Journal of Materials Chemistry B最新文献

Expression of concern for ‘Surface modification engineering of two-dimensional titanium carbide for efficient synergistic multitherapy of breast cancer’ by Lei Bai et al., J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020, 8, 6402–6417, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0TB01084G.

The ionic environment has a strong influence on the bioelectricity of skin, which is also present in the wound healing process. Inspired by this, we proposed a mechanism for hydrogel-based dressings to respond to endogenous electric fields through exudate absorption and conducted a verification study using a typical hydrogel, namely, polyacrylamide and sodium alginate (PAM–SA) hydrogels, as an example. Theoretical calculations showed that the PAM–SA hydrogels could absorb and orient the various electrolytes of exudate in the hydrogel at the wound site, contributing to the reconstruction of the electric field at the wound site. During the treatment process, this effect significantly accelerated the healing process of the rat epidermis, which exceeded the conventional dressing in terms of healing speed and efficacy, and the wounds on the complete layer of rat skin (wound area: 1.13 cm²) could be rapidly repaired within 10 days. Revealing the electrophysiological behavior of PAM–SA dressings during wound healing can help further improve the design model, the optimization concept, and development paths for the bioelectrical structures of modern dressings and bioelectrical stimulation in wound healing.

Recently, the emerging chemotherapy (CDT) has provided a new biocompatibility pathway for cancer therapy. Among them, Cu-based nanocatalysts with good biocompatibility and Fenton-like catalytic efficiency are considered to be a promising approach for enhancing CDT and CDT-involved multimodal synergies to improve the effectiveness of catalytic cancer therapy. Meanwhile, the emerging in situ therapy strategy promoted by Cu-based nanocatalysts has proven to exhibit attractive clinical application potential in replacing traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer therapy with significant toxic side effects. In this work, the recent progress of various Cu-based nanocatalysts in cancer therapy was reviewed, especially the remarkable achievements in the catalytic treatment of cancer in the tumor microenvironment using CDT and CDT-involved multimodal synergies. In addition, the development expectations and challenges of Cu-based nanocatalysts in the field of cancer therapy were briefly summarized and discussed. We expect that this review will contribute to the development of Cu-based nanocatalysts for cancer therapy.

Sensitive imaging of microRNAs (miRNAs) in tumor cells holds great significance in the domains of pathology, drug development, and personalized diagnosis and treatment. DNA nanostructures possess excellent biostability and programmability and are suitable as carriers for intracellular imaging probes. With its highly controllable motion mechanism and remarkable target recognition specificity, the DNA walker is an ideal tool for living cell imaging. Here, we report a DNA nanowire based-DNAzyme Walker (D-Walker), which loads the DNAzyme based-molecular beacon (D-MB) onto DNA nanowires (NWs) functionalized with aptamers. The experimental results demonstrated that the intracellular target miRNA can specifically activate the pre-locked DNAzyme through a strand displacement reaction, thereby triggering the cleavage of its substrate molecular beacon (MB) and subsequent fluorescence emission. NWs decorated with aptamers can effectively prevent the degradation of the D-Walker by nuclease, and can enter target cells without any transfection reagents, which enhances the stability and reliability of cell imaging. Furthermore, the D-Walker exhibited a remarkable sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) of 61 pM and was capable of distinguishing miRNA-21 from other closely related family members. This study provides a novel strategy for intracellular miRNA imaging, offering a promising tool for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Methaemoglobin (metHb) possesses inherent characteristics that facilitate reversible binding to hydrogen sulphide. Exogenous hydrogen sulphide supplementation imparts beneficial bioactive effects, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory; hence, we hypothesized that the metHb–hydrogen sulphide complex could act as a hydrogen sulphide donor for medication. In this study, we prepared a hydrosulphide–metHb–albumin (H₂S–metHb–albumin) cluster and examined its applicability as a hydrogen sulphide donor in the mice model of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury. Structural analysis revealed that the H₂S–metHb–albumin cluster exhibited a nanostructure wherein one metHb was wrapped by an average of three albumins, and hydrogen sulphide was bound to the haem. Additionally, the H₂S–metHb–albumin cluster exhibited low-pH responsiveness, leading to sustained release of hydrogen sulphide. Owing to these structural and pharmaceutical characteristics, the severity of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury was alleviated via antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the H₂S–metHb–albumin cluster treatment. The protective effects were more potent in the H₂S–metHb–albumin cluster compared to that in a conventional hydrogen sulphide donor (sodium hydrogen sulphide). No abnormal signs of toxic and biological responses were observed after the H₂S–metHb–albumin cluster administration, confirming high biological compatibility. These results successfully establish the proof of concept that the H₂S–metHb–albumin cluster is a promising hydrogen sulphide donor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the remarkable potential of metHb as a biomaterial for hydrogen sulphide donors.

In this work, an expedite synthesis was developed for a self-assembled micelle carrier for the antimicrobial peptide LL18. Covalent one-pot functionalization of dextrin with succinylated vitamin D3 and succinic anhydride produced an amphiphilic material that undergoes self-assembly into micelles in aqueous medium. Succinylated dextrin–vitamin D3 micelles were efficiently loaded with LL18 by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Remarkably, the LL18-loaded micelle formulation dramatically improves the antibacterial activity of free LL18 against S. aureus, completely abrogates its severe hemolytic activity, redirects the internalization of LL18 from the perinuclear region of osteoblasts to the lysosomes and reduces cellular toxicity towards osteoblasts and macrophages. Overall, this work demonstrates that self-assembled micelle formulations based on dextrin, vitamin D3 and antimicrobial peptides, are promising platforms to develop multifunctional antibiotic-independent antimicrobial agents, not prone to the development of bacterial resistance, to treat bone infections.

