Designer DNA-silica/carbon nanotube nanocomposites for traceable and targeted drug delivery

Aptamer-functionalized nanomaterials (AFNs) for therapeutic management of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents one of the deadliest cancers globally, making the search for more effective diagnostic and therapeutic approaches particularly crucial. Aptamer-functionalized nanomaterials (AFNs), an innovative nanotechnology, have paved new pathways for the targeted diagnosis and treatment of HCC. Initially, we outline the epidemiological background of HCC and the current therapeutic challenges. Subsequently, we explore in detail how AFNs enhance diagnostic and therapeutic efficiency and reduce side effects through the specific targeting of HCC cells and the optimization of drug delivery. Furthermore, we address the challenges faced by AFNs in clinical applications and future research directions, with a particular focus on enhancing their biocompatibility and assessing long-term effects. In summary, AFNs represent an avant-garde therapeutic approach, opening new avenues and possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Macrophage-Targeting DNA Nanomaterials: A Future Direction of Biological Therapy

DNA can be used for precise construction of complex and flexible micro-nanostructures, including DNA origami, frame nucleic acids, and DNA hydrogels. DNA nanomaterials have good biocompatibility and can enter macrophages via scavenger receptor-mediated endocytosis. DNA nanomaterials can be uniquely and flexibly designed to ensure efficient uptake by macrophages, which represents a novel strategy to regulate macrophage function. With the development of nanotechnology, major advances have been made in the design and manufacturing of DNA nanomaterials for clinical therapy. In diseases accompanied by macrophage disturbances including tumor, infectious diseases, arthritis, fibrosis, acute lung injury, and atherosclerosis, DNA nanomaterials received considerable attention as potential treatments. However, we lack sufficient information to guarantee precise targeting of macrophages by DNA nanomaterials, which precludes their therapeutic applications. In this review, we summarize recent studies of macrophage-targeting DNA nanomaterials and discuss the limitations and challenges of this approach with regard to its potential use as a biological therapy.

Micromechanical Indentation Platform for Rapid Analysis of Viscoelastic Biomolecular Hydrogels

The advent of biomedical applications of soft bioinspired materials has entailed an increasing demand for streamlined and expedient characterization methods meant for both research and quality control objectives. Here, a novel measurement system for the characterization of biological hydrogels with volumes as low as 75 µL was developed. The system is based on an indentation platform equipped with micrometer drive actuators that allow the determination of both the fracture points and Young's moduli of relatively stiff polymers, including agarose, as well as the measurements of viscosity for exceptionally soft and viscous hydrogels, such as DNA hydrogels. The sensitivity of the method allows differentiation between DNA hydrogels produced by rolling circle amplification based on different template sequences and synthesis protocols. In addition, the polymerization kinetics of the hydrogels can be determined by time-resolved measurements, and the apparent viscosities of even more complex DNA-based nanocomposites can be measured. The platform presented here thus offers the possibility to characterize a broad variety of soft biomaterials in a targeted, fast, and cost-effective manner, holding promises for applications in fundamental materials science and ensuring reproducibility in the handling of complex materials.

State of the Art of Silica Nanoparticles: An Overview on Biodistribution and Preclinical Toxicity Studies

Over the past few years, nanoparticles have drawn particular attention in designing and developing drug delivery systems due to their distinctive advantages like improved pharmacokinetics, reduced toxicity, and specificity. Along with other successful nanosystems, silica nanoparticles (SNPs) have shown promising effects for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. These nanoparticles are of great significance owing to their modifiable surface with various ligands, tunable particle size, and large surface area. The rate and extent of degradation and clearance of SNPs depend on factors such as size, shape, porosity, and surface modification, which directly lead to varying toxic mechanisms. Despite SNPs' enormous potential for clinical and pharmaceutical applications, safety concerns have hindered their translation into the clinic. This review discusses the biodistribution, toxicity, and clearance of SNPs and the formulation-related factors that ultimately influence clinical efficacy and safety for treatment. A holistic view of SNP safety will be beneficial for developing an enabling SNP-based drug product.

