The nonradiative conversion of light energy into heat (photothermal therapy, PTT) or sound energy (photoacoustic imaging, PAI) has been intensively investigated for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, respectively. By taking advantage of nanocarriers, both imaging and therapeutic functions together with enhanced tumour accumulation have been thoroughly studied to improve the pre-clinical efficiency of PAI and PTT. In this review, we first summarize the development of inorganic and organic nano photothermal transduction agents (PTAs) and strategies for improving the PTT outcomes, including applying appropriate laser dosage, guiding the treatment via imaging techniques, developing PTAs with absorption in the second NIR window, increasing photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE), and also increasing the accumulation of PTAs in tumours. Second, we introduce the advantages of combining PTT with other therapies in cancer treatment. Third, the emerging applications of PAI in cancer-related research are exemplified. Finally, the perspectives and challenges of PTT and PAI for combating cancer, especially regarding their clinical translation, are discussed. We believe that PTT and PAI having noteworthy features would become promising next-generation non-invasive cancer theranostic techniques and improve our ability to combat cancers.

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Photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging via nanotheranostics in fighting cancer

Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology radically changed the way we diagnose, treat, and prevent various diseases in all aspects of human life. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most vital and fascinating nanomaterials among several metallic nanoparticles that are involved in biomedical applications. AgNPs play an important role in nanoscience and nanotechnology, particularly in nanomedicine. Although several noble metals have been used for various purposes, AgNPs have been focused on potential applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy. In this review, we discuss the synthesis of AgNPs using physical, chemical, and biological methods. We also discuss the properties of AgNPs and methods for their characterization. More importantly, we extensively discuss the multifunctional bio-applications of AgNPs; for example, as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-cancer agents, and the mechanism of the anti-cancer activity of AgNPs. In addition, we discuss therapeutic approaches and challenges for cancer therapy using AgNPs. Finally, we conclude by discussing the future perspective of AgNPs.

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Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, Properties, Applications, and Therapeutic Approaches

In materials science, “green” synthesis has gained extensive attention as a reliable, sustainable, and eco-friendly protocol for synthesizing a wide range of materials/nanomaterials including
 metal/metal oxides nanomaterials, hybrid materials, and bioinspired materials. As such, green synthesis is regarded as an important tool to reduce the destructive effects associated with the traditional methods of synthesis for nanoparticles commonly utilized in laboratory and industry. In this review, we summarized the fundamental processes and mechanisms of “green” synthesis approaches, especially for metal and metal oxide [e.g., gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper oxide (CuO), and zinc oxide (ZnO)] nanoparticles using natural extracts. Importantly, we explored the role of biological components, essential phytochemicals (e.g., flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, amides, and aldehydes) as reducing agents and solvent systems. The stability/toxicity of nanoparticles and the associated surface engineering techniques for achieving biocompatibility are also discussed. Finally, we covered applications of such synthesized products to environmental remediation in terms of antimicrobial activity, catalytic activity, removal of pollutants dyes, and heavy metal ion sensing.

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‘Green’ synthesis of metals and their oxide nanoparticles: applications for environmental remediation

I. Introduction A FUNCTIONAL relationship between cell growth and the initiation and progression of events associated with differentiation has been a fundamental question challenging developmental biologists for more than a century. In the case of bone, as observed with other cells and tissue, the relationship of growth and differentiation must be maintained and stringently regulated, both during development and throughout the life of the organism, to support tissue remodeling. For many years, bone was defined anatomically and examined largely in a descriptive manner by ultrastructural analysis and by biochemical and histochemical methods. These studies provided the basis for our understanding of bone tissue organization and orchestration of the progressive recruitment, proliferation, and differentiation of the various cellular components of bone tissue. Now, complemented by an increased knowledge of molecular mechanisms that are associated with and regulate expression of genes encoding phenotypic compone...

Molecular mechanism mediating proliferation, defferentiation interralationships during progressie development of the osteoblast phenotype

Successful materials design for bone-tissue engineering requires an understanding of the composition and structure of native bone tissue, as well as appropriate selection of biomimetic natural or tunable synthetic materials (biomaterials), such as polymers, bioceramics, metals and composites. Scalable fabrication technologies that enable control over construct architecture at multiple length scales, including three-dimensional printing and electric-field-assisted techniques, can then be employed to process these biomaterials into suitable forms for bone-tissue engineering. In this Review, we provide an overview of materials-design considerations for bone-tissue-engineering applications in both disease modelling and treatment of injuries and disease in humans. We outline the materials-design pathway from implementation strategy through selection of materials and fabrication methods to evaluation. Finally, we discuss unmet needs and current challenges in the development of ideal materials for bone-tissue regeneration and highlight emerging strategies in the field. Design of bone-tissue-engineering materials involves consideration of multiple, often conflicting, requirements. This Review discusses these considerations and highlights scalable technologies that can fabricate natural and synthetic biomaterials (polymers, bioceramics, metals and composites) into forms suitable for bone-tissue-engineering applications in human therapies and disease models.

