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Functional Nanomaterials and Biopolymers for Precision Medicine
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Functional Nanomaterials and Biopolymers for Precision Medicine

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 12476

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Nicolò Mauro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lab of Biocompatible Polymers, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Interests: carbon nanodots; graphene oxide; smart nanomedicine; cancer theranostics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Functional nanomaterials such as carbon nanodots, graphene oxide, porous silica nanoparticles, and metallic nanoparticles are exciting materials that have gained great attention over the last decade due to their biocompatibility and peculiar surface, optical and physicochemical properties which stem from the unique quantum, and the surface phenomena that matter exhibits at the nanoscale. Further, they can be functionalized with different biopolymers to tune their biological and physicochemical properties for specific biomedical applications. I firmly believe that functional nanomaterials are going to be the key component of future nanomedicines for personalized precision cancer medicine approaches, since they are endowed with a smart combination of properties (e.g., magnetic, photoluminescent, photothermal, active recognition of cell phenotypes, biocompatibility, selective drug delivery) required to develop efficient and versatile tools to selectively track, monitor, and eradicate tumors.

In this Special Issue of Materials, I invite authors to submit original communications, articles, and reviews on functional nanomaterials and biopolymers or hybrids. We look forward to your contributions and fruitful discussions.

Dr. Nicolò Mauro
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • carbon nanomaterials
  • graphene oxide
  • carbon nanodots
  • smart nanomedicine
  • cancer theranostics

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1389 KiB  
Article
Inverse Poly-High Internal Phase Emulsions Poly(HIPEs) Materials from Natural and Biocompatible Polysaccharides
by Giuseppe Tripodo, Enrica Calleri, Cinzia di Franco, Maria Luisa Torre, Maurizio Memo and Delia Mandracchia
Materials 2020, 13(23), 5499; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13235499 - 2 Dec 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2133
Abstract
This paper shows one of the few examples in the literature on the feasibility of novel materials from natural and biocompatible polymers like inulin (INU) or glycol chitosan (GCS) templated by the formation of o/w (inverse) high internal phase emulsion (HIPE). [...] Read more.
This paper shows one of the few examples in the literature on the feasibility of novel materials from natural and biocompatible polymers like inulin (INU) or glycol chitosan (GCS) templated by the formation of o/w (inverse) high internal phase emulsion (HIPE). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of inverse polyHIPEs obtained from glycol chitosan or inulin. The obtained polyHIPEs were specifically designed for possible wound dressing applications. The HIPE (pre-crosslinking emulsion) was obtained as inverse HIPE, i.e., by forming a cream-like 80:20 v/v o/w emulsion by using the isopropyl myristate in its oil phase, which is obtained from natural sources like palm oil or coconut oil. The surfactant amount was critical in obtaining the inverse HIPE and the pluronic F127 was effective in stabilizing the emulsion comprising up to 80% v/v as internal phase. The obtained inverse HIPEs were crosslinked by UV irradiation for methacrylated INU or by glutaraldehyde-crosslinking for GCS. In both cases, inverse poly-HIPEs were obtained, which were physicochemically characterized. This paper introduces a new concept in using hydrophilic, natural polymers for the formation of inverse poly-HIPEs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Nanomaterials and Biopolymers for Precision Medicine)
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16 pages, 2766 KiB  
Article
Pressure-Dependent Tuning of Photoluminescence and Size Distribution of Carbon Nanodots for Theranostic Anticancer Applications
by Nicolò Mauro, Mara Andrea Utzeri, Gianpiero Buscarino, Alice Sciortino, Fabrizio Messina, Gennara Cavallaro and Gaetano Giammona
Materials 2020, 13(21), 4899; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13214899 - 31 Oct 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2048
Abstract
Carbon nanodots (CDs) have recently attracted attention in the field of nanomedicine because of the biocompatibility, cost-effective nature, high specific surface, good near infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion into heat and tunable fluorescence properties, which have paved the way toward incorporating use of CDs [...] Read more.
Carbon nanodots (CDs) have recently attracted attention in the field of nanomedicine because of the biocompatibility, cost-effective nature, high specific surface, good near infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion into heat and tunable fluorescence properties, which have paved the way toward incorporating use of CDs into innovative anticancer theranostic platforms. However, a reliable synthesis of CDs with established and controlled physiochemical proprieties is precluded owing to the lack of full manipulation of thermodynamic parameters during the synthesis, thus limiting their use in real world medical applications. Herein, we developed a robust solvothermal protocol which allow fine controlling of temperature and pressure in order to obtain CDs with tunable properties. We obtained different CDs by modulating the operating pressure (from 8 to 18.5 bar) during the solvothermal decomposition of urea and citric acid in N,N-dimethylformamide at fixed composition. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to assess the role of pressure in influencing size, optical and surface properties of the obtained CDs. While preliminary biological and anticancer performance of CDs was established on the MDA-MB-231 cell line, used as triple negative breast cancer model. Our results indicate that pressure impinge on the formation of carbon nanoparticles under solvothermal conditions and impart desired optical, size distribution, surface functionalization and anticancer properties in a facile way. However, we have highlighted that a strategic surface engineering of these CDs is needed to limit the adsorption of corona proteins and also to increase the average surface diameter, avoiding a rapid renal clearance and improving their therapeutic efficacy in vivo. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Nanomaterials and Biopolymers for Precision Medicine)
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Review

