The enhancement effect of gold nanoparticles in drug delivery and as biomarkers of drug-resistant cancer cells

The enhancement effect of 3-mercaptopropionic acid capped gold nanoparticles (NPs) in drug delivery and as biomarkers of drug-resistant cancer cells has been demonstrated through fluorescence microscopy and electrochemical studies. The results of cell viability experiments and confocal fluorescence microscopy studies illustrate that these functionalized Au NPs could play an important role in efficient drug delivery and biomarking of drug-resistant leukemia K562/ADM cells. This could be explored as a novel strategy to inhibit multidrug resistance in targeted tumor cells and as a sensitive method for the early diagnosis of certain cancers. Our observations also indicate that the interaction between the functionalized Au NPs and biologically active molecules on the surface of leukemia cells may contribute the observed enhancement in cellular drug uptake.     

MOFs基多孔液体的制备及其应用

多孔液体(Porous Liquids, PLs)是一种结合了多孔固体材料永久孔隙率和液体流动性的新型液体材料,在气体吸附和分离、催化等应用领域中展示出巨大的潜力。金属框架材料(MOFs)因其具有高的比表面积、热和化学稳定性、独特的结构以及制备简单的特点,使其有望成为构筑PLs多孔宿主的最佳候选材料之一。近些年来,基于MOFs(ZIF-8、ZIF-67、UiO-66等)基多孔液体相关研究被陆续报道。首先,介绍了多孔液体的分类;其次,总结了近些年来MOFs基多孔液体的制备以及应用;最后,对MOFs基多孔液体的制备存在的挑战与未来在气体吸附、催化等领域进行了展望与总结。     

A universal strategy for efficient synthesis of Zr-based MOF nanoparticles for enhanced water adsorption

Zr-based metal-organic framework (Zr-MOF) nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted extensive research thanks to their outstanding thermal and chemical stability, but their efficient synthesis is still challenging. Here, high-quality Zr-MOF NPs with tunable and uniform particle sizes can be successfully fabricated within 30 min by high-gravity technology with high yields. Significantly, the rapidly milder preparation of UiO-66 NPs can also be achieved at 90 or 70°C. This strategy has been extended to the synthesis of other Zr-MOF NPs. Furthermore, the water vapor adsorption properties of obtained UiO-66 NPs display a size-dependent effect. The 70 nm UiO-66 NPs have the highest adsorption capacity of 625 mg g⁻¹ among unmodified UiO-66 reported so far, and manifest 2.0–2.8 times faster water adsorption rate than the micron ones. This study provides a feasible method for the efficient and mild preparation of MOFs nanoparticles, which may promote the synthesis and applications of nano-sized MOFs.     

Progress in Laser Ablation and Biological Synthesis Processes: “Top-Down” and “Bottom-Up” Approaches for the Green Synthesis of Au/Ag Nanoparticles

Because of their small size and large specific surface area, nanoparticles (NPs) have special properties that are different from bulk materials. In particular, Au/Ag NPs have been intensively studied for a long time, especially for biomedical applications. Thereafter, they played a significant role in the fields of biology, medical testing, optical imaging, energy and catalysis, MRI contrast agents, tumor diagnosis and treatment, environmental protection, and so on. When synthesizing Au/Ag NPs, the laser ablation and biosynthesis methods are very promising green processes. Therefore, this review focuses on the progress in the laser ablation and biological synthesis processes for Au/Ag NP generation, especially in their fabrication fundamentals and potential applications. First, the fundamentals of the laser ablation method are critically reviewed, including the laser ablation mechanism for Au/Ag NPs and the controlling of their size and shape during fabrication using laser ablation. Second, the fundamentals of the biological method are comprehensively discussed, involving the synthesis principle and the process of controlling the size and shape and preparing Au/Ag NPs using biological methods. Third, the applications in biology, tumor diagnosis and treatment, and other fields are reviewed to demonstrate the potential value of Au/Ag NPs. Finally, a discussion surrounding three aspects (similarity, individuality, and complementarity) of the two green synthesis processes is presented, and the necessary outlook, including the current limitations and challenges, is suggested, which provides a reference for the low-cost and sustainable production of Au/Ag NPs in the future.     

