Biofabrication of bimetallic selenium@zinc nanoparticles using Champia parvula aqueous extract: Investigation of anticancer activity and its apoptosis induction.

Selenium@zinc nanoparticles, or Se@Zn NPs, are extensively employed in various environmental, industrial and biological domains. However, the biological potential of Se@Zn NPs has not been thoroughly investigated. This study focused on fabricating Se@Zn NPs from algae using an aqueous extract of Champia parvula seaweed. Analytical techniques were used to describe the successfully synthesized Se@Zn NPs. In addition, a biological function analysis of the Se@Zn NPs was conducted. The Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) spectrum showed a specific absorbance peak for the Se@Zn NPs at 350-400 nm. The biomolecules involved in forming Se@Zn NPs were identified by their potential functional groups, as revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). By scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Se@Zn NPs were shown to be spherical and to have a diameter range of 100-200 nm. NPs with a crystallite diameter of 54.8 nm and chemical compositions of zinc and selenium (1:1.5 ratio) were revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). IC50 values were determined for the anticancer activity against A549, MCF-7 and HeLa cells. Cell morphological changes in fluorescence microscopy and apoptosis mechanisms by flow cytometry analysis were investigated, which show that Se@Zn NPs induced apoptosis in various cancer cells. DNA fragmentation and ROS levels were studied by fluorescence microscopy. In conclusion, conditions required for therapeutic and preventative applications may be met by the green synthesis of Se@Zn NPs.

Fabrication of ibuprofen/naringenin-coloaded into zein/sodium caseinate nanoparticles: evaluation of antiproliferative activity and apoptosis induction in liver cancer cells.

Nowadays, liver cancer is one of the most disturbing types of cancer that can affect either sex. Nanoparticles (NPs) of zein/sodium caseinate incorporating ibuprofen (IBU) and naringenin (NAR) have improved bioavailability and a high encapsulation efficiency (EE%). These nanoparticles are uniformly spherical. In vitro, cytotoxicity analysis on HepG2 cell lines, which are used to study human liver cancer, shows that encapsulated drugs (86.49% ± 1.90, and 78.52% ± 1.98 for NAR and IBU, respectively) have significantly lower IC50 values than individual drugs or their combined free form. In addition, the combination indices of 0.623 and 0.155 for IBU and NAR, respectively, show that the two have joint beneficial effects. The scratch wound healing assay results also show that the free drugs and the engineered NPs have a more significant anti-migratory effect than the untreated cells. The designed nanoparticles also reduce angiogenesis and proliferation while inducing apoptosis, according to in vitro results. In conclusion, a new approach to treating liver cancer may lie in the nanoencapsulation of numerous drugs within nanoparticles.

Preparation and characterisation of ciprofloxacin-loaded silver nanoparticles for drug delivery.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have shown potential applications in drug delivery. In this study, the AgNPs was prepared from silver nitrate in the presence of alginate as a capping agent. The ciprofloxacin (Cipro) was loaded on the surface of AgNPs to produce Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposite. The characteristics of the Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposite were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infra-red analysis (FT-IR) and zeta potential analyses. The XRD of AgNPs and Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposite data showed that both have a crystalline structure in nature. The FT-IR data indicate that the AgNPs have been wrapped by the alginate and loaded with the Cipro drug. The TEM image showed that the Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposites have an average size of 96 nm with a spherical shape. The SEM image for AgNPs and Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposites confirmed the needle-lumpy shape. The zeta potential for Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposites exhibited a positive charge with a value of 6.5 mV. The TGA for Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposites showed loss of 79.7% in total mass compared to 57.6% for AgNPs which is due to the Cipro loaded in the AgNPs. The release of Cipro from Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposites showed slow release properties which reached 98% release within 750 min, and followed the Hixson-Crowell kinetic model. In addition, the toxicity of AgNPs and Cipro-AgNPs nanocomposites was evaluated using normal (3T3) cell line. The present work suggests that Cipro-AgNPs are suitable for drug delivery.

Retardation of Bacterial Biofilm Formation by Coating Urinary Catheters with Metal Nanoparticle-Stabilized Polymers.