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18 pages, 2010 KiB  
Review
Biomaterials for Drugs Nose–Brain Transport: A New Therapeutic Approach for Neurological Diseases
by Roberta Cassano, Camilla Servidio and Sonia Trombino
Materials 2021, 14(7), 1802; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14071802 - 6 Apr 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5179
Abstract
In the last years, neurological diseases have resulted in a global health issue, representing the first cause of disability worldwide. Current therapeutic approaches against neurological disorders include oral, topical, or intravenous administration of drugs and more invasive techniques such as surgery and brain [...] Read more.
In the last years, neurological diseases have resulted in a global health issue, representing the first cause of disability worldwide. Current therapeutic approaches against neurological disorders include oral, topical, or intravenous administration of drugs and more invasive techniques such as surgery and brain implants. Unfortunately, at present, there are no fully effective treatments against neurodegenerative diseases, because they are not associated with a regeneration of the neural tissue but rather act on slowing the neurodegenerative process. The main limitation of central nervous system therapeutics is related to their delivery to the nervous system in therapeutic quantities due to the presence of the blood–brain barrier. In this regard, recently, the intranasal route has emerged as a promising administration site for central nervous system therapeutics since it provides a direct connection to the central nervous system, avoiding the passage through the blood–brain barrier, consequently increasing drug cerebral bioavailability. This review provides an overview of the nose-to-brain route: first, we summarize the anatomy of this route, focusing on the neural mechanisms responsible for the delivery of central nervous system therapeutics to the brain, and then we discuss the recent advances made on the design of intranasal drug delivery systems of central nervous system therapeutics to the brain, focusing in particular on stimuli-responsive hydrogels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Nanomaterials and Biopolymers for Precision Medicine)
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39 pages, 4880 KiB  
Review
Advances in Drug Delivery Nanosystems Using Graphene-Based Materials and Carbon Nanotubes
by Josef Jampilek and Katarina Kralova
Materials 2021, 14(5), 1059; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14051059 - 24 Feb 2021
Cited by 102 | Viewed by 6866
Abstract
Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. In addition to the well-known crystallographic modifications such as graphite and diamond, other allotropic carbon modifications such as graphene-based nanomaterials and carbon nanotubes have recently come to the fore. These carbon nanomaterials can [...] Read more.
Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. In addition to the well-known crystallographic modifications such as graphite and diamond, other allotropic carbon modifications such as graphene-based nanomaterials and carbon nanotubes have recently come to the fore. These carbon nanomaterials can be designed to help deliver or target drugs more efficiently and to innovate therapeutic approaches, especially for cancer treatment, but also for the development of new diagnostic agents for malignancies and are expected to help combine molecular imaging for diagnosis with therapies. This paper summarizes the latest designed drug delivery nanosystems based on graphene, graphene quantum dots, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes, mainly for anticancer therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Nanomaterials and Biopolymers for Precision Medicine)
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