2. Academic Validation
  3. Sparking angiogenesis by carbon monoxide-rich gold nanoparticles obtained by pulsed laser driven CO2 reduction reaction

Sparking angiogenesis by carbon monoxide-rich gold nanoparticles obtained by pulsed laser driven CO2 reduction reaction

  • J Nanobiotechnology. 2025 Aug 26;23(1):590. doi: 10.1186/s12951-025-03680-9.
Anastasia Chillà # 1,  Cecilia Anceschi # 1,  Francesca Scavone 1,  Serena Martinelli 2,  Jessica Ruzzolini 1,  Elena Frediani 1,  Francesca Margheri 1,  Tahir Tahir 3,  Guilherme C Concas 3,  Mariana Gisbert 3,  Marco Cremona 3,  Fernando Freire 3,  Ricardo Q Aucélio 4,  Tatiana Saint Pierre 4,  André L Rossi 5,  Mirko Severi 6,  Rita Traversi 6,  Daniele Bani 2,  Daniele Guasti 2,  Nicola Daldosso 7,  Mario Del Rosso 1,  Gabriella Fibbi 1,  Celso SantAnna 8,  Tommaso Del Rosso # 9,  Anna Laurenzana 10
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, Florence, 50134, Italy.
  • 2 Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, 50134, Florence, Italy.
  • 3 Department of Physics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, 22451-900, Brazil.
  • 4 Department of Chemistry, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, 22451- 900, Brazil.
  • 5 Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas (CBPF), R. Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, 22290-180, Brazil.
  • 6 Department of Chemistry, Ugo Schiff University of Florence Sesto, Fiorentino, 50019, Italy.
  • 7 Department of Engineering for Innovation Medicine, University of Verona, Strada le Grazie 15, Verona, 37134, Italy.
  • 8 Duque de Caxias (RJ), National Institute of Metrology Quality and Technology (Inmetro), Av. Nossa Senhor das Graças 50, 25250-020, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • 9 Department of Physics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, 22451-900, Brazil. tommaso@puc-rio.br.
  • 10 Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, Florence, 50134, Italy. anna.laurenzana@unifi.it.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 40859339 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-025-03680-9
Abstract

Endothelial tissue regeneration is a major challenge in the context of vascular disorders and tissue repair. One of the most recent and promising therapies for endothelial tissue disorders is the administration of carbon monoxide (CO) by direct injection or release by CO-releasing molecules (CORMs). Despite the great potential of CORMs, light instability and cytotoxicity associated with the heavy metal core are still major drawbacks that inhibit clinical application. Recently, we have shown the possibility to synthesize carbon monoxide rich gold nanoparticles (CO-rich AuNPs) by the pulsed laser driven CO2 reduction reaction in water. In this work, we investigate the potential of this unique metal-organic complex as a therapeutic approach to promote endothelial tissue regeneration, by performing a comparative analysis between the CO releasing potential of CO-rich AuNPs and a well-known CO-releasing molecule, specifically CORM-2. Through a combination of in vitro and in vivo experiments, we elucidated the mechanisms by which the laser synthesized ligand-free or CO-rich AuNPs inhibit or enhance, respectively, the endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis. Notably, the biocompatible CO-rich AuNPs not only boost these cellular processes but also play a pivotal role in triggering histone acetylation, shedding light on an additional regulatory pathway.

Keywords

Capillary morphogenesis; Carbon monoxide; Endothelial colony forming cells; Gold nanoparticles; Histones acetylation; matrigel sponges; angiogenesis; Pulsed laser ablation in water.

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