Carbon-based nanocomposites for biomedical applications

Carbon nanomaterials have attracted significant attention in the biomedical field, including for biosensing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering applications. Based on their inherent properties such as their unique structure and high conductivity, carbon nanomaterials can overcome the current limitations in biomedical research such as poor stability of biomolecules, low sensitivity and selectivity of biosensors, and difficulty in precise drug delivery. In addition, recently, several novel nanomaterials have been integrated with carbon nanomaterials to develop carbon-based nanocomposites for application in biomedical research. In this review, we discuss recent studies on carbon-based nanocomposites and their biomedical applications. First, we discuss the representative carbon nanomaterials and nanocomposites composed of carbon and other novel nanomaterials. Next, applications of carbon nanomaterials and nanocomposites in the biomedical field are discussed according to topics in the biomedical field. We have discussed the recent studies on biosensors, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. In conclusion, we believe that this review provides the potential and applicability of carbon nanomaterials and their nanocomposites and suggests future directions of the application of carbon-based nanocomposites in biomedical applications.

Accurate quantification of DNA content in DNA hydrogels prepared by rolling circle amplification

Accurate quantification of polymerized DNA in rolling circle amplification (RCA)-based hydrogels is challenging due to the high viscosity of these materials, however, it can be achieved with a photometric nucleotide depletion assay or qPCR. We show that the DNA content strongly depends on the template sequence and correlates with the mechanical properties of the hydrogels.

Programming Injectable DNA Hydrogels Yields Tumor Microenvironment-Activatable and Immune-Instructive Depots for Augmented Chemo-Immunotherapy

Injectable hydrogels have attracted increasing attention for promoting systemic antitumor immune response through the co-delivery of chemotherapeutics and immunomodulators. However, the biosafety and bioactivity of conventional hydrogel depots are often impaired by insufficient possibilities for post-gelling injection and means for biofunction integration. Here, an unprecedented injectable stimuli-responsive immunomodulatory depot through programming a super-soft DNA hydrogel adjuvant is reported. This hydrogel system encoded with adenosine triphosphate aptamers can be intratumorally injected in a gel formulation and then undergoes significant molecular conformation change to stimulate the distinct release kinetics of co-encapsulated therapeutics. In this scenario, doxorubicin is first released to induce immunogenic cell death that intimately works together with the polymerized cytosine-phosphate-guanine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG ODN) in gel scaffold for effectively recruiting and activating dendritic cells. The polymerized CpG ODN not only enhances tumor immunogenicity but minimizes free CpG-induced splenomegaly. Furthermore, the subsequently released anti-programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (aPDL1) blocks the corresponding immune inhibitory checkpoint molecule on tumor cells to sensitize antitumor T-cell immunity. This work thus contributes to the first proof-of-concept demonstration of a programmable super-soft DNA hydrogel system that perfectly matches the synergistic therapeutic modalities based on chemotherapeutic toxicity, in situ vaccination, and immune checkpoint blockade.

Exploring the diverse biomedical applications of programmable and multifunctional DNA nanomaterials

DNA nanoparticles hold great promise for a range of biological applications, including the development of cutting-edge treatments and diagnostic tests. Their subnanometer-level addressability enables precise, specific modifications with a variety of chemical and biological entities, making them ideal as diagnostic instruments and carriers for targeted delivery. This paper focuses on the potential of DNA nanomaterials, which offer scalability, programmability, and functionality. For example, they can be engineered to provide highly specific biosensing and bioimaging capabilities and show promise as a platform for disease diagnosis and treatment. Successful operation of various biomedical nanomaterials has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. However, there are still significant challenges to overcome, including the need to improve the scalability and reliability of the technology, and to ensure safety in clinical applications. We discuss these challenges and opportunities in detail and highlight the progress and prospects of DNA nanotechnology for biomedical applications.

