All-iron ions mediated electron transfer for biomass pretreatment coupling with direct generation of electricity from lignocellulose.

A coupled process of biomass pretreatment for increasing cellulose digestibility and direct conversion of biomass to electricity has been developed with ferric or ferricyanide ions as the anode electron carriers, and Fe(NO3)3 activated by HNO3 as the cathode electron carriers. Pretreated substrates are subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis for release of fermentable sugars, while the pretreatment liquor is employed as anolyte for electricity generation in a liquid flow fuel cell (LFFC). Pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse with 2 M FeCl3 in anode reactor removes âˆ¼ 100% hemicelluloses and obtains 76% enzymatic glucan conversion (EGC), while pretreatment with 0.1 M K3[Fe(CN)6] in 0.5 M KOH achieves 78% lignin removal, 95.8% EGC and 85.1% xylan conversion. From 1000 g bagasse, 171.3 g fermentable sugars is produced with co-generation of 101.4 W·h electricity based on FeCl3 pretreatment, while 519 g fermentable sugars and 28.9 W·h electricity are obtained based on K3[Fe(CN)6] pretreatment.

Metal ion-assisted drug-loading model for novel delivery system of cisplatin solid lipid nanoparticles with improving loading efficiency and sustained release.

Metal ion-assisted drug loading model, in which metal ion was used to modify the microstructure of lipid layer, has been developed to improve drug loading efficiency of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). The microstructure and properties of metal ion-assisted cisplatin-loading SLNs were investigated by infra-red spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and zetasizer. The reactions of hydrogenated soybean lecithin with Zn(2+), Cu(2+), Mn(2+ )and Mg(2+ )have been detected; the mechanism for higher drug encapsulation efficiency (EE) has been investigated. In metal ion introduction SLNs, the compact degree of the lipid molecules was increased due to the electrostatic interaction between metal ions and phospholipid acyl and choline polarity groups, which result in increasing of drug EE. Meanwhile, these electrostatic interactions slowed the releasing rate of encapsulated drug. The study of cytotoxic activity in vitro indicated that the cell cytotoxicity of metal ions introduction SLNs depended on both cell uptake of SLNs and drug releasing from SLNs.

Characterization and cytotoxicity studies of DPPC:M(2+) novel delivery system for cisplatin thermosensitivity liposome with improving loading efficiency.

A novel, metal ion-assisted drug-loading model, in which the metal ion was used to modify the microstructure of DPPC bilayers, has been developed to improve the drug-loading efficiency of cisplatin thermosensitivity liposomes. The reactions of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) with diverse metal ions (Zn(2+), Cu(2+), Mn(2+) and Mg(2+)) yield four typical liposomes, which have been characterized by FT-IR, Raman and fluorescence techniques; the mechanism for higher drug encapsulation efficiency has also been investigated. In these prepared liposomes, the conformation of DPPC is changed due to the electrostatic interaction between the metal ions and phospholipid acyl group, leading to a closer arrangement of the lipid hydrocarbon chains and higher Tm of DPPC. As a result, the encapsulation efficiency of metal ion-assisted loading liposome is significantly higher than that of metal ion-free state. While for the release time, all four metal ion-assisted liposomes could be released within 10min at 42±0.5°C, which approach to the phase transition temperature, indicating that the introduction of metal ions into the DPPC bilayer membranes has no influence on the thermosensitivity of the liposome. Furthermore, the higher cytotoxicity of metal ion-bounded liposomes than that of free cisplatin solution suggests that high encapsulation efficiency can cause cytotoxicity increase. Hence, this work highlighted that metal ion-assisted loading model increased the encapsulation efficiency and cell cytotoxicity of cisplatin in thermosensitive liposomes with no obvious effects on sustained and temperature-dependent drug release.

Preparation and characterization of cisplatin magnetic solid lipid nanoparticles (MSLNs): effects of loading procedures of Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

PURPOSE: In order to improve formulation of targeting chemotherapy, cisplatin-loaded magnetic solid lipid nanoparticles (MSLNs) were prepared. In present study, the deliberate loading of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNs) into cisplatin SLNs was developed. METHODS: SLNs were produced by film scattering ultrasonic technique. The effects of two different loading procedures of MNs on the microstructure and physicochemical properties of MSLNs were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zetasizer, infrared spectroscopy (IR), and fluorescence spectroscopy. In vitro drug release and cytotoxicity against human cervical carcinoma SiHa cells, in vivo tumor cell uptake and target tissue distribution of MSLNs under external magnetic field were investigated. RESULTS: The encapsulation efficiency of cisplatin and the content of MNs in procedure I SLNs were 69.20 ± 4.5% and 2.16 ± 0.53 mg/mL, respectively, which were higher than those of procedure II MSLNs. In procedure I, the MNs, which were combined with lipids during film formation, distributed in the middle of the lipid layer in SLNs. Differently, in procedure II, the MNs and cisplatin were contained in an interior compartment in SLNs, resulting from mixing with drugs during hydration of lipid film. The procedure I MSLNs had higher cytotoxicity than procedure II MSLNs or free cisplatin. With in vivo intratumoral administration, cisplatin concentration in the tumor tissue was maintained at higher level for MSLNs than that for free cisplatin, especially under external magnetic field. CONCLUSIONS: Procedure I, the developed deliberate MNs loading method, was superior over procedure II in cisplatin encapsulation efficiency, MNs content and cell cytotoxicity.