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Byline: Basem. Alraddadi, Noha. Bawareth, Haneen. Omar, Hanadi. Alsalmi, Abeer. Alshukairi, Ismael. Qushmaq, Maun. Feteih, Mohammed. Qutob, Ghassan. Wali, Imran. Khalid Background: In April 2014, a surge in cases of [...]

Robust inflammation-suppressing nanoparticles based on α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP)-conjugated hyaluronic acid nanoparticles (AGP-HA NPs) were designed to regulate breast cancer cells' sensitivity to chemotherapy and to suppress tumor metastasis. The successful conjugation between AGP and HA NPs was confirmed using FTIR, zeta potential, and UV–vis spectroscopy. In vitro studies on MCF-7 cells indicated the remarkable ability of AGP-HA NPs in suppressing migratory tumor ability by 79% after 24 h. Moreover, the efficacy study showed the high capability of AGP-HA NPs in modulating MDA-MB-231 cells and restoring cell sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX). Furthermore, the finding obtained by flow cytometry and confocal spectroscopy demonstrated that AGP-HA NPs enhanced DOX uptake/retention and aided it to reach cell nucleus within 4 h of incubation. Therefore, AGP-HA NPs represent a viable and effective treatment option to strengthen the anticancer effects of chemotherapeutic agents and potentially improve patients' survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe biodegradable mesoporous hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) in the presence of proteins and their applications for drug delivery. We synthesized oxamide phenylene-based mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (MON) in the absence of a silica source which had remarkably high organic content and high surface areas. Oxamide functions provided biodegradability in the presence of trypsin model proteins. MON displayed exceptionally high payloads of hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs (up to 84 wt %), and a unique zero premature leakage without the pore capping, unlike mesoporous silica. MON were biocompatible and internalized into cancer cells for drug delivery., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Despite the worldwide interest generated by periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) bulk materials, the design of PMO nanomaterials with controlled morphology remains largely unexplored and their properties unknown. In this work, we describe the first study of PMO nanoparticles (NPs) based on meta-phenylene bridges, and we conducted a comparative structure-property relationship investigation with para-phenylene-bridged PMO NPs. Our findings indicate that the change of the isomer drastically affects the structure, morphology, size, porosity and thermal stability of PMO materials. We observed a much higher porosity and thermal stability of the para-based PMO which was likely due to a higher molecular periodicity. Additionally, the para isomer could generate multipodal NPs at very low stirring speed and upon this discovery we designed a phenylene-ethylene bridged PMO with a controlled Janus morphology. Unprecedentedly high payloads could be obtained from 40 to 110 wt % regardless of the organic bridge of PMOs. Finally, we demonstrate for the first time the co-delivery of two cargos by PMO NPs. Importantly, the cargo stability in PMOs did not require the capping of the pores, unlike pure silica, and the delivery could be autonomously triggered in cancer cells by acidic pH with nearly 70 % cell killing., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Graphene oxide-wrapped gold nanorods (GO@AuNRs) offer efficient drug delivery as well as NIR laser photothermal therapy (PTT) in vitro and in vivo. However, no real-time observation of drug release has been reported to better understand the synergy of chemotherapy and PTT. Herein, surface-enhance Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is employed to guide chemo-photothermal cancer therapy by a two-step mechanism. In the presence of GO as an internal standard, SERS signals of DOX (doxorubicin) loaded onto GO@AuNRs are found to be pH-responsive. Both DOX and GO show strong SERS signals before the DOX@GO@AuNRs are endocytic. However, when the DOX@GO@AuNRs enter acidic microenvironments such as endosomes and/or lysosomes, the DOX signals start decreasing while the GO signals remain the same. This plasmonic antenna could be used to identify the appropriate time to apply the PTT laser during chemo-photothermal therapy., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)