Superparamagnetic core/shell GoldMag nanoparticles: size-, concentration- and time-dependent cellular nanotoxicity on human umbilical vein endothelial cells and the suitable conditions for magnetic resonance imaging

Injectable Hydrogel-Encapsulating Pickering Emulsion for Overcoming Lenvatinib-Resistant Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Cuproptosis Induction and Stemness Inhibition

Lenvatinib resistance (LenR) presents a significant challenge in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment, leading to high cancer-related mortality rates globally. Unlike traditional chemotherapy resistance mechanisms, LenR in HCC is primarily driven by increased cancer cell stemness. Disulfiram, (DSF), functioning as a Cu ionophore, can coordinate with Cu2+ to overcome LenR in HCC by inhibiting cancer cell stemness and cuproptosis. However, DSF faces challenges due to its poor water solubility, while copper ions present issues related to systemic toxicity during widespread use. To address this, DSF and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) were co-encapsulated to form an oil-in-water Pickering emulsion (DSF@CuO), effectively elevating DSF and copper ion concentrations within the tumor microenvironment (TME). DSF@CuO was then combined with sodium alginate (SA) to form a DSF@CuO-SA solution, which gelatinizes in situ with Ca2+ in the TME to form a DSF@CuO Gel, enhancing Pickering emulsion stability and sustaining DSF and copper ion release. A DSF@CuO Gel exhibits enhanced stability and therapeutic efficacy compared to conventional administration methods. It effectively induces mitochondrial dysfunction and cuproptosis in LenR HCC cells by downregulating DLAT, LIAS, and CDKN2A, while upregulating FDX1. Furthermore, it suppresses cancer stemness pathways through activation of the JNK/p38 MAPK pathway and inhibition of the NF-κB and NOTCH signaling pathways. These findings suggest that DSF@CuO Gels are a promising therapeutic strategy for treating LenR HCC. In vivo and in vitro LenR HCC models demonstrated significant therapeutic efficacy. In conclusion, this novel approach underscores DSF@CuO Gel's potential to overcome LenR in HCC, offering a novel approach to address this clinical challenge.

Microstructure and Antibacterial Properties of Chitosan-Fe3O4-AgNP Nanocomposite

The goal of this research is to synthesize and characterize Fe₃O₄@Chitosan-AgNP nanocomposites in order to determine their antibacterial activity. The research methods include the synthesis of Fe₃O₄@Chitosan-AgNP nanocomposites, as well as the characterization of nanoparticles using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, and subsequent antibacterial activity tests. The study's findings demonstrated the successful synthesis of Fe₃O₄@Chitosan-AgNP nanocomposites, followed by nanoparticle characterization using SEM, TEM, XRD, and FTIR. Based on the XRD results, the conjugation of Fe₃O₄@Chitosan-AgNP nanocomposites has been successfully formed, as evidenced by the appearance of characteristic peaks of Fe₃O₄, chitosan, and AgNPs. According to the FTIR results, the interaction between chitosan-AgNPs and conjugated Fe₃O₄ occurred via the N atom in the NH₂ group and the O atom in the OH group, and C=O. The SEM and TEM images also show that the Fe₃O₄@Chitosan-AgNP conjugation is a nanoparticle-based composite material. The combination of nanocomposites Fe₃O₄@Chitosan-AgNPs has antibacterial activity, inhibiting the growth of bacteria such as Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli.

Effects of folate-conjugated Fe2O3@Au core-shell nanoparticles on oxidative stress markers, DNA damage, and histopathological characteristics: evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies

The aim of this work was to assess the cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and histopathological effects of Fe2O3@Au-FA NPs using in vitro and in vivo models. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of nanoparticles (NPs) by HUVECs were examined via 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and inductively coupled plasma-mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS). This safe dose was then used for cytotoxicity assays, including total protein, total antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation, cell membrane integrity, reactive oxygen species, enzyme activity, and DNA damage. In the animal model, 32 Wistar rats were randomly categorized into 4 groups and received intraperitoneal injections of NPs. Blood samples for biochemical properties and histopathological changes were investigated. MTT results indicated 20 μg/ml as the safe dose for NPs. According to ICP-MS, treated cells showed significantly higher levels of the intracellular content of Fe (p < 0.001) and Au (p < 0.01) compared with the control group. In vitro tests did not show any significant cytotoxicity or genotoxicity at the safe dose of NPs. We found no significant elevation in intracellular γ-H2AX levels after treatment of HUVEC cells with Fe2O3@Au core-shell NPs (P > 0.05). As for the in vivo analysis, we observed no marked difference in serum biochemical parameters of rats treated with 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg doses of our NPs. Histopathological assessments indicated that liver, kidney, and testis tissues were not significantly affected at 50 mg/kg (liver), 50 mg/kg, and 100 mg/kg (kidney and testis) on NPs administration. These findings imply that the nanotoxicity of Fe2O3@Au-FA NPs in HUVECs and animals depends largely on the administrated dose. Our study suggests that Fe2O3@Au-FA NPs at a safe dose could be considered as new candidates in nanobiomedicine.

