Teruaki Fuchigami

Nanomedicine for cancer: lipid-based nanostructures for drug delivery and monitoring.

Recent advances in nanotechnology, materials science, and biotechnology have led to innovations in the field of nanomedicine. Improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer are urgently needed, and it may now be possible to achieve marked improvements in both of these areas using nanomedicine. Lipid-coated nanoparticles containing diagnostic or therapeutic agents have been developed and studied for biomedical applications and provide a nanomedicine strategy with great potential. Lipid nanoparticles have cationic headgroups on their surfaces that bind anionic nucleic acids and contain hydrophobic drugs at the lipid membrane and hydrophilic drugs inside the hollow space in the interior. Moreover, researchers can design nanoparticles to work in combination with external stimuli such as magnetic field, light, and ionizing radiation, which adds further utility in biomedical applications. In this Account, we review several examples of lipid-based nanoparticles and describe their potential for cancer treatment and diagnosis. (1) The development of a lipid-based nanoparticle that included a promoter-enhancer and transcriptional activator greatly improved gene therapy. (2) The addition of a radiosensitive promoter to lipid nanoparticles was sufficient to confer radioisotope-activated expression of the genes delivered by the nanoparticles. (3) We successfully tailored lipid nanoparticle composition to increase gene transduction in scirrhous gastric cancer cells. (4) When lipophilic photosensitizing molecules were incorporated into lipid nanoparticles, those particles showed an increased photodynamic cytotoxic effect on the target cancer. (5) Coating an Fe(3)O(4) nanocrystal with lipids proved to be an efficient strategy for magnetically guided gene-silencing in tumor tissues. (6) An Fe(16)N(2)/lipid nanocomposite displayed effective magnetism and gene delivery in cancer cells. (7) Lipid-coated magnetic hollow capsules carried aqueous anticancer drugs and delivered them in response to a magnetic field. (8) Fluorescent lipid-coated and antibody-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles detected cancer-associated antigen in a microfluidic channel. We believe that the continuing development of lipid-based nanomedicine will lead to the sensitive minimally invasive treatment of cancer. Moreover, the fusion of different scientific fields is accelerating these developments, and we expect these interdisciplinary efforts to have considerable ripple effects on various fields of research.

A magnetically guided anti-cancer drug delivery system using porous FePt capsules☆

Magnetic carriers with efficient loading, delivery, and release of drugs are required for magnetically guided drug delivery system (DDS) as the potential cancer therapy. The present article describes the fabrication of porous FePt capsules approximately 340 nm in diameter with large pores of 20 nm in an ultrathin shell of 10 nm and demonstrates their application to a magnetically guided DDS in vitro. An aqueous anti-cancer drug is easily introduced in the hollow space of the capsules without external stimuli and released to cancer cells on cue through the magnetic shell composed of an ordered-alloy FePt network structure, which exhibits superparamagnetic features at approximately body temperature. The drug-loaded magnetic capsules coated with a lipid membrane are efficiently guided to the cancer cells within 15 min using a NdFeB magnet (0.2 T), and more than 70% of the cancer cells are destroyed.

Ferromagnetic FePt-Nanoparticles/Polycation Hybrid Capsules Designed for a Magnetically Guided Drug Delivery System

The present Article describes the synthesis of ferromagnetic capsules approximately 330 nm in diameter with a nanometer-thick shell to apply to magnetic carriers in a magnetically guided drug delivery system. The magnetic shell of 5 nm in thickness is a nanohybrid, composed of ordered alloy FePt nanoparticles of approximately 3-4 nm in size and a polymer layer of a cationic polyelectrolyte, poly(diaryldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). The magnetic capsules have an excellent capacity for carrying medical drugs and genes. Surface-modified silica particles with PDDA were used as a template for the capsules. FePt nanoparticles were deposited on the PDDA-modified silica particles through a polyol method followed by dissolving the silica particles with a NaOH solution, resulting in the formation of the magnetic capsules as the final product. A three-dimensional hollow structure is maintained by the nanohybrid shell. The FePt-nanoparticles/PDDA nanohybrid shell also exhibits a ferromagnetic feature at room temperature because the FePt nanoparticles of an ordered-alloy phase are formed with the aid of PDDA despite the small size (3-4 nm).

Connected nanoparticle catalysts possessing a porous, hollow capsule structure as carbon-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction in polymer electrolyte fuel cells

We employ connected nanoparticle catalysts with a porous, hollow capsule structure as carbon-free electrocatalysts for the cathode in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) or proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The catalysts consist of fused ordered alloy platinum–iron (Pt–Fe) nanoparticles. This unique beaded network structure enables surprisingly high activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, 9 times that of the state-of-the-art commercial catalyst. Because the connected nanoparticle catalysts are formed without sacrificing the high surface area of the nanoparticles and can conduct electrons, the catalysts show good performance in an actual PEMFC without a carbon support. Moreover, the elimination of carbon intrinsically solves the problem of carbon corrosion. Thus, the connected nanoparticle catalysts with a unique structure are a significant advancement over conventional electrode catalysts and will lead to an ultimate solution for PEMFC cathodes.