Stimuli-Responsive Self-Degradable DNA Hydrogels: Design, Synthesis, and Applications

DNA hydrogels play an increasingly important role in biomedicine and bioanalysis applications. Due to their high programmability, multifunctionality and biocompatibility, they are often used as effective carriers for packing drugs, cells, or other bioactive cargoes in vitro and in vivo. However, the stability of the DNA hydrogels prevents their in-demand rapid release of cargoes to achieve a full therapeutic effect in time. For bioanalysis, the generation of signals sometimes needs the DNA hydrogel to be rapidly degraded when sensing target molecules. To meet these requirements, stimulus-responsive DNA hydrogels are designed. By responding to different stimuli, self-degradable DNA hydrogels can switch from gel to solution for quantitative bioanalysis and precision cargo delivery. This review summarizes the recently developed innovative methods for designing stimuli-responsive self-degradable DNA hydrogels and showed their applications in the bioanalysis and biomedicines fields. Challenges, as well as prospects, are also discussed.

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.

Construction of Durvalumab/carbon nanotube/PEI/aptamer-siRNA chimera for the immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

Immunotherapy is the most promising treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the immunosuppressive microenvironment and necrosis limit its therapeutic effectiveness. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have good tissue permeability and can penetrate tumor necrosis area. Here we constructed a Durvalumab/CNT/PEI/ aptamer-siRNA chimera (chimera/Durmab/CNT) nanoparticles for the immunotherapy of HCC. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that aptamer-siRNA chimeras could specifically bind HCC cells and inhibit the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (Trem2) expression, but had no effect on Trem2 expression in normal liver and lung. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) results showed that the CNT/PEI nanoparticles were 20-30 nm in diameter and 200-350nm in length. Dense PEI attachment can be observed on CNTs. CNT/PEI nanoparticles could control the sustained release of Durvalumab for 48 hours. In vitro experimental results showed that chimera/Durmab/CNT could increase the proportion of T cells and CD8+T cells, and then promote the apoptosis of HepG2 cells, and the therapeutic effect was superior to aptamer/Durmab/CNT and Durmab/CNT. We constructed a tumor-bearing mouse model, and the results showed that chimera/Durmab/CNT significantly inhibited the growth of transplanted tumor, and the volume and proliferation was further reduced in the chimera/Durmab/CNT group compared with the aptamer/Durmab/CNT group. T cells and CD8+T cells infiltration, and HCC cell apoptosis were significantly increased in the chimera/Durmab/CNT group. In conclusion, we constructed a Durvalumab/CNT/PEI/chimera, which can effectively treat HCC by activating anti-tumor immunity.

Signal enhancing strategies in aptasensors for the detection of small molecular contaminants by nanomaterials and nucleic acid amplification

Small molecular contaminants (such as mycotoxins, antibiotics, pesticide residues, etc.) in food and environment have given rise to many biological and ecological toxicities, which has attracted worldwide attention in recent years. Meanwhile, due to the advantages of aptamers such as high specificity and stability, easy synthesis and modification, as well as low cost and immunogenicity, various aptasensors for the detection of small molecular contaminants have been flourishing. An aptasensor as a whole is composed of an aptamer-based target recognizer and a signal transducer, which are fields of concentrated research. In the practical detection applications, in order to achieve the quantitative detection of small molecular contaminants at low abundance in real samples, a large number of signal enhancing strategies have been utilized in the development of aptasensors. Recent years is a vintage period for efficient signal enhancing strategies of aptasensors by the aid of nanomaterials and nucleic acid amplification that are applied in the elements for target recognition and signal conversion. Therefore, this paper meticulously reviews the signal enhancing strategies based on nanomaterials (including the (quasi-)zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional nanomaterials) and nucleic acid amplification (including enzyme-assisted nucleic acid amplification and enzyme-free nucleic acid amplification). Furthermore, the challenges and future trends of the abovementioned signal enhancing strategies for application are also discussed in order to inspire the practitioners in the research and development of aptasensors for small molecular contaminants.

Development of a single-molecule biosensor with ultra-low background for simultaneous detection of multiple retroviral DNAs

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I and type II (HTLV-I and HTLV-II) are two most prevalent subtypes of HTLVs, and they usually infect individuals asymptomatically and may induce various diseases....

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.

