Electronic band structure modulation for sonodynamic therapy.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a burgeoning and newfangled therapy modality with great application potential. Sonosensitizers are essential factors used to ensure the effectiveness of SDT. For the past few years, a lot of scientists have discovered many valid ways to refine and improve the performance of SDT.

Biomimetic Iron-Based Nanoparticles Remodel Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment for Metabolic Immunotherapy.

Introduction: Immunotherapy has led to a paradigm shift in reinvigorating treatment of cancer. Nevertheless, tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) experience functional polarization on account of the generation of suppressive metabolites, contributing to impaired antitumor immune responses.

Methods: Hence, metabolic reprogramming of tumor microenvironment (TME) can synergistically improve the efficacy of anti-tumor immunotherapy.

Nanozymes in Alzheimer's disease diagnostics and therapy.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that has become an important public health problem of global concern, and the early diagnosis and etiological treatment of AD are currently the focus of research. In the course of clinical treatment, approved clinical drugs mainly serve to slow down the disease process by relieving patients' clinical symptoms. However, these drugs do not target the cause of the disease, and the lack of specificity of these drugs has led to undesirable side effects in treatment.

A Poloxamer 407/chitosan-based thermosensitive hydrogel dressing for diabetic wound healing via oxygen production and dihydromyricetin release.

The current clinical treatment of diabetic wounds is still based on oxygen therapy, and the slow healing of skin wounds due to hypoxia has always been a key problem in the repair of chronic skin injuries. To overcome this problem, the oxygen-producing matrix CaONPS based on the temperature-sensitive dihydromyricetin-loaded hydrogel was prepared. In vitro activity showed that the dihydromyricetin (DHM) oxygen-releasing temperature-sensitive hydrogel composite (DHM-OTH) not only provided a suitable oxygen environment for cells around the wound to survive but also had good biocompatibility and various biological activities.

Responsive manganese-based nanoplatform amplifying cGAS-STING activation for immunotherapy.

Background: The activation of the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) signaling pathway has attracted great attention for its ability to up-regulate innate immune response and thus enhance cancer immunotherapy. However, many STING agonists limit the further advancement of immunotherapy due to weak tumor responsiveness or low activation efficiency. The responsive and effective activation of cGAS-STING signaling in tumors is a highly challenging process.

Upregulation of MHC-I and downregulation of PD-L1 expression by doxorubicin and deferasirox codelivered liposomal nanoparticles for chemoimmunotherapy of melanoma.

Tumor immunotherapy is a promising strategy to activate the immune system and eliminate tumors. Major histocompatibility complex I (MHC-I) is usually applied to potentiate antigen presentation, but it is associated with upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, which is unfavorable for activation of immune responses. Moreover, poor permeability of various therapeutic antibodies results in the limited immune response rates of most patients.

Property-activity relationship between physicochemical properties of PM and their activation of NLRP3 inflammasome.

Air pollution is becoming severe environment factor affecting human health. More and more research has indicated that fine particulate matter (PM) plays a critical role in causing pulmonary inflammation or fibrosis, which potentially is ascribed to the activation of nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. However, the underlying property-activity relationship between the physicochemical properties of PM and their activation of NLRP3 inflammasome remains unclear.

Neutrophil mediated postoperative photoimmunotherapy against melanoma skin cancer.

Surgery is the primary treatment option for most melanoma; however, high tumor recurrence rate after surgical resection becomes the main cause of death in cancer patients. The development of efficient drug delivery nanosystems to inhibit postoperative tumor recurrence becomes very necessary. In the present study, IR780 molecules and TRP-2 peptide were encapsulated in the hydrophobic shell and hydrophilic interior of TAT peptide functionalized liposomes to form LipIT NPs, which were further internalized into neutrophils (NEs) to achieve LipIT/NEs.

Biodegradable Copper-Based Nanoparticles Augmented Chemodynamic Therapy through Deep Penetration and Suppressing Antioxidant Activity in Tumors.

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) efficacy has been limited by the poor penetration ability of large nanoparticles (NPs) and the antioxidant activity of tumors, especially high heme oxygenase (HO-1) and glutathione (GSH) levels. Herein, PEGylated CuMoO -coated and zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZP)-loaded Cu (CCMZ) NPs are designed to afford rapid degradation ability and augmented CDT efficacy through inhibiting HO-1 activity and depleting GSH. The deep penetration of tumor can be achieved under the high levels of GSH, which triggers the degradation of CuMoO shell.

