Rethinking anticancer nanoparticles from a biosafety perspective

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Potential toxicity mechanisms of anticancer nanoparticles, highlighting contributions from the nanomaterials, payload, and bio-corona that can result in cell damage.

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Credit: Zhengwei Huang/Jinan University

A commentary published in Biofunctional Materials systematically discusses key issues regarding the biosafety of anticancer nanoparticles, involving risks arising from drug payloads, nanomaterial accumulation, and bio-corona formation. The article further provides a series of measures to improve safety, including adopting biodegradable materials, implementing surface engineering, and developing organ-specific delivery systems, aiming to promote the development of nanomedicine in a safer and more efficient direction.

As cancer continues to pose significant challenges to global healthcare systems, the emergence of nanomedicine has brought renewed hope for more effective treatments. The unique characteristics of nanoparticles—including the small size, enhanced permeability, and targeting capabilities—make them promising carriers for anticancer drug delivery. However, the rapid advancement of this technology has outpaced systematic evaluation of its potential biosafety risks, creating an urgent need for comprehensive safety assessment protocols.

A research team from Jinan University has recently addressed this critical gap through a detailed analysis published in BM. The review, led by Dr. Zhengwei Huang and first author Naixuan Deng, systematically examines the multifaceted safety concerns associated with anticancer nanoparticles. "While nanomedicine offers promising therapeutic possibilities, we must ensure that safety considerations keep pace with innovation," emphasizes Dr. Huang. "Our analysis reveals that the toxicity of nanoparticles involves not only the encapsulated drugs but also the carrier materials themselves and their complex interactions with biological systems"

The researchers identify three primary sources of potential toxicity: the payload, the nanomaterial carriers, and the dynamic bio-corona formed when nanoparticles enter biological environments. Even when successfully encapsulated within nanoparticles, chemotherapeutic agents like doxorubicin maintain their inherent toxicity properties, with potential leakage or prolonged circulation leading to unintended accumulation in healthy tissues. Temperature and pH-responsive delivery systems present additional challenges, as physiological variations can trigger premature drug release in non-targeted areas.

Nanomaterial carriers themselves pose significant safety concerns. Lipid-based nanoparticles can trigger complement activation and allergic reactions, while metallic nanoparticles such as gold and silver nanoparticles, exhibit size-dependent toxicity and tend to accumulate in vital organs. The degradation products of these materials, particularly metal ions released during nanoparticle breakdown, can interfere with cellular pathways and induce oxidative stress even at low concentrations.

Perhaps the most complex challenge is the formation of bio-corona—where biomolecules spontaneously adsorb onto the surface of nanoparticles in biological environments. These dynamic layers can fundamentally alter the behavior of nanoparticles, obscuring targeting molecules and promoting immune recognition. "The formation of bio-corona represents a critical factor that can completely change how nanoparticles interact with biological systems," explains Deng. "The composition of these coronas varies between individuals, making standardized safety assessment particularly challenging."

In response to these identified risks, the research team proposes various approaches to enhance the safety of nanoparticle. They advocate for selecting drugs with higher tumor cell selectivity and implementing advanced surface modifications to improve targeting specificity. The use of naturally derived, biodegradable materials such as lecithin and albumin is recommended to reduce the risk of long-term accumulation. To address the challenges posed by bio-corona, the researchers suggest implementing antifouling strategies using biomimetic surface coatings to resist protein adsorption.

The team also emphasizes the importance of developing organ-specific delivery strategies, such as inhalable nanoformulations for lung cancer and topical applications for skin cancer, to reduce off-target exposure. These approaches, combined with comprehensive toxicological evaluation standards, could significantly improve the safety characteristics of anticancer nanoparticles.

Looking forward, researchers stress that thorough safety assessment should become a central part of nanomedicine development. This involves detailed studies on how these drugs behave in the body and their long-term effects. Dr. Huang concluded, "We can’t just focus on whether the treatment works; we must also ensure its safety. Only by addressing safety concerns can nanomedicine truly deliver on its promise."

The research team hopes their comprehensive analysis will inspire more systematic safety evaluations in nanomedicine development, ultimately leading to more reliable and clinically viable cancer treatments.