金属有机框架光催化剂微环境调控研究进展

金属有机框架材料（MOFs）是一类无机金属中心和有机配体自组装形成的晶体多孔材料,既有无机材料高结晶度、高电子迁移率等特点,又兼具有机材料高比表面积、高孔隙率、强可修饰性等特点,在光催化领域显示出广阔的应用前景。围绕物理化学微环境调控,对近年来MOFs光催化材料的研究进行了详细综述。其中,物理微环境的调控重点介绍了微观形貌调控、贵金属沉积和异质结构建三个方面;化学微环境调控重点介绍了金属位点调控与有机配体调控两个方面。此外,对MOFs光催化材料的未来发展进行展望,以期为高性能MOFs光催化剂的理性设计和可控制备等方面的研究提供思路。     

MIL-100(Fe) Sub-Micrometric Capsules as a Dual Drug Delivery System

Nanoparticles of metal–organic frameworks (MOF NPs) are crystalline hybrid micro- or mesoporous nanomaterials that show great promise in biomedicine due to their significant drug loading ability and controlled release. Herein, we develop porous capsules from aggregate of nanoparticles of the iron carboxylate MIL-100(Fe) through a low-temperature spray-drying route. This enables the concomitant one-pot encapsulation of high loading of an antitumor drug, methotrexate, within the pores of the MOF NPs, and the collagenase enzyme (COL), inside the inter-particular mesoporous cavities, upon the formation of the capsule, enhancing tumor treatment. This association provides better control of the release of the active moieties, MTX and collagenase, in simulated body fluid conditions in comparison with the bare MOF NPs. In addition, the loaded MIL-100 capsules present, against the A-375 cancer cell line, selective toxicity nine times higher than for the normal HaCaT cells, suggesting that MTX@COL@MIL-100 capsules may have potential application in the selective treatment of cancer cells. We highlight that an appropriate level of collagenase activity remained after encapsulation using the spray dryer equipment. Therefore, this work describes a novel application of MOF-based capsules as a dual drug delivery system for cancer treatment.     

多级孔金属有机骨架材料的合成及其在生物医药中的应用研究进展

金属有机骨架（metal-organic frameworks,MOFs）是多孔材料领域的研究热点之一。MOFs具有高比表面积和孔道均一等特点,但微孔MOFs在大分子应用领域受到限制。本文介绍了延长配体法、模板剂法和聚合物法等多种制备多级孔MOFs的方法,合成后的多级孔MOFs兼具微孔、介孔和大孔,能够参与大分子反应,同时具有水热稳定性和化学稳定性,在催化、气体吸附分离、储能材料等诸多领域表现出优异性能。本文重点介绍了多级孔MOFs在生物医药领域的研究进展,结果表明多级孔MOFs是一种孔道可调节、可在特定条件下分解的生物相容性材料,用于固定化酶和负载医药分子均表现出良好性能。最后讨论了多级孔MOFs材料制备和应用目前存在的问题与挑战,展望了多级孔MOFs材料作为一类新型功能化多孔材料的应用前景。     

MOF作模板制备多孔Au/CuxO催化剂及其CO氧化性能

采用MOF材料作模板,通过在Cu-BTC材料表面预先负载贵金属Au再热解的方法,成功制备了具有正八面体结构的新型多孔Au/Cu_xO负载型催化剂。通过降低热解环境中的O₂浓度,调节氧化时间,实现了Au/Cu-BTC氧化产物组分的调节,分别制得了Au/Cu₂O、Au/Cu₂O-CuO、Au/CuO复合催化材料。将其用于CO催化氧化,发现所有Au/Cu_xO催化剂都表现出比Cu-BTC和Au/Cu-BTC更优异的催化性能,其中由于拥有较高的比表面积、Cu₂O含量以及更好的Au的分散性,Au/Cu₂O的CO氧化活性最佳,180℃即能实现CO的完全转化。     

Progress of superhydrophobic porous materials

Porous materials such as metal organic framework materials (MOFs), covalent organic framework materials (COFs), organic porous polymers (POPs), etc., have been used widely used in the fields of separation, catalysis, gas storage and drug release due to their diversity, designability, controllability and functionalization of pores. Despite these promising applications, some of the porous materials suffer from moisture-sensitivity and instability in aqueous media due to their inherent structural features. To overcome this problem, endowing them with hydrophobicity is an effective strategy. However, designing superhydrophobic porous materials has certain challenges. In this work, the progress of MOFs, COFs and POPs with (super-)hydrophobic property is introduced. Issues related to their design strategy, structures, and practical applications such as catalysis, oil/water separation and gas storage and separation were analyzed. Additionally, the current problems and the future research directions of the hydrophobic porous materials were discussed.     

