Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound-Augmented Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Integrating Ultrasound Imaging and Synergistic Therapy of Metastatic Breast Cancer

Catalytic degradation of rhodamine blue and bactericidal action of AgBr and chitosan-doped CuFe2O4 nanostrucutres evidential molecular docking analysis

The harmful cationic dyes present in industrial waste significantly decrease the effectiveness of remedy operations. Considering the horrendous impact of these dyes on the environment and biodiversity, silver bromide (AgBr) and chitosan (CS) doped copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanostructures (NSs) were prepared by the co-precipitation route. In this work, The surface characteristics of CuFe2O4 can be altered by CS, potentially enhancing its catalytic reaction compatibility. The functional groups in CS interact with the surface of CuFe2O4, influencing its catalytic behavior. AgBr can have an impact on the dynamics of charge carriers in the composite. Better charge separation and transfer which is essential for catalytic processes. The catalytic degradation of RhB was significantly enhanced (100 %) using 4 wt% of AgBr-doped CS-CuFe2O4 catalysts in a basic medium. The significant inhibitory zones (9.25 to 17.95 mm) inhibitory in maximum doses were seen against Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus). The bactericidal action of AgBr/CS-doped CuFe2O4 NSs against DNA gyraseS.aureus and tyrosyl-tRNAsynthetase S. aureus was rationalized using molecular docking studies, which supported their function as inhibitors.

Nanomaterials for Ultrasound Imaging- Guided Sonodynamic Therapy

Ultrasound examination is becoming the most popular medical imaging modality because of its low cost and high safety profile. Ultrasound contrast agents enhance the scattering of sound waves, which can improve the clarity and resolution of images. Nanoparticle Ultrasound contrast agents have the characteristics of a large specific surface area and a modifiable surface, which can increase drug loading capacity, prolong circulation time, and enable drug enrichment in specific organs or tissues. This leads to improved therapeutic effects and reducing toxic and side effects. Compared with traditional ultrasound contrast agents, Nano-ultrasound contrast agents overcome the limitation of imaging solely within blood vessels and facilitate imaging within tumor tissues, thereby extending the duration of enhanced imaging. Sonodynamic therapy is an emerging treatment method that has been developed rapidly in recent years, which has the advantages of noninvasive, high spatial and temporal resolution, and low toxicity and side effects. Sonodynamic therapy utilizes a sonosensitizer that, when excited by ultrasound at the tumor site, produces toxic reactive oxygen species, inducing apoptosis or necrosis in tumor cells. Ultrasound-guided sonodynamic therapy allows for real-time observation of lesions, is convenient and flexible, and is free of radiation exposure. With the use of nanomaterials as carriers, ultrasound-guided sonodynamic therapy has made significant strides. This study categorizes and summarizes the current research on acoustic sensitizer carrier materials, including carbon-based, silicon-based, peptide-based, iron-based, metal-organic frameworks, polymers, and liposomes. It concludes by highlighting the current challenges in the integration of ultrasound imaging with sonodynamic therapy and suggests future directions for clinical application development.

Ultrasound Sonosensitizers for Tumor Sonodynamic Therapy and Imaging: A New Direction with Clinical Translation

With the rapid development of sonodynamic therapy (SDT), sonosensitizers have evolved from traditional treatments to comprehensive diagnostics and therapies. Sonosensitizers play a crucial role in the integration of ultrasound imaging (USI), X-ray computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostics while also playing a therapeutic role. This review was based on recent articles on multifunctional sonosensitizers that were used in SDT for the treatment of cancer and have the potential for clinical USI, CT, and MRI applications. Next, some of the shortcomings of the clinical examination and the results of sonosensitizers in animal imaging were described. Finally, this paper attempted to inform the future development of sonosensitizers in the field of integrative diagnostics and therapeutics and to point out current problems and prospects for their application.

Antitumor Effects of Pegylated Zinc Protoporphyrin-Mediated Sonodynamic Therapy in Ovarian Cancer

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill tumor cells. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), as an important antioxidant enzyme, resists killing by scavenging ROS. Zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) not only effectively inhibits HO-1 activity, but also becomes a potential sonosensitizer. However, its poor water solubility limits its applications. Herein, we developed an improved water-soluble method. It was proved that pegylated zinc protoporphyrin-mediated SDT (PEG-ZnPP-SDT) could significantly enhance ROS production by destroying the HO-1 antioxidant system in ovarian cancer. Increased ROS could cause mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, release cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytoplasm, and trigger the mitochondrial-caspase apoptotic pathway. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that PEG-ZnPP-SDT, as a novel sonosensitizer, could improve the antitumor effects by destroying the HO-1 antioxidant system. It provided a new therapeutic strategy for SDT to treat cancers, especially those with higher HO-1 expression.