Fabrication of Porous Crystalline PLGA-PEG Induced by Swelling during the Recrystallization Annealing Process

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) has been widely used as a scaffold material for tissue engineering owing to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and biosafety. However, lactic acid (LA) produced during PLGA degradation is prone to inflammation, which is a shortcoming that must be avoided. To this end, crystalline PLGA-PEG was synthesized here for the first time. To make the crystalline PLGA-PEG more suitable for tissue engineering, porous crystalline PLGA-PEG was prepared via the swelling behavior during recrystallization annealing. The structure and properties of the porous crystalline PLGA-PEG were confirmed by SEM, POM, and XRD. Furthermore, the swelling behavior of different PEG molecular weights was studied, and the cell viability test and alkaline phosphatase activity test showed that PLGA-PEG has good biocompatibility. Such a porous crystalline PLGA-PEG will make PLGA have a broader application prospect in bone repair.

Carbon nanomaterials as emerging nanotherapeutic platforms to tackle the rising tide of cancer - A review

Cancer has become one of the main reasons for human death in recent years. Around 18 million new cancer cases and approximately 9.6 million deaths from cancer reported in 2018, and the annual number of cancer cases will have increased to 22 million in the next two decades. These alarming facts have rekindled researchers' attention to develop and apply different approaches for cancer therapy. Unfortunately, most of the applied methods for cancer therapy not only have adverse side effects like toxicity and damage of healthy cells but also have a short lifetime. To this end, introducing innovative and effective methods for cancer therapy is vital and necessary. Among different potential materials, carbon nanomaterials can cope with the rising threats of cancer. Due to unique physicochemical properties of different carbon nanomaterials including carbon, fullerene, carbon dots, graphite, single-walled carbon nanotube and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, they exhibit possibilities to address the drawbacks for cancer therapy. Carbon nanomaterials are prodigious materials due to their ability in drug delivery or remedial of small molecules. Functionalization of carbon nanomaterials can improve the cancer therapy process and decrement the side effects. These exceptional traits make carbon nanomaterials as versatile and prevalent materials for application in cancer therapy. This article spotlights the recent findings in cancer therapy using carbon nanomaterials (2015-till now). Different types of carbon nanomaterials and their utilization in cancer therapy were highlighted. The plausible mechanisms for the action of carbon nanomaterials in cancer therapy were elucidated and the advantages and disadvantages of each material were also illustrated. Finally, the current problems and future challenges for cancer therapy based on carbon nanomaterials were discussed.

Synthesis of nanomedicine hydrogel microcapsules by droplet microfluidic process and their pH and temperature dependent release

Chitosan and alginate hydrogels are attractive because they are highly biocompatible and suitable for developing nanomedicine microcapsules. Here we fabricated a polydimethylsiloxane-based droplet microfluidic reactor to synthesize nanomedicine hydrogel microcapsules using Au@CoFeB-Rg3 as a nanomedicine model and a mixture of sodium alginate and PEG-g-chitosan crosslinked by genipin as a hydrogel model. The release kinetics of nanomedicines from the hydrogel were evaluated by simulating the pH and temperature of the digestive tract during drug transport and those of the target pathological cell microenvironment. Their pH and temperature-dependent release kinetics were studied by measuring the mass loss of small pieces of thin films formed by the nanomedicine-encapsulating hydrogels in buffers of pH 1.2, 7.4, and 5.5, which replicate the pH of the stomach, gut and blood, and cancer microenvironment, respectively, at 20 °C and 37 °C, corresponding to the storage temperature of hydrogels before use and normal body temperature. Interestingly, nanomedicine-encapsulating hydrogels can undergo rapid decomposition at pH 5.5 and are relatively stable at pH 7.4 at 37 °C, which are desirable qualities for drug delivery, controlled release, and residue elimination after achieving target effects. These results indicate that the designed nanomedicine hydrogel microcapsule system is suitable for oral administration.

Cytosine-Rich DNA Fragments Covalently Bound to Carbon Nanotube as Factors Triggering Doxorubicin Release at Acidic pH. A Molecular Dynamics Study

This works deals with analysis of properties of a carbon nanotube, the tips of which were functionalized by short cytosine-rich fragments of ssDNA. That object is aimed to work as a platform for storage and controlled release of doxorubicin in response to pH changes. We found that at neutral pH, doxorubicin molecules can be intercalated between the ssDNA fragments, and formation of such knots can effectively block other doxorubicin molecules, encapsulated in the nanotube interior, against release to the bulk. Because at the neutral pH, the ssDNA fragments are in form of random coils, the intercalation of doxorubicin is strong. At acidic pH, the ssDNA fragments undergo folding into i-motifs, and this leads to significant reduction of the interaction strength between doxorubicin and other components of the system. Thus, the drug molecules can be released to the bulk at acidic pH. The above conclusions concerning the storage/release mechanism of doxorubicin were drawn from the observation of molecular dynamics trajectories of the systems as well as from analysis of various components of pair interaction energies.

