Photosensitizer-loaded gold nanorods for near infrared photodynamic and photothermal cancer therapy.

Despite the advancement of photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy, the ability to form compact nanocomplex for combined photodynamic and photothermal cancer therapy under a single near infrared irradiation remains limited. In this work, we prepared an integrated sub-100 nm nanosystem for simultaneous near infrared photodynamic and photothermal cancer therapy. The nanosystem was formed by adsorption of silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine dihydroxide onto gold nanorod followed by covalent stabilization with alkylthiol linked polyethylene glycol.

Gold nanorods carrying paclitaxel for photothermal-chemotherapy of cancer.

Nanotechnology-based photothermal therapy has emerged as a promising treatment for cancer during the past decade. However, heterogeneous laser heating and limited light penetration can lead to incomplete tumor cell eradication. Here, we developed a method to overcome these limitations by combining chemotherapy with photothermal therapy using paclitaxel-loaded gold nanorods.

Hydrolase stabilization via entanglement in poly(propylene sulfide) nanoparticles: stability towards reactive oxygen species.

In the advancement of green syntheses and sustainable reactions, enzymatic biocatalysis offers extremely high reaction rates and selectivity that goes far beyond the reach of chemical catalysts; however, these enzymes suffer from typical environmental constraints, e.g. operational temperature, pH and tolerance to oxidative environments.

Encapsulation and enzyme-mediated release of molecular cargo in polysulfide nanoparticles.

Poly(propylene sulfide) nanoparticles (<150 nm) have been synthesized by an anionic, ring-opening emulsion polymerization. Upon exposure to parts per million (ppm) levels of oxidizing agent (NaOCl), hydrophobic polysulfide particles are oxidized to hydrophilic polysulfoxides and polysulfones. Utilizing this mechanism, the encapsulation of hydrophobic molecular cargo, including Nile red and Reichardt's dye, within polysulfide nanoparticles has been characterized by a variety of microscopic and spectroscopic methods and its release demonstrated via chemical oxidation.

Understanding ligand distributions in modified particle and particlelike systems.

Chemical modification of nanoparticles or particlelike systems is ubiquitously being used to facilitate specific pharmaceutical functionalities or physicochemical attributes of nanocrystals, proteins, enzymes, or other particlelike systems. Often the modification process is incomplete and the functional activity of the product depends upon the distribution of functional ligands among the different particles in the system. Here, the distribution function describing the spread of ligands in particlelike systems undergoing partial modification reactions is derived and validated against a conjugated enzyme model system by use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF).

Targeting microspheres and cells to polyethylene glycol-modified biological surfaces.

It has previously been demonstrated that damaged arterial tissue can be acutely modified with protein-reactive polyethylene glycol (PEG) to block undesirable platelet deposition. This concept might be expanded by employing PEG-biotin and its strong interaction with avidin for site-specific targeted delivery. Toward this end, cultured endothelial cells (ECs) were surface modified with PEG-biotin and the available biotin was quantified with flow cytometry.