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Cancer, a prevalent disease posing significant threats to human health and longevity, necessitates effective therapeutic interventions. Chemotherapy has emerged as a primary strategy following surgical procedures for combating most malignancies. Despite the considerable efficacy of conventional chemotherapeutic agents against cancer cells, their utility is hindered by profound challenges such as multidrug resistance and deleterious toxic side effects, thereby limiting their systemic application. To tackle these challenges, we have devised a promising nanomedicine platform based on a plant virus. Specifically, we have selected the cowpea melanoma mottled virus (CCMV) as our nano-delivery system owing to its monodisperse and homogeneous size, as well as its intrinsic ability for controlled self-assembly. Leveraging the potential of this platform, we have engineered CCMV-based nanoparticles functionalized with elastin-like peptides (ELPs) at their N-terminal region. The target protein, CP-ELP, was expressed via E.coli, enabling encapsulation of the model drug DOX upon structural domain modification of the protein. The resulting nanoparticles exhibit uniform size distribution, facilitating efficient internalization by tumor cells and subsequent intracellular drug release, leading to enhanced antitumor efficacy. In addition, EVLP@DOX nanoparticles were found to activate immune response of tumor microenvironment in vivo, which further inhibiting tumor growth. Our designed nanoparticles have also demonstrated remarkable therapeutic effectiveness and favorable biological safety profiles in both murine melanoma and colorectal cancer models., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (MNPs) showed great potential in treating infectious disease due to their superior biofunctions in improving biocompatibility of nanoparticles and neutralization of pathogen or toxins. However, bone infection is accompanied with severe inflammation and bone loss, which also requires anti-inflammatory and osteoconductive treatment. The conventional membrane coating method has to undergo ultrasonication and extrusion procedures, which reduces the functionality of cell membrane and limits the choice of nanoparticles. In this study, we proposed an electroporation-based membrane coating strategy to facilitate the synthesis of MNPs to tackle those problems. Methods: Magnetic composite nanoparticles with osteoconductive Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 and bactericidal TiO 2 were assembled into macrophages through phagocytosis and then collected to expose in electric field for obtaining macrophage membrane-coating nanoparticles. By using molecular dynamics simulation and materials characterizations, the cell membrane coating efficiency was confirmed. The in vitro anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory abilities were tested by bacteria culturing and immune cells activation. Then drug-resistant bacteria induced bone infection model was established to verify its in vivo therapeutic effects. Results: The coated membrane prepared through electroporation reserved the integrality of membrane structure and right-sidedness, with more functional proteins. Those led to the superior properties of recognition and adsorption with bacteria, toxins and inflammatory cytokines. Owing to the benefits of electroporation, the MNPs exhibited significant better antibacterial and anti-inflammatory abilities for enhancing the tissue repair process. Conclusion: This study provides a novel self-assembly cell membrane coating strategy by electroporation to construct multifunctional membrane-coating nanoparticles for bone infection treatment. This strategy not only improves the functions of coated membrane, but is also proved to be universal for varies nanoparticles or cells, indicating a great potential for future applications in the bioengineering field., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Luminescent nanomaterials have attracted great attention in luminescence-based bioanalysis due to their abundant optical and tunable surface physicochemical properties. However, luminescent nanomaterials often suffer from serious autofluorescence and light scattering interference when applied to complex biological samples. Time-resolved luminescence methodology can efficiently eliminate autofluorescence and light scattering interference by collecting the luminescence signal of a long-lived probe after the background signals decays completely. Lanthanides have a unique [Xe]4f N electronic configuration and ladder-like energy states, which endow lanthanide-doped nanoparticles with many desirable optical properties, such as long luminescence lifetimes, large Stokes/anti-Stokes shifts, and sharp emission bands. Due to their long luminescence lifetimes, lanthanide-doped nanoparticles are widely used for high-sensitive biosensing and high-contrast bioimaging via time-resolved luminescence methodology. In this review, recent progress in the development of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles and their application in time-resolved biosensing and bioimaging are summarized. At the end of this review, the current challenges and perspectives of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for time-resolved bioapplications are discussed., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Direct observation of nanoparticles with high spatial resolution at subcellular levels is of great importance to understand the nanotoxicology and promote the biomedical applications of nanoparticles. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy can break the diffraction resolution limit to achieve spatial resolution of tens of nanometers, making it ideal for highly accurate observation of nanoparticles in the cellular world. In this study, we introduced the employment of super-resolution fluorescence imaging for monitoring nanoparticles within cells. Carbocyanine dyes Alexa Flour 647 labeled mesoporous silica nanoparticles (designated as MSNs-AF647) were constructed as the super-resolution imaging nanoplatform in this work as proof of concept. The MSNs-AF647 were incubated with Hela cells, and the nanoparticles within cells were further monitored by super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. The fluorescence images of MSNs-AF647 within cells captured with the super-resolution fluorescence microscopy showed a much higher spatial resolution than that obtained using conventional fluorescence microscopy, showing that super-resolution fluorescence images can provide more accurate information to locate the nanoparticles at the subcellular levels. Moreover, other functional molecules can be easily loaded into the MSNs-AF647 super-resolution imaging nanoplatform, which suggested that super-resolution fluorescence imaging can further be applied to various bioimaging-related areas, such as imaging-guided therapy, with the aid of the MSNs-AF647 nanoplatform. This study demonstrates that super-resolution fluorescence microscopy offers a highly accurate method to study nanoparticles in the cellular world. We anticipate this strategy may further be applied to research areas such as studying the nanotoxicology and optimization of nanoparticle-based bioprobes or drugs by designing new nanostructured materials with multifunctional properties based on MSNs-AF647.

