Nanostructured Materials for Biological and Pharmaceutical Applications (Third Edition)

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 February 2026 | Viewed by 772

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR Demokritos, 15310 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
Interests: functional liposomes; functional dendritic polymers; carbon-based nanostructured materials; nano-sized drug delivery systems; drug targeting; triggered drug release; antibacterial agents
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanotechnology is an emerging field that involves the manipulation of matter at the nanometer scale, resulting in a new class of materials with enhanced properties for a wide range of applications. In terms of terminology, nanotechnology is defined as the science and engineering concerned with the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of materials and devices with at least one dimension at the nanometer scale. Currently, nanomedicine—which focuses on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of various diseases using nanoscale tools—and biomedical engineering are among the most promising and challenging fields in the application of nanostructured materials. Nanostructured materials—including inorganic or organic, crystalline or amorphous forms, and supramolecular structures such as micelles, liposomes, polymersomes, dendrimers, cyclodextrins, polymeric, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, lipid and polymeric nanocapsules, carbon nanostructures, quantum dots, and others—have been widely used in biological and pharmaceutical applications due to their excellent structural properties and their ability to be functionalized with specific ligands. These features allow for controllable size and shape, enhanced targetability, high loading capacity, and controlled release of drugs and other bioactive molecules. Although various types of nanostructured materials have been developed and proposed for biological applications, only a limited number have received approval, primarily due to challenges related to biocompatibility, pharmacokinetics, and in vivo targeting efficacy. Therefore, there is still significant room for improvement, particularly in addressing issues such as cytotoxicity, immunogenicity, and limited biocompatibility more extensively.

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight recent advances in all aspects relevant to the design, synthesis, and characterization of nanostructured materials, for intended applications such as drug and gene delivery systems, stimulus-responsive therapeutics, bioimaging agents, bioanalytical diagnostics, theranostics, tissue engineering scaffolds and devices, and antibacterial agents, among possible others. This Special Issue of Nanomaterials will collate original high-quality research papers focused on the most recent advances and comprehensive reviews addressing state-of-the-art topics in the field of various nanostructured materials for biological and pharmaceutical applications.

Dr. Zili Sideratou
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • nanostructured materials
  • drug and gene delivery systems
  • stimuli-responsive therapeutics
  • bioimaging agents
  • bio-analytical diagnostics
  • theranostics
  • antibacterial/antimicrobial/antiviral agents
  • drug targeting
  • triggered drug release

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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20 pages, 4902 KB  
Article
Comparative Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Activities of ZrO2 and MgO Nanoparticles Biosynthesized from Unripe Solanum trilobatum Fruits: Insights from In Vitro and In Silico Studies
by Kumaresan Rathika, Periyanayagam Arockia Doss, John Rose Arul Hency Sheela, Velayutham Gurunathan, K. J. Senthil Kumar, Chidambaram Sathishkumar, Vediyappan Thirumal and Jinho Kim
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(17), 1372; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15171372 - 5 Sep 2025
Viewed by 510
Abstract
Herbs offer people not just sustenance and housing but also serve as a key supplier of pharmaceuticals. This research is designed to assess the antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of green-produced zirconium dioxide and magnesium oxide nanoparticles (ZrO2 and MgO NPs) utilizing extracts [...] Read more.
Herbs offer people not just sustenance and housing but also serve as a key supplier of pharmaceuticals. This research is designed to assess the antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of green-produced zirconium dioxide and magnesium oxide nanoparticles (ZrO2 and MgO NPs) utilizing extracts from unripe Solanum trilobatum fruit. ZrO2 and MgO NPs have garnered considerable interest owing to their superior bioavailability, lower toxicity, and many uses across the healthcare and commercial industries. Scientific approaches, such as diverse spectroscopic and microscopic approaches, validated the creation of agglomerated spherical ZrO2 and MgO NPs, measuring between 15 and 30 and 60 and 80 nm, with a mixed-phase composition consisting of monoclinic and tetragonal phases for ZrO2 and a face-centered cubic structure for MgO NPs. UV–vis studies revealed a distinct peak at 378 and 290 nm for ZrO2 and MgO NPs, suggesting efficient settling through the phytonutrients in S. trilobatum. The antioxidant capacity of ZrO2 and MgO NPs was evaluated utilizing DPPH and FRAP reducing power assays. The diabetic effectiveness of ZrO2 and MgO NPs was examined by alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase assays. The optimum doses of 500 and 1000 μg/mL were shown to be efficient in reducing radical species. Green-produced ZrO2 and MgO NPs exhibited a dose-dependent reaction, with greater amounts of ZrO2 and MgO NPs exerting a more pronounced inhibitory effect on the catalytic sites of enzymes. This work suggests that ZrO2 and MgO NPs may attach to charge-carrying entities and function as rival inhibitors, therefore decelerating the enzyme–substrate reaction and inhibiting enzymatic degradation. Molecular docking analysis of ZrO2 and MgO NPs with three proteins (2F6D, 2QV4, and 3MNG) implicated in antidiabetic and antioxidant studies demonstrated the interaction of ZrO2 and MgO NPs with the target proteins. The results indicated the in vitro effectiveness of phytosynthesized ZrO2 and MgO NPs as antidiabetic antioxidant agents, which may be used in the formulation of alternative treatment strategies against diabetes and oxidative stress. In summary, the green production of ZrO2 and MgO NPs with Solanum trilobatum unripe fruit extract is an efficient, environmentally sustainable process that yields nanomaterials with significant antioxidant and antidiabetic characteristics, underscoring their prospective uses in biomedical research. Full article
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