Tufano Immacolata, Vecchione Raffaele, Netti Paolo Antonio
Center for Advanced Biomaterials for HealthCare@CRIB, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Naples, Italy.
Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 Dec 23;8:613280. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.613280. eCollection 2020.
Despite considerable progress in the comprehension of the mechanisms involved in the origin and development of cancer, with improved diagnosis and treatment, this disease remains a major public health challenge with a considerable impact on the social and economic system, as well as on the individual. One way to improve effectiveness and reduce side effects is to consider responsive stimuli delivery systems that provide tailor-made release profiles with excellent spatial and temporal control. 2D nanomaterials possess special physicochemical properties (e.g., light, ultrasonic and magnetic responses) and biological behaviors such as endocytosis, biodistribution, biodegradation, and excretory pathways, which lead to their use in various biomedical applications. In particular, among 2D nanomaterials, graphene and its derivatives, namely graphene oxide (GO) nanomaterials, have attracted enormous attention in cancer diagnosis and therapy because they combine, in a unique material, extremely small size, NIR absorption, delocalized electrons, extremely high surface area, and versatile surface functionality. Taking into account the fundamental role played by GO size, in this review, we summarize the main methods employed to reduce and homogenize in nanometric scale the lateral dimensions of graphene oxide produced by chemical exfoliation of graphite, as well as post-synthesis separation techniques to uniform the size. We also discuss the implication of the small size in cancer treatment by exploiting GO nanocarriers as an effective theranostic tool.
尽管在理解癌症起源和发展所涉及的机制方面取得了相当大的进展，随着诊断和治疗方法的改进，但这种疾病仍然是一项重大的公共卫生挑战，对社会经济系统以及个人都有相当大的影响。提高疗效并减少副作用的一种方法是考虑响应性刺激递送系统，该系统可提供具有出色时空控制的定制释放曲线。二维纳米材料具有特殊的物理化学性质（例如光、超声和磁响应）以及诸如内吞作用、生物分布、生物降解和排泄途径等生物学行为，这使得它们可用于各种生物医学应用。特别是，在二维纳米材料中，石墨烯及其衍生物，即氧化石墨烯（GO）纳米材料，在癌症诊断和治疗中引起了极大的关注，因为它们在一种独特的材料中结合了极小的尺寸、近红外吸收、离域电子、极高表面积和多功能表面官能团。考虑到GO尺寸所起的基本作用，在本综述中，我们总结了用于在纳米尺度上减小和均匀化通过石墨化学剥离产生的氧化石墨烯横向尺寸的主要方法，以及用于使尺寸均匀的合成后分离技术。我们还讨论了通过利用GO纳米载体作为有效的治疗诊断工具，小尺寸在癌症治疗中的意义。