Fe3O4@piroctone olamine magnetic nanoparticles: Synthesize and therapeutic potential in cutaneous leishmaniasis

BACKGROUND

In recent years, magnetic nanoparticles (NMP) as novel materials have been widely used for biomedical, diagnostic and therapeutic purposes like microbial infection therapy. The purpose of this study is to synthesize PO coated iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PO NPs) and their anti-leishmanial effects in vitro and in vivo against cutaneous leishmaniasis.

METHODS

Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by the coprecipitation of Fe2 + and Fe3 + ions and used as a nanocarrier for the production of Fe3O4@PO NPs. The in vitro antileishmanial effects of PO-coated Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4 NPs (10-200 µg/mL) was determined against the intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) and, then, examined on cutaneous leishmaniasis induced in male BALB/c mice by L. major. The rate of infectivity, production of nitric oxide (NO), and cytotoxic activates of Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs on J774-A1 macrophage cells were determined.

RESULTS

The size scattering of the Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs were in the range among 1-40 and 5-55 nm, respectively. The obtained IC₅₀ values were 62.3 ± 2.15 μg/mL, 31.3 ± 2.26 μg/mL, and 52.6 ± 2.15 μg/mL for the Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs, and MA, respectively. The results revealed that the mean number of parasites and the mean diameter of the lesions was considerably (p < 0.05) decreased in the infected mice treated with Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs. The Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs significantly (p < 0.05) prompted the production of NO as a dose-dependent manner. The promastigotes pre-incubated in Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs at the concentration of 5 µg/mL had the ability to infect only 41.7% and 28.3% of the macrophages cells. The selectivity index of greater than 10 for Fe3O4 NPs and Fe3O4@PO NPs showed its safety to the J774-A1 macrophage cells and specificity to the parasite.

CONCLUSION

The results of this survey indicated the high potency of Fe3O4@PO NPs to inhibit the growth of amastigote forms of L. major as well as recovery and improvement CL induced by L. major in BALB/c mice without significant cytotoxicity. The results also indicated that, although the possible anti-leishmanial mechanisms of Fe3O4@PO NPs have not been clearly understood, however, the triggering of NO may be considered as one of the possible anti-leishmanial mechanisms of these nanoparticles. However, additional studies, in particular in clinical contexts, are mandatory.

Cytotoxicity studies of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in chicken macrophage cells

Magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-NPs) have been widely investigated for their biomedical applications. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of different sizes of Fe₃O₄-NPs in chicken macrophage cells (HD11). Experimental groups based on three sizes of Fe₃O₄-NPs (60, 120 and 250 nm) were created, and the Fe₃O₄-NPs were added to the cells at different doses according to the experimental group. The cell activity, oxidative index (malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reactive oxygen species (ROS)), apoptosis and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion level were detected to analyse the cytotoxic effects of Fe₃O₄-NPs of different sizes in HD11 cells. The results revealed that the cell viability of the 60 nm Fe₃O₄-NPs group was lower than those of the 120 and 250 nm groups when the same concentration of Fe₃O₄-NPs was added. No significant difference in MDA was observed among the three Fe₃O₄-NP groups. The SOD level and ROS production of the 60 nm group were significantly greater than those of the 120 and 250 nm groups. Furthermore, the highest levels of apoptosis and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion were caused by the 60 nm Fe₃O₄-NPs. In conclusion, the smaller Fe₃O₄-NPs produced stronger cytotoxicity in chicken macrophage cells, and the cytotoxic effects may be related to the oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by increased ROS production as well as the increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

