Nanomedicine (London, England)最新文献

Influenza remains a major global health concern, with the ongoing seasonal epidemics causing millions of cases and up to 650,000 deaths worldwide annually. Current influenza vaccines only provide strain-specific and short-lived protection, exposing vulnerability to antigenic drift and reassortments. To overcome these limitations, next-generation vaccine platforms are being developed, with nanoparticle-based approaches showing promise. Displaying hemagglutinin (HA) on multivalent scaffolds enhances B cell receptor engagement, germinal center formation, and affinity maturation, while supporting durable and broadly protective humoral immunity. This review highlights recent published advances found in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar since 2020 in HA-displaying nanoparticle influenza vaccines, emphasizing strategies to improve immunogenicity, broaden protection across influenza strains and subtypes, and redirect responses toward conserved epitopes of HA.

Utilization of endogenous RNA interference (RNAi) mechanisms via delivery of exogeneous small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules offers a transformative approach to treatment of disease by enabling sequence specific silencing of mutated gene expression. Nanotechnology-based platforms have enabled delivery of siRNA and have already been clinically validated for intravenous (IV) infusion administration (e.g patisiran). Oral administration of siRNA remains an unmet challenge due to formidable biological barriers in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Nanotechnology-enabled strategies for oral siRNA delivery have emerged as a powerful solution to overcoming these biological barriers for effective gene silencing. This review provides a comprehensive overview of GI barriers for siRNA delivery as well as highlights recent advances in nanoparticle platforms for oral siRNA delivery. In addition, this review explores translational considerations and highlights the potential of oral siRNA nanomedicines to reduce dependence on invasive parenteral delivery and costly monoclonal antibody therapies. Together, these advances outline a promising path toward clinically viable, patient-friendly siRNA therapeutics delivered orally. Literature for this review was identified through database searches [University of New Mexico University Libraries, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases April 2025-November 2025] as it related to the oral delivery of nanoparticles, siRNA-loaded nanoparticles, gene therapy, and related nanomedicine delivery strategies.

Infectious diseases remain a major threat to global public health, a challenge further exacerbated by the rapid rise of antimicrobial resistance. In this context, tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNA) have recently gained attention as a novel nanomaterial platform with therapeutic potential. Their advantages arise from a dual mechanism. On one hand, tFNA directly contribute to overcoming antimicrobial resistance by facilitating antibiotic penetration, disrupting bacterial membrane integrity, and downregulating resistance-associated genes. On the other hand, they serve as efficient drug delivery vehicles that enhance the stability, bioavailability, and cellular uptake of antimicrobial agents. Beyond these antibacterial effects, tFNA can also modulate host immunity: their intrinsic anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties help mitigate excessive inflammation and tissue injury, thereby supporting the restoration of immune homeostasis. Although several challenges still hinder their clinical translation, tFNA represent a novel and versatile platform for infectious disease treatment, offering considerable promise for future therapeutic development.

While remarkable strides have been made in personalized precision oncology, integrating diagnosis and therapy within a unitary theranostic platform remains a pivotal challenge. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), which leverages ultrasound to activate sonosensitizers for generating tumoricidal reactive oxygen species (ROS), offers distinct advantages including non-invasiveness, spatiotemporal precision, and deep tissue penetration. Its capability to visualize tumors by converting acoustic signals into diagnostic images presents a further unique merit. However, SDT efficacy is constrained by suboptimal sonosensitizer efficiency, the hypoxic tumor microenvironment, and augmented antioxidant defenses. Single-atom nanozymes (SANs) emerge as a transformative strategy to overcome these hurdles. They catalytically decompose endogenous hydrogen peroxide to alleviate hypoxia, deplete glutathione to disarm antioxidant defenses, and harness piezoelectric synergies. The integration of SANs' atomic-level catalytic architecture with sonosensitizers' ultrasonic responsiveness facilitates tumor hypoxia mitigation and enables image-guided precision therapy. This review systematically elucidates the molecular design of SAN-based sonosensitizers, analyzes their catalytic mechanisms for enhancing SDT, and discusses associated challenges and future directions for clinical translation. It aims to lay a theoretical foundation for developing next-generation sonodynamic SANs that are intelligent, safe, and environmentally benign. [PubMed and Web of Science, from inception to June 2025].