Formulation of DNA Nanocomposites: Towards Functional Materials for Protein Expression

DNA hydrogels are an emerging class of materials that hold great promise for numerous biotechnological applications, ranging from tissue engineering to targeted drug delivery and cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS). In addition to the molecular programmability of DNA that can be used to instruct biological systems, the formulation of DNA materials, e.g., as bulk hydrogels or microgels, is also relevant for specific applications. To advance the state of knowledge in this research area, the present work explores the scope of a recently developed class of complex DNA nanocomposites, synthesized by RCA polymerization of DNA-functionalized silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). SiNP/CNT-DNA composites were produced as bulk materials and microgels which contained a plasmid with transcribable genetic information for a fluorescent marker protein. Using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, we found that the materials are very efficiently taken up by various eukaryotic cell lines, which were able to continue dividing while the ingested material was evenly distributed to the daughter cells. However, no expression of the encoded protein occurred within the cells. While the microgels did not induce production of the marker protein even in a CFPS procedure with eukaryotic cell lysate, the bulk composites proved to be efficient templates for CFPS. This work contributes to the understanding of the molecular interactions between DNA composites and the functional cellular machinery. Implications for the use of such materials for CFPS procedures are discussed.

Harnessing the physicochemical properties of DNA as a multifunctional biomaterial for biomedical and other applications

The biological purpose of DNA is to store, replicate, and convey genetic information in cells. Progress in molecular genetics have led to its widespread applications in gene editing, gene therapy, and forensic science. However, in addition to its role as a genetic material, DNA has also emerged as a nongenetic, generic material for diverse biomedical applications. DNA is essentially a natural biopolymer that can be precisely programed by simple chemical modifications to construct materials with desired mechanical, biological, and structural properties. This review critically deciphers the chemical tools and strategies that are currently being employed to harness the nongenetic functions of DNA. Here, the primary product of interest has been crosslinked, hydrated polymers, or hydrogels. State-of-the-art applications of macroscopic, DNA-based hydrogels in the fields of environment, electrochemistry, biologics delivery, and regenerative therapy have been extensively reviewed. Additionally, the review encompasses the status of DNA as a clinically and commercially viable material and provides insight into future possibilities.

The mechanism and improvements to the isothermal amplification of nucleic acids, at a glance

A comparative review of the most common isothermal methods is provided. In the last two decades, the challenge of using isothermal amplification systems as an alternate to the most extensive and long-standing nucleic acids-amplifying method-the polymerase chain reaction-has arisen. The main advantage of isothermal amplification is no requirement for expensive laboratory equipment for thermal cycling. Considerable efforts have been made to improve the current techniques of nucleic acid amplification and the development of new approaches based on the main drawbacks of each method. The most important and challenging goal was to achieve a low-cost, straightforward system that is rapid, specific, accurate, and sensitive.

Cell membrane cloaked nanomedicines for bio-imaging and immunotherapy of cancer: Improved pharmacokinetics, cell internalization and anticancer efficacy

