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(A) Schematic illustration demonstrating the Bi-FRET-based QD-aptamer-doxorubicin nanoparticle. This approach results in the simultaneous quenching of QD and doxorubicin; QD fluorescence is quenched by doxorubicin while doxorubicin fluorescence is quenched by QD; (B) Schematic illustration depicting the internalization via the PSMA endocytosis pathway. Internalization results in the release of doxorubicin from the conjugated nanoparticle, thereby resulting in cell death and the triggering of QD fluorescence. Images reproduced from [53], with permission from American Chemical Society, 2007.
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Over the years, imaging and therapeutic modalities have seen considerable progress as a result of advances in nanotechnology. Theranostics, or the marrying of diagnostics and therapy, has increasingly been employing nano-based approaches to treat cancer. While first-generation nanoparticles offered considerable promise in the imaging and treatment...
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... Financial and budgetary limitations and time constraints in educational settings could deter educators from fully exploring and applying biomimicry principles in their teaching practices. Limited access to biodiversity and natural environments also constitutes hindrances to applying biomimicry for T&L in HE [42]. Biomimicry thrives heavily on rapt observations of nature and its patterns, which can be challenging for educators and students in urban or non-nature-rich environments. ...
Teaching and Learning (T&L) in higher education is an important discourse that determines the teacher and learner's experience, effectiveness, and efficiency in the classroom. Biomimicry, a practice that draws inspiration from nature's forms, strategies, and systems to solve human challenges has the potential to inform curriculum design, pedagogical practices, and assessment strategies that promote sustainability, creativity, and critical thinking skills among learners. This paper presents a conceptual framework for applying bio-mimicry principles to T&L in higher education. Drawing from the core principles of biomimicry, the paper provides examples of nature-inspired teaching methods, such as experiential learning, collaborative learning, and real-world problem-solving. It acknowledges that incorporating biomimicry into higher education may require rethinking traditional educational paradigms, addressing faculty and institutional resistance, and overcoming logistical and resource constraints. The paper also highlights the potential challenges and limitations of incorporating biomimicry thinking into higher education but argues that the bene-fits of biomimicry-inspired T&L outweigh the challenges. Overall, this paper highlights the potential of biomimicry as a guiding framework for transforming T&L practices in higher education, preparing students to address complex challenges in the 21st century. Finally, this paper revealed that biomimicry can guide curricula development that integrates interdisciplinary approaches, in-spires innovative teaching methods that promote active engagement, and in-forms the development of assessment strategies that align with the principles of biomimicry. Further research and experimentation are needed to fully explore the potential of biomimicry as a guiding framework for T&L in higher education.
... Abraxane (albumin-bound paclitaxel) is an example of a biomimetic nanomedicine approved by the FDA for first-line cancer therapy. Utilizing the innate ability of albumin to bind hydrophobic molecules, Abraxane was shown to enhance the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the unwanted side effects of paclitaxel [14]. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), endogenous lipid nanoparticles responsible for cholesterol transport, is an ideal biomimetic nanocarrier for drug delivery owing to its excellent biological features, super-high drug loading capacity, and intrinsic targeting ability [15]. ...
... They can enter tumor cells in particular ways, which has enormous implications for drug delivery [17,18]. While firstgeneration nanoparticles offered considerable promise in cancer therapy and diagnosis, toxicity and non-specific distribution hindered their true potential [19]. Therefore, the new nano-theranostic platform based on metal ions may serve to plan alternative therapeutic strategies, possibly with lower biotoxicity, higher responsiveness, and controllability. ...
... Over the years, the theranostics platform, or the marrying of therapy and diagnosis, has increasingly been employing nano-based approaches to anti-cancer applications. [19,260]. Therefore, this nano-platform can monitor the therapeutic effect through the size, location, morphology, and other information obtained from cancer diagnosis, realizing the visualization of the therapeutic process as a result of advances in nanotechnology [261], which is of great significance for developing treatment protocols, guiding drug dosage, and assessing prognosis [262]. ...
