A subnanometer gap-separated linear chain gold nanoparticle (AuNP) silica nanotube peapod (SNTP) was fabricated by self-assembly. The geometrical configurations of the AuNPs inside the SNTPs were managed in order to pose either a single-line or a double-line nanostructure by controlling the diameters of the AuNPs and the orifice in the silica nanotubes (SNTs). The AuNPs were internalized and self-assembled linearly inside the SNTs by capillary force using a repeated wet-dry process on a rocking plate. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images clearly indicated that numerous nanogap junctions with sub-1-nm distances were formed among AuNPs inside SNTs. Finite-dimension time domain (FDTD) calculations were performed to estimate the electric field enhancements. Polarization-dependent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of bifunctional aromatic linker p-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA)-coated AuNP-embedded SNTs supported the linearly aligned nanogaps. We could demonstrate a silica wall-protected nanopeapod sensor with single nanotube sensitivity. SNTPs have potential application to intracellular pH sensors after endocytosis in mammalian cells for practical purposes. The TEM images indicated that the nanogaps were preserved inside the cellular constituents. SNTPs exhibited superior quality SERS spectra in vivo due to well-sustained nanogap junctions inside the SNTs, when compared to simply using AuNPs without any silica encapsulation. By using these SNTPs, a robust intracellular optical pH sensor could be developed with the advantage of the sustained nanogaps, due to silica wall-protection.

No abstract

Interest in mesoporous silica nanoparticles for drug delivery has resulted in a good understanding of the impact of size and surface chemistry of these nanoparticles on their performance as drug carriers. Shape has emerged as an additional factor that can have a significant effect on delivery efficacy. Rod-shaped mesoporous silica nanoparticles show improvements in drug delivery relative to spherical mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Areas covered: This review summarises the synthesis methods for producing rod-shaped mesoporous silica nanoparticles for use in nanomedicine. The second part covers recent progress of mesoporous silica nanorods by comparing the impact of sphere and rod-shape on drug delivery efficiency. Expert opinion: As hollow mesoporous silica nanorods are capable of higher drug loads than most other drug delivery vehicles, such particles will reduce the amount of mesoporous silica in the body for efficient therapy. However, the importance of nanoparticle shape on drug delivery efficiency is not well understood for mesoporous silica. Studies that visualize and quantify the uptake pathway of mesoporous silica nanorods in specific cell types and compare the cellular uptake to the well-studied nanospheres should be the focus of research to better understand the role of shape in uptake.

Macropinocytosis is a consequence of oncogenic alterations of cancer cells while most healthy cells are non‐macropinocytic. It is currently unclear whether macropinocytic cancer cells can be targeted rather than healthy cells, by adjusting the shape and size of nanoparticles. Herein, the endocytosis of two differently shaped nanoparticles; nanorods and nanospheres are compared in cancer and healthy cells. The cells are breast epithelial cancer cells (MCF7) and breast epithelial healthy cells (MCF10A) and pancreas cancer cells (PANC‐1 cells) and non‐tumourogenic patient‐derived cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs). The endocytosis pathway is quantified by a combination of pair correlation microscopy and endocytosis inhibitors. MCF7 cells use clathrin‐mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis to take up the nanorods while MCF10A cells use predominantly clathrin‐mediated endocytosis. Based on the comparison of endocytic behavior of cancer and healthy cells, MCF7 cells can be induced to take up more nanorods and suppress the metabolism and endocytosis of nanorods in MCF10A cells. The nanorods allow targeting to breast cancer MCF7 cells and pancreas cancer cells over the healthy cells. This study opens exciting possibilities for shape to target the cancer cells over healthy cells, by adjusting nanoparticle shape.

No abstract

Targeted drug delivery in cancer typically focuses on maximising the endocytosis of drugs into the diseased cells.

Upcoversion nanoparticles are an emerging luminescent nanomaterial with excellent photophysical properties that have great benefits in biological sensing. In this study, a luminescent turn-on biosensor for cell-secreted protease activity assay is established based on resonance energy transfer in an upconversion nanoparticle-graphene oxide nano-assembly. The proposed biosensor consists of a blue-emitting upconversion nanoparticle covered with a quenching complex, comprising gelatin as the proteinase substrate and graphene oxide nanosheets as luminescence acceptors. After enzymatic digestion, the upconversion nanoparticles lose the gelatin cover due to the disassembly of the quenching complex, thus the upconverting luminescence in the blue region is restored (a turn-on response). The recovered upconverting luminescence is proportional to the protease concentration; the limit of detection was 12 ng ml(-1). Finally, the upconversion-graphene oxide nanocomplex was successfully applied in the detection of cell-secreted protease-metalloproteinase in MCF-7 cancer cells with high sensitivity and specificity.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are attractive materials owing to their physical and electrochemical properties, which make them extremely useful in diagnostic applications. Photon upconversion is the phenomenon where high-energy photons are emitted upon excitation of low-energy photons. Nucleic acids detection based on upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), which display a high signal-to-noise ratio and no photobleaching, has been widely applied. We evaluated whether UCNPs can improve polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specificity and affect PCR amplification. The effects of UCNPs with a diameter size of 40, 70, and 250 nm were evaluated using 3 PCR kits (AccuPower PCR PreMix, AmpliTaq Gold 360 Master Mix, and HotStarTaq Plus Master Mix) and 3 real-time PCR kits (AccuPower GreenStar qPCR PreMix, SYBR Green PCR Master Mix, and QuantiTect SYBR Green PCR Kit). Quantum dots were used for comparison with the UCNPs. In the presence of an appropriate concentration of UCNPs, PCR specificity was optimized. UCNPs of 40-nm size improved PCR specificity more effectively than did UCNPs sized 70 or 250 nm. As the size and concentrations of the UCNPs were increased, PCR amplification was more severely inhibited. At lower annealing temperatures (25°C–45°C), addition of the 40 nm UCNP (1 µg/µL) to the PCR reagent produced specific PCR products without nonspecific sequence amplification. Therefore, UCNPs of different sizes, with different DNA polymerases used in the commercial kits, showed different inhibitory effects on PCR amplification. These results demonstrate that optimization of UCNPs, added to reaction mixtures at appropriate concentrations, can improve PCR specificity. However, the mechanism underlining UCNPs effect on PCR remains unclear and will require further investigation.