The cement of the tube-dwelling polychaete Sabellaria alveolata: a complex composite adhesive material

• Emilie Duthoo,
• Aurélie Lambert,
• Pierre Becker,
• Carla Pugliese,
• Jean-Marc Baele,
• Arnaud Delfairière,
• Matthew J. Harrington and
• Patrick Flammang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1998–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.138

• only five, referred to as Pc-1 to -5, have been partially characterized [8][12][14][15][16]. Pc-1 and Pc-2 are basic proteins that contain glycine-rich peptide repeats [14][15]. A fraction of their tyrosine residues are post-translationally hydroxylated to form 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA

• translated and analyzed in silico. Molecular weight and theoretical pI were computed using the ProtParam tool (https://web.expasy.org/protparam/) [27], and amino acid composition was analyzed using SAPS (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/jdispatcher/seqstats/saps) [28]. The presence of a signal peptide was predicted

• (Supporting Information File 1, Table S5). It contains a signal peptide and has a molecular weight of 38.4 kDa (Table 1). Both Sa-5 and Sa-3C are overexpressed in the worm’s parathoracic region at the mRNA level (Table 1). In this study, we hypothesized that FAM20C kinases might be the enzymes responsible for

PEGylated lipids in lipid nanoparticle delivery dynamics and therapeutic innovation

• Peiyang Gao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1914–1930, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.133

• moieties that might be adversely affected by harsh reaction conditions [36][37]. A selection of functionalized PEG lipids for ligand conjugation is shown in Figure 4. A study of engineered peptide-functionalized LNPs (pLNPs) used DSPE-PEG-maleimide as a linker to conjugate brain-targeting peptides

• endothelial and neuronal cells than that of the negative control LNP without peptide [40]. Notably, these enhancements remained consistent in pLNPs pretreated with serum, indicating that the peptide-conjugated LNPs using DSPE-PEG-maleimide retained targeting ability despite protein corona formation

• azidoacetyl-modified A PD-L1-binding ᴅ-peptide before introducing to LNP formulation. The synthesized DSPE-PEG2K-Pep conjugate was incorporated into LNPs at 0.3 mol % for optimal coating saturation. Quantitative analysis showed Pep-LNPs achieved over 85% of surface coverage by DSPE-PEG2K-Pep conjugate without

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

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

• lifestyle-related risk factors. However, the discovery of aptamers and the development of nanocarriers bring great benefits to the diagnosis, treatment, and targeted drug delivery of EC. Aptamers or peptide aptamers as biosensors or therapeutic agents for the diagnosis or treatment of EC, aptamer–drug

• obstacles to their safe application. Hence, ongoing research explores strategies to optimize the solubility and targeting ability of anti-EC drugs, and aptamers [25] represent a distinct class of molecular tools. Aptamers are small nucleotide or peptide sequences screened by “systematic evolution of ligands

• , this synergistic strategy presents a promising approach to circumvent chemotherapy resistance in cancer treatment. In general, DNA aptamers have higher thermal stability, RNA aptamers are richer in secondary structure, and peptide aptamers are smaller in size and easier to enter cells [29]. Furthermore

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

• ) complex that targets the PD-L1 gene, a cell-penetrating peptide, and a tumor cell membrane derived from HepG2 cells. Characterization of the nanoparticles showed that the nanocomplex was stabilized by hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces, and hydrophobic forces. In addition, confocal microscopy, gene

• compared to the individual components, revealing a synergistic activity for cancer treatment [71]. Patent CN114470229 (2022) describes carrier-free double-drug self-assembled nanoparticles for treating liver cancer. This technology contains indocyanine green, a cell-penetrating peptide, a nucleic acid

Venom-loaded cationic-functionalized poly(lactic acid) nanoparticles for serum production against Tityus serrulatus scorpion

• Philippe de Castro Mesquita,
• Karla Samara Rocha Soares,
• Manoela Torres-Rêgo,
• Emanuell dos Santos-Silva,
• Mariana Farias Alves-Silva,
• Alianda Maira Cornélio,
• Matheus de Freitas Fernandes-Pedrosa and
• Arnóbio Antônio da Silva-Júnior

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1633–1643, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.115

• a Brazilian scorpion species with great medical significance [2][5], responsible for the highest number of accidents and also the most severe ones [6][7]. Scorpion toxins represent a vast collection (≈100,000) of pharmacologically relevant peptide toxins that have provided an important foundation

