Multilayer capsules made of weak polyelectrolytes: a review on the preparation, functionalization and applications in drug delivery

• Varsha Sharma and
• Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 508–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.41

• to be low-fouling to various proteins and negligibly cytotoxic. In a related work, the PEG-based films and capsules fabricated with redox responsive moieties via disulfide linkage showed high stability in biological buffers, low toxicity to human cells and low fouling characteristics [96]. Similar

• components have been utilized to functionalize capsules in many ways. Hollow capsules of approximately 400 nm in size with negligible toxicity to cells were reported by the oxidative self-polymerization of dopamine solution onto silica particles [114]. The thickness of multilayer films is comparable to the

Nanoparticles based on the zwitterionic pillar[5]arene and Ag⁺: synthesis, self-assembly and cytotoxicity in the human lung cancer cell line A549

• Dmitriy N. Shurpik,
• Denis A. Sevastyanov,
• Pavel V. Zelenikhin,
• Pavel L. Padnya,
• Vladimir G. Evtugyn,
• Yuriy N. Osin and
• Ivan I. Stoikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 421–431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.33

• toxicity of Ag+ ions, multicore complexes prepared on the basis of macrocyclic ligands [9][10][11][12][13] and silver ions are of greatest interest. The ability of macrocyclic systems to form supramolecular associates, due to noncovalent interactions with Ag+, can reduce toxicity and preserve the

• derivatives of decasubstituted pillar[5]arenes containing sulfobetaine fragments in their structure as target structures. It was shown that the introduction of such zwitterionic fragments into the structure leads to toxicity reduction [21], an increase in the solubility of substances in water [22] and ensures

• macrocycle 3, in the presence of an excess of AgNO3, stable nanoparticles are formed, we further studied the ability of the 3/Ag+ associates to reduce the toxicity of Ag+ for eukaryotic cells. We first carried out the calculation of the minimum inhibitory concentration for silver ions. The minimum inhibitory

Poly(1-vinylimidazole) polyplexes as novel therapeutic gene carriers for lung cancer therapy

• Gayathri Kandasamy,
• Elena N. Danilovtseva,
• Vadim V. Annenkov and
• Uma Maheswari Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 354–369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.26

• context, non-viral vectors have garnered interest in recent years as gene delivery vehicles. But the highly cationic nature of the employed carriers is associated with immunogenicity and toxicity. Further, the ability of these carriers to escape the acidic endosomes in the cells limit their transfection

• efficiency [3]. One of the widely explored non-viral polymeric carriers for gene delivery is poly(ethylene imine) (PEI), which can effectively escape from the endosomes through the “proton sponge” mechanism [4]. However, PEI systems are limited by their toxicity and, hence, there is a need for less toxic but

• liver cancer cells. Butylated PVI was found to be nontoxic and the most effective when compared to other alkyl derivatives regarding DNA complexation [16]. Carboxymethyl poly(1-vinylimidazole) has also been investigated for DNA complexation and was found to exert no toxicity to cells [17]. Poly(1

Interactions at the cell membrane and pathways of internalization of nano-sized materials for nanomedicine

• Valentina Francia,
• Daphne Montizaan and
• Anna Salvati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 338–353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.25

• inhibitors, whose action on cells is instead very fast. However, some of these inhibitors lack specificity, they might interfere with multiple pathways, and they can cause cellular toxicity [22][133][158][213]. In contrast to these approaches to block uptake pathways, other strategies can be found in which

Phase inversion-based nanoemulsions of medium chain triglyceride as potential drug delivery system for parenteral applications

• Eike Folker Busmann,
• Dailén García Martínez,
• Henrike Lucas and
• Karsten Mäder

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 213–224, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.16

• polydispersity index distributions and uncharged surfaces. Nanoemulsions with particles of 50 and 100 nm in diameter showed very little toxicity to fibroblast cells in vitro. An unusual, exponential-like nonlinear increase in osmolality was observed with increasing concentration of the nonionic surfactant

• Kolliphor HS 15. The experimental results indicate, that nanoemulsions with particles of small and tunable size can be easily formed without homogenization by thermal cycling. Keywords: cellular toxicity; isotonicity; nanoemulsion; phase inversion; solvent free; surface properties; Introduction Nanoscaled

• surfactant show different effects on the final product. For example, these factors influence the feasibility of forming stable nanostructures, they affect the phase inversion zone, the in vitro cellular toxicity and the above mentioned particle and surface properties [3][4][12]. There are marketed drug

Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

• Maxime Demazeau,
• Laure Gibot,
• Anne-Françoise Mingotaud,
• Patricia Vicendo,
• Clément Roux and
• Barbara Lonetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 180–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.15

• proteases, as well as the potential toxicity of Mn can be a limit. A nanocapsule where the catalase is protected by a brush-like PEO protective shell covalently linked to the photosensitizer meso-tetra(phydroxyphenyl) used as cross-linker was reported [105]. In another elegant approach, polymer nanovesicles

Internalization mechanisms of cell-penetrating peptides

• Ivana Ruseska and
• Andreas Zimmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 101–123, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.10

• provide enzymatic protection and stability for the drug, an improved distribution and target specificity, as well as a lack of toxicity [3]. Cell-penetrating peptides as drug delivery systems Having in mind the attention they have gained, cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have become a current hotspot in

• question. It is of crucial importance for the overall safety and efficacy assessment that the internalization behavior of CPPs is evaluated. Furthermore, knowledge of the uptake mechanism can be essential for the development of CPP-delivery systems with cell-specificity and low toxicity. The complexity in

Recent progress in perovskite solar cells: the perovskite layer

• Xianfeng Dai,
• Ke Xu and
• Fanan Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 51–60, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.5

• of 20.3% were fabricated by using trifluorotoluene as the antisolvent. However, the application of trifluorotoluene, toluene and chlorobenzene in mass production is hindered because of their toxicity and the high cost. A nontoxic and inexpensive antisolvent is highly desired, which can regulate the

The different ways to chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles: templated vs direct complexation. Influence of particle preparation on morphology, cell uptake and silencing efficiency

• Arianna Gennari,
• Julio M. Rios de la Rosa,
• Erwin Hohn,
• Maria Pelliccia,
• Enrique Lallana,
• Roberto Donno,
• Annalisa Tirella and
• Nicola Tirelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2594–2608, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.250

• as the cationic component in polyplexes and other drug delivery vehicles [1][2][3]. In comparison to other polycations, its main advantages are the low toxicity and its biodegradability. Biodegradation can occur both enzymatically and oxidatively [4]. A number of methods can be employed to prepare

• to 0.5 mg/mL in both models (Figure 5A). Despite the fragile nature of macrophages, the low toxicity seen for HA-coated chitosan nanoparticles is in accordance with what reported in RAW 264.7 macrophages for other HA-based nanomaterials, such as HA-coated liposomes [36] and a library of lipid

• evaluated their silencing efficiency when loaded with a functional anti-luciferase (anti-Luc) siRNA. To this end, cells were first pre-transfected with a luciferase-encoding plasmid (pGL3) using low-toxicity Lipofectamine (LTX) as a vector, and then treated with anti-Luc siRNA vectored either in

pH-Controlled fluorescence switching in water-dispersed polymer brushes grafted to modified boron nitride nanotubes for cellular imaging

• Saban Kalay,
• Yurij Stetsyshyn,
• Volodymyr Donchak,
• Khrystyna Harhay,
• Ostap Lishchynskyi,
• Halyna Ohar,
• Yuriy Panchenko,
• Stanislav Voronov and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2428–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.233

• toxicity [21][22][23][24]. They are superhydrophobic in their pristine state and cannot be dispersed in aqueous media or in most organic solvents [11][22][23]. To improve the dispersibility of BNNTs in aqueous media, numerous surface functionalization methods have been used [11][25][26][27]. The

Air oxidation of sulfur mustard gas simulants using a pyrene-based metal–organic framework photocatalyst

• Ghada Ayoub,
• Mihails Arhangelskis,
• Xuan Zhang,
• Florencia Son,
• Timur Islamoglu,
• Tomislav Friščić and
• Omar K. Farha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2422–2427, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.232

• -world applications. So far, the oxidative degradation [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] route has been shown to be the most promising but relies on the use of oxidants highly selective for the formation of sulfoxides, as further oxidation to a sulfone leads to a product of toxicity comparable to sulfur

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• 0.1 cm2. The PCE continued to be over 80% of the initial PCE after 60 days of storage. FInally, the introduced PVP-doped PSCs present a low-cost and low-toxicity way to commercialize perovskite solar cells. Keywords: additive; lead nitrate aqueous solution; low-toxicity process; perovskite solar

• solar cells, and the preparation method is relatively simple. Overall, it is a low-cost, low-toxicity preparation method to commercialize perovskite solar cells. Experimental Materials Lead nitrate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, chlorobenzene and isopropanol were purchased from Aladdin. SnO2 colloid was