A Comprehensive Cheminformatics Analysis of Structural Features Affecting the Binding Activity of Fullerene Derivatives

Nanostructures like fullerene derivatives (FDs) belong to a new family of nano-sized organic compounds. Fullerenes have found a widespread application in material science, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and medical fields. This fact caused the importance of the study of pharmacological as well as toxicological properties of this relatively new family of chemicals. In this work, a large set of 169 FDs and their binding activity to 1117 proteins was investigated. The structure-based descriptors widely used in drug design (so-called drug-like descriptors) were applied to understand cheminformatics characteristics related to the binding activity of fullerene nanostructures. Investigation of applied descriptors demonstrated that polarizability, topological diameter, and rotatable bonds play the most significant role in the binding activity of FDs. Various cheminformatics methods, including the counter propagation artificial neural network (CPANN) and Kohonen network as visualization tool, were applied. The results of this study can be applied to compose the priority list for testing in risk assessment related to the toxicological properties of FDs. The pharmacologist can filter the data from the heat map to view all possible side effects for selected FDs.

Evaluating genotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles: Application of advanced supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques

Presence of missing data points in datasets is among main challenges in handling the toxicological data for nanomaterials. As the processing of missing data is an important part of data analysis, we have introduced a read-across approach that uses a combination of supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques to fill the missing values. A series of classification models (supervised learning) was developed to predict class label, and self-organizing map approach (unsupervised learning) was used to estimate relative distances between nanoparticles and refine results obtained during supervised learning. In this study, genotoxicity of 49 silicon and metal oxide nanoparticles in Ames and Comet tests. Collected literature data did not demonstrate significant variations related to the change of size including selected bulk materials. Genotoxicity-related features of nanomaterials were represented by ionic characteristics. General tendencies found in the current study were convincingly linked to known theories of genotoxic action at nano-level. Mechanisms of primary and secondary genotoxic effects were discussed in the context of developed models.

The effect of modified electrospun PCL-nHA-nZnO scaffolds on osteogenesis and angiogenesis

Large bone defects treatment is one of the challenges in current bone tissue engineering approaches. Various strategies have been proposed to address this issue, among which, prevascularization by coculturing of angiogenic and osteogenic cells on the scaffolds can alleviate this problem. In the present study, modified fibrous scaffolds were prepared by electrospinning and subsequent ultrasonication of polycaprolactone (PCL) containing nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA), with/without nano-zinc oxide (n-ZnO), and polyethylene oxide [PEO] as a sacrificial agent. The physical, mechanical, and chemical characteristics of the scaffolds were evaluated. The results showed the presence of n-ZnO, which in turn increased Young's module of the scaffolds from 5.5 ± 0.67 to 6.7 ± 1.77 MPa. Moreover, MTT, SEM, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay, and real-time RT-PCR were utilized to investigate the biocompatibility, cell adhesion and infiltration, osteoconductivity, angiogenic properties, and expression of osteogenic and angiogenic related genes. ALP assay showed that the highest enzyme activity was noted when the modified scaffolds containing n-ZnO were seeded with HUVEC:hBMSC at the cell ratio of 1:5. CAM assay showed induction of angiogenesis for the scaffolds containing n-ZnO. Real-time RT-PCR results showed significant upregulation of angiogenic related genes. Thus, the scaffolds containing n-ZnO may have great potential for osteogenesis and angiogenesis in tissue engineering applications.

In Vitro Effects of Hollow Gold Nanoshells on Human Aortic Endothelial Cells

Gold nanoparticles are emerging as promising biomedical tools due to their unique nanoscale characteristics. Our purpose was to synthesize a hollow-shaped gold nanoparticle and to investigate its effect on human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) in vitro. Hollow gold nanoshells with average 35-nm diameters and 10-nm shell thickness were obtained by galvanic replacement using quasi-spherical nanosilver as sacrifice-template. Our results showed that hollow gold nanoshells in the culture medium could be internalized into the cytoplasm of HAECs. No cytotoxicity effect of hollow gold nanoshells on HAECs was observed within the test concentrations (0-0.8 μg/mL) and test exposure period (0-72 h) by tetrazolium dye assay. Meanwhile, the release of cell injury biomarker, lactate dehydrogenase, was not significantly higher than that from control cells (without hollow gold nanoshells). The concentrations of vasodilators, nitric oxide, and prostacyclin I-2 were not changed, but the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 was decreased by hollow gold nanoshells treatment in HAECs. HAECs exposed to hollow gold nanoshells resulted in suppressing expressions of genes involved in apoptosis and activating expressions of genes of adhesion molecules. Moreover, we demonstrated by in vitro endothelial tube formation that hollow gold nanoshells (0.8 μg/mL) could not inhibit angiogenesis by the HAECs. Altogether, these results indicate that the structure and major function of HAECs would not be disrupted by hollow gold nanoshell treatment.