This paper ”Revisit the biosafety of anticancer nanoparticles” was published in Biofunctional Materials.
Deng N, Huang Y, Gao Y, Wu C, Huang Z. Revisit the biosafety of anticancer nanoparticles. Biofunct. Mater. 2025(4):0016, https://doi.org/10.55092/bm20250016.

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Journal

Biofunctional Materials

DOI

10.55092/bm20250016 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Revisit the biosafety of anticancer nanoparticles

 

Seeing the unseen: New algorithm reveals hidden root traits for drought-resilient crops

Nanjing Agricultural University The Academy of Science

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By combining nine unsupervised machine learning algorithms with a custom-designed program, the ART framework detects and quantifies dense root clusters from digital images. When applied to wheat varieties with different drought tolerances, ART-based models achieved a striking 96.3% classification accuracy, outperforming traditional visual trait methods.

Understanding plant root systems is vital to improving crop productivity and climate adaptation, yet their complex underground structures remain difficult to characterize. Conventional imaging methods rely on human-defined geometric traits—like root length or diameter—limiting their ability to capture subtle, spatially complex patterns linked to stress tolerance. As drought increasingly threatens food security, identifying hidden root features that confer resilience is essential. Machine learning offers a new lens to extract “latent traits” directly from digital images, free from human bias. Because traditional root traits overlook the intricate patterns that determine drought adaptation, there is a pressing need to develop algorithmic methods that can reveal and quantify these hidden features.

A study (DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphe.2025.100088) published in Plant Phenomics on 9 July 2025 by Mirza Shoaib & Surya Kant’s team, La Trobe University, offers an objective, scalable, and high-throughput way to analyze root systems, paving the way for breeding climate-resilient crops and redefining how scientists extract biological meaning from image data.

The study first applied a multi-stage computational and physiological pipeline to quantify drought tolerance in wheat. Physiologically, genotypes were ranked using multiple drought-response metrics (RANK_1, RANK_2, RANK_3) based on traits such as stomatal conductance, relative water content, and tiller number under stress. These measurements were statistically tested (ANOVA/Kruskal–Wallis, p < 0.0001) and then used for unsupervised clustering, which grouped genotypes into tolerant and susceptible classes and showed clearer separation under drought than under control conditions, indicating biologically meaningful divergence in stress response. In parallel, the study extracted two classes of imaging-based root traits. Traditional Root Traits (TRTs) were derived from established morphology descriptors, while the new Algorithmic Root Traits (ARTs) were generated by an ensemble of eight unsupervised machine learning algorithms plus a custom algorithm. For each root image, these algorithms identified the densest root cluster and quantified its size and spatial position, producing 27 ART features. These traits, together with TRTs, were then fed into supervised classification models (e.g. Random Forest, CatBoost) to predict which genotypes were drought tolerant. The results showed that ARTs captured more complex and information-rich root architecture than TRTs, as evidenced by higher internal variability, distinct multivariate structure, and strong correlations with biologically relevant depth and biomass allocation patterns. Models trained on ARTs alone reached 96.3% accuracy (ROC AUC 0.997), outperforming TRT-only models (85.6% accuracy; ROC AUC 0.927), and combining both trait types produced the best overall performance (97.4% accuracy; ROC AUC 0.998). This combined model remained robust when validated on an independent dataset (accuracy 0.91; ROC AUC 0.96), demonstrating that algorithmically derived spatial root traits not only reflect meaningful physiological strategies—such as deeper rooting and strategic biomass concentration for water capture—but also provide a scalable, reliable basis for drought tolerance screening.

ART’s success in drought-tolerance classification demonstrates its potential as a scalable, customizable tool for high-throughput plant phenotyping. By transforming raw sensor data into interpretable biological insights, ART could greatly accelerate the screening of genotypes with superior root systems and inform breeding strategies for climate-resilient crops. Its modular framework can be integrated with genomic and metabolomic datasets to identify genetic markers linked to adaptive traits. Beyond roots, the approach can be extended to detect complex image patterns in leaves, stems, or even disease symptoms.

