Novel Hydrogel-Advanced Modified Clay Nanocomposites as Possible Vehicles for Drug Delivery and Controlled Release.

Present study refers to the synthesis of new advanced materials based on poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) with previously reported own advanced modified clays by edge covalent bonding. This will create the premises to obtain nanocomposite hydrogels with combined hydrophilic-hydrophobic behavior absolutely necessary for co-delivery of polar/nonpolar substances. For the synthesis, N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide was used as cross-linker and ammonium persulphate as initiator. As a consequence of the inclusion of clay into the polymer matrix and the intercalation of PMAA between the layers as well as the presence of hydrophobic interactions occurred between partners, the final hydrogel nanocomposites possessed greater swelling degrees, slower de-swelling process and enhanced mechanical properties depending on the clay type in comparison with pure hydrogel. In vitro MTS ([3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt]) colorimetric assay showed that direct exposure with PMMA-clay-based constructs did not affect cell viability and proliferation in time (24 and 48 h) on either normal or adenocarcinoma cell lines.

Spectroscopic study of 3-Hydroxyflavone - protein interaction in lipidic bi-layers immobilized on silver nanoparticles.

The interaction of 3-Hydroxyflavone with serum proteins (BSA and HSA) in lecithin lipidic bi-layers (PC) immobilized on silver nanoparticles (SNPs), was studied by fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy. BSA secondary structure was quantified with a deconvolution algorithm, showing a decrease in α-helix structure when lipids were added to the solution. The effect of temperature on the rate of the excited-state intra-molecular proton transfer and on the dual fluorescence emission of 3-HF in the HSA/PC/SNPs systems was discussed. Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of 3-HF in HSA/PC/SNPs systems was also studied. The antioxidant activity of 3-HF decreased in the presence of SNPs. The results are discussed with relevance to the secondary structure of proteins and of the 3-HF based nano-systems to a topical formulation useful in the oxidative stress process.