Despite enormous advancements in the field of oncology, the innocuous and effectual treatment of various types of malignancies remained a colossal challenge. The conventional modalities such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery have been remained the most viable options for cancer treatment, but lacking of target-specificity, optimum safety and efficacy, and pharmacokinetic disparities are their impliable shortcomings. Though, in recent decades, numerous encroachments in the field of onco-targeted drug delivery have been adapted but several limitations (i.e., short plasma half-life, early clearance by reticuloendothelial system, immunogenicity, inadequate internalization and localization into the onco-tissues, chemoresistance, and deficient therapeutic efficacy) associated with these onco-targeted delivery systems limits their clinical viability. To abolish the aforementioned inadequacies, a promising approach has been emerged in which stealthing of synthetic nanocarriers has been attained by cloaking them into the natural cell membranes. These biomimetic nanomedicines not only retain characteristics features of the synthetic nanocarriers but also inherit the cell-membrane intrinsic functionalities. In this review, we have summarized preparation methods, mechanism of cloaking, and pharmaceutical and therapeutic superiority of cell-membrane camouflaged nanomedicines in improving the bio-imaging and immunotherapy against various types of malignancies. These pliable adaptations have revolutionized the current drug delivery strategies by optimizing the plasma circulation time, improving the permeation into the cancerous microenvironment, escaping the immune evasion and rapid clearance from the systemic circulation, minimizing the immunogenicity, and enabling the cell-cell communication via cell membrane markers of biomimetic nanomedicines. Moreover, the preeminence of cell-membrane cloaked nanomedicines in improving the bio-imaging and theranostic applications, alone or in combination with phototherapy or radiotherapy, have also been pondered.

Self-decoration of N-doped graphene oxide 3-D hydrogel onto magnetic shrimp shell biochar for enhanced removal of hexavalent chromium

In this work, a novel decorated and combined N-doped graphene oxide hydrogel with shrimp shell magnetic biochar (NGO3DH-MSSB) biosorbent was fabricated as an effective material for Cr(VI) removal. Three-dimensional self-assembled graphene oxide hydrogel was synthesized using nitrogen source, ethylenediamine (EDA). Characterizations of NGO3DH-MSSB biosorbent were established by FT-IR, TGA, SEM and BET, where high surface area (398.05 m²/g) compared with that of MSSB (138.64 m²/g) was characterized. The maximum achieved swelling ratio (800%) was only after 300 min. The binding mechanisms between Cr(VI) ions and NGO3DH-MSSB biosorbent were controlled by electrostatic adsorption (ion-pair), pore filling, and reduction-coordination reaction. Adsorption was described by the pseudo-second order kinetic (R² =0.9994, 0.9983 and 0.9992) at 10, 50 and 100 mg/L and Langmuir isotherm model (R² =0.9997, 0.9957 and 0.9912) at 25, 40 and 50 °C. The adsorption capacity (350.42 mg/g) was achieved at pH 1.0, using initial Cr(VI) concentration (100 mg/L) and contact time (180 min) at room temperature. NGO3DH-MSSB biosorbent could be successfully reused after eight cycles. The percentage removal of Cr(VI) were confirmed as 99.79%, 99.20% and 98.00% from tap water, sea water and wastewater, respectively.

Rolling Circle Replication for Biosensing, Bioimaging, and Biomedicine

Rolling circle replication (RCR), including rolling circle amplification (RCA) and rolling circle transcription (RCT), is an isothermal enzymatic reaction. Because of its high amplification efficiency, RCR is a powerful biosensing tool for detecting biomolecules. In recent years, RCR has also been extended to the field of bioimaging to better understand biological pathways. Furthermore, RCR provides a simple technique to design and generate DNA/RNA structures with unique advantages in delivering drugs and enhanced targeting ability. In this review, we introduce the fundamentals of RCR and describe the most recent advances in RCR-based detection methods and delivery vehicles for biosensing, bioimaging, and biomedicine. Finally, some challenges and further opportunities of RCR-based biotechnology are discussed.

Green Approaches to Carbon Nanostructure-Based Biomaterials

The family of carbon nanostructures comprises several members, such as fullerenes, nano-onions, nanodots, nanodiamonds, nanohorns, nanotubes, and graphene-based materials. Their unique electronic properties have attracted great interest for their highly innovative potential in nanomedicine. However, their hydrophobic nature often requires organic solvents for their dispersibility and processing. In this review, we describe the green approaches that have been developed to produce and functionalize carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applications, with a special focus on the very latest reports.

