A facile strategy for preparation of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles using Cordia myxa leaf extract and investigating its adsorption activity in dye removal.

This study demonstrates the successful, facile, and cost-effective preparation of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MNPs) via green procedure using Cordia myxa leaf extracts for efficient adsorption of methylene blue (MB) as a model of organic pollutant. The formation of Fe3O4 NPs was confirmed by a range of spectroscopy and microscopy techniques including FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, EDS, VSM, TGA, and BET-BJH. The synthesized spherical nanoparticles had a high specific surface area of 115.07 m2/g with a mesoporous structure. The formed Fe3O4 MNPs exhibited superparamagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization of 49.48 emu/g. After characterization, the adsorptive performance of the synthesized MNPs toward MB was evaluated. To achieve the maximum removal efficiency, the effect of key parameters such as adsorbent dosage (MNPs), initial adsorbate concentration, pH, and contact time on the adsorption process was evaluated. A maximum adsorption capacity of 17.79 mg/g was obtained, after one-hour incubation at pH 7.5. From the pHPZC of 7.1 of the synthesized adsorbent, the electrostatic attraction between MB and Fe3O4 NPs plays an important role in the adsorption process. The adsorption experimental data showed the closest match with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm. The prepared Fe3O4 NPs were easily recovered by an external magnet and could be reused several times. Therefore, the synthesized MNPs seem to be excellent adsorbents for the removal of MB from aqueous solution.

Intercalative binding of two new five-coordinated anticancer Pt(II) complexes to DNA: experimental and computational approaches.

Binding interaction of two organoplatinum complexes, [Pt(C^N)Cl(dppa)], 1, and [Pt(C^N)Cl(dppm)], 2, (C^N = N(1), C(2')-chelated, deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine, dppa = bis(diphenylphosphino)amine, dppm = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane), as anti-tumor agents, with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) under pseudo-physiological conditions has been investigated using various biophysical techniques viz., UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopies, viscosity measurements, and thermal denaturation experiments. A hypochromic shift in UV-Vis absorption titration, fluorescence enhancement of Pt(II) complexes in the presence of CT-DNA, fluorescence quenching in competitive ethidium bromide displacement assay, and an uptrend in the viscosity (η) and melting temperature (Tm) indicated the existence of a tight intercalative interaction of Pt(II) complexes with CT-DNA. The fluorescence quenching of CT-DNA was a combined quenching of static and dynamic with Stern-Volmer quenching constants of 7.520 × 103 M-1 for complex 1 and 5.183 × 103 M-1 for complex 2, at low concentrations of Pt(II) complexes. Besides the experimental studies, computational studies were done. Molecular modeling studies confirmed the intercalation of the studied complexes by the phenyl groups of dppa and dppm, leading to π-π interactions but with a certain steric hindrance because of the size and shape of the considered complexes. The combination of experimental and computational data showed that reported Pt(II) complexes are promising structures and could be developed for cancer therapeutic applications.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Central Composite Design for Optimizing the Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Plantago major Extract and Investigating Antibacterial, Antifungal and Antioxidant Activity.

Central composite design (CCD) was applied to optimize the synthesis condition of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the extract of Plantago major (P. major) seeds via a low cost and single-step process. The aqueous seed extract was applied as both reducing element and capping reagent for green production of AgNPs. Five empirical factors of synthesis including temperature (Temp), pH, volume of P. major extract (Vex), volume of AgNO3 solution (VAg) and synthesis time were used as independent variables of model and peak intensity of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) originated from NPs as the dependent variable. The predicted optimal conditions was determined to be: Temp = 55 °C, pH = 9.9,Vex = 1.5 mL, VAg = 30 mL, time = 60 min. The characterization of the prepared AgNPs at these optimum conditions was conducted by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the surface bio-functionalities. Bio-activity of these AgNPs against bacteria and fungi were evaluated based on its assay against Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli and Penicillium digitatum. Furthermore, antioxidant capacity of these NPs was checked using the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay.

Low-temperature phyto-synthesis of copper oxide nanosheets: Its catalytic effect and application for colorimetric sensing.

