Fluorogenic hyaluronan nanogels for detection of micro- and nanoplastics in water

Environmental pollution from plastics is exponentially increasing due to human activities. While larger microplastics can be detected with various methods, retrieving micron-sized fragments and nanoplastics remains challenging. Yet, these smaller-sized plastics have been raising considerable toxicological concern. Here, we show that a poorly emissive hyaluronan functionalized with rhodamine B (HA–RB) adheres with high affinity to various microplastic surfaces, becoming brightly emissive. Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) can be successfully detected with size as small as the diffraction limit of confocal microscopy (ca. 250 nm). FLIM images show that the fluorescence lifetime of the dye moieties changes according to the plastics, making possible a discrimination of the nature of MNPs based on lifetime. HA–RB, compared to previous reports, eliminates false-positive results caused by formation of dye aggregates, resulting in a higher S/N ratio which allows the unequivocal detection of nano-sized fragments

PluS Nanoparticles Loaded with Sorafenib: Synthetic Approach and Their Effects on Endothelial Cells

Silica nanostructures are widely investigated for theranostic applications, since relatively mild and easy synthetic methods allow the fabrication of multi-compartment nanoparticles (NPs) and to finely modulate their properties. Here, we report the optimization of a synthetic strategy leading to brightly fluorescent silica NPs with a high loading ability – up to 45 molecules per NP – of Sorafenib, a small molecule acting as antiangiogenic drug. We demonstrate that these NPs can efficiently release the drug and they are able to inhibit endothelial cell proliferation, migration and network formation. Their lyophilization can endow them with long shelf stability while, once in solution, they show a much slower release compared to analogous micellar systems. Interestingly, Sorafenib released from PluS NPs completely prevented endothelial cell responses and post-receptor MAPK signaling ignited by VEGF, one of the major player of tumor angiogenesis. Our results indicate that these theranostic systems represent a promising structure for anti-cancer applications since NPs alone have no cytotoxic effect on cultured endothelial cells, a cell type to which drugs and exogenous material are always in contact once delivere

Tandem Dye-Doped Nanoparticles for NIR Imaging via Cerenkov Resonance Energy Transfer

The detection of the Cerenkov radiation (CR) is an emerging preclinical imaging technique which allows monitoring the in vivo distribution of radionuclides. Among its possible advantages, the most interesting is the simplicity and cost of the required instrumentation compared, e.g., to that required for PET scans. On the other hand, one of its main drawbacks is related to the fact that CR, presenting the most intense component in the UV-vis region, has a very low penetration in biological tissues. To address this issue, we present here multifluorophoric silica nanoparticles properly designed to efficiently absorb the CR radiation and to have a quite high fluorescence quantum yield (0.12) at 826 nm. Thanks to a highly efficient series of energy transfer processes, each nanoparticle can convert part of the CR into NIR light, increasing its detection even under 1.0-cm thickness of muscle

Blending or Bonding? Mechanochromism of an Aggregachromic Mechanophore in a Thermoplastic Elastomer

A straightforward way for the preparation of mechanochromic polymers consists of incorporating a suitable content of a mechanophore in the polymeric matrix either by physical dispersion or via covalent functionalization. Although covalent incorporation may require demanding chemical efforts, this approach can offer significant advantages over physical dispersion. In this work, a common thermoplastic elastomer, styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene triblock copolymer grafted with maleic anhydride (SEBS-MAH), was covalently functionalized with 1-aminomethylpyrene (AMP). MAH functional groups are covalently linked to the ethylene-co-butylene blocks, thus allowing a precise and selective confinement of the chromogenic AMP units in the soft block. Flat, fully conjugated pyrene units undergo the reversible formation of π-πaggregates, readily distinguishable by their red-shifted emission. These aggregates were heavily affected by the application of mechanical stimuli. Despite the low degree of mechanophore functionalization (about 1 wt %), uniaxial deformation of the polymer was reliably monitored via fluorescence and a clear drop in the excimer to monomer emission ratio (IE/IM) was observed starting from 50% of strain. The marked mechanochromism was confirmed by emission lifetime measurements and also by near-field investigations. In addition, the mechanoresponse showed good reversibility after repeated stress-relaxation cycles. Control experiments performed on formulations comprising a physical dispersion of pyrene in unfunctionalized SEBS showed faint excimer emission and a negligible mechanochromic response up to 5 wt % of doping, in substantial agreement with the scanning near-field optical microscopy analysis. An evident drop of the IE/IM ratio occurred for 10 wt % of pyrene, albeit the excimer emission remained predominant even at the highest deformation, being a smaller fraction of pyrene moieties involved. Overall, the covalent approach appeared as an elegant procedure to confine the chromogenic unit in the soft phase of block copolymers and thus to provide an elastomeric film showing a detectable and reversible mechanochromic response with a modest (i.e., ∼1 wt %) amount of pyrene molecules, i.e., 10 times smaller compared to the dispersed system

Engineered Nanostructured Materials for Ofloxacin Delivery

Antibiotic resistance is emerging as a growing worldwide problem and finding solutions to this issue is becoming a new challenge for scientists. As the development of new drugs slowed down, advances in nanotechnology offer great opportunities, with the possibility of designing new systems for carrying, delivery and administration of drugs already in use. Engineered combinations of the synthetic, broad-spectrum antibiotic ofloxacin, rarely studied in this field, with different types of silver, mesoporous silica-based and Pluronic/silica-based nanoparticles have been explored. The nanocarriers as silver core@silica mesoporous (AgMSNPs) and dye-doped silica nanoparticles functionalized with ofloxacin were synthesized and their antibacterial properties studied against S. aureus and E. coli. The best antibacterial results were obtained for the AgMSNPs nanosystem@ofloxacin for the strain S. aureus ATCC 25923, with MIC and MBC values of 5 and 25 μg/mL, proving the efficacy and synergetic effect of the antibiotic and the Ag core of the nanoparticles