Nanotheranostics with microRNA: Application in radiotherapy

The authors acknowledge the funding of project IBEROS, Instituto de Bioingeniería en Red para el Envejecimiento Saludable, POCTEP/0245-BEROS-1-E, PROGRAMA INTERREG 2014-2020, to FEDER within the cooperation region of Galiza/Spain and North of Portugal. SS is grateful for the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (grant reference: SFRH/BD/138271/2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gold nanorods as radiosensitizer agents on PC3 cells

Different structures of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are being extensively used in Radiotherapy (RT) because gold increased the sensitivity to radiation due to its high atomic number that can absorb high-energy gamma rays or X-rays and emit photoelectrons, Auger electrons, Compton electrons, and fluorescence photons.1 Gold nanorods (AuNPr) are gold nanoparticles with a rod shape, used to enhance the effect of ionizing radiation.2 After synthesized, the effect of the AuNPr on radiosensitization using megavoltage energies RT was evaluated for in PC3 prostate cancer cell line (PCa). Cells were incubated with different concentrations of AuNPr (0-1.0 mM) during 24h, then subjected to irradiation of 2,5 Gy per fraction, for 3 days, using a PRIMUS linear accelerator with 6 MV photon beam. After RT treatments, cell viability was analysed using PrestoBlue assay (Invitrogen), cell migration was explored doing the in vitro wound healing assay, and colonies assay was evaluated by microscopy. In this work, we found that the AuNPr displays a radiosensitization effect and it is dose dependent in PC3 cell line. These results are supported by decrease of viability and number of colonies produced.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gold nanoparticles as therapeutic agent for radiotherapy of PC3 prostate cancer cell line

Radiotherapy (RT) is a therapeutic modality that deliver a precise dose of ionizing radiation in a specific tumour volume, promoting the irradiation of tumor cells with as minimal damage as possible in surrounding normal tissues. Besides the evolution of equipment and technology, this therapy still has some problems related with radioresistance, which consequently increase the recurrence at 5 years. Over the years, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have attracted a lot of interest in cancer therapies due their unique chemical, optical and physical properties. So, it was synthetized two different types of AuNPs spherical (AuNPsp) and rods (AuNPr) for treat human prostate cancer cell line (PC3) and it was observed cell behavior when treated cells were irradiated with three fractions of 2,5 Gy. AuNPs were characterized using UV-Vis and TEM to confirm their size and shape. After, cells were treated with different concentrations of AuNPs from 0 to 1.0 mM during 24h. The results showed that none of the forms of AuNPs show signals of cytotoxicity until 1.0 mM, with exception of 1mM of AuNPr, where cells exhibit cytotoxicity around ~10%. Taken all together, AuNPsp and AuNPr demonstrated be effective to reduce the cell viability when associated to RT. Comparing both structures, AuNPr demonstrated a higher dose-dependency with and without radiation and under irradiation the inhibition of cell growth is higher when compared to control (no treatment). These results demonstrate for the first time the possibility of different forms of AuNPs can be used as potential radiosensitizer for prostate cancer cells.Sílvia Soares is grateful for the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (grant reference SFRH/BD/138271/2018 and thanks the kind collaboration of all those involved in the radiotherapy service at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João for carrying out radiotherapy treatmentsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nanotheranostics with gold nanoparticles applied to Radiotherapy

Sílvia Soares is grateful for the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (grant reference: SFRH/BD/138271/2018) and thanks the kind collaboration of all those involved in the radiotherapy service at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João for carrying out radiotherapy treatments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Implications of nanoparticles functionalization in supramolecular magnetogels for drug delivery

In this work, dehydropeptide gels were loaded with citrate- or lipid-stabilized nanoparticles to evaluate the effect over doxorubicin release. Particularly, the lipid-stabilized nanoparticles co-assembled with the hydrogel fibres forming lipid-fibre interface domains.Portugal2020, Compete2020, FEDER. SFRH/BD/144017/2019. PTDC/QUI-QFI/28020/2017. UIDB/04650/202

Supramolecular magnetolipogels: a co-assembly strategy for on-demand drug release

In this work, magnetic liposomes, both solid and aqueous, were loaded with a model drug and combined with dehydropeptide-based hydrogels. The encapsulated drug distributed between hydrogel fibres and magnetoliposomes lipid bilayer, which was demonstrated to be independent of the magnetoliposome’s nanoarchitecture, resulting in an attenuated drug release from the magnetolipogels compared to hydrogels.UIDB/00686/2020. UIDB/04650/2020. SFRH/BD/144017/201

Dehydropeptide-based plasmonic lipogels as bionanosystems for controlled drug release

In this work, silica-coated gold nanoparticles and liposomes (storage units) were combined with dehydropeptide-based hydrogels as a proof-of-concept to afford peptide-based NIR light-responsive lipogels. Several liposomes compositions were assessed to study its influence on the final assembly properties. Gold nanospheres were used to assess the preparation method that enabled a closer proximity of the nanoparticles to the liposomes.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España (PID2020-113704RB-I00), Xunta de Galicia (Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia - Accreditation 2019-2022 ED431G 2019/06 and IN607A 2018/5), and European Union-ERDF (Interreg V-A - Spain-Portugal 0245_IBEROS_1_E, 0712_ACUINANO_1_E, and 0624_2IQBIONEURO_6_E, and Interreg Atlantic Area NANOCULTURE 1.102.531)