Formononetin (FMN) is an extracted component of traditional Chinese medicine with anticancer effects, but its poor water solubility and low bioavailability have limited further research and application. Therefore, based on FMN that is the natural antitumor agent, we synthesized a formononetin quantum dots (FMNQDs) for colon cancer therapy, which has the advantages of outstanding water solubility, homogeneous particle size (2.03 ± 1.0 nm), exceptional stability and good intracellular fluorescence imaging effect. The results show that FMNQD exhibits good antitumor activity by inducing mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis, characterized by elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and modulated expression of Bax and Bcl-2. In vivo validation confirmed FMNQD's significant tumor growth inhibition. The tumor inhibition rate in the 8 mg/kg dose group was as high as 60.06 ± 6.22%. Moreover, blood biochemical analysis suggested a favorable safety profile. This study establishes FMNQDs as a potential therapeutic agent for colon cancer, providing preclinical evidence to support further development of formononetin-based nanomedicines.

Cell-derived therapies represent a rapidly growing field for treating various diseases. Serving as "living" medicines, these therapies involve the use of live cells that can be engineered with added therapeutic benefits to treat various diseases. However, one of the greatest challenges in implementing these therapies clinically is that there is a lack of longitudinal feedback to provide real-time information on cell location, function, viability, and trafficking in vivo. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a well-suited modality for cell tracking applications. The high molecular contrast of optical imaging is combined with the spatial resolution and penetration depth of acoustics. Here, we explore recent advances in PA imaging for cell tracking, emphasizing cutting-edge strategies that integrate multifunctional nanoplatforms to enable combined therapy and diagnostics, termed "theranostics." We describe the principles of PA imaging, as well as considerations for selecting the ideal contrast agent to suit specific applications. Furthermore, we highlight recent applications in tracking cell-based therapies, including stem cell therapies, immune cell therapies, and cell-derived therapies, while also discussing pathogenic cell tracking strategies in the cancer space and imaging bacteria cells.

Whenever nanomaterials come into contact with cells and tissues, the risk of material-specific cytotoxic reaction is increased. With the widespread use of nanoparticles in industrial, but also biomedical applications, the increasing exposure to nanomaterials raises safety concerns. In-depth understanding the mechanisms of nanomaterial interactions with cells and of their cytotoxic effects is therefore important both for minimizing the risk of potential adverse effects on human health in case of involuntary exposure and for enhancing cell-killing ability of nanosystems developed as tumoritoxic tools. This Journal Watch article highlights recent reports focusing on mechanisms of cellular interactions and toxicity of nanomaterials.

Background: Aluminum adjuvants remain the most widely used adjuvants in licensed vaccines. Their broader application, however, is restricted by local and systemic adverse effects and limited antigen compatibility, slowing vaccine development.

Methods: A nanoscale aluminum - fumarate metal - organic framework (AlFu‑MOF) was synthesized in water using Pluronic F127 and acetic acid. Based on this framework, a composite nanoadjuvant-(D)-mannose‑cTAT‑CpG@M@AlFu‑MOF (DCC@M@AlFu‑MOF) - was designed and characterized. The loading capacity for immunostimulatory cargos, including MSA‑2, CpG, cTAT, (D)-mannose, and OVA, was evaluated. Cellular uptake and immune activation of antigen‑presenting cells were tested in vitro. AlFu‑MOF displayed high loading efficiency and improved antigen availability. DCC@M@AlFu‑MOF promoted dendritic cell maturation and activation and also triggered the STING signaling pathway.

Conclusion: DCC@M@AlFu‑MOF is an aluminum‑based nanoadjuvant with potential dendritic cell‑targeting ability. It can coordinate innate immune signaling and shows promise for enhancing vaccine‑induced immune responses.

Aims: To evaluate the antibacterial activity of nanostructured copper oxide surfaces synthesized by hot water treatment (HWT) and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of copper-induced stress responses in antibiotic-resistant Citrobacter freundii CF51 and Staphylococcus aureus HAR12.

Materials and methods: Copper sheets were subjected to HWT to generate Cu₂O/CuO nanostructures. Antibacterial and antibiofilm activities were assessed using viability and biofilm assays. Cellular morphology was examined by FESEM. Whole-proteome and KEGG pathway analyses were performed to identify bacterial adaptive responses.

Results: Nanostructured copper rapidly inactivated C. freundii and eliminated S. aureus with longer exposure. FESEM imaging showed membrane disruption, deformation, and lysis, with more severe damage on nanostructured surfaces. Proteomic analysis revealed species-specific regulation of pathways related to energy metabolism, transcription, ion transport, and cell envelope biogenesis. ABC transporters were upregulated in C. freundii but downregulated in S. aureus. The Staphylococcus aureus infection pathway was markedly suppressed. Efflux transporters (CorA, MdtF, YhiI) were consistently upregulated in both species, indicating conserved copper-detoxification mechanisms.

Conclusions: Nanostructured copper oxide surfaces demonstrate potent antibacterial and antibiofilm activity and induce distinct proteomic stress responses. These findings support the potential of nanostructured copper as an effective antimicrobial surface against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.