Use of stimulatory responsive soft nanoparticles for intracellular drug delivery

Drug delivery has made tremendous advances in the last decade. Targeted therapies are increasingly common, with intracellular delivery highly impactful and sought after. Intracellular drug delivery systems have limitations due to imprecise and non-targeted release profiles. One way this can be addressed is through using stimuli-responsive soft nanoparticles, which contain materials with an organic backbone such as lipids and polymers. The choice of biomaterial is essential for soft nanoparticles to be responsive to internal or external stimuli. The nanoparticle must retain its integrity and payload in non-targeted physiological conditions while responding to particular intracellular environments where payload release is desired. Multiple internal and external factors could stimulate the intracellular release of drugs from nanoparticles. Internal stimuli include pH, oxidation, and enzymes, while external stimuli include ultrasound, light, electricity, and magnetic fields. Stimulatory responsive soft nanoparticulate systems specifically utilized to modulate intracellular delivery of drugs are explored in this review.

Newly developed gas-assisted sonodynamic therapy in cancer treatment

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is an emerging noninvasive treatment modality that utilizes low-frequency and low-intensity ultrasound (US) to trigger sensitizers to kill tumor cells with reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although SDT has attracted much attention for its properties including high tumor specificity and deep tissue penetration, its anticancer efficacy is still far from satisfactory. As a result, new strategies such as gas-assisted therapy have been proposed to further promote the effectiveness of SDT. In this review, the mechanisms of SDT and gas-assisted SDT are first summarized. Then, the applications of gas-assisted SDT for cancer therapy are introduced and categorized by gas types. Next, therapeutic systems for SDT that can realize real-time imaging are further presented. Finally, the challenges and perspectives of gas-assisted SDT for future clinical applications are discussed.

Synthesis of Al/starch co-doped in CaO nanoparticles for enhanced catalytic and antimicrobial activities: experimental and DFT approaches

In this work, aluminum/starch (St)-doped CaO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by a co-precipitation method to degrade harmful dyes in various pH media. Systematic characterization was performed to investigate the influence of Al/St dopants on the composition, crystal structure, functional groups present, optical characteristics, and morphology of CaO NPs. Further hybrid density functional analyses corroborated that the band gap energy was reduced as the Al concentration in starch-doped CaO is increased. Optical absorption spectra of the synthesized materials revealed a redshift upon doping, which indicated depletion in the band gap energy of Al/St-doped CaO. PL spectroscopy showed that the intensity of CaO was reduced by the incorporation of Al and St assigned to minimum electron-hole pair recombination. Interlayer spacing and morphological features were determined by HR-TEM. HRTEM revealed that the control sample has cubic NPs and the incorporation of St showed overlapping around agglomerated NPs. The d-spacing of CaO was little enhanced by the inclusion of dopants. Experimental outcomes indicated that the addition of Co-dopants improved the catalytic potential of CaO NPs. Al (4%)/St-doped CaO NPs expressed a significant reduction of methylene blue in a basic environment. The maximum bactericidal performance was observed as 10.25 mm and 4.95 mm in the inhibition zone against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively, after the addition of Al and St in CaO.

Sonodynamic therapy for breast cancer: A literature review

Breast cancer (BC) is a malignant tumor with the highest incidence among women. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are currently used as the first-line methods for treating BC. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) in combination with sonosensitizers exerts a synergistic effect. The therapeutic effects of SDT depend on factors, such as the intensity, frequency, and duration of ultrasound, and the type and the biological model of sonosensitizer. Current reviews have focused on the possibility of using tumor-seeking sonosensitizers, sometimes in combination with different therapies, such as immunotherapy. This study elucidates the therapeutic mechanism of interaction between SDT and tissue as well as the current progress in medical applications of SDT to BC.

Advances in Antitumor Nano-Drug Delivery Systems of 10-Hydroxycamptothecin

10-Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) is a natural plant alkaloid from Camptotheca that shows potent antitumor activity by targeting intracellular topoisomerase I. However, factors such as instability of the lactone ring and insolubility in water have limited the clinical application of this drug. In recent years, unprecedented advances in biomedical nanotechnology have facilitated the development of nano drug delivery systems. It has been found that nanomedicine can significantly improve the stability and water solubility of HCPT. NanoMedicines with different diagnostic and therapeutic functions have been developed to significantly improve the anticancer effect of HCPT. In this paper, we collected reports on HCPT nanomedicines against tumors in the past decade. Based on current research advances, we dissected the current status and limitations of HCPT nanomedicines development and looked forward to future research directions.

