profile (90% of viability) in a real infected human cellular scenario. This research effectively paves the way toward novel antiviral therapies based on nanoMOFs, not only against SARS-CoV-2 but also against other challenging infectious and/or pulmonary diseases.

Crystal Clear: Metal-Organic Frameworks Pioneering the Path to Future Drug Detox

The growing number of acute drug abuse overdoses demands the development of innovative detoxification strategies for emergency purposes. In this study, an innovative approach for the application of porous Zr-based metal-organic frameworks for the treatment of acute overdoses of popular drugs of abuse including amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and MDMA is presented. A comprehensive approach determining the efficacy and the kinetics of drug removal, considering dosage, adsorption time, and adsorption mechanisms, was tested and corroborated with density functional theory (DFT) modeling. The experimental results showed high removal efficiency reaching up to 90% in the case of the application of the NU-1000 metal-organic framework. The difference Raman spectroscopy method presented in this study corroborated with DFT-based vibrational analysis allows the detection of drug adsorbed in the MOF framework even with as low a concentration as 5 mg/g. Additionally, the drug adsorption mechanisms were modeled with DFT, showing the π-π stacking in a vast majority of considered cases. The performance and influence on the living organisms were evaluated throughout the in vitro and in vivo experiments, indicating that Zr-based MOFs could serve as efficient, organic, safe drug adsorbents.

UiO-66(Zr) as drug delivery system for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

The toxicity for the human body of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) overdoses is a consequence of their low water solubility, high doses, and facile accessibility to the population. New drug delivery systems (DDS) are necessary to overcome the bioavailability and toxicity related to NSAIDs. In this context, UiO-66(Zr) metal-organic framework (MOF) shows high porosity, stability, and load capacity, thus being a promising DDS. However, the adsorption and release capability for different NSAIDs is scarcely described. In this work, the biocompatible UiO-66(Zr) MOF was used to study the adsorption and release conditions of ibuprofen, naproxen, and diclofenac using a theoretical and experimental approximation. DFT results showed that the MOF-drug interaction was due to an intermolecular hydrogen bond between protons of the groups in the defect sites, (μ3 - OH, and - OH2) and a lone pair of oxygen carboxyl functional group of the NSAIDs. Also, the experimental results suggest that the solvent where the drug is dissolved affects the adsorption process. The adsorption kinetics are similar between the drugs, but the maximum load capacity differs for each drug. The release kinetics assay showed a solvent dependence kinetics whose maximum liberation capacity is affected by the interaction between the drug and the material. Finally, the biological assays show that none of the systems studied are cytotoxic for HMVEC. Additionally, the wound healing assay suggests that the UiO-66(Zr) material has potential application on the wound healing process. However, further studies should be done.

A critical review on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based nanomaterials for biomedical applications: Designing, recent trends, challenges, and prospects

Nanomaterials (NMs) have garnered significant attention in recent decades due to their versatile applications in a wide range of fields. Thanks to their tiny size, enhanced surface modifications, impressive volume-to-surface area ratio, magnetic properties, and customized optical dispersion. NMs experienced an incredible upsurge in biomedical applications including diagnostics, therapeutics, and drug delivery. This minireview will focus on notable examples of NMs that tackle important issues, demonstrating various aspects such as their design, synthesis, morphology, classification, and use in cutting-edge applications. Furthermore, we have classified and outlined the distinctive characteristics of the advanced NMs as nanoscale particles and hybrid NMs. Meanwhile, we emphasize the incredible potential of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a highly versatile group of NMs. These MOFs have gained recognition as promising candidates for a wide range of bio-applications, including bioimaging, biosensing, antiviral therapy, anticancer therapy, nanomedicines, theranostics, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, gene therapy, and drug delivery. Although advanced NMs have shown great potential in the biomedical field, their use in clinical applications is still limited by issues such as stability, cytotoxicity, biocompatibility, and health concerns. This review article provides a thorough analysis offering valuable insights for researchers investigating to explore new design, development, and expansion opportunities. Remarkably, we ponder the prospects of NMs and nanocomposites in conjunction with current technology.

Is acriflavine an efficient co-drug in chemotherapy?

Cancer is a global health problem being the second worldwide cause of deaths right after cardiovascular diseases. The main methods of cancer treatment involve surgery, radiation and chemotherapy with an emphasis on the latter. Thus development of nanochemistry and nanomedicine in a search for more effective and safer cancer treatment is an important area of current research. Below, we present interaction of doxorubicin and acriflavine and the cytotoxicity of these drug nano-complexes towards cervical cancer (HeLa) cells. Experimental results obtained from NMR measurements and fluorescence spectroscopy show that the drugs' interaction was due to van der Waals forces, formation of hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking. Quantum molecular simulations confirmed the experimental results with regard to existing π-π stacking. Additionally it was shown that, at the level of theory applied (DFT, triple zeta basis set), the stacking interactions comprise the most preferable interactions (the lowest ΔG ca. -12 kcal mol^-1) both between the molecules forming the acriflavine system and between the other component - another drug (doxorubicin) dimer. Biological tests performed on HeLa cells showed high cytotoxicity of the complexes, comparable to free drugs (ACF and DOX), both after 24 and 48 hours of incubation. For non-cancerous cells, a statistically significant difference in the cytotoxicity of drugs and complexes was observed in the case of a short incubation period. The results of the uptake study showed significantly more efficient cellular uptake of acriflavine than doxorubicin, whether administered alone or in combination with an anthracycline. The mechanism determining the selective uptake of acriflavine and ACF : DOX complexes towards non-cancer and cancer cells should be better understood in the future, as it may be of key importance in the design of complexes with toxic anti-cancer drugs.

Virus Management Using Metal-Organic Framework-Based Technologies

The eradication and isolation of viruses are two concurrent approaches to protect ourselves from viral infections and diseases. The quite versatile porous materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have recently emerged as efficient nanosized tools to manage viruses, and several strategies to accomplish these tasks have been developed. This review describes these strategies employing nanoscale MOFs against SARS-CoV-2, HIV-1, tobacco mosaic virus, etc., which include the sequestration by host-guest penetration inside pores, mineralization, design of a physical barrier, controlled delivery of organic and inorganic antiviral drugs or bioinhibitors, photosensitization of singlet oxygen, and direct contact with inherently cytotoxic MOFs.