Fabrication of a Dual-Drug-Loaded Smart Niosome-g-Chitosan Polymeric Platform for Lung Cancer Treatment.

Changes in weather conditions and lifestyle lead to an annual increase in the amount of lung cancer, and therefore it is one of the three most common types of cancer, making it important to find an appropriate treatment method. This research aims to introduce a new smart nano-drug delivery system with antibacterial and anticancer capabilities that could be applied for the treatment of lung cancer. It is composed of a niosomal carrier containing curcumin as an anticancer drug and is coated with a chitosan polymeric shell, alongside Rose Bengal (RB) as a photosensitizer with an antibacterial feature. The characterization results confirmed the successful fabrication of lipid-polymeric carriers with a size of nearly 80 nm and encapsulation efficiency of about 97% and 98% for curcumin and RB, respectively. It had the Korsmeyer-Peppas release pattern model with pH and temperature responsivity so that nearly 60% and 35% of RB and curcumin were released at 37 °C and pH 5.5. Moreover, it showed nearly 50% toxicity against lung cancer cells over 72 h and antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. Accordingly, this nanoformulation could be considered a candidate for the treatment of lung cancer; however, in vivo studies are needed for better confirmation.

Chitosan/calcium nanoparticles as advanced antimicrobial coating for paper documents.

Preservation of paper-based historical artifacts against deterioration due to the presence of bacteria and fungi colonies has been one of the major issues for the importance of protecting the cultural heritage of humankind. Advances in nanotechnology have enabled the implementation of nanomaterials for this purpose. In this work, calcium/chitosan nanoparticles (Ca/CS NPs) were prepared and well-characterized to investigate their potential as a novel approach for preserving paper-based documents. Following the fundamental characterizations, it was found that Ca/CS NPs are spherical nanoparticles with ~65 nm average size and homogenous dispersion (PdI: 0.2). Besides, minimum inhibition concentration results revealed that Ca/CS NPs show a superior antimicrobial effect against specific bacteria and fungi strains commonly found on paper documents compared to the effect of bare chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs). After the deposition of Ca/CS NPs onto the paper the pH level was increased and stabilized, and only a limited amount of microbial colony formation was observed for up to 20 days. Moreover, molecular docking analysis provided a better insight into the antibacterial and antifungal activities of these nanoparticles. The antimicrobial activity of CS NPs and Ca/CS NPs was investigated through their interactions with E. coli DNA gyrase B and C. albicans dihydrofolate reductase. The binding modes and all possible interactions of active sites were confirmed by in silico molecular docking method. Collectively, our findings revealed that the formulated Ca/CS NPs are promising candidates for preserving paper documents.

Synthesis, characterization, biological activities and molecular docking of Epilobium parviflorum aqueous extract loaded chitosan nanoparticles.

Epilobium is a medicinal plant; its extracts are widely used traditional medicine due to their broad range of pharmacological and therapeutic properties. Its most prominent feature is its therapeutic effects on prostatic diseases. The aim of this study is preparation of controlled release system of Epilobium parviflorum, and determination of its potential of anticancer applications. For this purpose, Epilobium parviflorum extract (EPE) loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared with ionic gelation method to increase the bioavailability of the extract. The nanoparticles were investigated in terms of size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity and release profile. Besides, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of the nanoparticles. Moreover, Ames/Salmonella test was used to determine the mutagenicity of EPE, and it was shown that it had no mutagenic effect. It was found that EPE loaded chitosan nanoparticles were with 64.47 nm in average size, 0.168 PdI and 15.2 mV zeta potential. Encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity were found as 92.46% and 8%, respectively. Finally, DNA binding assay and in silico molecular docking studies were performed between EPE and DNA in order to contribute to design of plant based controlled release system for use in cancer therapy.