Biomolecule-mimetic nanomaterials for photothermal and photodynamic therapy of cancers: Bridging nanobiotechnology and biomedicine

Abstract

Nanomaterial-based phototherapy has become an important research direction for cancer therapy, but it still to face some obstacles, such as the toxic side effects and low target specificity. The biomimetic synthesis of nanomaterials using biomolecules is a potential strategy to improve photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) techniques due to their endowed biocompatibility, degradability, low toxicity, and specific targeting. This review presents recent advances in the biomolecule-mimetic synthesis of functional nanomaterials for PTT and PDT of cancers. First, we introduce four biomimetic synthesis methods via some case studies and discuss the advantages of each method. Then, we introduce the synthesis of nanomaterials using some biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, protein, peptide, polydopamine, and others, and discuss in detail how to regulate the structure and functions of the obtained biomimetic nanomaterials. Finally, potential applications of biomimetic nanomaterials for both PTT and PDT of cancers are demonstrated and discussed. We believe that this work is valuable for readers to understand the mechanisms of biomimetic synthesis and nanomaterial-based phototherapy techniques, and will contribute to bridging nanotechnology and biomedicine to realize novel highly effective cancer therapies.

Biomolecule-protected gold nanoclusters: synthesis and biomedical applications

“…Compared with most top-down synthesis methods, bottom-up biomimetic synthesis has the advantages of gentler reaction conditions, more customizable structure and function, and easier preparation. 32 Biomolecules are rich in chemical components, mainly including stabilizing groups (such as hydroxy, carboxyl and nucleotides) and reducing groups (such as tryptophan and tyrosine). 33 AuNCs with proteins, peptides, DNA and polysaccharides as ligands are mainly synthesized using a bottom-up bionic synthesis strategy by redox reactions.…”

Fast and convenient delivery of fluidextracts liquorice through electrospun core-shell nanohybrids

“…In particular, electrospinning is developing very quickly, expanding its capability of creating new nanofibers and providing powerful tools for constructing novel drug delivery systems (DDSs). These directions include: 1) production on an industrial scale to create “more” nanofibers ( Zhao et al, 2022 ; Cao et al, 2022 ; Cui et al, 2023 ); 2) creating complicated nanostructures to load more kinds of active ingredients to endow functionally “better” nanofibers ( Keirouz et al, 2020 ; Huang et al, 2022 ; Li et al, 2022 ; Wang et al, 2023e ); and 3) combination with traditional physical and chemical methods to convert more materials into nanofibers with “stronger” commercial competitiveness ( Huang et al, 2022 ; Huang et al, 2022 ; He et al, 2022 ; Xu et al, 2023 ).…”

Two-dimensional peptide nanosheets functionalized with gold nanorods for photothermal therapy of tumors

“…1–3 In the process of the PTT of tumors, photothermal conversion materials (PTCMs) absorb light energy and convert it to heat, which kills the cancer cells under light irridiation. 4,5 Therefore, to a large extent, the effect of the PTT of tumors depends on the structure, functions, and properties of the applied PTCMs. 6 So far, a lot of nanomaterials, including noble metallic nanoparticles (NPs), 7 metal sulfide NPs, 8 carbon nanotubes, 9 metallic nanowires and nanorods (NRs), 10,11 two-dimensional (2D) inorganic nanomaterials (such as graphene, 12 black phosphorus, 13 MXene 14 ), and others, have been widely used for the PTT of tumors.…”