Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Therefore, it is of extreme importance to develop new systems that can deliver anticancer drugs into the site of action when initiating a treatment. Recently, the use of nanotechnology and particle engineering has enabled the development of new drug delivery platforms for pulmonary delivery. In this work, POXylated strawberry-like gold-coated magnetite nanocomposites and ibuprofen (IBP) were encapsulated into a chitosan matrix using Supercritical Assisted Spray Drying (SASD). The dry powder formulations showed adequate morphology and aerodynamic performances (fine particle fraction 48%–55% and aerodynamic diameter of 2.6–2.8 µm) for deep lung deposition through the pulmonary route. Moreover, the release kinetics of IBP was also investigated showing a faster release of the drug at pH 6.8, the pH of lung cancer. POXylated strawberry-like gold-coated magnetite nanocomposites proved to have suitable sizes for cellular internalization and their fluorescent capabilities enable their future use in in vitro cell based assays. As a proof-of-concept, the reported results show that these nano-in-micro formulations could be potential drug vehicles for pulmonary administration. Full article

To utilize iron oxide nanoparticles in biomedical applications, a sufficient magnetic moment is crucial. Since this magnetic moment is directly proportional to the size of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles, synthesis methods of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with tunable size are desirable. However, most existing protocols are plagued by several drawbacks. Presented here is a one-pot synthesis method resulting in monodisperse superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with a controllable size and magnetic moment using cost-effective reagents. The obtained nanoparticles were thoroughly characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) measurements. Furthermore, the influence of the size on the magnetic moment of the nanoparticles is analyzed by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry. To emphasize the potential use in biomedical applications, magnetic heating experiments were performed. Full article

Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) allow the combination of the high ionic conductivity of ionic liquids (ILs) with the supramolecular organization of liquid crystals (LCs). ILCs salts were obtained by the assembly of long-chained diketonylpyridinium cations of the type [HOO^R(n)pyH]⁺ and BF₄⁻, ReO₄⁻, NO₃⁻, CF₃SO₃⁻, CuCl₄²⁻ counter-ions. We have studied the thermal behavior of five series of compounds by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and hot stage polarized light optical microscopy (POM). All materials show thermotropic mesomorphism as well as crystalline polymorphism. X-ray diffraction of the [HOO^R(12)pyH][ReO₄] crystal reveals a layered structure with alternating polar and apolar sublayers. The mesophases also exhibit a lamellar arrangement detected by variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction. The CuCl₄²⁻ salts exhibit the best LC properties followed by the ReO₄⁻ ones due to low melting temperature and wide range of existence. The conductivity was probed for the mesophases in one species each from the ReO₄⁻, and CuCl₄²⁻ families, and for the solid phase in one of the non-mesomorphic Cl⁻ salts. The highest ionic conductivity was found for the smectic mesophase of the ReO₄⁻ containing salt, whereas the solid phases of all salts were dominated by electronic contributions. The ionic conductivity may be favored by the mesophase lamellar structure. Full article

A direct current atmospheric pressure glow microdischarge (dc-μAPGD) generated between an Ar nozzle microjet and a flowing liquid was applied to produce Au-Ag core-shell nanoparticles (Au@AgCSNPs) in a continuous flow system. Firstly, operating dc-μAPGD with the flowing solution of the Au(III) ions as the cathode, the Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) core was produced. Next, to produce the core-shell nanostructures, the collected AuNPs solution was immediately mixed with an AgNO₃ solution and passed through the system with the reversed polarity to fabricate the Ag nanoshell on the AuNPs core. The formation of Au@AgCSNPs was confirmed using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorbance spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Three localized surface plasmon resonance absorption bands with wavelengths centered at 372, 546, and 675 nm were observed in the UV-Vis spectrum of Au@AgCSNPs, confirming the reduction of both the Au(III) and Ag(I) ions. The right configuration of metals in Au@AgCSNPs was evidenced by TEM. The Au core diameter was 10.2 ± 2.0 nm, while the thickness of the Ag nanoshell was 5.8 ± 1.8 nm. The elemental composition of the bimetallic nanoparticles was also confirmed by EDS. It is possible to obtain 90 mL of a solution containing Au@AgCSNPs per hour using the applied microdischarge system. Full article

Systematic review of experimental and clinical data on the use of curcumin in the treatment of osteosarcoma is presented. The current status of curcumin’s therapeutic potential against bone cancer is analyzed in regard to using polymeric micelles (including recently developed invertible, responsive, micelles) as a platform for curcumin delivery to treat osteosarcoma. The potential of micellar assemblies from responsive macromolecules in a controlled delivery of curcumin to osteosarcoma cells, and the release using a new inversion mechanism is revealed. Full article

Socially responsible technologies are designed while taking into consideration the socioeconomic, geopolitical and environmental limitations of regions in which they will be implemented. In the medical context, this involves making therapeutic platforms more accessible and affordable to patients in poor regions of the world wherein a given disease is endemic. This often necessitates going against the reigning trend of making therapeutic nanoparticles ever more structurally complex and expensive. However, studies aimed at simplifying materials and formulations while maintaining the functionality and therapeutic response of their more complex counterparts seldom provoke a significant interest in the scientific community. In this review we demonstrate that such compositional simplifications are meaningful when it comes to the design of a solution for osteomyelitis, a disease that is in its natural, non-postoperative form particularly prevalent in the underdeveloped parts of the world wherein poverty, poor sanitary conditions, and chronically compromised defense lines of the immune system are the norm. We show that calcium phosphate nanoparticles, which are inexpensive to make, could be chemically designed to possess the same functionality as a hypothetic mixture additionally composed of: (a) a bone growth factor; (b) an antibiotic for prophylactic or anti-infective purposes; (c) a bisphosphonate as an antiresorptive compound; (d) a viral vector to enable the intracellular delivery of therapeutics; (e) a luminescent dye; (f) a radiographic component; (g) an imaging contrast agent; (h) a magnetic domain; and (i) polymers as viscous components enabling the injectability of the material and acting as carriers for the sustained release of a drug. In particular, calcium phosphates could: (a) produce tunable drug release profiles; (b) take the form of viscous and injectable, self-setting pastes; (c) be naturally osteo-inductive and inhibitory for osteoclastogenesis; (d) intracellularly deliver bioactive compounds; (e) accommodate an array of functional ions; (f) be processed into macroporous constructs for tissue engineering; and (g) be naturally antimicrobial. All in all, we see in calcium phosphates the presence of a protean nature whose therapeutic potentials have been barely tapped into. Full article