{"title":"PEGylated W<sub>4.6</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/WO<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles as a near-infrared photothermal agent for effective cancer therapy.","authors":"Rui Yang, Jianping Li, Hao Song, Cong Wang, Na Xu","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00665a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00665a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent years, near-infrared (NIR) light-sensitive photothermal agents (PTAs) with excellent photothermal conversion efficiency have shown great potential in enhancing the performance of advanced photothermal therapy (PTT). In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified tungsten nitride/tungsten oxide nanoparticles (PEGylated W<sub>4.6</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/WO<sub>3</sub>-NPs) with heterojunction structures were designed and constructed. The PEGylated W<sub>4.6</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/WO<sub>3</sub>-NPs showed strong absorbance ability in the NIR window and photothermal conversion under 808 nm irradiation. The PEGylated W<sub>4.6</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/WO<sub>3</sub>-NPs exhibited good biocompatibility and efficient tumor ablation function. Therefore, the PEGylated W<sub>4.6</sub>N<sub>4</sub>/WO<sub>3</sub>-NPs can be used as a photothermal agent.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144532032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wearable microfluidic immunosensors for point-of-care detection of bio-analytes: a critical review.","authors":"Emadoddin Amin Sadrabadi, Foad Soleimani, Neda Naseri, Mohsen Ghiasi Tarzi, Kobra Omidfar","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00682a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00682a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Early and timely disease diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment and improved clinical outcomes. Antibodies and their fragments are among the most widely used affinity reagents in point-of-care (POC) assays because of their target specificity and affinity. Traditional immunosensors, the analytical devices utilizing antibodies as the biorecognition elements, are time-consuming and require advanced lab settings, limiting their use in POC testing. Recent research focuses on developing specific, portable, and cost-effective miniaturized diagnostic tests for various applications. Wearable immunosensors offer rapid, specific, and affordable solutions, especially in remote settings. However, they fall short in manipulating low-volume samples and multiplex detection of bioanalytes. Integrating these assays with micro/nanofabrication technologies would be beneficial to patient care because the various laboratory assays can be miniaturized and incorporated into a lab-on-a-body. This review aims to outline recent progress in developing wearable immunosensors and highlight the utility of these assays in detecting bio-analytes. Furthermore, prospects, opportunities, and remaining challenges within this research area are presented to facilitate their translation into clinical settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Willis Kwun Hei Ho, Qin Zhang, Fariza Zhorabe, Jiaxiang Yan, Yutian Gu, Shujun Wang, Changqing Yi, Yu Zhang, Mo Yang
{"title":"A buoyant plasmonic microbubble-based SERS sensing platform for amyloid-beta protein detection in Alzheimer's disease.","authors":"Willis Kwun Hei Ho, Qin Zhang, Fariza Zhorabe, Jiaxiang Yan, Yutian Gu, Shujun Wang, Changqing Yi, Yu Zhang, Mo Yang","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00632e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00632e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques are a key pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), highlighting the need for highly sensitive bioassays for Aβ detection to enable AD diagnosis. Here, we synthesized a buoyant plasmonic substrate composed of polyvinyl alcohol microbubbles (MBs) decorated with <i>in situ</i>-reduced gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Benefiting from its inherent buoyancy and near-infrared plasmonic properties, the Au/MB substrate serves as an ideal platform for biomolecular sensing <i>via</i> the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique. Compared to conventional flat SERS substrates, the three-dimensional (3D) curved surface of the Au/MB substrate significantly increases the effective sensing area, while its inherent buoyancy facilitates the efficient removal of unbound targets, thereby enhancing detection specificity. By functionalizing Au/MB substrates with copper ions (Cu<sup>2+</sup>) and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA), we achieved sensitive detection of AD-related Aβ proteins. In the presence of the target analyte, the interaction between Aβ proteins and Cu<sup>2+</sup> induces molecular deformation and orientation changes in 4-MBA, leading to distinct spectral changes in the SERS signals. The results demonstrate that the developed Au/MB-based SERS sensor enables sensitive detection of Aβ<sub>1-40</sub> oligomers with a sensitivity as low as 10<sup>-9</sup> M. Therefore, this work not only establishes a foundational framework for designing buoyant plasmonic substrate-based SERS sensing platform but also paves the way for the quantitative detection of disease-associated protein biomarkers, contributing to advancements in AD diagnostics.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dimitra Toumpa, Athina Angelopoulou, Konstantinos Avgoustakis, George Pasparakis