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

• phage for targeted drug delivery. In a recent study, the DNA of the M13 phage was modified to encode for SPARC binding peptide and cathepsin B cleavage peptide. Then, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were covalently bonded to cathepsin B expressed on M13 phages to track their intracellular

• nanostructures were investigated and successfully used for different tumor targeting and treatment applications [120][121][122][123]. In this respect, drug nanocrystals coated with RBC membrane and modified with a tumor-targeting peptide was successfully used for targeted therapy of glioma [124]. The peptide

• -modified nanosystem showed increased drug accumulation and enhanced therapeutic activity both in subcutaneous and orthotopic tumor models [125][126]. Another study regarding targeted therapy and improved drug delivery to the brain used the dual modification of RBC-coated lipid nanoparticles with T7 peptide

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

• matrix organization and increase stratum corneum fluidity, thus favoring drug permeation. In addition, a cell-penetrating peptide (R8H3) was functionalized on the transfersome surface to improve skin and tumor penetration. The oligopeptide hydrogel composed of Fmoc-Phe-Phe-Phe-Dopa served as a drug

Soft materials nanoarchitectonics: liquid crystals, polymers, gels, biomaterials, and others

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1025–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.77

Polyurethane/silk fibroin-based electrospun membranes for wound healing and skin substitute applications

• Iqra Zainab,
• Zohra Naseem,
• Syeda Rubab Batool,
• Muhammad Waqas,
• Ahsan Nazir and
• Muhammad Anwaar Nazeer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 591–612, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.46

• typically range from 200 to 300 nm [74]. The basic structure of SF is formed by the HL complex, in which H is the heavy peptide chain with a molecular weight of 350 kDa and L is the light peptide chain of about 25 kDa; both are bonded together by disulfide connections [83]. The glycoprotein P25 is non

Nanomaterials in targeting amyloid-β oligomers: current advances and future directions for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and therapy

• Shiwani Randhawa,
• Trilok Chand Saini,
• Manik Bathla,
• Rahul Bhardwaj,
• Rubina Dhiman and
• Amitabha Acharya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 561–580, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.44

• . The most widely utilized monoclonal antibodies in AD research are 6E10 and 4G8 [19][20][21]. These antibodies were generated by immunizing mice with specific peptide fragments of Aβ, allowing them to bind effectively to amyloid aggregates. Importantly, the development of “conformation-dependent

• , particularly those associated with NDs like AD. Research has demonstrated the ability of fullerenes to prevent the aggregation of Aβ peptides. For instance, molecular dynamics simulations have shown that fullerenes inhibit the fibrillation of the hydrophobic KLVFFAE peptide by disrupting the formation of β

• peptide, effectively redirecting the formation of potentially toxic oligomers towards disordered coil structures. This mechanism not only hinders fibril formation but also shifts the balance toward less harmful aggregates [71]. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have emerged as another promising CNM

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

• optimise ASO-based therapeutics for more precise and effective disease treatments. Keywords: antisense oligonucleotides; enhanced delivery; gene transfection; intracellular uptake; locked nucleic acid (LNA); nanoparticles; peptide nucleic acid (PNA); personalised therapy; phosphorodiamidate morpholino

• ′ position of the ribose ring, whereas third-generation ASOs are more diverse, containing a variety of sugar ring modifications or base modifications [19][20]. These include locked nucleic acids (LNAs) [21][22], phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) [23][24][25], peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) [26][27

• synthetic approaches, that is, chemical–enzymatic synthesis (CES), solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), and ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) of N-carboxy anhydrides [62]. While CES and SPPS offer access to structural isomers (i.e., α-PLL or ε-PLL) and sequence-controlled ʟ-lysine-rich peptides

Development of a mucoadhesive drug delivery system and its interaction with gastric cells

• Ahmet Baki Sahin,
• Serdar Karakurt and
• Deniz Sezlev Bilecen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 371–384, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.28

• positive charge. A peptide, as a model drug, was loaded onto the nanoparticles with an encapsulation efficiency of 58%. The release of the model drug from the delivery system was pH-independent and lasted for 7 days. The periodic acid–Schiff stain assay indicated 69% mucin interaction for the nanoparticles