The crosstalk between sonodynamic therapy and autophagy in cancer

As a noninvasive treatment approach for cancer and other diseases, sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has attracted extensive attention due to the deep penetration of ultrasound, good focusing, and selective irradiation sites. However, intrinsic limitations of traditional sonosensitizers hinder the widespread application of SDT. With the development of nanotechnology, nanoparticles as sonosensitizers or as a vehicle to deliver sonosensitizers have been designed and used to target tissues or tumor cells with high specificity and accuracy. Autophagy is a common metabolic alteration in both normal cells and tumor cells. When autophagy happens, a double-membrane autophagosome with sequestrated intracellular components is delivered and fused with lysosomes for degradation. Recycling these cell materials can promote survival under a variety of stress conditions. Numerous studies have revealed that both apoptosis and autophagy occur after SDT. This review summarizes recent progress in autophagy activation by SDT through multiple mechanisms in tumor therapies, drug resistance, and lipid catabolism. A promising tumor therapy, which combines SDT with autophagy inhibition using a nanoparticle delivering system, is presented and investigated.

Recent Progress Toward Imaging Application of Multifunction Sonosensitizers in Sonodynamic Therapy

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a rapidly developing non-surgical therapy that initiates sensitizers’ catalytic reaction using ultrasound, showing great potential for cancer treatment due to its high safety and non-invasive nature. In addition, recent research has found that using different diagnostic and therapeutic methods in tandem can lead to better anticancer outcomes. Therefore, as essential components of SDT, sonosensitizers have been extensively explored to optimize their functions and integrate multiple medical fields. The review is based on five years of articles evaluating the combined use of SDT and imaging in treating cancer. By developing multifunctional sonosensitive particles that combine imaging and sonodynamic therapy, we have integrated diagnosis into the treatment of precision medicine applications, improving SDT cell uptake and antitumor efficacy utilizing different tumour models. This paper describes the imaging principle and the results of cellular and animal imaging of the multifunctional sonosensitizers. Efforts are made in this paper to provide data and design references for future SDT combined imaging research and clinical application development and to provide offer suggestions.

Sonodynamic Effects of a Novel Ether-Group Modified Porphyrin Derivative Combined With Pulsed Low-Intensity Ultrasound on PC-9 Cells

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a developing modality for cancer treatment based on the synergistic effect of ultrasound and chemical compounds which are known as sonosensitizers. The development of more efficient sonosensitizers has become an urgent issue in this field. In this study, a novel porphyrin derivative (BBTPP) mediated SDT was evaluated on PC-9 cells. Pulsed low-intensity ultrasound (PLIU) was used for its little thermal and mechanical damage. The accumulation of drugs in cells was evaluated through porphyrin fluorescence, and the cytotoxicity of BBTPP was evaluated using a cell counting kit-8 assay. The sonodynamic effect was investigated by Hoechst 33342/PI and Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining, which showed an apoptotic rate of 18.87% in the BBTPP-SDT group, as compared with 1.71%, 1.4%, 1.57%, 3.61%, 11.18% in the control, BBTPP, hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME), ultrasound, and HMME-SDT groups, respectively. The sono-toxic effect of BBTPP was significantly superior to HMME. Our results showed that BBTPP-SDT resulted in much higher intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation levels which were evaluated by 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H₂DCFDA) and Liperfluo assay, respectively. The expressions of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-9, caspase-8, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins were evaluated to investigate the apoptotic mechanism of BBTPP-SDT. The results of this study showed that the combination of BBTPP and PLIU induced the generation of ROS, resulting in lipid peroxidation, and activated both the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways of PC-9 cells. Our results also suggested that the ether group introduced in the side chain of porphyrin could enhance the sono-toxicity of porphyrin-based sensitizers under the sonication of PLIU. These results supported the possibility of BBTPP as a promising sonosensitizer, and an appropriate side chain could enhance the sono-sensitivity of porphyrins.

Smart Nanotherapeutics and Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is a significant health problem worldwide. Unfortunately, current therapeutic strategies lack a sufficient level of specificity and can harm adjacent healthy cells. Consequently, to address the clinical need, novel approaches to improve treatment efficiency with minimal side effects are required. Nanotechnology can substantially contribute to the generation of differentiated products and improve patient outcomes. Evidence from previous research suggests that nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems could provide a promising platform for the targeted delivery of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs and novel small molecule therapeutic agents to treat lung cancer cells more effectively. This has also been found to improve the therapeutic index and reduce the required drug dose. Nanodrug delivery systems also provide precise control over drug release, resulting in reduced toxic side effects, controlled biodistribution, and accelerated effects or responses. This review highlights the most advanced and novel nanotechnology-based strategies, including targeted nanodrug delivery systems, stimuli-responsive nanoparticles, and bio-nanocarriers, which have recently been employed in preclinical and clinical investigations to overcome the current challenges in lung cancer treatments.