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We report a fluorescent monomer-free method for the synthesis of fluorescent and stable magnetic nanocomposites using a benzophenone/rhodamine B bimolecular photoinitiator system. The method allows the synthesis of a fluorescent polymer shell layer around magnetic nanoparticles in one step by UV irradiation at ambient temperature.

A simple and cost-efficient method for fluorescent microsphere synthesis, which does not require any fluorescent monomers or modification steps to incorporate fluorescent moieties into the polymer particles, is reported. Using rhodamine B and benzophenone as bimolecular initiation system in type II photoinitiated precipitation polymerization, the method enables the preparation of fluorescent microspheres in one step, at room temperature and without the need for a stabilizer or surfactant of any type., (© 2023 The Authors. Macromolecular Rapid Communications published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are really interesting for nanomedicine. To be suitable for such application, they need to be small, stable in aqueous media and sometimes fluorescent for bioimaging. We report herein, the facile synthesis of fluorescent, small (below 200 nm), water-soluble and water-stable MIP capable of specific and selective recognition of their target epitope (small part of a protein). To synthesize these materials, we used dithiocarbamate-based photoiniferter polymerization in water. The use of a rhodamine-based monomer makes the resulting polymers fluorescent. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is used to determine the affinity as well as the selectivity of the MIP for its imprinted epitope, according to the significant differences observed when comparing the binding enthalpy of the original epitope with that of other peptides. The toxicity of the nanoparticles is also tested in two breast cancer cell lines to show the possible use of these particle for future in vivo applications. The materials demonstrated a high specificity and selectivity for the imprinted epitope, with a K d value comparable with the affinity values of antibodies. The synthesized MIP are not toxic, which makes them suitable for nanomedicine.

A fluorescent monomer-free one-step strategy is developed for the synthesis of fluorescent acrylamide gels, using inexpensive and commercially available rhodamine B as the hydrogen donor in a type II photoinitiation system. The obtained hydrogels are fluorescent and have limited fluorophore leaching over time, due to the covalent bond formed between the polymer network and rhodamine dye.

Here, multivalent functions have been successfully integrated on a single core-shell type nanostructure, for remote-controlled and receptor-targeted intracellular delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) to breast cancer cells that overexpress biotin receptors.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been widely used in nanomedicine in the last few years. However, their potential is limited by their intrinsic properties resulting, for instance, in lack of control in drug release processes or complex detection for in vivo imaging. Recent attempts in creating hybrid nanomaterials combining MIPs with inorganic nanomaterials succeeded in providing a wide range of new interesting properties suitable for nanomedicine. Through this review, we aim to illustrate how hybrid molecularly imprinted polymers may improve patient care with enhanced imaging, treatments, and a combination of both.

The inhibition of the protein function for therapeutic applications remains challenging despite progress these past years. While the targeting application of molecularly imprinted polymer are in their infancy, no use was ever made of their magnetic hyperthermia properties to damage proteins when they are coupled to magnetic nanoparticles. Therefore, we have developed a facile and effective method to synthesize magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as the template, a bulk imprinting of proteins combined with a grafting approach onto maghemite nanoparticles. The hybrid material exhibits very high adsorption capacities and very strong affinity constants towards GFP. We show that the heat generated locally upon alternative magnetic field is responsible of the decrease of fluorescence intensity.

Herein, we report a facile and rapid one-step synthetic strategy for the development of magnetic doxorubicin imprinted silica nanoparticles for drug release experiments in living cells showing a remotely triggered doxorubicin release upon applying an alternating magnetic field, without temperature elevation of the medium (local heating).

Magnetic nanoparticles coated with protein-specific molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are receiving increasing attention thanks to their binding abilities, robustness, and easy synthesis compared to their natural analogues also able to target proteins, such as antibodies or aptamers. Acting as tailor-made recognition systems, protein-specific MIPs can be used in many in vivo nanomedicine applications, such as targeted drug delivery, biosensing, and tissue engineering. Nonetheless, studies on their biocompatibility and long-term fate in biological environments are almost nonexistent, although these questions have to be addressed before considering clinical applications. To alleviate this lack of knowledge, we propose here to monitor the effect of a protein-specific MIP coating on the toxicity and biodegradation of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, both in a minimal aqueous degradation medium and in a model of cartilage tissue formed by differentiated human mesenchymal stem cells. Degradation of iron oxide nanoparticles with or without the polymer coating was monitored for a month by following their magnetic properties using vibrating sample magnetometry and their morphology by transmission electron microscopy. We showed that the MIP coating of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles does not affect their biocompatibility or internalization inside cells. Remarkably, the imprinted polymer coating does not hinder the magnetic particle degradation but seems to slow it down, although this effect is more visible when degradation occurs in the buffer medium than in cells. Hence, the results presented in this paper are really encouraging and open up the way to future applications of MIP-coated nanoparticles into the clinic.

