Tumor microenvironment-responsive gold nanodendrites for nanoprobe-based single-cell Raman imaging and tumor-targeted chemo-photothermal therapy

Nanodendrite particles (NDs) with densely branched structures and biomimetic architectures have exhibited great promise in tumor therapy owing to their prolonged in vivo circulation time and exceptional photothermal efficiency. Nevertheless, traditional NDs are deficient in terms of specific surface modification and targeting tumors, which restricts their potential for broader clinical applications. Here, we developed coronavirus-like gold NDs through a seed-mediated approach and using silk fibroin (SF) as a capping agent. Our results demonstrate that these NDs have a favorable drug-loading capacity (∼65.25%) and light-triggered release characteristics of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). Additionally, NDs functionalized with specific probes exhibited exceptional surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) characteristics, enabling high-sensitivity Raman imaging of unstained single cells. Moreover, these NDs allowed for real-time monitoring of endocytic NDs for over 24 h. Furthermore, ND@DOX conjugated with tumor-targeting peptides exhibited mild hyperthermia, minimal cytotoxicity, and effective targeting towards cancer cells in vitro, as well as responsiveness to the tumor microenvironment (TME) in vivo. These unique properties led to the highest level of synergistic tumor-killing efficiency when stimulated by a near-infrared (NIR) laser at 808 nm. Therefore, our virus-like ND functionalized with SF presents a novel type of nanocarrier that exhibits significant potential for synergistic applications in precision medicine.

Viruses as biomaterials

Viruses lacking the capacity to infect mammals exhibit minimal toxicity, good biocompatibility, and well-defined structures. As self-organized biomolecular assemblies, they can be produced from standard biological techniques on a large scale at a low cost. Genetic, chemical, self-assembly, and mineralization techniques have been applied to allow them to display functional peptides or proteins, encapsulate therapeutic drugs and genes, assemble with other materials, and be conjugated with bioactive molecules, enabling them to bear different biochemical properties. So far, a variety of viruses (infecting bacteria, plants, or animals), as well as their particle variants, have been used as biomaterials to advance human disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Specifically, the virus-based biomaterials can serve as multifunctional nanocarriers for targeted therapy, antimicrobial agents for infectious disease treatment, hierarchically structured scaffolds for guiding cellular differentiation and promoting tissue regeneration, versatile platforms for ultrasensitive disease detection, tissue-targeting probes for precision bioimaging, and effective vaccines and immunotherapeutic agents for tackling challenging diseases. This review provides an in-depth discussion of these exciting applications. It also gives an overview of the viruses from materials science perspectives and attempts to correlate the structures, properties, processing, and performance of virus-based biomaterials. It describes the use of virus-based biomaterials for preventing and treating COVID-19 and discusses the challenges and future directions of virus-based biomaterials research. It summarizes the progressive clinical trials of using viruses in humans. With the impressive progress made in the exciting field of virus-based biomaterials, it is clear that viruses are playing key roles in advancing important areas in biomedicine such as early detection and prevention, drug delivery, infectious disease treatment, cancer therapy, nanomedicine, and regenerative medicine. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Materials Science & Engineering: R is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Back Cover: Detection, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and opportunities for nanobiotechnology (View 4/2022)

In article number 20200181, Chuanbin Mao, Mingying Yang and their co-wokers have demonstrated that nanobiotechnology holds promise for combating COVID-19. It provides nanoscale probes to detect COVID-19, nanoscale vaccines to prevent COVID-19, and nanoscale therapeutics to treat COVID-19. Because nanoparticles are comparable to the virus particles that cause COVID-19, the nanoparticles can be engineered to detect, prevent or treat COVID-19 in a more efficient manner than the other agents.

Detection, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and opportunities for nanobiotechnology.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of confirmed cases and deaths has increased globally at a dramatic speed. In view of the serious health threat to humans, this review discusses the state-of-the-art studies about fighting this disease. It summarizes the current strategies and recent advances in detecting, preventing, and treating COVID-19 and interprets the underlying mechanisms in detail. Detection of COVID-19 can be successfully achieved by multiple techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, computed tomography imaging, and nano-biosensing. Inactivated virus vaccine, nucleic acid vaccine, and different nanoparticles have been employed to effectively prevent COVID-19. A variety of agents such as antiviral agents, neutralizing antibodies, and nanotherapeutics have been developed to treat COVID-19 with exciting efficacy. Although nanobiotechnology has shown great potential in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19, efforts should be made to explore new biocompatible nano-biomaterials to advance this field to clinical applications. Hence, nanobiotechnology paves a new way to detect, prevent, and treat COVID-19 effectively.

Influence of Professional Identity on the E-Learning Adaptability Among Chinese Nursing Students During COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The traditional face-to-face education methods have been altered to E-learning due to the outbreak, and the E-learning adaptability of nursing students will directly affect the effectiveness of online education. The professional identity of nursing students refers to the positive perception, evaluation, and emotional experience of the nursing profession and identity to be undertaken, which may affect the E-learning adaptability of nursing students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to explore the impact of professional identity on the E-learning adaptability of the Chinese nursing students during COVID-19. METHODS: This study was conducted in three medical schools in Yunnan Province, China from August to October 2020. Data collection consisted of three sections: participants' characteristics, learning adaptability, and professional identity. RESULTS: A total of 585 nursing students had a moderate level of E-learning adaptability. There was a positive correlation between E-learning adaptability and professional identity (r = 0.316~0.505, p < 0.001). In addition, the professional identity was associated with predictors of the E-learning adaptability among nursing students (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a moderate level of E-learning adaptability among the Chinese nursing students during the COVID-19 crisis. Enhancing the professional identity is critical in improving the E-learning adaptability among nursing students.