A review on gold nanoparticles as an innovative therapeutic cue in bone tissue engineering: Prospects and future clinical applications

Bone damage is a complex orthopedic problem primarily caused by trauma, cancer, or bacterial infection of bone tissue. Clinical care management for bone damage remains a significant clinical challenge and there is a growing need for more advanced bone therapy options. Nanotechnology has been widely explored in the field of orthopedic therapy for the treatment of a severe bone disease. Among nanomaterials, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) along with other biomaterials are emerging as a new paradigm for treatment with excellent potential for bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. In recent years, a great deal of research has focused on demonstrating the potential for GNPs to provide for enhancement of osteogenesis, reduction of osteoclastogenesis/osteomyelitis, and treatment of bone cancer. This review details the latest understandings in regards to GNPs based therapeutic systems, mechanisms, and the applications of GNPs against various bone disorders. The present review aims to summarize i) the mechanisms of GNPs in bone tissue remodeling, ii) preparation methods of GNPs, and iii) functionalization of GNPs and its decoration on biomaterials as a delivery vehicle in a specific bone tissue engineering for future clinical application.

Increasing detection sensitivity of fluorescent polymeric sensors containing fluorescein derivatives by Au NPs

New fluorescent polymeric sensors containing in situ photogenerated gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and fluorescein-based copolymers are reported. They are tested as efficient fluorescent chemosensors for the sensitive detection of toxic divalent metal ions, such as Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, (UO₂)²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺and Hg²⁺. Their fluorescence quenching process depends on the concentration of metal cations and is comparatively analyzed for both the starting copolymers and the corresponding hybrid materials. Thus, the best results are recorded for uranyl (4 × 10^-6 M) and copper ions (16 × 10^-6 M), respectively. The detection limits of the investigated hybrid materials are lower by an order of magnitude compared to the starting copolymers, while the fluorescence quenching mechanism mainly occurred by a dynamic process, following a linear Stern-Volmer relationship. Thus, the report fundamentally confirms the influence of small amounts of Au NP (2 wt%) on the improved sensitivity of the final fluorescent sensors.

Polymer-Scaffolded Synthesis of Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Nanomaterials for Delivery Systems in Cancer Cells

We developed four types of para-phenylene-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica NPs (p-P PMO NPs) with tailored physical parameters including size, morphology, porosity, and surface area using a new polymer-scaffolding approach. The particles have been formulated to facilitate the codelivery of small-molecule hydrophobic/hydrophilic cargos such as model anticancer drugs (i.e., doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and O⁶-benzylguanine) and model fluorescent dyes (i.e., rhodamine 6G and Nile red). p-P PMO NPs were synthesized via a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-directed sol-gel process using two different organic solvents and in the presence of polymeric scaffolding constituents that led to morphologically distinct PMO NPs despite using the same organosilane precursors. After the formulation process, the polymeric scaffolding agent was conveniently washed away from the PMO NPs. Extensive analyses were used to characterize the physicochemical attributes of the PMO NPs such as their chemical composition, morphologies, etc. Spherical and rod-shaped PMOs of diameters ranging between 79 and 342 nm, surface areas between 770 and 1060 m²/g, and pore volumes between 0.79 and 1.37 cm³/g were prepared using the polymer-scaffolding approach. The performance of these materials toward drug-loading capacity, cytotoxicity, and cancer cell internalization was evaluated. Interestingly, the designed particles exhibited significantly high payloads of drugs and dyes (up to 78 and 94%, respectively). Cellular studies also demonstrated exceptional biocompatibility and marked internalization into both human breast cancer MCF-7 and glioblastoma U-87 MG cells. Further, DOX also possessed a noticeable release from particles and accumulation in cell nuclei with increased incubation time in vitro. Ultimately, this work validates the controlled design and synthesis of PMO NPs using a polymer-scaffolding approach and highlights the potential of these materials as excellent delivery systems for combination therapy with high loading capability to improve the therapeutic index for cancers.

Gold/SH-functionalized nanographene oxide/polyamidamine/poly(ethylene glycol) nanocomposites for enhanced non-enzymatic hydrogen peroxide detection

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is an important mediator in biological medicine, disease diagnosis and environmental analyses and therefore it is essential to develop a detection approach for H₂O₂ in physical environments. Herein, we designed and prepared a series of AuNP-containing nanocomposites (AuNPs@NGO-PEG, AuNPs@G1-PAMAM-NGO-PEG and AuNPs@G3-PAMAM-NGO-PEG) for enhanced non-enzymatic H₂O₂ detection. We firstly demonstrated functionalized nanographene oxide (NGO) based materials, which combined advantages of biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), hyperbranched polyamidamine (PAMAM) dendrimer and thiol active site, as compatible platforms. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were then aptly in situ grown on these functionalized NGO based materials via the reduction of HAuCl₄ under mild conditions, i.e. AuNPs@NGO-PEG, AuNPs@G1-PAMAM-NGO-PEG and AuNPs@G3-PAMAM-NGO-PEG nanocomposites, which possess stable and uniform AuNPs standing on the functionalized NGO sheets. For H₂O₂ detection, these nanocomposites were cast on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) conveniently, i.e. GCE/AuNPs@NGO-PEG, GCE/AuNPs@G1-PAMAM-NGO-PEG and GCE/AuNPs@G3-PAMAM-NGO-PEG. It is evident that these GCEs could be applied as efficient non-enzymatic H₂O₂ detectors resulting from the corresponding cyclic voltammetric curves and typical ready-state amperometric curves. GCE/AuNPs@G1-PAMAM-NGO-PEG exhibited the fastest electron transfer rate among these modified GCEs. We envisage that these GCEs could provide efficient sensors for H₂O₂ detection and a new strategy for sensor design.