Toward clinical translation of carbon nanomaterials in anticancer drug delivery: the need for standardisation

• Michał Bartkowski,
• Francesco Calzaferri and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2092–2104, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.144

• doxorubicin (DOX), for example. Used in cancer treatment for decades, DOX has become a mainstay in oncology and is often nicknamed “the red devil” [34]. This name stems not only from its distinctive red colour, attributed to the quinone ring in its chemical structure, which absorbs in the visible spectrum and

• the incidence and severity of side effects associated with traditional chemotherapy (Table 2). There are several model anticancer therapeutics that are commonly used in nanocarrier design, such as doxorubicin or gemcitabine. By encapsulating or loading these therapeutics onto nanocarriers, researchers

Targeting the vector of arboviruses Aedes aegypti with nanoemulsions based on essential oils: a review with focus on larvicidal and repellent properties

• Laryssa Ferreira do Nascimento Silva,
• Douglas Dourado,
• Thayse Silva Medeiros,
• Mariana Alice Gonzaga Gabú,
• Maria Cecilia Queiroga dos Santos,
• Daiane Rodrigues dos Santos,
• Mylena Lemos dos Santos,
• Gabriel Bezerra Faierstein,
• Rosângela Maria Rodrigues Barbosa and
• Fabio Rocha Formiga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1894–1913, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.132

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency approved the first nanomedicine, Doxil® (doxorubicin-loaded liposomes) for chemotherapy. Over the past 30 years, research and development in nanotechnology have expanded significantly, with more than 70 nanomedicines approved by FDA or EMA [83][84][85][86

Exploring the potential of polymers: advancements in oral nanocarrier technology

• Rousilândia de Araujo Silva,
• Igor Eduardo Silva Arruda,
• Luise Lopes Chaves,
• Mônica Felts de La Roca Soares and
• Jose Lamartine Soares Sobrinho

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1751–1793, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.122

• reduction in tumor size and prevented recurrence when compared to intraperitoneal injection of taxol and doxorubicin. The in vitro and in vivo findings (see Table 2) confirmed that the nanocapsules isolated the active payload, preventing enzymatic degradation, while functionalization facilitated targeted

Advances of aptamers in esophageal cancer diagnosis, treatment and drug delivery

• Yang Fei,
• Hui Xu,
• Chunwei Zhang,
• Jingjing Wang and
• Yong Jin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1734–1750, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.121

• -delivery of a P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor, specifically, small interfering RNA (siRNA) against the MDR1 gene, along with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX). This system capitalizes on the high-affinity binding of the AS1411 aptamer to nucleolin, a protein overexpressed on the surface of

• literature on drugs directly modified with aptamers and aptamer-functionalized drug nanocarriers for drug delivery in esophageal cancer (Table 3). 5.1 Aptamer–drug conjugates The anthracycline drug doxorubicin serves as a first-line therapeutic agent for esophageal carcinoma, yet its clinical efficacy is

Prospects of nanotechnology and natural products for cancer and immunotherapy

• Jan Filipe Andrade Santos,
• Marcela Bernardes Brasileiro,
• Pamela Danielle Cavalcante Barreto,
• Ligiane Aranha Rocha and
• José Adão Carvalho Nascimento Júnior

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1644–1667, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.116

• targeted delivery [72]. Patent CN222367609 (2017) describes targeted amphiphilic nanoparticles composed lecithin, procyanidine, and doxorubicin condensated with epigallocatechin gallate in N-hydroxysuccinimide solution, which were developed to inhibit breast cancer. The procyanidine and epigallocatechin

• -molecule drugs, including methotrexate (MTX) and doxorubicin (DOX), and divalent cations like calcium (Ca2+). Alginate is a cross-linked polymeric network derived from algae and shows potential for cancer treatment due to its improved bioavailability, sustained release, and environmentally benign

