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Zhao, Xiujuan; Zhou, Changren; Liu, Mingxian
doi: 10.1039/c9tb02460cpmid: 31830201
Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), 1D natural tubular nanoparticles, exhibit a high aspect ratio, empty lumen, high adsorption ability, good biocompatibility, and high biosafety, which have attracted researchers’ attention in applications of the biomedical area. HNTs can be readily dispersed in water due to their negatively charged surface and good hydrophilicity. The unique rod-like structure and surface properties give HNTs assembly ability into ordered hierarchical structures. In this review, the self-assembly approaches of HNTs including evaporation induced self-assembly by a “coffee-ring” mechanism, shear force induced self-assembly, and electric field force induced self-assembly were introduced. In addition, HNT self-assembly on polymeric substrates and biological substrates including hair, cells, and zebrafish embryos was discussed. These assembly processes are related to noncovalent interactions such as electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals forces or electron-transfer reactions. Moreover, the applications of self-assembled HNT patterns in biomedical areas such as capture of circulating tumor cells, guiding oriented cell growth, controlling cell germination, and delivery of drugs or nutrients were discussed and highlighted. Finally, challenges and future directions of assembly of HNTs were introduced. This review will inspire researchers in the design and fabrication of functional biodevices based on HNTs for tissue engineering, cancer diagnosis/therapy, and personal healthcare products.
Zhang, Songyue; Li, Shunbo; Xia, Zengzilu; Cai, Kaiyong
doi: 10.1039/c9tb02531fpmid: 31942905
This article reviews several categories of electronic skins (e-skins) for monitoring signals involved in human health. It covers advanced candidate materials, compositions, structures, and integrate strategies of e-skin, focusing on stretchable and wearable electronics. In addition, this article further discusses the potential applications and expected development of e-skins. It is possible to provide a new generation of sensors which are able to introduce artificial intelligence to the clinic and daily healthcare.
Martin, Adam D.; Thordarson, Pall
doi: 10.1039/c9tb02539apmid: 31950969
Self-assembling short peptides have attracted widespread interest due to their tuneable, biocompatible nature and have potential applications in energy materials, tissue engineering, sensing and drug delivery. The hierarchical self-assembly of these peptides is highly dependent on the selection of not only amino acid sequence, but also the capping group which is often employed at the N-terminus of the peptide to drive self-assembly. Although the Fmoc (9H-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl) group is commonly used due to its utility in solid phase peptide synthesis, many other aromatic capping groups have been reported which yield functional, responsive materials. This review explores recent developments in the utilisation of functional, aromatic capping groups beyond the Fmoc group for the creation of redox-responsive, fluorescent and drug delivering hydrogel scaffolds.
Shan, Liang; Sun, Yunbo; Shan, Feng; Li, Li; Xu, Zhi Ping
doi: 10.1039/c9tb02515dpmid: 31956883
Continuous blood purification technology such as hemodiafiltration has been used worldwide for saving patients suffering from severe diseases or organ function failure, especially in the intensive care unit and emergency setting. The filters as core devices are commonly made of polymer materials as hollow fiber membranes. However, the membrane is often inductively blocked by blood clot formation due to its interactions with blood components. Heparin is the anticoagulant often used in clinical practice for anti-coagulation. Recently, heparin is also employed to modify the hollow fiber membranes either chemically or physically to improve the filtration performance. This review summarizes recent advances in methodology for surface heparinization of such hollow fiber membranes, and their filtration performance improvement. The review also provides expert opinions for further research in this rapidly expanding field.
