IET nanobiotechnology最新文献

Shahin Aghamiri, Ali Jafarpour, Mohsen Shoja: ‘Effects of silver nanoparticles coated with anti-HER2 on irradiation efficiency of SKBR3 breast cancer cells’, IET Nanobiotechnology, 2019, 13, (8), pp. 808-815. (https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1049/iet-nbt.2018.5258).

The above article, published online on 19 August 2019 in Wiley Online Library (ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor in Chief Ronald Pethig, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed because none of the listed authors - Mohsen Shoja, Ali Jafarpour and Shahin Aghamiri - fulfil the journal's criteria for authorship for the research published in the article. The article was submitted for publication by Mohsen Shoja without the consent of the legitimate authors or attribution to the legitimate authors.

A nanocomposite of graphene oxide and gold nanourchins has been used here to modify the surface of a screen-printed carbon electrode to enhance the sensitivity of the electrochemical DNA detection system. A specific single-stranded DNA probe was designed based on the target DNA sequence and was thiolated to be self-assembled on the surface of the gold nanourchins placed on the modified electrode. Doxorubicin was used as an electrochemical label to detect the DNA hybridisation using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The assembling process was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and the EIS method. The high sensitivity of the proposed system led to a low detection limit of 0.16 fM and a wide linear range from 0.5 to 950.0 fM. The specificity of the DNA hybridisation and the signalling molecule (haematoxylin) caused very high selectivity towards the target DNA than other non-specific sequences.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the topmost widely used metallic oxide nanoparticles. Whether present in naked form or doped with metals or polymers, TiO₂ NPs perform immensely important functions. However, the alteration in size and shape by doping results in improving the physical, chemical, and biological behaviour of TiO₂ NPs. Hence, the differential effects of various TiO₂ nanostructures including nanoflakes, nanoflowers, and nanotubes in various domains of biotechnology have been elucidated by researchers. Recently, the exponential growth of research activities regarding TiO₂ NPs has been observed owing to their chemical stability, low toxicity, and multifaceted properties. Because of their enormous abundance, plants, humans, and environment are inevitably exposed to TiO₂ NPs. These NPs play a significant role in improving agricultural attributes, removing environmental pollution, and upgrading the domain of nanomedicine. Therefore, the currently ongoing studies about the employment of TiO₂ NPs in enhancement of different aspects of agriculture, environment, and medicine have been extensively discussed in this review.

Polystyrene is a very popular polymer utilised in the manufacture of various consumer products. This polymer is very cheap; however, after its usage, the slowness of its photodegradation leads to environmental pollution. In this report, the author presents a technique to systematically measure the rate of photodegradation of a thin polystyrene film. The said film was made to coat a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. In order to detect polymer degradation and the reduction in the molecular weight, the resonance frequency of the sensor was monitored for 24 h. Results revealed that QCM sensor irradiation with ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 365 nm and optical power of 1.5 mW caused a quite significant change in the polymer structure.

In the present study, Ag/AgCl-NPs were biosynthesised using Hypnea musciformis seaweed extract; NPs synthesis was confirmed by a change of colour and observation of a razor-sharp peak at 424 nm by UV-visible spectroscopy. Synthesised nanoparticles were characterised by transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Bacterial cell growth inhibition proves that the Ag/AgCl-NPs have strong antibacterial activity and cell morphological alteration was observed in treated bacterial cells using propidium iodide (PI). Ag/AgCl-NPs inhibited Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells, colorectal cancer (HCT-116) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line in vitro with the IC₅₀ values of 40.45, 24.08 and 36.95 μg/ml, respectively. Initiation of apoptosis in HCT-116 and MCF-7 cells was confirmed using PI, FITC-annexin V and Hoechst 33342 dye. No reaction oxygen species generation was observed in both treated and untreated cell lines. A significant increase of ATG-5 gene expression indicates the possibility of autophagy cell death besides apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. The initiation of apoptosis in EAC cells was confirmed by observing caspase-3 protein expression. Ag/AgCl-NPs inhibited 22.83% and 51% of the EAC cell growth in vivo in mice when administered 1.5 and 3.0 mg/kg/day (i.p.), respectively, for 5 consequent days.

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.

Mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles of haematite were synthesised using plant extracts according to bioethics principles. The structural, physical and chemical properties of mesoporous Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles synthesised with the green chemistry approach were evaluated by XRD, SEM, EDAX, BET, VSM and HRTEM analysis. Then, their toxicity against normal HUVECs and MCF7 cancer cells was evaluated by MTT assay for 48 h. These biogenic mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles have over 71% of doxorubicin loading efficiency, resulting in a 50% reduction of cancer cells at a 0.5 μg.ml⁻¹ concentration. Therefore, it is suggested that mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles be used as a multifunctional agent in medicine (therapeutic-diagnostic). The produced mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles with its inherent structural properties such as polygonal structure (increasing surface area to particle volume) and porosity with large pore volume became a suitable substrate for loading the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin.

After the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2019 and the increasing number of SARS-CoV-2 infections all over the world, researchers are struggling to investigate effective therapeutic strategies for the treatment of this infection. Targeting viral small molecules that are involved in the process of infection is a promising strategy. Since many host factors are also used by SARS-CoV-2 during various stages of infection, down-regulating or silencing these factors can serve as an effective therapeutic tool. Several nucleic acid-based technologies including short interfering RNAs, antisense oligonucleotides, aptamers, DNAzymes, and ribozymes have been suggested for the control of SARS-CoV-2 as well as other respiratory viruses. The antisense technology also plays an indispensable role in the treatment of many other diseases including cancer, influenza, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In this review, we summarised the potential applications of antisense technology for the treatment of coronaviruses and specifically COVID-19 infection.