Bioinspired amino acid-functionalized cobalt ferrite nanocomposite: A nanozyme-based colorimetric sensor for sensitive and selective quantification of phenolic compounds and ascorbic acid antioxidant capacity.

The escalating oxidative stress has heightened the daily human demand for diverse antioxidants. Therefore, development of the novel approaches to assess the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of various nutrients is essential. In this study, drawing inspiration from the active site of native peroxidase enzymes, a novel peroxidase (POD)-like nanozyme was developed based on the cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles functionalized with different catalytic amino acids. Based on the TMB/H2O2 colorimetric system, the most substantial enhancement in POD-like activity was obtained by the glutamic acid coating among different charged amino acids studied, with more than 74% increase in specific activity compared to the bare CoFe2O4. A signal-off colorimetric sensing platform based on the obtained nanobiocatalyst was developed for the accurate quantification of the antioxidant capacity of phenolic compounds and vitamin C. The sensitive and selective quantification of ascorbic acid, tannic acid, gallic acid, cyanidin-3-glucoside, and quercetin was obtained by this colorimetric method.

Functionalized graphene oxide/Fe3O4 nanocomposite: A biocompatible and robust nanocarrier for targeted delivery and release of anticancer agents.

The development of efficient drug nanocarriers has remained an important challenge in advanced drug delivery in human body. Combination of graphene-based nanomaterials and cyanuric chloride (CC), as a linker, may improve the success of drug delivery. Herein, a simple approach was used for the synthesis of superparamagnetic graphene oxide (SPMGO) nanocomposite through a chemical precipitation method. The nanocomposite was readily functionalized with cyanuric chloride as a linker for loading the drug. The FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the efficient synthesis of nanocarriers. So did the transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Subsequently, the synthesized nanocarriers were studied in terms of their potential for biomedical applications. Immobilization of methotrexate (MTX), as a drug for treatment of cancer was taken into action on the SPMGO and SPMGO/CC. The in vitro assays indicated that the drug nanocarrier systems, SPMGO/MTX and SPMGO/CC/MTX, are hemo-compatible and increase the efficiency of MTX against Caov-4, HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines. The MTX nanocarriers represented a considerably high drug loading and controlled drug release. The overall results indicated the great potential of SPMGO/CC/MTX nanocarrier for targeted drug delivery, particularly in MTX chemotherapy.

Copper(ii) complexes with tridentate halogen-substituted Schiff base ligands: synthesis, crystal structures and investigating the effect of halogenation, leaving groups and ligand flexibility on antiproliferative activities.

To investigate the effect of different halogen substituents and leaving groups and the flexibility of ligands on the anticancer activity of copper complexes, sixteen copper(ii) complexes with eight different tridentate Schiff-base ligands containing pyridine and 3,5-halogen-substituted phenol moieties were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods. Four of these complexes were also characterized by X-ray crystallography. The cytotoxicity of the complexes was determined in three different tumor cell lines (i.e. the A2780 ovarian, HCT116 colorectal and MCF7 breast cancer cell line) and in a normal primary fibroblast cell line. Complexes were demonstrated to induce a higher loss of cell viability in the ovarian carcinoma cell line (A2780) with respect to the other two tumor cell lines, and therefore the biological mechanisms underlying this loss of viability were further investigated. Complexes with ligand L1 (containing a 2-pycolylamine-type motif) were more cytotoxic than complexes with L2 (containing a 2-(2-pyridyl)ethylamine-type motif). The loss of cell viability in A2780 tumor cells was observed in the order Cu(Cl2-L1)NO3 > Cu(Cl2-L1)Cl > Cu(Br2-L1)Cl > Cu(BrCl-L1)Cl. All complexes were able to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that could be related to the loss of cell viability. Complexes Cu(BrCl-L1)Cl and Cu(Cl2-L1)NO3 were able to promote A2780 cell apoptosis and autophagy and for complex Cu(BrCl-L1)Cl the increase in apoptosis was due to the intrinsic pathway. Cu(Cl2-L1)Cl and Cu(Br2-L1)Cl complexes lead to cellular detachment allowing to correlate with the results of loss of cell viability. Despite the ability of the Cu(BrCl-L1)Cl complex to induce programmed cell death in A2780 cells, its therapeutic window turned out to be low making the Cu(Cl2-L1)NO3 complex the most promising candidate for additional biological applications.

Recent Advances in Nanomaterials Development for Nanomedicine and Cancer.

Cancer is considered one of the leading causes of death, with a growing number of cases worldwide. However, the early diagnosis and efficient therapy of cancer have remained a critical challenge. The emergence of nanomedicine has opened up a promising window to address the drawbacks of cancer detection and treatment. A wide range of engineered nanomaterials and nanoplatforms with different shapes, sizes, and composition has been developed for various biomedical applications. Nanomaterials have been increasingly used in various applications in bioimaging, diagnosis, and therapy of cancers. Recently, numerous multifunctional and smart nanoparticles with the ability of simultaneous diagnosis and targeted cancer therapy have been reported. The multidisciplinary attempts led to the development of several exciting clinically approved nanotherapeutics. The nanobased materials and devices have also been used extensively to develop point-of-care and highly sensitive methods of cancer detection. In this review article, the most significant achievements and latest advances in the nanomaterials development for cancer nanomedicine are critically discussed. In addition, the future perspectives of this field are evaluated.

Biogenic magnetite nanoparticles: A potent and environmentally benign agent for efficient removal of azo dyes and phenolic contaminants from water.