• polyethylene glycol, optionally combined with chitosan or polyvinyl alcohol, and an anticancer agent such as cisplatin, doxorubicin, or temozolomide. The characterization of this technology involved

Ferroptosis induction by engineered liposomes for enhanced tumor therapy

• Alireza Ghasempour,
• Mohammad Amin Tokallou,
• Mohammad Reza Naderi Allaf,
• Mohsen Moradi,
• Hamideh Dehghan,
• Mahsa Sedighi,
• Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi and
• Fahimeh Lavi Arab

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1325–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.97

• doxorubicin and sorafenib (DS@MA-LS) was developed to treat 4T1 tumor cells. The EE of doxorubicin (DOX) in liposomes about 80%, whereas the EE of sorafenib (SRF) in liposomes was approximately 90%. DS@MA-LS showed extensive presence in the bloodstream, selectively aggregated in the tumor area, and cleaved

Better together: biomimetic nanomedicines for high performance tumor therapy

• Imran Shair Mohammad,
• Gizem Kursunluoglu,
• Anup Kumar Patel,
• Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq,
• Cansu Umran Tunc,
• Dilek Kanarya,
• Mubashar Rehman,
• Omer Aydin and
• Yin Lifang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1246–1276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.92

• with chemotherapeutic agents, rHDL shows outstanding active targeting and anticancer activities [57]. Moreover, rHDL showed potential to co-load hydrophobic paclitaxel and hydrophilic doxorubicin in apo A-I targeted rHDL nanoparticles. These nanoparticles showed superior antitumor activity in vitro and

• metastatic breast cancer (Figure 7) [128]. The nanosystem was modified with TAT (T) and RGD (R) peptides for targeted delivery of the chemotherapeutics gamabufotalin (C) and doxorubicin (DOX) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), resulting in potent inhibition of tumor growth and breast cancer metastasis

• targeting of the tumor in patient-derived tumor cells animal models through homologous targeting. In another study, the homologous targeting effect was successfully utilized to deliver doxorubicin (DOX), mefuparib hydrochloride (MHP) and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor in MCF7-tumor bearing mice [46

Hydrogels and nanogels: effectiveness in dermal applications

• Jéssica da Cruz Ludwig,
• Diana Fortkamp Grigoletto,
• Daniele Fernanda Renzi,
• Wolf-Rainer Abraham,
• Daniel de Paula and
• Najeh Maissar Khalil

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1216–1233, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.90

• recent years, such as tissue regeneration or tumor models in vivo. For example, 3D-printed scaffolds have been employed and shown to be effective in bone regeneration [226] and in promoting the restoration of craniofacial cartilage defects [227]. Also, in in vivo breast cancer models, doxorubicin-loaded

• cellulose nanocrystals poly(ε-caprolactone-co-lactide)-b-poly(ethyleneglycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone-co-lactide) [217] or doxorubicin-loaded polydopamine-alginate [219] showed inhibition in tumor growth. Thus, this technique tends to present a great advance in the design methods and in the ease of obtaining

Synthetic-polymer-assisted antisense oligonucleotide delivery: targeted approaches for precision disease treatment

• Ana Cubillo Alvarez,
• Dylan Maguire and
• Ruairí P. Brannigan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 435–463, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.34

Recent advances in photothermal nanomaterials for ophthalmic applications

• Jiayuan Zhuang,
• Linhui Jia,
• Chenghao Li,
• Rui Yang,
• Jiapeng Wang,
• Wen-an Wang,
• Heng Zhou and
• Xiangxia Luo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 195–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.16

• -tumor efficacy both in vitro and in vivo [106]. Additionally, Au nanoparticles synthesized using fucoidan (Fu-AuNPs) loaded with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX), effectively inhibit choroidal melanoma via a synergistic PTT–chemotherapy approach [107]. Fu, as a reducing agent, assisted in the

Realizing active targeting in cancer nanomedicine with ultrasmall nanoparticles

• André F. Lima,
• Giselle Z. Justo and
• Alioscka A. Sousa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1208–1226, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.98