Due to the urgent demand for more anti-cancer methods, the new applications of metal ions in cancer have attracted increasing attention. Especially the three kinds of the new mode of cell death, including ferroptosis, calcicoptosis, and cuproptosis, are of great concern. Meanwhile, many metal ions have been found to induce cell death through different approaches, such as interfering with osmotic pressure, triggering biocatalysis, activating immune pathways, and generating the prooxidant effect. Therefore, varieties of new strategies based on the above approaches have been studied and applied for anti-cancer applications. Moreover, many contrast agents based on metal ions have gradually become the core components of the bioimaging technologies, such as MRI, CT, and fluorescence imaging, which exhibit guiding significance for cancer diagnosis. Besides, the new nano-theranostic platforms based on metal ions have experimentally shown efficient response to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, which realizes simultaneous cancer therapy and diagnosis through a more controlled nano-system. However, most metal-based agents have still been in the early stages, and controlled clinical trials are necessary to confirm or not the current expectations. This article will focus on these new explorations based on metal ions, hoping to provide some theoretical support for more anti-cancer ideas.
... As practical aspects of personalized medicine, theranostics is a compilation of diagnosis and site specific therapy and disease monitoring all using a single system [132]. Different NPs are available for theranostics application including iron oxide NPs, gold NPs, quantum dots (QD), bioinspired agents like proteases, lipoproteins, viral and cellular vesicles [133]. These nanovectors can be injected to body by intravenous or local administration which is advanced by optical devices [134]. ...
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the deadliest cancers in the world, the incidences and morality rate are rising and poses an important threat to the public health. It is known that multiple drug resistance (MDR) is one of the major obstacles in CRC treatment. Tumor microenvironment plus genomic instability, tumor derived exosomes (TDE), cancer stem cells (CSCs), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), as well as cellular signaling pathways are important issues regarding resistance. Since non-targeted therapy causes toxicity, diverse side effects, and undesired efficacy, targeted therapy with contribution of various carriers has been developed to address the mentioned shortcomings. In this paper the underlying causes of MDR and then various targeting strategies including exosomes, liposomes, hydrogels, cell-based carriers and theranostics which are utilized to overcome therapeutic resistance will be described. We also discuss implication of emerging approaches involving single cell approaches and computer-aided drug delivery with high potential for meeting CRC medical needs.
... In order to confer the NPs also active targeting properties, the use of platelets has been considered. Indeed, platelets not only retain the simple molecular composition and long circulation time like RBCs but also possess the ability to bind to damaged blood vessels, thus providing also a rudimentary level of active targeting toward cardiovascular damage (Evangelopoulos et al., 2018). A more advanced approach resulted in the use of leukocytes as a starting material for membrane protein extraction. ...
In the last decades, many nanovectors were developed for different diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. However, most nanosystems have been designed using a “bottom-up” approach, in which the basic components of the nanovector become assembled to achieve complex and specific behaviors. Despite the fine control of formulative conditions, the complexity of these systems often results cumbersome and difficult to scale-up. Recently, biomimetic materials emerged as a complementary or alternative design approach through a “top-down strategy”, using cell-derived materials as building blocks to formulate innovative nanovectors. The use of cell membranes as nanoparticle coatings endows nanomaterials with the biological identity and some of the functions of the cells they are derived from. In this review, we discuss some of the latest examples of membrane coated and membrane-derived biomimetic nanomaterials and underline the common general functions offered by the biomaterials used. From these examples, we suggest a systematic classification of these biomimetic materials based on their biological sources and formulation techniques, with their respective advantages and disadvantages, and summarize the current technologies used for membranes isolation and integration on nanovectors. We also discuss some current technical limitations and hint to future direction of the improvement for biomimetics.
... Over the past several decades, a new approach, theranostics, referring to diagnostics and therapy, sparked the prosperity of cancer treatment with high accuracy and specificity owing to the development of nanomedicine [26]. Conventional theranostic platforms using inorganic nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP), gold-based nanoparticles and quantum dots (QD) present great potential advantages and seem to reach the clinical translation status [26]. ...