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References

DOI

10.1016/j.plaphe.2025.100088

Original URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphe.2025.100088

Funding information

This study was funded by Agriculture Victoria Research, Victoria state government, Australia.

About Plant Phenomics

Plant Phenomics is dedicated to publishing novel research that will advance all aspects of plant phenotyping from the cell to the plant population levels using innovative combinations of sensor systems and data analytics. Plant Phenomics aims also to connect phenomics to other science domains, such as genomics, genetics, physiology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, statistics, mathematics, and computer sciences. Plant Phenomics should thus contribute to advance plant sciences and agriculture/forestry/horticulture by addressing key scientific challenges in the area of plant phenomics.

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Journal

Plant Phenomics

DOI

10.1016/j.plaphe.2025.100088 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Seeing the unseen: A novel approach to extract latent plant root traits from digital images Author links open overlay panel Mirza Shoaib a b

 

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in an urbanized waterway of the Pearl River Delta, China

KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

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Graphic Abstract

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Credit: Benjian Mao, et al.

The global relocation of industries driven by economic shifts has altered pollution patterns worldwide. Assessing heavy metal contamination in river sediments, which act as both sinks and potential secondary sources of pollution, provides a measure of these environmental impacts.

In a new study published in Water & Ecology, a group of researchers from China presents an assessment of heavy metal pollution and its associated ecological risks in an urbanized waterway within China's Pearl River Delta (PRD), a region undergoing economic and industrial restructuring. The research focused on seven key anthropogenically derived heavy metals—Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb)—in both surface water and sediment samples.

“We found that while heavy metal concentrations in water were below toxicity reference values, except for Cr, they were much higher than the global averages, with an average concentration order of Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Ni > As > Cd,” shares first author Benjian Mao.

A notable temporal analysis showed that concentrations of metals like Cu, Cd, and Pb increased from 2008 to 2011, but declined thereafter until 2018. This trend is consistent with the documented shift in local industrial structures, where the proportion of pollutants from secondary industries decreased after 2011, and high-pollution industries relocated.

“Source diagnostics using multivariate statistics (Pearson correlation, PCA, and CA) further supported these findings, suggesting that Cr and Ni likely originated from natural sources like rock weathering, As and Pb from anthropogenic sources such as industrial and domestic discharges, and Cu, Zn, and Cd from mixed sources,” adds Mao.

The researchers used sequential extraction to determine the geochemical fractions of these metals in sediments, which dictates their bioavailability and mobility. Cr, Ni, and As were predominantly found in the inert residual fraction, suggesting a natural origin and lower ecological risk. In contrast, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb were primarily associated with more mobile non-residual fractions (acid-soluble, reducible, oxidizable). Specifically, Cd was affiliated with the acid-soluble fraction, indicating high bioavailability and potential for remobilization into the water column, while Cu and Pb were mainly bound to the reducible fraction.

“The presence of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb was impacted more by human activities as compared to that of Cr, Ni, and As,” says Mao. “Nickel was the most dominant contributor to ecological pollution in water, while Cd contributed the most to sediment pollution.”

The ecological risk assessment provided a multi-faceted view of the contamination. In water, the Nemerow Index and Contamination Degree identified Ni as the dominant contributor to pollution. In sediments, however, Cd posed a high risk according to the Risk Assessment Code due to its high mobility, and showed heavy contamination based on the geoaccumulation Index and Contamination Factor. The overall Potential Ecological Risk Index for the sediments indicated an "extremely high" risk level, predominantly driven by Cd.

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Contact the author:

Benjian Mao

-Yangtze Three Gorges Technology and Economy Development Co., Ltd., Beijing 101199, China

mao_benjian@ctg.com

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

 

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Journal

Water & Ecology

DOI

10.1016/j.wateco.2025.100016 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in an urbanized waterway of the Pearl River Delta, China

COI Statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Benjian Mao is currently employed by China Three Gorges Corporation

 

The greenhouse gas trapped in the Black Sea

Understanding nitrous oxide turnover in the suboxic zone of the Black Sea

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

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A CTD rosette on board RV Poseidon. With this device, scientists can measure environmental parameters and collect water samples from deep ocean layers. 