Vitreous Cryopreservation of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells with Low Concentration of Cryoprotective Agents for Vascular Tissue Engineering

Cryopreservation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) is important to tissue engineering applications and the study of the role of endothelial cells in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The traditional methods for cryopreservation by vitrification (cooling samples to a cryogenic temperature without apparent freezing) using high concentration of cryoprotective agents (CPAs) and slow freezing are suboptimal due to the severe toxicity of high concentration of CPAs and ice formation-induced cryoinjuries, respectively. In this study, we developed a method to cryopreserve HUVECs by vitrification with low concentration of CPAs. This is achieved by optimizing the CPAs and using highly thermally conductive quartz capillary (QC) to contain samples for vitrification. The latter minimizes the thermal mass to create ultra-fast cooling/warming rates. Our data demonstrate that HUVECs can be vitrified in the QC using 1.4 mol/L ethylene glycol and 1.1 mol/L dimethyl sulfoxide with more than 90% viability. Moreover, this method significantly improves the attachment efficiency of the cryopreserved HUVECs. The attached cells post-cryopreservation proliferate similarly to fresh cells. Therefore, this study may provide an effective vitrification technique to bank HUVECs for vascular tissue engineering and other applications.

Targeting T1 and T2 dual modality enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of tumor vascular endothelial cells based on peptides-conjugated manganese ferrite nanomicelles

Tumor angiogenesis plays very important roles for tumorigenesis, tumor development, metastasis, and prognosis. Targeting T₁/T₂ dual modality magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the tumor vascular endothelial cells (TVECs) with MR molecular probes can greatly improve diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, as well as helping to make an early diagnosis of tumor at the preclinical stage. In this study, a new T₁ and T₂ dual modality nanoprobe was successfully fabricated. The prepared nanoprobe comprise peptides CL 1555, poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) amphiphilic copolymer shell, and dozens of manganese ferrite (MnFe₂O₄) nanoparticle core. The results showed that the hydrophobic MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles were of uniform spheroidal appearance and narrow size distribution. Due to the self-assembled nanomicelles structure, the prepared probes were of high relaxivity of 281.7 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹, which was much higher than that of MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles (67.5 mM 1 s⁻¹). After being grafted with the targeted CD105 peptide CL 1555, the nanomicelles can combine TVECs specifically and make the labeled TVECs dark in T₂-weighted MR imaging. With the passage on, the Mn²⁺ ions were released from MnFe₂O₄ and the size decreased gradually, making the signal intensity of the second and third passage of labeled TVECs increased in T₁-weighted MR imaging. Our results demonstrate that CL-poly(ethylene glycol)-MnFe₂O₄ can conjugate TVECs and induce dark and bright contrast in MR imaging, and act as a novel molecular probe for T₁- and T₂-enhanced MR imaging of tumor angiogenesis.

Genotoxicity of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles in Granulosa Cells

Nanoparticles that are aimed at targeting cancer cells, but sparing healthy tissue provide an attractive platform of implementation for hyperthermia or as carriers of chemotherapeutics. According to the literature, diverse effects of nanoparticles relating to mammalian reproductive tissue are described. To address the impact of nanoparticles on cyto- and genotoxicity concerning the reproductive system, we examined the effect of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) on granulosa cells, which are very important for ovarian function and female fertility. Human granulosa cells (HLG-5) were treated with SPIONs, either coated with lauric acid (SEONLA) only, or additionally with a protein corona of bovine serum albumin (BSA; SEON^LA-BSA), or with dextran (SEON^DEX). Both micronuclei testing and the detection of γH2A.X revealed no genotoxic effects of SEON^LA-BSA, SEON^DEX or SEON^LA. Thus, it was demonstrated that different coatings of SPIONs improve biocompatibility, especially in terms of genotoxicity towards cells of the reproductive system.