Curcumin-loaded porous particles functionalized with pH-responsive cell-penetrating peptide for colorectal cancer targeted drug delivery.

The anticancer properties of curcumin have been broadly examined in several shapes, such as nanoparticles and nanocomposite structures. Despite its benefits, curcumin also has some disadvantages, including rapid metabolism, poor absorption, and rapid systemic excretion. Therefore, numerous strategies have been used to increase curcumin's bioavailability. One of these approaches is the use of porous particles like aerogels as drug carriers. Aerogels are special due to their peculiar physical structure. They have a high specific surface area, a significant amount of porosity, and a solid composition, which make them a good choice for drug delivery systems. In the present study, a pH-sensitive aerogel was constructed and evaluated for targeted drug delivery of curcumin to colon cancer. To control the release of curcumin, trehalose was used as a coating agent, and PLP (poly(l-lysine isophthalamide)) was used as a targeted drug delivery agent. PLP is a pseudo-peptidic polymer that increases the cell permeability. In order to investigate and compare the synthesized aerogel before and after loading curcumin and coating with trehalose, physicochemical characterization analyses were performed. Finally, the efficacy of the final formulation was evaluated on HT29 colon cells using the cell bioavailability test. The results indicated the successful synthesis of the aerogel with porous structure with solitary cavities. The trehalose coating performed well, preventing drug release at lower pH but allowing the drug to be released at its intended site. The designed curcumin-loaded porous particles functionalized with PLP showed significant efficacy due to increasing penetration of curcumin into cells, and has potential for use as a new drug carrier with dual effectivity in cancer therapy.

Fe3O4@BNPs@SiO2-SO3H as a highly chemoselective heterogeneous magnetic nanocatalyst for the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides or sulfones.

To achieve green chemistry goals and also to reduce the cost of catalysts as well as to avoid producing toxic wastes and show the importance of separation and recycling of catalysts from the reaction medium, in this work, we describe the preparation and characterization of magnetic acidic boehmite nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst, which is called Fe3O4@BNPs@SiO2-SO3H. This catalyst works efficiently in the selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides or sulfones in the presence of H2O2 as a green oxidant. It can easily be separated from the reaction medium by using an external magnet and it was recycled 6 times without loss of magnetic catalytic properties.