... Over the past several decades, a new approach, theranostics, referring to diagnostics and therapy, sparked the prosperity of cancer treatment with high accuracy and specificity owing to the development of nanomedicine [26]. Conventional theranostic platforms using inorganic nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP), gold-based nanoparticles and quantum dots (QD) present great potential advantages and seem to reach the clinical translation status [26]. However, they leave some drawbacks such as low biocompatibility, high toxicity, non-biodegradability and lack of targeting [26]. ...
... Conventional theranostic platforms using inorganic nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP), gold-based nanoparticles and quantum dots (QD) present great potential advantages and seem to reach the clinical translation status [26]. However, they leave some drawbacks such as low biocompatibility, high toxicity, non-biodegradability and lack of targeting [26]. Hence, biological obstacles, including enzymatic substrates, naturally-derived transporters, microorganisms, and cells, were applied to overcome the former blemishes and further improved the next generation of cancer theranostics [26]. ...
The occurrence of microorganisms has been confirmed in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of many different organs. Microorganisms (e.g., phage, virus, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) present in TME modulate TME to inhibit or promote tumor growth in species-dependent manners due to the special physiological and pathological features of each microorganism. Such microorganism-TME interactions have recently been emulated to turn microorganisms into powerful cancer theranostic agents. To facilitate scientists to explore microorganisms-TME interactions further to develop improved cancer theranostics, here we critically review the characteristics of different microorganisms that can be found in TME, their interactions with TME, and their current applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Clinical trials of using microorganisms for cancer theranostics are also summarized and discussed. Moreover, the emerging technology of whole-metagenome sequencing that can be employed to precisely determine microbiota spectra is described. Such technology enables scientists to gain an in-depth understanding of the species and distributions of microorganisms in TME. Therefore, scientists now have new tools to identify microorganisms (either naturally present in or introduced into TME) that can be used as effective probes, monitors, vaccines, or drugs for potentially advancing cancer theranostics to clinical applications.
... [11] Functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) have high potential as well-defined carriers for the selective and targeted delivery of therapeutic cargo to neural cells due to their size scale. [12,13] For example, NPs have been used for the functional delivery of drugs to the rodent brain in multiple pathologies. [14][15][16] Various surface modifications, such as coupling targeting peptides [17] or antibodies [18] to NPs or modifying surface charge for selective neuron-specific targeting, [19] have been employed to increase targeting efficacy. ...
Nanovesicles (NVs) are emerging as innovative, theranostic tools for cargo delivery. Recently, surface engineering of NVs with membrane proteins from specific cell types has been shown to improve the biocompatibility of NVs and enable the integration of functional attributes. However, this type of biomimetic approach has not yet been explored using human neural cells for applications within the nervous system. Here, this paper optimizes and validates the scalable and reproducible production of two types of neuron-targeting NVs, each with a distinct lipid formulation backbone suited to potential therapeutic cargo, by integrating membrane proteins that are unbiasedly sourced from human pluripotent stem-cell-derived neurons. The results establish that both endogenous and genetically engineered cell-derived proteins effectively transfer to NVs without disruption of their physicochemical properties. NVs with neuron-derived membrane proteins exhibit enhanced neuronal association and uptake compared to bare NVs. Viability of 3D neural sphere cultures is not disrupted by treatment, which verifies the utility of organoid-based approaches as NV testing platforms. Finally, these results confirm cellular association and uptake of the biomimetic humanized NVs to neurons within rodent cranial nerves. In summary, the customizable NVs reported here enable next-generation functionalized theranostics aimed to promote neuroregeneration.
... In order to confer the NPs also active targeting properties, the use of platelets has been considered. Indeed, platelets not only retain the simple molecular composition and long circulation time like RBCs but also possess the ability to bind to damaged blood vessels, thus providing also a rudimentary level of active targeting toward cardiovascular damage (Evangelopoulos et al., 2018). A more advanced approach resulted in the use of leukocytes as a starting material for membrane protein extraction. ...