Biotransformation of soluble-insoluble lanthanum species and its induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation and chronic fibrosis.

Soluble lanthanum (La)(Ⅲ) species that have been extensively used as fertilizers in agriculture can potentially get into the human body through foods and environment. Most soluble La(Ⅲ) species can rapidly transform into insoluble La(Ⅲ) species under physiological conditions, however, their potential biological behavior and chronic toxicity are rarely investigated. In the present study, insoluble La(Ⅲ) species formed under physiological condition were identified as nanoscale or microscale particles, and their major components were found to experience biotransformation process upon contact with cells.

Copper Phosphide Nanoparticles Used for Combined Photothermal and Photodynamic Tumor Therapy.

Copper-based nanomaterials are widely used in near-infrared (NIR) light-mediated deep tumor treatment because of their abundant photothermal and photodynamic properties. However, copper phosphide (CuP) nanoparticles (NPs) are rarely investigated. Herein, CuP NPs were prepared to strengthen their local surface plasmon resonance absorption in the NIR region, exhibiting promising photothermal and photodynamic properties.

Immunomodulation of Tumor Microenvironment by Arginine-Loaded Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Gaseous Immunotherapy.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) of M2 phenotype have mediated the immunosuppression in a tumor microenvironment, facilitating the escape of tumor cells from immunosurveillance. Reprograming the immunosuppressive M2 TAMs to immunostimulatory M1 phenotype can activate the antitumor immune responses for cancer immunotherapy. Herein, hollow iron oxide (FeO) nanoparticles (NPs) were employed to reprogram M2 TAMs toward M1 TAMs, aiming to release proinflammatory cytokines and recruit T cells to kill tumor cells.

Thylakoid Membranes with Unique Photosystems Used to Simultaneously Produce Self-Supplying Oxygen and Singlet Oxygen for Hypoxic Tumor Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy has been dramatically limited by the insufficient oxygen (O ) level in hypoxic tumors. Although various PDT nanosystems have been designed to deliver or produce O in support of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, the feature of asynchronous O generation and ROS formation still results in the low PDT efficacy. Herein, thylakoid membranes (TM) of chloroplasts is decorated on upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) to form UCTM NPs, aiming at realizing spatiotemporally synchronous O self-supply and ROS production.

A biomimetic nanoenzyme for starvation therapy enhanced photothermal and chemodynamic tumor therapy.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) are promising therapeutic modalities with high specificity, however, a single therapeutic modality cannot maximize therapeutic efficacy. In the present study, glucose oxidase (GOx) was decorated on N-doped carbon (NC) nanoparticles (NPs) as a biomimetic nanoenzyme (NC@GOx NPs), which could promote starvation therapy enhanced PTT and CDT against tumors. GOx could decompose to cut off the supply of energy and nutrients, inducing starvation therapy, which further lowered adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, inducing downregulated heat shock proteins and creating a more suitable microenvironment for improving PTT efficacy.

Improving the photothermal therapy efficacy and preventing the surface oxidation of bismuth nanoparticles through the formation of a bismuth@bismuth selenide heterostructure.

Bismuth (Bi) nanoparticles (NPs) are emerging as promising photothermal agents for computed tomography imaging-guided photothermal therapy. However, it is challenging to improve their photothermal conversion efficacy and prevent their oxidation. Herein, Bi@bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) core@shell NPs were designed and fabricated for improving the photothermal performance due to the staggered energy levels between Bi and Bi2Se3.

Safety-by-Design of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Based on the Regulation of their Energy Edges.

The safety of metal oxide (MOx) nanoparticles (NPs) has been highly concerned because of their wide application and potential toxicological injury. The safe-by-design strategy is usually developed to make safer MOx NPs based on regulation of their physicochemical properties. In the present study, manganese oxide (Mn O ) NPs, as a representative of insoluble toxic MOx NPs, are doped with a series of transition metal to regulate their conduction band energy (E ) out of biological redox potential range (BRPR) or Fermi energy (E ) far away from valence band energy (E ), aiming at completely eliminating the toxicity or significantly reducing the toxicity.

Spatiotemporally Synchronous Oxygen Self-Supply and Reactive Oxygen Species Production on Z-Scheme Heterostructures for Hypoxic Tumor Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy has been severely limited by oxygen (O ) deficiency in tumors and the electron-hole separation inefficiency in photosensitizers, especially the long-range diffusion of O toward photosensitizers during the PDT process. Herein, novel bismuth sulfide (Bi S )@bismuth (Bi) Z-scheme heterostructured nanorods (NRs) are designed to realize the spatiotemporally synchronous O self-supply and production of reactive oxygen species for hypoxic tumor therapy. Both narrow-bandgap Bi S and Bi components can be excited by a near-infrared laser to generate abundant electrons and holes.