• performance of PSCs with PVP is characterized by a PCE of 15.19% and an average steady-state PCE of 14.55%. The solar cell with added PVP displayed a better stability in ambient air. Thus, a low-cost and low-toxicity method to commercialize perovskite solar cells has been presented. Fow chart of the

Microfluidics as tool to prepare size-tunable PLGA nanoparticles with high curcumin encapsulation for efficient mucus penetration

• Nashrawan Lababidi,
• Valentin Sigal,
• Aljoscha Koenneke,
• Konrad Schwarzkopf,
• Andreas Manz and
• Marc Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2280–2293, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.220

• improved solubility and bioavailability [25]. As penetrating particulate systems also raise the question of toxicity, biocompatible systems such as poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) (a very benign material) are considered to be well-suited. PLGA NPs have been extensively studied in the pharmaceutical field

Targeted therapeutic effect against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with a CuFe₂O₄/silica/cisplatin nanocomposite formulation

• B. Rabindran Jermy,
• Vijaya Ravinayagam,
• Widyan A. Alamoudi,
• Dana Almohazey,
• Hatim Dafalla,
• Lina Hussain Allehaibi,
• Abdulhadi Baykal,
• Muhammet S. Toprak and
• Thirunavukkarasu Somanathan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2217–2228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.214

• form aggregates, exert variable oxidation states and result in dose-dependent toxicity. Several supports, including silica and carbon, were used to reduce such aggregation. Notably, different types of nanocomposites were reported based on Co, Ni, Mn and Fe over mesoporous carbon capsules [8]. A carbon

• ). In vitro anticancer studies Cisplatin is a well-known efficient anticancer drug that binds to DNA blocking cell division. As with many anticancer drugs, cisplatin has off-target toxicity, mainly in the kidneys, liver, heart, nerves, and ears. In addition, most patients develop chemoresistance to

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging applications

• Alberto Boretti,
• Lorenzo Rosa,
• Jonathan Blackledge and
• Stefania Castelletto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2128–2151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.207

• positive or negative imaging contrast for resolution as fine as cell clusters. The more precise the imaging that is required, the higher is the dose of the contrast medium that is necessary. This poses a question of possible toxicity that must be adequately considered and ultimately constitutes a key

• platforms, due to their biocompatibility and low toxicity compared to other nanomaterials, the concentration of 13C nuclear spins is diluted (1.1%) in the diamond unless they are enriched with an 13C isotope during growth, which is an expensive process. Used in bulk, a high-purity diamond can exhibit 13C T1

• applications, is given in [21], which includes details on biosensing, bioimaging and drug delivery as well as biocompatibility. The toxicity of diamond nanostructures is also discussed. Electron spin resonance (ESR) of the NVs themselves is exploited in [22] to achieve single-spin subwavelength resolution in

Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• with a hydrazine-assisted solution process [12][13]) to 10.6% (using a vacuum process [14]) and 8% (obtained with an electrochemical process [15]). These multinary sulfides have extremely low toxicity, consist of earth-abundant elements [3] and can be obtained by means of processes that are more energy

Improvement of the thermoelectric properties of a MoO₃ monolayer through oxygen vacancies

• Wenwen Zheng,
• Wei Cao,
• Ziyu Wang,
• Huixiong Deng,
• Jing Shi and
• Rui Xiong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2031–2038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.199

• . Unfortunately, the application of conventional thermoelectric materials is still limited by inefficiency and problems with high-cost, stability and toxicity. As promising candidates to address these severe challenges, transition metal oxides (TMOs) provide a vast variety of low-cost and environmentally friendly

Optimization and performance of nitrogen-doped carbon dots as a color conversion layer for white-LED applications

• Tugrul Guner,
• Hurriyet Yuce,
• Didem Tascioglu,
• Eren Simsek,
• Umut Savaci,
• Aziz Genc,
• Servet Turan and
• Mustafa M. Demir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2004–2013, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.197

• nanomaterials showing unique optical performance characterized by a wide wavelength tunability, high quantum yield and high photostability, while they show low toxicity and can be produced easily and at low cost [1][2][3][4][5]. The combination of such significant features renders CDots attractive for various