The last decade has seen a remarkable detonation in modifying chemical processes for nanomaterial synthesis to make them 'green'. Owing to the unique properties of nanomaterial and with regard to environmental issues, in this study, a new alternative and fast eco-friendly approach for the synthesis of copper oxide nanosheets (CuO-NSs) using Terminalia catappa (Indian almond) leaf extract as a renewable and non-toxic reducing agent and efficient stabilizer was reported. It is noteworthy to mention that the present fabrication process can open up the possibility of fast, low cost and high efficiency synthesis of CuO nanostructures with an interesting morphology of nanosheets at ambient temperature and pressure. Optimization of important factors such as pH, the quantity of leaf extract, copper precursor concentration, incubation time and temperature on the formation of CuO-NSs were investigated. The formation of bioreduced CuO-NSs was certified by UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, TEM analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. Due to good stability, and excellent catalytic activity of the synthesized CuO-NSs, they are exerted to degrade of MB dye in water as a model color pollutant in the presence of NaBH4 at room temperature. Furthermore, color properties of CuO nanostructures aid us to apply these biosynthesized nanomaterials in the design of optical sensors for detection of Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions. In view of many advantages of the current optical sensors based on CuO-NSs, such as eco-friendly, cost-effective, and straightforward design, the sensing system presents a potential application in environmental science.

Investigation of activity and stability of papain by adsorption on multi-wall carbon nanotubes.

Papain was non-covalently immobilized on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Its stabilities and catalytic activity for casein degradation were comprehensively investigated. Compared to free papain, the nano-enzyme exhibited significantly improved thermal, pH and recycling stability. Comparisons of the kinetic parameters between free papain and the heterogeneous enzyme revealed that the Km value of the immobilized papain experienced a slight increase, which suggested that the MWCNTs did not significantly hinder papain's access to substrate or release of product. This feature is beneficial to the industrial applications because of its potential to be easily separated from the end product at the end of the reaction, reuse for multiple times and allow the development of multiple enzyme reaction system.

Investigation of the interaction between amodiaquine and human serum albumin by fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular modeling.

The interaction of amodiaquine (AQ) with human serum albumin (HSA) has been studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. Based on the sign and magnitude of the enthalpy and entropy changes (ΔH(0) = -43.27 kJ mol(-1) and ΔS(0) = -50.03 J mol(-1) K(-1)), hydrogen bond and van der Waals forces were suggested as the main interacting forces. Moreover, the efficiency of energy transfer and distance between HSA and acceptor AQ was calculated. Finally, the binding of AQ to HSA was modeled by molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation methods. Excellent agreement was found between the experimental and theoretical results. Both experimental results and modeling methods suggested that AQ binds mainly to the sub-domain IIA of HSA.

Combined fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular modeling studies on the interaction between harmalol and human serum albumin.

The interaction between harmalol and human serum albumin (HSA) has been studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular modeling methods. The intrinsic fluorescence of HSA was quenched by harmalol, which was rationalized in terms of the static quenching mechanism. The binding parameters, quenching constants and conformation changes were determined by fluorescence quenching method. The thermodynamic parameters, calculated from the temperature dependence of binding constants (i.e., ΔH°=-62.7 kJ mol⁻¹ and ΔS°=-119.3J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹), indicated the major role of van der Waals force and hydrogen bonding in binding process. Site marker competitive experiments revealed that harmalol binds to both the IIA and IIIA sub-domains of HSA with a slight preference toward sub-domain IIA. Finally, the binding of harmalol to HSA was modeled by molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation methods. Excellent agreement was found between the experimental and theoretical results with respect to the mechanism of binding and binding constants. Molecular dynamic simulation revealed that HSA does not have a significant conformational change when it binds with harmalol.

Affinity of two novel five-coordinated anticancer Pt(II) complexes to human and bovine serum albumins: a spectroscopic approach.

