Nosocomial infections are a significant threat to public health that leads to substantial morbidity and mortality. The emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms have compounded the complexity of managing these infections, highlighting the urgent need for innovative and effective strategies to combat them. Photostimuli-responsive nanomaterials have emerged as promising tools for coating biomedical devices and tools against nosocomial infections due to their ability to selectively target and kill pathogenic bacteria and fungi. It is feasible to develop antibacterial surfaces by integrating photothermal agents (PTAs), photodynamic agents (PDAs), and both PTAs and PDAs into coatings. When exposed to light, PTAs generate heat that can be used to kill bacteria, while PDAs emit reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can also be used to kill bacteria. The combination of photothermal and photodynamic therapies produces a synergistic effect in which the death of bacteria is boosted in comparison with the use of each individual therapy. These coatings have the potential to provide enhanced bacterial control for a number of biomedical devices, including implants, catheters, meshes, and wound dressings. The utilization of antimicrobial nanomaterials offers a promising approach for reducing the risk of infections associated with the use of these devices.

MicroRNA (miRNA) has emerged as a promising alternative therapeutic treatment for cancer, but its delivery has been hindered by low cellular uptake and degradation during circulation. In this review, we discuss the various methods of delivering miRNA, including viral and non-viral delivery systems such as liposomes and nanoparticles. We also examine the use of nanoparticles for miRNA-based diagnostics. We focus specifically on non-viral delivery systems utilizing coinage metals in the form of nanoparticles and the use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as a method of surface modification. We review the use of SAMs for the conjugation and delivery of small noncoding ribonucleic acid (ncRNA), particularly SAMs derived from positively charged adsorbates to generate charged surfaces that can interact electrostatically with negatively charged miRNA. We also discuss the effects of the cellular uptake of gold and other plasmonic nanoparticles, as well as the challenges associated with the degradation of oligonucleotides. Our review highlights the potential of SAM-based systems as versatile and robust tools for delivering miRNA and other RNAs in vitro and in vivo and the need for further research to address the challenges associated with miRNA delivery and diagnostics.

Two series of lactone-terminated alkanethiol adsorbates with five- and six-membered lactone groups, γ-COCnSH and δ-COCnSH (n = 11, 12), were synthesized and employed to create nanoscale self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold substrates to mimic the properties of commercially available poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) surfaces. ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were employed to characterize the adsorbate molecules. The thicknesses of the corresponding self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were evaluated by ellipsometry. The conformational characteristics of the SAMs were analyzed using polarization modulation infrared reflection adsorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS), with a focus on the C-H antisymmetric stretching vibrations of the alkyl spacers. To evaluate the packing densities of the monolayers, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed. Separately, contact angle measurements provided insights into the wettability of the surfaces. Remarkably, the contact angle data across a broad range of probe liquids for the γ-COC11SH and γ-COC12SH SAMs were consistently similar to each other and to the contact angle values of the PLGA surface, rather than to PGA. This finding suggests that the lactone-terminated SAMs investigated in this study effectively mimic nanoscale polyester surfaces, enabling the exploration of interfacial properties of polyesters in the absence of swelling and/or surface reconstruction phenomena.