Formulation and Biomedical Activity of Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsion Combining Tinospora smilacina Water Extract and Calophyllum inophyllum Seeds Oil.

Introduction: Tinospora smilacina is a native plant used in traditional medicine by First Nations peoples in Australia to treat inflammation. In our previous study, an optimised Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil (CSO) nanoemulsion (NE) showed improved biomedical activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant activity, cell viability and in vitro wound healing efficacy compared to CSO. Methods: In this study, a stable NE formulation combining T. smilacina water extract (TSWE) and CSO in a nanoemulsion (CTNE) was prepared to integrate the bioactive compounds in both native plants and improve wound healing efficacy. D-optimal mixture design was used to optimise the physicochemical characteristics of the CTNE, including droplet size and polydispersity index (PDI). Cell viability and in vitro wound healing studies were done in the presence of CTNE, TSWE and CSO against a clone of baby hamster kidney fibroblasts (BHK-21 cell clone BSR-T7/5). Results: The optimised CTNE had a 24 ± 5 nm particle size and 0.21± 0.02 PDI value and was stable after four weeks each at 4 °C and room temperature. According to the results, incorporating TSWE into CTNE improved its antioxidant activity, cell viability, and ability to promote wound healing. The study also revealed that TSWE has >6% higher antioxidant activity than CSO. While CTNE did not significantly impact mammalian cell viability, it exhibited wound-healing properties in the BSR cell line during in vitro testing. These findings suggest that adding TSWE may enhance CTNE's potential as a wound-healing treatment. Conclusion: This is the first study demonstrating NE formulation in which two different plant extracts were used in the aqueous and oil phases with improved biomedical activities.

Optimisation of Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil nanoemulsion as a potential wound healing agent.

BACKGROUND: Efficient delivery systems of Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil (CSO) in the form of nanoemulsion were optimised to enhance its stability and ensure its therapeutic efficiency as a potential agent for various biomedical applications. METHOD: Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine the effects of independent variables (oil, surfactant, water percentage and homogenisation time) on physicochemical characteristics, including droplet size, polydispersity index and turbidity. RESULTS: The optimised CSO nanoemulsion (CSONE) has a 46.68 nm particle size, 0.15 Polydispersity index value and 1.16 turbidity. After 4 weeks of storage at 5 ± 1 °C and 25 ± 1 °C, the CSONE was physically stable. The optimised CSO nanoemulsion showed enhancement in cell viability and wound healing in baby hamster kidney a clone BHK-21 (BSR) cells as compared to the CSO. The wound healing property of CSONE was higher than CSO. CONCLUSION: Thus, our in vitro wound healing results demonstrated that CSO in the nanoemulsion form can promote wound healing by enhancing the proliferation and migration of epidermal cells. The coarse emulsion of Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil nano emulsion was prepared using high shear homogeniser techniques. The optimised CSONE with the droplet size of 46.68 nm was prepared from a mixture of CSO, Tween 80, and high pure water (HPW), then used for the biological investigation. The in vitro cell monolayer scratch assay revealed that CSONE in the lowest concentration of CSO resulted in 100% wound closure after 48 hrs. The optimised CSO nanoemulsion was found to be a promising and effective approach in the treatment of wounds by boosting the proliferation and migration of epidermal cells.

A molecular dynamics and docking study to screen anti-cancer compounds targeting mutated p53.

The p53 gene is mutated in greater than 50% of several human cancers including bladder urothelial carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, and oral cancer. Mutations in the p53 gene occur predominantly in the DNA-binding domain causing loss of function and accumulation of dysfunctional p53 protein in tumors by hetero-oligomerization with the wild type p53. Thus an in silico approach for the rational design of potent, pharmacologically active small drug-like compounds targeting mutated p53 was undertaken. Molecular dynamics simulations of the wild type p53 monomer and p53 mutants R175H and R248Q were performed using Discovery Studio v3.5. Phase was used to generate pharmacophore models and the sitemap generated pocket was used to screen the Maybridge HitFinderTM library using Schrodinger Suite. We identified ten compounds (Cmpd-1 to Cmpd-10) that showed preferential binding to p53 mutants, and their pharmacokinetic profiles complied with the ADMET rules. Cmpd-4 and Cmpd-8 demonstrated binding with mutated p53 at cysteine 124, similar to the mutant p53 reactivating compound APR-246 (PRIMA-1Met) for functional restoration of the mutant p53. We propose the identified compounds as suitable drug candidates against mutated p53 protein, with the specific small drug-like molecules as either single drugs or in combination with lower doses of additional cytotoxic drugs, consequently reducing adverse side effects in patients.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Gold nanoparticle-assisted enhancement in bioactive properties of Australian native plant extracts, Tasmannia lanceolata and Backhousia citriodora.