The interactions of two organoplatinum complexes, [Pt(C^N)Cl(dppa)], 1, and [Pt(C^N)Cl(dppm)], 2 (C^N = N(1), C(2')-chelated, deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine, dppa = bis(diphenylphosphino)amine, dppm = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane), as antitumor agents, with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) have been studied by fluorescence and UV-vis absorption spectroscopic techniques at pH 7.40. The quenching constants and binding parameters (binding constants and number of binding sites) were determined by fluorescence quenching method. The obtained results revealed that there is a strong binding interaction between the ligands and proteins. The calculated thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH, and ΔS) confirmed that the binding reaction is mainly entropy-driven, and hydrophobic forces played a major role in the reaction. The displacement experiment shows that these Pt complexes can bind to the subdomain IIA (site I) of albumin. Moreover, synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy studies revealed some changes in the local polarity around the tryptophan residues. Finally, the distance, r, between donor (serum albumin) and acceptor (Pt complexes) was obtained according to Förster theory of nonradiation energy transfer.

In vitro and in vivo antitumor activities and DNA binding mode of five coordinated cyclometalated organoplatinum(II) complexes containing biphosphine ligands.

New complexes [Pt(C(∧)N)Cl(dppa)] (1), and [Pt(C(∧)N)Cl(dppm)] (2), (C(∧)N. deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine; dppa. bis(diphenylphosphino)amine; dppm. bis(diphenylphosphino)methane) were suggested to have pentacoordinated geometry as investigated by NMR and conductometry. Pharmacological effects of 1 and 2 were evaluated for their proteasome-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing activities under in vitro and in vivo conditions, showing significant proteasome-inhibitory activity against purified 20S proteasome, while 2 demonstrated superior inhibitory activity against cellular 26S proteasome. Consistently, this effect was associated with higher levels of proteasome target proteins and apoptosis induction in breast cancer cells. Importantly, preliminary studies show 1 and 2 were able to exert a similar effect in vivo by inhibiting the growth of breast cancer xenografts in mice, which was associated with proteasome inhibition and apoptosis induction. Interaction of 1 and 2 with herring sperm DNA was investigated by fluorimeteric emission, suggesting that Pt(II)-containing biphosphine complexes with DNA binding capabilities can also target and inhibit the tumor proteasome.

Spectrophotometric determination of carminic acid in human plasma and fruit juices by second order calibration of the absorbance spectra-pH data matrices coupled with standard addition method.

A simple analytical method based on the second-order calibration of the pH gradient spectrophotometric data was developed for assay of carminic acid (CA) in human plasma and orange juice over the concentration range of 1.5-14.0microM. The multi-way data analysis method was coupled with standard addition to encounter the significant effects of plasma and juices matrices on the acid-base behavior and UV-vis. absorbance spectra of CA. Thus, the standard addition three-way calibration data of plasma or fruit juices samples were analyzed by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and the concentration related scores were used to derive a standard addition plot such as one obtained in univariate standard addition method. The number of PARAFAC components was obtained utilizing different criteria such as core consistency and residual errors through pf-test implementation. The applicability of the proposed method was evaluated by analysis of human plasma and fruit juices spiked with different levels of standard CA solutions. The results confirmed the success of the proposed method in the analysis of pH gradient spectrophotometric data for determination of CA. The recoveries were between 86.7 and 106.7.

A comparative study between PCR and PLS in simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of diphenylamine, aniline, and phenol: Effect of wavelength selection.

Partial least squares (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) have received considerable attention in the chemometrics for multicomponent analysis where superiority of one over another is a challenging problem yet. Considering the effect of wavelength selection, a comparison was made between PCR and PLS methods by application those to simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of diphenylamine (DPA), a compound from the third European Union list of priority pollutants, and its environmentally related products aniline and phenol. The UV absorbance spectra of the methanolic solutions of the analytes were measured in the concentration ranges of 1.0-10.0 microg mL(-1) and then subjected to PCR and PLS. The models refinement procedure and validation was performed by cross-validation. A modified changeable size moving windows strategy, where optimized the intervals between the sensors in a selected windows, was also proposed to select the more informative spectral regions for each of the analytes. It was found that wavelength selection improved the quality of predictions for both regression methods whereas more reliable results were obtained by removing of the highly collinear neighboring wavelengths. The resultant data explained that PLS produced more or less better results when whole spectral data were used but in the case of selected wavelength regions both methods produced similar results and no comments could be given about the superiority of one against another. The major difference was obtaining the higher number of factors for PCR, which is not a significant problem.