Magnetic hyperthermia which exploits the heat generated by magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) when exposed to an alternative magnetic field (AMF) is now in clinical trials for the treatment of cancers. However, this thermal therapy requires a high amount of MNPs in the tumor to be efficient. On the contrary the hot spot local effect refers to the use of specific temperature profile at the vicinity of nanoparticles for heating with minor to no long-range effect. This magneto-thermal effect can be exploited as a relevant external stimulus to temporally and spatially trigger drug release. In this review, we focus on recent advances in magnetic hyperthermia. Indirect experimental proofs of the local temperature increase are first discussed leading to a good estimation of the temperature at the surface (from 0.5 to 6 nm) of superparamagnetic NPs. Then we highlight recent studies illustrating the hot-spot effect for drug-release. Finally, we present another recent strategy to enhance the efficacity of thermal treatment by combining photothermal therapy with magnetic hyperthermia mediated by magneto-plasmonic nanoplatforms., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Herein, original magnetic drug delivery nanomaterials for cancer therapy are developed and compared, with the purpose to show active control over drug release by using an alternative magnetic field (AMF). The rationale is to combine polymers and superparamagnetic nanoparticles to trigger such drug release under AMF. Two magnetic nanosystems are thus presented: magnetic nanogels made of thermosensitive and biocompatible polymers and core-shell nanoparticles with a magnetic core and a molecularly imprinted polymer as shell. Both encapsulate doxorubicin (DOX) and the DOX controlled release was investigated in vitro and in cells under AMF excitation. It confirms that the local heat profile at the vicinity of the iron oxide core can be used for the DOX controlled release. It also shows that both nanosystems help delivering more DOX inside the cells compared to internalization of free DOX. Finally, the DOX intracellular release could be remotely triggered under AMF, in athermal conditions, thus enhancing DOX cytotoxicity.

Protein imprinted polymers have received a lot of interest in the past few years because of their applications as tailor-made receptors for biomacromolecules. Generally, the preparation of these polymers requires numerous and time-consuming steps. But their coupling with magnetic nanoparticles simplifies and speeds up the synthesis of these materials. Some recent papers describe the use of protein imprinted polymer (PIP) coupled to magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MION) for the design of MION@PIP biosensors. With such systems, a target protein can be specifically and selectively captured from complex media due to exceptional chemical properties of the polymer. Despite such performances, only a limited number of studies address these hybrid nanosystems. This review focuses on the chemistry and preparation of MION@PIP nanocomposites as well as on the metrics used to characterize their performances.

Hybrid nanogels, composed of thermoresponsive polymers and superparamagnetic nanoparticles, are attractive nanocarriers for biomedical applications, being able-as a polymer matrix-to uptake and release high quantities of chemotherapeutic agents and-as magnetic nanoparticles-to be heated when exposed to an alternative magnetic field (AMF), better known as magnetic hyperthermia. Herein, biocompatible, pH-responsive, magnetoresponsive, and thermoresponsive nanogels, based on oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate monomers and a methacrylic acid comonomer were prepared by conventional precipitation radical copolymerization in water, post-assembled by complexation with iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of maghemite (γ-Fe 2 O 3 ), and loaded with an anticancer drug (doxorubicin, DOX), for remotely controlled drug release by a "hot spot", as an athermal magnetic hyperthermia strategy against cancer. These nanogels, denoted MagNanoGels, with a hydrodynamic diameter from 328 to 460 nm, as a function of the MNP content, have a swelling-deswelling behavior at their volume phase temperature transition around 47 °C in a physiological medium (pH 7.5), which is above the human body temperature (37 °C). Applying an alternative magnetic field increases the release of DOX by 2-fold, while no macroscopic heating was recorded. This enhanced drug release is due to a shrinking of the polymer network by local heating, as illustrated by the MagNanoGel size decrease under an AMF. In cancer cells, not only do the DOX-MagNanoGels internalize DOX more efficiently than free DOX, but also DOX intracellular release can be remotely triggered under an AMF, in athermal conditions, thus enhancing DOX cytotoxicity.

Bulk imprinting of proteins was used combined with a grafting approach onto maghemite nanoparticles to develop a faster and simpler polymerization method for the synthesis of magnetic protein imprinted polymers with very high adsorption capacities and very strong affinity constants.

The water stability of iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is a major issue for biomedical and biological applications. This paper presents a versatile approach for preparing water-soluble iron oxide nanoparticles coated by bifunctional oligo(ethylene oxide) (OEO) chains, carrying on the one side a diazonium end group for covalent grafting at the NP surface and on the other side an iniferter group (diethyl dithiocarbamate) for initiating the growing of poly(methacrylic acid). The nanoparticles were synthesized by coprecipitation in basic media and functionalized in situ by adding the diazonium salt directly in the synthesis medium. Oligo(ethylene oxide) with various chain lengths (from one to three monomer units) was grafted at the NP surface using this approach. The length of the OEO spacer between the NP surface and the iniferter end group was found to be a critical parameter for controlling the colloidal stability of the hybrid NPs. The polymerization time was also shown to strongly influence their colloidal stability, emphasizing the interest to control the interfacial properties of the hybrids for obtaining stable dispersions in water., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We demonstrate that the reaction of amino modified particles with tert-butylnitrite can provide diazonium surface functionality which itself is highly reactive with iron oxide nanoparticles in basic media. Using this strategy we synthesize a magnetic hybrid material with dense covalent attachment of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the silica surface. This simple and versatile functionalization procedure has a wide variety of potential applications in surface science and materials research.

