Search

Photothermal therapy (PTT) mediated by nanomaterial has become an attractive tumor treatment method due to its obvious advantages. Among various nanomaterials, melanin-like nanoparticles with nature biocompatibility and photothermal conversion properties have attracted more and more attention. Melanin is a natural biological macromolecule widely distributed in the body and displays many fascinating physicochemical properties such as excellent biocompatibility and prominent photothermal conversion ability. Due to the similar properties, Melanin-like nanoparticles have been extensively studied and become promising candidates for clinical application. In this review, we give a comprehensive introduction to the recent advancements of melanin-like nanoparticles in the field of photothermal therapy in the past decade. In this review, the synthesis pathway, internal mechanism and basic physical and chemical properties of melanin-like nanomaterials are systematically classified and evaluated. It also summarizes the application of melanin-like nanoparticles in bioimaging and tumor photothermal therapy (PTT)in detail and discussed the challenges they faced in clinical translation rationally. Overall, melanin-like nanoparticles still have significant room for development in the field of biomedicine and are expected to applied in clinical PTT in the future.

Traditional surgical treatment is difficult to thoroughly remove esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC), and postoperative recurrence caused by residual tumor cells is a critical factor in the poor prognosis. Since surgical resection promotes the local angiogenesis at the tumor site, further exacerbating the proliferation and invasion of residual tumor cells, it is urgent to inhibit angiogenesis after surgery. Here, a functional peptide-based nanomedicine was obtained from peptide—drug conjugates, which are composed of a hydrophilic targeting motif (vascular endothelial growth factor family and their receptors (VEGFR) targeting peptide for anti-angiogenesis), and an ester-linked hydrophobic oridonin (ORI). The nanomedicine exhibits esterase-catalyzed disassembly and drug release, and significantly enhanced the anti-tumor efficacy of chemotherapeutics in a postoperative tumor recurrence model through synergistic anti-angiogenic strategies. This study provides an integrated solution for anti-angiogenesis-augmented chemotherapy and demonstrates the encouraging potential for postoperative treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]