The Application of Prussian Blue Nanoparticles in Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment

Ultrasensitive upconverting nanoprobes for in situ imaging of drug-induced liver injury using miR-122 as the biomarker

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a frequent adverse drug reaction. The current clinical diagnostic methods are inadequate for accurate and early detection of DILI due to the lack of effective diagnostic biomarkers. Hepatocyte-specific miR-122 is released from injured hepatocytes promptly and its efflux is significantly correlated with the progression of DILI. Therefore, achieving precise in situ detection of miR-122 with high sensitivity is vital for early visualization of DILI. Herein, a new nanoprobe, consisting of miR-122 aptamer, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) was introduced for the early and sensitive detection of DILI in situ. As the nanoprobes reached in the liver, miR-122 aptamer-based entropy-driven strand displacement (ESDR) signal amplification reaction was triggered and luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET) between UCNPs and PBNPs was responded to achieve the high-fidelity detection of DILI. A negative correlation was observed between the intensity of upconversion luminescence (UCL) and the concentration of miR-122. UCL imaging conducted both in vivo and ex vivo indicated that a reduction in miR-122 concentration led to an increase in UCL intensity, revealing a precise state of DILI. The detection technique demonstrated a positive correlation between signal intensity and severity, offering a more straightforward and intuitive method of visualizing DILI.

NET-targeted nanoparticles for antithrombotic therapy in pregnancy

Pulmonary embolism caused by deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a major contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality. There is still an unmet need for safe and effective treatment options for DVT during pregnancy. Recent research has shown that neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation plays a very vital role in thrombosis. We created nanoparticles surface-modified by neutrophil elastase (NE)-binding peptide that can target activated neutrophils specifically in vitro and in vivo. Prussian blue nanoparticles (PB NPs) designed in the core scavenges abnormally elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the vascular microenvironment and acts as a photothermal agent to mediate photothermal therapy (PTT) to damage fibrin network structure. Based on the data we have included, this noninvasive therapeutic approach is considered safe for both mothers and the fetus. Furthermore, our findings indicate that this therapeutic approach has a significant alleviation effect on intrauterine growth restriction caused by maternal thrombosis.

Mn2+ /Ir3+ -Doped and CaCO3 -Covered Prussian Blue Nanoparticles with Indocyanine Green Encapsulation for Tumor Microenvironment Modulation and Image-Guided Synergistic Cancer Therapy

The development of smart theranostic nanoplatforms has gained great interest in effective cancer treatment against the complex tumor microenvironment (TME), including weak acidity, hypoxia, and glutathione (GSH) overexpression. Herein, a TME-responsive nanoplatform named PMICApt /ICG, based on PB:Mn&Ir@CaCO3 Aptamer /ICG, is designed for the competent synergistic photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) under the guidance of photothermal and magnetic resonance imaging. The nanoplatform's aptamer modification targeting the transferrin receptor and the epithelial cell adhesion molecule on breast cancer cells, and the acid degradable CaCO3 shell allow for effective tumor accumulation and TME-responsive payload release in situ. The nanoplatform also exhibits excellent PDT properties due to its ability to generate O2 and consume antioxidant GSH in tumors. Additionally, the synergistic therapy is achieved by a single wavelength of near-infrared laser. RNA sequencing is performed to identify differentially expressed genes, which show that the expressions of proliferation and migration-associated genes are inhibited, while the apoptosis and immune response gene expressions are upregulated after the synergistic treatments. This multifunctional nanoplatform that responds to the TME to realize the on-demand payload release and enhance PDT induced by TME modulation holds great promise for clinical applications in tumor therapy.

Bifunctional electrochemical biosensor based on PB-MXene films for the real-time analysis and detection of living cancer cells

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are important prognostic markers for cancer diagnosis and metastasis, and their detection is an important means to detect cancer metastasis. Herein, we construct a novel bifunctional electrochemical biosensor based on the PB-MXene composite films. A simple electrostatic self-assembly approach was employed to prepare a film composed of PB nanocubes on the MXene substrates. Given that the PB is an artificial peroxidase for H2O2 sensing, the PB-MXene films can realize the real-time monitoring of H2O2 secretion from living CTCs. Besides, the anti-CEA attached biosensors can be utilized to quantify the corresponding CTCs. The synergic effects of the MXene with a large specific area and PB with enzyme-free catalysis for H2O2 resulted in PB-MXene films exhibiting high electrocatalytic and low cytotoxicity for both H2O2 sensing and living CTCs capturing. As a result, the biosensor shows a low detection limit of 0.57 μM towards H2O2 with a wide linear range (1 μM to 500 μM), as well as an excellent sensing performance for CTCs (an extremely low detection limit of 9 cells/mL in a wide linear range of 1.3 ×101 to 1.3 ×106 cells/mL). Moreover, the prepared biosensor showed satisfactory stability and anti-interference ability for potential applications in clinical cancer diagnosis and tumor metastasis.