Dysfunctional macrophages underlie the development of several diseases including atherosclerosis where accumulation of cholesteryl esters and persistent inflammation are 2 of the critical macrophage processes that regulate the progression as well as stability of atherosclerotic plaques. Ligand-dependent activation of liver-x-receptor (LXR) not only enhances mobilization of stored cholesteryl ester but also exerts anti-inflammatory effects mediated via trans-repression of proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B. However, increased hepatic lipogenesis by systemic administration of LXR ligands (LXR-L) has precluded their therapeutic use. The objective of the present study was to devise a strategy to selectively deliver LXR-L to atherosclerotic plaque-associated macrophages while limiting hepatic uptake. Mannose-functionalized dendrimeric nanoparticles (mDNP) were synthesized to facilitate active uptake via the mannose receptor expressed exclusively by macrophages using polyamidoamine dendrimer. Terminal amine groups were used to conjugate mannose and LXR-L T091317 via polyethylene glycol spacers. mDNP-LXR-L was effectively taken up by macrophages (and not by hepatocytes), increased expression of LXR target genes (ABCA1/ABCG1), and enhanced cholesterol efflux. When administered intravenously to LDLR-/- mice with established plaques, significant accumulation of fluorescently labeled mDNP-LXR-L was seen in atherosclerotic plaque-associated macrophages. Four weekly injections of mDNP-LXR-L led to significant reduction in atherosclerotic plaque progression, plaque necrosis, and plaque inflammation as assessed by expression of nuclear factor kappa B target gene matrix metalloproteinase 9; no increase in hepatic lipogenic genes or plasma lipids was observed. These studies validate the development of a macrophage-specific delivery platform for the delivery of anti-atherosclerotic agents directly to the plaque-associated macrophages to attenuate plaque burden., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are an emerging group of promising luminescent materials that can remain luminescent after the excitation ceases. In the past decade, PLNPs with intriguing optical properties have been developed and their applications in biomedicine have been widely studied. Due to the ultra-long decay time of persistent luminescence, autofluorescence interference in biosensing and bioimaging can be efficiently eliminated. Moreover, PLNPs can remain luminescent for hours, making them valuable in bio-tracing. Also, persistent luminescence imaging can guide cancer therapy with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and superior sensitivity. Briefly, PLNPs are demonstrated to be a newly-emerging class of functional materials with unprecedented advantages in biomedicine. In this review, we summarized recent advances in the preparation of PLNPs and the applications of PLNPs in biosensing, bioimaging and cancer therapy.

Photoluminescence is one of the most sensitive techniques for fingerprint detection, but it also suffers from background fluorescence and selectivity at the expense of generality. The method described herein integrates the advantages of near-infrared-light-mediated imaging and molecular recognition. In principle, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) functionalized with a lysozyme-binding aptamer were used to detect fingerprints through recognizing lysozyme in the fingerprint ridges. UCNPs possess the ability to suppress background fluorescence and make it possible for fingerprint imaging on problematic surfaces. Lysozyme, a universal compound in fingerprints, was chosen as the target, thus simultaneously meeting the selectivity and generality criteria in photoluminescence approaches. Fingerprints on different surfaces and from different people were detected successfully. This strategy was used to detect fingerprints with cocaine powder by using UCNPs functionalized with a cocaine-binding aptamer., (Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A smart drug delivery system with cancer cell targeting and bioresponsive controlled drug release has been constructed by taking advantage of a protein-capped mesoporous nanovalve and a DNA aptamer.