• aptamer ligand/nucleolin receptor Chen et al. prepared AuNCs (≈3 nm) stabilized with histidine amino acids [142]. These particles were then functionalized through chemical conjugation with two targeting ligands, cyclic RGD (cRGD) and AS1411, along with the incorporation of doxorubicin (DOX) or the near

• targeted ultrasmall NPs Since the introduction of liposomal doxorubicin in 1995, there has been a significant research effort in the field of nanomedicine-based drugs [162]. Yet, only a select few have successfully progressed to the market, highlighting the challenges inherent in this developmental process

Synthesis, characterization and anticancer effect of doxorubicin-loaded dual stimuli-responsive smart nanopolymers

• Ömür Acet,
• Pavel Kirsanov,
• Burcu Önal Acet,
• Inessa Halets-Bui,
• Dzmitry Shcharbin,
• Şeyda Ceylan Cömert and
• Mehmet Odabaşı

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1189–1196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.96

• extremely useful for drug delivery and release. We analyzed the possibility to include the known antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX), which has antimitotic and antiproliferative effects, in a nanopolymer complex. Thus, doxorubicin-loaded temperature- and pH-sensitive smart nanopolymers (DOX-SNPs) were produced

• that observed for the commercial liposomal formulation of doxorubicin Doxil. The obtained results demonstrated that smart nanopolymers can be efficiently used to create new types of doxorubicin-based drugs. Keywords: cancer cell line HeLa; cytotoxicity; doxorubicin; drug delivery; smart nanopolymers

• drug doxorubicin (DOX) has been used in the present study. It is a known antitumor antibiotic of the anthracycline series, which has been approved as anticancer drug in 1974. It has antimitotic and antiproliferative effects. The mechanism of action is interaction with DNA, the formation of free

AI-assisted models to predict chemotherapy drugs modified with C₆₀ fullerene derivatives

• Jonathan-Siu-Loong Robles-Hernández,
• Dora Iliana Medina,
• Katerin Aguirre-Hurtado,
• Marlene Bosquez,
• Roberto Salcedo and
• Alan Miralrio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1170–1188, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.95

• women globally, and about 685,000 died from this disease [8]. A recurrent problem with standard treatments are the side effects. Regarding the use of chemotherapeutic drugs, such issues are nephrotoxicity of cisplatin, cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin, and pulmonary fibrosis from the use of bleomycin [9

• study the interactions with doxorubicin and gemcitabine [36]. The water-soluble fullerene is introduced to avoid known mutagenic reactions related to breast cancer [36]. It was also studied as a potential carrier for bedaquiline, an agent against tuberculosis [37]. The current study only considered

• interacting residues with those recently obtained by Muthiah et al. [45], it is possible to conclude that the pockets are similar. For instance, doxorubicin was obtained in both cases with Asp179, Cys196, and Trp100 as interacting residues. Also, similar pockets could be obtained because the selected drugs

Recent updates in applications of nanomedicine for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis

• Damai Ria Setyawati,
• Fransiska Christydira Sekaringtyas,
• Riyona Desvy Pratiwi,
• A’liyatur Rosyidah,
• Rohimmahtunnissa Azhar,
• Nunik Gustini,
• Gita Syahputra,
• Idah Rosidah,
• Etik Mardliyati,
• Tarwadi and
• Sjaikhurrizal El Muttaqien

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1105–1116, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.89

• ingredients. Cancer nanomedicine represents the most extensively studied nanotechnology application in the field of pharmaceutics and pharmacology since the first nanodrug for cancer treatment, liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil®), has been approved by the FDA. The advancement of cancer nanomedicine and its

• cancer nanomedicines are now under evaluation in clinical stages [6]. Simple liposomal and micellar formulations containing chemotherapeutic agents still predominate in this group. Despite the obstacles and challenges, oncology has become the main focus of nanomedicine [8]. Liposomal doxorubicin was the

