Elemental tellurium (Te) nanoparticles are increasingly important in a variety of applications such as thermoelectricity, photoconductivity, and piezoelectricity. However, they have been explored with limited success in their biomedical use, and thus a tremendous challenge still exists in the exploration of Te nanoparticles that can treat tumors as an effective anticancer agent. Here, we introduce bifunctional Te nanodots with well-defined nanostructure as an effective anticancer agent for photo-induced synergistic cancer therapy with tumor ablation, which is accomplished using hollow albumin nanocages as a nanoreactor. Under near-infrared light irradiation, Te nanodots can produce effective photothermal conversion, as well as highly reactive oxygen species such as •O2– and dismutated •OH via a type-I mechanism through direct electron transfer, thereby triggering the potent in vivo hyperthermia and simultaneous intracellular reactive oxygen species at tumors. Moreover, Te nanodots possess perfect resistance to photobleaching, effective cytoplasmic translocation, preferable tumor accumulation, as well as in vivo renal elimination, promoting severe photo-induced cell damage and subsequent synergy between photothermal and photodynamic treatments for tumor ablation. These findings provide the insight of elemental Te nanodots for biomedical research.Keywords: albumin nanocage; photodynamic therapy; photothermal therapy; tellurium nanodot; tumor ablation;

Immediate hemorrhage control without secondary injury is pivotal for saving lives. In this study, polymerized glycidyl methacrylate derivative dextran/acrylic acid (poly(DEX-GMA/AAc)) microgel particles were prepared via emulsion polymerization method as a hemostatic agent. Microgel particles with size distribution of 500–800 nm were chosen because they showed more appropriate characteristics of swelling ratio and gelation time. The results revealed that the microgel particles had excellent swelling ratio of 68.95 g g−1 (w/w), which was 8.4 times that of counterpart clinically used microporous polysaccharide hemospheres, Arista. And poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) showed very short gelation time of 10–13 s. As a result, a gelled film could be formed rapidly after poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) absorbed water in blood when used on wounds, and then staunched bleeding. Poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) microgel particles showed better clotting ability than commercial hemostatic agent Flashclot in vitro. In addition, poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) did not cause exothermic burn when absorbing liquid, which was superior to Flashclot. No obvious toxicity was found in cytotoxicity study and skin irritancy test. Blood loss and hemostasis time were dramatically reduced by poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) microgel particles in hemorrhage models of ear vein, ear artery, liver and femoral artery in rabbits. These results indicated that the poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) microgel particles are a potential hemostatic agent with almost no cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility.

The distinct ability of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) has led to the development of novel drug delivery methods in human cells for therapeutic purposes. The lack of specific selectivity is a main obstacle to the widespread use of CPPs. A novel delivery method based on acid-sensitive micelles used for the introduction and protection of TAT was developed. Doxorubicin-TAT conjugate (Dox-TAT) was loaded in the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone modified poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (L-histidine)-doxorubicin (LHRH-PEG-PHIS-Dox) micelle. Dox was chemically conjugated to the polymer backbone not only to improve the stability of micelles, but also to increase the drug loading efficiency of the micelle. These micelles could dissociate the responding tumor extracellular pHe and release Dox-TAT to pass directly through the cell membrane to the cytosol of the multidrug resistant cancer cells. The undissociated micelles could also be actively internalized into the cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis, resulting in high cytotoxicity. LHRH-PEG-PHIS-Dox/Dox-TAT showed the highest antitumor effects among the four treatment groups in vitro and vivo and showed no remarkable effect on the body weight compared to the control. This skillfully designed system combined the double functions of targeted delivery and TAT-mediated efficient entry, which could increase the antitumor activity, even in drug resistant tumor cells.

To achieve active tumor targeting and sequential release of 3 drugs to a tumor site in one nanoparticulate system, self-decomposable SiO2 nanoparticles modified by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) as their inner structure were used to double load HCPT (in the NP core) and Dox (on the NP surface). Meanwhile, monoclonal antibodies (mAb198.3) against the FAT1 antigen and Bcl-2 siRNA were conjugated onto PEGylated Au-PEG-COOH nanoparticles. The obtained drug-loaded SiO2 nanoparticles were coated with the Au-PEG-mAb.198.3/siRNA nanoparticles through electrostatic interaction to form the SiO2@AuNP sequential drug delivery system, which featured the controlled and sequential release of siRNA, Dox and HCPT step by step to maximize its anticancer efficacy. The results revealed that the SiO2@AuNP sequential drug delivery system specifically targeted tumor cells and was internalize rapidly, followed by endosome escape and sequential drug release. Importantly, the sustainable release characteristics of SiO2 made the Tmax difference between HCPT and Dox approximately 8–12 h, and this enhanced the sensitizing efficiency of HCPT on Dox compared with co-administration. The in vivo antitumor results demonstrated that the tumor size after SiO2@AuNP treatment is 1/400 compared with the saline control group and approximately 1/40 of the HCPT/Dox co-treatment group without any noticeable systemic toxicity.

Immediate hemorrhage control without secondary injury is pivotal for saving lives. In this study, polymerized glycidyl methacrylate derivative dextran/acrylic acid (poly(DEX-GMA/AAc)) microgel particles were prepared via emulsion polymerization method as a hemostatic agent. Microgel particles with size distribution of 500–800 nm were chosen because they showed more appropriate characteristics of swelling ratio and gelation time. The results revealed that the microgel particles had excellent swelling ratio of 68.95 g g−1 (w/w), which was 8.4 times that of counterpart clinically used microporous polysaccharide hemospheres, Arista. And poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) showed very short gelation time of 10–13 s. As a result, a gelled film could be formed rapidly after poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) absorbed water in blood when used on wounds, and then staunched bleeding. Poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) microgel particles showed better clotting ability than commercial hemostatic agent Flashclot in vitro. In addition, poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) did not cause exothermic burn when absorbing liquid, which was superior to Flashclot. No obvious toxicity was found in cytotoxicity study and skin irritancy test. Blood loss and hemostasis time were dramatically reduced by poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) microgel particles in hemorrhage models of ear vein, ear artery, liver and femoral artery in rabbits. These results indicated that the poly(DEX-GMA/AAc) microgel particles are a potential hemostatic agent with almost no cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility.