Expression of concern: Near-infrared light activatable hydrogels for metformin delivery.

Expression of concern for 'Near-infrared light activatable hydrogels for metformin delivery' by Li Chengnan , , 2019, , 15810-15820, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR02707F.

Expression of concern: An 'on-demand' photothermal antibiotic release cryogel patch: evaluation of efficacy on an model for skin wound infection.

Expression of concern for 'An 'on-demand' photothermal antibiotic release cryogel patch: evaluation of efficacy on an model for skin wound infection' by Léa Rosselle, , , 2020, , 5911-5919, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0BM01535K.

SERS characterization of aggregated and isolated bacteria deposited on silver-based substrates.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), based on the enhancement of the Raman signal of molecules positioned within a few nanometres from a structured metal surface, is ideally suited to provide bacterial-specific molecular fingerprints which can be used for analytical purposes. However, for some complex structures such as bacteria, the generation of reproducible SERS spectra is still a challenging task. Among the various factors influencing the SERS variability (such as the nature of SERS-active substrate, Raman parameters and bacterial specificity), we demonstrate in this study that the environment of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria deposited on ultra-thin silver films also impacts the origin of the SERS spectra.

Photothermally Active Cryogel Devices for Effective Release of Antimicrobial Peptides: On-Demand Treatment of Infections.

There has been significant interest in the use of peptides as antimicrobial agents, and peptide containing hydrogels have been proposed as biological scaffolds for various applications. Limited stability and rapid clearance of small molecular weight peptides pose challenges to their widespread implementation. As a common approach, antibacterial peptides are physically loaded into hydrogel scaffolds, which leads to continuous release through the passive mode with spatial control but provides limited control over drug dosage.

An 'on-demand' photothermal antibiotic release cryogel patch: evaluation of efficacy on an ex vivo model for skin wound infection.

A myriad of topical therapies and dressings are available to the clinicians for wound healing skin, but only a very few have shown their effectiveness in promoting wound repair due to challenges in controlling drug release. To address this issue, in this work, a near infrared (NIR)-light activable cryogel based on butyl methacrylate (BuMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMEMA) incorporated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was fabricated. The obtained cryogel provides the required hydrophilicity beneficial for wound treatment.

Near-infrared light activatable hydrogels for metformin delivery.

Drug loaded hydrogels have proven to be versatile controlled-release systems. We report here on heat active hydrogel formation by mixing graphene oxide (GO) or carboxyl enriched reduced graphene oxide (rGO-COOH) with metformin hydrochloride, an insulin sensitizer drug currently used as the first line therapy to treat patients with type 2 diabetes. The driving forces of the gelation process between the graphene-based nanomaterial and metformin are hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, weakened at elevated temperature.

Improved photodynamic effect through encapsulation of two photosensitizers in lipid nanocapsules.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has developed into a new clinical and non-invasive treatment for cancer over the past 30 years. By the combination of three non-toxic partners, i.e.

Nanovectorization of DNA Through Cells Using Protamine Complexation.

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are currently used as a promising family of nanovectors able to deliver different types of therapeutic molecules. Several applications dealing with CNT used as drug nanocarriers have been developed since their ability to penetrate into the cells has been proved. CNT can thus load several active molecules to various cells.

Lipid nanocapsules functionalized with polyethyleneimine for plasmid DNA and drug co-delivery and cell imaging.

The paper reports on the preparation of lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) functionalized with poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) moieties and their successful use as drug and gene delivery systems. The cationic LNCs were produced by a phase inversion process with a nominal size of 25 nm and subsequently modified with PEI chains using a transacylation reaction. The functionalization process allowed good control over the nanoscale particle size (26.