Objective. The purpose of this study is to develop, optimize, and evaluate the in vivo effectiveness of orally administered silibinin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (SB-NLCs) in amyloid β-induced Alzheimer's disease in Wistar rats. Methods. The emulsification-solvent evaporation method was used for preparing the NLCs, using stearic acid, triacetin, and Cremophor® RH40. The statistical optimization of SB-NLCs was done using the Box–Behnken design (BBD). Then, the following parameters were evaluated: zeta potential, average size, in vitro drug release, and drug entrapment efficiency. Physicochemical properties of the optimized SB-NLCs were determined by FTIR, DSC, and P-XRD. The behavioral (OFT, NOR, MWM), histological (H&E, Congo Red), and biochemical (TAC, MDA, GSH) tests were conducted on 48 male Wistar rats. Results. The findings showed that the mean particle size, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency of optimized SB-NLCs were 194.71 ± 14.06 nm, −12.46 ± 0.25 mV, and 72.13% ± 1.41, respectively. XRD and DSC studies confirmed a reduction in the crystallinity of SB which occurred due to its embedment in the nanostructured lipid. The FTIR results indicated the lack of existence of any chemical interaction between the carrier components and the drug. Drug release in the external environment was slow and steady. Drug-containing nanoparticles showed good stability during three months of storage at 4 °C. The behavioral test of OFT showed no significant change between groups. The group treated with SB-NLCs showed a markedly higher discrimination rate compared to the Aβ group (p < 0.001). The time of the SB-NLC treated group in the target area was considerably more than the time of the SB and Aβ groups, respectively (p < 0.01, p < 0.001), in the MWM test. Histological and biochemical analysis revealed better results in the SB-NLC group as against the SB group. Conclusion. SB-NLCs can be considered as a promising formulation for the proper treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the oral drug delivery system.

Musculoskeletal disorders are on the rise, and despite advances in alternative materials, treatment for orthopedic conditions still heavily relies on biometal-based implants and scaffolds due to their strength, durability, and biocompatibility in load-bearing applications. Bare metallic implants have been under scrutiny since their introduction, primarily due to their bioinert nature, which results in poor cell–material interaction. This challenge is further intensified by mechanical mismatches that accelerate failure, tribocorrosion-induced material degradation, and bacterial colonization, all contributing to long-term implant failure and posing a significant burden on patient populations. Recent efforts to improve orthopedic medical devices focus on surface engineering strategies that enhance the interaction between cells and materials, creating a biomimetic microenvironment and extending the service life of these implants. This review compiles various physical, chemical, and biological surface engineering approaches currently under research, providing insights into their potential and the challenges associated with their adoption from bench to bedside. Significant emphasis is placed on exploring the future of bioactive coatings, particularly the development of smart coatings like self-healing and drug-eluting coatings, the immunomodulatory effects of functional coatings and biomimetic surfaces to tackle secondary infections, representing the forefront of biomedical surface engineering. The article provides the reader with an overview of the engineering approaches to surface modification of metallic implants, covering both clinical and research perspectives and discussing limitations and future scope.

Cascading enzymatic therapy is a promising approach in cancer treatment. However, its effectiveness is often hindered by enzyme inactivation, limited exposure of active sites, cancer cell self-protection mechanisms such as autophagy, and non-specific toxicity, which can lead to treatment failure. To address these challenges, we used a low-temperature aqueous-phase synthesis method to create semi-crystalline, water-dispersible fluorescent COF nanospheres. These nanospheres can stably load glucose oxidase (GOx) and ultrafine Fe₂O₃ nanozymes, allowing for convenient coating with tumor cell membranes to form a uniform tumor-targeted cascading enzymatic nanosystem (CFGM). This system promotes a cycle of tumor glucose depletion, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and oxygen production, facilitating tumor-targeted starvation therapy (ST) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Notably, the semi-crystalline COF carrier within this system can degrade slowly under mildly acidic conditions, forming large aggregates that damage lysosomes and disrupt lysosomal autophagy, thereby eliminating the autophagy protection of cancer cells activated by the combined ST. This synergistic approach enhances the catalytic inhibition of tumors. Our research thus provides an alternative COF-based platform and strategy for effective cancer treatment.

The repair of bone defects caused by osteosarcoma is still a significant clinical issue, and new scaffolds need to be developed to solve this problem. The ocean is a treasure trove for developing new biomedical materials, and coral is widely thought to be suitable as a scaffold for bone implant materials due to its porous structure and mechanical properties. Selenium is known for its antioxidant and antitumor effects, inducing tumor cell cycle arrest. In this study, we hydrothermally transformed corals to grow a hydroxyapatite layer on the scaffold surface (CHAp) and combined it with selenium to obtain selenium-doped scaffolds (Se-CHAp) without affecting the porous structure of the coral. The research successfully validates their biocompatibility and the antitumor efficacy against 143B osteosarcoma cells. The results indicate that the Se-CHAp scaffolds yielded an obvious inhibitory effect on the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells, highlighting that they have huge prospects for application in biomedical technology.