Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.4
5.3
Journals
Nanomaterials
Special Issues
Surface-Functionalized Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
share announcement

Surface-Functionalized Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2021) | Viewed by 4782

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Mauro Comes Franchini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari", Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: nanotechnology; nanomedicine; drug delivery; theranostic; 3D-Printing (SLA, FDM, DLP, SLS); polymers chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the fundamental findings described over the past decades regarding metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) for nanomedicine, the synthesis and surface modification of nanoparticles still present opportunities and challenges for scientists, especiallly with respect to their pre-clinical applications, the last step before entering clinical settings.

Mostly, MNPs are synthesized in aqueous medium with the assistance of various surfactants that act as both templates and stabilizers for the growing nanoparticles, preventing their aggregation. These surfactants are adsorbed or remain deposited onto the surface of the nanoparticles once the process is completed, avoiding the post-synthesis collapse of the created metallic nanoparticles. Unfortunately, most of these surfactants are strongly toxic or simply not suitable for the desired final biomedical application because they do not allow further synthetic modifications.

The removal of surfactants requires the development of specific organic ligands, polymers, and biomolecules able to replace them, avoiding nanoparticles’ aggregation and, at the same time, ensuring that the desired final properties of MNPs are retained.

Besides the great challenges encountered in the application of NPs for the development of theranostics (therapeutics diagnostics), MNPs are of particular interest in the field of tissue engineering, such as for bone repair, medical implants, and wound dressing.

This Special Issue of Nanomaterials will focus on a wide range of topics, including advances in nanoparticles’ synthesis based on surface functionalization of metallic/metal oxide NPs, metallic nanostructures with various shapes, and NPs’ applications in the biomedical field, from in vitro to in vivo pre-clinical studies.

It is my great pleasure to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, which welcomes experimental original research papers, communications, and review articles. Theoretical papers will also be welcomed for the insights that a broader readership may gather from them.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Mauro Comes Franchini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Metallic nanoparticles
  • Metal-oxide nanoparticles
  • Organic Functional Groups
  • Coating
  • Surface Functionalization
  • Diagnostic/Imaging
  • Therapy
  • Drug Delivery
  • Tissue Engineering
  • Theoretical Calculation

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 3583 KiB  
Article
Dopamine-Conjugated Carbon Dots Inhibit Human Calcitonin Fibrillation
by Jhe-An Wu, Yu-Chieh Chen and Ling-Hsien Tu
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(9), 2242; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11092242 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2044
Abstract
The development of biocompatible nanomaterials has become a new trend in the treatment and prevention of human amyloidosis. Human calcitonin (hCT), a hormone peptide secreted from parafollicular cells, plays a major role in calcium–phosphorus metabolism. Moreover, it can be used in the treatment [...] Read more.
The development of biocompatible nanomaterials has become a new trend in the treatment and prevention of human amyloidosis. Human calcitonin (hCT), a hormone peptide secreted from parafollicular cells, plays a major role in calcium–phosphorus metabolism. Moreover, it can be used in the treatment of osteoporosis and Paget’s disease. Unfortunately, it tends to form amyloid fibrils irreversibly in an aqueous solution, resulting in a reduction of its bioavailability and therapeutic activity. Salmon calcitonin is the replacement of hCT as a widely therapeutic agent due to its lower propensity in aggregation and better bioactivity. Herein, we used citric acid to synthesize carbon dots (CDs) and modified their surface properties by a variety of chemical conjugations to provide different functionalized CDs. It was found that dopamine-conjugated CDs can effectively inhibit hCT aggregation especially in the fibril growth phase and dissociate preformed hCT amyloids. Although the decomposition mechanism of dopamine-conjugated CDs is not clear, it seems to be specific to hCT amyloids. In addition, we also tested dopamine-conjugated mesoporous silica nanoparticles in preventing hCT fibrillization. They also can work as inhibitors but are much less effective than CDs. Our studies emphasized the importance of the size and surface functionalization of core materials in the development of nanomaterials as emerging treatments for amyloidosis. On the other hand, proper functionalized CDs would be useful in hCT formulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface-Functionalized Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 3896 KiB  
Communication
Synthesis of Ultrasmall Single-Crystal Gold–Silver Alloy Nanotriangles and Their Application in Photothermal Therapy
by Mirko Maturi, Erica Locatelli, Letizia Sambri, Silvia Tortorella, Sašo Šturm, Nina Kostevšek and Mauro Comes Franchini
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(4), 912; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11040912 - 03 Apr 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2138
Abstract
Photothermal therapy has always been a very attractive anti-cancer strategy, drawing a lot of attention thanks to its excellent performance as a non-invasive and pretty safe technique. Lately, nanostructures have become the main characters of the play of cancer therapy due to their [...] Read more.
Photothermal therapy has always been a very attractive anti-cancer strategy, drawing a lot of attention thanks to its excellent performance as a non-invasive and pretty safe technique. Lately, nanostructures have become the main characters of the play of cancer therapy due to their ability to absorb near-infrared radiation and efficient light-to-heat conversion. Here we present the synthesis of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-stabilized hybrid ultrasmall (<20 nm) gold–silver nanotriangles (AuAgNTrs) and their application in photothermal therapy. The obtained AuAgNTrs were deeply investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The cell viability assay was performed on U-87 glioblastoma multiforme cell model. Excellent photothermal performance of AuAgNTrs upon irradiation with NIR laser was demonstrated in suspension and in vitro, with >80% cell viability decrease already after 10 min laser irradiation with a laser power P = 3W/cm2 that was proved to be harmless to the control cells. Moreover, a previous cell viability test had shown that the nanoparticles themselves were reasonably biocompatible: without irradiation cell viability remained high. Herein, we show that our hybrid AuAgNTrs exhibit very exciting potential as nanostructures for hyperthermia cancer therapy, mostly due to their easy synthesis protocol, excellent cell compatibility and promising photothermal features. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface-Functionalized Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop