Functional Properties of Donor (Al) and Acceptor (Cu) Codoped High Dielectric Constant ZnO Nanoparticles

In this work, we have synthesized donor-acceptor (Al-Cu) codoped ZnO nanoparticles with a doping concentration of 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75% by coprecipitation method. The synthesized samples were then annealed at 350°C and 600°C. All the samples showed wurtzite structure of ZnO with no secondary phase. The increase in doping concentration led to deterioration of crystalline quality, while improved crystallinity was observed at higher annealing temperature. The morphological study of these samples showed good grain-to-grain contact with less isolated pores. These samples were further characterized by impedance spectroscopy for analyzing dielectric properties. The values of the real part of dielectric constant and tangent loss showed decreasing trend with frequency. The appearance of semicircular arcs in the impedance complex plane plots indicates contribution of grains and grain boundaries and presence of different relaxation processes. 0.5% Al and Cu codoped ZnO showed the best dielectric response with a high value of dielectric constant and low tangent loss.

Multiclawed SiO2 Nano-Antibacterial Agent Based on Charge Inversed Ce6 Ionic Liquid Polymers for Combating Oral Biofilm Infection

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is a promising therapy against biofilm infection. However, due to the saliva clearance and obstacle of biofilm, the photosensitizer is difficult to concentrate in the infection site; then, the PACT is less effective on oral biofilm infection. In this article, we report a special nano-antibacterial agent (SiO2-PCe6-IL) to solve the bottleneck problem of PACT in treatment of oral biofilm infections. The SiO2-PCe6-IL was composed of SiO2 and poly ionic liquid photosensitizer (PCe6-IL) and had tri-fold features of eliminate biofilm infection: high binding ability, breaking biofilm barriers, and enrichment photosensitizer in infection site. In oral biofilm, the SiO2-PCe6-IL changed to SiO2-PIL+ like claws of octopus that could hold tightly with biofilm. Then, the poly-dodecyl on the SiO2-PIL+ broke down the barrier of biofilm. The results of HR-MS and zeta potential indicated that SiO2-PCe6-IL could change to positive (SiO2-PIL+) in acidic environment. The interaction forces and morphology results proved that the SiO2-PIL+ had a higher affinity to biofilm and could destroy the biofilm structure. Then, the photosensitizer was enriched in biofilm at sites of infection. The in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that SiO2-PCe6-IL could effectively eradicate oral biofilm infections and control of dental caries.

Theranostic Effect of Folic Acid Functionalized MIL-100(Fe) for Delivery of Prodigiosin and Simultaneous Tracking-Combating Breast Cancer

The metal organic framework (MOF) member, MIL-100(Fe), is considered as attractive drug nanocarrier that may be due to the great porosity, colloidal stability, and biocompatibility. In the present study, the new electrochemical synthesis procedure was presented for MIL-100(Fe) building block, and secondly, folic acid (FA) was introduced to the structure for assessing its potential targeted ability to be entrapped by folic acid-positive breast cancer cells, MCF-7. Several techniques such as SEM, XRD, and FT-IR were used to characterize synthesized nanostructures. Both MIL-100(Fe) and MIL-100(Fe)/FA nanoparticles were between 50 to 200 nm with a slightly positive net charge with an area of 1350 and 831.84 m2/g, respectively. The prodigiosin (PG) is selected as a model drug for MIL-100(Fe) and MIL-100(Fe)/FA-targeted delivery owing to its natural fluorescence and cancer cell selectiveness. The loading capacity of both nanocarrier was around 40% with 93-97% loading efficacy. Moreover, the pH-sensitive prodigiosin release rate of MIL-100(Fe)@PG and MIL-100(Fe)/FA@PG showed that 69 to 73% of the drug was released after 24 hours in an acidic environment with around 20% unwanted leakage. The anticancer potential MIL-100(Fe)/FA cells showed the improvement of selective index (SI) from 3.21 to 12.48 which means that folic acid acts as an effective ligand. The study of cells treated with fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analysis reveals the dependence of the receptor on the nanoparticle through endocytosis. Considering the effects of nanoparticles on healthy cells, MIL-100(Fe) and MIL-100(Fe)/FA nanoparticles can be introduced as targeted drug delivery systems for smart targeting breast cancer cells with minimal side effects.

Nanomedicine Based on Natural Products: Improving Clinical Application Potential

Natural products have antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other pharmacological activities and are an important source of drugs for prevention and treatment of various diseases. However, the inherent defects of natural products in physiological media such as poor solubility and stability and short biological half-life limit their clinical application. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the science of drug delivery by nanoscale materials. A large number of in vitro and in vivo studies have further confirmed the efficacy and safety of nanomedicine based on natural products in preclinical models of various diseases. In this review, we summarized the achievements of nanomaterials in improving the efficacy of natural products, introduced the research progress in several key fields of natural product-based nanomedicine in medical application, and discussed the challenges and prospects of clinical transformation of nanomedicine.

The Aptamer Functionalized Nanocomposite Used for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

Prostate cancer is one of the major malignancies that threaten men’s health all over the world. Due to the lack of specific symptoms and signs in the early stage, as well as the limitations of existing detection methods, it is difficult to achieve early diagnosis for prostate cancer. As short single-stranded oligonucleotides (DNA or RNA) with specific 3D structure which can be produced using an in vitro selection process termed systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), aptamers can specifically bind to the corresponding targets. They have become a class of novel targeting ligand for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of cancer. Owing to distinctive physicochemical features, and some other special properties such as easy modifiability, good biocompatibility, being easily coupled with other ligands, nanomaterials are extensively used in biological medical field research. Enlighteningly, the combination of aptamers with nanomaterials, including metal nanoparticles, nanosilica, quantum dots, and carbon nanomaterials, can enhance the ability of nanomaterials to recognize tumor cells, which is beneficial to overcome the shortcomings such as low sensitivity in early detection and lack of specificity of traditional antineoplastic drugs, thus, clinically helpful to improve the early metaphase diagnosis rate, providing a technical guarantee for the “personalized treatment” strategy for prostate cancer. Herein, we mainly review the basic and applied research of aptamer functionalized nanocomposite in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, including biosensing, bioimaging, and cancer therapy, hoping to provide new ideas for prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Experimental Investigation of Spirulina Microalgae Biodiesel with Metal Nanoadditive on Single-Cylinder Diesel Engine

Nanoparticles are an emerging concept for increasing fuel properties. The purpose of this research work is to determine the effect of magnesium oxide nanoparticles on the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engines that run on a spirulina microalgae biodiesel blend (B20) as a fuel. The ultrasonication was used to disperse MgO nanoparticles in B20 fuel at various concentrations (25, 50, 75, and 100 ppm). The significant findings indicated that B20+100 blends reduced specific fuel consumption by 20.1% and had a 5.09% higher brake thermal efficiency than B20. B20+100 blends reduced CO, hydrocarbon, and smoke emissions by a maximum of 32.02%, 30.03%, and 26.07%, respectively, compared to B20.

miR-622 Induces Breast Cancer Cell MCF-7 Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion by Directly Negatively Targeting EYA1

Breast cancer is the most common female cancer in the world. Breast cancer patients are currently treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy, but the 5-year overall survival rate is still low. Therefore, we plan to explore the potential interaction mechanism between miR-622 and EYA1 in the breast cancer cells and their effect on proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer, to lay a foundation for the gene therapy of breast cancer and improve the therapeutic effect. This study found that miR-622 was highly expressed in breast cancer cell lines, while EYA1 was poorly. In MCF-7 cell line, miR-622 had the highest expression level, while EYA1 had the lowest. Besides, the bioinformatics analysis showed that EYA1 possesses putative miR-622 binding sites within its 3 ′ UTR. The increased miR-622 significantly enhanced the proliferation, migration, and invasion of MCF-7 cell line and inhibited luciferase reporter activity in the 3 ′ UTR of EYA1-WT. When upregulating the expression of miR-622, the mRNA and protein expression levels of EYA1 were significantly decreased. We also found that the silencing of EYA1 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer MCF-7 cell line. These results indicate that miRNA-622 plays a tumor-promoting role in breast cancer through targeted negative regulation of EYA1, suggesting that miRNA-622 may become a potential target for breast cancer treatment.