超疏水多孔材料的研究进展

多孔材料如金属有机框架材料(MOFs)、共价有机框架材料(COFs)、有机多孔聚合物(POPs)等由于构筑单元的多样性、可设计性,孔道的可调控性和功能化,已经被广泛用于分离、催化、气体储存以及药物释放等领域。尽管如此,这些多孔材料固有的结构特征让它们普遍对水气非常敏感,最严重时多孔结构在水溶液环境下会坍塌。为解决此类问题,制备疏水的多孔材料是一个非常好的策略。然而,设计超疏水多孔材料具有一定的挑战。介绍了具有(超)疏水性能的MOFs、COFs和POPs的发展现状,对超疏水多孔材料合成思路和结构特点进行了分析,对这类材料在催化、油水分离、气体吸附和分离等方面的应用进行了总结,并进一步探讨了此类材料存在的问题和发展方向。     

Porphyrin-Based Metal−Organic Framework Compounds as Promising Nanomedicines in Photodynamic Therapy

Porphyrin photosensitizers are widely used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) because of their unique diagnostic and therapeutic functions. However, many factors such as poor water solubility and instability of porphyrin compounds have limited their clinical application. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have the beneficial characteristics of versatility, high porosity, and excellent biocompatibility. Porphyrin-MOF nanomaterials have attracted the attention of researchers because MOFs can effectively suppress the quenching caused by the self-aggregation of porphyrin compounds and promote drug delivery. This article reviews the latest applications of porphyrin-MOF nanomedicine in type II photodynamic therapy by increasing tumour cell oxygen concentration, depleting tumour cell functional molecules and releasing signal molecules. Current potential limitations and future applications are also emphasized and discussed herein.     

A Novel D-A-D Photosensitizer for Efficient NIR Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted great interest in cancer theranostics owing to its minimal invasiveness and low side effect. In PDT, photosensitizers are indispensable components that generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Tremendous efforts have been devoted to optimizing the photosensitizer with enhanced ROS efficiency. However, to improve the precision and controllability for PDT, developing NIR imaging-guided photosensitizers are still urgent and challenging. Here, we have designed a novel photosensitizer 2Cz-BTZ which integrated with intense NIR emission and photoinduced singlet oxygen ¹O₂ generation capabilities. Moreover, after loading the photosensitizers 2Cz-BTZ into biocompatible amphiphilic polymers F127, the formed 2Cz-BTZ@F127 nanoparticles (NPs) exhibited good photoinduced therapy as well as long-term in vivo imaging capabilities. Under these merits, the 2Cz-BTZ@F127 NPs showed NIR imaging-guided PDT, which paves a promising way for spatiotemporally precise tumor theranostics.     

Cancer theranostics with near-infrared light-activatable multimodal nanoparticles

Nanomaterials that interact with light provide a unique opportunity for applications in biophotonic nanomedicine. Image-guided therapies could be designed based on multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs). Such NPs have a strong and tunable surface plasmon resonance absorption in the near-infrared region and can be detected using multiple imaging modalities (magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear imaging, and photoacoustic imaging). These novel nanostructures, once introduced, are expected to home in on solid tumors either via a passive targeting mechanism (i.e., the enhanced permeability and retention effect) or via an active targeting mechanism facilitated by ligands bound to their surfaces. Once the NPs reach their target tissue, their activity can then be turned on using an external stimulus. For example, photothermal conducting NPs primarily act by converting light energy into heat. As a result, the temperature in the treatment volume is elevated above the thermal damage threshold, which kills the cells. This process, termed photothermal ablation therapy (PTA), is effective, but it is also unlikely to kill all tumor cells when used alone. In addition to PTA, photothermal conducting NPs can also efficiently trigger the release of drugs and activate RNA interference. A multimodal approach, which permits simultaneous PTA therapy, chemotherapy, and therapeutic RNA interference, has the potential to completely eradicate residual diseased cells. In this Account, we provide an up-to-date review of the synthesis and characterization, functionalization, and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of NIR lightactivatable multifunctional nanostructures used for imaging and therapy. We emphasize research on hollow gold nanospheres, magnetic core-shell gold nanoshells, and semiconductor copper monosulfide NPs. We discuss three types of novel drug delivery systems in which hollow gold nanospheres are used to mediate controlled drug release.     

二维金属有机骨架材料制备技术的研究进展

金属有机骨架（MOFs）材料是一种由金属离子或团簇通过配位键与有机配体自组装形成的有机-无机杂化多孔材料。二维MOFs材料具有比表面积大、孔隙率高、孔结构可调、电子传递能力强以及活性位点直接暴露在二维平面上等独特优点,这使得它们在气体吸附、催化、储能及传感等多个领域均有很好的应用前景。随着二维材料的迅速发展,越来越多的新型二维MOFs材料被合成制备出来。结合近几年国内外研究现状,综述了界面生长法、表面活性剂辅助法和剥离法等3种二维MOFs材料的制备方法,分析了各种方法的优点和不足之处,并对其未来的发展进行了展望。今后,开发一种成本低、产率高、易于工业化生产且环境友好的二维MOFs材料制备技术将是该研究领域的重点发展方向。     

Metal-Organic Frameworks as Selective or Chiral Oxidation Catalysts

Since the discovery of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) in the early 1990s, the amount of new structures has grown exponentially. A MOF typically consists of inorganic nodes that are connected by organic linkers to form crystalline, highly porous structures. MOFs have attracted a lot of attention lately, as the versatile design of such materials holds promises of interesting applications in various fields. In this review, we will focus on the use of MOFs as heterogeneous oxidation catalysts. MOFs are very promising candidates to replace homogeneous catalysts by sustainable and stable heterogeneous catalysts.