Song, Lina; Chen, Yi; Ding, Jiali; Wu, Haoan; Zhang, Wei; Ma, Ming; Zang, Fengchao; Wang, Zhongqiu; Gu, Ning; Zhang, Yu
doi: 10.1039/c9tb02521apmid: 31909406
Since its launch in 1997, rituximab (RTX) has extensively improved the treatment of CD20-positive follicular and diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The application of RTX is limited usually by the failed therapy because of resistance. Iron oxide nanomaterials have been explored for cancer detection and treatment in recent years. In this study, a multivalent nanoprobe comprising one Fe3O4 nanoparticle and several RTX antibodies was constructed for the targeted imaging and enhanced treatment of NHL. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles were fabricated via a thermal decomposition method and ligand exchange. RTX was conjugated onto the surface of the Fe3O4-PEG nanoparticles to form Fe3O4-PEG-nAb (n = 2, 5 or 8) multivalent nanoprobes. These multivalent nanoprobes, with a core size of approximately 11 nm and a hydrodynamic diameter of about 22 nm, showed colloidal stability in buffer solution. The r2 relaxation rate of Fe3O4-PEG-nAb was similar to that of Fe3O4-PEG (309 ± 3.08 mM−1 s−1). The specificity of nanoprobes for CD20-positive Raji cells was assessed on a clinical magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The receptor binding site of one multivalent nanoprobe was more than that of one RTX, exhibiting valence-dependent induction of Raji cell apoptosis, and this effect could be enhanced by complement activation from blood serum added. A similar activity was observed in vivo in a NHL xenograft model. The multivalent nanoprobe treatment significantly reduced tumor burden and enhanced survival in comparison to the RTX group. Our studies demonstrate that the appropriate design and preparation of anticancer antibody–nanoparticle conjugates enable the generation of improved anticancer nanomedicines and could thus provide an efficient cancer theranostic strategy.
Hou, Yi; Sun, Xuyang; Yao, Siyuan; Rao, Wei; He, Xiaoming
doi: 10.1039/c9tb01922gpmid: 31989140
Chemoresistance is a common property of tumor-initiating cancer stem-like cells. Overcoming chemoresistance, particularly in cancer stem-like cells, can markedly enhance the efficacy of cancer therapy and prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis. This study demonstrates that temperature-negative expansion nanodrugs could achieve the controllable and enhanced release of anticancer drugs when combined with cryoablation and effectively overcome chemoresistance in mammary cancer stem-like cells. The enhanced destruction of both cancer stem-like cells and cancer cells resulted in the improved inhibition of second-generation tumor formation in vitro. Furthermore, nanodrug-mediated cryosurgery did not produce systemic toxicity and had superior antitumor effects in a xenograft tumor model. Collectively, this study demonstrates the strong potential of thermally sensitive nanodrug-mediated cryoablation for overcoming chemoresistance in cancer stem-like cells and markedly improving the overall treatment efficacy against breast cancer.
Zan, Minghui; Li, Cong; Zhu, Daoming; Rao, Lang; Meng, Qian-Fang; Chen, Bei; Xie, Wei; Qie, Xingwang; Li, Li; Zeng, Xiaojiao; Li, Yirong; Dong, Wen-fei; Liu, Wei
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Copper ions (Cu2+) and l-cysteine (l-Cys) in the human body always play critical roles in various physiological processes, while abnormal Cu2+ and l-Cys concentrations in the biological system lead to many diseases. In this manuscript, Si-doped carbon dots (Si-CDs) with near-infrared fluorescence were designed for the detection of Cu2+ and l-Cys through the fluorescence “on–off–on” mode. The carbon dots exhibited not only excellent optical merits including good stability against photobleaching and high chemical stability, but also superior biological compatibility. Interestingly, due to the abundant amino groups distributed on the surface of Si-CDs, they could bind to copper ions to form cupric amine complexes and then quench the fluorescence of Si-CDs due to an electron transfer process. In addition, upon the addition of l-Cys, the FL intensity of Si-CDs could be effectively recovered accompanied with complexation between Cu2+ and the functional groups in l-Cys, due to which Cu2+ was removed from the surface of Si-CDs. Notably, as far as we know, these are the first red-emitting carbon dots for copper ion and l-Cys assays in water samples and human plasma samples. Furthermore, this strategy was successfully applied to the determination of Cu2+ and l-Cys in living systems, demonstrating great practicability in biomedical applications.