Despite significant advances in cancer therapy over the years, its complex pathological process still represents a major health challenge when seeking effective treatment and improved healthcare. With the advent of nanotechnologies, nanomedicine-based cancer therapy has been widely explored as a promising technology able to handle the requirements of the clinical sector. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) have been at the forefront of nanotechnology development since the mid-1990s, thanks to their former role as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. Though their use as MRI probes has been discontinued due to an unfavorable cost/benefit ratio, several innovative applications as therapeutic tools have prompted a renewal of interest. The unique characteristics of SPION, i.e., their magnetic properties enabling specific response when submitted to high frequency (magnetic hyperthermia) or low frequency (magneto-mechanical therapy) alternating magnetic field, and their ability to generate reactive oxygen species (either intrinsically or when activated using various stimuli), make them particularly adapted for cancer therapy. This review provides a comprehensive description of the fundamental aspects of SPION formulation and highlights various recent approaches regarding in vivo applications in the field of cancer therapy.
The development of efficient, reliable, and easy-to-use biosensors allowing early cancer diagnosis is of paramount importance for patients. Herein, we report a biosensor based on silver nanoparticles functionalized by peptide aptamers for the detection of a cancer biomarker, i. e. the Mdm2 protein. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were produced and stabilized with a thin PEGylated-calix[4]arene layer that allows (i) the steric stabilization of the AgNPs and (ii) the covalent conjugation of the peptide aptamers via the formation of an amide bond. These peptide-conjugated AgNPs were then used to detect Mdm2 via a dual trapping strategy that was previously reported with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Our results showed that replacing AuNPs by AgNPs improves the detection limit by nearly one order of magnitude, down to 5 nM, while the high selectivity of the system and the stability of the particles provided by the calixarene coating allow the detection of Mdm2 in human serum.
Invited for this month's cover are the collaborating groups of Prof. Gilles Bruylants and Prof. Ivan Jabin, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. The cover picture shows the principle of a colorimetric sensor, based on peptide‐conjugated silver nanoparticles, for the detection of the cancer biomarker Mdm2. The particles were functionalized via a recently developed strategy based on the use of calixarene diazonium salts. The calixarene‐based coating provides an unprecedented stability to the silver nanoparticles, enabling their use as colorimetric reporters for in vitro diagnostics. The cover was designed by I. Jabin. More information can be found in the Research Article by I. Jabin, G. Bruylants, and co‐workers.
Bimodal sub-5 nm superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIO-5) coated with polyethylene glycol of different chain lengths (i.e. PEG-800, -2000 and -5000) have been prepared and characterized.
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