The Opportunities and Challenges of Silica Nanomaterial for Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis (AS) as the leading cause of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events has been paid much attention all the time. With the continuous development of modern medical drug treatment, surgical treatment, interventional treatment and other methods, the mortality rate of AS has shown a downward trend, while the morbidity rate is still increasing. Oral lipid-lowering or anti-inflammatory drugs are generally used for early AS, but the relatively low accumulation efficiency in lesions and the unavoidable side effects required researchers to develop more effective drug delivery approaches for the therapy of AS. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as nanocarrier for drug delivery have received extensive attentions due to their flexible size, high specific surface area, controlled pore volume, high drug loading capacity and excellent biocompatibility. Series of good reviews about the mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded drugs for cancer therapy have been well documented. However, their roles as nanocarrier for drug delivery to treat AS have few reports. In this review, the applications and challenges of mesoporous silica nanomaterials in the field of the diagnosis and therapy of AS have been summarized. The classification, synthesis, formation mechanism, surface modification and functionalization of mesoporous silica nanomaterials which were closely related to the theranostic effect of AS have also been included. Last but not the least, the future prospects’ suggestions of mesoporous silica nanomaterial-based drug delivery system for AS are also provided.

Bisphosphonate-based nanocomposite hydrogels for biomedical applications

Nanocomposite hydrogels consist of polymeric network embedded with functional nanoparticles or nanostructures, which not only contribute to the enhanced mechanical properties but also exhibit the bioactivities for regulating cell behavior. Bisphosphonates (BPs) are capable of coordinating with various metal ions and modulating bone homeostasis. Thanks to the inherent dynamic properties of metal-ligand coordination bonds, BP-based nanocomposite hydrogels possess tunable mechanical properties, highly dynamic structures, and the capability to mediate controlled release of encapsulated therapeutic agents, thereby making them highly versatile for various biomedical applications. This review presents the comprehensive overview of recent developments in BP-based nanocomposite hydrogels with an emphasis on the properties of embedded nanoparticles (NPs) and interactions between hydrogel network and NPs. Furthermore, various challenges in the biomedical applications of these hydrogels are discussed to provide an outlook of potential clinical translation.

Advances and trends of hydrogel therapy platform in localized tumor treatment: A review

Due to limitations of treatment and the stubbornness of infiltrative tumor cells, the outcome of conventional antitumor treatment is often compromised by a variety of factors, including severe side effects, unexpected recurrence, and massive tissue loss during the treatment. Hydrogel-based therapy is becoming a promising option of cancer treatment, because of its controllability, biocompatibility, high drug loading, prolonged drug release, and specific stimuli-sensitivity. Hydrogel-based therapy has good malleability and can reach some areas that cannot be easily touched by surgeons. Furthermore, hydrogel can be used not only as a carrier for tumor treatment agents, but also as a scaffold for tissue repair. In this review, we presented the latest researches in hydrogel applications of localized tumor therapy and highlighted the recent progress of hydrogel-based therapy in preventing postoperative tumor recurrence and improving tissue repair, thus proposing a new trend of hydrogel-based technology in localized tumor therapy. And this review aims to provide a novel reference and inspire thoughts for a more accurate and individualized cancer treatment.

Carbon Nanotubes and Short Cytosine-Rich Telomeric DNA Oligomeres as Platforms for Controlled Release of Doxorubicin-A Molecular Dynamics Study

This work deals with molecular dynamics analysis of properties of systems composed of carbon nanotubes and short telomeric DNA strands able to fold into i-motif structures at slightly acidic pH conditions. The studies are focused on possible application of such constructs as pH-controlled drug delivery and release systems. We study two different approaches. The first assumes that folding/unfolding property of these DNA strands might realize a gate closing/opening mechanism with carbon nanotube as a container for drug molecules. The second approach assumes that these DNA strands can modulate the drug intercalating property as a function of pH. As a model drug molecule we used doxorubicin. We found that the first approach is impossible to realize because doxorubicin is not effectively locked in the nanotube interior by DNA oligonuceotides. The second approach is more promising though direct drug release was not observed in unbiased molecular dynamics simulations. However, by applying detailed analysis of pair interaction energies, mobilities and potential of mean force we can show that doxorubicin can be released when the DNA strands fold into i-motifs. Carbon nanotube in that latter case acts mainly as a carrier for active phase which is composed of DNA fragments able to fold into noncanonical tetraplexes (i-motif).