Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 24, Issue 5, 2017

This mini-review article provides an overview on the use of magnetic materials for the analysis of protein biomarkers. In particular, the advantage provided by magnetic solid phase extraction will be discussed with selected examples, considering untargeted analysis for screening new biomarker proteins and targeted investigation on known and suggested new biomarkers. Aspects, such as enrichment efficiency over conventional Read More

Magnetically-assisted delivery of therapeutic agents to the site of interest, which is referred to as magnetic drug targeting, has proven to be a promising strategy in a number of studies. One of the key advantages over other targeting strategies is the possibility to control remotely the distribution and accumulation of the nanocarriers after parenteral administration. However, preparation of effective and robust magneti Read More

Cubosomes are self-assembled nanostructures that often form on dispersion of polar lipids in aqueous environments. The nanoparticles are analogous to liposomes but contain a complex internal self-assembled structure providing a point of difference to relatively simple liposomes. They exhibit a range of attractive properties such as having a high surface area, being able to incorporate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic Read More

Nanoparticles are finding many applications in medicine and other fields like photonics. Magnetic nanoparticles have additional advantages in medicine over non-magnetic hard nanoparticles, as their magnetic properties make them ideal for hyperthermic applications in therapy and for sensitive diagnostic imaging applications. I review the literature on computational models of the magnetic properties of nanoparticles sp Read More

Bimetallic particles based on gold and iron have been gathering increasing interest in biomedical applications because of the synergic combination of the plasmonic features of the inert gold component with the magnetic properties of the iron or iron oxide fraction, that makes these hybrid nanomaterials suitable for imaging, therapeutic and analytical applications. In this minireview, we emphasize gold-based nanomaterials Read More

Cellulose is a natural linear biopolymer, which is constituted of an assembly of cellulose nanofibrils in a hierarchical order. Nanocelluloses in particular show great promise as a cost-effective advanced material for biomedical applications because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and low cytotoxicity. Moreover, with their chemical functionality they can be easily modified to yield useful products. While nature uses t Read More

The utilization of graphene-based nanomaterials combined with magnetic nanoparticles offers key benefits in the modern biomedicine. In this minireview, we focus on the most recent advances in hybrids of magnetic graphene derivatives for biomedical applications. We initially analyze the several methodologies employed for the preparation of graphene-based composites with magnetic nanoparticles, more specifically the Read More

Neural stimulation provides a means for scientists to investigate brain functions and neurological diseases. There is also mounting interest in using remote stimulation of neuronal circuits for brain-machine interfaces. In this review, we highlight recently developed technologies utilizing magnetic nanoparticles to generate heat or exert mechanical forces for remote control of brain circuits and compare these with conventional (ele Read More