Theoretical Prediction of Adsorption Properties of Carmustine Drug on Various Sites of the Outer Surface of the Single-Walled Boron Nitride Nanotube and Investigation of Urea Effect on Drug Delivery by DFT and MD

Mechanical quantum analysis on the role of transition metals on the delivery of metformin anticancer drug by the boron phosphide nanotube

We scrutinized the impact of doping of X atoms (X = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) on the metformin (MF) drug delivery performance of a BP nanotube (BPNT) using density functional B3LYP calculations. The pristine BPNT was not ideal for the drug delivery of MF because of a weak interaction between the drug and nanotube. Doping of the Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, and Fe into the BPNT surface raised the adsorption energy of MF from -5.3 to -29.1, -28.7, -29.8, -32.1, and -26.9 kcal/mol, respectively, demonstrating that the sensitiveness of the metal-doped BPNT increased after increasing the radius atomic of metals. Ultimately, there was an increase in the adhesion performance and capacity of the MF after X (especially Co atom) doping, making the nanotube suitable for MF drug delivery. The mechanism of MF reaction with the BPNT changed from covalent bonding in the natural environment to hydrogen bonding in the cancerous cells with high acidity.

The effect of increasing temperature on simulated nanocomposites reinforced with SWBNNs and its effect on characteristics related to mechanics and the physical attributes using the MDs approach

This study examines the effect of increasing temperature (300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 K) on simulated nanocomposites reinforced with exploration of the impact of single-walled boron nitride nanotubes (SWBNNTs) on both the mechanical properties (including Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, shear modulus, and bulk modulus) and the physical property of density, achieved through molecular dynamics (MDs) simulations. MDs utilized to simulate nanocomposite models consisting of five case studies of SWBNNs with different chiralities (5, 0), (10, 0), (15, 0), (20, 0), and (25, 0) as the reinforcement and using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as the common matrix. The results reveal that with increasing temperature and chiralities of SWBNNTs, the density and Poisson's ratio increase dramatically, and Young's, shear, and bulk moduli decrease continuously. At a consistent temperature, there is a noteworthy trend in the mechanical properties of SWBNNTs with various chiralities. This includes the increase in Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, shear modulus, and bulk modulus in the simulated nanocomposite, ranging from SWBNNTs (5, 0) to (25, 0). Similarly, the physical property of density exhibits an increasing trend from SWBNNTs (5, 0) to (20, 0) and then decreases at SWBNNTs (25, 0). To validate the accuracy of these findings, a Radial Distribution Function (RDF) diagram is generated using Materials Studio software.

Investigation of nanotubes as the smart carriers for targeted delivery of mercaptopurine anticancer drug

Mercaptopurine (MCP) is an anticancer drug that is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The therapeutic effect of the mercaptopurine limits its severe side effects like other cytotoxic (anti-cancer) drugs. Nanostructures or nanoparticles can be widely used as potential drug carriers for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In the current study, the boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) and carbon nanotube (CNT) were studied as the delivery carriers of MCP using the density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MDs) simulation studies. To further understand the electronic properties of mercaptopurine, the partial density of states (PDOS) was calculated. The PDOS results depicted that the electronic features of the MCP do not change after the adsorption on the surface of the nanotubes. More stability of the MCP/BNNT complexes may be attributed to the existence of the intermolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) between the hydrogen atoms of the MCP molecule and the N atoms of the BNNT. The results of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) confirmed the presence of H-bonds in these complexes. Moreover, MD simulation studies were done in the presence of five drug molecules. The results revealed that the strongest van der Waals (vdW) interaction energy was found between the BNNT and MCP among the studied nanotubes, indicating the BNNT is a better nanocarrier than carbon nanotube for delivery of the MCP drug within the biological systems. In general, the obtained results may present helpful information on the nature of the interactions between mercaptopurine anticancer drug with BNNT and/or CNT.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.