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Novel radioprotectors are strongly demanded due to their numerous applications in radiobiology and biomedicine, e.g., for facilitating the remedy after cancer radiotherapy. Currently, cerium-containing nanomaterials are regarded as promising inorganic radioprotectors due to their unrivaled antioxidant activity based on their ability to mimic the action of natural redox enzymes like catalase and superoxide dismutase and to neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are by far the main damaging factors of ionizing radiation. The freshwater planarian flatworms are considered a promising system for testing new radioprotectors, due to the high regenerative potential of these species and an excessive amount of proliferating stem cells (neoblasts) in their bodies. Using planarian Schmidtea mediterranea, we tested CeO2 nanoparticles, well known for their antioxidant activity, along with much less studied CeF3 nanoparticles, for their radioprotective potential. In addition, both CeO2 and CeF3 nanoparticles improve planarian head blastema regeneration after ionizing irradiation by enhancing blastema growth, increasing the number of mitoses and neoblasts’ survival, and modulating the expression of genes responsible for the proliferation and differentiation of neoblasts. The CeO2 nanoparticles’ action stems directly from their redox activity as ROS scavengers, while the CeF3 nanoparticles’ action is mediated by overexpression of “wound-induced genes” and neoblast- and stem cell-regulating genes.

The effect of various concentrations (1 μM – 100 mM) of citrate-stabilized cerium dioxide nanoparticles or cerium ions (3+) on the biomass production of two species of unicellular green algae Desmodesmus armatus (Chod.) Hegew and Acutodesmus dimorphus (Turpin) Tsarenko was studied, the amount of chlorophyll, proteins and lipids in the algae biomass was determined. It was shown that at the concentrations of 0.01 M to 0.1 M nanoparticles and cerium salt have pronounced toxic effects on the algal cultures, manifested by a sharp increase in the level of lipids in the biomass combined with the decrease in chlorophyll and protein. At lower concentrations, cerium dioxide nanoparticles stimulate algae biomass accumulation, probably due to a change in key metabolic pathways, accompanied by an increase in the accumulation of carbohydrates in the biomass. For cerium salt, these effects are less pronounced. Thus, depending on the concentration of the objects used, it is possible to obtain an increase in the food biomass production enriched with lipids or carbohydrates as appropriate to the biotechnological objectives.

The development of advanced composite biomaterials combining the versatility and biodegradability of polymers and the unique characteristics of metal oxide nanoparticles unveils new horizons in emerging biomedical applications, including tissue regeneration, drug delivery and gene therapy, theranostics and medical imaging. Nanocrystalline cerium(IV) oxide, or nanoceria, stands out from a crowd of other metal oxides as being a truly unique material, showing great potential in biomedicine due to its low systemic toxicity and numerous beneficial effects on living systems. The combination of nanoceria with new generations of biomedical polymers, such as PolyHEMA (poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-based hydrogels, electrospun nanofibrous polycaprolactone or natural-based chitosan or cellulose, helps to expand the prospective area of applications by facilitating their bioavailability and averting potential negative effects. This review describes recent advances in biomedical polymeric material practices, highlights up-to-the-minute cerium oxide nanoparticle applications, as well as polymer-nanoceria composites, and aims to address the question: how can nanoceria enhance the biomedical potential of modern polymeric materials?

The influence of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide (NCD, 1 and 100 mg/kg per os daily for 10 days) on morphofuctional state of reproductive system was investigated in ageing male rats. It has been established that activation of hormone-producing testicular Leydig's cells, as well as of secretory and proliferative processes in prostate, underlies the stimulating effect of NCD at a dose 1 mg/kg on hormonal function of testis and spermatogenesis of ageing male rats. NCD used at a dose 100 mg/kg had no significant effect on the assessed indices of morphofuctional state of reproductive system.

Aim: To synthesize a conjugate of hematoporphyrin with gold nanoparticles, and to evaluate its photodynamic activity in experiments on cultures of transformed cells. Methods: nanosized gold particles and nanocomposites synthesis methods, cell culture methods, photobiology methods, trypan blue dye exclusion test, chemiluminescence assay. Results: Various hematoporphyrin-gold nanocomposites were obtained, which contained similar hematoporphyrin concentration (5 μg/ml) and varied concentrations (0.5–5 μg/ml) of gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 15 nm or 45 nm. It was established by chemiluminescence method that nanocomposites synthesized induce more efficiently the formation of photo-oxidative products than original photosensitizer. The experiments with transformed cell lines showed that photodynamic in vitro activity of synthesized hematoporphyrin-nanogold composites is much higher than that of the original photosensitizer. The better activity of the nanocomposites with gold particles of 45 nm vs such of 15 nm which was demonstrated in the experiments, can be apparently connected with the fact that bigger particles are able to transport more porphyrin molecules into malignant cells. Conclusion: The results obtained warrant the necessity of further studies with hematoporphyrin-gold nanocomposites in vivo on transplanted tumors of animals which have to define the real perspectives of the nanocomposites application in PDT.