Search

The paradigm of drug delivery via particulate formulations is one of the leading ideas that enable overcoming limitations of traditional chemotherapeutic agents. The trend toward more complex multifunctional drug carriers is well-traced in the literature. Nowadays, the prospectiveness of stimuli-responsive systems capable of controlled cargo release in the lesion nidus is widely accepted. Both endogenous and exogenous stimuli are employed for this purpose; however, endogenous pH is the most common trigger. Unfortunately, scientists encounter multiple challenges on the way to the implementation of this idea related to the vehicles' accumulation in off-target tissues, their immunogenicity, the complexity of drug delivery to intracellular targets, and finally, the difficulties in the fabrication of carriers matching all imposed requirements. Here, we discuss fundamental strategies for pH-responsive drug delivery, as well as limitations related to such carriers' application, and reveal the main problems, weaknesses, and reasons for poor clinical results. Moreover, we attempted to formulate the profiles of an "ideal" drug carrier in the frame of different strategies drawing on the example of metal-comprising materials and considered recently published studies through the lens of these profiles. We believe that this approach will facilitate the formulation of the main challenges facing researchers and the identification of the most promising trends in technology development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active use of nanoparticles in modern biomedical applications and technologies requires reliable theoretical models capable of predicting physical properties. The effect of a static magnetic field on the orientational ordering of the easy magnetization axes in an ensemble of superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SNPs) is studied using a combination of statistical-mechanical theory and computer simulations. The magnetic dipole-dipole interaction between particles is taken into account within the framework of the modified mean-field approach. The alignment distributions of the easy magnetization axes of the SNPs and the static magnetic characteristics of the ferrocomposite are analyzed. The presence of even weak interparticle magneto-dipole interactions results in a notable enhancement of the magnetic susceptibility of the ferrocomposite. • Easy magnetization axes of superparamagnetic nanoparticles orient in magnetic field. • Solidification of liquid matrix maintains the induced orientation texture. • Textured ferrocomposite demonstrates enhanced magnetic response. • Particle interactions strengthen the effect of orientation texturing. • Theory is used to describe these effects for use in applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size-dependent properties of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) are the major characteristics, determining MNP application in modern technologies and bio-medical techniques. Direct measurements of the nanosized particles, involved in intensive Brownian motion, are very complicated; so the correct mathematical methods for the experimental data processing enable to successfully predict the properties of MNP suspensions. In the present paper, we describe the fast numerical algorithm allowing to get the distribution over the relaxation time of MNP magnetic moments in ferrofluids. The algorithm is based on numerical fitting of the experimentally measured frequency spectra of the initial dynamic magnetic susceptibility. The efficiency of the algorithm in the solution of the inverse problem of magnetic granulometry is substantiated by the computer experiments for mono- and bi-fractional ferrofluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A measurement system for the detection of a low concentration of nanoparticles based on optical microcavities with whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) is developed and investigated. A novel method based on the WGM broadening allows us to increase the precision of concentration measurements up to 0.005 ppm for nanoparticles of a known size. We describe WGM microcavity manufacturing and quality control methods. The collective interaction process of suspended Ag nanoparticles in a liquid and TiO2 in the air with a microcavity surface is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In complex colloidal systems, interparticle interactions strongly affect the dynamics of the constituting particles. A study of the dynamical response also provides invaluable information on the character of those interactions. Here we demonstrate how tuning the electrostatic interactions by an ionic surfactant in dispersions of magnetic nanoplatelets leads to developing new dynamic modes in magnetic response spectra. The collective modes can be induced or suppressed by either varying the concentration ratio of the magnetic nanoplatelets (MP) to the surfactant or increasing the MP concentration reflecting the nanoscale characteristics of this fluid magnet. • Self-assembly of magnetic nanoplatelets (MP) determines the structure of magnetic relaxation modes. • The concentration ratio of MPs to the surfactant or increasing the MP concentration affects the collective modes. • Experimental data reveal the complexity of the mode structure affected by magnetic and electrostatic interactions. • Using existing theoretical models, we extract the coupling interaction parameters from the experimental spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]