High quality nanocrystals have demonstrated substantial potential for biomedical applications. However, being generally hydrophobic, their use has been greatly limited by complicated and inefficient surface engineering that often fails to yield biocompatible nanocrystals with minimal aggregation in biological fluids and active targeting toward specific biomolecules. Using chimeric DNA molecules, we developed a one-step facile surface engineering method for hydrophobic nanocrystals. The procedure is simple and versatile, generating individual nanocrystals with multiple ligands. In addition, the resulting nanocrystals can actively and specifically target various molecular addresses, varying from nucleic acids to cancer cells. Together, the strategy developed here holds great promise in generating critical technologies needed for biomedical applications of nanocrystals.

Herein a photon-manipulated mesoporous release system was constructed based on azobenzene-modified nucleic acids. In this system, the azobenzene-incorporated DNA double strands were immobilized at the pore mouth of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. The photoisomerization of azobenzene induced dehybridization/hybridization switch of complementary DNA, causing uncapping/capping of pore gates of mesoporous silica. This nanoplatform permits holding of guest molecules within the nanopores under visible light but releases them when light wavelength turns to the UV range. These DNA/mesoporous silica hybrid nanostructures were exploited as carriers for the cancer cell chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX) due to its stimuli-responsive property as well as good biocompatibility via MTT assay. It is found that the drug release behavior is light-wavelength-sensitive. Switching of the light from visible to the UV range uncapped the pores, causing the release of DOX from the mesoporous silica nanospheres and an obvious cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. We envision that this photocontrolled drug release system could find potential applications in cancer therapy.

We designed an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-containing polyamidoamine (PAMAM) Generation 4 dendrimer vector labeled with quantum dots for targeted imaging and nucleic acid delivery. (1)H NMR, SDS-PAGE, and Western blotting were applied to characterize the synthesized G4.0-GGG-EGF nanoparticles. Targeting efficiency, cell viability, proliferation, and intracellular signal transduction were evaluated using HN12, NIH3T3, and NIH3T3/EGFR cells. We found that EGF-conjugated dendrimers did not stimulate growth of EGFR-expressing cells at the selected concentration. Consistent with this, minimal stimulation of post-receptor signaling pathways was observed. These nanoparticles can localize within cells that express the EGFR in a receptor-dependent manner, whereas uptake into cells lacking the receptor was low. A well characterized vimentin shRNA (shVIM) and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) siRNA were used to test the delivery and transfection efficiency of the constructed targeted vector. Significant knockdown of expression was observed, indicating that this vector is useful for introduction of nucleic acids or drugs into cells by a receptor-targeted mechanism., (Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This work describes the synthesis and characterization of novel thermoresponsive highly branched polyamidoamine-polyethylene glycol-poly(D,L-lactide) (PAMAM-PEG-PDLLA) core-shell nanoparticles. A series of dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles were synthesized through conjugation of PEG of various chain lengths (1500, 6000 and 12,000 g mol(-1)) to polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer G3.0 and subsequent ring-opening polymerization of DLLA. The ninhydrin assay, (1)H NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the structure and compositions of dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles. The sol-gel phase transition of aqueous dendritic PEG-PDLLA solutions was measured using UV-visual spectroscopy. According to our results dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles in aqueous solution can self-assemble into sub-micron/micron aggregates, the size of which is dependent on temperature and PEG-PDLLA chain length. Further, dendritic PEG-PDLLA solutions exhibit a sol-gel phase transition with increasing temperature. The constructed dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles possessed high cytocompatibility, which was significantly improved compared with PAMAM dendrimers. The potential of dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles for encapsulation of water-insoluble drugs such as camptothecin was demonstrated. The dendritic PEG-PDLLA nanoparticles we developed offer greater structural flexibility and provide a novel nanostructured thermoresponsive carrier for drug delivery., (Copyright 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Persistent luminescence is an optical phenomenon where solid phosphors can store photoenergy in defects and release the energy by luminescence after stopping excitation. Due to the intriguing optical characteristics, the defect luminescence based persistent phosphors have attracted enormous attention in recent decades, especially in biomedical fields such as biosensing and bioimaging. Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) can effectively avoid the autofluorescence interference from complex samples or tissues, leading to significantly improved sensitivity in biological analysis. In this review, we summarized the methods to control the optical performance of PLNPs from the perspectives of controlled synthesis and defect regulation, and emphasized the close relationship between their optical performance and applications. We further provided a summary about a series of PLNPs nanoprobes designed by our group for biosensing and bioimaging. Our efforts, summarized in this review, will not only open a window for manipulating luminescence in PLNPs, but also further promote the application of PLNPs in biomedicine. What is the most favorite and original chemistry developed in your research group? Synthesis and bioapplications of persistent phosphors. How do you get into this specific field? Could you please share some experiences with our readers? I got into chemistry related to biomedicine during my graduate student period. The research situation of luminescent nanomaterials in China has a strong effect on me, inspiring me to pursuit new luminescent nanomaterials and their applications. We need have interest and concentrate on our research with passion. We are encouraged to work hard. What is the most important personality for scientific research? Curiosity and hard‐working. What are your hobbies? What's your favorite book(s)? Shopping and reading books. My favorite books are novels, such as "The Three‐Body Problem". How do you keep balance between research and family? I have two boys and it takes me much time to take care of them. I need to elevate my work efficiency and work hard. I also buy household service to save time. Who influences you mostly in your life? My father. He loves reading and writing. I know one need to have passion on something under my father's influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent luminescence materials (PLMs) are a class of unique luminescent materials that can remain luminescent for a few milliseconds to days without constant excitation. By virtue of the super long decay time, PLMs have been extensively explored in biosensing and bioimaging applications to elimin ate autofluorescence interference and improve signal‐to‐noise ratio in complex samples and tissues. However, nude PLMs often suffer from the poor stability, selectivity, and biocompatibility in biological system and in vivo, which greatly impedes their applications in biomedicine and bioanalysis. Remarkably, surface modification is a viable solution that endows PLMs with span‐new features and can make PLMs suitable for organisms by altering PLMs' interaction with biological system. In this review, commonly used strategies for surface modification of PLMs are briefly introduced, and the applications of surface modified PLMs in biosensing and bioimaging as well as their challenges are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Peroxidase‐mimicking nanozymes offer unique advantages in terms of high stability and low cost over natural peroxidase for applications in bioanalysis, biomedicine, and the treatment of pollution. However, the design of high‐efficiency peroxidase‐mimicking nanozymes remains a great challenge. In this study, we adopted a structural‐design approach through hybridization of cube‐CeO2 and Pt nanoparticles to create a new peroxidase‐mimicking nanozyme with high efficiency and excellent stability. Relative to pure cube‐CeO2 and Pt nanoparticles, the as‐hybridized Pt/cube‐CeO2 nanocomposites display much improved activities because of the strong metal–support interaction. Meanwhile, the nanocomposites also maintain high catalytic activity after long‐term storage and multiple recycling. Based on their excellent properties, Pt/cube‐CeO2 nanocomposites were used to construct high‐performance colorimetric biosensors for the sensitive detection of metabolites, including H2O2 and glucose. Our findings highlight opportunities for the development of high‐efficiency peroxidase‐mimicking nanozymes with potential applications such as diagnostics, biomedicine, and the treatment of pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lanthanide (Ln, or rare-earth) doped nanoparticles are well-known for their prominent optical properties and have been widely used for biological applications, especially in biological assays and medical imaging. Recently, the extensive attention of near infrared (NIR) wavelength range has dramatically increased for its fast feedback, high spatial resolution and deep tissue penetration. Tissues have minimal absorbance in this region. While a lot of excellent reviews cover various aspects of biomedical imaging based on lanthanide doped nanoparticles, there has not been a review that systematically summarizes NIR-to-NIR imaging with lanthanide doped nanoparticles. In this review, we focus on the recent development of NIR-to-NIR imaging based on lanthanide doped nanoparticles, and discuss challenges and opportunities in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous carbon (m-C) has potential applications as porous electrodes for electrochemical energy storage, but its applications have been severely limited by the inherent fragility and low electrical conductivity. A rational strategy is presented to construct m-C into hierarchical porous structures with high flexibility by using a carbon nanotube (CNT) sponge as a three-dimensional template, and grafting Pt nanoparticles at the m-C surface. This method involves several controllable steps including solution deposition of a mesoporous silica (m-SiO2) layer onto CNTs, chemical vapor deposition of acetylene, and etching of m-SiO2, resulting in a CNT@m-C core-shell or a CNT@m-C@Pt core-shell hybrid structure after Pt adsorption. The underlying CNT network