In the last decades, the staggering progress in nanotechnology brought around a wide and heterogeneous range of nanoparticle-based platforms for the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Most of these systems are designed to be administered intravenously. This administration route allows the nanoparticles (NPs) to widely distribute in the body and reach deep organs without invasive techniques. When these nanovectors encounter the biological environment of systemic circulation, a dynamic interplay occurs between the circulating proteins and the NPs, themselves. The set of proteins that bind to the NP surface is referred to as the protein corona (PC). PC has a critical role in making the particles easily recognized by the innate immune system, causing their quick clearance by phagocytic cells located in organs such as the lungs, liver, and spleen. For the same reason, PC defines the immunogenicity of NPs by priming the immune response to them and, ultimately, their immunological toxicity. Furthermore, the protein corona can cause the physical destabilization and agglomeration of particles. These problems induced to consider the PC only as a biological barrier to overcome in order to achieve efficient NP-based targeting. This review will discuss the latest advances in the characterization of PC, development of stealthy NP formulations, as well as the manipulation and employment of PC as an alternative resource for prolonging NP half-life, as well as its use in diagnostic applications.
... In the case of the elimination of biofilms, the application of platforms formed by milli/microrobots that can reach areas where conventional medicines cannot access to perform a specific therapy is a future tool of promising and fascinating scope (Vikram Singh and Sitti 2016). Other fascinating approach is the use of biomimicry, in which nature is used as a guide and as a mentor in order to develop bioinspired products with which to have more biocompatible platforms (Evangelopoulos et al. 2018;Chen et al. 2019). This aspect is important to be able to make a correct translation of nanomedicine to clinical practice (Lagarce 2015). ...
The theranostics as a combination of diagnosis and therapy is a trend of personalized medicine that seeks to develop a precision medical care, also this approach has found in nanotechnology a possibility for the conjugation of several molecules with different functionalities that will allow diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and prediction of the patient condition in the same nanosystem. Equally, fields such as biosensors and novel therapies and thermotherapy have been integrated into the multiple variants that this platform presents. It is thus as before the technological developments should be the problems where the designed solutions are practiced, nanotheranostics can be used in a multidisciplinary way to address one of the major public health problems such as antimicrobial resistance. This implies not only developing tools to detect the infectious disease, it also requires introducing medications and treatment alternatives, in the same way the devices implemented must act to prevent the appearance and spread of pathogens. Similarly, by means of nanotheranostic it will be possible to have more sophisticated and effective antimicrobial and vaccination protocols that will allow an adequate control of the microorganisms causing disease. Finally, in this chapter, the different approaches with translational possibility that this exciting field of nanobiotechnology has allowed to face the great health threats of our time will be integrated in a multi-trans-interdisciplinary approach.
... In particular, the concept of biomimicry completely changed the potential of nanosystems applications [75,76]. e use of not using only biological or biotechnological molecules, but of entire cellular components (and in particular of the plasma membranes and their receptors) as materials can make the nanosystems able to recapitulate the complexity of the biomaterials they are formulated from. ...
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a diffused disease with limited therapeutic options, none of which are often curative. Based on the molecular markers and targets expressed by the affected tissues, numerous novel approaches have been developed to study and treat this disease. In particular, the field of nanotechnology offers an astonishingly wide array of innovative nanovectors with high versatility and adaptability for both diagnosis and therapy (the so called “theranostic platforms”). However, such complexity can make the selection of a specific nanocarrier model to study a perplexing endeavour for the biomedical scientist or clinician not familiar with this field of inquiry. This review offers a comprehensive overview of this wide body of knowledge, in order to outline the essential requirements for the clinical viability evaluation of a nanovector model in CRC. In particular, the differences among the foremost designs, their specific advantages, and technological caveats will be treated, never forgetting the ultimate endpoint for these systems development: the clinical practice.