The catalytic active function can be either the active metal sites of the MOF itself or can be introduced as an extra functionality in the linker, a dopant or a “ship-in-a-bottle” complex. As the pore size, pore shape, and functionality of MOFs can be designed in numerous ways, shape selectivity, and even chiral selectivity can be created. In this article, we will present an overview on the state of the art of the use of MOFs as a heterogeneous catalyst in liquid phase oxidation reactions.     

Engineered Exosomes as a Photosensitizer Delivery Platform for Cancer Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a non-/minimally invasive cancer treatment method, has the advantages of low side effects, high selectivity, and low drug resistance. It is currently a popular cancer treatment method. However, given the shortcomings of photosensitizers such as poor photostability, poor water solubility, and short half-life in vivo when used alone, the development of photosensitizer nano-delivery platforms has always been a research hotspot to overcome these shortcomings. In the human body, various types of cells generally release bilayer extracellular vesicles known as exosomes. Compared with traditional materials, exosomes are currently an ideal drug delivery platform due to their homology, low immunogenicity, easy modification, high biocompatibility, and natural carrying capacity. Therefore, in this concept, we focus on the research status and prospects of engineered exosome-based photosensitizer nano-delivery platforms in cancer PDT.     

Toxicologic Concerns with Current Medical Nanoparticles

Nanotechnology is one of the scientific advances in technology. Nanoparticles (NPs) are small materials ranging from 1 to 100 nm. When the shape of the supplied nanoparticles changes, the physiological response of the cells can be very different. Several characteristics of NPs such as the composition, surface chemistry, surface charge, and shape are also important parameters affecting the toxicity of nanomaterials. This review covered specific topics that address the effects of NPs on nanomedicine. Furthermore, mechanisms of different types of nanomaterial-induced cytotoxicities were described. The distributions of different NPs in organs and their adverse effects were also emphasized. This review provides insight into the scientific community interested in nano(bio)technology, nanomedicine, and nanotoxicology. The content may also be of interest to a broad range of scientists.     

微流控制备金属/共价有机框架功能材料研究进展

近年来,金属有机框架(MOFs)和共价有机框架(COFs)等多孔材料因其结构单元的多样性和可设计性,不仅可以构筑具有多样化拓扑类型和化学物理性质的骨架结构,还可以精准调节结构中孔道的形状、大小和孔径分布,在气体吸附与分离、催化和化学传感等方面展现出广泛的应用价值。然而传统间歇式合成方法中相际间缓慢的微观传递过程,不利于材料的连续均一制备。近年来,微流控技术连续操作、精准可控、传递效率高和高度可重复性等特点在纳米材料制备领域体现了独有的优势。本文综述了近年来利用微流控技术制备MOF和COF材料的研究成果,重点介绍微流控强化合成过程,实现快速制备MOF和COF功能材料,以及通过微流体精准调控多孔材料微结构的研究工作。     

金属有机框架材料的绿色合成

金属有机框架化合物（Metal-organic frameworks,简称MOFs）是由金属离子（或簇）与有机配体配位并经由自组装而形成的一类多孔材料^[1]。MOFs具有极其发达的孔道结构,比表面积和孔容远超其他多孔材料。有机/无机杂化这一特点也赋予了MOFs其他材料（例如沸石、活性炭等）所不具备的无限结构功能可调性^[2]。此外,MOFs具有移除客体分子而主体框架完好保持的持久孔道或孔穴,这使得MOFs具有超乎寻常的化学及物理稳定性。正是基于以上这些特点,MOFs在许多领域有着丰富的应用^[3-4],例如催化^[5]、H₂储存^[6]、CO₂捕集^[7]、药物运输^[8]、污染物吸附^[9]、生物医学成像^[10]等方面。MOFs的商业化探索成为了目前的热点。MOFs的很多应用都与可持续发展及“绿色材料”有关,但MOFs本身的合成过程也需要考虑可持续性和环境影响。金属有机化学所面临的环境挑战是独特的,因为它将金属离子、有机配体的危害联系在一起,且合成过程大多需要大量能耗。主要介绍了金属有机框架材料的绿色可持续合成,主要分为4个方面：1）使用更安全或生物相容性的配体;2）使用更绿色、低成本的金属源;3）绿色溶剂的开发;4）无溶剂合成法。