OpenNano最新文献

Introduction

Objectives

Materials and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is essential for the process of gene silencing, especially for cancer. Despite its considerable promise, siRNA faces challenges due to stability issues of formulation and undesirable off-target side effects. In order to address these difficulties, it is essential to carefully monitor the levels of siRNA. The existing point-of-care (POC) systems cannot precisely and efficiently detect or monitor siRNA levels. In light of these challenges, this review gives the prospects of siRNA detection by proposing a novel hypothesis of existing electrical and optical-based detection of DNA/RNA with the POC platform. This hypothesis offers an interesting novel perspective to potentially fill the existing gaps, in detecting siRNA. By utilising these technologies, there is high potential to develop a proof-of-concept system that will not only overcome the existing challenges, but it will also allow effective and precise monitoring of siRNA, in real-world healthcare environments. In summary, the prospects for siRNA in the realm of POC platforms are quite encouraging, since it allows precise and effective monitoring.

Ag NPs have garnered significant attention in the field of biomedical applications due to their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogenic effects. The present study aimed to establish a simple, reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly approach for the synthesis of Ag NPs in different sizes using extracts from Syzygium aromaticum and Laurus nobilis and study the relationship between the size of Ag NPs and their antibacterial and anti-biofilm effectiveness. The synthesized Ag NPs were extensively characterized using various techniques, such as XRD, SEM, UV–vis and FTIR. Importantly, the study evaluated the antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities of Ag NPs in two different size (12 nm and 45 nm) against MDR and biofilm-producing pathogenic bacteria, including Kocuria rosea, Staphylococcus sciuri, and Staphylococcus lentus. The antibacterial activity of the larger Ag NPs-SA (45 nm) ranging between 14–25 mm while for the smaller Ag NPs-LN (12 nm) ranging between 26–48 mm against pathogenic bacteria. The MIC values for Ag NPs-LN were between 16 - 32 µg/ml while for Ag NPs-SA were 64 µg/ml. The MIC value of the Ag NPs decreased as their size decreased, indicating higher potency against the tested bacterial strains. Furthermore, the smaller Ag NPs-LN exhibited a higher rate of biofilm inhibition that reach 88% compared to the larger Ag NPs that reach 70%. This study provides novel evidence that the enhanced antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities of Ag NPs are directly correlated with their decreased nanoscale size. These findings highlight the potential of Ag NPs as a promising adjuvant in the management of bacterial infections, particularly those involving MDR and biofilm-producing pathogens, which pose a significant challenge in clinical settings.

Medical companies and research centers seek cost-effective alternative culture media containing the necessary nutritional requirements for bacterial cultivation because of high manufacturing and production costs. Date palm pollen (DPP) is an inexpensive and rich natural plant resource that can be easily collected in large quantities. In this study, DPP was used to prepare a novel enriched culture medium that successfully cultivated pathogenic bacteria and Streptomyces spp. without any additives and at a low concentration of 10 g per 1 L of distilled water (DW). Active compounds in DPP were detected by GCMS–, and results show the highest ratio of urea (45 %) among other components. For the first time, DPP was used to synthesize Cr₂O₃ NPs by an environment-friendly and inexpensive green method. DPP urea plays an important role as a reducing and stabilizing agent in the biosynthesis of Cr₂O₃ NPs. The obtained NPs were characterized using UV–Vis, FTIR, XRD and SEM. The results of agar disk diffusion ranging between 12 – 20 mm while the MIC for Cr₂O₃ NPs ranging between 1.56 – 25 U/mL indicated the effectiveness of Cr₂O₃ NPs in antibacterial activity against a wide range of pathogenic bacteria. Cr₂O₃ NPs showed a high inhibition ratio that reach 78 % against biofilms produced by P. aeruginosa. For later studies we expect that DPP can be used to prepare selective and other culture media after adding certain materials or antibiotics. The antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity of Cr₂O₃ NPs could be promising in medical and pharmaceutical applications.

Resveratrol (R) is an antioxidant that helps several aspects of aging skin. However, it is slightly soluble in water and unstable under light exposure, necessitating the use of suitable formulations for improved clinical efficacy. Therefore, this study aimed to prepare R-loaded lipid-based nanocarriers for topical delivery, i.e., nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) and nanoemulsions (NEs). R-loaded nanocarrier gels were further prepared to increase R loading. The comparative physical properties and antioxidant activity of nanocarriers were performed in terms of particle size, zeta potential, morphology, rheology, R content, in vitro release, antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity and stability. The results revealed that R was successfully loaded into NLCs and NE gels (NEGs), having different physical properties and antioxidant activity depending on the composition of lipid-based nanocarriers. R could be incorporated into NEs and the aqueous gelling phase, resulting in higher R loading. Furthermore, the gelling network was responsible for pseudoplastic flow behavior. The cumulative amount of R released from NEGs was significantly higher than that from NLCs due to the co-surfactant-like properties of NEGs, which resulted in smaller particle sizes. However, NLCs exhibited significantly more antioxidant activity and less cytotoxicity compared to NEGs. The stability of both nanosystems showed no significant change when stored at refrigerator temperature for over 3 months. In conclusion, the various compositions of lipid-based nanocarriers produced a range of physical properties and antioxidant activity. Nonetheless, these NLCs and NEGs have the potential to be nanocarriers for R, which has antioxidant properties for topical application.

This research descibes a pioneering approach aimed at preparing zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) with colchicine as the reducing and capping agent. Colchicine-loaded ZnO-NPs (CHZnO-NPs) were prepared by adding colchicine to the zinc sulfate heptahydrate solution. The CHZnO-NPs formulation was then characterized to determine the morphology, size, crystallinity, elemental composition and vibrational properties. Upon characterization, CHZnO-NPs were studied for their cytotoxic effect against the breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). The successful biosynthesis of CHZnO-NPs was initially confirmed visually by the changes in the mixture color, from light-yellow to white cloudy. The best CHZnO-NPs formulation selected was F3, which possessed 10 mg/mL of colchicine. Formulation (F3) had the smallest mean particle diameter of 43.77 nm and the lowest zeta potential of −19.60 mV. It also had 92.21 ± 0.012 % encapsulation efficiency and 20.86 ± 0.005 % drug loading. Formulation (F3) displayed a hexagonal wurtzite structure with irregular morphology. The observation of colchicine peaks on the FTIR spectra of F3 proved the role of colchicine as a reducing and capping agent during the synthesis of ZnO-NPs. Besides, the in-vitro cell cytotoxicity study on the MDA-MB-231 cell line revealed a significant reduction in cell proliferation at the concentration of 25 μg of colchicine and F3. Further, studies on the cellular migration potential also demonstrated concentration-dependent activity. Overall, CHZnO-NPs were shown to be successfully synthesized via an environmental-friendly procedure and colchicine acted as a capping agent to regulate the particle size, and aggregation, in addition to its anticancer properties.