Bio-Based Graphene Sheet/Copolymer Composite as Supporting Material for Nanocatalysts towards Electrochemical Studies and Direct Alkaline Alcohol Fuel Cells

In this work, graphene carbon sheets (BGS) were prepared from writing paper and lemon peel, and its polymer composite has a higher surface area compared with the existing Vulcan carbon. Further, the use of lead as a promoter for the oxidation of alcohol and CO on platinum-supported poly(amine-terminated cyclophosphazene-co-cyclophosphazene)-biobased graphene sheet (Poly(AFCP-co-CP)-BGS) composite was demonstrated. The size, phase morphology, and distribution of metal nanoparticles on Poly(AFCP-co-CP)-BGS composite as well as the formation of composite based catalysts were confirmed from TEM, XRD, and FTIR studies. The catalytic activity and stability of the prepared catalysts were tested and compared to methanol, ethylene glycol, glycerol, and CO in 0.5 M KOH solution. The results conclude that the lead-doped Pt/Poly(AFCP-co-CP)-BGS catalyst shows higher oxidation current with respect to onset potential and lower I f / I r ratio for alcohol as well as CO oxidation. In addition, Pt-Pb/Poly(AFCP-co-CP)-BGS catalyst was checked for direct alkaline fuel cells and proved as a potent anode catalyst in alkaline medium for real-time fuel battery applications. In addition, Poly(AFCP-co-CP)-BGS composite also promotes the catalytic reaction compared to Poly(AFCP-co-CP) and BGS supports as noticed from methanol oxidation in alkaline medium. The surface area of the prepared supporting material is 750.72 m2g-1, which is higher than the activated carbon (250.12m2g-1). So, the prepared Poly(AFCP-co-CP)-BGS composite is a potent support for metal deposition, electrooxidation, and single stack fuel cell constructions.

Thermal Transport in Radiative Nanofluids by Considering the Influence of Convective Heat Condition

The analysis of nanofluid dynamics in a bounded domain attained much attention of the researchers, engineers, and industrialists. These fluids became much popular in the researcher’s community due to their broad uses regarding the heat transfer in various industries and fluid flowing in engine and in aerodynamics as well. Therefore, the analysis of Cu-kerosene oil and Cu-water is organized between two Riga plates with the novel effects of thermal radiations and surface convection. The problem reduced in the form of dimensionless system and then solved by employing variational iteration and variation of parameter methods. For the sake of validity, the results checked with numerical scheme and found to be excellent. Further, it is examined that the nanofluids move slowly by strengthen Cu fraction factor. The temperature of Cu-kerosene oil and Cu-water significantly rises due to inducing thermal radiations and surface convection. The behaviour of shear stresses is in reverse proportion with the primitive parameters, and local Nusselt number increases due to varying thermal radiations, Biot number, and fraction factor, respectively.

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles from Alhagi graecorum Leaf Extract and Evaluation of Their Cytotoxicity and Antifungal Activity

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using different plant parts has shown a great potential in medicinal and industrial applications. In this study, AgNPs were in vitro green synthesized using A. graecorum, and its antifungal and antitumoractivities were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image result indicated spherical shape of AgNPs with a size range of 22-36 nm indicated by using Image J program. The functional groups indicated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) represented the groups involved in the reduction of silver ion into nanoparticles. Alhagi graecorum AgNPs inhibited MCF-7 breast cancer cell line growth in increased concentration depend manner, significant differences shown at 50, 100, and 150 μg/ml concentrations compared to the control. Strong antifungal activity against Candida species (C. albicans., C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicales, and C. krusei) was observed and the inhibition zone range from 14-22 mm at a concentration of 0.01 mmol/ml and from 17-27 mm at a concentration of 0.02 mmol/ml. Based on our findings, it is concluded that synthesized silver nanoparticles from A. graecorum can be used as a potential antitumor and antifungal agent for various therapeutical applications.