• action of drugs with increased retention. We have developed an mucoadhesive alginate-based drug delivery system to be used in the stomach delivery of drugs. For the study, we used a carboxyfluorescein (FAM)-labeled peptide (Mw = 2.8 kDa) as a model drug to be encapsulated in alginate nanoparticles. The

• EudAlg nanoparticles Encapsulation efficiency is an important parameter in determining the dose of therapeutic agents and, thus, the efficacy of the treatment. In the present study, we aimed to determine the encapsulation of a positively charged and large peptide molecule (Mw = 2.8 kDa) into the delivery

Nanocarriers and macrophage interaction: from a potential hurdle to an alternative therapeutic strategy

• Naths Grazia Sukubo,
• Paolo Bigini and
• Annalisa Morelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 97–118, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.10

Mechanistic insights into endosomal escape by sodium oleate-modified liposomes

• Ebrahim Sadaqa,
• Satrialdi,
• Fransiska Kurniawan and
• Diky Mudhakir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1667–1685, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.131

• escape efficacy of SO with Aurein 1.2 (AUR), a well-established endosomal escape peptide known for its efficacy both in vitro and in vivo, serving as a positive control [12]. Our findings have the potential to significantly advance the development of safer and more effective liposomal drug delivery

• nanoformulations. Interestingly, the zeta potential of AUR-Lipo remained virtually unchanged at −2.42 ± 2.41 mV, indicating that the neutral charge of the AUR peptide effectively preserved the nanoparticle’s surface charge. When exposed to pH 5 for 1 h, Unmodified-Lipo maintained its size and charge, demonstrating

• evidenced by a shift in zeta potential to a slightly positive value of 1.07 ± 1.80 mV. This shift may be attributed to the protonation of amino acids such as glutamic and aspartic acid in the peptide sequence, which, under acidic conditions, likely contributes to an increase in positive charge [13

Biomimetic nanocarriers: integrating natural functions for advanced therapeutic applications

• Hugo Felix Perini,
• Beatriz Sodré Matos,
• Carlo José Freire de Oliveira and
• Marcos Vinicius da Silva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1619–1626, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.127

• coated nanocarriers, such as PLGA NPs and silica NPs, enhance interactions with dendritic cells, leading to antitumor responses [25][26]. In a similar study with CMC-NPs composed of C-phycocyanin (C-PC) and a CD59-specific binding peptide (CD59sp), the antitumor activity of the C-PC/CMC-CD59sp

• is linked to dementia and neuronal loss [70]. Focusing on BBB compatibility, lipid-based nanoparticles demonstrate high potential in facilitating drug delivery. Macrophage membrane-coated liposomes co-modified with the RVG29 peptide and triphenylphosphine cation have shown improved targeting of brain

Polymer lipid hybrid nanoparticles for phytochemical delivery: challenges, progress, and future prospects

• Iqra Rahat,
• Pooja Yadav,
• Aditi Singhal,
• Mohammad Fareed,
• Jaganathan Raja Purushothaman,
• Mohammed Aslam,
• Raju Balaji,
• Sonali Patil-Shinde and
• Md. Rizwanullah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1473–1497, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.118

• , instability at physiological pH, and rapid metabolism hinder its clinical utilization [125]. Yang et al. fabricated HCT-encapsulated cyclic RGD peptide (c(RGDyk))-modified PLHNPs for improved therapeutic efficacy against BC [126]. Surface functionalization and PEG conjugation did not modulate the drug release

Nanotechnological approaches for efficient N2B delivery: from small-molecule drugs to biopharmaceuticals

• Selin Akpinar Adscheid,
• Akif E. Türeli,
• Nazende Günday-Türeli and
• Marc Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1400–1414, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.113

• treating glioblastoma [161]. The delivery of RNA can also be increased by functionalization. One of the most popular functionalization choices is a 29 amino-acid peptide derived from the rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG29) as it enhances brain targeting [162]. Therefore, researchers combined RVG29 and RNA

• modification with PEG and RVG29 improved the intranasal delivery of the NPs [163]. Li et al. also worked on RVG29 and developed core–shell lesion-recognizing NPs consisting of RVG29 peptide-modified mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes as the shell and a reactive oxygen species-responsive polymer loaded with

Dual-functionalized architecture enables stable and tumor cell-specific SiO₂NPs in complex biological fluids

• Iris Renata Sousa Ribeiro,
• Raquel Frenedoso da Silva,
• Romênia Ramos Domingues,
• Adriana Franco Paes Leme and
• Mateus Borba Cardoso

