Functional magnetic nanoparticles for non-viral gene delivery and MR imaging.

Gene therapy is becoming a promising strategy to treat various kinds of genetic and acquired diseases. However, the development of safe, efficient, and targetable gene delivery systems remains a major challenge in gene therapy. The unique material characteristics of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), including high surface area, facile surface modification, controllable size, and excellent magnetic properties, make them promising candidates for gene delivery.

Controlled synthesis of FePt-Au hybrid nanoparticles triggered by reaction atmosphere and FePt seeds.

We report an effective and facile method for synthesis of FePt-Au hybrid nanoparticles (HNPs). The typical secondary growth of Au proceeded in the presence of FePt seeds in organic solvents under a specific atmosphere. Interestingly, the type of atmosphere (Ar or Ar-H₂) and the size of selected FePt seeds were two major parameters determining the final morphology of FePt-Au HNPs.

Single continuous wave laser induced photodynamic/plasmonic photothermal therapy using photosensitizer-functionalized gold nanostars.

Chlorin e6 conjugated gold nanostars (GNS-PEG-Ce6) are used to perform simultaneous photodynamic/plasmonic photothermal therapy (PDT/PPTT) upon single laser irradiation. The early-phase PDT effect is coordinated with the late-phase PPTT effect to obtain synergistic anticancer efficiency. The prepared GNS-PEG-Ce6 shows excellent water dispersibility, good biocompatibility, enhanced cellular uptake and remarkable anticancer efficiency upon irradiation in vivo.

Nuclear mapping of nanodrug delivery systems in dynamic cellular environments.

Nanoformulations have shown great promise for delivering chemotherapeutics and hold tremendous clinical relevance. However nuclear mapping of the chemodrugs is important to predict the success of the nanoformulation. In this study fluorescence microscopy and a subcellular tracking algorithm were used to map the diffusion of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer cells.

Polyaspartic acid coated manganese oxide nanoparticles for efficient liver MRI.

We report in this communication a simple, facile surface modification strategy to transfer hydrophobic manganese oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) into water by using polyaspartic acid (PASP). We systematically investigated the effect of the size of PASP-MONPs on MRI of normal liver and found that the particles with a core size of 10 nm exhibited greater enhancement than those with larger core sizes.

Functional MnO nanoclusters for efficient siRNA delivery.

A non-viral gene delivery nanovehicle based on Alkyl-PEI2k capped MnO nanoclusters was synthesized via a simple, facile method and used for efficient siRNA delivery and magnetic resonance imaging.

Synthesis, functionalization, and biomedical applications of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles.

Synthesis of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles (MFMNPs) is one of the most active research areas in advanced materials. MFMNPs that have magnetic properties and other functionalities have been demonstrated to show great promise as multimodality imaging probes. Their multifunctional surfaces also allow rational conjugations of biological and drug molecules,making it possible to achieve target-specific diagnostics and therapeutics.