Urinary catheter infections remain an issue for many patients and can complicate their health status, especially for individuals who require long-term catheterization. Catheters can be colonized by biofilm-forming bacteria resistant to the administered antibiotics. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) stabilized with different polymeric materials generated via a one-step simple coating technique for their ability to inhibit biofilm formation on urinary catheters. AgNPs were prepared and characterized to confirm their formation and determine their size, charge, morphology, and physical stability. Screening of the antimicrobial activity of nanoparticle formulations and determining minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and their cytotoxicity against PC3 cells were performed. Moreover, the antibiofilm activity and efficacy of the AgNPs coated on the urinary catheters under static and flowing conditions were examined against a clinical isolate of Escherichia coli. The results showed that the investigated polymers could form physically stable AgNPs, especially those prepared using polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and ethyl cellulose (EC). Preliminary screening and MIC determinations suggested that the AgNPs-EC and AgNPs-PVP had superior antibacterial effects against E. coli. AgNPs-EC and AgNPs-PVP inhibited biofilm formation to 58.2% and 50.8% compared with AgNPs-PEG, silver nitrate solution and control samples. In addition, coating urinary catheters with AgNPs-EC and AgNPs-PVP at concentrations lower than the determined IC50 values significantly (p < 0.05; t-test) inhibited bacterial biofilm formation compared with noncoated catheters under both static and static and flowing conditions using two different types of commercial Foley urinary catheters. The data obtained in this study provide evidence that AgNP-coated EC and PVP could be useful as potential antibacterial and antibiofilm catheter coating agents to prevent the development of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli.

Graphene oxide-ellagic acid nanocomposite as effective anticancer and antimicrobial agent.

In this study, ellagic acid (ELA), a skin anticancer drug, is capped on the surface(s) of functionalised graphene oxide (GO) nano-sheets through electrostatic and π-π staking interactions. The prepared ELA-GO nanocomposite have been thoroughly characterised by using eight techniques: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) topographic imaging, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and surface morphology via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, ELA drug loading and release behaviours from ELA-GO nanocomposite were studied. The ELA-GO nanocomposite has a uniform size distribution averaging 88 nm and high drug loading capacity of 30 wt.%. The in vitro drug release behaviour of ELA from the nanocomposite was investigated by UV-Vis spectrometry at a wavelength of λmax 257 nm. The data confirmed prolonged ELA release over 5000 min at physiological pH (7.4). Finally, the IC50 of this ELA-GO nanocomposite was found to be 6.16 µg/ml against B16 cell line; ELA and GO did not show any cytotoxic effects up to 50 µg/ml on the same cell lines.

A Statistical Study on the Development of Metronidazole-Chitosan-Alginate Nanocomposite Formulation Using the Full Factorial Design.

The goal of this study was to develop and statistically optimize the metronidazole (MET), chitosan (CS) and alginate (Alg) nanoparticles (NP) nanocomposites (MET-CS-AlgNPs) using a (21 × 31 × 21) × 3 = 36 full factorial design (FFD) to investigate the effect of chitosan and alginate polymer concentrations and calcium chloride (CaCl2) concentration ondrug loading efficiency(LE), particle size and zeta potential. The concentration of CS, Alg and CaCl2 were taken as independent variables, while drug loading, particle size and zeta potential were taken as dependent variables. The study showed that the loading efficiency and particle size depend on the CS, Alg and CaCl2 concentrations, whereas zeta potential depends only on the Alg and CaCl2 concentrations. The MET-CS-AlgNPs nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and in vitro drug release studies. XRD datashowed that the crystalline properties of MET changed to an amorphous-like pattern when the nanocomposites were formed.The XRD pattern of MET-CS-AlgNPs showed reflections at 2θ = 14.2° and 22.1°, indicating that the formation of the nanocompositesprepared at the optimum conditions havea mean diameter of (165±20) nm, with a MET loading of (46.0 ± 2.1)% and a zeta potential of (-9.2 ± 0.5) mV.The FTIR data of MET-CS-AlgNPs showed some bands of MET, such as 3283, 1585 and 1413 cm-1, confirming the presence of the drug in the MET-CS-AlgNPs nanocomposites. The TGA for the optimized sample of MET-CS-AlgNPs showed a 70.2% weight loss compared to 55.3% for CS-AlgNPs, and the difference is due to the incorporation of MET in the CS-AlgNPs for the formation of MET-CS-AlgNPs nanocomposites. The release of MET from the nanocomposite showed sustained-release properties, indicating the presence of an interaction between MET and the polymer. The nanocomposite shows a smooth surface and spherical shape. The release profile of MET from its MET-CS-AlgNPs nanocomposites was found to be governed by the second kinetic model (R2 between 0.956-0.990) with more than 90% release during the first 50 h, which suggests that the release of the MET drug can be extended or prolonged via the nanocomposite formulation.