Nitric Oxide Stimulated Programmable Drug Release of Nanosystem for Multidrug Resistance Cancer Therapy.

Nitric oxide (NO) molecular messenger can reverse the multidrug resistance (MDR) effect of cancer cells through reducing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression, beneficial for creating a favorable microenvironment for the treatment of doxorubicin (Dox)-resistant cancer cells. Development of sophisticated nanosystems to programmably release NO and Dox becomes an efficient strategy to overcome the MDR obstacles and achieve promising therapeutic effects in Dox-resistant cancer. Herein, a NO stimulated nanosystem was designed to engineer a significant time gap between NO and Dox release, promoting MDR cancer therapy.

Hierarchical Acceleration of Wound Healing through Intelligent Nanosystem to Promote Multiple Stages.

Wound healing is a dynamic, interactive, and complex process, including multiple stages. Although various nanomaterials are applied to accelerate the wound healing process through exhibiting antibacterial activity or promoting cell proliferation, only a single stage is promoted during the process, lowering healing efficacy. It is necessary to develop programmable nanosystems for promoting multiple wound healing stages in sequence.

Time-staggered delivery of erlotinib and doxorubicin by gold nanocages with two smart polymers for reprogrammable release and synergistic with photothermal therapy.

Photochemotherapy is currently an effective anticancer therapy. Recently, it has been reported that cancer cells pretreated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib (Erl) can significantly synergize its apoptosis against the DNA damaging agent doxorubicin (Dox). As a result, we designed two gold nanocages (Au NCs) microcontainers covered with different smart polymer shell-PAA (pH responsive) and p (NIPAM-co-AM) (temperature responsive) containing Erl and Dox respectively.

Hollow, Rough, and Nitric Oxide-Releasing Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for Promoting Multiple Stages of Wound Healing.

Wound healing is a complex and sequential biological process that involves multiple stages. Although various nanomaterials are applied to accelerate the wound healing process, only a single stage is promoted during the process, lacking hierarchical stimulation. Herein, hollow CeO nanoparticles (NPs) with rough surface and l-arginine inside ( CeO NPs) are developed as a compact and programmable nanosystem for sequentially promoting the hemostasis, inflammation, and proliferation stages.

Anisotropic Plasmonic Metal Heterostructures as Theranostic Nanosystems for Near Infrared Light-Activated Fluorescence Amplification and Phototherapy.

The development of sophisticated theranostic systems for simultaneous near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging and phototherapy is of particular interest. Herein, anisotropic plasmonic metal heterostructures, Pt end-deposited Au nanorods (PEA NRs), are developed to efficiently produce hot electrons under 808 nm laser irradiation, exhibiting the strong electric density. These hot electrons can release the heat through electron-phonon relaxation and form reactive oxygen species through chemical transformation, as a result of potent photothermal and photodynamic performance.

Differential photothermal and photodynamic performance behaviors of gold nanorods, nanoshells and nanocages under identical energy conditions.

Various gold (Au) nanostructures have shown promising near infrared (NIR) light-activated phototherapeutic effects; however, their reported photothermal or photodynamic performance behavior is usually inconsistent or even conflicted, dramatically limiting the improvement of phototherapeutic Au nanostructures. The potential reason for this uncertainty is mainly because the photoactivities of Au nanostructures are not evaluated under identical energy conditions. Herein, three Au nanostructures, Au nanorods (NRs), nanoshells (NSs), and nanocages (NCs), were prepared to provide the same localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks at 808 nm.

Bismuth Sulfide Nanorods with Retractable Zinc Protoporphyrin Molecules for Suppressing Innate Antioxidant Defense System and Strengthening Phototherapeutic Effects.

Bismuth (Bi)-based nanomaterials (NMs) are widely used for computed tomography (CT) imaging guided photothermal therapy, however, the photodynamic property is hardly exhibited by these NMs due to the fast electron-hole recombination within their narrow bandgap. Herein, a sophisticated nanosystem is designed to endow bismuth sulfide (Bi S ) nanorods (NRs) with potent photodynamic property. Zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZP) is linked to Bi S NRs through a thermoresponsive polymer to form BPZP nanosystems.