Inverse opal films of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) were elaborated using the colloidal crystal template method. The colloidal crystals of silica particles were built by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, allowing a perfect control of the film thickness. Polymerization in the interspaces of the colloidal crystal in the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) and removal of the used template provides 3D-ordered macroporous methacrylic acid-based hydrogel films in which nanocavities derived from bisphenol A are distributed within the thin walls of the inverse opal hydrogel. The equilibrium swelling properties of the nonimprinted (NIPs) and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were studied as a function of pH and bisphenol A concentration, while the molecular structures of the bulk hydrogels were analyzed using a cross-linked network structure theory. This study showed an increase in nanopore (mesh) size in the MIPs after BPA extraction as compared to NIPs, in agreement with the presence of nanocavities left by the molecular imprints of the template molecule. The resulting inverse opals were found to display large responses to external stimuli (pH or BPA) with Bragg diffraction peak shifts depending upon the hydrogel film thickness. The film thickness was therefore shown to be a critical parameter for improving the sensing capacities of inverse opal hydrogel films deposited on a substrate.

This paper reports the preparation of a molecularly imprinted inverse opal hydrogel containing a 2D defect layer, by combining the Langmuir-Blodgett technique and the photonic crystal template method. By coupling the exceptional characteristics of molecularly imprinted polymers, sensitive to the presence of a target molecule, and those of photonic crystals in a single device, we could obtain a defect-embedded imprinted photonic polymer consisting in a three-dimensional, highly-ordered and interconnected macroporous array, where nanocavities complementary to analytes in shape and binding sites are distributed. As a proof of concept, we prepared a three-dimensional macroporous array of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) containing molecular imprints of bisphenol A (BPA) and a planar defect layer consisting in macropores of different size. The optical properties of the resulting inverse opal were investigated using reflection spectroscopy. The defect layer was shown to enhance the sensitivity of the photonic crystal material, opening new possibilities towards the development smart optical sensing devices., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Optical properties of polymer microspheres with polystyrene cores and polyglycidol-enriched shells poly(styrene/α-tert-butoxy-ω-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol) (P(S/PGL) particles with number average diameters D(n) determined by scanning electron microscopy equal 237 and 271 nm), were studied before and after immobilization of ovalbumin. The particles were synthesized by emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene and polyglycidol macromonomer (poly(styrene/α-tert-butoxy-ω-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol)) initiated with potassium persulfate. Molar fraction of polyglycidol units in the interfacial layer of the microspheres determined by XPS was equal 42.6 and 34.0%, for the particles with D(n) equal 137 and 271 nm, respectively. Colloidal crystals from the aforementioned particles were prepared by deposition of particle suspensions on the glass slides and subsequent evaporation of water. It was found that optical properties of colloidal crystals from the P(S/PGL) microspheres strongly depend on modification of their interfacial layer by covalent immobilization of ovalbumin. The coating of particles with ovalbumin resulted in decreasing their refractive index from 1.58 to 1.52.

A novel and facile methodology for the in situ surface functionalization of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles is proposed, based on the use of aryl diazonium salts chemistry. The grafting reaction involves the formation of diazoates in a basic medium. These species are unstable and dediazonize along a homolytic pathway to give aryl radicals which further react with the Fe(3)O(4) NPs during their formation and stop their growth. Advantages of the present approach rely not only on the simplicity, rapidity, and efficiency of the procedure but also on the formation of strong Fe(3)O(4)-aryl surface bonds, highly suitable for further applications.

Core-shell particles of poly(styrene/alpha-tert-butoxy-omega-vinylbenzylpolyglycidol) P(S/PGL) were used as new building blocks for the assembly of a colloidal crystal. The added-value properties of these particles for photonic crystal architectures are their high hydrophilicity together with their thermoresponsivity. Indeed, the poglycidol-rich shell undergoes a phase transition above 45 degrees C, which leads to its collapse at the particle surface accompanied by a decrease in the particle diameter. The three-dimensional crystalline arrays display Bragg diffraction properties, as judged by angle-resolved reflectance spectroscopy. The thermoresponsivity of the colloidal assemblies was observed through modifications of their optical properties with respect to the temperature used during the assembly process. The wetting properties of the crystalline material were also shown to reversibly switch from hydrophilic to hydrophobic as a function of the assembly temperature, thus evidencing the reorganization of the surface polyglycidol chains during the polymer phase transition. This work shows conclusively that P(S/PGL) particles are promising alternatives to poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and poly(ethylene glycol) particles for the elaboration of thermoresponsive colloidal crystals, with a phase transition situated in between those of these two polymers.

This communication describes the first example of the efficient use of a simple amphiphilic molecule as both a surfactant and an initiator in the miniemulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate under AGET and ARGET ATRP conditions.