Green nanotechnology plays a significant role in developing effective treatment strategies for numerous diseases. The biological synthesis of metal nanoparticles (M-NPs) possesses suitable alternatives than chemical techniques. Using plant extract to synthesis M-NPs is an eco-friendly, non-toxic, and cost-effective that are suitable for biological applications and efforts are directed to explore the efficacy of these materials in cancer management. In this study, gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were synthesised by following a one-step green synthesis, a reaction between HAuCl4 and biological molecules present in Tasmannia lanceolata leaf extract as a sole agent for both reduction and stabilisation. The characterisation techniques confirmed the successful synthesis of Au-NPs. TEM photograph revealed spherical shape nanoparticles with an average size of 7.10 ± 0.66 nm. The in-vitro cytotoxicity of Au-NPs was performed by analysing the percentage inhibition of cell viability using Resazurin assay on human liver cancer (HepG2), melanoma cancer (MM418 C1) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines and compared with Au-NPs synthesised by using Backhousia citriodora leaf extract. The results showed that biosynthesised Au-NPs displayed greater inhibitory activity towards MCF-7 cancer cells proliferation compared to HepG2 and MM418 cancer cells. In addition, synthesised Au-NPs@ Tasmannia lanceolata leaf extract indicated higher inhibitory activity towards cancer cells compared to Au-NPs@ Backhousia citriodora leaf extract.

The Exchange Mechanism of Alkaline and Alkaline-Earth Ions in Zeolite N.

Zeolite N is a synthetic zeolite of the EDI framework family from the more than 200 known zeolite types. Previous experimental laboratory and field data show that zeolite N has a high capacity for exchange of ions. Computational modelling and simulation techniques are effective tools that help explain the atomic-scale behaviour of zeolites under different processing conditions and allow comparison with experiment. In this study, the ion exchange behaviour of synthetic zeolite N in an aqueous environment is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The exchange mechanism of K+ extra-framework cations with alkaline and alkaline-earth cations NH4+, Li+, Na+, Rb+, Cs+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ is explored in different crystallographic directions inside the zeolite N structure. Moreover, the effect of different framework partial charges on MD simulation results obtained from different DFT calculations are examined. The results show that the diffusion and exchange of cations in zeolite N are affected by shape and size of channels controlling the ion exchange flow as well as the nature of cation, ionic size and charge density.

Hydrotalcite Intercalated siRNA: Computational Characterization of the Interlayer Environment.

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we explore the structural and dynamical properties of siRNA within the intercalated environment of a Mg:Al 2:1 Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) nanoparticle. An ab initio force field (Condensed-phase Optimized Molecular Potentials for Atomistic Simulation Studies: COMPASS) is used for the MD simulations of the hybrid organic-inorganic systems. The structure, arrangement, mobility, close contacts and hydrogen bonds associated with the intercalated RNA are examined and contrasted with those of the isolated RNA. Computed powder X-ray diffraction patterns are also compared with related LDH-DNA experiments. As a method of probing whether the intercalated environment approximates the crystalline or rather the aqueous state, we explore the stability of the principle parameters (e.g., the major groove width) that differentiate both A- and A'- crystalline forms of siRNA and contrast this with recent findings for the same siRNA simulated in water. We find the crystalline forms remain structurally distinct when intercalated, whereas this is not the case in water. Implications for the stability of hybrid LDH-RNA systems are discussed.

Molecular modeling of hydrotalcite structure intercalated with transition metal oxide anions: CrO4(2-) and VO4(3-).

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to study the interlayer structure, hydrogen bonding, and energetics of hydration of Mg/Al (2:1 and 4:1) layered double hydroxide (LDH) or hydrotalcite (HT) intercalated with oxymetal anions, CrO(4)(2-), and VO(4)(3-). The ab initio forcefield COMPASS is employed for the simulations. The charge on the oxymetal anions is determined by quantum mechanical density functional theory. The structural behavior of the oxymetal anions in LDH directly relates to the energetic relationships, with electrostatic and H-bonding interactions between the anions, hydroxide sites of the metal hydroxide layers, and the interlayer water molecules. Distinct minima in the hydration energy indicate the presence of energetically well-defined structural states with specific water content. The experimentally identified variability in the retention of the CrO(4)(2-) and VO(4)(3-) is well reflected in the calculations and self-diffusion coefficients obtained from the simulations give insight into the mobility of the intercalated species.