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Credit: Jana Milucka / Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Nitrous oxide (N2O), also known as laughing gas, is a powerful greenhouse gas substantially contributing to global warming. As a crucial ozone-depleting substance, it plays an important role in regulating our climate. The oceans are a major natural source of N2O. However, our understanding of the processes involved in the turnover of N2O is still limited. Now a study led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and published in Limnology and Oceanography takes a leap forward in improving this understanding by unravelling the “Black Sea nitrous oxide conundrum”. 

Little N2O escapes the Black Sea

In the ocean, large amounts of nitrous oxide are mainly produced in areas that lack oxygen. In these so-called deoxygenated waters, microorganisms capable of producing this gas feel at home. The Black Sea is the world’s largest anoxic basin, with a reservoir of oxygen-depleted water stretching from a depth of 150 meters down to more than 2000 meters. However, the Black Sea appears to emit only little N2O.

“There were two possible reasons for this”, explains first-author Jan von Arx. “Either there is little production of N2O, or the produced N2O is removed before it reaches the surface. We wanted to explore this by looking at the biological processes involved in nitrous oxide production and consumption, as well as identify the microorganisms responsible for the turnover of this important greenhouse gas.”

N2O never reaches the surface

Thus, the scientists boarded RV Poseidon and sailed to the western Black Sea to take water samples, assess the environmental conditions and set up a large series of experiments. Indeed, they discovered that active nitrous oxide turnover takes place in the Black Sea’s suboxic zone – the zone of water with little oxygen, which separates the anoxic bottom waters from the well-oxygenated surface. “Various microorganisms produced lots of nitrous oxide through different processes. However, this production was outpaced by N2O reduction – i.e. the conversion of N2O to N2 by a different type of microorganisms”, von Arx explains. “Therefore, the small emissions of nitrous oxide from the Black Sea are likely the result of little but persistent production in the oxygenated waters, where it manages to escape consumption.”

An understudied biological filter for a dangerous gas

The microorganisms reducing N2O act as an efficient filter, keeping this potent greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere. The Max Planck scientists also managed to identify the main microorganisms involved in the process. 

“On a global perspective, we unfortunately know very little about the N2O reduction rates in the world’s oceans”, says von Arx. “Thus, our picture of environmental cycling of this important greenhouse gas remains incomplete and more research is needed. This is especially true in the light of climate change.” Due to global warming, oxygen loss from the ocean is accelerating and volumes of oxygen-depleted waters are predicted to expand in the future. Under these conditions, nitrous oxide emissions can be expected to increase.  

The scientists from Bremen are currently exploring similar questions in different oxygen-limited environments. Collecting and analysing data from many contrasting environments will allow them to obtain a fuller picture of nitrous oxide dynamics in the marine environment. 

Uncertain times for the changing ocean

“Nitrous oxide is the third most abundant greenhouse gas and a strong ozone depleting substance that persists in the atmosphere for about 120 years. The ocean is an important natural source of N2O. Hence, we should aim to understand the dynamics of its sources and sinks there. We hope that our work can help to assess the response of N2O production from marine environments to ongoing climate change”, von Arx concludes.
 

 

TO THE POINT:

• N₂O conundrum: Black Sea microbes produce N₂O, but others quickly convert it to harmless gas.
• Natural filter: Microbes in low-oxygen zones act as a barrier, preventing N₂O from reaching the atmosphere.
• Climate risk: Ocean oxygen loss may boost N₂O emissions, urging more research.

Jan von Arx working onboard RV Poseidon. “Our cruise took us to the Black Sea in November and we were warned that the weather will be horrible and we should expect strong winds and big waves. Packed to the full with sea-sickness medication, we ended up having the most beautiful sunny and calm water, and blue skies. Our only problem ended up being that we didn’t pack enough short-sleeved T-shirts”, he reports.

Credit

Jana Milucka / Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Journal

Limnology and Oceanography

DOI

10.1002/lno.70182 

Article Title

Nitrous oxide turnover in the suboxic zone of the Black Sea