A comprehensive study was conducted toward the green and facile synthesis of biocompatible magnetite nanoparticles for the efficient removal of organic contaminants from water. The nanoparticles were synthesized using a modified co-precipitation method and functionalized by the taxane diterpenoids extracted from Taxus baccata L., and fully characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, SEM, FTIR, VSM, and XRD. The synthesized monodisperse magnetite nanoparticles, with a narrow size distribution of less than 50 nm, displayed significant and stable magnetic activity without surface oxidation after several months. The batch experiments clearly indicated the efficient iron-catalyzed removal of Nile blue, methylene blue, methylene orange, and 4-nitrophenol for several cycles without significant loss of catalytic activity. The relevant kinetic data of the dyes removal reactions were fitted to a pseudo-first order model. Moreover, in vitro MTT assay revealed high biocompatibility of the nanoparticles with no significant toxicity on different human cell lines. The overall results indicated high potential of green synthesized, biocompatible magnetite nanoparticles for the environmental applications especially wastewater remediation.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using flower extract of Malva sylvestris and investigation of their antibacterial activity.

High-quality colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were synthesised via a green approach by using hydroalcoholic extracts of Malva sylvestris. Silver nitrate was used as a substrate ion while the plant extract successfully played the role of reducing and stabilising agents. The synthesised nanoparticles were carefully characterised by using transmission electron microscopy, atomic-force microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. The maximum absorption wavelengths of the colloidal solutions synthesised using 70 and 96% ethanol and 100% methanol, as extraction solvents, were 430, 485 and 504 nm, respectively. Interestingly, the size distribution of nanoparticles depended on the used solvent. The best particle size distribution belonged to the nanoparticles synthesised by 70% ethanol extract, which was 20-40 nm. The antibacterial activity of the synthesised nanoparticles was studied on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes using disk diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal concentrations assays. The best antibacterial activity obtained for the AgNPs produced by using 96% ethanolic extract.

Green and Facile Synthesis of Highly Photoluminescent Multicolor Carbon Nanocrystals for Cancer Therapy and Imaging.

Carbon dots (CDs), as a new generation of fluorescent nanoparticles, have been greatly considered for different biomedical applications. In the present study, a one-pot hydrothermal method was developed for the synthesis of a series of carbon dots (CDs) for cancer imaging and therapy. Taxane diterpenoids were utilized as the carbon source, different diamines were used as the nitrogen source, and folic acid was used as a targeting agent. High-quality photostable and multicolor (blue and green) carbon nanocrystals with a hexagonal shape, a narrow size distribution of less than 20 nm, and high fluorescence quantum yield of up to 50.4% were obtained from taxanes in combination with m-phenylenediamine and folic acid to give the best results. The nanoparticles displayed a potent anticancer activity with IC50 values of 31.3 ± 2.7 and 34.1 ± 1.1 µg mL-1 for the human MCF-7 and HeLa cancer cell lines, respectively, and IC50 value of 120.5 ± 3.8 µg mL-1 on the normal human fibroblast cells. The flow cytometry studies determined apoptosis-mediated cell death as the main anticancer mechanism of CDs, and the molecular studies revealed the induction of both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways. The overall results indicated the great potential of synthesized CDs for the simultaneous cancer imaging and therapy.

Strategically Designing a Pumpless Microfluidic Device on an "Inert" Polypropylene Substrate with Potential Application in Biosensing and Diagnostics.

This study is an attempt to make a step forward to implement the very immature concept of pumpless transportation of liquid into a real miniaturized device or lab-on-chip (LOC) on a plastic substrate. "Inert" plastic materials such as polypropylene (PP) are used in a variety of biomedical applications but their surface engineering is very challenging. Here, it was demonstrated that with a facile innovative wettability patterning route using fluorosilanized UV-independent TiO2 nanoparticle coating it is possible to create wedge-shaped open microfluidic tracks on inert solid surfaces for low-cost biomedical devices (lab-on-plastic). For the future miniaturization and integration of the tracks into a device, a variety of characterization techniques were used to not only systematically study the surface patterning chemistry and topography but also to have a clear knowledge of its biological interactions and performance. The effect of such surface architecture on the biological performance was studied in terms of static/dynamic protein (bovine serum albumin) adsorption, bacterial (Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis) adhesion, cell viability (using HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cell lines as well as noncancerous human fibroblast cells), and cell patterning (Murine embryonic fibroblasts). Strategies are discussed for incorporating such a confined track into a diagnostic device in which its sensing portion is based on protein, microorganism, or cells. Finally, for the proof-of-principle of biosensing application, the well-known high-affinity molecular couple of BSA-antiBSA as a biological model was employed.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Mentha pulegium and investigation of their antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activity.

A simple and eco-friendly method for efficient synthesis of stable colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Mentha pulegium extracts is described. A series of reactions was conducted using different types and concentrations of plant extract as well as metal ions to optimize the reaction conditions. AgNPs were characterized by using UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering, zetasizer, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). At the optimized conditions, plate shaped AgNPs with zeta potential value of -15.7 and plasmon absorption maximum at 450 nm were obtained using high concentration of aqueous extract. Efficient adsorption of organic compounds on the nanoparticles was confirmed by FTIR and EDAX. The biogenic AgNPs displayed promising antibacterial activity on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogenes. The highest antibacterial activity of 25 µg mL-1 was obtained for all the strains using aqueous extract synthesized AgNPs. The aqueous extract synthesised AgNPs also showed considerable antifungal activity against fluconazole resistant Candida albicans. The cytotoxicity assay revealed considerable anticancer activity of AgNPs on HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cells. Overall results indicated high potential of M. pulegium extract to synthesis high quality AgNPs for biomedical applications.