{"title":"Ultrasonic activation of polymer-drug conjugates for targeted and combinational pancreatic cancer therapy.","authors":"Dimitra Toumpa, Athina Angelopoulou, Konstantinos Avgoustakis, George Pasparakis","doi":"10.1039/d5tb01250c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb01250c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this work, we present a series of polymer-drug conjugates (PDCs) incorporating gemcitabine (GEM) and camptothecin (CPT), linked to polymethacrylate backbones <i>via</i> ester and disulfide linkers. Using monomeric prodrug precursors, we employed reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to synthesize colloidally stable PDCs. Upon ultrasound irradiation, these PDCs exhibited accelerated drug release, which was further enhanced by the presence of a sonosensitizer due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Systematic <i>in vitro</i> testing across different treatment modalities revealed formulations capable of outperforming the IC<sub>50</sub> values of the parent drugs by up to five orders of magnitude. Our findings highlight how the interplay between the PDC structure (<i>e.g.</i>, drug combinations and linkers) and ultrasound-triggered activation in the presence of a sonosensitizer significantly enhances the therapeutic potency of these nanomedicines.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qianfan Chen, Si Liu, Peijun Qin, Jueyi Xue, Peiji Deng, Ziping Li, John Whitelock, Tianruo Guo, Kang Liang
{"title":"Improving extracellular matrix penetration with biocatalytic metal-organic framework nanoswimmers.","authors":"Qianfan Chen, Si Liu, Peijun Qin, Jueyi Xue, Peiji Deng, Ziping Li, John Whitelock, Tianruo Guo, Kang Liang","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00509d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00509d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The development of self-propelled nanomotors offers a promising strategy to enhance targeted drug delivery efficiency in cancer therapy. Active motion is believed to aid nanomotors in overcoming the physical barriers of the tumor microenvironment, allowing for deep tissue penetration; however, this crucial concept lacks detailed mechanistic understanding. In this study, we report catalase and collagenase dual-enzyme functionalized zeolitic imidazolate framework-90 (ZIF-90) nanomotors. Catalase enables the nanomotors with self-propulsion in the presence of low amount of hydrogen peroxide, while collagenase enables catalytic decomposition of collagen, a major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM), thereby enhancing motility and facilitating deeper penetration into the ECM. Experimental and computational studies elucidated the detailed mechanisms governing ECM penetration kinetics. Using a three-dimensional tumor spheroid model, the nanomotors demonstrated enhanced tissue penetration, leading to improved drug delivery and a significant reduction in cell viability. These findings underscore the potential of self-propelled nanomotors to improve drug delivery efficiency in solid tumors by leveraging both biocatalytic activity and active motion to navigate biological barriers.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yu Zhang, Zhiqiang Cui, Jakub Širůček, Denis Jacquemin, Boris Le Guennic, Xiaohong Sun, Xin-Dong Jiang, Gaowu Qin
{"title":"Embedding oxygen heterocycles into BODIPY to enhance intersystem crossing for photodynamic therapy.","authors":"Yu Zhang, Zhiqiang Cui, Jakub Širůček, Denis Jacquemin, Boris Le Guennic, Xiaohong Sun, Xin-Dong Jiang, Gaowu Qin","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00427f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00427f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>By incorporating an oxygen heterocycle into a BODIPY core, near-infrared (NIR) absorbing dyes were successfully prepared. The solid-state structures of these systems were confirmed through X-ray crystallographic analysis. The extended BODIPY compounds exhibited absorption and emission wavelengths in the NIR region (up to <i>λ</i><sub>abs</sub> = 772 nm and <i>λ</i><sub>em</sub> = 807 nm in DMSO). Notably, the inclusion of the oxygen heterocycle enhanced intersystem crossing, enabling the newly-formed BODIPY to act as a heavy-atom-free singlet oxygen generator. Upon light-irradiation, self-assembled BODIPY nanoparticles caused mitochondrial damage by reducing the mitochondrial membrane potential, thereby promoting tumor cell apoptosis <i>in vivo</i>. Furthermore, these self-assembled nanoparticles demonstrated a significant inhibitory effect on animal tumor tissues when irradiated with an 808 nm laser.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499960","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wire arc additively manufactured nitinol with excellent superelasticity for biomedical applications.","authors":"Muralidhar Yadav, Ajit Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Sagar Nilawar, Murugaiyan Amirthalingam, Satyam Suwas, Kaushik Chatterjee","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00336a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00336a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite some recent successes in the additive manufacturing of nitinol alloys, these parts exhibit poor superelasticity compared to wrought parts, limiting their applications in biomedical devices. In this work, wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) was used for processing superelastic biomedical grade nitinol wire as the feedstock material on a Ti-6Al-4V substrate. Nitinol prepared by WAAM was subjected to different controlled heat treatments to improve the superelasticity. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed microstructural anisotropy with columnar to equiaxed grains from the bottom to the top layer of the as-fabricated alloy, which did not alter with heat treatment. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of B2 austenite as the major phase along with NiTi<sub>2</sub>, Ni<sub>3</sub>Ti, and Ni<sub>4</sub>Ti<sub>3</sub> precipitates. A<sub>f</sub> temperatures lie between 20 and 30 °C and are favorable for biomedical applications. Due to 〈001〉 oriented grains revealed by electron backscatter diffraction, nitinol prepared by WAAM, when subjected to an optimized heat treatment schedule, demonstrated excellent superelastic recovery of 98%, which is remarkably higher than reported earlier and similar to wrought alloy. Additionally, the results of cell studies indicated that the nitinol surface better supported cell attachment following heat treatment and was comparable to that of as-cast nitinol. These findings have important implications in establishing WAAM as a viable fabrication route to prepare biomedical implants, wherein additively manufactured parts can be subjected to post-fabrication heat treatments to alleviate limitations of additive manufacturing and prepare implants of desired biomechanical performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Iodine-containing materials for biomedical applications.","authors":"Jun-Jie Zeng, Zi-Xi Wang, Fu-Gen Wu","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00534e","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00534e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Iodine has been widely used in the biomedical field for its broad-spectrum antibacterial potential, strong oxidation ability, and excellent biocompatibility. Nowadays, although abundant biomaterials have been developed for various therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, few of them can be applied clinically because of their unsatisfactory therapeutic effects, high cytotoxicity, or low stability. Iodine has been utilized to develop antiseptics for a long time. Some of the iodine-containing antiseptics, such as povidone-iodine and iodine tincture, show desirable effects and are used extensively in daily life. Besides the antibacterial potency of iodine, researchers have also demonstrated that iodine-containing biomaterials exhibit excellent performance in antitumor therapy, wound healing treatment, tissue engineering, and bioimaging and biodetection. In this review, we will summarize the recent progress of iodine-containing biomaterials in the above-mentioned biomedical applications and highlight the preparation, working mechanism, and therapeutic effect of iodine-containing biomaterials. The current challenges and future research directions in this field are also proposed.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Decellularized small intestinal hydrogel-encapsulated BMSCs attenuate dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice <i>via</i> immunomodulation and tissue repair.","authors":"Qiaoting Zeng, Huimin Xiao, Yuan Chen, Zhihua Xiao, Yuhong Ren, Qin Liu","doi":"10.1039/d5tb00706b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb00706b","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) urgently requires effective and safe strategies, and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy has emerged as a research focus due to its immunomodulatory and tissue-repairing capabilities. To enhance the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs, this study developed a decellularized small intestinal (dSI) hydrogel delivery system to encapsulate rat bone marrow-derived MSCs (rBMSCs) for targeted rectal administration to colitis lesions in mice. Results demonstrated that the dSI hydrogel significantly improved the <i>in vivo</i> survival rate of rBMSCs and effectively alleviated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis symptoms. The dSI hydrogel significantly improved rBMSCs survival <i>in vivo</i> and ameliorated DSS-induced colitis by: suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and myeloperoxidase (MPO) expression; restoration of intestinal barrier function and promotion of mucosal regeneration. The dSI hydrogel outperformed conventional PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogels in tissue repair due to its superior bioactivity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical properties, while its low immunogenicity ensured therapeutic safety. The combined treatment mitigated inflammation, oxidative stress, and tissue damage through multi-target synergistic effects, offering a novel therapeutic approach for IBD. Future studies should further investigate the interaction mechanisms between dSI hydrogel and rBMSCs, optimize dosing regimens, and employ single-cell RNA sequencing to elucidate MSC-mediated immunomodulation in the gut microenvironment. This study provides experimental evidence for the clinical translation of dSI hydrogel-based MSC therapy, highlighting its potential as a promising strategy for IBD treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wenzhen Gao, Lian Wang, Qing Zhao, Chenchen Zhou, Bo Huang, Guiting Liu
{"title":"Mechanically active biomaterials for tissue repair and regeneration.","authors":"Wenzhen Gao, Lian Wang, Qing Zhao, Chenchen Zhou, Bo Huang, Guiting Liu","doi":"10.1039/d5tb01180a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5tb01180a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mechanically active (mechanoactive) biomaterials are a class of naturally inspired materials that convert external stimulus inputs into dynamic and highly tunable mechanical outputs, which induces beneficial cellular responses and enhances the healing and regenerative processes of damaged tissues in a biosafety manner. Recently, various mechanoactive biomaterials, mainly classified into contractile materials, expansile materials, and oscillatory materials, have been developed and excellent results have been achieved in wound regeneration, blood loss control, and repair of soft and hard tissue defects. In this review, the recent progress of mechanoactive biomaterials in tissue repair and regeneration is summarized, and a perspective towards the future outlook is discussed, aiming to highlight the potential of this emerging and powerful class of tissue repair materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":94089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of materials chemistry. B","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}