Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Performance of Ultrathin Noble Metal Nanosheets

Noble metal nanomaterials are widely used in various fields such as catalysis, fuel cells, and biomedical applications due to their high catalytic activity, chemical stability, and biocompatibility. The performance of...

2D PdCu Alloy Nanodendrites Manifest Effective Peroxidase-Like Activity Against Biofilms

Noble metal nanomaterials with peroxidase-like catalytic activity have received great interest lately for their potential applications in biomedicine and environmental protection; however, it is still challenging to achieve high catalytic efficiency despite enormous efforts. In this work, a novel but simple route was developed to synthesize 2D PdCu alloy nanodendrites (PdCu NDs) as a high-performance peroxidase mimic for biofilm elimination. Catalytic kinetics shows that the composition-dependent synergy between Pd and Cu in the PdCu NDs can strongly enhance the peroxidase-like activity. Density functional theory calculations further provide the underlying mechanisms at both atomic and electronic levels for the effective adsorption and dissociation of H2O2 molecules on PdCu NDs surfaces. Owing to their superior peroxidase-like activity, the PdCu NDs exhibit striking biofilm inhibition properties, which suggests that the controlled synthesis of 2D noble metal alloy may open up new opportunities for enhancing enzyme-like activities of noble metal nanomaterials.

Functionalized Nanomaterials as Tailored Theranostic Agents in Brain Imaging

Functionalized nanomaterials of various categories are essential for developing cancer nano-theranostics for brain diseases; however, some limitations exist in their effectiveness and clinical translation, such as toxicity, limited tumor penetration, and inability to cross blood–brain and blood-tumor barriers. Metal nanomaterials with functional fluorescent tags possess unique properties in improving their functional properties, including surface plasmon resonance (SPR), superparamagnetism, and photo/bioluminescence, which facilitates imaging applications in addition to their deliveries. Moreover, these multifunctional nanomaterials could be synthesized through various chemical modifications on their physical surfaces via attaching targeting peptides, fluorophores, and quantum dots (QD), which could improve the application of these nanomaterials by facilitating theranostic modalities. In addition to their inherent CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), PAI (Photo-acoustic imaging), and X-ray contrast imaging, various multifunctional nanoparticles with imaging probes serve as brain-targeted imaging candidates in several imaging modalities. The primary criteria of these functional nanomaterials for translational application to the brain must be zero toxicity. Moreover, the beneficial aspects of nano-theranostics of nanoparticles are their multifunctional systems proportioned towards personalized disease management via comprising diagnostic and therapeutic abilities in a single biodegradable nanomaterial. This review highlights the emerging aspects of engineered nanomaterials to reach and deliver therapeutics to the brain and how to improve this by adopting the imaging modalities for theranostic applications.

The Interaction between DNA and Three Intercalating Anthracyclines Using Electrochemical DNA Nanobiosensor Based on Metal Nanoparticles Modified Screen-Printed Electrode

The screen-printed electrodes have gained increasing importance due to their advantages, such as robustness, portability, and easy handling. The manuscript presents the investigation of the interaction between double-strand deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) and three anthracyclines: epirubicin (EPI), idarubicin (IDA), and doxorubicin (DOX) by differential pulse voltammetry on metal nanoparticles modified by screen-printed electrodes. In order to investigate the interaction, the voltammetric signals of dsDNA electroactive bases were used as an indicator. The effect of various metal nanomaterials on the signals of guanine and adenine was evaluated. Moreover, dsDNA/PtNPs/AgNPs/SPE (platinum nanoparticles/ silver nanoparticles/screen-printed electrodes) was designed for anthracyclines–dsDNA interaction studies since the layer-by-layer modification strategy of metal nanoparticles increases the surface area. Using the signal of multi-layer calf thymus (ct)-dsDNA, the within-day reproducibility results (RSD%) for guanine and adenine peak currents were found as 0.58% and 0.73%, respectively, and the between-day reproducibility results (RSD%) for guanine and adenine peak currents were found as 1.04% and 1.26%, respectively. The effect of binding time and concentration of three anthracyclines on voltammetric signals of dsDNA bases were also evaluated. The response was examined in the range of 0.3–1.3 ppm EPI, 0.1–1.0 ppm IDA and DOX concentration on dsDNA/PtNPs/AgNPs/SPE. Electrochemical studies proposed that the interaction mechanism between three anthracyclines and dsDNA was an intercalation mode.

Metal-Based Nanomaterials: Work as Drugs and Carriers against Viral Infections

Virus infection is one of the threats to the health of organisms, and finding suitable antiviral agents is one of the main tasks of current researchers. Metal ions participate in multiple key reaction stages of organisms and maintain the important homeostasis of organisms. The application of synthetic metal-based nanomaterials as an antiviral therapy is a promising new research direction. Based on the application of synthetic metal-based nanomaterials in antiviral therapy, we summarize the research progress of metal-based nanomaterials in recent years. This review analyzes the three inhibition pathways of metal nanomaterials as antiviral therapeutic materials against viral infections, including direct inactivation, inhibition of virus adsorption and entry, and intracellular virus suppression; it further classifies and summarizes them according to their inhibition mechanisms. In addition, the use of metal nanomaterials as antiviral drug carriers and vaccine adjuvants is summarized. The analysis clarifies the antiviral mechanism of metal nanomaterials and broadens the application in the field of antiviral therapy.

Gold Nanoparticle: Recent Progress on Its Antibacterial Applications and Mechanisms

Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) is a new type of metal nanomaterials used in the biomedical field. Compared with ordinary metal materials and other metal nanomaterials, AuNP can be very unique. AuNP has been proven to have good performance against a variety of pathogens, and research on its antibacterial activity and mechanism has also become a hot topic in recent years. This article summarizes the antibacterial properties and clinical applications of AuNP against different kinds of bacteria and analyzes and discusses its existing and potential antibacterial mechanisms. At the same time, we also put forward the current challenges and problems to be solved by AuNP and look forward to its future development prospects, in order to correctly and comprehensively introduce this new antibacterial method.