Gold-coated plant virus as computed tomography imaging contrast agent

• Alaa A. A. Aljabali,
• Mazhar S. Al Zoubi,
• Khalid M. Al-Batanyeh,
• Ali Al-Radaideh,
• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Abeer Al Sharabi,
• Walhan Alshaer,
• Bayan AbuFares,
• Tasnim Al-Zanati,
• Murtaza M. Tambuwala,
• Naveed Akbar and
• David J. Evans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1983–1993, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.195

• toxicity, biocompatibility, immunogenicity, distribution and the payload being carried. Modified protein cages are robust systems that combine imaging capabilities and target selectivity on the same platform. One application is the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Current

• ensure that the particles will bind specifically to their target tissue without being so small as to induce cell toxicity. This occurs at sizes smaller than 50 nm because of diffusion into the cells. We believe that the Au-CPMV particles have suitable sizes for optimal imaging quality and

Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• by cholesterol have been substantially investigated as drug carriers for targeting, modulating drug pharmacokinetics, and decreasing drug toxicity [15][16]. Liposomes also can be used as solubilizing media to enhance solubility and bioavailability of insoluble drugs [17]. Di and our prepared

• targeted drug delivery to tumors. These nanoparticles can passively accumulate in tumors via enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, thus decreasing the toxicity of nonselective bio-distribution [27]. Considering the advantages of liposomes as a drug delivery system for chemotherapeutic drugs and

• preparation technology are needed to improve the physicochemical properties of the phytosomes. Antiproliferative activity of P2P To determine the cytotoxicity of DiP and P2P in lung cancer cells, cells were treated with different concentrations of P, DiP and P2P for different incubation times. The toxicity of

Engineered superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for dual-modality imaging of intracranial glioblastoma via EGFRvIII targeting

• Xianping Liu,
• Chengjuan Du,
• Haichun Li,
• Ting Jiang,
• Zimiao Luo,
• Zhiqing Pang,
• Daoying Geng and
• Jun Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1860–1872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.181

• a commonly used positive contrast agent, despite its extensive application in T1-weighted MR imaging, has the disadvantages of unpredictable renal toxicity [6] and limited blood halftime [7]. Meanwhile, SPIONs, often used as negative contrast agents in MR imaging [8][9][10], have been extensively

• ) solution was added to each well. Finally, the absorbance of each well was measured with a microplate reader (Bio-TEK, USA) at a wavelength of 490 nm. To evaluate the in vivo systematic toxicity of PNPs, the histological sections of major organs (e.g., heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney) were collected

• vivo experiments demonstrated the excellent ability of the as-constructed nanoprobes to detect and characterize U87MG-EGFRvIII tumors with high sensitivity via MRI and optical imaging. Meanwhile, the systematic toxicity experiments indicated that PNPs are safe and can be used for further research

Toxicity and safety study of silver and gold nanoparticles functionalized with cysteine and glutathione

• Barbara Pem,
• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Lea Ulm,
• Ivan Pavičić,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ljubojević,
• Adela Krivohlavek and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1802–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.175

• , reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, apoptosis induction and DNA damage in murine fibroblast cells (L929), while ecotoxicity was tested using the aquatic model organism Daphnia magna. The toxicity of these nanoparticles was considerably lower compared to their ionic metal forms (i.e., Ag+ and Au3

• +). The comparison with data published on polymer-coated nanoparticles evidenced that surface modification with biothiols made them safer for the biological environment. In vitro evaluation on human cells demonstrated that the toxicity of AgNPs and AuNPs prepared in the presence of cysteine was similar to

• biomedical aspects of NPs (Figure S1 in Supporting Information File 1). In addition to the increase of papers reporting on the development of NPs for biomedical uses, the WoS search showed that there are ample in vitro and in vivo studies on the toxicity effects of AgNPs and AuNPs. There are a number of

Doxorubicin-loaded human serum albumin nanoparticles overcome transporter-mediated drug resistance in drug-adapted cancer cells

• Hannah Onafuye,
• Sebastian Pieper,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Jindrich Cinatl Jr.,
• Mark N. Wass,
• Klaus Langer and
• Martin Michaelis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1707–1715, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.166

• therefore result in toxicity as a consequence of a modified body distribution of anticancer drugs (and other drugs that are co-administered for conditions other than cancer), xenobiotics, and other molecules. Hence, the use of drug carrier systems to bypass ABC transporter-mediated drug efflux is

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• [10]. As one of the most promising photocatalysts, in terms of its chemical stability, non-toxicity, photo-corrosion resistance in aqueous media and advanced oxidation properties, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely studied [11][12] and employed for water splitting [13], energy storage [14], and