Recognition and transmembrane delivery of bioconjugated Fe2O3@Au nanoparticles with living cells

The Peptide Functionalized Inorganic Nanoparticles for Cancer-Related Bioanalytical and Biomedical Applications

In order to improve their bioapplications, inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are usually functionalized with specific biomolecules. Peptides with short amino acid sequences have attracted great attention in the NP functionalization since they are easy to be synthesized on a large scale by the automatic synthesizer and can integrate various functionalities including specific biorecognition and therapeutic function into one sequence. Conjugation of peptides with NPs can generate novel theranostic/drug delivery nanosystems with active tumor targeting ability and efficient nanosensing platforms for sensitive detection of various analytes, such as heavy metallic ions and biomarkers. Massive studies demonstrate that applications of the peptide-NP bioconjugates can help to achieve the precise diagnosis and therapy of diseases. In particular, the peptide-NP bioconjugates show tremendous potential for development of effective anti-tumor nanomedicines. This review provides an overview of the effects of properties of peptide functionalized NPs on precise diagnostics and therapy of cancers through summarizing the recent publications on the applications of peptide-NP bioconjugates for biomarkers (antigens and enzymes) and carcinogens (e.g., heavy metallic ions) detection, drug delivery, and imaging-guided therapy. The current challenges and future prospects of the subject are also discussed.

Metal-based quantum dots: synthesis, surface modification, transport and fate in aquatic environments and toxicity to microorganisms

The intense interest in metal-based QDs is diluted by the fact that they cause risks to aquatic environments.

Fe2O3@Au core@shell nanoparticle–graphene nanocomposites as theranostic agents for bioimaging and chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy

Graphene-based magnetic and plasmonic nanocomposites (DOX–rGO–Fe₂O₃@Au NPs) have been prepared for magnetic-field-assisted drug delivery and chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy.

Size dependent cellular uptake, in vivo fate and light-heat conversion efficiency of gold nanoshells on silica nanorattles

Despite advances in photothermal therapy of gold nanoshells, reliable evaluations of their size dependence on the relative biological effects are needed. We report the size effects of PEGylated gold nanoshells on silica nanorattles (pGSNs) on their cellular uptake, in vivo fate and light-heat conversion efficiency in this study. The results indicate that smaller pGSNs have enhanced cellular uptake by the MCF-7 cells. For in vivo biodistribution study, pGSNs of different particle sizes (84-315 nm) distribute mainly in the liver and spleen in MCF-7 tumor-bearing BALB/c nude mice. Smaller pGSNs have a longer blood-circulation lifetime and higher light-heat conversion efficiency both in vitro and in vivo compared with larger ones. All three sizes of pGSNs can be excreted from the mice body at a slow rate and do not cause tissue toxicity after intravenous injection at a dosage of 20 mg kg(-1) for three times. The data support the feasibility of optimizing the therapeutic process for photothermal cell killing by plasmonic gold nanoshells.