NiFe-based Prussian blue analogue nanopolygons hybridized with functionalized glyoxal polymer as a voltammetric platform for the determination of amisulpride in biological samples

A novel voltammetric platform based on pencil graphite electrode (PGE) modification has been proposed, containing bimetallic (NiFe) Prussian blue analogue nanopolygons decorated with electro-polymerized glyoxal polymer nanocomposites (p-DPG NCs@NiFe PBA Ns/PGE). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and square wave voltammetry (SWV) were utilized to investigate the electrochemical performance of the proposed sensor. The analytical response of p-DPG NCs@NiFe PBA Ns/PGE was evaluated through the quantity of amisulpride (AMS), one of the most common antipsychotic drugs. Under the optimized experimental and instrumental conditions, the method showed linearity over the range from 0.5 to 15 × 10-8 mol L-1 with a good correlation coefficient (R = 0.9995) and a low detection limit (LOD) reached, 1.5 nmol L-1, with excellent relative standard deviation for human plasma and urine samples. The interference effect of some potentially interfering substances was negligible, and the sensing platform demonstrated an outstanding reproducibility, stability, and reusability. As a first trial, the proposed electrode aimed to shed light on the AMS oxidation mechanism, where the oxidation mechanism was monitored and elucidated using the FTIR technique. It was also found that the prepared p-DPG NCs@NiFe PBA Ns/PGE platform had promising applications for the simultaneous determination of AMS in the presence of some co-administered COVID-19 drugs, which could be attributed to the large active surface area, and high conductivity of bimetallic nanopolygons.

In situ synthesized nanozyme for photoacoustic-imaging-guided photothermal therapy and tumor hypoxia relief

Nanozymes have attracted extensive research interest due to their ideal enzymatic catalytic performance; however, uncontrollable activities and nonspecific accumulation limit their further clinical application. To overcome these obstacles, we proposed in situ synthesized nanozyme, and realized the concept through an intelligent nanosystem (ISSzyme) based on Prussian blue (PB) precursor. PB nanozyme was synthesized at the tumor sites through the interaction of ISSzyme with glutathione, which was demonstrated by comparing with conventional PB nanozyme. ISSzyme is capable of tumor-specific photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and photothermal therapy (PTT), reducing the false-positive signals of PAI and the treatment side effects of PTT. ISSzyme has catalase-like activities, resulting in tumor hypoxia relief and metastasis inhibition. More importantly, the in situ synthesized PB nanozyme has the favorable property of minimal liver accumulation. Considering the above advantages, ISSzyme is expected to shed light on the design of the next-generation artificial enzymes, with many new biomedical applications.

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.

Manganese-Based Prussian Blue Nanocatalysts Suppress Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Growth and Metastasis via Photothermal and Chemodynamic Therapy

Based on the safety of prussian blue (PB) in biomedical application, we prepared manganese-based prussian blue (MnPB) nanocatalysts to achieve enhanced photothermal therapy and chemodynamic therapy. And we conducted a series of experiments to explore the therapeutic effects of MnPB nanoparticles (NPs) on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in vivo and in vitro. For in vitro experiments, the MnPB NPs suppressed growth of A549 cells by reactive oxygen species upregulation and near-infrared irradiation. Moreover, the MnPB NPs could inhibit lung cancer metastasis through downregulating the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 expression in A549 cells. And for in vivo experiments, the MnPB NPs inhibited the growth of xenografted tumor effectively and were biologically safe. Meanwhile, Mn²⁺ as a T1-weighted agent could realize magnetic resonance imaging-guided diagnosis and treatment. To sum up, the results in this study clearly demonstrated that the MnPB NPs had remarkable effects for inhibiting the growth and metastasis of NSCLC and might serve as a promising multifunctional nanoplatform for NSCLC treatment.