Materials design for bone-tissue engineering

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are cytotoxic to cancer cells and possess excellent potential as an antitumor agent. A variety of nanoparticles have been shown to induce autophagy, a critical cellular degradation process, and the elevated autophagy in most of these situations promotes cell death. Whether Ag NPs can induce autophagy and how it might affect the anticancer activity of Ag NPs has not been reported. Here we show that Ag NPs induced autophagy in cancer cells by activating the PtdIns3K signaling pathway. The autophagy induced by Ag NPs was characterized by enhanced autophagosome formation, normal cargo degradation, and no disruption of lysosomal function. Consistent with these properties, the autophagy induced by Ag NPs promoted cell survival, as inhibition of autophagy by either chemical inhibitors or ATG5 siRNA enhanced Ag NPs-elicited cancer cell killing. We further demonstrated that wortmannin, a widely used inhibitor of autophagy, significantly enhanced the antitumor effect of Ag NPs in the B16 mouse melanoma cell model. Our results revealed a novel biological activity of Ag NPs in inducing cytoprotective autophagy, and inhibition of autophagy may be a useful strategy for improving the efficacy of Ag NPs in anticancer therapy.

Inhibition of autophagy enhances the anticancer activity of silver nanoparticles

Response of MAPK pathway to iron oxide nanoparticles in vitro treatment promotes osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors with a dismal prognosis. Previous investigations by our group demonstrated the radiosensitizing effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on glioma cells in vitro. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of intratumoral administration of AgNPs in combination with a single dose of ionizing radiation at clinically relevant MV energies for the treatment of C6 glioma-bearing rats. AgNPs (10 or 20 μg/10 μl) were stereotactically administered on day 8 after tumor implantation. One day after AgNP injection, rats bearing glioma received 10 Gy radiation. The mean survival times were 100.5 and 98 days, the corresponding percent increase in life spans was 513.2% and 497.7%, and the cure rates were 41.7 and 38.5% at 200 days for the 10 and 20 μg AgNPs and radiation combination groups, respectively. In contrast, the mean survival times for irradiated controls, 10 and 20 μg AgNPs alone, and untreated controls were 24.5, 16.1, 19.4, and 16.4 days, respectively. Furthermore, a cooperative antiproliferative and proapoptotic effect was obtained when gliomas were treated with AgNPs followed by radiotherapy. Our results showed the therapeutic efficacy of AgNPs in combination with radiotherapy without apparent systemic toxicity, suggesting the clinical potential of AgNPs in improving the outcome of malignant glioma radiotherapy.

Silver nanoparticles: a novel radiation sensitizer for glioma?

Radiation therapy performs an important function in cancer treatment. However, resistance of tumor cells to radiation therapy still remains a serious concern, so the study of radiosensitizers has emerged as a persistent hotspot in radiation oncology. Along with the rapid advancement of nanotechnology in recent years, the potential value of nanoparticles as novel radiosensitizers has been discovered. This review summarizes the latest experimental findings both in vitro and in vivo and attempts to highlight the underlying mechanisms of response in nanoparticle radiosensitization.

http://www.cancerbiomed.org/index.php/cocr/article/download/640/668

Enhancement of radiosensitization by metal-based nanoparticles in cancer radiation therapy

Metallic nanostructures as excellent candidates for nanosensitizers have shown enormous potentials in cancer radiotherapy and photothermal therapy. Clinically, a relatively low and safe radiation dose is highly desired to avoid damage to normal tissues. Therefore, the synergistic effect of the low-dosed X-ray radiation and other therapeutic approaches (or so-called “combined therapeutic strategy”) is needed. Herein, we have synthesized hollow and spike-like gold nanostructures by a facile galvanic replacement reaction. Such gold nanospikes (GNSs) with low cytotoxicity exhibited high photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 50.3%) and had excellent photostability under cyclic near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiations. We have demonstrated that these GNSs can be successfully used for in vitro and in vivo X-ray radiation therapy and NIR photothermal therapy. For the in vitro study, colony formation assay clearly demonstrated that GNS-mediated photothermal therapy and X-ray radiotherapy reduced the cell survival ...

Hao Wu

Papers

Inhibition of autophagy enhances the anticancer activity of silver nanoparticles

Response of MAPK pathway to iron oxide nanoparticles in vitro treatment promotes osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs

Silver nanoparticles: a novel radiation sensitizer for glioma?

Enhancement of radiosensitization by metal-based nanoparticles in cancer radiation therapy

Enhanced Radiosensitization of Gold Nanospikes via Hyperthermia in Combined Cancer Radiation and Photothermal Therapy.