Electrospun nanofibrous membrane with antibacterial and antiviral properties decorated with Myoporum bontioides extract and silver-doped carbon nitride nanoparticles for medical masks application.

Public health safety issues have been plaguing the world since the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, most personal protective equipments (PPE) do not have antibacterial and anti- toxicity effects. In this work, we designed and prepared a reusable, antibacterial and anti-toxicity Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based nanofibrous membrane cooperated with Ag/g-C3N4 (Ag-CN), Myoporum.bontioides (M. bontioides) plant extracts and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) by an electrospinning-process. The SEM and TEM characterization revealed the formation of raised, creased or wrinkled areas on the fiber surface caused by the Ag nanoparticles, the rough surface prevented the aerosol particles on the fiber surface from sliding and stagnating, thus providing excellent filtration performance. The PAN/M. bontioides/Ag-CN/Ag nanofibrous membrane could be employed as a photocatalytic bactericidal material, which not only degraded 96.37% of methylene blue within 150 min, but also exhibited the superior bactericidal effect of 98.65 ± 1.49% and 97.8 ± 1.27% against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, under 3 hs of light exposure. After 3 cycles of sterilization experiments, the PAN/M. bontioides/Ag-CN/Ag nanofibrous membrane maintained an efficient sterilization effect. Molecular docking revealed that the compounds in M. bontioides extracts interacted with neo-coronavirus targets mainly on Mpro and RdRp proteins, and these compounds had the strongest docking energy with Mpro protein, the shortest docking radius, and more binding sites for key amino acids around the viral protein targets, which influenced the replication and transcription process of neo-coronavirus. The PAN/M.bontioides/Ag-CN/Ag nanofibrous membrane also performed significant inhibition of influenza A virus H3N2. The novel nanofiber membrane is expected to be applied to medical masks, which will improve human isolation and protection against viruses.

Rational design of hollow mesoporous titania nanoparticles loaded with curcumin for UV-controlled release and targeted drug delivery.

Curcumin (Cur), appeared to provide huge potential in biomedical application. However, its therapeutic efficacy was greatly limited as the result of poor solubility and instability. To address these limitations, we create a new type of hollow mesoporous titania nanoparticle (HMTN) to encapsulate Cur. HMTN was decorated with a layer of hydrophilic polyethylenimine (PEI), which controlled the release rate of Cur inside the pore due to its dendritic structure. Combined with the folic acid (FA) mediated targeting effect, the potential multifunctional Cur loaded titania nanoparticle (Cur-FA-PEI-HMTN) showed excellent biocompatibility and bioavailability, as well as the UV-responsive drug release properties. The operating parameters to prepare hollow structure were studied and the Cur-FA-PEI-HMTN nanosystem had been fully characterized by Brunauer-Emmet-Teller, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, thermal gravity analysis, differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential. In addition, the hemolytic test, as well as CCK8, flow cytometry, Hoechst 33342 staining experiment, were carried out to confirm the low cytotoxity and high biocompatibility. The confocal microscopy analysis results also revealed the increasing uptake of Cur@FA-PEI-HMTN by MCF-7 cells. The synthesized nanoparticles displayed great potential as drug nanovehicles with high biocompatibility.

In-situ electrospinning PVB/Camellia oil/ZnO-TiO2 nanofibrous membranes with synergistic antibacterial and degradation of ethylene applied in fruit preservation.

This work utilizes a handheld electrospinning device to prepare a novel nanofibrous composite membrane in situ for packaging freshness. It can realize pick-and-pack and is easy to operate. The nanofibrous membrane is based on PVB as the matrix material, adding Camellia oil (CO) and ZnO-TiO2 composite nanoparticles (ZT) as the active material. The antimicrobial property of the CO and the photocatalytic activity of the nanoparticles give the material good antimicrobial and ethylene degradation functions. Meanwhile, this nanofibrous membrane has good mechanical properties, suitable moisture permeability and good optical properties. The nanofibrous membrane are suitable for both climacteric and non- climacteric fruits. Its use as a cling film extends the shelf life of strawberries by 4 days and significantly slows the ripening of small tomatoes. Therefore, this nanofibrous membrane has great potential for application in the field of fruit preservation.

Efficacy and safety testing of dissolving microarray patches in Chinese subjects.

OBJECTIVES: There is a lack of clinical research in the Chinese market concerning dissolving microarray (DMA) patches in cosmetic applications. In this study, the clinical efficacy and safety tests of DMA patch technology were performed on Chinese consumers. METHODS: A 4-week clinical efficacy and safety evaluation was conducted on 30 Chinese female subjects with crow's feet and eye bags. DMA patches loaded with hyaluronic acid (HA-DMA) were applied under the eyes and corners of the eyes of the subjects three times a week over four consecutive weeks. Skin firmness and dermal layer strength were measured using ultrasound, and changes in skin wrinkles were detected using VISIA-CR and Primos Lite. Eye bag ratings were evaluated by professional dermatologists based on the 0-6 grades of eye bags in the "Skin Aging Atlas Volume 2: Asian Type." RESULTS: HA-DMA patches produced good clinical improvements on both crow's feet and eye bags in the study participants. HA-DMA effectively increased skin firmness while reducing the number, area, and volume of crow's feet, along with reducing eye bag ratings. The reductions in all metrics were statistically significant with positive effects evident in as little as 1 week of treatment. There were no adverse effects related to the treatments observed during the test period. CONCLUSIONS: In a clinical efficacy trial of 30 Chinese female subjects, HA-DMA showed excellent therapeutic benefits without adverse effects while reducing crow's feet and eye bags. HA-DMA is expected to be a safe, effective, and novel cosmetic for improving the appearance of aging skin.

