Chitosan-Stabilized Self-Assembled Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters for Cell Imaging and Biodistribution in Vivo.

Biocompatible, near-infrared luminescent gold nanoclusters were synthesized in situ using as-prepared chitosan grafted with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC-CS). The fluorescent gold nanoclusters coated with chitosan-N-acetyl-l-cysteine (AuNCs@NAC-CS) were aggregated by multiple ultrasmall gold nanoclusters closing with each other, with strong fluorescence emission at 680 nm upon excitation at 360 nm. AuNCs@NAC-CS did not display any appreciable cytotoxicity on cells even at a concentration of 1.

Chitosan-coated gold nanorods for cancer therapy combining chemical and photothermal effects.

To develop a novel type of nanoparticle for cancer therapy, gold nanorods (GNRs) are coated with chitosan (CS) derivatives to combine chemical and photothermal effects. Thiol-modified chitosan derivatives chemically conjugated to doxorubicin (DOX) are successfully synthesized and their in vitro effect is evaluated. Functional nanocarriers (DOX-CS-GNR) with good biocompatibility and optical properties are prepared by conjugating chitosan derivatives to GNRs.

Enhanced uptake and cytotoxity of folate-conjugated mitoxantrone-loaded micelles via receptor up-regulation by dexamethasone.

Folate conjugated amphiphilic polymeric micelles have attracted much attention for active targeted delivery of drugs in folate receptor α (FR-α) positive tumors. However, the efficacy improvement of targeted delivery folate-based nanovehicles was limited by the abundance of FR-α on the surface of tumor cells. Recently, it was found that FR-α expression of Hela cells could be up-regulated by modulators such as dexamethasone, which open a new avenue to enhance the efficiency of targeted delivery from the biological view.

Spatiotemporal control over growth factor delivery from collagen-based membrane.

Exogenous administration of growth factors has been identified as a potential therapeutic approach for healing wounds. A way to enhance the efficacy of growth factors would be to achieve spatiotemporal control over their delivery to desired sites for an extended period. In this study, we designed and prepared a kind of double-layered collagen membrane, a dense layer and a loose layer, which incorporated basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-loaded chitosan-heparin nanoparticles.