One-pot synthesis of compact DNA silica particles for gene delivery and extraordinary DNA preservation

Repairing genetic defects using exogenous DNA is a major challenge the science is currently facing. This requires the design of vectors that can effectively encapsulate, protect and target nucleic acids to specific cells safely and precisely. Here we have designed silica-based physiologically responsive particles to encapsulate, store, and transfer DNA. Unlike existing vectors (e.g., viral or lipidic particles), these DNA@SiO2 systems are very stable at room temperature. We also demonstrate how they protect the encapsulated DNA from exposure to different biological and physicochemical stresses, including DNase, denaturation temperatures (>100 °C), or reactive oxygen species (ROS). Remarkably, upon cellular uptake, these vectors dissolve safely unpacking the DNA and transfecting the cells.Acknowledgments: We are grateful to D. Munoz for her technical support and Dr. Kirst for his criticisms of the manuscript. MLF acknowledges the financial support from the Spanish Instituto de Salud Carlos iii, and the European Union FEDER funds under Projects ref. PI22/00030 and PI19/00349, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, “Investing in your future” and Grant TED2021-129248 BeI00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union Next Generation EU/PRTR”. We also thank the Gobierno Regional de Cantabria and IDIVAL for the project Refs IDI 20/22, INNVAL21/19, and IDI-020-022 fellowship to ARV and technological and administrative services. MACD acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under grant PID2020-113704RB-I00, Xunta de Galicia/FEDER (IN607A 2018/5 and Centro Singular de Investigacion de Galicia, Acc. 2019e2022, ED431G 2019e06), 0712/ACUINANO1E, 0624/ 2IQBIONEURO6E cofounded by FEDER through the program Interreg V-A Espana-Portugal (POCTEP), and NANOCULTURE (ERDF: 1.102.531) Interreg Atlantic Area, the European Union (European Regional Development Fund-ERDF). LMC acknowledges the Margarita Salas requalification grants for the training of young doctors Ref.: REC-Salas21, Uvigo-UC (Ministerio de Universidades). Figures and graphs have been created with BioRender software (BioRender.com, License ID: 9519A1C8-0002). We are grateful to Dr. Lansford, Dr. Parton, Dr. Greene, Dr. Davidson, Dr. Bement and Dr. Voeltz for the plasmids references in Table S1 (obtained fron Addgene)

Tuning peptide-based hydrogels: co-assembly with composites driving the highway to technological applications

Self-assembled peptide-based gels provide several advantages for technological applications. Recently, the co-assembly of gelators has been a strategy to modulate and tune gel properties and even implement stimuli-responsiveness. However, it still comprises limitations regarding the required library of compounds and outcoming properties. Hence, efforts have been made to combine peptide-based gels and (in)organic composites (e.g., magnetic nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, liposomes, graphene, silica, clay, titanium dioxide, cadmium sulfide) to endow stimuli-responsive materials and achieve suitable properties in several fields ranging from optoelectronics to biomedical. Herein, we discuss the recent developments with composite peptide-based gels including the fabrication, tunability of gels' properties, and challenges on (bio)technological applications.This work was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding of CF-UM-UP (UIDB/04650/2020) and CQUM (UIDB/00686/2020), and by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España (PID2020-113704RB-I00 and PID2020-119242RB-I00), Xunta de Galicia (Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia—Accreditation 2019-2022 ED431G 2019/06 and IN607A 2018/5 and project ED431C 2020-06), and European Union (EU-ERDF Interreg V-A—Spain-Portugal 0245_IBEROS_1_E, 0712_ACUINANO_1_E, and 0624_2IQBIONEURO_6_E, and Interreg Atlantic Area NANOCULTURE 1.102.531), and the European Union H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019 PEPSA-MATE 872233 project. S.R.S. Veloso acknowledges FCT for a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/144017/2019). Support from MAP-Fis Doctoral Programme is also acknowledged

Challenges and Potential Solutions for Physician\u27s Suicide risk factors in the COVID-19 Era: Psychiatric Comorbidities, Medicine Judicialization, and Burnout

INTRODUCTION: Suicide in physicians outlines a public health problem that deserves more consideration. A recently performed meta-analysis and systematic review evaluated suicide mortality in physicians by gender and investigated several related risk factors. It showed a post-1980 suicide mortality ratio 46% higher in female physicians than women in the general population and a 33% lower risk in male physicians than men in general, despite an overall contraction in physicians\u27 mortality rates in both genders. METHODS: This narrative review was conducted through a search and analysis of relevant articles/databases to address questions raised by the meta-analysis, and how they may be affected by COVID-19. The process included unstructured searches on physician suicide, burnout, medicine judicialization, healthcare organization and COVID-19 on Pubmed, and Google searches for relevant databases, medical society, expert and media commentaries on these topics. We focus on three factors critical to address physician suicides: epidemiological data limitations, psychiatric comorbidities, and professional overload. RESULTS: We found relevant articles on suicide reporting, physician mental health, effects of healthcare judicialization and organization on physician and patient health, and how COVID-19 may impact such factors. This review addresses information sources, underreporting/misreporting of physicians\u27 suicide rates, inadequate diagnosis and management of psychiatric comorbidities and chronic effects on physicians\u27 work capacity, and finally, medicine judicialization and organization failure increasing physician burnout . We discuss these factors in general and in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: We describe an overview of the above factors, discuss possible solutions, and specifically address how COVID-19 may impact such factors