Unveiling the potential of alginate-based nanomaterials in sensing technology and smart delivery applications

• Shakhzodjon Uzokboev,
• Khojimukhammad Akhmadbekov,
• Ra’no Nuritdinova,
• Salah M. Tawfik and
• Yong-Ill Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1077–1104, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.88

• folate (FA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) onto the alginic acid backbone. These compounds can be utilized in the encapsulation of doxorubicin (DOX) by coating with upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), as shown in Figure 3A. When DOX-loaded UCNP-Al-NH-PEG-NH-FA was used, an effective encapsulation

Entry of nanoparticles into cells and tissues: status and challenges

• Kirsten Sandvig,
• Tore Geir Iversen and
• Tore Skotland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1017–1029, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.83

• intravenous (i.v.) injection is required to benefit from NPs as therapeutics or imaging agents in an optimal way. Many different types of NPs have been made; for an overview, see [1]. Doxorubicin encapsulated in liposomes (Doxil®/Caelyx®) was the first NP-based drug approved for cancer treatment by the US

Nanomedicines against Chagas disease: a critical review

• Maria Jose Morilla,
• Kajal Ghosal and
• Eder Lilia Romero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 333–349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.30

• drugs with low molecular weight, such as Doxil® (for delivery of doxorubicin) launched in 1995, DoceAqualip® (for delivery of docetaxel, devoid of polysorbate-80 and ethanol) launched in 2014, Onivyde® (for delivery of irinotecan) launched in 2015, and Vyxeos® (for synchronous delivery of cytarabine and

Nanocarrier systems loaded with IR780, iron oxide nanoparticles and chlorambucil for cancer theragnostics

• Phuong-Thao Dang-Luong,
• Hong-Phuc Nguyen,
• Loc Le-Tuan,
• Xuan-Thang Cao,
• Vy Tran-Anh and
• Hieu Vu Quang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 180–189, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.17

• ][24]. Thus, using IR780 in our NPs would bring advantages for local imaging and treatment. Chemotherapy medications assist in inhibiting the development of tumors. Chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin attach to chromosomes and inhibit DNA replication, while paclitaxel depolymerizes the

• cytoskeleton and chlorambucil (CHL) inhibits DNA synthesis. These drugs can be encapsulated inside nanoparticles for administration to increase the stability of the medication in circulation and therapeutic efficacy. For example, doxorubicin can be inserted into liposomes and paclitaxel attaches to the protein

• particle [25][26]. PLGA is one of the finest materials for transporting chemotherapy drugs. PLGA transports not only hydrophobic but also hydrophilic drugs. The encapsulation of chemotherapeutics in PLGA nanoparticles has been extensively studied. PLGA has been loaded with doxorubicin, for instance, for

Berberine-loaded polylactic acid nanofiber scaffold as a drug delivery system: The relationship between chemical characteristics, drug-release behavior, and antibacterial efficiency

• Le Thi Le,
• Hue Thi Nguyen,
• Liem Thanh Nguyen,
• Huy Quang Tran and
• Thuy Thi Thu Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 71–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.7

• ] explained the difference in the drug-release profile of PLA nanofibers loaded with hydrophilic doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox-HCl) and hydrophobic free base doxorubicin (Dox-base). The rapid release of Dox-HCl from the PLA nanofiber carrier was attributed to Dox-HCl crystal aggregates mainly distributed on

Curcumin-loaded albumin submicron particles with potential as a cancer therapy: an in vitro study

• Nittiya Suwannasom,
• Netsai Sriaksorn,
• Chutamas Thepmalee,
• Krissana Khoothiam,
• Ausanai Prapan,
• Hans Bäumler and
• Chonthida Thephinlap

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1127–1140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.93

• recently developed method of encapsulation to produce high-quality submicron albumin particles loaded with riboflavin [28] or doxorubicin [29]. In this work, our aim was to determine the ability of albumin microparticles to load CUR by adsorption and to investigate binding with and release from the