Acne and its post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation treatment by applying anti-acne dissolving microneedle patches.

OBJECTIVE: Acne is a significant problem in young people. At present, most acne treatment products are topically applied cosmetics, whose efficacy is limited by the stratum corneum. The dissolving microneedle technique can effectively deliver drug molecules into the body. In this study, dissolving microneedles containing anti-acne ingredients were tested for human efficacy and safety. METHODS: We conducted a 28-day clinical efficacy and safety trial on 30 individuals with visible facial acne. During the trial, anti-acne microneedle (AA-DMN) patches were applied to designated skin areas once daily for 28 consecutive days. Skin pigmentation was measured using a Courage + Khazaka skin melanin and hemoglobin test probe Mexameter MX18. Acne volume was measured using a Canfieldsci skin rapid optical imaging system PRIMOS. In addition, skin irritation was evaluated via self-report and dermatologist's examination. RESULTS: The AA-DMN patches showed good efficacy including improvement of skin pigmentation and reduced acne volume. Acne volume was reduced by 12.34% after 3 days of patch use and further reduced by 10.01% after 7 continuous days of use. After 28 days of treatment, skin melanin decreased by 5.88% and heme decreased by 7.83%. No adverse reactions were observed in any of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-acne microneedle patches showed an excellent effect in reducing acne and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), without adverse skin reactions. The novel AA-DMN patch is a safe and effective anti-acne treatment.

Novel functional mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with Vitamin E acetate as smart platforms for pH responsive delivery with high bioactivity.

Vitamin E (VE) exerts promising antioxidant activities against free radicals. However, its therapeutic efficacy and practical application are greatly restricted as a result of poor solubility, instability and low bioavailability. In this work, novel amino functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were employed as the smart carriers to encapsulate Vitamin E acetate by the combination of soft-template method and recrystallization approach. Typically, two different surfactants were used as organic templates to fabricate different MSNs with various pore size distributions (∼4nm and ∼25nm). According to the characterization results such as Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, the drug delivery systems were successfully fabricated and the loading capacity (LC%) and entrapment efficiency (EE%) were also assessed. In addition, the results revealed that the VE loaded nanoparticles dispersed very well in PBS (pH = 7.4) and released VE in a pH-responsive manner. Importantly, the antioxidant effects of the VE loaded nanoparticles were also investigated by DPPH assays after exposure to air for 48h, showing that VE molecules encapsulated inside the mesoporous channels suffered from less degradation, compared to the pure VE. In vitro cell tests and hemolytic experiments revealed the outstanding biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. In conclusion, the functionalized mesoporous silica combined with VE might act as potential antioxidant drug formations in clinical application.

Novel drug delivery nanosystems based on out-inside bifunctionalized mesoporous silica yolk-shell magnetic nanostars used as nanocarriers for curcumin.

Mesoporous silica has aroused lots of interest in biomedical fields, in which novel kinds of mesoporous silica with tunable mesoporosity and size have attracted much attention, but functionalization or multi-functionalization inside the mesopores of these structures is still rarely detected. Among all the functionalized molecules, beta cyclodextrin hydrate (ß-CD), a kind of hydrophilic non-toxic carrier for hydrophobic drugs, can increase the solubility and bioavailability of drugs, acting as a pH responsive "gate" when functionalized on the surface of mesoporous silica. Herein, we functionalized ß-CD inside novel kinds of mesoporous silica or magnetic mesoporous silica as the physical binding sites for the model drug curcumin through an out-inside two step bifunctionalization process including a vacuum pumping recrystallization drug loading process. According to the physical characterization with XRD, FT-IR, XPS, solid state NMR, BET, TG, DTA, TEM and DLS, the drug delivery nanosystems were successfully fabricated and contained nano-formulations of curcumin. In vitro cell testing, including Cell Counting Kit-8, Hoechst 33342 staining, hemolysis experiments and cell apoptosis, indicated that through the bifunctionalization, the biocompatibility of the mesoporous silica with cells could be improved, and the toxicity of the drug delivery nano-formulations towards two kinds of cancer cells, SK-HEP1 and HepG2, was significantly increased compared with free curcumin. In vitro release studies revealed that the nano-formulations contained more suspended curcumin molecules as described by the Higuchi models and showed enhanced pH responsive release properties, and that the magnetic nano-formulations exhibited alternating magnetically controlled release properties. The confocal microscopy analysis results revealed the obviously increasing intercellular release and uptake of both nano-formulations of curcumin by SK-HEP1 cells and the "on" and "off" stages of the alternating magnetism responsive intercellular release properties of the fabricated magnetic nano-formulations. The bifunctionalization process combined with the nanostar structure has immense potential in the drug delivery field, especially for hydrophobic drugs.