Abstract: Compositions for oral delivery of silica nanoparticles and/or aluminosilicate nanoparticles, and methods of use thereof. The individual nanoparticles comprise a silica core or an aluminosilicate core and, optionally, polyethylene glycol (PEG) groups each disposed on a surface of the nanoparticle. In various examples, the nanoparticles have a size of about 20 nm or less. In various examples, the nanoparticles can be delivered to an individual's gastrointestinal tract, pass through the mucus layer thereof, and permeate the epithelial lining thereof. In various examples, the nanoparticles comprise various targeting, diagnostic, or therapeutic group(s) and can retain one or more said activit(ies) after delivery. Methods of oral delivery and methods of treating a disease can comprise orally administering composition(s) to an individual.

Abstract: Methods of obtaining and kits that can be used to obtain an optical super-resolution image of a sample or a portion thereof or an individual or a portion thereof. In various examples, the individual is an individual with cancer. In various examples, a method includes contacting a sample or individual with one or more aluminosilicate nanoparticle(s) that have at least one organic fluorophore molecule covalently bonded to the aluminosilicate network of the nanoparticle(s), or a composition including the aluminosilicate nanoparticle(s); irradiating the sample or the individual, thereby exciting at least one of the fluorophore molecules of an individual aluminosilicate nanoparticle; and obtaining a fluorescence image or a sequence of fluorescence images, which can be processed to obtain a super-resolution image of the sample or the individual. In various examples, the sample is a biological sample, living or fixed tissues and/or cells, or a biopsy obtained from an individual.