Metal-organic framework-based nanomaterials as opto-electrochemical sensors for the detection of antibiotics and hormones: A review

• Akeem Adeyemi Oladipo,
• Saba Derakhshan Oskouei and
• Mustafa Gazi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 631–673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.52

Recent progress in cancer cell membrane-based nanoparticles for biomedical applications

• Qixiong Lin,
• Yueyou Peng,
• Yanyan Wen,
• Xiaoqiong Li,
• Donglian Du,
• Weibin Dai,
• Wei Tian and
• Yanfeng Meng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 262–279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.24

• ]. A biomimetic particle model using PLGA NPs as a carrier for the anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox) encapsulated by the HepG2 liver cancer cell membrane was designed for the treatment of HCC [31]. The HepG2 cell membrane-encapsulated NPs exhibited superior antitumor effects compared to bare NPs and

• -encapsulated PLGA nanospheres loaded with doxorubicin (Dox-HepM-PLGA) yielded smaller tumor volumes than the bare nanoparticles and the PBS control group. (a) Fluorescence imaging eleven days after intravenous injection of biomimetic nanoformulations. (b) Tumor volume. (c) Tumor weight. (d) Relative tumor

Nanotechnology – a robust tool for fighting the challenges of drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer

• Filip Gorachinov,
• Fatima Mraiche,
• Diala Alhaj Moustafa,
• Ola Hishari,
• Yomna Ismail,
• Jensa Joseph,
• Maja Simonoska Crcarevska,
• Marija Glavas Dodov,
• Nikola Geskovski and
• Katerina Goracinova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 240–261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.23

• )-functionalized nanoporous silica particles loaded with a poly(ʟ-glutamic acid) pH-cleavable linker–doxorubicin conjugate, which self-assembles into NPs after its release from the iNPG [114]. Li et al. designed a multistage nanocarrier for NSCLC targeting, composed of icotinib-loaded amphiphilic chitosan micelles

• with hyaluronic acid–doxorubicin NPs layered by electrostatic adsorption upon the micelle surface. Hyaluronic acid was used for CD44 targeting (a receptor that is often overexpressed on the surface of lung tumor cells), as well as for the optimization of biodistribution, improved tumor homing potential

Recent advances in nanoarchitectures of monocrystalline coordination polymers through confined assembly

• Lingling Xia,
• Qinyue Wang and
• Ming Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 763–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.67

• ]. This is applicable to monocrystalline coordination polymers as well. For instance, poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG) molecular chains show an affinity to Zn2+ ions, and can, thus, trigger mineralization of ZIF-8 crystals around. Doxorubicin, a kind of antitumor drug, could be dissolved in the parent solution

• of ZIF-8 in the presence of PEG chains [113]. When ZIF-8 started to crystallize around the PEG chains, the doxorubicin could be co-encapsulated into the ZIF-8 crystals. The encapsulated doxorubicin could be delivered intracellularly by taking advantage of the controlled decomposition of ZIF-8 under

• acidic environment. Enhanced cell toxicity was found by encapsulating the doxorubicin drug into ZIF-8 crystals because intracellular uptake was facilitated. When multiple cargos were required, this strategy showed good feasibility. Multiple molecules could be simultaneously encapsulated during formation

Detection and imaging of Hg(II) in vivo using glutathione-functionalized gold nanoparticles

• Gufeng Li,
• Shaoqing Li,
• Rui Wang,
• Min Yang,
• Lizhu Zhang,
• Yanli Zhang,
• Wenrong Yang and
• Hongbin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 549–559, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.46

• tuned by specific molecules, has been reported. For example, Coelho et al. reported that pegylated gold nanoparticles were combined with doxorubicin and varlitinib [19]. The modified pegylated gold nanoparticles could not only reduce the toxicity to normal cells but also improve the inhibitory effect on