Antithrombotic Therapy by Regulating the ROS-Mediated Thrombosis Microenvironment and Specific Nonpharmaceutical Thrombolysis Using Prussian Blue Nanodroplets

In thrombotic diseases, the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidative stress as a "perpetrator" in thrombosis must be resolved. Accordingly, an insufficient understanding of thrombus therapy prompted the authors to pursue a more comprehensive and efficient antithrombotic treatment strategy. A Prussian blue (PB)-based nanodroplet system (PB-PFP@PC) is designed using PB and perfluorinated pentane (PFP) in the core, and a targeting peptide (CREKA, Cys-Arg-Glu-Lys-Ala) is attached to poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLGA) as the delivery carrier shell. Upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, PB and PFP jointly achieve an unprecedented dual strategy for drug-free thrombolysis: photothermal therapy (PTT) combined with optical droplet vaporization (ODV). PB, a nanoenzyme, also regulates the vascular microenvironment via its antioxidant activity to continuously scavenge abnormally elevated ROS and correspondingly reduce inflammatory factors in the thrombus site. This study provides a demonstration of not only the potential of ODV in thrombus therapy but also the mechanism underlying PTT thrombolysis due to thermal ablation-induced fibrin network structural damage. Moreover, PB catalyzes ROS to generate oxygen (O₂ ), which combines with the ODV effect, enhancing the ultrasound signal. Thus, regulation of the thrombosis microenvironment combined with specific nonpharmaceutical thrombolysis by PB nanodroplets provides a more comprehensive and efficient antithrombotic therapeutic strategy.

Prussian Blue Nanoparticles Stabilize SOD1 from Ubiquitination-Proteasome Degradation to Rescue Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Discography often destroys the hypoxic environment in the intervertebral disc and accelerates intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Therefore, it often fails to meet the requirements for application in clinical practice. This technology mainly increases the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the IVD. As so, it is particularly critical to develop strategies to avoid this degeneration mechanism. Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) are found to enhance development under magnetic resonance T1 and have antioxidant enzyme activity. The key results of the present study confirm that PBNPs alleviate intracellular oxidative stress and increase the intracellular activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). PBNPs can rescue nucleus pulposus cell degeneration by increasing oxidoreductase system-related mRNA and proteins, especially by stabilizing SOD1 from ubiquitination-proteasome degradation, thus improving the mitochondrial structure to increase antioxidation ability, and finally rescuing ROS-induced IVDD in a rat model. Therefore, it is considered that PBNPs can be a potential antioxidation-protective discography contrast agent.

Harvesting Light To Produce Heat: Photothermal Nanoparticles for Technological Applications and Biomedical Devices

The photothermal properties of nanoparticles (NPs), that is, their ability to convert absorbed light into heat, have been studied since the end of the last century, mainly on gold NPs. In the new millennium, these studies have developed into a burst of research dedicated to the photothermal ablation of tumors. However, beside this strictly medical theme, research has also flourished in the connected areas of photothermal antibacterial surface coatings, gels and polymers, of photothermal surfaces for cell stimulation, as well as in purely technological areas that do not involve medical biotechnology. These include the direct conversion of solar light into heat, a more efficient sun-powered generation of steam and the use of inkjet-printed patterns of photothermal NPs for anticounterfeit printing based on temperature reading, to cite but a few. After an analysis of the photothermal effect (PTE) and its mechanism, this minireview briefly considers the antitumor-therapy theme and takes an in-depth look at all the other technological and biomedical applications of the PTE, paying particular attention to photothermal materials whose NPs have joined those based on Au.

Phase-change mesoporous Prussian blue nanoparticles for loading paclitaxel and chemo-photothermal therapy of cancer