Size-tunable drug-delivery capsules composed of a magnetic nanoshell

Nano-sized FePt capsules with two types of ultrathin shell were fabricated using a template method for use in a nano-scale drug delivery system. One capsule was composed of an inorganic-organic hybrid shell of a water-soluble polymer and FePt nanoparticles, and the other capsule was composed of a network of fused FePt nanoparticles. We demonstrated that FePt nanoparticles selectively accumulated on the polymer molecules adsorbed on the template silica particles, and investigated the morphologies of the particle accumulation by changing the concentration of the polymer solution with which the template particles were treated. Capsular size was reduced from 340 to less than 90 nm by changing the size of the silica template particles, and the shell thickness was controlled by changing the amount of FePt nanoparticles adsorbed on the template particles. The hybrid shell was maintained by the connection of FePt nanoparticles and polymer molecules, and the shell thickness was 10 nm at the maximum. The FePt network shell was fabricated by hydrothermal treatment of the FePt/polymer-modified silica composite particles. The FePt network shell was produced from only the FePt alloy, and the shell thickness was 3 nm. Water-soluble anti-cancer drugs could be loaded into the hollow space of FePt network capsules, and lipid-coated FePt network capsules loaded with anti-cancer drugs showed cellular toxicity. The nano-sized capsular structure and the ultrathin shell suggest applicability as a drug carrier in magnetically guided drug delivery „systems.

Synthesis of niobium pentoxide nanoparticles in single-flow supercritical water

The development of a new synthesis method is still required for very fine oxide nanoparticles. In this study, a single-flow supercritical fluid system has been developed for the synthesis of highly crystalline nanosized oxide particles. Niobium oxide particles were synthesized by single-flow supercritical water treatment, batch-type supercritical water treatment and subcritical water treatment. Niobium pentoxide nanoparticles synthesized by single-flow supercritical water treatment at 673 K, 24.5 MPa, and 15 ml min−1 flow rate had a pseudohexagonal structure. The morphology of the nanoparticle was a rod, and it has a smaller particle size and larger crystallite size than those of the oxide particles synthesized by the other methods, because the particle growth and the decomposition of surfactant were rapidly suppressed in the single-flow supercritical water treatment. The nanosized niobium pentoxide is useful as a catalyst in harsh environments and as a precursor powder of lead-free piezoelectric materials.

Growth of Fe?Pt Magnetic Nanoparticles on Silica Particles Modified with Organic Molecules

In the present paper, we describe the formation of an assembly composed of Fe–Pt magnetic nanoparticles on a template particle. The assembly is composed of a magnetic nanoshell for core/shell particles or hollow particles for application in nanomedicine devices. For this purpose, magnetic nanoparticles should be densely accumulated or deposited on template particles, Fe–Pt nanoparticles completely cover silica template particles by modifying them with a polymer such as poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), polyethyleneimine (PEI), or poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) followed by the polyol reduction of Fe and Pt compounds. Studies of their morphological, crystallographic, and magnetic properties reveal that Fe–Pt nanoparticles are selectively grown on the polymer-modified silica template particles; the polymer probably supplies nucleation sites for the formation of such nanoparticles. The species of polymer used strongly affects crystallographic and magnetic properties of the nanoparticles, particularly, the atomic ordering of Fe–Pt nanoparticles formed on silica template particles.

Complex Three-Dimensional Co3O4 Nano-Raspberry: Highly Stable and Active Low-temperature CO Oxidation Catalyst

Highly stable and active low-temperature CO oxidation catalysts without noble metals are desirable to achieve a sustainable society. While zero-dimensional to three-dimensional Co3O4 nanoparticles show high catalytic activity, simple-structured nanocrystals easily self-aggregate and become sintered during catalytic reaction. Thus, complex three-dimensional nanostructures with high stability are of considerable interest. However, the controlled synthesis of complex nanoscale shapes remains a great challenge as no synthesis theory has been established. In this study, 100 nm raspberry-shaped nanoparticles composed of 7–8 nm Co3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermally treating cobalt glycolate solution with sodium sulfate. Surface single nanometer-scale structures with large surface areas of 89 m2·g−1 and abundant oxygen vacancies were produced. The sulfate ions functioned as bridging ligands to promote self-assembly and suppress particle growth. The Co3O4 nano-raspberry was highly stable under catalytic tests at 350 °C and achieved nearly 100% CO conversion at room temperature. The addition of bridging ligands is an effective method to control the formation of complex but ordered three-dimensional nanostructures that possessed extreme thermal and chemical stability and exhibited high performance.

Material design of two-phase-coexisting niobate dielectrics by electrostatic adsorption

A material design process using electrostatic adsorption was proposed to synthesize composite ceramics with a two-phase-coexisting structure. Supported particles were fabricated by the electrostatic adsorption of (Na,K)NbO3–SrTiO3 (NKN–ST) nanoparticles on (Na,K)NbO3–Ba2NaNb5O15 (NKN–BNN) particles. NKN–ST and NKN–BNN were well dispersed with no aggregate in NKN–ST/NKN–BNN ceramics synthesized using the supported particles in comparison with ceramics synthesized using a mixture obtained by simply mixing NKN–ST and NKN–BNN powder. The temperature dependence of dielectric constant is closely related to the composite structure and the dielectric constant was stable in a wide temperature range from room temperature to 400 °C. Capacitance for DC bias was also insensitive to temperature in the range of 0–2 kV/mm, and the change rate of the capacitance was within ±5% in the temperature range from room temperature to 200 °C.