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Nanoparticles offer great opportunities for precision medicine. However, the use of nanoparticles as smart photosensitizers that target tumor biomarkers and are responsive to the tumor microenvironment has yet to be explored. Herein, prostate cancer (PCa)-selective theranostic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for precise cancer imaging and therapy are developed. Silicon phthalocyanine, Pc158, was synthesized and deactivated by conjugating it to AuNPs via a biocleavable linker. In vitro and in vivo , the targeted AuNPs show excellent selectivity for PSMA-positive tumor cells. Triggered release of the therapeutic, Pc158, followed by sequential photodynamic therapy (PDT) results in significant inhibition of tumor growth. Further, we demonstrate that multiple sequential PDT greatly enhances nanoparticle uptake and therapeutic efficacy. PSMA is highly expressed in the neovasculature of most other solid tumors in humans, as well as PCa, making this approach of great practical interest for precision PDT in a wide range of cancers.

Anchoring poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) permits control over NP properties for a variety of technological applications. However, the core-shell structure tremendously complicates the interpretation of the ubiquitous ζ-potential, as furnished by electrophoretic light-scattering, capillary electrophoresis or gel electrophoresis. To advance the ζ-potential-and the more fundamental electrophoretic mobility-as a quantitative diagnostic for PEGylated NPs, we synthesized and characterized Au NPs bearing terminally anchored 5 kDa PEG ligands with univalent carboxymethyl end groups. Using the electrophoretic mobilities, acquired over a wide range of ionic strengths, we developed a theoretical model for the distributions of polymer segments, charge, electrostatic potential, and osmotic pressure that envelop the core: knowledge that will help to improve the performance of soft NPs in fundamental research and technological applications.

After ligand exchange with PEG, Au NPs with differently mixed surface functionalities co-exist in the as-synthesized sample. It is found that the poorly grafted nanoparticles can be simply removed using a chromatographic method, and the well grafted nanoparticles can be eluted as a function of the core size.

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) for enhanced drug delivery has been heavily explored during the last decade. Within the field, it is has become increasingly apparent that the physical properties of the particles themselves dictate their efficacy, and the relevant non-covalent chemistry at the NP interface also influences how drugs are immobilized and delivered. In this review, we reflect on the physical chemistry of NP mediated drug delivery (and more specifically, non-covalent drug delivery) at the three main experimental stages of drug loading, NP-drug conjugate transport, and the resulting cellular drug delivery. Through a critical evaluation of advances in drug delivery within the last decade, an outlook for biomedical applications of nanoscale transport vectors will be presented., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The successful delivery of hydrophobic drugs to cellular targets continues to present challenges to the pharmaceutical industry. The advances made by nanotechnology have generated new avenues for selectively loading, delivering, and targeting these drugs to their biological targets without compromising efficacy. Here, we describe how gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) can be evaluated for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs in aqueous systems. Specifically, we describe Au NP synthesis, ligand exchange, and delivery evaluation at-the-bench for screening of potential drug candidates.

Brain cancer tumors cause disruption of the selective properties of vascular endothelia, even causing disruptions in the very selective blood-brain barrier, which are collectively referred to as the blood-brain-tumor barrier. Nanoparticles (NPs) have previously shown great promise in taking advantage of this increased vascular permeability in other cancers, which results in increased accumulation in these cancers over time due to the accompanying loss of an effective lymph system. NPs have therefore attracted increased attention for treating brain cancer. While this research is just beginning, there have been many successes demonstrated thus far in both the laboratory and clinical setting. This review serves to present the reader with an overview of NPs for treating brain cancer and to provide an outlook on what may come in the future. For NPs, just like the blood-brain-tumor barrier, the future is wide open.

This critical review will present the role of nanoparticles (NPs) in the directions that are vital to the new field of nanomedicine, including imaging and drug delivery. We reflect on the physical properties that make NPs advantageous for in vivo efficacy, and review recent advances in major NP based biomedical applications. Critical questions of transport, uptake, and clearance will be discussed and illustrated through the success and opportunities of NP imaging and therapy on a photodynamic therapy (PDT) based NP system that has been developed in our lab over the past decade (540 references).

Cu(2-x)S (x = 1, 0.2, 0.03) nanocrystals were synthesized with three different chemical methods: sonoelectrochemical, hydrothermal, and solventless thermolysis methods in order to compare their common optical and structural properties. The compositions of the Cu(2-x)S nanocrystals were varied from CuS (covellite) to Cu(1.97)S (djurleite) through adjusting the reduction potential in the sonoelectrochemical method, adjusting the pH value in the hydrothermal method and by choosing different precursor pretreatments in the solventless thermolysis approach, respectively. The crystallinity and morphology of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which shows that most of them might be of pure stoichiometries but some of them are mixtures. The obtained XRDs were studied in comparison to the XRD patterns of previously reported Cu(2-x)S. We found consistently that under ambient conditions the copper deficient Cu(1.97)S (djurleite) is more stable than Cu(2)S (chalcocite). Corroborated by recent computational studies by Lambrecht et al. and experimental work by Alivisatos et al. This may be the reason behind the traditionally known instability of the bulk Cu(2)S/CdS interface. Both Cu(2)S and the copper-deficient Cu(1.97)S have very similar but distinguishable electronic and crystal structure. The optical properties of these Cu(2-x)S NCs were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy and NIR. All presented Cu(2-x)S NCs show a blue shift in the band gap absorption compared to bulk Cu(2-x)S. Moreover the spectra of these Cu(2-x)S NCs indicate direct band gap character based on their oscillator strengths, different from previously reported experimental results. The NIR spectra of these Cu(2-x)S NCs show a carrier concentration dependent plasmonic absorption.

Nitrogen-doped CeO2 nanoparticles were synthesized through a wet-chemical route. Nitrogen has been successfully incorporated into CeO2 nanoparticles and the nitrogen-doping level was also successfully controlled. The optical properties due to the different N-doping levels in CeO2 nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), which showed a visible-light absorbance shift. The resulting nanoparticles show enhanced visible-light sensitivity and photocatalytic activity compared to undoped CeO2 nanoparticles. DFT calculations were performed to explore the effect of nitrogen doping versus oxygen vacancies. The calculations show that the change of the electronic structure upon N-doping CeO2 is quite different from that of N-doped TiO2, which has been studied extensively.

Studies electron dynamics in gold nanoparticles by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Non-Fermi electron distribution; Effects of exciting the interband transitions; Simulations of the optical response arising from thermalized and nonthermalized electron distributions; Differences between the response from the two electron distributions.

Water treatment using TiO2 semiconductor as a durable heterogeneous photocatalyst has been the focus of environmentalists in recent years. Currently, we developed an inexpensive and highly efficient approach for synthesizing nitrogen-doped TiO2 with lower band-gap energy that can respond to visible light. Doping on the molecular scale led to an enhanced nitrogen concentration of up to 21.8%. Reflectance measurements showed the synthesized N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles are catalytically active with the absorbance that extends into the visible region up to 600 nm. The water purification potential of this new class of compound was evaluated by studying the photodegradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) and E. coli. Experiments were conducted to compare the photocatalytic activities of N-doped TiO2 nanocatalysts and commercially available Degussa P25 power under identical solar light exposure. N-doped TiO2 demonstrated superior photocatalytic activities in both chemical compound degradation and bactericidal reactions. The result of this study shows the potential of applying new generations of catalyst for wastewater purification and disinfection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first real-time observation of the early events during energy transfer from a photoexcited CdSe nanoparticle to an attached phthalocyanine molecule are presented in terms of a femtosecond spectroscopic pump–probe study of the energy transfer in conjugates of CdSe nanoparticles (NPs) and silicon phthalocyanines (Pcs) with 120 fs time resolution. Four different silicon phthalocyanines have been conjugated to CdSe NPs. All of these have proven potential for photodynamic therapy (PDT). In such NP-Pc conjugates efficient energy transfer (ET) from CdSe NPs to Pcs occurs upon selective photoexcitation of the NP moiety. Spectral analysis as well as time-resolved fluorescence up-conversion measurements revealed the structure and dynamics of the investigated conjugates. Femtosecond transient differential absorption (TDA) spectroscopy was used for the investigation of the non-radiative carrier and ET dynamics. The formation of excitons, trapped carriers states, as well as stimulated emission was monitored in the TDA spectra and the corresponding lifetimes of these states were recorded. The time component for energy transfer was found to be between 15 and 35 ps. The ET efficiencies are found to be 20-70% for the four Pc conjugates, according to fluorescence quenching experiments. Moreover, as a result of the conjugation between NP and the Pcs the photoluminescence efficiency of the Pc moieties in the conjugates do not strictly follow the quantum yields of the bare phthalocyanines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we prepared zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using the polyol method with zinc acetate and/or sodium acetate in a propylene glycol medium with varied hydrolysis reaction time (10, 60 and 300 min). It was observed that the hydrolysis reaction time and the concentration of acetate ions had a strong effect on the morphology and size of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns revealed that all samples crystalized in the typical ZnO wurtzite structure and Rietveld refinement was used to characterize the structure and to suggest a preferential growth. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was performed and showed the typical ZnO band, no impurity signals, as well as differences in A 1 and E 1 vibration modes due to different crystal growth in the structure. Raman scattering was carried out to determine the defects in the structure of ZnO, such as interstitial oxygen and oxygen vacancies. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images revealed that ZnO NPs size and shape are strongly dependent on the hydrolysis reaction time and addition of acetate counter ions, respectively. The change in shape and size has also affected the optical properties, such as the optical bandgap ( E g ) of ZnO NPs and their florescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]