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1238–1252, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.100

• and (ii) targeting peptide for targeted delivery aimed at increasing efficiency against cancer. Although valuable, these systems have not been able to provide reduced protein corona formation and targeting ability, or they have not been scrutinized in complex biological environments. In fact, there is

• ions. The 20 most intense peptide ions with charge state ≥2 were sequentially isolated to a target value of 5000 and fragmented by collision-induced dissociation in the linear ion trap using a normalized collision energy of 35%. Dynamic exclusion was enabled with an exclusion size list of 500 peptides

• maximum of two missed cleavages allowed. A tolerance of 10 ppm for precursor ions and 1 Da for fragment ions was defined. A maximum of 1% FDR calculated using reverse sequences was set for both protein and peptide identification. Cell viability assays HaCat and KB cells were cultured in a DMEM culture

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

• inorganic core, exemplified by the S–Au bond formed between cysteine-containing molecules and gold NPs [90][91][92]. Actively targeted AuNCs can also be prepared using bioactive peptides or proteins via a one-step biomineralization process, in which case the peptide or protein serves the purpose of both

• functionalized with RGD peptides as targeting ligands along with chemotherapy drugs and inhibitors of signaling pathways [96][97]. Their simulations revealed that the system composition and the peptide/drug ratio critically influenced the targeting ability of the particles. In addition to computer simulations, a

• particles. As stressed by Ruoslahti and colleagues [86][151], many peptide ligands bind their receptors with weak affinities in the high-nanomolar to low-micromolar range. This implies that delivering a substantial excess of targeted usNPs locally would be needed for receptor saturation ([usNP] = 9 × KD for

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

• peptide-based micelle nanocomplex for delivering Pcbp2 siRNA as gene-silencing agent [74]. The surface of the nanocarrier was modified with a dimeric IGF2R peptide as a M6PR-targeting ligand of the activated HSCs. The use of cholesteryl peptide to construct the nanocarrier facilitated in vitro cellular

Cholesterol nanoarchaeosomes for alendronate targeted delivery as an anti-endothelial dysfunction agent

• Horacio Emanuel Jerez,
• Yamila Roxana Simioni,
• Kajal Ghosal,
• Maria Jose Morilla and
• Eder Lilia Romero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 517–534, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.46

• incubated for 10 min at RT until signal stabilization. The luminescence of each well was measured in a Cytation™ 5 instrument. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) The release of MMP by THP-1 macrophages 24 h after nanovesicle uptake was determined by measuring the fluorescence of the peptide FS-6. The FS-6

• peptide (MCA-Lys-Pro-Leu-Gly-Leu-DNP-Dpa-Ala-Arg-NH2) is a fluorogenic substrate with improved substrate properties and increased specific constant for collagenases (MMP-1, MMP-8, and MMP-13) and MT1-MMP (MMP-14) compared with FS-1 [84]. Briefly, THP-1 macrophages grown at a density of 2 × 104 cells/cm2

Fluorescent bioinspired albumin/polydopamine nanoparticles and their interactions with Escherichia coli cells

• Eloïse Equy,
• Jordana Hirtzel,
• Sophie Hellé,
• Béatrice Heurtault,
• Eric Mathieu,
• Morgane Rabineau,
• Vincent Ball and
• Lydie Ploux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1208–1224, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.100

• antibacterial activity is high because of their small size and because any antibacterial natural or synthetic peptide containing KE diads may be used to create such PDA NPs. Fluorescent PDA NPs made with a KE diad-containing protein or peptide have never been reported so far. They may be obtained by labelling

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

• due to the preparation process, which involves cross-linking of amino acid residues in proteins by glutaraldehyde (GA). As shown in Figure 3B, HSA retained its secondary structure, while both HSA-MPs and CUR-HSA-MPs lost their peptide bonds and secondary structure. The lack of secondary structure of

Antibody-conjugated nanoparticles for target-specific drug delivery of chemotherapeutics

• Mamta Kumari,
• Amitabha Acharya and
• Praveen Thaggikuppe Krishnamurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 912–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.75

• targeting of cyclic RGD peptides attached on PEGylated NPs. The cellular uptake of NPs with bound proteins was reduced to 26% compared with NPs without bound proteins (ca. 76%). The in vivo results also demonstrated that the targeting efficacy of cyclic RGD peptide-functionalized PEGylated NPs was much