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Ionizing radiation (gamma and x-ray) is widely used in industry and medicine, but it can also pose a significant hazardous effect on health and induce cancer, physical deformity and even death, due to DNA damages and invasion of free radicals. There is therefore an urgent unmet demand in designing highly efficient radioprotectants with synergetic integration of effective renal clearance and low toxicity. In this study, we designed ultrasmall (sub-5 nm) highly catalytically active and cysteine-protected MoS2 dots as radioprotectants and investigated their application in protection against ionizing radiation. In vivo preclinical studies showed that the surviving fraction of MoS2-treated mice can appreciably increase to up to 79 % when they were exposed to high-energy ionizing radiation. Furthermore, MoS2 dots can contribute in cleaning up the accumulated free radicals within the body, repairing DNA damages and recovering all vital chemical and biochemical indicators, suggesting their unique role as free radical scavengers. MoS2 dots showed rapid and efficient urinary excretion with more than 80 % injected dose (I.D.) eliminated from the body after 24 hours due to their ultrasmall hydrodynamic size and did not cause any noticeable toxic responses up to 30 days., Comment: 46 Pages,18 Figures

Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters show great potential in biomedical applications. Long term biodistribution, retention, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics profiles are prerequisites in their potential clinical applications. Here we systematically investigated the biodistribution, clearance, and toxicity of one widely used Au NC species glutathione protected Au NCs or GSH Au NCs, over a relatively long period of 90 days in mice. We observed that most of the Au NCs were cleared at 30 days post injection with a major accumulation in liver and kidney. However, it is surprising that an abnormal increase of Au amount in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, and testis was observed at 60 and 90 days, indicating that the injected Au NCs formed a V shaped time dependent distribution profile in various organs. Further investigations revealed that Au NCs were steadily accumulating in the muscle in the first 30 days p.i., and the as stored Au NCs gradually released into blood in 30 to 90 days, which induced a redistribution and reaccumulation of Au NCs in all blood rich organs. Further hematology and biochemistry studies showed that the reaccumulation of Au NCs still caused some liver toxicity at 30 days p.i. The muscle storage and subsequent release may give rise to the potential accumulation and toxicity risk of functional nanomaterials over long periods of time., Comment: 22 Pages, and 7 Figures

Bi, a high atom number element, has a high photoelectric absorption coefficient, and Se element has anticancer activity. Hence, their compound chalcogenide (Bi2Se3) deserves a thorough investigation for biomedical applications. This study reveals that Bi2Se3 nanoplates (54 nm wide) protected with poly(vinylpyrollidone) (PVP) are biocompatible and have low toxicity even at a high dose of 20 mg/kg in mice. This conclusion was made through the studies on the biodistribution and 90-day long term in vivo clearance of the nanoplates. Liver and spleen were dominant organs for the nanoplates accumulation which was mainly due to RES absorption, but 93 % the nanoplates were cleared after 90 days treatment. Concentrations of Bi and Se in tumor tissue continuously increased until 72 h after intraperitoneal injection into mice. Such selective accumulation of Bi was utilized to enhance the contrast of X-ray CT images. The Bi elements concentrated in a tumor led to damage on the tumor cells when exposed to gamma radiation. Growth of the tumor significantly delayed and stopped after 16 days after the tumor was treated with the Bi2Se3 nanoplates and radiation. This work clearly shows that the Bi2Se3 nanoplates may be used for cancer radiation therapy and CT imaging. They deserve further studies for biological and medical applications., Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures. Advanced Functional Materials, 2014

A new type of metabolizable and efficient radiosensitizer for cancer radiotherapy is presented in this study by combining ultrasmall Au nanoclusters (NCs, <2 nm) with biocompatible coating ligands (glutathione, GSH). The new nano-construct (GSH-coated Au25 NCs) inherits attractive features of both the Au core (strong radiosensitizing effect) and GSH shell (good biocompatibility). It can preferentially accumulate in tumor via the improved EPR effect, which leads to strong enhancement for cancer radiotherapy. After the treatment, the small-sized GSH-Au25 NCs can be efficiently cleared by the kidney, minimizing any potential side effects due to the accumulation of Au25 NCs in the body., Comment: 27 pages,10 figures Advanced Healthcare Materials(2014)

Gold nanoparticles have been conceived as a radiosensitizer in cancer radiation therapy, but one of the important questions for primary drug screening is what size of gold nanoparticles can optimally enhance radiation effects. Herein, we perform in vitro and in vivo radiosensitization studies of 4.8, 12.1, 27.3, and 46.6 nm PEG-coated gold nanoparticles. In vitro results show that all sizes of the PEG-coated gold nanoparticles can cause a significant decrease in cancer cell survival after gamma radiation. 12.1 and 27.3 nm PEG-coated gold nanoparticles have dispersive distributions in the cells and have stronger sensitization effects than 4.8 and 46.6 nm particles by both cell apoptosis and necrosis. Further, in vivo results also show all sizes of the PEG-coated gold nanoparticles can decrease tumor volume and weight after 5 Gy radiations, and 12.1 and 27.3 nm PEG-coated gold nanoparticles have greater sensitization effects than 4.8 and 46.6 nm particles, which can lead to almost complete disappearance of the tumor. In vivo biodistribution confirms that 12.1 and 27.3 nm PEG-coated gold nanoparticles are accumulated in the tumor with high concentrations. The pathology, immune response, and blood biochemistry indicate that the PEG-coated gold nanoparticles do not cause spleen and kidney damages, but give rise to liver damage and gold accumulation. It can be concluded that 12.1 and 27.3 nm PEG-coated gold nanoparticles show high radiosensitivity, and these results have an important indication for possible radiotherapy and drug delivery., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures