Exploring new therapies for managing skin wounds is under progress and, in this regard, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) and mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) offer great opportunities in treating acute, chronic, and malignant wounds. In general, therapeutic effectiveness of both MSNs and MBGs in different formulations (fine powder, fibers, composites etc.) has been proved over all the four stages of normal wound healing including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. The main merits of these porous substances can be summarized as their excellent biocompatibility and the ability of loading and delivering a wide range of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic bioactive molecules and chemicals. In addition, doping with inorganic elements (e.g., Cu, Ga, and Ta) into MSNs and MBGs structure is a feasible and practical approach to prepare customized materials for improved skin regeneration. Nowadays, MSNs and MBGs could be utilized in the concept of targeted therapy of skin malignancies (e.g., melanoma) by grafting of specific ligands. Since potential effects of various parameters including the chemical composition, particle size/morphology, textural properties, and surface chemistry should be comprehensively determined via cellular in vitro and in vivo assays, it seems still too early to draw a conclusion on ultimate efficacy of MSNs and MBGs in skin regeneration. In this regard, there are some concerns over the final fate of MSNs and MBGs in the wound site plus optimal dosages for achieving the best outcomes that deserve careful investigation in the future.

Beyond their well-known applications in bone tissue engineering, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAp NPs) have also been showing great promise for improved cancer therapy. The chemical structure of HAp NPs offers excellent possibilities for loading and delivering a broad range of anticancer drugs in a sustained, prolonged, and targeted manner and thus eliciting lower complications than conventional chemotherapeutic strategies. The incorporation of specific therapeutic elements into the basic composition of HAp NPs is another approach, alone or synergistically with drug release, to provide advanced anticancer effects such as the capability to inhibit the growth and metastasis of cancer cells through activating specific cell signaling pathways. HAp NPs can be easily converted to smart anticancer agents by applying different surface modification treatments to facilitate the targeting and killing of cancer cells without significant adverse effects on normal healthy cells. The applications in cancer diagnosis for magnetic and nuclear in vivo imaging are also promising as the detection of solid tumor cells is now achievable by utilizing superparamagnetic HAp NPs. The ongoing research emphasizes the use of HAp NPs in fabricating three-dimensional scaffolds for the treatment of cancerous tissues or organs, promoting the regeneration of healthy tissue after cancer detection and removal. This review provides a summary of HAp NP applications in cancer theranostics, highlighting the current limitations and the challenges ahead for this field to open new avenues for research.

In this study, we successfully utilized nitrate precursors for the synthesis of silver (Ag)-doped borate-based mesoporous bioactive glass (MBGs) based on the 1393B3 glass formulation in the presence of a polymeric substrate (polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)) as a stabilizer of boric acid. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the glassy state of all the MBGs. The incorporation of 7.5 mol% Ag into the glass composition led to a decrease in the glass transition temperature (Tg). Improvements in the particle size, zeta potential, surface roughness, and surface area values were observed in the Ag-doped MBGs. The MBGs (1 mg/mL) had no adverse effect on the viability of fibroblasts. In addition, Ag-doped MBGs exhibited potent antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative species. In summary, a modified sol–gel method was confirmed for producing the Ag-doped 1393B3 glasses, and the primary in vitro outcomes hold promise for conducting in vivo studies for managing burns.

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