provides a robust yet flexible support and a high electrical conductivity, whereas the m-C provides large surface area, and the Pt nanoparticles improves interfacial electron and ion diffusion. Consequently, specific capacitances of 203 and 311 F g−1 have been achieved in these CNT@m-C and CNT@m-C@Pt sponges as supercapacitor electrodes, respectively, which can retain 96 % of original capacitance under large degree compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoluminescence is one of the most sensitive techniques for fingerprint detection, but it also suffers from background fluorescence and selectivity at the expense of generality. The method described herein integrates the advantages of near-infrared-light-mediated imaging and molecular recognition. In principle, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) functionalized with a lysozyme-binding aptamer were used to detect fingerprints through recognizing lysozyme in the fingerprint ridges. UCNPs possess the ability to suppress background fluorescence and make it possible for fingerprint imaging on problematic surfaces. Lysozyme, a universal compound in fingerprints, was chosen as the target, thus simultaneously meeting the selectivity and generality criteria in photoluminescence approaches. Fingerprints on different surfaces and from different people were detected successfully. This strategy was used to detect fingerprints with cocaine powder by using UCNPs functionalized with a cocaine-binding aptamer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target practice: A novel photodynamic therapy system has been constructed by taking advantage of the specific molecular recognition of an aptamer, loading capability of a G‐quadruplex, and upconversion of nanoparticles using near‐infrared (NIR) light. This system selectively delivers a photosensitizer to targeted cells and upon irradiation with NIR light demonstrates phototoxicity effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • N-doped carbon nanorod encapsulated with Ni and Mo 2 C nanoparticles (Ni/Mo 2 C/NC) is synthesized. • It delivers low onset potential of 100 mV and an extremely small overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm−2. • The electrocatalytic activity of Ni/Mo 2 C/NC largely depends on mass ratio between NC and Mo 2 C. • NC will transfer electrons to Mo 2 C for lower valence state and increase the conductivity. • The presence of Ni plays an important role in enhancing alkaline HER catalytic performance. Herein, we have successfully synthesized a N-doped carbon nanorod, which is encapsulated with Ni and Mo 2 C nanoparticles (Ni/Mo 2 C/NC). It exhibits low onset-potential of 100 mV vs. RHE, an extremely small overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm−2, a greatly reduced Tafel-slope of 63 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH solution. The excellent alkaline HER activity of Ni/Mo 2 C/NC is attributed to the remarkable synergistic effects among Ni, Mo 2 C and NC. Active sites for water-splitting provided by Ni, the electron transfer from NC to Mo 2 C and the increased conductivity all make great contributions to enhance HER performance in alkaline pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐infrared‐light‐mediated imaging and molecular recognition have been combined for the detection of latent fingerprints. Q. Yuan et al. describe in their Communication on page 1616 ff. how this general technique does not suffer from background fluorescence interference and simultaneously meets the selectivity and generality criteria for the detection of fingerprints, thus providing high evidential quality for individual identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although equiatomic CoCrFeNi medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) show excellent ductility, their strength is not high enough for the use in various engineering applications. It is necessary for their strength to be improved, while maintaining their great ductility. In this study, the in-situ TiC x N y nanoparticle reinforced equiatomic CoCrFeNi MEA matrix nanocomposites were fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technique and the addition of sub-micron TiC particles. Interestingly, the LPBF-fabricated CoCrFeNi MEAs have been found to exhibit both poor ultimate tensile strength (UTS) (∼582 MPa) and uniform elongation (δ u) (∼11.7 %), attributed to the formation of hot cracks. However, the in-situ formation of TiC x N y nanoparticles could eliminate the formation of hot cracks. The near defect-free nanocomposites with substantial sub-grains were fabricated, and their UTS and δ u were increased by 74.4 % (∼1015 MPa) and 92.3 % (∼22.5 %), respectively. The microstructure of as-built nanocomposites was mainly composed of FCC phase and TiC x N y nanoparticles, and a few M 23 C 6 nanoparticles were found. The high strength of as-built nanocomposites was mainly attributed to Orowan and dislocation strengthening mechanisms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to introduce high strength and great ductility into CoCrFeNi MEAs via the in-situ formation of TiC x N y nanoparticles with the optimized LPBF process. [Display omitted] • It is the first time that hot cracks were found in LPBF-fabricated CoCrFeNi medium entropy alloys. • The in-situ formation of TiC x N y nanoparticles could eliminate the generation of hot cracks. • Well-bonded interfaces were observed between TiC x N y nanoparticles and FCC matrix. • This is the study to introduce high strength and ductility into CoCrFeNi medium entropy alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]