Recent Advances in Nanotechnology: A Novel Therapeutic System for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

A amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque formation in the brain is known to be the root cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which affects the behavior, memory, and cognitive ability in humans. The brain starts undergoing changes several years before the actual appearance of the symptoms. Nanotechnology could prove to be an alternative strategy for treating the disease effectively. It encompasses the diagnosis as well as the therapeutic aspect using validated biomarkers and nano-based drug delivery systems, respectively. A nano-based therapy may provide an alternate strategy, wherein one targets the protofibrillar amyloid-β (Aβ) structures, and this is followed by their disaggregation as random coils. Conventional/routine drug therapies are inefficient in crossing the blood-brain barrier; however, this hurdle can be overcome with the aid of nanoparticles. The present review highlights the various challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of AD. Meticulous and collaborative research using nanotherapeutic systems could provide remarkable breakthroughs in the early-stage diagnosis and therapy of AD.

Revealing the NIR-triggered chemotherapy therapeutic window of magnetic and thermoresponsive nanogels

The combination of magnetic nanoparticles and thermoresponsive nanogels represents an appealing strategy for the development of theranostic probes. These hybrid nanocarriers present several advantages such as outstanding properties for guided therapy, magnetic resonance imaging, and triggered release of encapsulated cargoes. Most magnetic thermoresponsive nanogels are built with strategies that comprise a physical interaction of particles with the polymeric network or the covalent attachment of a single particle to the linear polymer. Herein, we report a facile synthetic approach for the synthesis of magnetic and thermoresponsive nanogels that allows the controlled incorporation of multiple superparamagnetic inorganic cores as covalent cross-linkers. An ultrasonication-assisted precipitation-polymerization afforded nanogels with sizes in the nanometric range and similar magnetization and light transduction properties compared to the discrete magnetic nanoparticles. The theranostic capability of these nanocarriers was further investigated both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo experiments demonstrated the capacity of these materials as nanocarriers for near-infrared (NIR) triggered chemotherapy and highlighted the relevance of the correct concentration/dose in this antitumoral modality to achieve a superior therapeutic efficacy.

Dual Stimuli-Responsive Copper Nanoparticles Decorated SBA-15: A Highly Efficient Catalyst for the Oxidation of Alcohols in Water

In the present work, a temperature and pH-responsive hybrid catalytic system using copolymer-capped mesoporous silica particles with metal nanoparticles is proposed. The poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)(DMAEMA)-co-N-tert-butyl acrylamide) (TBA)) shell on mesoporous silica SBA-15 was obtained through free radical polymerization. Then, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) decorated SBA-15/copolymer hybrid materials were synthesized using the NaBH₄ reduction method. SBA-15 was functionalized with trimethoxylsilylpropyl methacrylate (TMSPM) and named TSBA. It was found that the CuNPs were uniformly dispersed in the mesoporous channels of SBA-15, and the hybrid catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the selective oxidation of different substituted benzyl alcohols in water using H₂O₂ as an oxidant at room temperature. The dual (temperature and pH-) responsive behaviors of the CuNPs/p(DMAEMA-co-TBA)/TSBA catalyst were investigated using the dynamic light scattering technique. The conversion of catalytic products and selectivity were calculated using gas chromatographic techniques, whereas the molecular structure of the products was identified using ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The catalyst showed excellent catalytic activity toward the oxidation of alcohol to aldehyde in an aqueous medium below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and pKa values (7–7.5) of the copolymer. The main advantages of the hybrid catalyst, as compared to the existing catalysts, are outstanding alcohol conversion (up to 99%) for a short reaction time (1 h), small amount of the catalyst (5 mg), and good recyclability equal to at least five times.

Ultra-sensitive diagnosis of orthotopic patient derived hepatocellular carcinoma by Fe@graphene nanoparticles in MRI

mPEG-DSPE modified Fe/graphene nanoparticles showed low cytotoxicity and high magnetic performance, providing super MRI diagnostic ability for cancer detection.