Complete treatment of cancer remains a major challenge today. Herein, a biocompatible drug delivery system named as PCM + PTX@mPBs/PEG was constructed. In this system, Paclitaxel (PTX) was blended with phase-change material (PCM) and loaded in mesoporous Prussian blue nanoparticles (mPBs), and chelated with polyethylene glycol at surface. The blank PCM@mPBs/PEG had uniform particle size distribution, large pore size to load drug, excellent photothermal efficiency and good biocompatibility. After loading PTX, PCM + PTX@mPBs/PEG was demonstrated with a high loading capacity and the drug presented temperature-responsive release characteristics. In addition, PTX can be released under the exposure of an NIR laser. In vitro cell experiments showed that nanoparticles can be exposed to near-infrared irradiation to increase uptake in cells, which enhanced anticancer activity. After tail vein injection of PCM + PTX@mPBs/PEG suspension in tumor-bearing mice, PCM + PTX@mPBs/PEG can accumulate at the tumor site through passive transport. The tumor was effectively suppressed by phototherapy and chemotherapy with few side effects. In summary, compared with photothermal therapy or chemotherapy alone, the prepared PCM + PTX@mPBs/PEG showed synergistic photothermal and chemotherapeutic effects on cancer treatment of mice.

The 3M Concept: Biomedical Translational Imaging from Molecules to Mouse to Man

Imaging keeps pervading biomedical sciences from the nanoscale to the bedside. Connecting the hierarchical levels of biomedicine with relevant imaging approaches, however, remains a challenge.

Here we present a concept, called “3M”, which can deliver a question, formulated at the bedside, across the wide-ranging hierarchical organization of the living organism, from the molecular level, through the small-animal scale, to whole-body human functional imaging. We present an example of nanoparticle development pipeline extending from atomic force microscopy to pre-clinical whole body imaging methods to highlight the essential features of the 3M concept, which integrates multi-scale resolution and quantification into a single logical process.

Using the nanoscale to human clinical whole body approach, we present the successful development, characterisation and application of Prussian Blue nanoparticles for a variety of imaging modalities, extending it to isotope payload quantification and shape-biodistribution relationships.

The translation of an idea from the bedside to the molecular level and back requires a set of novel combinatorial imaging methodologies interconnected into a logical pipeline. The proposed integrative molecules-to-mouse-to-man (3M) approach offers a promising, clinically oriented toolkit that lends the prospect of obtaining an ever-increasing amount of correlated information from as small a voxel of the human body as possible.

Prussian Blue: A Nanozyme with Versatile Catalytic Properties

Nanozymes, nanomaterials with enzyme-like activities, are becoming powerful competitors and potential substitutes for natural enzymes because of their excellent performance. Nanozymes offer better structural stability over their respective natural enzymes. In consequence, nanozymes exhibit promising applications in different fields such as the biomedical sector (in vivo diagnostics/and therapeutics) and the environmental sector (detection and remediation of inorganic and organic pollutants). Prussian blue nanoparticles and their analogues are metal–organic frameworks (MOF) composed of alternating ferric and ferrous irons coordinated with cyanides. Such nanoparticles benefit from excellent biocompatibility and biosafety. Besides other important properties, such as a highly porous structure, Prussian blue nanoparticles show catalytic activities due to the iron atom that acts as metal sites for the catalysis. The different states of oxidation are responsible for the multicatalytic activities of such nanoparticles, namely peroxidase-like, catalase-like, and superoxide dismutase-like activities. Depending on the catalytic performance, these nanoparticles can generate or scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Sensitive colorimetric assay for the determination of alkaline phosphatase activity utilizing nanozyme based on copper nanoparticle-modified Prussian blue

Nanozyme based on Prussian blue nanocubes (PB NCs) loaded with copper nanoparticles (Cu@PB NCs) was synthesized. The peroxidase (POD)-like activity of Cu@PB NCs was studied and utilized for detecting the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The Cu@PB NCs possess higher POD-like activity compared with PB NCs and natural horseradish peroxidase (HRP) due to the loading of copper nanoparticles. 3,3',5,5'-Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) can be oxidized to oxTMB in the presence of Cu@PB NCs and H₂O₂, generating blue-colored compound, while introduction of pyrophosphate (PPi) leads to the POD-like activity of Cu@PB NCs decreased obviously. In the presence of ALP, PPi was hydrolyzed and then the POD-like activity of Cu@PB NCs was restored. So, according to the change of the POD-like activity of Cu@PB NCs, a sensitive colorimetric assay for ALP activity was reported. The limit of detection of the assay is 0.08 mU/mL, with linear range from 0.1 to 50 mU/mL. In addition, the assay was also applied for screening the inhibitors of ALP. Nanozyme based on Prussian blue nanocube (PB NCs) loaded with copper nanoparticles was synthesized and utilized for detecting the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP).